August-September - Lakeside Historical Society

Vol. XXXII; No. VI I
August—September 2012
Published 10 times annually
Richard S. White, Editor
www.lakesidehistory.org
Lakeside Storyteller and Author Perishes
Betty McMillen
Beloved Lakesider, Regis Rosner, passed away after a
long battle with cancer June 29, 2012. Born in Aliquippa,
PA on November 25, 1934, he came to El Cajon in 1944
where his is family had moved way out in the country
from Pacific Beach . . . on Greenfield Drive!
Regis was well known at the Lakeside Historical Society for his writing and storytelling. He kept folks mesmerized with his stories of growing-up in the "good olde
days;" stories of he and his friends with adventurous spirits roaming around Lakeside, Santee and El Cajon, riding
his horse, "Highball,” or on their bicycles . . . the way
boys did back then when there was a lot of wide open
spaces to run and play, adventures that boys nowadays
can no longer do.
Some of his stories were about swimming in Lindo
Lake; and, one about he and his friend getting caught
under the boat house pylons. Regis also had fond memories of swimming in the cool ponds of San Diego River
during hot East County summer days. One story was
about his swimming in the water tank of the family who
lived at a large rock ranch . . . where Parkway Plaza is
located nowadays.
Regis married his sweetheart, Shelia, on June 28, 1952
when he was only 17 years old. They had just celebrated
60th anniversary. Shelia said that when he was out and
about she was at home taking care of their five children.
But Regis did take her and the kids, and dogs, swimming
and fishing in the San Diego River.
Regis was a man of many interests and talents, during
his working years he was a tuna fisherman, a maintenance engineer for Kelco, a plumber, and a plant engineer for a commercial laundry service. He was also an
avid ham radio operator. Regis was a lifetime member of
the Lakeside Historical Society Just for fun during his
spare time, he was part of a band playing his guitar and
singing. He performed around East County in what he
called "Honkey-Tonks." Regis even played with Kenny
Rogers before he hit it big as a Country singer.
Before his passing, Regis wrote his memoirs titled
"Short Stories of San Diego County and Other Musings."
The book will be available at the Historical Society Gift
Shop. It is also on sale at Amazon.com.
Rosary was held at the Our Lady of Perpetual Help
Catholic Church in Lakeside on July 7, 2012, where he
and Shelia had been devoting active members. Regis
had requested no tears, only laughter of past memories.
As he always ended his written stories, “God bless,
Regis.”
2012 Calendar of Events
AUGUST
Saturday, August 4
Yard Sale at Olde Church
8:00—3:00 pm
SEPTEMBER
Monday, September 24
Spaghetti Dinner Night
6:00 pm
1
Harold Hilliker Annual Farm Day
Did you know?
Betty McMillen
Egg producer and farmer, Harold Hilliker, was recognized at Lakeside Middle School (LMS) May 31, 2012.
His son, Frank, said he was humbled by the tribute to his
Father who passed away three years ago. He said it was
Trish Dignan's idea to create this new event . . . she is
the Agriculture teacher at LMS.
Dignan said the idea came to her because she wanted
to recognize a man who had done so much for Lakeside
school children; a man who had served his community in
many ways; a man who had served on the Lakeside
School Board for over 22 years; a man who supported
the students. Digman said that last year she had applied
for a "Scribes Grant” to fund this event. The plan was for
"Farm Day" to increase the awareness of agriculture and
history of Lakeside to introduce the 8th grade students to
El Capitan High School Agriculture classes. And, perhaps
show them pathways to a career in agriculture.
"It's not just about raising animals, it is also about
growing gardens and learning to eat nutritional meals,
foods they grow themselves," she said. In her class the
students actually have hands on experience in the garden
on the school grounds. They have also planted 50 fruit
trees and are learning to care for them and fertilize and
trim the branches. It is a blending of agriculture and sciences. The "Rare Fruit Society" donated the trees.
Many local speakers attended Farm Day to teach the
students their specialty and to give them that bit of information to spark their interest. Video photographer, Billy
Ortiz, showed his 20 minute film on the various farms in
El Monte Valley and Morena Valley. It was a real eye
opener, who knew that there was still so much farming
going on in Lakeside. He added some upbeat music to
get the kids feet tapping. Hazy Meadows Ranch brought
their draft horses and carriage and gave the students a
ride around the dirt track on school grounds. During their
ride, owner Linda Haze told the students how she had to
change her way of doing business during these hard economic times.
The Magic Horse Therapy Center came to show students how their horses help the handicap youth become
more independent and confident. Robin Rierdan, from the
Lakeside River Park Conservancy told students of restoration of the San Diego River. Alishia Turner spoke about
the Cuyamaca College Horticulture Department's college
studies. Shelby Meyers who was a former student at LMS
but now attends Modesto Junior College, told about studying Animal Sciences. There were Future Farmers of
American and 4-H Students from El Capitan High School
who brought their steer, goats, sheep, chickens and rabbits to show and tell.
David Van Ommerering shared about his life as a dairy
farmer. And Ralph Salazar spoke about Lakeside's Rodeo. Nita Anderson and I told students about the
Lakeside Garden Club assisting to buy trees for the “Mile
of Trees,” which is helping to create an Urban Forest
around Lakeside.
Dorie Campbell, Archivist
In a book called Weird California, by Greg Bishop, Joe
Oesterle, Mike Marinacci and Mark Moran, an article is
written that there is a “screaming tree” on Willow Road in
Lakeside.
According to a visitor to the archives, and who has travelled Willow Road, says residents are annoyed by many
lookers.'
But, is there such a tree?
“Memory Walk”
Name Bricks
For only $50.00 you can have your family
name, special date, memorial or business
name embossed on a standard size red brick
for the Lakeside Historical Society’s Memory
Walk in front of the History Center behind
our historic Olde Community Church.
An order form can be picked-up at the History Center; or, contact Barbara McCauley at
(619) 448-3013.
Thank You!
Dorie Campbell, Archivist
I would like to thank everyone who helped
with the Veteran's project. The pictures and
written material were more than I hoped for
and our glass case displays turned out just
great.
What I realize now is that it is a work in
progress. So any Veterans, please continue
to send in your pictures and any written
material stories that would be interesting.
Come to the Historical Society and Museum to see what we've done.
(Continued on page 5)
2
The Lakeside Historical Society
presents its annual
Spaghetti
Dinner
Night
Monday, 6:00 p.m.
September 24, 2011
$10 donation
per person
Guest speaker: Billy Ortiz
Reservations:
Please call 561-1886
3
Pap's Outhouse . . . With a Shower!
LHS Living History Event:
Letters from 3rd Graders
Regis Rosner
Grandpa was out back enjoying his new shower with
nice warm, almost hot, water and everything was working
fine. Suddenly he heard a familiar swish, swishing sound.
Bang went the outhouse door, slamming so hard it broke.
Then all the walls, including the canvas shower door,
started caving in and he knew he was in bad trouble.
My Grandpa Charlie, fresh from the steel mills of Pennsylvania, was a salesman, inventor, mechanic, welder
and a host of other talents, including inventing a powered
surfboard back in the early twenties. He was quite a tinkerer working with many gadgets of every description. He
eventually retired in healthy and sunny El Cajon Valley,
"The Valley of Opportunity."
He and his family settled down on a grape vineyard that
ran from Cyprus Lane and Pioneer Way almost down to
Broadway. Charlie and his wife Agnes bought two retired
army barracks from Camp Elliot in 1946, right after WWII
was over. They dug a well and had an outhouse way out
back.
One day "Pap," as we called him, decided the family
needed a shower . . . a shower with hot water. So he got
busy and built an annex to the outhouse that included a
shower. The 55 gallon drum he placed above the outhouse was painted black to collect the heat from the sun.
It was like an ultra-modern solar panel similar to those
that many of the homes use today to pre-heat their hot
water . . . less the 55 gallon drum.
Finally after all the piping was completed, the big day
came to give it a big test before the girls tried it out. We
all watched him as he slowly plodded out to ye’ olde outhouse with his newfangled shower carrying a bar of soap,
fresh clothes, and a towel in hand.
Off in the distance I could see a number of tiny whirlwinds, or dust-devils as we called them, building up as
the late morning sun heated up the air having a slight
Santa Ana condition. Then I noticed some red tailed
hawks flying very high, meaning they were working a
good updraft. I also noticed one huge dust-devil working
its way from Cuyamaca Road heading towards Pap and
his newfangled outhouse with a shower.
We watched as it built up in size and momentum. The
chickens at Ole Royce Pierce's place next to Pap's place
were squawking like banshees and running trying to get
out of the way of the now huge dust-devil. It continued to
zigzag its course past the Vander Stoel Dairy and heading for Pap's newfangled outhouse with a showre.
Finally, in a flash of a second, the whole structure came
crashing down around Pap as that dust-devil slammed its
way right through the outhouse. My Aunt Trudy Fuller and
I thought Pap was a goner for sure as the 55 gallon drum
crashed down through the whole business; water splashing over the whole heap of bat and board. Suddenly, we
spotted Pap, his arms flailing in the air through the
crashed wood. He was a little dis-oriented trying to see
the direction of the house.
During the course of all this mad-hat action, a number
of the distant neighbors came out to see what all the
Dear Members of Lakeside Historical Society,
Thank you so much for the wonderful educational experience for my fourth graders from Winter Gardens Elementary when we attended your stations and displays of
life in the early 1900s. My class totally enjoyed the variety of hands on experiences. I hope you enjoy their
thank you letters written in heartfelt innocence. Sincerely, Linda Bartolotta
Dear Volunteers,
Thank you for teaching me how to braid also allowing
me to go to your 1896 church. Thank you again for
teaching me how to sew and do olden day laundry. I do
not no which one was the best for me but it was all fun
so I’m just not going to decide. Thank you for giving up
your time for my school Winter Gardens and also for the
fun. I hope I will go to your church again soon. Sincerely,
Joseph Fisher
Dear Volunteer,
I enjoyed when we were washing cloths and milking a
cow. I learned that milking a cow can be really hard to
milk and I leaned that washing the cloths can be hard
too but it is not as hard like milking a cow. Thank you for
teaching us a lot back in those days. Sincerely, Max
Other precious thank you letters can be read at our
Museum.
Yard Sale Coming!
At Lakeside Historical Society’s Olde Community Church
9906 Maine Ave., Lakeside
Saturday August 4th from 8:00—3:00 pm
commotion was about hearing the chickens squawking
and the crashing of loose material flying around in the air
from the dairy. They spotted the dust-devil heading for
Pap's new outhouse. After a tense few seconds, they
then spotted Pap's flailing arms as he staggered out of
the mud, dust and debris unable to find his towel. Not
finding the towel, Pap ran as fast as he could butt-naked
for the barracks and safety.
To this day there are a few around who still talk about
that episode with Pap's newfangled outhouse with a
shower. Ironically, the property can still be seen in the
area of the Ted Whitt Plumbing Company located just
about where Pap's outhouse and shower stood at Cyprus
and Pioneer Way.
God bless. Regis
From his book
Short Stories of San Diego County and Other Musings
4
AUGUST 2012
Birthdays
01
01
02
03
03
05
07
07
07
07
07
07
08
08
08
09
10
10
11
11
11
11
12
12
12
14
15
15
16
16
17
18
18
18
19
19
20
20
20
22
22
25
25
26
27
27
28
28
28
29
30
31
31
31
31
Martha Head Kerr
Jeff Setterman
Judy Trussell
Jane O. Barrons
Annette Safford
Camille Nielsen
Esther Croteau
Anna Mae Milnar
James L. Morgan
Kathleen A. Mummert
Randy Morton
Bettie Jo Stearns
Cheryl J. Chelius
Olga W. Puhn
Thomas F. Klippel
June Bailey
Diane Angus
Kimberly Callaway-Miinch
Billie Silva
Frederic M. Mc Nabb
Linda K. Robuck
Barbara N. Hogue
Danny Buckel
William Moon
Elaine Gerbrand
Donald W. Kuhner
Bobbie N. Pogue
Linda Hayes
Claire Westrick-Price
Yrene Q. Woods
Leanne Markle
Leland J. Swennes
Barbara Whitlock
Kathy J. Romero
Lance H. Haynes
Darryl G. Jensen
Hazel Pratt
Judy Puhn Hooper
Peter Nelson
Barbara Mc Cauley
Edward H. Stewart
Robert O. Conley
Janet Trump
Dr. Bronwin Anders
Chuck J. Barber
Lottie Cook
Jim Cooper
Elaine Bailey
Dr. Wanda M. Walker
John Fisher
Nell M. Winburn
Leeann Silvis
G. Marcella Williams
Edward T. Hayes, Jr.
Marilyn A. Saunders
SEPTEMBER 2012
Birthdays
Anniversaries
01
01
02
03
03
04
04
05
07
07
07
08
10
11
12
13
13
16
17
18
18
18
18
19
19
20
21
22
24
24
24
26
27
28
28
29
29
29
30
30
01 Russell Plumbing
33 years
01 June & George Bailey
16 years
02 Michele & Rex E. Anderson, Jr.
26 years
05 Sandra & Dale Melville
51 years
07 Marcia & Dan Beishline
48 years
13 Linda & Dr. John Robuck
35 years
14 Clara & Donald J. Schook
65 years
19 Pamela & James R. Ourand
30 years
15 Patsy & John Miller
54 years
16 Evelyn & Ed Hayes., Sr.
71 years
19 Carol & Gene Claussen
51 years
20 Connie & Michael Mendoza
? years
21 Jamie & Tim Kanady
25 years
23 Patricia & Roger E. Howes
60 years
27 Catherine & Dr. Joseph Hansen
60 years
30 Margaret & Bob Helt
26 years
30 Yvette & Michael Lansdowne
20 years
31 Judy & Thomas J. Trussell
37 years
Bonnie Ross
Jean Stanzick
Betty McDonough
Carol A. Boynton
Michael Angus
Grace Parker
Andrew Kuhner
Janice McMillen
Geraldine DeLamarter
Marilyn Jenkins
Debbie Steck
Helen Parker
Gene Claussen
Patty Leja
Bob Walker
Clarabell Cray
Patsy A. Shaeffer
Janet D. Hillan
Marilyn Groff
Patsy Miller
Don Bright
Jo Ann Gross
Brian Stearns
Robert Harding, Jr.
Juanita Philbrook
Marijane Fuller
Jack Ross
Robin Jay Callaway
Merle Wood
Rex E. Anderson, Sr.
Lynn Baer
Earl McDougal
Donald Buckel
Kathy Cooper
Elden “Fritz” Hartung
Robert Mentze
Paul T. McDonough
Terry Lee Callen
Pasty Sarkela
Ruth Foster
Anniversaries
01 Fire & Ice
29 years
01 Brenda & David Wood
33 years
02 Betty & Theodore Sherman
12 years
05 Alice & Ed Slagle
58 years
06 Marybeth & Bob Carlile
60years
06 Janice & Paul McMillen
48 years
07 Anne & Keith Van Atta
49 years
13 Patricia & Robert Leja
59 years
15 Deborah & Joseph Horger
21 years
16 Cheryl & Danny Buckel
34 years
18 Carol & John Ben-Juda
30 years
25 Julia & Rex E. Anderson, Sr.
52 years
24 Bettie & Brian Stearns
35 years
29 Sharon & Mike Atkinson
28 years
30 Barbara & Roger Hartup
22 years
In Loving Memory
DONALD JOBE SCHOCK, 90
Donald passed away at his home in Ramona on Saturday morning, May 12, 2012. He was 90 years old. He
was born December 30, 1921, in San Diego.
Don graduated from San Diego High School in 1941
and then joined the U.S. Navy during WWII. After being
honorably discharged he became a sheet metal worker at
the Naval Amphibious Base, Coronado. He retired in
1974 and then in 1990 Don and Clara moved to Salem,
Oregon. They returned to Ramona in 2006 to be with
family and friends.
He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Clara Francis
Donahoo Schock; daughter, Joy Wise of El Cajon; son,
Steve Schock of Ramona; three grandchildren; and six
great-grandchildren.
Donald was loved for his good humor and unending
thoughtfulness to those around him. His warm heart and
booming laughter will be missed by all who have known
him.
(Farm Day continued from page 2)
During the Farming Day experience, the classes moved
around to different "stations" to see and hear the various
programs and speakers. Trish said that she couldn't have
done this successful event without the help of her committee members, Frank Hilliker, Tagianne Wotioug, Travis
Wolling, Laurie Simerson, Katie Von Bern and Ken
Saake. Steve Mull, the Principal at LMS, is mostly always
up for trying new ideas, and he was watching with pride
as he saw the students enjoying the new concept of Harold Hilliker Farm Day.
5
6
LAKESIDE HISTORICAL SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP
January 1, 2013 - December 31, 2013
$20.00 Per Person
$35.00 Per Family
$50.00 Business/Organization
$200.00 Individual Life Membership
Name__________________________________________Phone_________________________E-Mail__________________________________
Address_____________________________________________________________City_______________________State_____Zip___________
Spouse’s Name and Birthday_____________________________________________________Wedding Date_________Your Birthday_________
Mail to: Lakeside Historical Society, 9906 Maine Ave., Lakeside, CA 92040
(619) 561-1886
September Program
Billy Ortiz
It brings me great pleasure to present a Lakeside agriculture video I have produced for Lakeside Middle
School. It features several different types of local agriculture in Lakeside including Hilliker Ranch Fresh egg
farm, a worm farm, avocado orchard, vegetable seed farm, a ride along in a tractor cutting oat hay and other
small farms in Lakeside.
I also interview Future Farmers of America students and teacher from El Capitan High School during the East
County Junior Fair. My Video also has some 1940's video of the Foster family dairy on El Monte Road.
This presentation is about 35 minutes long and was produced for the 1st annual Harold Hilliker Farm Day at
the Lakeside Middle School. Hope to see you there!
Place mailing label here
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August—September 2012
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LAKESIDE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
9906 Maine Ave., Lakeside, CA 92040
(619) 561-1886
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