1976 Trivia~What is the first space shuttle built for NASA to perform test flights in the atmosphere?

http://www.bcrsk9services.com/

Steven Yerger
BCRS K-9 Services
POBOX 508
New Windsor . Maryland.21776
410-984-6594

“ We Bring K-9 Services to provide a Safe and Sound environment in an uncertain world”.

Music Video with LP

Taking a Day at a Time

Lindsey & I get our makeup on...

Dr. Marcus' bills are piling up...

Real Mom & Daughter share a moment...

I had the opportunity to be in a music video. My friend came up to me and told me what she was up to with her music and where she was at with shooting her video. It is so exciting and new I told her. She says to me "Now all I need is to find a Mother and Daughter for a scene in the video". I told her "Too bad my Daughter lives in Indiana". She said "Well, you could still play a mom can't you?" I tell you I got so excited. Now I had to find me a daughter. What better choice than my niece Lindsey. She did a remarkable job. We were in two scenes. There are four scenes total. I can't wait till the video comes out. Being my cousin Teresa was there to support her daughter, she was blessed to be in the last scene with the rest of us. How sweet was that.

I've been holding off posting this to the blog because I wanted it to be a surprise for a couple of people.

Patricia Davidson

Dec 08 2008 Everyday Note

Note from Patricia

Hi Veronica, I have very sad news. My Husband David Davidson passed on Oct. 30th. His legacy are our two children Riley 15 and Paige Marie 13. I never thought I would be a single parent. I told him often I could not imagine my life without him in it. Sadly, now I must learn how.

Heart in Hand

There comes a point in your life when you realize

who matters,
who never did,
who won't anymore...
and who always will.

So, don't worry about people from your past,
there's a reason why they didn't make it to your future.

Give this heart to everyone you don't want to lose.

Eve Hammond Bushman

Check out Eve's Blog. Class of '76!!!

http://evewine101.blogspot.com/

Angela Iacovino

Check out my Facebook profile

Hi Venice, I set up a Facebook profile where I can post my pictures, videos and events and I want to add you as a friend so you can see it. First, you need to join Facebook! Once you join, you can also create your own profile.

Thanks, Angela

Here's the link:

http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=1368705177&k=YYA654U6PZ2M5ALIVF55SU&r&v=2

Robert "Bobbi" Betty-Stell

Hello from Arizona!!!

Get in touch via blog comments...

Photos from Jill '77

These photos were sent to me from Linda (Zimmerman) Chun '77

who received them from Jill '77 while vacationing in Los Angeles.

Been on a break...

Hello there...I am still here to post to the blog. I have been kind of sad since posting the lost of a couple of classmates. But that is what we are here for, to keep up to date. Good or bad. Mostly good. Supporting & finding each other.

Summer is here and Spring is on it's way out. Graduations have begun for another generations.

Also I've been busy with doctors and trying to get my up coming surgery in place. Yippee!!! Finally after 6 years, I won't be a "Pain in the Neck". So again I probably won't do too much posting after June 17th for about a month. Sooner if I heal fast.

I talk to Donald Hearn now and then on chat. BJ (Baker) Ross on the phone here and there. Dennis & Linda Dugan came to help us celebrate turning 50 with elementry photos and monkey necklaces. I go to the Alumni meetings 2nd Tuesday's of each month. Then run into Classmates like Bruce Arnheim when I go to lunch in Lawndale with my lady friends from my Aqua Aerobic Class. It is fun being in touch with everyone.

So if there is someone you want to give a shout out to from Venice, send me an e-mail and I can post it here. Maybe they'll stop in and read that they are thought of. That's always a great feeling. I only post personal e-mails if asked or given permission. This isn't limited to Class of '76 only anymore.

We are also thinking about the Concerts in the Park on Sunday's at Polliwog Park in Redondo Beach on Manhattan Beach Blvd. Hope to see you there.

Hope to hear from you all.

Myrna Update

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VENICE: Myrna Loy Statue to return to Venice High School

VENICE: Myrna Loy Statue to return to Venice High School

BY CHRISTINA HANFORD
Thanks to extensive fundraising efforts by the Venice High School Alumni Association and an over $75,000 donation from Venice High alumni Peter Schwab, a new Myrna Loy Statue is set to come back to the high school early next year.
The statue, modeled after the famous actress, which stood on the front lawn of Venice High for decades, was removed in 2000 because of irreparable decay and damage.
But soon, an exact replica of the Myrna Loy Statue will once again sit on Venice High's campus.
"It's extremely exciting," said Paul Belli, a 1969 graduate of Venice High and the alumni association president. "People know how important that statue is for both Venice High and the area. It's part of the school and needs to be replaced. We can't wait.
"Sculptor Ernest Sheldon is currently completing a maquette - or miniature version - of the statue, which allows him to fine-tune details of the project before he creates the seven-foot piece, which will be made out of bronze.
"The maquette is taking shape," notes Belli. "It looks like Myrna.
"Before its removal in 2000, the Myrna Loy Statue - made of cement with a marble dust coating - had suffered from vandalism and major decay.
"It rotted from the inside out," said project coordinator Laura Ferre, a 1976 graduate of Venice High.
In 2000, several art historians performed a condition assessment of the structure.
"They came and evaluated the statue and determined that there was definitely no way to repair or restore the statue and have it last," said Ferre. "It would continue to fall apart because of the structural damage and the original material it was made out of, concrete and a marble dust coating."
Four months later, the statue was removed. It remains in a secure location on campus, Ferre said.
Known as a landmark by locals, the sculpture, first installed in 1920, was not always known as the Myrna Loy Statue.
Created by Harry Winebrenner, a sculptor and art teacher at Venice High, the sculpture featured three statues - a main figure representing "inspiration," surrounded by two kneeling figures representing "manual labor" and "fine arts," although some references describe them as "beauty," "spirit" and "athleticism."
In 1920, the figure representing "inspiration" - a tall female standing erect - was installed in the front lawn of Venice High School.
And in 1921, a male representing "manual labor" and a female dancer representing "fine arts" were also installed.
But Winebrenner was unsatisfied with "inspiration."
"He kept looking at the main figure and just wasn't happy with her, so he designed a brand new statue," Ferre said.
Winebrenner persuaded a shy, young female student at Venice High by the name of Myrna Williams to pose as his model for the figure. And in 1923, the new statue was installed.
The main figure "inspiration" now displayed a much more elegant pose and Winebrenner was pleased.
Coincidentally, several years later, "inspiration" model Myrna Willams - who changed her name to Myrna Loy - became a well-known actress, starring in films, including The Thin Man series.
Loy went on to appear in over 115 movies and many began to recognize that she was indeed the "inspiration" figure in the sculpture at Venice High.
Soon, the piece became known as the Myrna Loy Statue.
"Over the decades, the name stuck," Ferre said.But through the years, the statue also became damaged.
In 1979, it was refurbished by Venice High teacher William Van Orden with a group of students.
But it wasn't known how bad the internal damage to the statue was, and the piece "just kept falling apart," Ferre said. "By the '90s, she was looking pretty sad again.
"In 2000, the statue was finally removed.
For about five years, the Venice High School Alumni Association met monthly to gather facts and research about how to bring a replica Myrna Loy Statue back to Venice High.
In 2006, Ferre and the alumni association began fundraising efforts to bring the piece of art and history back to Venice.
In October 2007, Ferre got a phone call from Schwab, a 1961 graduate of Venice High, who was very interested in being a major donor to help get the project under way.
"I thought it was important to do," says Schwab, who remembers the statue well from his high school days. "That statue was the mark of the school. It was tradition. It was there for many years and now it's gone. I drive by that school all the time and it's not the same school without the statue." Schwab wanted to see the sculpture back, so he contributed $46,000 to the project and made a commitment to match dollar for dollar any other donation to the project.
"I've been very blessed in business the last number of years and I'm a strong believer that you've got to give back," he said. "I've always done that. I think that's really important."
The alumni association and many in the Venice community are thankful to Schwab for getting the project off the ground.
"With the significant commitment from Peter Schwab, he's really gotten this project from the dream stage to it's really going to happen - and that's what's so exciting," said Belli.
Added Ferre, "Without his donation, we would not be where we are today. That phone call changed the path that we were on."
So far, the alumni association has raised about $90,000, Ferre said.
The project is expected to cost about $150,000 total, so fundraising efforts continue, but the project is well under way."We can't wait for her [the statue] to be back," says Belli.
Ferre agrees.
"Most of the Venice community has wanted the statue back for many years," she says. "It's a landmark. It's important that the statue - as beautiful as she was and as beautiful as she can be - be back."

Yolanda G. Banuelos

Good evening. My brother Joe Yamashita forwarded your e-mail to me regarding Yolanda G. Banuelos.

Yolanda passed away on January 27, 2008 following a courageous battle with cancer. She is survived by her long time companion Peter Molina, her three children, daughters Christiani Camacho, Alicia Camacho and her son Carlos Camacho. Yolanda worked at the California Highway Patrol Office in Culver City from 1996 until she passed away. We miss her.

A classmate sent me a website address http://www.venicecaliforniavets.com/ . The site contains photos from Yolanda's funeral.

Tad Yamashita Class of 1979

Coffee?

Enjoy.....

I think we should all think about this one.

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups-porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite-telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.

Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups. And then you began eyeing each other's cups.

Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of life we live.

Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup,
we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us."

God brews the coffee, not the cups. Enjoy your coffee!

"The happiest people don't have the best of everything.
They just make the best of everything."

Live simply.

Love generously.

Care deeply.

Speak kindly.

Leave the rest to God.

Hans' Birthday

600

Joyce (Takeuchi) Hirota to be remembered

Here is the obituary provided by Fukui Mortuary. Now theirs states the memorial service to be at the community center at 11 a.m. on Feb. 9th. Now I'm not sure where it is, either at the church or the community center. Wait for the Sunday obituary in the paper I guess to find out for sure. There is a viewing this Sunday, Feb. 3rd at Fukui Mortuary from 2-5 p.m.

Go to Fukui's website, www.fukuimortuary.com, and there's an obituary for Joyce.

HIROTA, JOYCE MIYE, age 49, passed away unexpectedly on Jan. 28, 2008. Beloved wife of David Hitoshi Hirota; mother of Jolyene Midori and Robert Takashi Hirota; daughter of Takashi Ben and Emi Takeuchi; daughter-in-law of Shigeko Sally Hirota; sister of Joan Etsuko Takeuchi; sister-in-law of Jan Natsuko Hirota and John Shigeto (Marinel) Hirota; she is also survived by many uncles, aunts, cousins and other relatives here and in Hawaii. *the family respectfully requests that flowers be omitted for the service. Memorial service will be held on Sat. Feb. 9, 2008, 11:00 A.M. at Venice Japanese Community Center, located at 12448 Braddock Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90066

Joyce (Takeuchi) Hirota's husband Dave, says that she died last night from a massive heart attack. If you would like to send a special message to be posted or a much more current photo, please send it to vhs.spiritof76@sbcglobal.net.

Joyce and I grew up on the same street a few doors down from each other. We were in a lot of the same classes throughout elementary school till Junior High and would see each other there after at the same schools.

Service arrangements will follow this note.

Vicki

http://www.vjcc.com/inside_05-07.htm

http://www.vjcc.com/cc_01-07.htm

Quote for the Day

Shallow men believe in luck, believe in circumstances -- it was somebody's name, or he happened to be there at the time, or it was so then, and another day would have been otherwise. Strong men believe in cause and effect.- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Blast from the Past!!!

Third Grade Geography Test

Third Grade Geography Test.
OK Class,
It's time for your U.S. Geography Test !
You must drag and drop all 48 states
in the time allotted to be promoted to the 4th grade.
Click the webpage below.. Ready.. Begin !.
http://www.pibmug.com/files/map_test.swf
Good luck !

Gracie Allen's Roast Beef Recipe

I am sure some of you will remember George Burns' wife Gracie Allen.

I'm sending this to people who know who Gracie Allen was (and some who can simply appreciate a good recipe.)

Gracie Allen's Classic Recipe for Roast Beef

1 large Roast of beef

1 small Roast of beef

Take the two roasts and put them in the oven.

When the little one burns, the big one is done.

"Save The Surf Shop"

To: Santa Monica Landmarks Commission
“SAVE THE SURF SHOP” SUPPORT PETITION We the undersigned: oppose the application for the demolition of any part of the masonry structure on 2001-2011 Main Street, in Santa Monica, which once housed the famous Zephyr Surfboard Shop and Factory. This building is an important part of this City’s history and of the history of Surfing and Skateboarding worldwide. We want it to be Landmarked and Preserved for posterity.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned

http://www.petitiononline.com/surfshop/petition.html

In going back over my old e-mails, I ran across this. Thought it would be nice to post it for the SURFERS of VENICE!!! I knew many from a far.

Happy New Year Everybody!!!

Well the New Year is almost at the end of the 1st month. It's been a busy one. So I am a bit behind in wishing everyone a Happy New Year.

Did you set goals for the New Year? Are you living them? I have and I am. I hope to accomplish much more than weight lose though. But that is a tough one in itself. I've just finished working on the Class of '77's Memory Book. I have heard from a couple of them that they are happy. I hope to hear more are please. I was also asked to work on the one for the Class of '78. Looking forward to it.

If there are any Class of '78 folks out there that you know, help them get excited about their Reunion that is planned for sometime in October.

Also...Join the Alumni Association @ venicehighalumni.com or e-mail me and I can direct you to the correct person to get you started.

Merry Christmas

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas. Ours was Blessed with a 10 lb 3 oz Grandson named Scott Henry Crabtree (aka Hank). He was born on December 18th, 2007.
If you were Blessed this Holiday Season, send your story to vhs.spiritof76@sbcglobal.net . I would be happy to post it for you.
Hans & Vicki Hass '76

We hope everyone is well and are getting ready to share their Turkey Dinner with their favorite people to be Thankful with. So Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

Class of '76 ~ if you want to share your story witht he class, write it out and send it to me via e-mail. You can add a photo or two if you like. Visit the class blog: http://vhsspiritof76.blogspot.com/ Others may visit it too. Send your stories to vhs.spiritof76@sbcglobal.net.

The Alumni Association has exciting news coming out soon regarding the reimmerging Myrna Loy statue. Get your copy of the Acclaim by signing up with the Alumni Association Membership and keep up on the news. Send your requests to Laura Ferre @ laura.ferre@verizon.net.

Happy Holidays,
Vicki & Hans Hass
Class of '76

The Myrna Loy statue in front of VHS is on it's way back! Thanks to generous donations from our Venice Alumni, we just received a check from Peter Schwab S'61 for $46,000 and from the class of 1956 - several individual donations totaling $1,992.00. Pat Brown emailed all of the classmates and put this together! Thanks again to Peter and Pat! You can can support the Myrna Restoration project too. Send your tax deductible donation to VHS - Myrna Loy -13000 Venice Blvd., LA, CA 90066

Time Capsules

Does anyone watch the Fox TV show "Bones"? It's one of my favorite. Well, we won't run into any of the problems they encountered on that show last night.

After 20 years the schools time capsule was to be opened. Well, it was tampered with and strange things were found there that should not have been. (I won't go into details...Halloween is over).

Anyway, the reason for my being so interested in this topic is that, last year before our 30Th Reunion for Class of '76, we inquired about opening the time capsule our class buried. Low and behold we (the ones involved...not me) had made it for 100 years. UGH!!! Oh well, I guess our class didn't think they would want to have a looksy later? If you were involved in that task and would like to provide a list here. You are more than welcome. I didn't know anything about it. I am more involved now than I was then.

What does your time capsule hold?

Linda Mascarenas '77

Hola Vicki, and VHS Vets, first off I want to say, Kudos Vicki for putting together the Blog. I enjoy reading your ventures and so cool of you to reunite old friends or at least lend a hand in re-connecting them. As well as all the hard work you did with the class reunions, many thanks...

I myself felt the strong urge to reconnect with VHS friends and started my own private search. It wasn’t easy, but with help from above, today I have located so many people I used to know. It’s been a real blessing and I’m ever so happy to rekindle friendships that more recently were only a memory. It’s a lot of work but worth it to know how everyone is doing these days, and sad to know who is no longer here, although still important information. For those of you that don’t know about my website - it similar to Vicki’s Blog, and can be found at: http://www.venicecaliforniavets.com/ we are some of the old school folks that like to get together for mini-reunions, have fun, lend a hand, fundraise, and just keep in touch with each other. Many of us, including myself, would probably have been voted as MOST likely to NOT succeed! However, I am truly amazed at how well we have all done for ourselves. Please feel free to check out my site, meet up for an event, share your 411, request info on someone you recognize and would like to say hello to, or to utilize our business page by posting your service(s) in the Business Section.

Wow! A bio of my 48 years in just a paragraph!? Ok. Well, like a lot of others I wasn’t focused in a positive direction, but I’ll tell you, I was focused on having fun and living like each day as it was my last. A lot of my actions were definitely the wrong choice and unfortunately I had to find that out the hard way, although I must admit the experiences I faced made me street-wise and gave me immeasurable strength! I prefer to leave Politics and Religion alone because I could write novels on those topics, but suffice it to say, I am a very Spiritual lady. I have ridden the rollercoaster of life’s ups and downs. I have had my own businesses, directed my own Non-Profit Organization and also have even been destitute! Today I’m riding high, fulfilled in helping others as I work for Bureau of Workforce Services as an LA COUNTY employee. I’m single and liking it, I have two beautiful children Christy Ann (24), and Mark Anthony (22), and a precious grandson Mannie Michael (5) that I love so and couldn’t imagine life without them! And well, I’m no longer a svelte 116 lbs, but aside from the BBW figure, I’m in great health and overall a happy content woman! Rejoice! If I could change anything about my past the only thing I would change would be to ask more questions and spend more quality time with my beautiful Mother who has made the Spiritual transition. With that note I say farewell, and stay blessed all. Much love, .Linda aka LA LYN