Taft, California Greetings from Pete Gianopulos, Class of 1942 The Taft Newsletter

REMINDER: Only 320 days until Taft's Diamond Jubilee -- The Taft Oildorado, Inc. celebrating Taft's 100th birthday, October 15 to the 24th, 2010 and dedication of Oil Worker's Monument. The year 2010 will also be the 100th anniversary of the world famous Lakeview Gusher -- the grand daddy of of all gushers-- between Taft and Maricopa -- that spewed out 9,000,000 barrels of oil over a year a half before it stopped flowing. A historical marker marks the location of that gusher and what is left of the crater at the site of that historical gusher. ATTACHMENT:

From Larry Hildebrand, Class of 1966, from Phoenix, Arizona The photo was taken in the Kern Council of Governments board/conference room, a place near & dear to my brother's heart and where he spent many an hour of his professional life. All his fellow "COGsters" were a 2nd family to him. L to R: Larry Dillard (Navy); Larry West (Army); Paul Rosenberg (Army/Marines); Lawrence Hildebrand (Air Force); Rick Mixon (Navy - 20 yrs); Ray Abney (Marines); Gary Alexander (Marines) ....and all Taft Union High School Class of '66 honoring Darrel - South High Class of '77.

FOOTBALL RESULTS The Taft High Wildcats, number 3, won their quarterfinal game against Dos Palos last night 27 to 0. Two long touchdowns were called back because of penalties. Sherriff's led the Taft's rushers with 133 yards. His brilliant run of 54 yards was one of those called back. Next week Taft will play Fresno's Washington Union, ranked number 2. there, who won their quarterfinal game against Toolhouse-Sierra 45 to 9. Kingsburg, number 1, beat Kerman 75 to 0 and will play Exeter, number 5, who beat Wasco 27 to 0.

. Slim Summerville was well-known character around Taft in the 1910 era. He was considered a pool shark, playing pool with the best of them, and usually winning. The early Midway Driller’s tell about Summerville being employed at the Fox Hotel as a clerk at the front desk in the lobby of that four-story hotel, located at 400 Main Street. There was two entrances to the lobby of the hotel. One entrance was off of Main Street and one on Fourth Street. There was a bar on the Fourth Street side of the hotel lobby and a large dining room off to the right as you entered the Main Street entrance. There was space for eating in the dining room as well for dancing. From time-to-time the hotel would offer nightclub acts in the dining room. Elevators to the top floor were available. It was the Fox Hotel where Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Chill Wills, and Frank Morgan stayed for the filming to the motion picture called, “Boom Town.” It was outside of that Fourth Street entrance to the hotel that a bunch of us kids would wait to see the stars drive up and get out of their cars and enter the hotel at the end of the day’s shooting. In 1913 the Midway Driller reported about the up-coming twenty-round fight between , the West Coast champ, and Taft’s “Kid” “Lighting” Kenneth at the Blaisdell Opera House in the middle of the south side of the 300 block of Center Street. It was reported that Kenneth was the victor of the bout in the third round “when Kenneth landed a right to the jaw of Kennedy went down like and ox.” Edgar Kennedy later became a well known actor in the silent films having appeared in over 400 films and well-known as the man with the face that became known as the “slow burn.” It was in Taft for the fight that Kennedy discovered Slim Summerville and later convinced Summerville to go to Hollywood with him and become an actor. Summerville got his start in silent films and played in several movies as a member of the “Keystone Kops.” The one person in Taft that I had talked to about Summerville was the late Eddie Coffee who knew that actor very well. Coffee had visited Summerville at the beach home at Laguna Beach. Summerville died from a stroke at that beach home in 1946. According to Coffee, Summerville never forgot Taft of his Taft friends. From the internet, the following information is available about Slim Summerville: Slim Summerville From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Slim Summerville Born George Joseph Somerville July 10, 1892(1892-07-10) Albuquerque, , USA Died January 6, 1946 (aged 53) (stroke) Laguna Beach, California, USA Occupation Actor & Director Spouse(s) Eleanor Brown (?-1946) (his death) 1 Child Gertrude M. Roell (?-?) (divorced) Slim Summerville (July 10, 1892 - January 6, 1946) was an American film actor, best known as a comedy performer. Born George Joseph Summerville in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Summerville began his career as a "Keystone Kop" in 1912. His tall, gangly appearance was well utilized in numerous short comedy films during the era, and in addition to his many acting roles, he directed more than 50 short films. Occasionally he played in dramatic films, such as All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) and Jesse James (1939), but was most successful in comedy films, including several with . He died of a stroke in Laguna Beach, California; following his death his house became "The Beach House" restaurant. [edit] Selected filmography a.. Western Union (1941) b..Jesse James c..Charlie Chan in Reno (1939) d..Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938) e..Captain January (1936) f.. Airmail (1932) g..The Bad Sister (1931) h..All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) * Strong Boy (1929) i.. Fatty and the Broadway Stars (1915) j.. Their Social Splash (1915) k..That Little Band of Gold (1915) l.. Fatty's New Role (1915) m..Fatty and Minnie He-Haw (1914) n.. Fatty's Magic Pants (1914) o.. Leading Lizzie Astray (1914) p.. Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914) q.. Dough and Dynamite (1914) r.. Lover's Luck (1914) s.. Laughing Gas (1914) t.. A Rowboat Romance (1914) u.. Fatty and the Heiress (1914) v.. Mabel's Busy Day (1914) [edit] External links a.. Slim Summerville at the Internet Movie Database b. Slim Summerville at Find A Grave Persondata NAME Summerville, Slim ALTERNATIVE NAMES Somerville, George Joseph SHORT DESCRIPTION Actor & Director DATE OF BIRTH 1892-07-10 PLACE OF BIRTH Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA DATE OF DEATH 1946-01-6 (stroke) PLACE OF DEATH Laguna Beach, California, USA

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slim_Summerville"

Reader's Response From Nancy (Walter) Doss, Class of 1968, from Idaho Falls, Idaho Dear Pete, Can you please pass along my condolences to Lawrence Hildebrand. I feel like I've gotten to know you thru Pete's newsletters. I lost my brother, Jim, in '08. He was my only sibling and we were very close. I know how devastating it can be. My heart and prayers go out to you, Lawrence. Nancy Walter Doss Class of '68 From Mike Petty, Class of 1966, from Kanai, Alaska The Class of 66 sure had a bunch of great people (photo folks). Would like to have been there. Looking forward to Oildorado. This event will be a good time for all to talk and visit. Mike Petty From Diana Montgomery, Class of 1966, From Taft, CA Lawrence (Hildebrand), Great picture! Looks like your brother had a good send off and all of the services are represented. Good seeing everyone in the picture! Diana From Celeste (Eastwood) Riedemann Lawrence (Hildebrand), What a great gathering to support you and yours. That is a great picture and I'm glad those guys could be there for you. Celeste