Piner High School Alumni Newsletter A joint publication of the Piner High School Foundation and Hall of Fame Volume 12, Issue 1 September 2020 Mr. Ken Foote out curtains, curfews, sand buck- Mr. Charlie Buff ets on roofs, etc. My health was so poor—I had nearly every childhood disease except Polio, nearly died of measles hemhorragica—that the family moved to Bakers- field in December, 1944. There I remained until the fall of 1954 when I left to attend the Uni- versity of California at Berkeley. While in Bakersfield I worked at I was born in Torrance, Ca., on the High School student store, I was born a coal-miner’s son Feb. 22, 1935. My dad was a the College Bookstore, Supe- in Nuangola, a small village Safeway Stores manager and rior Creamery (which delivered in the Appalachian Mountains my mother worked as a recep- of Northeastern Pennsylvania dairy products to outlying rural tionist at various medical facili- in 1935. I became a citizen of areas such as Weedpatch, Arvin, ties. My parents inherited my California when my family and Pumpkin Center) and the down- mom’s mother Perley, who lived I crossed the border at Needles town Safeway where I parked with the family and raised the 4 in our 1937 Studebaker at mid- cars for the shoppers for free children. I was the 3rd child and night on May 23, 1948. I was when I wasn’t stocking shelves, the only boy. 12 years old at the time, and bagging groceries or sweeping as we drove along US Route 66 I remember being in church on floors. I lettered in tennis at the through the cold and desolate Dec 7th, 1941, when the min- high school of 4000 students Mojave Desert, I was sure that I ister read a report, he’d just and still wear my letterman’s was not going to like California. But I changed my mind when at received that the Japanese had sweater occasionally. In 1953 I sunrise I first saw the green, lush attacked Pearl Harbor. Since bought my first car, a 1940 Pack- acres of countless orange trees the family then lived in Wilm- ard sedan which I wish I still owned. and palms of San Bernardino ington (a harbor and shipbuild- County. ing site in the Los Angeles area) At Berkeley I met my wife, Janet, My parents left Pennsylvania life changed dramatically— who at that time was the room- for the booming post-war Los “safe houses” along the route to mate of my next older sister. I Angeles to find a new way of school, air raid warden’s black- also joined the Men’s Glee Club, Cont’d. on page 2 Cont’d. on page 4 Editor’s Note: We want to thank these two well respected retired Piner High School teachers. They were part of a large team of respected teachers, administrators and staff who opened Piner High in September 1966. It was an incredible young and enthusiastic group of people who cared about their students. Thank you, Mr. Buff and Mr. Foote, for sharing your journeys to Piner High and your many years teaching there. an irreverent bunch of guys who not keep up with reading all the ment young folk would introduce traveled on tour with a rented Grey- English essays, I had assigned my themselves to me explaining that hound bus so old and tired that we students. though they never had me they had to push it now and then to get sort of thought of me as one of it started. (It, like almost all cars, In 1962 I received a call from my their teachers. My favorite C.B. was a stick shift.) old UC Glee Club Director, Robert story is the Back-To-School night Commanday, wanting to know if when he accidentally set his room After graduating from Cal in June I could maybe rehearse with the on fire from a demonstration that of 1956 I drove to Kearney, Ne- San Francisco Opera Company for got out of hand. braska, to marry Janet, and then their upcoming performance of drove back to Berkeley with $50 in Wagner’s LOHENGRIN. Their cho- Just as much fun was going with my pocket and no job. The Cal job rus wasn’t big enough and needed Charlie and his wife Judy to Ger- placement office soon found me a beefing up. Well I didn’t mind be- many, Austria and Switzerland in job (though they apologized) as a ing part of the beef, so for a few 1997. flunky at Happy’s Pickles in Em- months I drove to SF for rehearsals eryville. I was so successful there and actually did appear on the War I spent the last three years at Piner that when I left in August Happy Memorial Opera House stage twice in the School of Humanities, one of himself told me I would have a job and once in the Los Angeles Opera the five little schools that Piner set when I returned from my Naval ca- House. It was truly the experience up in 1992 as an experiment fund- reer, which started immediately. of a lifetime. ed by the state. The “principal” of our little school was Lana Haenel, For the next 3 years I spent about When Piner opened in the fall of and our physics teacher was the ¾ of my time as an officer on the 1966 I came from SRHS to become brand-new Miss Scott, who is now destroyer USS Mansfield, based the math department head. It was Mrs. Erickson, wife of our Basket- out of Long Beach. We visited Fiji, an exciting and new experience ball Coach. Australia, Japan, and Hong Kong starting a school from scratch, es- among others and participated in tablishing what would become Since graduating from Piner in the atomic testing program in the traditions and overcoming physi- 1995 I have played a lot of tennis, atolls (now uninhabited because of cal problems such as a school yard joined several singing groups and radiation) of Bikini and Eniwetok. that was solid mud in the rainy camped with my wife and family Because at the time the US was not season. in California, Colorado and Wyo- at war with anyone, I was not eli- ming. I have had to give up the gible for any GI benefits. For the next 29 years I taught math singing and tennis, but I still haul at Piner—all the courses from Se- my 1989 travel trailer to remote After I left the ship in August of nior Review Math through Calcu- spots and camp and fish with my 1959 my wife and I found lodging lus. In the early years at Christmas wife. Time does bring changes, I on Lincoln Ave in El Cerrito while Time my Trig class would tour the have found. I spent the next year finishing my campus singing (Gasp) Christmas major in English and getting my Carols. The same trig class that Charlie Buff, Bob Zeni and I were teaching certificate. Our first son, laid out a surveying route around privileged to attend the last Class David, arrived in October. the campus, arriving back at my Reunion of the class of ’68. I was door with calculations showing the very happy to see so many of my I was hired that fall to teach English door a foot higher (or lower) than students there. They all looked and geometry at Santa Rosa High the starting point. Well, nothing is happy and successful, what I had School. I taught Basic Senior Eng- perfect. hoped they would become. And I lish, Academic Sophomore English am looking forward to the next re- and geometry for three years. At I made many friends at Piner-- Burt union. that time, I had begun my Master’s Scuri, Frank Rathman, and good Program in mathematics teaching old Charlie Buff to name a few. I at Dominican College in San Ra- did go into Charlie’s room now fael; I was asked by my principal, and then because he put on such Mr. Fred Duey, to choose between a good show and had these great teaching all English or all math. I guests and experiments. Maybe I chose math because I just could overdid it as for years after retire- 2 (TENTATIVE DUE TO THE CORONAVIRUS) Piner High School’s 15th Annual Crab Feed Dinner Saturday: January 30, 2021 Friedman Event Center - 4676 Mayette Avenue Raffles – Auctions - Dessert Auction Join in on our dessert auction and finish the night with one or more of the many specially prepared treats Reserved seating with purchases of 10 or more tickets. 5:00 p.m. No Host BarBeer/Wine—Raffle &Silent Auction 7:00 p.m. Dinner- $55.00 Per Person Limited seating so get your tickets early Pick up your tickets at anyOliver’s Market or Mail in your order with payment For information call (707) 571-7420 Crab Feed and Silent Auction Dinner 2021 Menu Items: Appetizers - Salad Bread Pasta- Crab Dessert Coffee/Tea Name ________________________________________________ Please print name Mailing Address ________________________________________ Phone Number ________________________________________ Make all checks payable to: Piner High Hall of Fame PO Box 12284 Santa Rosa, CA 95406 Please reserve _____ tickets, Check enclosed I am unable to attend, but have enclosed a tax- deductible contribution in support of Piner High School. 3 life, about as far away as one can assigned to a US Army Military In- particularly chemistry, can be a dif- get from the dark, dangerous and telligence unit in Stuttgart, West ficult subject to learn.