El Toro in the 1960s and 1970s

OCThen reader, Janet Kelsey-Berg, submits her memories of growing up in El Toro during the 1960s and 1970s. She recalls a time when El Toro was a safe neighborhood, where you could leave your garage door open all day, and playing in the large fountain by the I-5...

Great blog site idea! I too have fond memories of my growing up years in Orange County. I still live nearby (Chino)and go into the OC quite a bit.

My family moved us out to El Toro in 1969 where I attended Olivewood Elementary. We lived on the outer edge of the then new luxury homes of Lake Forest. I thought my parents were crazy to move us out there where we had no relatives, no friends, and no shopping malls!

My memories include the sweet smell of the Eucalyptus trees and being able to "roller skate" thru partially built homes. Playing "King of the Sewer Pipe" on land being graded for more homes. In that same area was a mountain of graded dirt about 2-3 stories high where we would open up and flatten out boxes and hold unto each other and slide down the very steep incline. Some of the boys would take their bikes and ride it down. I cant believe we didnt seriously injure ourselves.

Bus drivers would drop you off in front of your home, not at a bus stop. Taking the first mini-bus shuttle in the morning to the Laguna Beach and the last one back home, every day of the summer.

We lived across the street from "The Fountain" that bordered the 5 fwy. You could see this towering fountain for miles and knew you were close to home when you spotted it. Sometimes, kids would put suds in it and it was a sight to see! We would catch tadpoles at the fountain "marsh area" and bring them home to be frogs.

Not only did we not have a shopping mall, but no middle or high schools, so we were bussed to La Paz Jr Hi and Mission View High in Mission Viejo. We finally got our own high school in my sophmore year: El Toro High and I thought it was cool that we were the bicentennial graduates (1976). Our tassels were red/white/blue.

I remember many weekends for years at the "Skate Ranch" along the 5 fwy. I remember the Japanese Deer Park too!

I think for the most part we lived a very sheltered life there. Not much ethnic diversity there. There was almost NO CRIMES other than us high schools kids pulling pranks from 1968-1976. I remember my parents would leave the garage door open all day and not think much about it. They would leave the front door open all night so the air would filter through the screen door.

I dont know why I couldnt wait to leave that area. I remember being able to hear the El Toro Marine Station Jets from afar. Now my eldest daughter lives is Rancho Santa Margarita, just above Cooks Corner and O'Neil Park and thinks its the best place next to heaven! Go figure!

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Memories of Gary Zaremba

Gary Zaremba, another OCThen.com visitor, shares his many memories of growing up in Orange County. Among them, the El Toro Marine Base, Cook's Corner, the Hells Angels, and the schools he went to...

Thanks for this web site, Steve! I wasn't born here but my family and I arrived in Orange County in the summer of 1958 when I was almost 7. There were orange groves and eucalyptus trees everywhere and most cities were "islands" between one orange grove or ranch to another. My dad was stationed at El Toro Marine base, becoming the Manager of the Staff NCO club. He used to book entertainment acts for Friday and Saturday nights. I remember my dad getting us a signed copy of a photo from Tex Ritter (John Ritter's dad) after he performed there one night.

We even lived in the military housing on base for a couple of years while I attended 4th and 5th grades. Stanley Cook, the son of the owner of "Cook's Corner" was the pitcher on our little league team. Another pitcher, Dan Peavey, was such a baseball fanatic (he had the best collection of baseball trading cards that I ever saw), that he impressed Joe Dimagio enough that he came to visit us at the El Toro Elementary School in 1962. Our team even took a photo with him that was blown up and mounted in our school cafeteria. I wish I knew what happened to it.

The smog was much worse and the traffic was about the same as it is today. I remember hardly being able to breathe from all of the "yellow" air that passed through our lungs all day while attending school. On summer weekends, we used to go to "Tin Can Beach" - where Bolsa Chica Beach is today. The beach got its name from all of the rusted tin cans that lined the road. We had to walk through thin, sandy lanes that were formed by foot traffic in order to get to the beach. Of course, this was in the days of pop tops, so you really had to watch out where you walked or you'd get one stuck in your feet.

We moved around a lot in those days, living in Orange (near the Circle), Tustin and then El Toro before finally moving to Santa Ana. I remember going to Hart Park a lot while I lived in Orange. There was a hobo used to ride the rails and who lived in the park in the winter months. He "borrowed" wood from a lumberyard that was nearby to fashion his makeshift shack. My friends and I would talk to him about his travels while he cooked his food out of tin cans. Sometimes he would feed the park squirrels and rabbits. I can't imagine my son doing something like that today.

When we moved to Santa Ana, I attended John Adams Elementary, McFadden Jr. High (first graduating class) and Santa Ana Valley High. In my Jr. year, they opened Saddleback High and about 1/2 of the students were transferred to that school becoming the first graduates.

While I was at Valley, Martin Luther King was killed and we had riots on Greenville with cars being burned right near our school.

Special places and people that I remember in Orange County in those days included the Pier at Newport Beach (where I spent many a time after cutting classes at school), Lars the "Greeter" in Laguna and the hippie shacks (where I stayed with friends) above the old bookstore, "Farenheit 451", crashing beach parties along the boardwalk in Newport on summer nights, the "Nutburger" restaurant on Fairview and Warner in Santa Ana, "The Zoo" drive in restaurant at the corner of MacArthur and PCH where the waitresses served you fast food on rollerskates, the long winding, country road from El Toro all the way to Cooks Corner, Lion Country Safari and "Bubbles" the hippopotamus who escaped and submerged in one of the ponds on Laguna Canyon Road.

How may people remember Victor Hugo's restaurant in Laguna before it became Las Brisas? How many people remember the "head shops" in Laguna where meditation and pot smoking were common events? How about the Hara Krishnas who used to dance and play tamborines on the main streets in Laguna? How about the annual events when the Hell's Angels would ride into Newport and park hundreds of their choppers effectively blocking off Newport and Balboa Blvds. near the pier? I remember the police securing many "paddy wagons" just for this occasion. Eventually, the Hell's Angels didn't return but it was exciting while they were there.

Does anyone remember the town that disappeared between Placentia and Anaheim along the railroad tracks - ATWOOD? My grandfather had a used furniture store there. How about the Tustin Marine LTA (lighter than air) base with the very large blimps that were housed in the blimp hangers before they were replaced by helicopters?

I attended several pop festivals and especially remember the Newport Pop Festival at the O.C. Fairgrounds where Country Joe & The Fish and Jefferson Airplane played. I also went to another 3 day festival at Devonshire Downs in San Fernando Valley (you name the 60's rock group, they were all there!) and one in Palm Springs during the summer of 1968 that became an all out riot with police helicopters dropping tear gas on the crowd. In fact, a curfew was established for several years after that where minors had to be accompanied by adults to enter into Palm Springs.

Well, that's about enough to cover for now. Maybe I'll add some other things when I remember them.

Thanks Gary!

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