Memories of a time long ago in Calexico

I think one of the things that allowed me to survive in the journalism/newspaper business as long as I did – more than 30 years as a community newspaper editor in places like El Centro and Calexico (where I started my journalism career with the Imperial Valley Press and Calexico Chronicle) then later with the Gardena Valley News,  Woodland Hills/Agoura/Calabasas News Enterprise, Chino/Chino Hills Champion and  Banning/Beaumont Record Gazette – was an ability to remember things in the past, who did what, who said what, how it felt, what happened as a result, etc. There are times when I hear or see a name, it brings back memories of something that happened in the past; mostly good memories to be sure, but at times really good memories.

There is a guy among my Facebook “Friends” named Tony Sierra. We weren’t exactly buddies in high school, but we knew who the other guy was and were always on a friendly basis. I just noticed he “liked” something I recently posted on Facebook, which brought back some memories of the time when we were high school classmates. We probably haven’t seen one another since we graduated from Calexico High School in 1967, but we did have some shared memories.

One came when we were in eighth grade. Every year on the last day before the Memorial Day holiday weekend, our school would have a Play Day, in which students could dress anyway they wanted – no dress code this day – and we would compete in athletic events, such as baseball toss, runs, jumps and dashes, plus one in which I was pretty good – the “baskets in a minute” contest. We would have 60 seconds, starting with a shot from the free throw line, to make as many baskets as we could in a minute. I was no athlete, but I could shoot a basketball in those days. I did pretty well, and was in fact leading and on my way for what would have been my first, and as it would have turned out, my only athletic trophy, ever, on a competition level.

Tony was one of the last participants, and, darn him, beat me and won the trophy. Oh, well. I survived the blow, but I would have enjoyed that trophy.

Let’s move forward into high school. Our junior year, in 1965-66, we had an outstanding varsity basketball team. Calexico High wasn’t exactly an Imperial Valley League power, in any sport, except for golf, which we seemed to win the league title every year, but other than a few years earlier when we had a high school superstar, Ramon Sanchez, come to town for a couple of years who lead our team to basketball glory, we usually weren’t contenders for any basketball titles. Not this year. We were good, and under Coach John Kratzer, who emphasized fitness, fitness and more fitness, we simply played harder and longer than most teams and were winners. In our second league game, at Brawley, the game was as close as it could be, going into overtime. In that three-minute overtime, we scored only two points – on a basket by Tony Sierra – but it was enough for the victory. We went on to go undefeated in league play and finished the season at 21-5, including a CIF playoff game victory. It was wonderful.

The next year, our senior year, the 1966-67 school year, we weren’t supposed to have a very good football team, which was usual for Calexico. You never know for sure, but one thing that was for sure was that could never beat Brawley. We played Brawley, El Centro and Blythe two times each in football in those years and we hadn’t beat Brawley since the early 1950s, I think 1954. Our first game against them that year, the week after we lost our league opener to El Centro, we battled them tough on their field, then late in the game with the score tied at 6-6, that same Tony Sierra, our tight end, broke free and our quarterback Mike Padilla hit him in the chest with a pass for what turned out to be the winning touchdown in a 12-8 victory. Few athletic events in my lifetime gave me such chills as that victory.

I don’t dwell on those times, but when I do pay those times a visit, Tony’s moments give me quite a smile.

There were other moments with the Sierra family I remember. His dad was on the school board, and I believe he was the one who handed me my high school diploma during graduation ceremonies.

A final trip down memory lane with the Sierra family regards Tony’s older brother George, born deaf, and in those days meant he was also virtually speechless. He could speak, but being unable to hear, the noises coming from his mouth were guttural and for the most part impossible or nearly impossible to understand. George was a great guy, but his lack of hearing was holding him back and his family sent him to a school for the deaf (the politically correct term is “hard of hearing”) in Washington D.C. We were sorry to see him go and missed him that year, our junior year in high school.

I think it was ether during Easter Vacation in April or just after the end of school the following year, several of us were shooting some basketball on the outdoor courts at Calexico High School when up popped George Sierra. We stopped and shouted “hi” to him. He walked over and said in a very clear voice “let’s play some basketball.” The year in that special school had obviously been a productive one.

There were tears in my eyes having heard those words so clearly from someone who hadn’t been able to speak virtually at all the last time I had seen him. I didn’t make eye contact with the other guys at that moment, but I can guess my eyes weren’t the only not-so-dry ones.

Just thought I would share some moments of some good times so many years ago.