10/29/06 2:26 PM
Elena C. Kern wrote:
Stonehurst In The 40's and 50'sBy Elena Camargo Kern, October 29,2006
Stonehurst In The 40's and 50's
I have such wonderful memories of growing up in our little stone house on Allegheny Street.
There were so many kids who lived on my street and in the neighborhood. The summers were endless. There was no smog in the forties, just blue skies and sunshine. We would play "Cowboy's and Indian's" until the street lights came on.
We hung out at Sonehurst Park, where there were two sand boxes. One had monkey bars and rings for the "big kids" and a smaller one for the little kids. There was also a wading pool. I remember very well one summer when when the pool was drained and closed because of the outbreak of Polio in our neighborhood. My sweet little friend Terry was stricken with the dreaded disease and ended up in an iron lung. After she was finally released from the hospital I would visit with her while she underwent extremely painful physical therapy. I used to cry for her as she struggled with crutches and the heavy metal braces on her legs. She was so brave and she was my heroine. It was a very scary time for everyone everywhere...and especially our neighborhood.
All of my friends lived either on my street or close by in the neighborhood. I was probably closest to, Donna Zelhoff, who lived across the street and Penny Hagland, who lived two doors up the street. Penny had a brother, David, who always managed to make me cry. Donna had a little sister, Nickie, who we were always trying to ditch. Then there were the Bardwell girls, Carol, Jane and Linda. They were quite famous because their father owned a flower shop AND...the Bardwell family was the first in our neighborhood to have a television. It was a Hoffman Easy Vision and the screen was yellow! We would gather 'round and watch "Time for Beanie" with Cecil the Seasick Seasurpent and "Howdy Doodie".
Sharon Truby lived with her mother and grandparents at the east end of the block across the street from Jeffery Romine. Jimmy and Jerry Corzatt lived at the west end of Allegheny, two houses from the park and next door to the Nybergs who lived on te corner.
Marsha Rose and Laurel Riggs lived on Sheldon Avenue, the next street over. Violet and Velma Scalzo lived on Stonehurst Ave. These great kids made up my first circle of friends and I remember them all with great fondness and I still hold them close in my heart.
But, some of my best friends of all time were my beloved animals. I got my first dog, Bobbie when I was two, followed my my duck, Donna and my horse Snowball when I was three.
My grandfather was in the movie business from 1913-1931. He was an actor in silent films and assistant to Hollywood director C.B. DeMille. He also supplied the studios with every kind of animal and western prop imaginable, from camels to stage coaches. After he retired from the studios he was a horse show and rodeo judge. My entire family on my mother's side were horse people and in the movie business. My mother was a pioneer Hollywood stunt woman. Her brother doubled for silent screen star, Mary Pickford. And, Rudolph Valentiono learned to ride on her horse, Teddy. Her sister, Dolores, was a world champion calf roper and trick rider (1933).
My grandfather knew Snowball's background very well. So, when the studios retired him my grandfather bought him for me for my birthday. I was only three so he HAD to be an extermely well trained and gentle horse...and that he was. Once in a great while I still see him on TV on American Movie Classics in the wee hours of the morning in a VERY old John Wayne movie.
Several years ago, here in Hemet, I was walking past an antiques shop and there in the window was an 8 x10 movie still of Snowball. I went in and asked the shop keeper the price. He wanted to know why I wanted it...I told him that it was my old horse...he gave me the picture...
My friend, Suzanne lived on Stonehurst Ave near Wentworth. I don't recall her last name. Strange, because we were very good friends...that's what 50+ years does to your memory bank! She had red hair. Her horse was black and mine was white.
Nearly every day, after school, rain or shine ( rain was my favorite), Suzanne and I rode our horses at Stonehurst Stables. It was a wonderfully fun place to hang out. It was on the corner of Stonehurst Ave. where Sheldon turns into Mc Broom... where the feed store is now. The building, which sat back at the foot of the little hill, was made entirely of stone and the riding arena was enclosed by a stone wall that had to have been close to six feet tall. Tex Marcelles owned the stables. There was always country music playing on the nickle juke box. Hank Williams, Jimmy Rogers, Gene Autery, Roy Rogers...could be heard while we were riding. It was safe because we were protected from traffic by the stone wall. We could buy a Coke, in a glass bottle out of a red machine, for a nickle. The barn and stables were made of stone just like the houses. Every weekend there were horse shows and gymkanna's. I won my first blue ribbon with Snowball when I was six. I still have it. I was heartbroken when the stables were demolished in the name of progress...
When I was about 8 years old Snowball and I rode ,with my friend Suzanne and her horse, to the far side of the dam to the Baby Beef hamburger stand where we decided to stop for a Coke. I guess it was too close to feeding time and Snowball decided he was hungry too so he decided to untie himself and go home without me. When he came galloping into the driveway without me my parents were frantic. Being a former movie horse he knew a lot of tricks...untieing himself was one of his best. I quickly learned to tie a better knot!
We raised chickens so we always had eggs. In the old days Sun Valley was called Roscoe and I loved to go with my mother and grandmother to "Roscoe Feed and Seed" to buy chicken feed which came in softly colored print sacks. I got to pick out the sacks that either Mom or Gram would then turn into a new school dress for me. I thought they were beautiful.
When I was ten I learned to drive. I used to drive my dad's old, blue,1948 Dodge pickup truck down the dirt road to buy bread and milk from Breech's Market. My mom told me that if I got caught I was going straight to jail!
After school we would walk to Breech's...the original stone building on the corner of Sheldon and Wealtha. There were dill pickles for 5 cents that were kept in a big jar on the top of the fresh meat counter. We could also buy a two pack of "Twinkies" or "Snowballs" for a nickle. For a real 'buzz' you could also buy a 5 cent package of Jello and consume it straight from the box!
Doc and Eva Louise Elliot Riding Stables was near the corner of Stonehurst and Allegheny. It was a real horse lovers community and my parents, Ray and Judy Camargo, belonged to a club made up of locals, The Sundown Riders.
Not far from our house, on Sunland Blvd. was "The Old Vienna" restaurant. It was so charming...also made of stone. There was a patio with twists and turns and niches. A huge wooden water wheel was running at the front of the stone structure and a stream ran behind. There were French windows by nearly every booth that overlooked the stream. There were stories of spys and secret, underground tunnels leading to the house on the hill above the restaurant during WW ll. I was fascinated by the mystery. Although we never dined there, occasionly, I would talk my father into pulling into the parking lot where I would "visit" with the little monkey who lived in a large, enclosed, habitat at the east end of the restaurant.
In 1965 one of my childhood dreams came true. My cousin answered an ad in the newspaper for a job and I nearly fainted when the address turned out to be that of "THE Old Vienna". I drove her up the hill to that ominous house that held such legend and speculation. We were stopped by a huge iron gate and had to announce our business through a speaker box before we were allowed entry. The big gate slowly swung open and I drove through. It was goose bump time! I have never seen a swimming pool that large! There was a rowboat floating in the middle. I doubt that I could have made it from one side to the other without a boat.
We were met at the door by a lovely woman dressed in a long robe and turban. We stepped onto the large, square, black and white marble tiles in the entry.There were huge potted plants in urns and to me and my cousin, Carol, we felt as though we had walked into a palace. Sadly, Carol did not land the job so that was the one and only time I was there.
Many years ago and quite by accident, I caught the very end of a story about the mystery of restaurant and house on TV...just my luck to miss it...so for me, the mystery and the fascination lives on.
I was blessed to have wonderful, loving parents and grandparents. On Saturday my father would mow the lawn and when the ice cream man came down the street he would buy ice cream or popcicles for everyone who showed up...and they all showed up!
When I was five years old new neighbors moved in on either side of us. The Willard's and the Ito's. The Willard's had an older daughter Judy, who was married, and a son, Allen, who was ten years my senior...he was my first HUGE crush...I was five and he was fifteen. He had no idea that I was alive. He recently celebrated his 74th birthday...The Willard's and the Ito's were wonderful neighbors and even better friends. The Willard's especially, were "family".
When we were a bit older, my first cigarette was shared with Penny. I thought I would choke to death! It must have been a Camel or Lucky Strike. When we finally stopped coughing, we discovered that a much milder "cigarette" was tightly rolled toilet paper. My smoking "habit" was cured that same day...
We all attended Stonehurst Elementary School and then went on to Sun Valley Jr. Hi and then Poly or Verdugo. I am still in touch with Penny Hagland, who lives in Reno, NV and I had a wonderful reunion with Beverly Taber/Duncan eary last year. It had been over fifty years since we had seen one another.
Around 1952 Stonehurst started to change. People died or moved away and new people moved in, new streets were developed and the wonderful old stone structures, sadly, began to disappear. It broke my young heart.
In 1990 just before we moved to Hemet my dear friends, Jaki and her sister, Simone, rode our horses, one last time, in Hansen Dam. It was a beautiful day with a deep blue sky, huge thunderhead clouds, sun and RAIN! I was wearing my Outback, oiled, slicker that kept me and my saddle dry. It was the first time I had ridden in the dam since I lost my beloved "Snowball" in 1960. It was one of those days that make for a perfect memory...for my old age...a bittersweet memory of my old horse, Snowball, who was my constant companion and friend, and of a childhood that I wouldn't trade for anything. What a marvelous blessing to have grown up when and where I did...
Jaki didn't go to school with me but she and her late husband, Dr Markarian, lived on Art Street across from jazz great,Shelly Mann. We now live within a quater mile of one another and both still have horses. One of mine I named "Teddy' after my mother's horse.
I still own that little stone house on Allegheny Street. It has been in my family for over 80 years. I have it rented to a friend. My grandmother bought it brand new in 1925. It came furnished and with a model A Ford. I still have some of the furniture...I wish I had the car!
