Public Pulse

November 5th, 2009

Route 66 Responses

Thank you for your article about Route 66, The Mother Road. It brought back memories of my early childhood. My family migrated from Oklahoma to California in 1936. As we traveled, I remember one jingle: “Kissed the hairbush by mistake, thought was my husband, Jake--Burma Shave.”

I was eight years old with three younger brothers when the coal mine where my father worked shut down and he and my mother decided their last chance was to find work in California. During the month of July 1936, they packed the car with all they had and headed for Route 66.

I remember dad patching the tires many times. Finally, the car broke down on the outskirts of Needles. You’re so right about Needles being hot in July. We were stranded for four or five days while Dad looked for the needed parts. I remember an act of kindness by a stranger. Late one night, as we sat on a curb, a nice man gave me a large chunk of ice. We were all so tired and weary without a place to sleep. The chips of ice soothed our dry throats.

After the car was repaired, we headed for Barstow and down the Tehachapi mountains into the San Joaquin Valley. My folks worked picking figs near Earlimart and after a year or so, their circumstances improved and life in California was good.

Thank you for the Community Paper.

/s/Bonnie Nugent
Escondido, Ca.

Another fan of Route 66

Hi Lyle:

I liked your article on Rt 66. My friend and I have riden our Harley's on as much of it as we can find in California and Arizona.

Between Amboy and Goffs it passes under I-40 before it hits Hwy 95; the old 2-lane is painted with Rt 66 shields in a few places. It must follow 95 north and then 163 east through Laughlin because we picked it up again in the ghost town of Oatman, AZ, where it heads on to Kingman. Arizona does a better job of identifying the highway with genuine metal "Historic Route 66" highway signs. You can pick it up again outside of Kingman and go through Hackberry and Seligman where you can eat at the Road Kill Cafe before it blends back into I-40 again. It is a far more interesting ride than the monotony of Interstate 40. There is a ton of Rt 66 memoribilia available at the General Store in Hackberry, and even an old red Corvette like the one Todd and Buzz drove in the old TV show entitled "Route 66."

Regards,
Craig Libuse
North San Diego County

The Nobel Prize

At first I was shocked that President Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Then, after some thought, it dawned on me that he is the perfect world recipient. Planet Earth now has eight billion citizens to feed and clothe. Hopefully our world leaders will elect to protect their people and negotiate to provide for earth’s future sustainability. People need each other and Mother Earth needs world protection. As our President negotiates with world and home leaders, I pray that he does not get stomach ulcers.

/s/Lita Bowles
San Marcos, CA.

Thank You to San Marcos Unified School District Students and Staff

Recently the State released the results for the spring 2009 state standard tests as well as the Academic Performance Index (API) scores for the last school year. For the third consecutive year, our students, at all grade levels, have achieved above and beyond the previous year. District-wide, our API score stands at 836, a 26-point increase over our 2008 score. Only 4 out of 12 unified school districts in San Diego County have an API over 800. I am proud to say that San Marcos Unified School District is 1 of the 4. The others 3 are Coronado, Poway and Carlsbad.

Statewide, only 42 percent of all California schools have reached the API target of 800. Here in San Marcos, 10 of our 11 elementary schools have surpassed this benchmark, as have two of our three middle schools and both of our comprehensive high schools. In San Diego County there are 63 high schools and only 15 have surpassed the State's API benchmark of 800. Both Mission Hills High School and San Marcos High School are in the top 15. The North County Times recently reported that our district showed the greatest gains in the States Standardized test scores of all districts in North County.

These sorts of results occur due to the dedicated staffs at our schools as well as the continued effort put forth by our students. San Marcos Unified School District is being recognized by many for its outstanding gains. Thank you to our staff, students and parents for your efforts.

/s/Sharon Jenkins
SMUSD Governing Board President
San Marcos, CA.

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