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