Craig Stecyk

Mike Doyle today in front of his Cabo San Lucas home, 1993.

Editor: The following comments came in April and early May.

• Dennis Kane · Commented on Mike Doyle and the formative years of San Diego surfing
• My very first day at Windansea, I was sitting up on the bluff watching what was going on. I didn't know it then, but I was sitting next to Mike. We struck up a friendship, and he informed me how local" Windansea was.
• He said if I ever had problem out in the lineup that I could rely on him. So the next day, It was bigger, probably head high plus 2-3, and Mike was already out. The locals were not too happy to see some new guy, even though I was living in Windansea at the time. I just wasn't one of their guys. Mike paddled over and started to talk. He put in a good word for me with all the guys including the fact that I had been an ocean lifeguard for decades. That turned out to be a really great session, and the beginning of a friendship with a real surf legend.

Steve Garber fixing a slab. If a building is to be sold, the toilet, installed in 1988, must be replaced with a 1.6-gallon model and the faucet in the bathtub must be above the floodline of the bath to prevent “gray” water being siphoned back into the potable water supply.

Photo by Sandy Huffaker, Jr.

• Kevin Sisterson · Commented on San Diego's Steve Garber – a thinking man's plumber
• I was a plumbers helper working for Bernie around 1980 or 81. Steve was off in college so I never met him. His sister ran the office at the time. I remember plumbers Hal and Rudy. There was a younger guy too but I cant remember his name. The day I started working for Bernie he took me to an apartment building. Out back was the concrete parking spaces for the tennants. He gave me a couple wire brushes and some detergent and said to clean off the greasy oil spots where the cars had been dripping. Ok, for me, it's a job! I started scrubbing and washing. Around lunch he came back, looked around, and took off again. At 4, he came back, said "you'll do, I think I'll keep you, "or something like that. From then on I was treated like family, going out on jobs with the plumbers. Learning the trade. I didnt go on to be a plumber, but to this day I can fix anything plumbing related. Bernie had a little sleeping room by the back door. If he wasn't out on jobs hed be in there reading magazines or snoozing.

Rick Elias

• Tot Gaf · Commented on RIP Harlequin and Vision guitarist Rick Elias
• I had the opportunity to sing one song on stage with Rick Elias at Seekers Coffee House in Middleburg Heights, Ohio. He said he couldn't remeber all the words to Rich Mullins "Awesome God" and wanted a volunteer from the 120 person audience to come up and sing. Nobody else was willing so I joined Rick while he played guitar. A memorable moment for this now nearly 67 year old guy. Later, my wife and I walked with Rick out to his car chatting about anything and everything. Rick came across as a genuine, loving, committed, funloving guy. He will be missed here, but I hope to see him again and share a laugh and pray together.

• Kim Brogan · Commented on Niederfrank's Ice Cream – so far behind in modern technology
• I've been going there since the sixties...and I still love it. Hats off to the owners who took it over from Mr. Niederfrank for keeping his quality standards. He was white haired in a white t-shirt and long apron and somewhat nonplus. I loved going to his shop, the ice cream is the best.

Lemon Grove Baking Company mural panel 4: the Little Town Surrounded by Orchards

Photograph by Matthew Suárez

• Sammy Ybarra · Commented on 35 glimpses at Lemon Grove
• What a great story in today's Reader, as told by Thomas Larson ... i am the grandson of Juan DeDios Gonzalez, who organized the parents to protest the school segregation attempted by the Lemon Grove School District .. back when the documenrary was made by Paul Espinoza (of KPBS) it was titled, The Lemon Grove Incident ... i remember we gathered at the home of my grandmother to watch the first showing .. with us was the young actor who played my grandfather ( as a young boy) in the movie .. in the documentary they interviewed Mr Alvarez as well as my uncle Jess Gonzalez (who was one of the original students told not to go to the school when they were returning from christmas vacation .. it was an exciting time for me and my family especially my grandmother, who was full if pride and love ... Mr Larson also mentioned the mexican-american's during world war two .. a little known fact being that there have been more Medal of Honor recipient s of mexican-american descent than any other ethnic group .. my grandfather and grandmother had 14 children, 10 boys and 4 girls, in the early fifties moved from Lemon Grove and settled in the Logan Heights area .. my mother ( one of 4 girls) was the only one of the 14 brothers and sisters to graduate from high school, very significant seeing that two of her sons geaduated from Harvard. . In this article i read that a teacher in Lemon Grove had students in his 3rd grade class studied the ' Incident' ..i..i woyld love to assist that teacher or any teacher with my knowledge of Lemon Grove and its great history ..thank you Thomas Larson

• Marlene Edmead · Commented on Their Own Paradise
• I have lived in the part of Bonita Paradise Mobile Home Park for thirty years. The east side of Calle Abajo is in San Diego but we never receive any news about Paradise Hills. People dump mattresses,tires,etc along the side road of SR. 54.theowners of BPMH have allowed a once beautiful park to deteriorate neglecting landscaping of the hills surrounding the mobile home park. All in all there been no improvement in our area . We don't even have street lighting at night on Valley Road between corner at Sweetwater eastward to Reo Drive and speed limits on Valley Road are too dangerous at 45 mph where residents now park on the shoulders of 54W as there is no parking allowed in the streets of the mobile home park

Skate rental

• Sarge Schreiber · Commented on Monty's Skateland, downtown San Diego, Palisades Gardens in North Park
• I HELPED START THE RAMBLIN REXERS OF GLENDALE, CALIF. MY ARC # IS 09. MONTY AND HIS WIFE WERE 01 AND 02 AS I REMEMBER. BRUCE WAS A VERY GOOD FRIEND OF MINE FOR YEARS HERE IN THE SALEM AREA OF OREGON. I DON'T SKATE ANYMORE BUT I SURE MISS IT!!! KEEP REXING TO ALL MY FRIEDS FROM THE MOONLIGHT.

• David Mitchell · Commented on Linda Vista's Skate World, you're fine, now go away
• Gary I don't know if you remember me David Mitchell you were with my daughter and was teaching her how to skate better Laura Mitchell. We used to drive down from Encinitas. Phone number is 1-760-580-0776.the year was 1969 or 70. So sorry to here about your place .i now you love it. Hope it all works out.

The western side of the island is mostly a series of neatly stepped terraces that indicate former levels of the ocean.

• Steve Donlon · Commented on Don't pitch your tent on San Clemente Island
• I was a commerical abalone diver there fom 1969-1975 and have many fond reflections of thos days. We used to trade abolone and lobster to the guys on the Navy tugboat that guarded Pyramid Cove to keep boats out during bombing practice. They used the abalone for bait to catch Sheephead and Kelp Bass and caught more fish than they could ever eat . The Captain gave us big cans of peanut butter and jelly in trade, and boy did it taste good after a few weeks of just eating fish, lobster and abalone. We also had our surf boards with us and surfed the south west side of the island and China Point when it got big. Really good diving in those days. I had just got out of the Marine Corps and those days at San Clemente Island were some of th best days of my life. I could write a book about that place and some of the things we saw there. If you ever get a chance, Go.

The players of the Fifties and early Sixties were rugged he-men.

• The obsession and business of baseball cards
• My name is Jack Mugglebee, I’m not sure if my last name is familiar or not, but I am writing you this letter because your article mentions a man named Nelson Katz who owned The Collectors Dugout. My dad Chris Mugglebee grew up in Poway and went to that shop a lot with his mother Sharon Mugglebee. Sharon and Nelson were good friends. I am 15 years old myself and I made efforts to try and find Nelson, which led me to his son who told me he passed in 1999 of Leukemia. I tried to contact him because I wanted to know if he knew where a certain card that my grandmother Sharon bought off him and then sold with his help years later, went.

• The reason why I want to find that card is because, according to my dad, it was the most perfect Pete Rose rookie you had seen. But since she sold it we no longer owned it and my dad and I never know where it ended up. I would ask my grandmother but she passed in 2005 of Lung Cancer. So in my attempts to track the card down I found this article which has given me much information. I saw the author was Larry Keller and if you are the one reading this I would much appreciate it if you would get back to me as for anyone who is reading this. Who ever is reading this letter if you did know Nelson back in the 80s and knew about that card or know anyone with that information, I would appreciate you emailing me back with any information. Ask your friends or anyone who grew up in San Diego who went to that shop that might know about the story about the Pete Rose rookie. My email is [email protected] and my phone number is (323) 603-9780. Thank you very much have a great day.
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