Some things in San Diego will never be the same

YMCA, Lawrence Welk Village, Folk Arts, community T.V., Del Mar racetrack, San Diego Rowing Club

Author

By Various Authors

Publish Date

Dec. 29, 2018

The overwhelming impression given by the employees was that they had got lucky and stayed lucky by working at the track. (Bob Eckert)

What do the Y.M.C.A. and the U.S.O. dangle to get them away from the Blue Door Massage Parlor? (Bob Eckert)

A nice clean place for a lonely sailor

The U.S.O.’s new, clean building and its superior organizational skills seem to give it an overwhelming advantage over the Y. The Y seems old and pockmarked by the scuzziness of its Broadway location: the bus exhaust. the dirty newspaper racks in front, the prostitutes across the street. And the people of the Y seem to lack the energy of the U.S.O. staff. But the Y has its advantages, too. One is the hotel. For $4 a night, any serviceman can stay in the hotel and use its facilities.

By John Martin, Sept. 12, 1974 Read full article

“This place is just a drop in the bucket of Mr. Welk's real estate holdings."

Lawrence Welk will probably kill me for this, but I found paradise eight miles north of Escondido

An accordian-playing Welk grins from a painting to clubhouse visitors. Champagne Music is piped into the restaurant and gift shop, where one may buy Welk records (albums by the Lennon Sisters, who have left the Welk show “they were going to set the world on fire,” says Mr. Carter — are tucked in the bottom corner, in the back), souvenirs and autographed copies of Mr. Welk's autobiography marked down to $1.95 from the original $7.95.

Grass roots music

On Friday night it's easier to pick out the store front, well-lit in the dark block. Virginia Curtiss collects $2 at the door as the crowd wanders in by twos and threes. There is only one short bench against the wall, so most of us crowd together on the braided rag rug and others slide in under the record counters. We're constantly being asked to move forward as someone else comes in.

By Anne Hutchison, May 9, 1974 Read full article

Are you a Mission Cable television subscriber? You may have run across some rather strange programs while twiddling the dial.

Guerrilla T.V.

Well, says Becky Smith, “we kind of preview” the shows. It’s impossible to know exactly what some of them will be, however, until they’re shown. Most people, she says, know the FCC rules: No blatant pornography, no commercials, no political campaigning, no lotteries. Beyond that, anything goes, and the only person responsible is the one who made the film. Each film-maker is required to release CVC, coordinator Ann Prutzman, and sponsor Mission Cable from libel.

By Mark Woelber and Reba Janes, May 15, 1975 Read full article

Kearney Johnston: "Arnholt Smith. Yeah, he was quite a rower. He rowed the lap boats, then he rowed on teams." (John Maher)

The poor man's country club

It is hard not to get swept up in the romanticism of the place. The wooden floors, the knotty pine walls, the wooden lockers next to the gym room. The sign of the sunporch that warns, “Members Must Wear Full-Length Trunks On The Island.” The elderly members sunbathing butt-naked on the sunporch, just beyond the sign. The bare lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling, the comb that hangs on a chain next to the mirror in the locker room.

By John Martin, May 8, 1975 Read full article

Del Mar: behind the paddocks, a fan's view, the Hollywood money

Desi Arnaz, flashing an incredibly toothy smile, welcomed a young woman friend to his little, square Turf Club table overflowing with cottage cheese salads. (The following is as translated from the Engleesh.) “On the last day of the season this year, July 21 at Hollywood Park, I bet Cary Grant’s teeth right on the nose of Patsy’s Pat, a seven-length winner. I won Dick Zanuck’s molars and a lifetime pass to the orthodontist of my choice!”

By E.J. Rackow, Beth Lyons, Alan Pesin, Aug. 14, 1975 Read full article