Reader Page

Memories of Calship

2009-10-07T01:25:40Z

   These are the people you talked to when you applied for a job at Calship in World War II. I am at the top left, the last one in the row.

   I had all of the job requisitions on my desk, and I assigned people to certain areas in the shipyard.

   Employment was located in Wilmington. We had to wear dresses. We were told that we were the Calship Front Door and they wanted us to make a good impression.

   I wonder how many people living in the area today remember when they were hired at the Employment Office.

   Near the end of the war the Employment Office closed and I was transferred to Progress and Statistics.

   I was standing on the balcony of the rigging loft when the war ended. Tears of joy were rolling down my cheeks. Whistles were blowing and people were yelling. Now my husband would be coming home.

   He had been drafted for the war when our son was 2 months old, and he was gone for 2" years. He had worked in the bookkeeping department of the Long Beach Press-Telegram.

   Bill French and I graduated from Poly High School in 1936.

   ... Evelyn Kelley French

   Read about Calship online at http://shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/4emergency/wwtwo/kcalifornia.htm, or check out the Web site of the floating museum, the SS Lane Victory, at www.lanevictory.org.

Roving Readers: Ireland and Korea, 1951

2009-10-07T01:19:20Z

Candace Kelly-Hodge and husband Mike were visiting Ireland on their honeymoon and slipped in a side trip and visit to Mike's aunt, Sister Joan of the Carmelite Order of Nuns. The picture was taken in Dolgellau (pronounced doll-geath-ee) in Wales, where Sister Joan's monastery is located. Sister Joan recently turned 80. At one point she served as a nun in Long Beach. Candace and Mike originally planned to get married on a beach but the caution that the Bible says that marriage should be build on a foundation of rock caused them to set their sights on higher ground ... they wed at Long Beach's iconic Sky Room.

Gordon (Corky) Abbott of Long Beach may be taking the Roving Reader concept to new heights. This timeout with the P-T occurred in 1951 in the unfriendly countryside of Korea. Corky, at right, was sharing some of his mom's carrot cake with his buddies, from left, "Crawford,'' of California; "Monroe,'' of Ohio; and "Patterson,'' of Minnesota (GIs traditionally fondly recall friends on a last-name basis). Corky delivered the morning Independent and sold the afternoon paper on the corner of American (now Long Beach Boulevard) and Anaheim during World War II.

My favorite photo is 100 years old

2009-10-07T01:16:59Z

Naples resident Mary Barry displays her favorite photo of her mother and father, Dott and Donald McMaster, on a fishing trip to Catalina in 1908. He caught a 60-pound black sea bass, and she caught a 40 pound yellowtail which set a "world's record for lady anglers'' on light tackle. They both soon moved to the Peninsula in Long Beach where Mary grew up with her sister Joan and brother Donald on the bay next to Chrisman's Galley.

Band leader still swinging at 92

2009-09-25T23:27:51Z

Sunday marks the 20th anniversary of Big Swing Band music performances at El Dorado Community Center with Fred Nied, 92, setting the pace. Fred, a retired cruise ship captain, organized the swing band of retired seniors, all professional musicians, and he hasn't missed a beat after 1,650 performances

... Ceci Julian

Honored by faith group for her service

2009-09-25T23:23:43Z

Long-time Long Beach resident Judith Haywood-Johnson, president of the Ministers' Wives and Ministers' Widows of Inglewood and Vicinity, was honored by the Baptist Ministers' Conference of Los Angeles and Southern California. She received a plaque presented by its president, Bishop L. Daniel Williams which said, ``...for your outstanding community service in making this world a better place to live, work, and play.'' Judith is a nurse who teaches her patients at the Health Care Partners cardiac care unit how to stay healthy after illness. She and her husband, the Rev. D. Lyle Johnson, are proud grandparents of 20 or more grandchildren. Judith serves in many capacities in the church; she is especially honored to be on the Mothers' Board of the New Hope Baptist Church of Long Beach and served on its Pulpit Search Committee.

... Dorothy Marks-Fontenot

Remembering school days

2009-09-25T23:21:19Z

   In July of this year some classmates from Bixby Elementary school and Stanford Jr. High, got together for a reunion, and we included our sixth grade teacher, the wonderful Mrs. Phyllis Goodwin.

   She looked fabulous and is such an encouraging person and an excellent teacher. Many of her former students think of her as their favorite teacher.

   It's been 31 years since we left Bixby to start our junior high careers. Mrs. Goodwin prepared us so well for junior high. We love her so much!

   Several times during our sixth grade year Mrs. Goodwin took us to see a play (a matinee) at Long Beach Civic Light Opera. She planned and organized everything ... the parents to drive, the tickets and the money for the tickets.

   She is such a blessing. She did this all on her own time and she was always available for her students. I remember one time she even came to my house.

   I have attached some pictures of Mrs. Goodwin and some of her students (now obviously adults).

   Some of these people were from Stanford Jr. High, but we welcome anyone that went to Bixby and was in sixth grade in 1978, or went to Stanford Jr. High and was in seventh grade in 1979.

   We had a great time!!!

   ... Dee-El Ruttman Dawe

In the picture: Steve McLaren with daughter Chloe, Lauren (Tatreau) Rochford, Bill Kribell, Regina Marchioni, Jean (O'Connor) Phillips, Dee-El (Ruttman) Dawe, Greg Chandler, Ron Veith, David Reinking. Judy Gass, Jean Phillips girls, Rachel (Orkin) Gahafer, Mrs. Goodwin, Lance Hunter, Heather Vaillancourt. Others in attendance but not in the picture were: Ruth (Orkin) Graves, Shannon (Hood) Nakamura, David Sorbo, Susie (Voytko) Patterson, Jill (Stacy) Kemock, Irene (Deis) Snyder, Michele Lucas and Nikki (Smith) Newman.

Roving Readers: L.B., Moscow, Boston, Rushmore, the Cape

2009-09-25T23:10:14Z

There were apparently no nametags needed for, from left, Kathy (Borza) McDonald, Candy (Cantwell) Abel, Mary (Almy) Johnson, Rick and Rhoda Cassell, Raulynne (Gonzalez) Johnson, Greg Frick and Chris (Gillies) Brannon at their 40th Jordan High School Reunion at the Maya Hotel in Long Beach.

Joyce Levitt of Long Beach, formerly with the World Clown Association, shares a Press-Telegram moment with Staphen, a headliner with the Nikoulin Moscow Circus, the 128-year-old extravaganza, during a recent visit to the Russian capital. We're still trying to decide if this qualifies as a Roving Reader, Cool Pet of the Week, or all of the above.

Ellen Swieck of Long Beach stopped over at the dazzling Boston Museum of Fine Arts during a recent literary tour of Massachusetts. Ellen was standing next to one of a pair of sculptures, called ``Night'' and ``Day'' by Spanish artist Antonio Lopez Garcia. The MFA acquired them last year right after hosting a retrospective of Lopez Garcia's paintings and sculpture and just in time for the reopening of its historic Fenway-side entrance. The sculptures flank the stairs of the Fenway entrance and were unveiled in June 2008. The museum is a gem in a city of gems and you can check it out at www.mfa.org.

Carolyn and Mike Milburn took a side trip while visiting friends in Jackson Hole, Wyo., in August and took a drive over to see Mount Rushmore, the legendary monument near Keystone, S.D. Almost 400 workers were employed in creating the sculptures from October of 1927 to October of 1941. It was extremely dangerous work there were no lives lost. Read about the monument online at www.nps.gov/moru.

The Fuller Family of Lakewood visited the Cape of Good Hope on a recent vacation to South Africa. From left, Jim, Danny, Kathy and Michael.

Best Shot: Contest winners' Zeppelin view

2009-09-20T22:44:48Z

Kay and Terry Cofield of Long Beach, winners of the Press-Telegram E-Edition Login promotion, took advantage of the Zeppelin ride portion of their prize to capture some stunning views from the Airshipventures Zeppelin flight over Long Beach and the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Kay and Terry showed off their Roving, ah, Flying Reader front page before boarding the airship. Hanging ominously in the background of their skyline view are the clouds of smoke still rolling up from the recent windfires above Los Angeles. Said Kay, "The staff, the preparations, the flight, the briefing/debriefing, all made for a really wonderful total experience.'' They also received a two-night stay on the Queen Mary as part of the prize package.

Two milestone birthdays

2009-09-20T22:42:57Z

Vera Enquist was honored at the Long Beach Officers Wives Club in celebration of her 100th birthday. Vera is a retired Army major who has served her country since 1941, when she graduated and came to an Army Hospital in Riverside. She served in Japan, Germany and San Francisco before moving to Lakewood in 1962. The club meets at the Long Beach Yacht Club the first Wednesday of each month.

-- Rhea Black

Viola Norman recently celebrated her 97th birthday. She was a sharecropper, she picked up cans in Long Beach for 30 years, she was known as the bag lady, and she attended First Providence Missionary Baptist Church at 801 Hill St. Long Beach until she became too ill to attend. Her favorite color is pink. She was born July 26,1912. She is of the Johnson clan in Scott, Arkansas, and she is the oldest citizen of the Sixth District in Long Beach.
-- Hattie Bass

Roving Readers: Kauai and London

2009-09-20T22:41:35Z

We are best friends and cousins enjoying an aloha family vacation at Waimea Canyon, Kauai, also known as The Grand Canyon of the Pacific, in July. We spent 10 days visiting Kauai and Oahu, relaxing on the beach and enjoying the beauty of the Hawaiian Islands. We are, front row, Kalea Trias, Malia Azucenas, Melia Takasagi, Katie Matsuguma, and back row, Danielle Pleta, KC Trias and Chelsay Matsugma. We're all from Cerritos.

Carol and Robert Larson of Long Beach, with grandsons CJ and Cristian Sanchez, in front of the Imperial War Museum in London on a trip in June.

Helping out somebody

2009-09-01T03:22:45Z

Help Somebody Ministries sponsors a clothes giveaway every other month at 2091 Lewis Ave. in Long Beach. On Aug.22, we sponsored a Clothes and School Supplies Giveaway. God truly blessed us to be a blessing ... we gave out 85 backpacks and school supplies, along with many, many clothing items and shoes. You can see our Web site at www.helpsomeministry.com.

... Pastor Kimberlyn Jones

Beach Day: Hospital transformed

2009-09-01T03:21:46Z

Members of the Long Beach Fire Department Kid's program, composed of on-duty and off-duty members, participated in the annual Beach Fest Day at Miller Children's Hospital.

   A large conference room was transformed into a tropical beach setting, with the backdrop of a sizable screen projecting moving fish amongst a coral reef. There were balloon dolphins floating through the air, plastic lobsters and crabs on the tables, kiddie pools on the floor, and even food shaped like sea creatures.

   Members from the LBFDKid's and Miller Hospital greeted the children wearing straw hats and leis, and then escorted the children to various activities. Their first activity was to pick either a visor or plastic fire helmet to decorate, which they wore throughout the event, and to receive their very own book bag, with ``goodies'' provided through the generous donations received by the LBFDKid's. Pictures were then taken in grass skirts, between two blown up palm trees, and some of the children chose to hold or pet one of the two ``comfort dogs'' in their pictures

   Kids played games, stopped at a face- painting station, and even saw a large blown bubble presentation. This is a fun event for young and old, and the hospital staff was very gracious in expressing their gratitude for the LBFDKid's participation at this event.

   The next scheduled LBFDKid's event is the Halloween Trick or Treat Day on Oct.31 from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.

   LBFDKid's volunteers visit the rooms of all the children and then lead a parade throughout the hospital, where children dressed in their costumes trick or treat throughout the facility.

70 years and counting

2009-09-01T03:17:18Z

Former residents of Long Beach and Lakewood Marks Lee and Dorothy Willett, were honored in an open house reception held in the Oregon Medford Masonic Lodge on Aug. 15.

The event was given by their four daughters, Jackie Reichard, Jo Bonde, Margaret Alfaro, Marsha Marolda, and granddaughter Gina Healey. Also present were five grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

The Willetts were raised in West Virginia, where they were married on Aug. 20, 1939. They moved to Long Beach in 1946 and raised their family. In 1973, they retired and moved to Cave Junction, Ore.

Roving Readers: S.D., Md., N.Z.

2009-09-01T03:15:03Z

The Crazy Horse Monument, still under construction, looms behind Darlene Kribell of Long Beach and her granddaughter, Ashley Kribell of Lakewood. They were visiting the Black Hills of South Dakota in July.

Darlene Mee and Peggy Folger Miller have been best friends since Rogers Middle School days, and they took a recent journey to New Zealand. They're checking out the steaming mud flats in Rotorua, at the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland Park.

Lauren and Matthew Harting and Shannon Flynn celebrate the Lakers NBA championship during a stop in front of the Maryland State House in Annapolis on their annual history-themed trip. George Washington came before Congress there to resign his commission in the only state Capitol building that has served as the nation's Capitol.

Making a sacrifice for a friend

2009-08-16T00:59:20Z

This is a story of love on several levels.

My son and grandson, John and Joey Murtaugh, had their heads shaved on St. Baldrick's Day at Recreation Park to help raise funds for children's cancer research. They were motivated to join the campaign by Joey's St. Cyprian schoolmate, Aaron Rutz, whose story as a pediatric cancer survivor has been in the Press-Telegram in the past. This is John's second year of sacrificing his locks. Joey, 10, is looking forward to doing it for six more years so that he can then become a Knight of St Baldrick's. Mmm-mmm, love is wonderful.

... Shirley Murtaugh, Signal Hill