A thanks to the teachers

JERRY PERSON

Jack Weide stopped by our office and he mentioned that his wife, the

noted writer and former teacher B.D.L. Weide, was writing again on a

new computer she just received.

This bit of news gives me hope that Billie will again be writing

those wonderful opinion stories in one of our other Southern

California newspapers.

This got me thinking of how once you becomes a teacher, your love

of writing continues well after retirement from school.

With the coming of the 100th anniversary in November of our

Huntington Beach City Elementary School District, it is a good time

to recall how much we owe the teachers who have taught during those

years.

This week we are going to see how our community said thanks to

these respected pillars of classroom society.

We showed our gratitude on Oct. 20, 1930 when our PTA, our Woman’s

Club, our Business Men’s Assn. and the Huntington Beach Chamber of

Commerce came together to offer them thanks in a gala reception

inside the city auditorium.

There were more than 100 teachers from Huntington Beach elementary

school and high school who attended that gala that night.

More than 300 teachers and their guests listened as PTA President

Mildred Ridenour welcomed everyone to a night of music, dancing and

an evening of entertainment.

In those days the majority of teachers were single women and so

President Ridenour told the audience that the reason it was easy to

get teachers to come to Huntington Beach was that we offer them a

prize for coming.

No, it was not a monetary prize or a new house or car.

Ridenour meant that our town has the best eligible bachelors in

Orange County and we would be willing to give them as a prize to any

teacher who could win one.

And over the years many did win the hearts of our prize bachelors.

Next on the program came a musical interlude provided by Margaret

Colvin on piano, Roy Larson on cello and Harry Robinson on violin.

After this string trio completed its two musical selections, it

was now Willis Osborn’s turn to welcome all on behalf of the Chamber

of Commerce.

This was followed by a welcome by May Jackson from the Woman’s

Club and from Howard Hepburn of the Business Men’s Assn.

All of the teachers present at this gala were asked to stand while

they were introduced by their superintendent of schools, C.B. Baldwin

for the elementary school and M.C. Jones for the high school.

With all the welcomes concluded, it was time for the entertainment

part of the evening.

George Sugars, local oil operator and president of the Rex Oil

company, appeared on stage to perform several magic tricks.

In one he had five people from the audience drink from a wine

bottle, he then took a hammer and smashed the bottle to pieces and

from that bottle magically appeared a sleepy guinea pig.

Sugars performed several more sleight of hand tricks and he did a

mind reading act in which he spelled out the name of a teacher whom

he had never seen before.

Sugars was joined onstage by a member of his board of directors in

the Rex Oil company, John Van Pelt.

These two staunch oilmen then did several comic monologues in

costumes that the teachers greatly enjoyed.

When these two oil millionaires concluded their performance it was

time for ice cream and cake for the teachers and their guests.

A small orchestra was brought in to provide music for dancing for

some of the teachers, while others opted to play several rounds of

cards.

Bridge was popular at the time and it was Mary Canon who won a

prize for the women’s highest bridge score and Jack Incho in the

mens.

For the high 500 score, Arch Dixon and Eleanor Lock easily won

their prizes.

J.S. Bales won the evening’s door prize.

So it was in this small way that our teachers were thanked for

giving so much of themselves to our students in our community and

thereby enriching our residents for that century of teaching.

Thank you, Billie, and to all those teachers who have graced our

classrooms in those 100 years.

* JERRY PERSON is a local historian and longtime Huntington Beach

resident. If you have ideas for future columns, write him at P.O. Box

7182, Huntington Beach, CA 92615.