June IS A GREAT MONTH ..... for Birthdays

Russ... June 1st
Wayne... June 2nd
Patti... June 11th
Nisa... June 18th
Susan S... June 19th

Fifty Three Years Young.....PS Thanks Nisa ....who else would know I love "GARLIC" and "Peppermint Altoids"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RICKY!!!!!!!!!!!!

THEY SAY IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY - HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!!!!!!

HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY! - WITH LOTS OF GARLIC!!!!!!!

Cathy Verette

This is my first blog, so bare with me everyone. After I graduated from OLPH my family moved to Petaluma, I attended Keliworth Jr High School for 9th grade. We moved back to Daly City a year later and I attended Westmoor High School my Sophmore , Junior and Senior Years. I then went to Skyline Jr College for a short time.

I met my husband Michael while working at KFC on Mission Street in Daly City. We got engaged in 74' and married later that same year. I still live in the bay area in Contra Costa County. We have three children all adults now. My son Michael is 33 yrs old, married with three boys, Derek, Zack, and Niko. My daughter Sharon is soon to be 30 yrs old, married with a son Jayden. My youngest daughter Deanna, is 27 years old divorced , with two children, Brianna, (our only granddaughter and the princess of the family) and Anthony. I have had two careers, I managed and co owned a KFC franchise for 16 years with my husband. And I am currently employed with Wells Fargo Bank as a underwriter in their Auto Finance Divison. I have been employed with the bank for the past 19 years.

I have some fond memories of my time at OLPH. I started in second grade, we lived on Irvington street and our back yard faced the convents back yard. My brothers and sisters and I used to spy on the sisters all the time. We always thought we would catch them doing something. They disappointed us though, they only did gardening and had tea on the patio.

In second grade someone dared me to go into the boys bathroom to see what it looked like.
I took the dare, ran in the bathroom, looked around and ran back out right into Sister Mary Johanna. I was morified, but luckily she didn't scold me too badly.

I loved having lunch in the caffeteria, the hamberger gravy over mashed potatoes was my favorite meal . And my absolut favorite desert was the candied apples. And the caffeteria ladies would give us some of candy coating. It was like taffy and we could pull it and eat it.

And then there's my concussion in 4th grade, getting knocked unconsious and waking up on one of the nun's lap. Not knowing how I got there. I liked the ride to the hospital in the ambulance with the sirens blaring. I remember all the nice get well cards everyone sent home for me.

I remember our transistor radios at lunch in 8th grade, my favorite song "On the dock of the bay" playing. But mostly I remember all of the faces of everyone I went to school with, through all othe years, and all of our teachers. Sister MaryJohanna, Sister Loretta Marie, Miss O' Keefe, Sister Mary Corina, Miss Votaw, Sister Carol and Sister Elaine.

I was sad to hear about our classmates that have passed on. Mary Fode was the first person to befriend me in second grade. I used to go to her house on the weekends and her family was very friendly and gracious to me. Peter R Martin, lived around the corner from me, and I played Yahtzee for the first time at his house. I remember Laura Murphy and Carol Thrush being best friends. Ted Reed was always nice, and the last time I saw Roland, I was in high school and I remember how nice it was to talk to him about how he was doing at the time.

So I hope I haven't bored you all, I enjoyed going down memory lane. And I'm looking forward to seeing everyone at our reunion.

Not the Edge of the World ...but you can see it from there !!!

brinnnng ! brinnng !.....Let's see , it's midnight and I wonder who would be calling at this hour ...Thank goodness this call didn't interrupt Jay Leno's monologue .. It can only be one of two people ....person one is my sister Karen ......she has one speed in life .....FULL TILT....out of her way or you will be breathing dust and eating pavement ...My sis works for an Attorney who has offices on both coasts.....sleep is not an option but rather an inconvenience because after her 75 plus hour work week you will find her at one of the many Peninsula Tennis Clubs ( she is ranked in the Northern Calif NTSA Womens 4.0 category and she likens this part of her day as Therapy....Tennis is truly her passion ) , OR ..out Salsa Dancing with her best friend Prima from their St John's Ursiline days.....Since I had already fixed her plumbing issues at her condo earlier in the day , and I had briefed her on the outcome ( no more leaks and hot water is working ) ...it could only be one other person ........" Hello , Rick did I wake you ? " "Not at all NISA. What's up ?".............You see, Nisa and I had promised to touch bases every other week , and since we are both night owls , midnight is a good time to catch up on all the re-union plans ....go over who has returned calls .....who do we track down next ??? ..(.which reminds me ...Nisa has found Sue S . in Sparks , Nev......We are all looking forward to catching up on the good news from her neck of the woods......) Nisa and I swap more BACK IN THE DAY , TOP OF THE HILL , BACK IN THE 'HOOD stories ......now, this particular night we talked about the advantages of her living in Cottonwood, Ca and my coming back to the advantages of The Top of the Hill ,Daly City ...First of all where the heck is Cottonwood ....."It's not the Edge of the World , but you can see it from there " Please tell me you saw that coming...anyway I think it is 30 miles north of Chico .... she says it's real quiet there .....I say it is usually quiet here in Daly City except for the midnite phone calls, the drone of the BART trains, the jack hammering down on Hillside Blvd, and the police sirens every 15 minutes.....she says her neighbors are far enough away that it's very serene and peaceful ......I say that my neighbors are a work in progress ..everyone seems to own four cars and on Thursday and Fridays we all play the game MOVE YOUR CAR BECAUSE IT'S STREET SWEEPING DAY OR WIN A $ 50 PARKING TICKET....she says her commute is really easy ...I say pound sand .....she says it's really sunny and hot .....I start to cry !!!!!........For your information fellow Alums , Nisa is a land baron and they call her MS TRUMP because of her Real Estate holdings .....I think she owns half of Cottonwood .....Here is an Aerial View......OK . OK .....maybe not half of Cottonwood , but at least a hillside worth .....I've already staked out a plot of land on her property for my end of summer camping trip this year ...SEE YOU IN SEPTEMBER !!.....kidding .......There is a silver lining in coming back to The 'Hood ....back to The Top of the Hill....Nisa , you may have your 115 degree Summer days .....I'll take the 56 degree days for now .....you can have your peace and quiet....I'll take the sound of a neighbors flushing toilet for now........you may have your chores ....i'll take the stores......you can have fresh air .......I'll take Times Square....You are my friend ....good bye City Life ...Green Acres we are .........OK Please tell me you saw this one coming .......What does the Top of the Hill offer ???? ......MILLION DOLLAR VIEWS and great memories .......it is something I grew up with and have always kept with me wherever I moved ...The views from the hills behind my house.....As kids , anybody that lived near the Bellevue Ave corridor , the Hillside blvd corridor , East Vista , Muirwood , Hey we have our Cottonwood too, Tallwood, Garwood , Gambetta , sounding familiar ???.....we hiked those hills till dusk ......I bought $ .25 cent paper kites from the Sprouse -Reitz at Knowles and Mission at the Top of the Hill , a couple balls of string ......tore up my Dad's underdrawers for a kite tail and off I went ....The kite would take off getting smaller and smaller from view ....and when I was tired of the flying , I would cut the line and let it go, go , go !!!....here's the view I 'm talking about ...the first aerial is X MARKS THE SPOT........From this aerial you should be able to make out where OLPH is in relation to the yellow X ...I've marked where Vista Grande used to be ..You should be able to make out .the Mission St / Hillside merge .....The horseshoe shape of East Vista Ave...and the start of San Bruno Mountains...........

Nisa , You can have your slice of Heaven ...Let me have mine ..............

Now If I did this correctly you should be able to click on this panoramic I 've created ......you should be able to save it and open it up in one of your picture viewers to enjoy the full size view..It's the image of what I will always remember ....

Not so much the newer bldgs , but the fact that as a youngster I could cut through my back yard and in just a few minutes get to a spot on the hill and look out to the Pacific Ocean , Lake Merced, spy on Westmoor High , Broadmoor Village , Jefferson High ( they are in the process of revamping the Football stands ...That's why they are missing in this picture ......

.....Well I hope you've enjoyed.....I know that many of you are in your very own Shangrai -La's, but I hope you don't forget the jewel that we once shared here at THE TOP OF THE HILL....

Happy Father's Day to all of you alums who are Dad's, and to those whose own Fathers are still around sharing with kids, grandkids and great-grandkids .......

And for those of you who would like to call me at Midnight , .......

" Hi, You've reached Rick's residence.......I'm not able to answer the phone at this moment , but if you would be kind enough to leave your name and number at the beep, I'll gladly get back with you as soon as I am able .......Thanks for calling , and I will talk to you very soon "

BEEEEEP ..............

Patti finally adds her 2cents

I have never done this before and it took me awhile to get signed on but here I am. Before I fell asleep last night I remembered standing outside the front doors until a group of us were there before we went into the yard, with our matching navy pea coats, double breasted with silver buttons. I remember, candy apples, popcorn sales, ice cream bars fudgesicles, and 50/50 bars that your tongue would stick to. I have pictures of some of my partys which by the way because my birthday was the last day of school was why my parents would let me have a party, Then my dad went deer hunting in September so I could have a slumber party then. But with 3 older sisters our house was always a party house. I have lots of fond memories of OLPH and I am reminded of them daily as I work at a catholic school, St.Patrick in Larkspur, and when I supervise on the asphalt yard it brings those memories back to me. the boys and girls get to play with each other. I remember playing red-rover too, somebody mentioned that, as I was one of the light people who could not break through arms very well. Nesa I did do a blog the other day and you were the only one to see it at the time I had just created my own blog sight and not on the OLPH one which I am on now. So I am going to tell you all a little about me since I left OLPH. I went to Jefferson High, did not want to go to an all girls high school. I did not go to college I started working for CSAA in Serramonte right after high school. Then I married Dave Pacini in August 1978 and moved to Marin County to get out of the fog. But my mom still lives in the party house. We have three children ,Gianni 26 he is handi-capped and lives in Vallejo we see him often. Andy he is 24 lives and works in the city. Marla is 20 and at Santa Clara Unniversity. We are very proud of all of them. Like I said I am a teachers aide at a grade school I love the work as it keeps me young. I need to end this blog now as I need cook dinner for us. I have had so much fun reading about everybody and excited to see people too. Patti

The Answer Man , Well .....not really

Kudo's to Bunny Gillespie and her book ...Images of America Daly City...this is a must have for us Top of the Hillers...My brother Ron and I were reading stories last week and the book gave me ideas for some future posts .....Here's the book ...Go and buy it !!!

After reading yesterdays posts , I figured I'd better answer some of the questions that popped up in Wayne , Nisa and John's blog posts......( and before Russell , Gary, and Wayne start blogging about Imsai 8" Floppy discs, Commodore PET's, TRS-80s,Sinclair ZX-81's, Apple II's, Atari's, Odyssey 2's, Vic 20s, Commodore 64s and ZX Spectrums ).....just kidding ...don't get your drawers in a tether !!!

Wayne , the school that we competed against for the annual Trophy was Corpus Christie located at Alemany and Santa Rosa Ave in San Francisco. We played at their gym BUT , the most memorable for me , regarding our rivalry, was when we Whooped on them at the Kezar Pavillon Gymnasium . Now , if there are any Corpus Christie Alums reading this and your skin is crawling for a rematch , I say bring it on ..... The OLPH "A" and "B" teams await your call ....( and bring the proverbial lunch bag because it's going to be an all day affair of 55 gallon whoop-butt ) ....Peter J brought the first of many midget footballs to the yard ( that was a blast ) and Paul McCoy was one of the few that hit the volley ball on top of the Rectory ...

Nisa, yesterday during a break , I took a peek at the OLPH alum site and saw the word POPCORN and no story ......I tried to figure out who was trying to post and I remember your e-mail to me asking about popcorn and the popcorn store . Sad to say I don't remember it........Now , keep in mind I had braces back then . The momentary pleasures of a six minute woofing down of buttery popcorn weren't familiar to me because it would have meant six hours of misery trying to dislodge popcorn kernals from my metal encapsulated teeth . There were a few of us that could relate ( Ms. Twila ) ...... BUT, I do remember the Ice Cream store on the corner where a lot of us went to .....It may have been there during our high school years too. I remember Ron Shaheen , Class of 68 Alum working there and giving extra big scoops .......

John oh John ......3000 miles away and the THREAD OF LIFE is still working .....You posted the picture of the Wellington St .view of OLPH .....Like minds as we are, I had taken the same camera shot last week before I left for Bakersfield...I left it with a lot of kb's

.....This way , when you click on the picture , it blows up with details ( I hope )

Regarding 75 Wellington , .....Since my mom worked at the Police Dept side I figured I could whip up a few pictures of 75 Wellington .......( no luck so that's why I say Kudo's to Bonnie ) ...here is a progression of said address...1915, 1959, 1988 and .....

............YESTERDAY......... what a change .....

Regarding the store down at the corner of Irvington and Crocker ...It is the Crocker Grocery Store and it was owned and run by Steve and Paul and the sweet little lady who's name escapes me .....My fondest memories are of Peter R and myself going to the store ( dozens of times over the many years ) and getting Bologna on a hard roll , heavy on the mustard and mayo for 25 cents....throw in a bottle of Nehi orange and we were set .....Many times Pete would never let me pay... In his big teddy bear ways he would say "Rich , this is on me " ..he always called me Rich . ( truth is he was the one that was rich, rich in heart and always the giver ... I sure do miss him ).....THIS ONE 'S FOR YOU BUDDY

OH and we can't forget STEVE , PAUL and THE STORE.......Does anybody remember the bird whistles we bought there ?......A little half round piece of leather with cellophane ...we'd stick it in our mouths and on our tongue and whistle and I am sure some of us received the business end of anything the Police ( I mean the nuns ) could get their hands on .........

LAST , but not least , a preview of my next post.......Patti and I had a great chat the other nite and we had stories about the Daly City Public Library ....Well it has since been moved to the new War Memorial Community Bldg ( Wayne it has TWO , count em TWO Gyms , this way , Twila and Cathy could whoop you twice in the same day !!! )....back to the Library ........I was telling her about my escapades with Jeff and she said she had gone to the library with Jeff.......Forty years later , and I have to find out now ....Jeff, you were hanging out doing homework with Patti too ????...I'm crushed....well I guess here's where you two did your Geography lessons , mixing in a little Mathematics......

Well, There's a Pesto Salad calling my name but ,....I think I'm going to get a bologna hardroll sandwich , heavy on the mayo and mustard , and wash it down with an Orange Nehi and think about ........FRIENDS

My Turn

Okay, Nisa, I jogged your memory, you've now jogged mine. I so remember taking my lunch money and spending it at Paul's (I will admit, however, that I didn't recall the name of the store. Ahhh, age.) I think I enjoyed Swedish Fish or Sunflower Seeds the best. I also recall occasionally saving my lunch money for the week and being able to get a roast beef or salami and cheese sandwich on a fresh sour dough roll (I sure miss those rolls). Mmmmm


Speaking of Mission St. Anyone recognize these? I so vividly recall standing at the Bank of America on Mission St selling these. As the passengers would get off the MUNI bus, I was ready. As people came out of the bank counting their $$s, I was ready. I could sell a couple of cases on a good Friday.

The other gold mine for selling these things was Friday night Bingo at the school. My Dad worked the bingo, and Mom played, so I could tag along. There were evenings I'd sell so many that I'd have to replenish my stock. I vaguely recall either getting someone from the convent or the rectory to get a few extra cases from the office.

Gosh, I could go on and on as the memories flood back. I think I'll save some for another day.

POPCORN

John posted a picture today that instantly brought back a memory that I haven't thought of in years - the picture of the corner of wellington and mission - I remember turning that corner to walk down mission st to the popcorn shop - and it was the best popcorn - it was fresh and had so much butter - I remember an elderly couple and a popcorn machine and the wonderful aroma -
I was still very young - I do remember being very upset when the popcorn shop went out of business but I cannot tell you the year -
I also thought of Paul's Corner Store on Irvington - many mornings I stopped there to buy my favorite snack for lunch - Suzie Q's - many times I ate one while I walked up the hill -
Which reminded me of our own cafeteria - my mom worked there one day a week - and she still makes my favorite from the OLPH kitchen - hamburger gravy - and I loved the candied apples!
What was your favorite OLPH lunch?

Thanks John for jogging my memory!...................Nisa

The Games We Played

OK, there was some earlier mention of games, but let's get it all organized. First, the indoor games. Remember during inclement weather how we usually played the "7 Up" game? I was horrible at that game because I never knew who tipped my thumb. Another indoor class-time game was the spelling contests where the girls would be lined up against one wall, usually the windows I think, and the guys along the other wall. I don't remember the guys ever winning a spelling duel. Everytime I see the word "government" I always fade back to that time when I got knocked out for missing the 'n.' Any other indoor games?

The rules for outdoor games were relaxed a bit for PE time. I remember we were able to mix it up with the girls on fist ball, and a few Red Rover games, but I can't remember much else there.

Then we had all kinds of games for recess. Someone mentioned dodge ball. There was no one, I mean no one who could dodge a ball better then Brendan Rocks. He was lanky and quick. Of course I enjoyed basketball. We also played with the small football. How many people remember running through the archway to catch a pass? There was also four-square and tether ball. The boys also used a volleyball for fist ball. I forget who it was but one guy socked the ball up on the rectory roof. We all thought that was pretty high then.

I am sure I am missing some things here... Oh, and what about those annual games where our school would compete grade by grade in basketball. I forget what school we were competing against, but we would always play at their gym and in the years I remember we always came out ahead. I enjoyed those games alot because it was the only time the B and A teams played as one unit.

One Thing Leads To Another

I heard from Jeff M today and he mentioned "Shoe Fair" I remember Shoe Fair, but for the life of me I can't remember exactly where it was. So, being the techie type I turn to good old Google. No luck on finding Shoe Fair in Daly City, but I sure had fun exploring Daly City history.

Living on the East Coast and only rarely getting back to visit my folks who still live in Daly City, reminiscing about Daly City can be quite fun. I stumbled on the picture to the left in the Gateway to the Peninsula book by longtime Daly City Librarian Samuel Chandler. It's a fascinating read. The picture shows "Top of the Hill" probably in the 1920s. It looks like the church and rectory are there, but no school! I never knew our school was built on the site of a rock quarry.

Did you know that the original City Hall was at 75 Wellington Av. If you enlarge the picture I think you can make it out.

For those of you distant from the old school as I am, here's a clip from Google Street View. I imagine it's fairly recent. I stumbled on this tyring to find out what 75 Wellington was today. Street View only goes on Mission St., but you can turn to the right and look up Wellington.

As I said, one thing leads to another.

Boy's chorus

A quick quiz for the guys,

How many of you remembering volunteering for the Boy's Chorus and singing at a mass? If memory serves we sounded ok for a handful of boys. Wasn't it during the Christmas season? It did not last too long for what ever the reason.

When my Son was in middle school he joined Ragazzi and truly enjoyed learning music theory as well as performing at the concerts. My how times have changed.

Russ