To the moon Alice!

Hi,

Remember how Ralph Kramden always was saying he was going to send Alice, his Wife, to the moon when we were classmates (ok, it was in reruns but you watched, right)? Well how would you like to send your whole family into space? Well not physically but their names?

As part of the Kepler Mission to Search for Habitable Planets a Name In Space program has been created. You may submit a name or names on either:

namesinspace.seti.org or kepler.nasa.gov

Names submitted by November 1, 2008 will be stored on a DVD and rocketed into space on board the Kepler spacecraft. When you submit a name, you will receive a certificate via email. You can also create certificates for family and friends to serve as gifts.

Hey, maybe we can be the first OLPH class "lost in space" (sorry, yet another flash back to our youth)?

July birthdays?

I hope everyone has a wonderful Fourth of July.
Also, being one of the outed June "babies" I have to wonder who has a birthday in July?

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