Air raid shelters and one hard worker

JERRY PERSON

Now that school vacation is over, and the students again are filling

the hallways of our schools, I thought I would relate a couple of

nearly forgotten historical tidbits about Central Elementary (Dwyer)

and Huntington High.

Our first tidbit about Central Elementary was the result of a

letter from a longtime resident of Huntington Beach, Dodie Morrison.

Dodie is the wife of Huntington Beach hot rod enthusiast Norm

Morrison.

In the letter, Dodie asked if I had heard that during World War II

there were tunnels inside the school on Palm. This was for children

to go during an air raid alert, and she was wondering if this was

true.

Yes Dodie, the story is true and a tunnel -- or more like a long

basement -- was planned for use as a bomb shelter during the war.

The exact use of the 18-foot by 247-foot reinforced concrete

walled area appears to have been lost with time. But with the

outbreak of the war in the early 1940s, Supt. John Peterson had the

unused area cleaned of debris, some of which dated from the 1926

building of the school.

Peterson believed the area below the two top floors would be ideal

for a protective shelter for students and school personnel if enemy

aircraft attacked.

He had the floor cleaned and surfaced. Lighting, heating and air

circulating equipment was installed. Seats along the sides were added

to accommodate the 1,000 students and staf, and if the need arose,

the tunnel shelter could hold twice that many.

A motion-picture projector and record player also were provided to

entertain the young pupils if they had to stay in the shelter for any

length of time.

Peterson found that he could empty the upstairs during a raid in

three minutes if necessary. The children could gain entrance to the

shelter from three entryways, one located on the outside and two

inside the school building.

The super- intendent had the shelter tested once during the war in

a mock air raid, when students and school personnel spent an hour

watching movies, oblivious to any potential dangers from bombs from

aircraft above.

Our second school tidbit concerns an individual who possibly may

hold the record for working at Huntington High the longest.

William “Bill” Gardner put in 44 years and five months of service,

and if you consider the four years as a student, that adds up to 48

years and five months.

As a student, Bill attended the old brick school and before he

graduated had the honor of walking the virgin hallways of the new

1926 Huntington High.

In Bill’s junior year, he was the star right tackle on the varsity

football team. He played the last four games of the 1926 season,

despite having a severe hip-joint injury, because there was no

substitute for his position.

Bill graduated Huntington High in 1927. In September of that year,

he was hired by the school district as a bus driver and held this job

for the next 16 years.

In 1932, Bill married Marjorie Cowling, and from this union came

two girls, Ann and Carolyn.

For two years, Bill was in charge of the school’s transportation

maintenance department. Just after World War II, he was appointed

supervisor of the school’s buildings and grounds and would hold that

position for the next 26 years.

During this time, he prepared the track and field for many meets.

Bill supervised many of the student events on campus -- from football

games to school plays.

During this time, Bill wore many hats, working as a carpenter,

plumber, electrician, horticulturist, bus driver and janitor, as well

as being a supervisor.

For more than 20 years, Bill and Marjorie and the girls lived in a

five-room house on the campus grounds. During that stretch, Bill had

a ritual of walking around the campus before bedtime just to be sure

all was well.

This habit paid off sometime in the 1940s. As he was on his 10

p.m. walk, he noticed flames leaping from the roof of the main

building and quickly called our fire department. In a matter of

minutes, the fire was out. If it hadn’t been for Bill’s nightly

ritual, the whole building would have been destroyed.

Bill’s job comprised 50 weeks a year, six days a week and anywhere

between 12 to 16 hours a day. He loved his school.

In those 44 years, he outlasted five principals, 22 different

school boards, hundreds of teachers and thousands of students. There

was a saying on campus that “If you can’t get along with Bill

Gardner, you can’t get along with anyone.”

Bill retired from Huntington High on Jan. 20. 1971. During the ceremony, then-principal Woodrow Smith presented Bill and Marjorie

with a money tree of more than $500 and a suggestion that they use it

for a vacation in Hawaii.

Counting his 44 1/2 years as an employee and four years as a

student, Bill put in a record of 48 1/2 years and saw many changes

at his beloved school.

* 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.