Category Archives: History

1994 World Cup ~ Los Angeles

I am a huge soccer fan. Our boys played soccer on club teams and on their high school Varsity teams. They both played defense, sweeper and full back. I never missed a game and after they graduated I still went to the high school games. Our daughter Katie played soccer on a recreational team. She played goalie and mostly defense. When World Cup is on I try to watch every single game that is televised. The following photos and memorabilia are from the 1994 World Cup. Josh got a 4 game package for games in Los Angeles. Dan and I went to the Brazil ~ Cameroon game at Stanford.

We all got to go to another game at the Rose Bowl, too. I drove them wherever we could get any soccer action. Fun times!

 

These are photos of Josh and Dan at the U.S. Soccer Team training facility and at the hotel where the team was staying. We were so excited to find the hotel where the team was staying. The players were so approachable and kind to the boys. They managed to get every players signature that was on the team and all but one of the coaches. Josh has that poster framed and in his office.

 

They also got Tony Meola and Cobi Jones to sign these magazines that we later framed.

 

I still hope to someday experience a soccer game (futbol) in England.

El Tecolote ~ por Bridget!

The Founder of El Tecolote (The Owl) ~ Mike

The Story of EL TECOLOTE:
The El Tecolote story begins in 1946, 50 years ago, in the neighboring community of Moorpark. A young man, fresh out of his World War II Uniform, decided to open a small restaurant, because there weren’t any jobs available and he loved to cook. The night before he opened his new restaurant, the young man, Mike Loza, locked himself inside with a shotgun to make sure no one broke in and spoiled his opening. Mike couldn’t close his eyes – the trees around the restaurant were full of owls! Mexican tradition considers the visit of an owl to be an omen of very bad luck, so to overcome the bad luck sure to follow, Mike promptly named his restaurant El Tecolote, The Owl. Mike moved El Tecolote to Camarillo, in 1948 to a small house a few blocks from its present location. The restaurant was so tiny there was always a long wait for one of the four tables. Finally, a frustrated customer offered to finance a larger building, and the first part of the current restaurant was opened in early 1952. The large dining room was added in 1957. Mike operated El Tecolote for 34 years.

Dear and I enjoy this restaurant. It’s very low key (no frills!). One of the things we think they do that is brilliant is they keep their salsa in those plastic water pitchers and come around and refill your salsa from the pitcher. At other restaurants they have to come take away your little salsa pot then come back with a fresh one. Too much time wasted in my opinion where dry chips are just sitting around waiting to be dipped! Prices here are also more reasonable. I hope you enjoyed this little post Bridget!

My photos are being held hostage at the Photobucket site as of July 2017.

Happy Birthday Lana and Leonard! ~ The Sixties

twins.jpg

The Twins, my youngest sister Lana and youngest brother Leonard (#7 & #8) were born on July 29, 1963. You can go on over to Lana G.’s blog and wish her a happy birthday!

A Very Happy Birthday to You

Here’s the decade of the 60’s in a nutshell for you to enjoy…

1960 ~ John F. Kennedy is elected.
1961 ~ The Berlin wall is built.
1961 ~ Freedom Rides are organized to promote racial integration on buses, trains, and in terminals.
1961 ~ Roger Maris of the New York Yankees breaks Babe Ruth’s record by hitting 61 home runs in one season.
1962 ~ John Glenn is the first American to orbit earth.
1962 ~ Cuban missile crisis escalates the cold war.
1963 ~ Publication of Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique marks the beginning of the feminist movement.
1963 ~ Zip codes are instituted.
1963 ~ President John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas. Lyndon B. Johnson sworn in.
1964 ~ The Olympics are telecast via satellite from Tokyo.
1964 ~ Surgeon General issues the first cigarette warning.
1964 ~ Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act.
1964 ~ Martin Luther King Jr. wins the Nobel Peace Prize.
1964 ~ Johnson is re-elected.
1965 ~ LBJ’s peace offer is rejected; the Vietnam War escalates.
1965 ~ More than 14,000 National Guardsmen control rioting in Watts, South Los Angeles. Your older sisters were at Bethany Baptist Church in Los Angeles for Youth Night when the riot was in full swing. Scary!
1966 ~ “Black Power” enters the civil rights movement, introducing the militancy of Stokely Carmichael.
1967 ~ Detroit riot becomes largest U.S. riot of the century.
1967 ~ Apollo 1 blows up, killing three. Space program halts for several months.
1968 ~ Nixon is elected.
1968 ~ Assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy.
1968 ~ Your sister Ellen graduates from high school.
1968 ~ Computer RAM arrives on the market.
1969 ~ Neil Armstrong walks on the moon.

Some great quotes from this era…

“It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty important” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr. (The Wall Street Journal, November 13, 1962)

“America wept tonight not alone for its dead young President, but for itself…Somehow the worst prevailed over the best.” ~ James Reston (Columbia Chronicles, 1963)

“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” ~ Neil Armstrong (Televised broadcast, July 20, 1969)

Enjoy your special day. I love you both dearly and thank God that He added you to our family in 1963, what an amazing day in history that was!

High School Meme ~ Memories

Montebello High School is located in the San Gabriel Valley approximately 8 miles east of Downtown Los Angeles. Its famous alumni include tennis champion Jack Kramer, baseball great Bobby Knopp, basketball player and coach Jerry Pimm, Nobel Prize winner Bruce Merrifield, actors Edward James Olmos and Jack Larson, and California Democrat Party Chairman Art Torres.

I saw this meme over at Fiddledeedee. Dee Dee got it from another blogger. You know how that goes. Since High School was 39 years ago I’ll see how my memory is holding up. Yikes did I say 39 years ago…2007 minus 1968 = 39, Ouch!  Have fun at your 20th year reunion (oops I mean 30th!) Dee Dee!

1. Who was your best friend? My best friend in Junior High and High School was Judy T. and Nanc M. (I want to respect their privacy so no last name even though they’re married).  

2. Did you play any sports? I did enjoy sports. I was part of G.A.A. (Girls Athletic Association). I didn’t play any organized sports on an actual team, just in Phys Ed.

3. What kind of car did you drive? I drove whatever second hand car was available. I didn’t have my own old jalopy till college.

4. It’s Friday night. Where were you? Football games, basketball games, or baseball games. I was a Song-Leader part of the Pep Squad so I attended most every sporting event and cheered and danced away! I lost about 5 lbs. (water weight) every Friday night!

5. Were you a party animal? No, I really didn’t see the point of parties.

6. Were you considered a flirt? Not typically. I did get along with boys and sometimes better than I got along with girls.

7. Were you in the band, orchestra or choir?  Cheer Squad was my gig. I was part of the Russian Baptist Youth Choir.

8. Were you a nerd? Nope, not smart enough to be a nerd!

9. Were you ever suspended or expelled? Never!

10. Can you sing the fight song?  “Long ago she rose and stood, Montebello dear old high, Mid the sunlight’s golden flood, Montebello dear old high, Where the blue and gold flag flies, sheltering splendid enterprise, neath California’s summer skies, Montebello dear old high.” That doesn’t sound to fight songish. I think the fight song was more along the lines of “On Montebello, on Montebello, Fight on for your team da da da da da da da…..

11. Who was your favorite teacher? Mrs. Sawyer ~ English

12. What was your school mascot?  Ollie the Oiler

13. Did you go to the Prom? We had a Junior/Senior Prom. I went to the prom in my junior year but not my senior year. Our prom was at the now demolished Ambassador Hotel (where Bobby Kennedy was assasinated). My date took me to the Coconut Grove for the pre-prom dinner and show and we saw the Righteous Brothers.

14. If you could go back, would you? No way, no how, well…maybe just to set the things right.

15. What do you remember most about graduation? The tiring all night party at a bowling alley and the senior trip I took with my best buddies right after graduation.

16. Where were you on Senior Skip Day? We did not have a senior skip day.

17. Did you have a job your senior year? Yes, I worked for Link-Belt as an office assistant. I got off school half-day because I had enough credits.

18. Where did you go most often for lunch? Cafeteria with my sack lunch that my mom made for me every day.

19. Have you gained weight since then? Mercy, mercy me!  Yes, anywhere between 10 – 60 with pregnancies, etc. Right now I weigh 26 more pounds than I did in High School. I’d like to get that down to 20.

20. What did you do after graduation? I attended University of Redlands and then Cal-State Los Angeles, both in Southern California. I graduated with a degree in Home Economics and a k-8 teaching credential.

21. What year did you graduate? I graduated from high school in 1968.

22. Who was your Senior Prom Date?  Senior year no one, Junior year with Adam M.

23. Are you going/did you go to your 10 year reunion? I went to my 10 year and my 30 year. There weren’t enough of my old buddies at the 30 year reunion :(. I was happy to see the few that were there.

Please feel free to play along! Then let me know if you do…

 

Thankful Thursday ~ The Body of Christ

 

Psalm 27: 4-5 ~ One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock.

Today I am thankful for the churches that Dear and I have been a part of in our married life together…

(1974-1975) Grace Community Church, Panorama City, Ca. Although John MacArthur was teaching from the pulpit our most memorable teaching during our time here was in the College/Career class. We took a wonderful midweek college course that set us on a discipleship mindset in our Christian walk.

(1975-1984) Evangelical Free Church of Huntington Beach, Ca. Bob Thune was our pastor here. One of the milestone events that stands out was being discipled by the associate pastor Steve Hinrichs and the introduction of Fellowship Groups (Home-groups, cell groups, small groups) We were trained to lead a small group in a home and we’ve been part of some sort of small group ever since this time!

(1984-1988) Bible Fellowship Church in Ventura, Ca. Joe Albin was our pastor here. This is the church where we met our best friends for life Dave and Jody. Dave encouraged Dear to go back to school and become a Pharmacist. That set us on an interesting life changing path.

(1988-2006) Sunrise Christian Fellowship Church (Seattle, Edmonds),Wa. Bob Spiro was our pastor here. This is the church where we have spent the longest time so far. We value all the growth and learning we were afforded with this body of believers. We saw loving confrontation, forgiveness, reconciliation, friendship, hospitality, perseverance and healing, modeled in this body that has changed our lives forever.

(2006- ??) Evangelical Free Church Conejo Valley, Ca. Steve Larson is our pastor here. We are in a small group and have learned from the sermons. I have taken part in a weekly women’s Bible study. We are eager to see what God has in store for us as we continue to worship and grow with this new body of believers.

So on this Thankful Thursday I wanted to thank God for leading us and taking care of us in these wonderful church bodies!

Laurel is hosting Thankful Thursday this week so head on over to Laurel Wreath and read other Thankful posts.

Safe and Sound In Southern California!

Katie and I arrived safe and sound today. The trip was easier than we expected. Thank you to those of you who were praying that my feet and legs wouldn’t cramp. God answered your prayers! Not one cramp in the 20 hours of driving. Of all the books on cd that we took our #1 favorite was Jeeves and the Song of Songs by P. G. Wodehouse. Funny and very entertaining. We enjoyed one of the Barchester Chronicles and Book 5 of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Today we listened to Meet Me at the Morgue which was an entertaining murder mystery. We wouldn’t recommend The Vicar of Wakefield, for us it was horribly dull!

 

Katie took this at the border of Oregon and California.

 

Katie being creative…

 

There is a story to this mountain range. Yes, what you see is a mountain range. The smallest mountain range in the World! Dear’s Mother Verna is buried in a cemetery with these mountains in the background. Our photo is from I-5 which is the opposite view from the one below.

Yuba City’s Sutter Buttes

Sutter ButtesYuba City’s western horizon is dominated by the Sutter Buttes, renowned for being the “Smallest Mountain Range in the World.”

The range is actually circular with a diameter of 10 miles and covers an area of about 75 square miles. The mountains are the remnants of a volcano that has been dormant for over a million years. South Butte, the highest peak is 2,117 feet above sea level. North Butte is 1,863 feet and West Butte is 1,685 feet above sea level.

Before modern levees and dams were built to contain the rivers, winter storms and spring run-off frequently turned the Sacramento Valley into an inland sea making the Sutter Buttes an island refuge for Indians, settlers and wildlife.

The Buttes have had many names over the years. The Maidu Indians called them “Histum Yani” which translates as, “Middle Mountains of the Valley” or “Spirit Mountain” … depending on the source. According to Maidu legend, after death, the spirits of their people rest in the Buttes.

Gabriel Moraga, a Spaniard trying to locate possible mission sites, was the first European to see the Sutter Buttes in 1806. Another Spaniard, Luis Arguello, led an expedition in 1817 to explore Northern California by water. He called the Buttes “Los Picachos” or the peaks. He also named the Feather River “El Rio de la Plumas”, because he saw many feathers of wild fowl floating on the water.

Other names for the Buttes were “Marysville Buttes”, “Sacramento Buttes”, and “Los Tres Picos.” They were finally named the “Sutter Buttes” in 1949.

Today, most of the Sutter Buttes is private land and not open to the public. However, you can drive through and around the Buttes. It is a beautiful drive any time of the year! Each year, in the spring, over 1,000 cyclists converge to “Bike Around the Buttes” an event sponsored by the Diabetes Society of Yuba Sutter.

If you want to experience the Buttes up close, organized group tour hikes are available. You can also play golf in the Buttes at South Ridge Golf Course, but watch out for the infamous 16th hole!

http://www.syix.com/yubacity/sutterbuttes.html

My photos are being held hostage at the Photobucket site as of July 2017.

The Lily of the Valley ~ Charles W. Fry

 

Charles W. Fry (1838-1882) & family

Courtesy of Salvation Army

 Words: bio Charles W. Fry, 1881; first ap­peared in the Sal­va­tion Ar­my’s The War Cry, De­cem­ber 29, 1881. Fry wrote the lyr­ics in Lin­coln, Eng­land, while work­ing with the Sal­va­tion Ar­my.

The Lily of the Valley

I have found a friend in Jesus, He’s everything to me,
He’s the fairest of ten thousand to my soul;
The Lily of the Valley, in Him alone I see
All I need to cleanse and make me fully whole.
In sorrow He’s my comfort, in trouble He’s my stay;
He tells me every care on Him to roll.

Refrain

He’s the Lily of the Valley, the Bright and Morning Star,
He’s the fairest of ten thousand to my soul.

He all my grief has taken, and all my sorrows borne;
In temptation He’s my strong and mighty tower;
I have all for Him forsaken, and all my idols torn
From my heart and now He keeps me by His power.
Though all the world forsake me, and Satan tempt me sore,
Through Jesus I shall safely reach the goal.

Refrain

He will never, never leave me, nor yet forsake me here,
While I live by faith and do His blessèd will;
A wall of fire about me, I’ve nothing now to fear,
From His manna He my hungry soul shall fill.
Then sweeping up to glory to see His blessèd face,
Where the rivers of delight shall ever roll.

Refrain

Ht: Cyberhymnal

Show & Tell Friday ~ Lincoln’s Devotional

 I found this book at Goodwill this week.

The newly-found book of daily Scriptural messages and inspirational verse in which Abraham Lincoln signed his name – a book he used and cherished, revealing a faith you can share. This copy was copyrighted in 1957.

The devotional portion of this volume contains the entire text of “The Believer’s Daily Treasure; or , Texts of Scripture Arranged for Every Day in the Year,” published in 1852 by the Religious Tract Society of London, England. The material is reprinted as it appears in the copy of the book which Abraham Lincoln owned, and therefore contains the several inconsistencies and typographical errors found in the original edition.

This is a bit blurry

This plate of Lincoln and his Log Cabin was given to us by Dear’s grandmother Nettie. It is from Wayne City, Illinois.

I’m including the July 13th entry from the devotional with no corrections…

13

Communion with God 

 a Source of Joy

There be many that say, Who will show us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. Thou has put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased. Psalm iv. 6, 7.

Lord, what is life? if spent with thee,
In humble praise and prayer,
How long or short my life may be
I feel no anxious care:
though life depart, my joys shall last,
When life and all its joys are past.

For more Show & Tell Friday click on over to Kelli’s at There’s No Place Like Home…

All the photos from this post are being held hostage by Photobucket as of July 2017.

Father’s Day 2007 ~ Tribute to Two Men I Love

 

My Father (Pop) ~ Moisi Timothy Bagdanov

Pop

I am so thankful to God for how He called you and has led you all these years. I admire your hard work ethic. I admire the fact that you are always on time. You never make people wait. We were never late to church. Your contentment is admirable. Your hobbies take the back seat to anyone who needs help. What hobbies? You don’t golf, sail, cycle, surf the net. Well you do like the Price is Right and Wheel of Fortune.  In your retirement years you became a missionary. Since returning from Russia where you served on your own without a mission group to help you, you’ve helped those in need around you. If anyone in your circle of aquaintances and church dies, you’re the first one they call. You have helped so many people make funeral arrangements I can’t keep up. You would give any of us your last dime. Paul’s charge to Timothy has been lived out by you.

“But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilot made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time – God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.”

Here are his children, grands, and great grands.

My husband and the father of my children.

Josh & Dear

I’m so thankful to God that He called you and continues to work in your life. How many times have I said that I’m so glad I married you. Yikes, when I consider some of the people I dated, I wish I could blot out the memory. You are a man that I can admire. Your wisdom and wit have kept me from “stepping in it” so many times. You are humble where I’m haughty. You are patient where I am impulsive. You think before you speak and I speak before I think. You’re a good listener. You are a good teacher. You are the guy I want to grow really old with. Your children have learned so much from you and I think they will remember and appreciate more and more your example to them as they walk their adult lives. I love you. Your children are blessed to have you for their dad.

The photos in this post were updated because Photobucket blacked out the original photos on this post.

God of Our Fathers ~ Hymn ~ Daniel C. Roberts

 

The hymn was written in 1876 for a cel­e­bra­tion of the Cen­ten­n­i­al Fourth of July, and sung at Bran­don, Ver­mont, to the tune called Russ­ian Hymn! When our Gen­er­al Con­ven­tion ap­point­ed a Com­miss­ion to re­vise the Hymn­al, I sent it, with­out my name, prom­is­ing to send the name if the hymn were ac­cept­ed. It was ac­cept­ed and print­ed anon­y­mous­ly in the re­port of the Com­mis­sion. Be­fore the Hymn­al was print­ed, the Rev­er­end Dr. Tuck­er, late of Troy, ed­it­or of our best mu­sic­al Hymn­al, and Mr. George Will­iam War­ren, or­gan­ist of St. Thom­as’ Church, New York, were ap­point­ed to choose a hymn for the cen­ten­ni­al cel­e­bra­tion of the adopt­ion of the Con­sti­tu­tion. They se­lect­ed this hymn, then anon­y­mous, and want­ing a tune, Mr. War­ren com­posed a tune to which it has since been set in the Tuck­er Hymn­al.

  God Of Our Fathers ~ words by Daniel C. Roberts

God of our fathers, whose almighty hand
Leads forth in beauty all the starry band
Of shining worlds in splendor through the skies
Our grateful songs before Thy throne arise.

Thy love divine hath led us in the past,
In this free land by Thee our lot is cast,
Be Thou our Ruler, Guardian, Guide and Stay,
Thy Word our law, Thy paths our chosen way.

From war’s alarms, from deadly pestilence,
Be Thy strong arm our ever sure defense;
Thy true religion in our hearts increase,
Thy bounteous goodness nourish us in peace.

Refresh Thy people on their toilsome way,
Lead us from night to never ending day;
Fill all our lives with love and grace divine,
And glory, laud, and praise be ever Thine.

Ht: Cyberhymnal