Old Landfill or Pit in Fountain Valley

Anonymous writes about memories of playing in a landfill or pit in Fountain Valley during the 1970s...

i grew up in Fountain Valley in the 70's and i remember going to kind of like a land fill/pit, but it was a place that kids could come and build forts. You would climb down/repel using a rope and down in this pit/land fill, it was really huge there were pieces of scrap wood all over the place and kids would build forts sometimes 2 to 3 story forts. You could always add on to existing forts. There also was a huge lake there and you could float out on it using old cable spools. there also was a big rope swing. Does anyone remember this????

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Fitz Intermediate School

OCThen reader, "Squiddy", asks if anyone here attended Stephen R Fitz Intermediate School in Santa Ana during the 1970s...

Anyone go to Fitz Jr. High in Santa Ana (during the 70s)? My dad (Mr. Peterson) taught math and loved all the students and tried to be corny-funny.

Anyone go to Plavan Elementary in FV?

How about Hye's Pizza or Acoubian's restaurant in FV on the west side of Mile Square Park?

Click on "Post a Comment" below if you have memories of any of these schools or restaurants...

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Picnic Garden - Korean BBQ - Closed

The wife and I drove out to Fountain Valley this afternoon to have lunch at a Korean BBQ that we used to frequent years ago when we lived in OC.

It was called Picnic Garden, and it was located on the corner of Euclid and Edinger, in an asian shopping center.

I liked going there because of the spicy pork. And it was "all you can eat". I'd load up my plate of the stuff, and grill it on the table. They also had no shortage of Kim Chi.

I remember after walking out of there, you'd smell like BBQ smoke.

After doing a search on the Internet a few moments ago, I found a site that has some customer reviews, and it appears that the quality of their food went downhill, and they lost customer base.

There are some Korean BBQ joints in SW Riverside County, but they're very pricy, and none let's you eat all the spicy pork you can handle.

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Bullwinkles Family Fun N' Food

Rachael remembers going to the Bullwinkles Family Fun N'Food in Fountain Valley while growing up in OC...

One of my memories of growing up in Orange County is the Bullwinkles Center which I *think* was in fountain valley?

My mom would take my little sister and I there during the 1980's. It was a place like chuck-e-cheese although I don't remember if they had games there or not.

The thing I remember most was the little water show. It was probably very bad, but as a kid I was awestruck! Nothing like Fantasmic at Disneyland is now of course!!

Any memories you have of this place are appreciated, as mine are vague.

Bullwinkles was (or is) located on the corner of Magnolia and Warner. I never went in there; I just never had any desire. I haven't been in that area for so long, I don't know if Bullwinkles is still there.

Anyone want to chime in?

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Osterkamp Family of Santa Ana

Dorothy Uranich, formerly Dorothy Osterkamp, writes about her memories of growing up in Santa Ana, going as far back as the 1920's.

She writes this after having read Mark's memories of Santa Ana and Garden Grove...

Dear Steve,

I don't have to go far to conger up old memories for I am alive and well and still living in Orange county. I was born on July 6, 1925 in Valley Hospital (Community Hospital), Santa Ana, California the 4th child of 10 to Anna and Tony Osterkamp. My parents were Dutch immigrants who owned and operated their dairy for 40 years on Harbor and Heil in what is now Fountain Valley. In 1961 they were advised, due to urban pressure, to relocate the dairy to Corona, CA.

While my husband was in the Air Force, I lived in many states and as many countries, but I always knew that Orange County was home and that was where I would eventually live again. The death of my husband in 1957 did bring me back and five of my six children and most of my siblings still reside here.

I loved the comments that you made about the names of the different streets. I remember them well, mainly because those were the streets we traveled on in my childhood. I learned to drive by steering the truck in the alfalfa fields, and my brothers and I got our driver's license's at age 14.( This was possible if you lived out in the country. Don't forget, we're talking about 1925 and beyond) Every Saturday, my mother and dad would make the trip into "town" and do their substantial grocery shopping at Joe's Market on First and Broadway in Santa Ana and if we ran out of something during the week,we could replenish the item at Red's Market on the corner of First and Harbor. Remember the noisy turkey farm on Smeltzer and Harbor? In order to cross the river on Edinger we drove through the "dip". There no bridge yet.

I started school at the Balsa Elementary School, and started second grade at St Joseph School in Santa Ana. Newhope School had not been built yet. The Martin's, Eddie and Johnny (of Orange County Airport fame) were our Neighbors on Heil Ave. and their parents lived on Newhope where they owned an orange grove. Oh yes, there were many orange groves in Orange county then! I remember especially how they used smudge pots which emanated foul warm air to save the orange trees during the frosty days in winter. My brothers and sisters and a few cousins rode our bikes to St Joseph School every morning and on those frosty mornings we would come to school with gray smudge all around our nostrils. We were called, " The Osterkamp Brigade."

The Drive-in Theater on Harbor Blvd. came and went to make room for a strip mall. The old West Coast and the Broadway in Santa Ana were the only theaters in the area in the Forties and Fifties and the drive-in restaurants were a favorite "hangout" for teens.

We had a devastating earthquake in 1933. It came with a jolt and knocked my sister, Mary, and I to the ground. Our house, except for the chimney, was not damaged, but we slept outside around a fire for three days because the after shocks were rather unnerving. I had never experienced an earthquake before and it was very frightening for an eight year old.

After my husband, Maj. Leonard Conkle's death in 1957, I remarried and lived the civilian life in Fountain Valley for 43 years right next to the 9 hole golf course that Mark mentioned. He mentioned Don Wash. My husband, Ed Uranich, taught at Garden Grove High when Don was superintendent. Don died in a dune buggy accident in the desert while he was still in office.

I am now widow again living in Costa Mesa, CA and would not live anywhere else. I travel to Orlando, several times a year to visit friends so we have a common bond, Steve.

Thank you for writing about our little corner of the world.

Sincerely,

Dorothy Uranich

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