Back in 1967 a 17 year-old boy made a decision to quit school before graduating. Instead, he joined the Marines. Talk about graduating! Following are some excerpts from Roland Marchand's story, and on this 4th of July holiday weekend, it seems quite appropriate to share it with you:

"My Graduation date would have been w/1967. My Father and I were having issues so I went into Mr. Horn's office one day and told him I was quiting school and going into the Marines. I was 17 and just could not handle the fighting at home. You probably remember my Brother Dan Marchand he graduated 1968 and my Sister Joan Marchand in 1970. Dan went into the Marines after graduation but when I got hit and they thought I was not going to make it the Marines decided to keep him stateside so less pressure on my Mother and Father.

I went into the Marine Corps 1966 and was discharged 1968 Honorable under medical Conditions. Served with 1/5 Recon and Mortars Platoon 81's. Lost my right leg Below knee and massive internal injuries due to ambush Hue City 1968 during the Battle of Hue Tet 1968.

Coming home from Vietnam with a Artificial Leg and all the other medical and mental problems at the end of 1968 was a culture shock for sure. After doing a lot of volunteer work with Handicapped Adults and Children I still felt there was something I need to do to heal the deep wounds I buried so many years ago. In 2003 I found out about a ride Vietnam Vet's do every year across the United States on their motorcycles."

In 2010 Roland participated in the Run For The Wall for the seventh straight year. These days he serves on the Riverside Memorial Honor Guard "Semper-Fi," Riverside National Cemetery, RFTW, Patriot Guard, visits wounded Marines coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan, and drives the D.A.V. Van at Loma Linda V.A. Medical Center in Loma Linda, Ca. to transport Veterans who have no way to get to the V.A. for their doctors appointments.

I don't know about you but I don't care that he didn't actually graduate from Narbonne, and as with a handful of other classmates who missed that ceremony, I've invited them to be a member of NarbonneHS.Org because they were, and always will be, our friends.

You can read all of Roland's story HERE.

A special thanks to Roland Marchand for granting permission to post excerpts from his story here on the NarbonneHS.Org member blog.

Since my last blog I've learned that Amy has mustered up the nerve to talk to Bo Derek in Los Olivos. They talked about high school daze in Lomita and an upcoming reunion. I've accused Amy of listening at 33 1/3 but talking at 78 RPM. Is that dating us? She heard that I was in the early stages of planning another high school reunion. This is the part where you need to read the attachment. The part didn't sink in with Amy was that Bo was in my X's class of 1972, five years after my class. Another slip was she thought the 1957 in my email address represented my birth year, not my Chevy Nomad. With losing a little in the math translation of this ancient history, Amy thought Bo Derek was in my class. So now Bo is anxious to hear when the 40 year class reunion is, even though she didn't graduate with the class. Her boyfriend, John Corbett, said he wants to accompany her to So Cal and she where she grew up. So who's counting between 40 and 45 years? My intuition, make that a gut feeling, tells me not many people want to admit a 40 year reunion could be 45 years. Something about that New Math did sink in, a little.

It's June and I'm out of blogs. There must be at least 6 of you out there that have something of interest you'd like to share with the rest of us. There's a reunion coming up - are you going? Why? Why not? Send me your thoughts and I'll post it here. Don't be shy - you're probably thinking the same thing as most everyone else, and if not, then that's even more interesting. It doesn't need to be a long, drawn-out essay (but it could be that, too), just whatever comes to mind that will get the rest of us thinking about whatever you wrote. This blog space is for you - the members of NarbonneHS.Org. Use it if you are so inspired.

Meanwhile, I have a confession to make: I have gray hair. So what's new, right? But the thing is I've been hiding it for a really long time and finally got sick of coloring the roots every 3 weeks.

So, to ease the pain of going gray, I'm transitioning through blond territory, and it's working out pretty well. You guys don't have to worry 'bout this stuff but we girls do, and it's quite a process for some of us creating fertile ground for personal growth and self-acceptance. Fortunately, we have our girlfriends to support us and in my case, that's Linda Valliere. Have you seen her gorgeous natural silver hair? She looks fantastic. Thanks to Linda, I'm well on my way to shedding the illusion that I have to look the way I did 10 (20?) years ago.

What would we do without our friends? Stop what you are doing right now and jot down your thoughts before they fade into nothingness - then email it to me. I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,

Cassi

cassi@narbonnehs.org

Last weekend my girlfriend Kathy wanted to get away for several days. We could celebrate my birthday and visit her cousin in San Francisco. As we drove through Pismo Beach I called our friend and left a message saying sorry we missed her. Amy was a Narbonne grad about 27 our junior. She's now a wine sales rep that transferred to Pismo several years ago. Amy replied (Facebook, what else?) saying she was sorry she missed us but possibly we could hook up on our return trip. On the way back we asked if she was available for lunch. She was making sales calls so we made plans to meet at the Los Olivos Cafe. Amy mentioned Los Olivos was now Bo Derek's home town.

Over lunch I told Kathy and Amy that Bo went to Narbonne in 1973. My x-wife knew her from tennis class. I seem to remember her first name was Mary but she went by Cathleen Collins. Cathleen had mentioned her mother was Ann Margret's hair dresser, among others. In show business they work long hours and Cathleen often accompanied her mother to work on weekends. When John Derek discovered Cathleen, he put opportunities ahead of her and Narbonne behind her.

As I'm finishing my story this blonde lady with big sunglasses walks by our outside table. Finished shopping at the Los Olivos retail wine store she turned to get into the black Mercedes SUV at the curb. There was no mistake she was the 1973 Gaucho, looking fabulous in her 50's. She took some time before she started her car and this is the part where I kick myself. I had plenty of time to walk over and talk to the lady that I'd heard was very friendly. I'm now making it a goal to get an autographed photo, to her fellow Narbonne alumni. I'm sure you will find a place to display it on the NHS site. We may get her permission to post an old photo from a 1972 or 73 El Eco, but let's keep that between us, just in case she doesn't agree... Good night Mary Ellen

In response to my Jan 18th letter to the NarbonneHS.Org Advisory Board members asking for tips on how to improve this website, Scott Mann responded with...

"Unfortunately, Facebook is now out there with a broader audience than originated with high school classmates. People can eavesdrop on friends of friends much easier that listening to the next table at Starbucks. It's like showing a brag book or home movies of vacations. People are on Facebook constantly if it's only to publically acknowledge they're still in the click. It's like a high school reunion on a daily basis, with an emphasis on high school and without spell check."

So I lamented the fact that this website can't compete with Facebook, and Elsie Newman added:

"I LOVE that [NarbonneHS.Org] isn't like Facebook - I can't stand it. I always felt like people are looking at my friends, and me looking at other people's friends is like looking at their laundry basket - none of my business and TMI."

I've received other emails with similar sentiments. So as long as there are a few Gauchos out there that still appreciate what this website has to offer, then I will keep it running.

Your dedicated web developer, Cassi (McKenzie) Bassolino

I was looking for a lost friend from the late 50's. My mother worked at the grocery store at Western and Lomita Blvd. Before Ralph's and before Lucky it was "Jim Dandy". She was a checker and knew a well behaved teenaged box boy. After a stint in the Marines "Steve Lohayza" returned to the store and was eventually promoted to Second Man (assistant manager). As a friend of the family he respected my father as a Naval Reserve Captain. Prior to holding inspections of his helicopter squadron Steve would spit-shine my dad's shoes as he learned in the Marine Corp. Over the years Steve went from baby sitter to the older guy my younger brothers (twins) and I could ask questions about the birds and the bees... and girls. I remember he would take us for rides in his 1954 Chevy. I also remember he would hot-wire his car with tin foil during the times his keys were misplaced. A year or so ago I tried to find Steve through several search engines. One day I tried NarbonneHS. Searching for the school/maiden name of Lohayza I found Carole Cottrell from the class of 1957. I sent her an email explaining who I was and who I was looking for. She remembered Steve talking about my family that lived two blocks away. It turned out that Carole was Steve's twin sister and was happy to give me his phone number. I connected with Steve and tried to catch up over the last 45 years. We talked about getting together with one of my brothers that returned to live in Lomita. Since we talked last year my younger Lomita brother has passed away. I kick myself for not getting together during the past year and thought of how sad it would be if Steve was no longer with us. Since I started writing I have called Steve and we are getting together next Sunday. I remembered his birthday was the day before mine. Last Sunday was my 61st birthday and Saturday was Steve's 71st. I then noticed he and his twin sister graduated 10 years before our class of 1967. I feel somewhat like John-Boy Walton as I reminisce over the first quarter of my life living in Lomita. Good night Mary Ellen.

I moved to Arizona in 1990 and live in Cave Creek, a small town North of Scottsdale. I developed a passion for the energy industry and started an Energy Consulting business at age 50. It has successfully been in operation for almost 11 years now in Phoenix, Arizona. My current team of 23 talented people support large national multi-site retainers and restaurants in managing their energy costs. It has been the biggest challenge of my life and one of the most rewarding. This has been a big focus in my life; and regretfully, I have not kept up with many of my friendships because of it. I think most people think I dropped off the face of the earth!

Gina (Morrison) Coleman Class of '67

Hi Everyone, I've already started getting some blog contributions from alumni-members and will post them first-come-first-served starting February 1st.

I'd like have enough blog entries to post a new one every month at least so keep 'em coming!

If you subscribe to this blog, you'll get an email every time a new one is posted. Oh, and don't forget to leave comments for bloggers - we all need a little feedback!

Thanks for checking in! Cassi Site Administrator