John Davies

I remember in Mrs. Spacke's 4th grade class, we used to have races there in the city park next to the elementary school.  I think Faith Ann Bryan and Cecilia Sanchez were the fastest two girls in class, so they were always in the "championship race".  Faith Ann was about 5 feet 6 inches tall and Cecilia was about 4 feet 6 inches tall.  When they ran, Cecilia ran in a leaning forward position, and Faith Ann ran leaning back.  It was the funniest thing to watch.  (I miss them both!) Remember the yardstick Mrs. Spacke always carried??  Does anyone have a "Miss Bagwell" story??  Mine:  In 8th grade, someone had "borrowed" some red clay from the art department.  Everyone then brought straws from the cafeteria.  We used the straws as pea shooters and shot little balls of red clay at the clock up on the wall.  Of course, Miss Bagwell was often oblivious to these activities.  Finally someone asked her what time it was.  You can imagine her response when she looked up and saw little balls of red clay stuck all over the clock and wall.  Ahhh, those were the days.............

Roger Longcrier

Happy Birthday to all the August babies.  August is a good month!  Sorry to hear about Faith Ann.  She lived 1/2 block from me growing up. I remember we played "kick the can" in the summer months until we thought we were to grown up for such childish games.  And she could never hide very well playing hide and seek.  Such fond memories.  It saddens me to hear about the loss of a childhood friend.

I remember Miss Bagwell daily saying "You foolish people".  Not sure who she was referring to, but by the end of the class it was always "Longcrier, get in the hall". Guess she may have been referring to me!!!!!!!!!

I can not thank the Reunion Committee enough for their efforts in putting together such an unforgettable weekend.  Also, how much I appreciate  Janette and Ken for opening their home to all of us.   It was great to see everyone, and share stories about the past and about their life journeys.

Look forward to keeping in touch and to the BIG Birthday party in 2 years.

Roger

John Davies

THS Class of 1970.....

OK, so we all graduated from Tehachapi High,

Class of '70; somehow 40 years have slipped by.

We may have lost a step or two in our hop,

Maybe thicker in the middle, shinier on top!

We talk about the times from years gone by,

As if we are old, which we ALL know is a lie!!

We are still young and beautiful - yeah, that's right!

Wearing that Warrior baseball cap, not a gray hair in sight.

We are just as good as we always were,

And wish those people would stop calling us ma'am and sir.

These kids nowadays, they don't know beans.

They know nothing of the Captain or Mister Greenjeans!

Elementary school lunches were thirty-five cents,

Buck and a half for a weekly ticket made a lot of sense.

Chili beans and cornbread were the mid-week meal,

Fishsticks on Friday, that was the deal.

You know, we were sometimes bad, but in a respectable way.

We hopped on our bikes every Saturday and were gone all day.

How we survived without a cell phone, computer or a video game,

Is a mystery for today's kids, but it's our claim to fame.

We learned life's lessons and learned them well.

Our Mom's and Dad's prepared us, it's easy to tell.

We looked out for each other, no matter what they say,

We got the most of every minute, every hour, every day.

Lest we not forget our friends of yesteryear,

Who have passed on, leaving in our eyes a tear.

Barbara, Jean, Faith Ann, Shelly, Vivian, Terry, Jok, and Lee,

Rosie, Cecilia, Frank, Paul, Diane, Donna, Kenny, Sharon, Willie, and Dee.

We have been most fortunate, that is very clear.

Our friends and families grow bigger each year.

Looking forward to our next time together of stories and fun,

When we reach our forever age of fifty-nine.....plus one!!

Thanks to the class of '70.....you're all the best......

John Davies

Thanks for the kind words.  Please feel free to use the poem as you wish.  We really were lucky to have grown up and witnessed first hand a time where the world was transitioning into the space age, Beattles, Kennedy, Elvis, nuclear scares that didn't happen, our parents making sure our lives were better than theirs, chili beans and corn bread at lunch, and so much other great stuff!!  It is nice to reminisce with the "old gang".  I was hoping to hear more stories from our childhood (or later!).  I can still hear Mr. Capanas in English class saying "Mr. Daveeez, are you 'chawin guuum'??"  I gulped and then responding "Uhh, no!".  Then he gave me "the scraper" and asked me to clean the gum off the bottoms of the desks in the row I was sitting, "just in case I ever did decide to 'chaw guuum' in his class".  I think that class had the cleanest desk undersides in the whole school!!!!  I never did learn what a "dangling participle" was, but he taught me to keep a clean desk!!

John Davies

I received an email showing a video attached to Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire" song.  It was written to show the world history of Joel's first 40 years of life (born in '49).  It was interesting....reminded me of many of the things that we experienced in our early life.  It can be accessed by http://yeli.us/Flash/Fire.html.  Does anyone remember the time the kids from Mojave changed the Tehachapi "T" on the hillside to an "M"?  Bunch of crummy gangsters, they were.........