San Diego Baseball Historian
Through the best of times and the worst of times, I have been Santa Claus at the Organ Pavilion for San Diego’s “December Nights in the Park.” I have watched many babies grow up on my lap. I’ve had kids bring their babies back to see me. I may not know their names, but I do recognize their faces and share their joy. Santa has been their friend since 2002. He’s always glad to see them again. Continue reading “A Tale of Two Parades”
Clairemont has been under quarantine for two months. How are residents dealing with “the new normal?” The following comments and observations are from a broad, cross-section of people who call Squaremont home.
Longtime Clairemont resident Diane Crane has been a nurse for 40 years. She works at a large San Diego health care system managing the corona virus epidemic.
She stated, “Working there shows me the impact of illness on families and patients. The sick patients are in the hospital alone without the support of their families. Fortunately the use of cell phones and iPads help out a lot.” Continue reading “Quarantine in Clairemont (2020)”
These are perilous times. Although the younger generation is physically and financially threatened by the corona virus, they still have to venture into the world to carry on with their lives and to help others.
In the meantime, most Clairemont seniors have found safety in “house arrest.”
Ironically, the first San Diego resident officially placed on house arrest over 40 years ago was a Clairemont juvenile. Today, he would be a senior citizen under new guidelines for house arrest. Continue reading “House Arrest in Clairemont (2020)”
Today, Clairemont is under house arrest.
On January 1, 1977, Section 840 of the California Welfare and Institutions Code (home supervision/house arrest) became law:
“Home supervision is a program in which persons who would otherwise be detained in the juvenile hall are permitted to remain in their homes pending court disposition of their cases, under the supervision of a deputy probation officer, probation aide, or probation volunteer.” Continue reading “House Arrest in Clairemont (1977)”
The “C” word is very scary.
It is difficult to accept or even say out loud when it applies to you.
I didn’t want to talk about it.
Former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz offered this pithy advice: “Never tell your problems to anyone… 20% don’t care and the other 80% are glad you have them.”
In November 2019, a “punch biopsy” from my forehead revealed a “malignant spindle cell sarcoma.” Continue reading “The “C” word is very scary”
The local Police Blotter can be found in every edition of The Clairemont Times. Criminal activity in large cities is a serious matter. Residents want to feel safe and secure in their homes and neighborhoods.
Crime reporting in small town newspapers is also taken very seriously, but can be trivial and often hilarious. Continue reading “Crime in Farmington”
Before there was Elvis, Bobbysoxers in the early 1940s were screaming for Frank Sinatra. World War II was raging, but on the Homefront, it was the era of Big Band music and ration books.
On January 19, 2020, at Dizzy’s in Arias Hall behind the Musicians’ Association building on Morena Boulevard, 80-year-old band leader Rey Vinole turned over his baton to Ray Fisher to ensure the Big Band jazz sound will survive in San Diego. Continue reading “Keeping Big Band Music Alive”
Shortly before the winter break, a meeting of the Site Governance Team at Lindbergh-Schweitzer Elementary School was held on December 19, 2019.
Kristen Straeter, a preschool special education teacher, apologized for being late. She had just come from making gingerbread houses with her students and reported that some of the gumdrops actually made it onto the houses. Continue reading “History Uncovered: Lindbergh-Schweitzer”
It’s 2020! How did this happen so fast? Before you know it, it will be 2100.
Thanks to the following readers who sent e-mails to “Squaremont” during 2019. In a tradition dating back to 2016, you have been selected for inclusion in “Who’s Who in Clairemont: 2020.”
The Clairemont Town Council recently forwarded a message about plans for a 2020 ground breaking to modernize the Lindbergh Schweitzer Elementary School site. There is also a movement to rename the school:
The site governance team (SGT), which consists of students, families, staff and some community members, has a list of recommended names in order of preference:
Continue reading “Why rename Lindbergh Schweitzer Elementary School?”
“Suppose you are a woman, happily married, that you have a 21-months-old daughter, and that you know something valuable to the state in a murder trial; but that to reveal what you know will turn a shadow of rumor and suspicion upon yourself and probably cost you your future happiness, your husband and your child. What would you do?”
In March 2016, while my wife and I were dining at Troy’s Family Restaurant in the Clairemont Square, an attractive and charismatic African-American woman was enthusiastically telling owner Pete Likomitros that she had just crashed the Oscars show in Hollywood. There had been bitter controversy that year, because, for the second consecutive season, only white actors were nominated for Academy Awards.
Longtime Clairemont resident Jack Carpenter is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. This honor was bestowed for “outstanding contributions to the profession.” Jack contacted me in June 2018 about Mid-Century Modern architecture and the SOHO (Save Our Heritage Organisation) self-guided driving tour booklet for Clairemont.
Continue reading ““The House the Whole Town’s Talking About””
People have joked that my office is the food court at the Morena Boulevard Costco. I have certainly enjoyed meeting many interesting people under the red and white Kirkland umbrellas.
Last month, I was approached by a friendly woman who had previously overheard me talking baseball. Since I was alone at this time, she asked if I was a Padres fan. That’s all it took to start a lengthy conversation about baseball, Clairemont and life.
It took 22 years for McDonald’s to turn a profit with vegan burgers in India.