Boy Scout Troop 26 of Santa Ana

OCThen reader, "92707", asks if anyone out there was a former boy scout troop member in Santa Ana...

Anyone out there who was also a member of Boy Scout Troop 26 in Santa Ana? The troop that was sponsored by the Santa Ana Police Department. We had our own building on the south side of what was then the Santa Ana Community Center when Civic Center Drive was still named 8th Street. For me it was a family tradition belonging to 26. At the Scout-O-Rama's we were often called the best-fed troop in Orange County!

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Claude Bell's Artist Shack - Knott's Berry Farm

OCThen reader Michelle submits her memories of Claude Bell's Artist Shack at Knott's Berry Farm...

Knotts Berry Farm! One of my favorite places to ride out a cold!

My Mom Moselle Townsend was one of the Pastel Artists there when I was young! Above Claude Bell's Artist Shack was a patio roof with umbrella chairs and a table and when I was sick Mom would take me there to relax and read while she worked!

For lunch I get to meander around and visit Motts Minatures, the gold panning area and some great old ladies in prairie bonnets. Being sick was a priviledge! I loved to eat at Mrs Knotts Kitchen, is that what was it called? Bosenberry Pie is still my favorite to this day, rubarb in syrup and the greatest fried chicken and gravy! Wasn't there a great little dish of bacon and cabbage too?

I still have the want ad mom cut from the newpaper. Claude Bell was looking for a pastel artist to do portraits and my mom thought she could do it so she drew my sister, brother, dad, me and our friends from Lakewood all in one week and then went down and applied for the job and got it. I am not sure how long she worked there but it helped buy her supplies while she got her MFA at Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles.

I have often wondered how many portraits she might have painted over the years she was there? I think she might have been there for about 4 years! Perhaps 1955 to 1960.

I went to High School in Whittier in the 60's and my dad use to drive us down to Retail Clerks, the Union Hall right past Knotts Berry Farm where we could dance for $1.00 with great groups like the Righteous Brothers! Growing up at that time was really fun. Michelle.

If you had a portrait drawn at Knott's Berry Farm between 1955 and 1960, Michelle's mom probably drew it.

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Santa Ana Community Hospital

OCThen reader Susan Creger submits the following memory of growing up in Santa Ana during the 1950's and 1960s'...

Wow, I am so excited to run across this place. I miss CA so much, and to read about other people's experience growing up there is exciting. I was born in Santa Ana Community Hospital in 1952. I lived on Newhope St and went to Newhope Elementary until the 4th or 5th grade when Heritage Elementary opened it's doors for the first time. I can't for the life of me remember the name of the Junior High I went to in Santa Ana but it was on the corner of Newhope and ? We moved after 1 semester & I went to Smedley Junior High after that. We moved back in my 9th year & I went to La Quinta High School. I miss the CA of my childhood with Orange Groves everywhere. I remember Farrell's Ice Cream parlors. I went there EVERY day when I was pregnant with my first daughter for a Fudge Sundae Royale.

The name of that junior high school on Newhope and ? was probably Fitz Intermediate. And as for Santa Ana Community Hospital, my wife was born there in 1966. I also remember in the mid-1980s, when I worked at Santa Ana Public Library, several of us employees traveled there (after it was converted to a convalescent home) one Christmas Eve and sang carols to the residents there.

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Welcome to Irvine Ranch Sign

OCThen reader, "richp", of South Coast Divers, remembers a sign along the 405 freeway that depicted a cowboy on horseback, and wonders whatever happened to it...

I remember being a kid while they were building the 405 freeway. I remember a big sign that read, "You are now entering the Irvine Ranch". It was a fancy sign, iron and concrete/stucco and it showed a comboy on horse back, which it was my understanding was, in reference to how the Irvine ranch came to be. What ever happened to that sign? Are there any pictures of it anywhere? I even learned to drive in the area that is now Tustin Marketplace.

I also heard yesterday that Farrell's Ice Cream is coming back to S CA, Good stuff....

Send me an email if you've "Been there & done that".

Click on "Post a Comment" below if you remember this as well...

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Velvet Turtle Restaurant Employee Passes Away

An anonymous OCThen reader submits the following about a former Velvet Turtle Restaurant employee who passed away, and is looking for a friend of hers named "Patricia Hartman" to simply let her know of her passing...

I am a former OC resident and former mgr of a couple of Velvet Turtle Restaurants.

A long time friend and former employee of mine at The Velvet Turtle in Fullerton has passed away. She asked before she passed that her husband Dan and I find a friend of hers to let her know what happened.

Patricia Hartman is her name and she worked at the Velvet Turtle in Fullerton with us. Patty may be married now but if you knew her or worked with her please have her post here to so I can let her know.

Thank you for all the wonderful memories on OCthen.com It is good to know that people thought so highly of this special group of restaurants that will live on in my heart forever and thankfully in your hearts as well.

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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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Old Van Clubs of Irvine Park

OCThen reader "TimS" who grew up in Santa Ana submits some memories of hanging out in Irvine Park during the 1970s with the van clubs, and wants to know if anyone else has similar memories...

Hi All.

I have spent most of my 49 years living in OC, and have really enjoyed some of these comments.

I was wondering if anybody remembers anything about the van clubs that used to have weekend night, or caravans, way in the back of Irvine Park back in the early to mid 70's?

I was sort of a wild wander as a kid (bad home life...), and at 12 or 13, I tagged along with someone, who owned a really tricked out Ford Econoline van, to a Van rally that I recall was way in the back of Irvine Park. It seemed to be a long ways out there, but as an adult, now it doesn't seem like Irvine park extends as far as I remember traveling. Do any of you remember this? The guy who let me tag along with him and his girlfriend was a long haired guy with the first name of Randy, and, at that time, worked at the gas station on the corner of Main and St. Gertrude Plc.

And then he goes on to talk about dealing with gangs and tough guys in the schools of Santa Ana...

I also wanted to comment to those who have posted about violence in OC HSs. I went to Saddleback and Mountain View HSs in the mid to latter half of the 70s, and there was some violence from blacks and Mexicans, and sometimes even the sportos. Having long blonde hair, and a smart mouth, I got my ass kicked more than once before I finally learned how to stare guys down and act like a bad ass so people would leave me alone. That didn't always work though because with the mexicans it was always a gang of at least 3 or 4 to 1, so you always ended up on the losing end. I can clearly remember being 14 and walking down Warner Ave from McFadden Jr High, and how I flipped off the 4 low riders who had just said something foul to me about being white and having blonde hair, and how these guys flipped a U turn in the middle of Warner and came after me. I ended up being thrown into a rose bush after they caught me, tore my books in half and pounded on me for a while.

Anyway, I took ROP at Valley HS, and had trouble with the blacks hanging out in the parking lot every time I went on the campus from the greenville entrance, and knew white guys from SA HS who were always fighting with Mexicans, so I always viewed both of those schools as being much worse than Saddleback, or even Mountain view, which was a continuation school. Nobody was ever shot at that time, but some guys got knifed, or seriously pounded on. However, there was one guy at saddleback that I will never forget. He was dark skinned, but I couldn't be sure if he was mexican or samoan. But he used to hang out with an entourage of mexican semi-toughs. This guy clearly knew martial arts at that time, and used to wear some strange flamboyant clothes, like a cape. I later realized he wore the loose baggy pants so he could kick really high. Anyway, I witnessed this kooky guy start, and finish, several fights with big guys that usually got left alone.

A lot of us hung out at Memorial Park, and saw first hand that we had a lot of Mexican gangs rising up including the Delhi boys, F-Troop, Shades of Brown, and others from north Santa Ana. Some of these guys were pretty hard core, in my view, and I think were early Mexican mafia.

What a childhood that was! That's why I joined the navy at 17, and got out of dodge as quickly as I could.

TimS from Woodland Plc, Santa Ana.

Click on "Post a Comment" below if you have anything to share...

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Old Man Named Cheerio

Anonymous asks readers of OCThen if they remember a guy in Santa Ana who went by the name, "Cheerio"...

Do you remember Cheerio? He was an old man who always seemed to hang around the parties in Santa Ana. Rumor had it that one of his kids was murdered which is why he told kids not to drink and drive. Do u guys remember him. I have always wondered what became of him.

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Growing Up A Marine Kid in Orange County

An anonymous OCThen reader submits some short bullet-point memories of growing in Orange County as a son of a Marine...

Living in Southern California was simply an adventure. This is coming from a born and raised North Carolina boy that was uprooted, because my stepfather was a Marine. Therefore, here are short bullets of my memories of the area:

1. Attended Santa Ana High School while our family waited for El Toro base housing.
2. Hit in the face at the bus stop, by a F-Troop gang member, because I would not give up my bus money.
3. Skateboarders everywhere.
4. Those wonderful orange groves.
5. El Toro Marine Corp Housing; I lived off of IWO Jima street.
6. An employee of the groceries/package store near the back gate.
7. Newport, and Laguna Beach parties.
8. Wrestling team at University High school.
9. Irvine High School (then only Freshmans and Sophmores) dance parties.
10. The California trend setters.
11. California surfers, loadies and jocks.
12. Disney Land with family and friends.
13. Knots Berry Farm
14. Mickey Mouse Club
15. My first car (1969 Opel Cadet)
16. Fred Delrio, Ken Dietre, and other friends.
17. Worked out at the Marine Corp gym all the time. The weight room was great, and so was the sauna room.
18. The base theatre with my friends. Saw Jaws there...

A lot of great memories...

He mentions F-Troop. I remember growing up in Santa Ana, attending Spurgeon Intermediate School, and seeing signs of F-Troop all over the place, and all the kids aspiring to become F-Troop members one day. And being a kid who moved up from San Diego, it took me awhile to figure out what F-Troop was; I kept thinking about the old sitcom show, and wondered why everyone was so obsessed with it.

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Delhi

OCTHen reader "Pat Nolen" recalls growing up in an area of Orange County known as "Delhi", and submits the following...

I grew up in Orange County, lived in area called "Delhi" where there was Orange groves and Sugar Beets growing, right outside of El Toro Helicopter Marine Base. I went to school at Smedley Junior High School, then on to Santa Ana Valley High School. I have not been there in years, it's my understanding the most of the black families no longer live there, (Latino population). Does anyone know if the public library has any yearbooks from 1968-69? I plan to visit the area in March 2009.
Much appreciated,

Pat Nolen @ Bflypat@yahoo.com

I never heard of Delhi. If you have some information or memories to share on this area, please post a comment below...

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