Darrell Strom

Remember the Roller Rink ? I doubt that it still exists.  Was it located at what we called "Old Base"?  That place was old then but we had a great time there. The closing  song  usually played was "To Know Him" or something like that.  Help me here !

Elizabeth "Betty Jo" Duquette (Nelson)

We'll see what our tour guides think, but I like the old highway idea even without the old landmarks.We'll  muster up the memories  What of the old teen club? Long gone?  Elizabeth (BJ)

John Young 62

Hi guys, I've looked at the recent pics in Google Earth and MUCH has changed. The Sierra Hwy has had a few additions and some stuff is gone. It was mostly nothing then and so it remains today but, a sight or two might rekindle memories. The base housing are is a total re-do. A, B, And C areas are gone as is the Capehart ((mid-higher NCO) and the  (?) area for lower to mid officers. Knob Hill seems intact. The old Officer's club is there but it is renamed with another use. The old Slush is gone; replaced with a modern burger joint. The Teen Club building is still there and the pool filled in but it isn't a teen place now. DHS seems to be unchanged as is the shopping area. The Hospital is there but it isn't a hospital any more. In short, none of us is going to get lost wandering the housing area but what our eyes see isn't what our memories see. The foundatins of the Bowling Alley and Roller rink are there but it will require a lot of imagination to recall how they were. I doubt that any "authorized" tour would take us to that forlorn and mostly forgotten site. The gas station remains but you can't get Richfield Boron for 32 cents. I posted a photo of the housing area on Sandi's site as it was circa 1962. Compare it to the newest one on Google Earth. You'll see what I mean.

Robert Nall

Hi All,

I think the old mid-level officers housing area that John refers to was called "Wherry" after the congressional bill that authorized the building of it.  In Dad's 2 tours at Edwards, we lived on 11th st first tour and 13th second tour.  I too would like to take the "old road" back to the base.  As i recall, you had to go through Rosamond to gain access through the west gate.

John Young 62

Robert, We lived on EAFB for 3 years and got moved twice; Yucca Dr. then Juniper Dr., both in the "A" area. Now for a technical observation. My dad was never assigned to EAFB. He was at the Radar Site at Boron. Thank goodness for luck. I got to spend my Soph, Jr, and Sr. years at DHS. USAF Brats just get used to a 3 or 4 year cycle, then move on. I was last ON base in 2000. Just drove up to the guard shack (over a much-smoothed roller coaster road from Rosemond), showed tons of ID, got a day-pass and had a great time visiting the housing area and the roller rink. I was in town for the 2000 reunion. Nowadays you can't get on base without a sponsor that's on base. No, I'm not active (ha,ha) or retired, just a citizen-Vet.

Terry Gunn

I'm not sure what Roller Rink John speaks of. As I remember the RR was the old basketball jim at old "South Base" most of which has been gone for decades. Last I was on base was some time in mid 2000's. Got on with my Dad. Stopped by my old house in Caphart which was empty. I didn't realize they were going to demolish all of the houses or I would have tried to get in. Would like to go out to Pancho's. Don Yeager and I swam out there a couple of times. Not in the pool but there was a resivor that had water in it. Looking foreward to next weekend. Ter

John Young 62

Glad to see that somebody noticed this message forum. It's a "no pressure" place to exchange stuff. As I remember it, you left the housing area, got to the gas station, made a right, and traveled a mile (?) on Lancaster Blvd. (?) to the Roller Rink and bowling alley on the left. There was a road there that went who-knows-where and if it was named, I didn't know it. I think there was a hanger out there with a couple of X15s hidden away. The APs got a bit excited if we wandered that way. I guess  the area was called South Post. Sad that I won't be at this reunion. Maybe next time....

Elizabeth "Betty Jo" Duquette (Nelson)

Hi John, 

Off the subject of directions, roller rinks, and old roads. I want to thank you for two  things. The first one is the scanned  map of the base at the time we lived there (with your connotations.)  I did compare it to the goggle earth map and it was illuminating to see the changes. And second, thank you so much for scanning the old yearbooks. All of mine have disappeared. I bet they went out with a pile of other books during one of my parent's frequent moves. I did manage to get a copy of 1963 at one point, but I had not seen the 1962 or 1964 for 50 years.  On a more personal note, if I dare include it here,  I still remember Latin with Mr. Barney, you, and Johnny Yamada. We really had some fun times. And guess what? Some of that Latin did help me out just as he said it would and I now know a lot of people who buy their reading glasses at the drug store.  

Anthony Mulvey

Dear Classmates

due to a injury to my achilles tendon and surgery on may 9th - I will not be able to attend the reunion.. I want to thank Dorothy H. and Heather and Ron for their efforts to put this together and hope you all have a great time at the reunion

Call me at my number when you can - 207- 812-0137

Sincerly

Tom Mulvey...

Elizabeth "Betty Jo" Duquette (Nelson)

Hi Tom,

I'm sorry to hear about your injury and that you won't be able to make it to the reunion. We'll certainly miss you! As we don't live all that  far away from one another, I hope we'll meet up one of these days. Take good care. BJ

Robert Nall

Hi Tom,

Sorry to hear about your injury.  Son in law just went thru the same thing so have lots of empathy.  Was looking forward to getting reacquainted with you.  Hopefully some other time.  All the best.

Bob

John Young 62

BJ, Thanks for your note here. A BIG thanks to Sandi Safranec for hosting/maintaining a GREAT website for all us Scorpions. I've tried to contribute and it was my pleasure to scan my yearbooks and a few other folks let me scan other years. _____Now, personal we get; If I were able to attend this reunion YOU would be the person I would most like to see. I remember you well and you are one of three gals that I wish I had paid more attention to at DHS. From the postings and pictures it looks like we have all had a fine half-century with no need to do "what if." ... Maybe, someday..., Cheers, John

William Steshko Jr.

Many, many thanks to Heather, Ron, Dorthy, Sam and any others who engineered our 50th reunion. I had a ball and it sure looked like everyone else did too. I greatly appreciate the efforts y'all went through to make the week end so successful.

As much as I enjoyed getting together with all of my DHS '64 Classmates, I will admit that I suffered a pang or two of melancholy on the trip home... Kinda wish now that I had made the  other gatherings.... And can't help but wonder why I never asked any of you lovely ladies to dance when we were kids and still capable of sudden movements - thanks to all of you brave enough to do a spin with me this time, I'm sure your toes will heal.  Got an equal kick out of the stories from the guys and was fascinated by the diverse paths we all found in life - wish I had been more involved in everyone's journey.  

We are in the Washington DC area ( and Sam Hotchkiss lives nearby) so when that urge strikes to see your Nation's capital, send an email to steshkow@aol.com and you might get a free drink.

Love to all,

Bill 

Marguerite Revai 68 (Cruz)

Hi Heather & Sam:

I just wanted to thank you for finding me and 

Inviting me to the reunion .  I think I was the

youngest but I did have super fun.  Thanks for all the 

Work you both put into I do know how much work it

is helping with two or three other reunions. 

Thank you so much. Marguerite (Peggy) Revai Cruz    

Class of 1968 

Elizabeth "Betty Jo" Duquette (Nelson)

Dear Classmates,

Fifty years later and shiny new memories to add to the old ones!  Hats off to  Heather, Sam, Ron, and Dorothy for making it happen. 1964 grads-what a resilient group.  I don't think we missed a beat in re-connecting and growing our friendships.

Best to All,

B.J. 

John Young 62

Hi all,

Is anyone going to post their own snapshots of the reunion in this (and Sandi's)  site's photo page? Of course they shouldn't be pro-quality to conflict with the "memory book." I'll guess that there were a dozen or more cameras clicking away? "Here's looking at you, kid."

Michael Page

I was just looking at the photo's that Rick Yellen sent in and it reminded me of one of my best teachers, his dad. If my fading memory is correct, Mr. Yellen started teaching at Desert in our junior or senior year. He taught mainly "bonehead" courses, for those of us that we're not on a "college prep" track. The reason I refer to Mr Yellen as one of my best teachers is he took the time in his senior math and science classes to teach us about things we needed to know to get along in life......he knew that most of us were not headed off to college, he also realized that we needed to know about things like compound interest, vehicle registration, how to operate a checkbook, renting an apartment, buying a car, finding a job, keeping a job, saving for the future, and the list goes on and on. He wasn't the easiest teacher to get along with, but if he told you something you could take it to the bank. What I learned in his class has been the basis for my success in both my personal and professional life.

None of what he taught us about life was part of any lesson plan, but his class gave us a greater understanding of terms like Character, Integrity, Responsibility and Accountability. Rick Yellen had a great dad.

William Steshko Jr.

Well said, Mike, and spot on. At the time, I thought his " life tips " were just the divergent musings of an " old guy".... Til I got older and realized Mr. Yellen was a "mature guy" sharing his wisdom with us. I also remember his humor - often delivered in several layers that many ( most ) of us missed at the time.  Rick may have a different perspective, from a son's point of view, but Mr. Yellen was my favorite, too. 

Then there was Mrs. Lindsey! I truly thought her life mission was to torture me personally.  Oh how I dreaded her class. Then life happened and I found myself using the skills she pile-drove into my head in my job and in my social relationships. Now, I will tell you that I made/still make my living off of the things she taught me. 

I trust that Mr. Yellen and Mrs. Lindsey and the other teachers of their ilk, know what a legacy they left us.

Let's pray that each of us has positively influenced lives we touched as they did ours.

Richard Yellen

While at the reunion Ron Hindmarsh and I disagreed about what color (purple or while) DHS players wore for home versus away games.  I said that we wore white at home and purple away.  Ron Handmarsh said the opposite.  Guess what?  I checked out some old photos and Ron is correct.  We wore white away.  Of course I went out and burned every single old photo that might prove me wrong in the future--[smiley face goes here]

Ron Hindmarsh

Gadzooks, I was right!  Purple vs. white does get confusing because it seems most of the DHS yearbooks used white for team photos--take a look at our senior year picture, and also the '62 class book.  Rick, thanks for posting your photos--it was a nice surprise to see the team photo from our junior year (white jerseys), but it was not the photo used in the yearbook.  It's a great picture.  I didn't have a copy of that one, so it was nice to see it.

Mike and Bill--great comments and thoughts about memorable DHS teachers.  During the reunion, several of us had a conversation about how fortunate we were to have the teachers we had at DHS.  Mrs.Lindsey was a task master, but she really prepared me for college.  Maybe the only thing that got in the way at the time was our (my) immaturity to appreciate what they were trying to do.

Michael Ludeman 61

Hi Folks:
FWIW:  Yeah, as near as most of us recall PURPLE was "usually" home jersey, and away was usually WHITE!  The real reason why most all of the team-pics were WHITE:    photos taken on the practice-field in practice-jerseys during practice.

Footprints '60 Varsity FB is white & JV is purple.

FootPrints '59 Varsuty FB is white & JV Purple ... Var-BasketBall purple, but action shots in our gym were obvisouly white.   Hummmmm?  So much for traditions!  A few years ago we heard the DHS teams wanted to incorporate a solid-black uniform w/purple/white tracers. Unsure if that ever occured?

Other exceptions, I do not recall. Scorpions, nevertheless. Mike Ludeman (DHS'61)

Thomas Wright

Hi guys.  Do you remember when we still had some of the old leather helmets withiout face guards?  I had one for a while, as it was difficult finding a plastic helmet large enough for me (8 3/4!!), which plagued me everywhere I went.  We were in the midst of changing over to the new plastic helmets, which had one bar for your face.  Sophamore year some of us got the new multi-bar helmets, which weighed a ton.  It was hard to keep your helmet up, and a few times I missed a tackle or throw because the helmet had dropped down over my eyes.

Do you remember Mr. Cummings?  He was a rather imposing guy . . . very rotund . . . played professionally with the Bears I believe.  Anyway, when he'd give advice, we listened, that's for sure.  He taught drivers' training, and he was pretty loose with the rules.  One day I was in the car with Rich Branch, Mike Vandiver, and I believe Mike Shafer.  We were just cruising along, when a half dozen AP trucks roared up and surrounded us, all bearing rifles.  We had to get out a spread eagle.  They fired a lot of questions at us, and wanted to know what we were up to.  Hey, we were 16 years old!  Mr. Cummings had to do a lot of fast talking.  Turns out we were driving down a restricted road which went to the X-15 hanger.  Needless to say, we were a lot more vigilant as to where we were going.

Anyone else remember?

Jacalyn Wickline (Ryberg)

Dear Classmates...........

Do you remember what 6 - 4 - 64  was?
Our graduation day from high school 50 years ago.   Seems like yesterday.

Was so wonderful that folks came from across the US to get together last month at our reunion.  Have a wonderful day and if you ever get to southern New Mexico call or email and we'll get together.  We are on the cross roads of I-25 and I-10 in Las Cruces, NM.

MANY, MANY, MANY thanks to Heather and Sam, Dorothy, and Ron for bringing us together again.
 

Take care,
Jacky (Wickline) Ryberg

Michael Page

Hard date to forget, 6/4/64, on the 5th I left to join the Army, I couldn't wait to be out on my own, see the world, and experience life outside the confines of Edwards AFB. Basic training at Ft Ord, Commo school at Ft Monmouth NJ, and off to Frankfort, Germany. In June of 65 the Army asked for volunteers to serve in Viet Nam and being a young dumb ass, I raised my hand. Not my brightest decision, I could have stayed in Germany and sat out Viet Nam. But hey, I was not going to experience life sitting on the side lines. Did my year with Military Assistance Command Viet Nam (MACV) in Da Nang. Other than falling out of a jeep one time I got home without a scratch. The experience though is still pretty much always in the back of my mind and something I think about often.

Nancy and I sure hated to miss the reunion but appreciated seeing all the pictures. One thing that confused us though, who were all those "old" people on the tour and at the dinner.......did a lot of 64 grads bring their parents?

Iris Buss (Sasaki)

LOL!  Yes, I think that everytime I see everyone's photos.  It never occurred to me that I was one of them!