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I REMEMBER
BAL…. After the Moon had set
upon the Seventh Sun, near the end of the Age of Aquarius were the three most
important years of my youth and some of the most powerful in the History of
Man. For within those three and a half years of my High School
Days I saw the light from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
and Bobby Kennedy go out….and a nation mourned.
I watched the world in
wonder when we took, “One small step for man and one giant step for
mankind”, when we first set foot upon the Moon. I
watched as a troubled American youth of half a million assembled on a farm in
upstate Yes those were the days
when the youth rebelled against the Vietnam War and the
26th Amendment to our
Constitution lowered the legal voting age to
18. I remember my 18th birthday how scared I was that I
had to go register for the draft. A Stamp was only 6 cents,
Bread was 24 cents a loaf, Milk $1.24 a
gallon and Gasoline only 35 cents a gallon. "All in
the Family" was an instant TV hit. The letters H I V were just three letters in the
alphabet. Carol King was a major artist with her album
“Tapestry” as were Simon & Garfunkel
with their “Bridge Over Troubled Water”,
and Three Dog Night were a "Joy To The
World". Believe it or not Richard Nixon was
about to be Time Magazine’s "Man of the Year". The greatest
boxing match in sports history took place when Mohammed Ali
& Joe Frazier locked gloves in the ring
and Intel was about to launch the dawn of the
computer age with their new
micro-processor. So as I think back and I
remember those days at BAL I
remember them being the very best of my youth. It was a much simpler time
then. It was a time before cell
phones, and pagers. There were
no VCR’s, DVD’s,
or even CD disks to play or watch
movies on. Come to think of it there weren’t even portable phones, answering machines, fax machines or a personal computer in sight. No PDA”s to fumble with or micro cassette recorders to use in
class. I did however have a AM
transistor radio to listen to. I could buy a slice of
pizza and a coke for 50 cents at the Mitchel’s Ice Cream Parlor on Alamany
near school. It was an open campus then. Or you could go to Tic Tocs and have
a really cool lunch. I do remember the nice cafeteria ladies that would be
there every day to serve us. Some days the food was even pretty
good. I remember in 1970 how the girls at BAL all boycotted the school by
wearing long pants. Before then they couldn’t wear them to school. Yes I
remember…. The Black Panthers, Angela
Davis and Black Pride just months after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was
assassinated a few months before my first year at BAL. What I cherish most even
to this day is the Pride we as
students and as teachers at BAL
had for our school then. I remember how I waited for the day when I could put
on a Senior Sweater and parade it
around the school two days a week, walking tall and respected through Bal’s
halls.. As a Senior we would get to school an extra hour early just to
congregate in front of the school with our friends. We would even jump rope
with each other like young children and sing school songs together. And we’d
do it again if we could and with that same feverish
pride. We would sing our school
songs loud be it at an auditorium pep rally, or at Turkey Day game. Yes those
where the days before wrought Iron fences surrounding our beloved school. You
see another word that comes to mind is SPIRIT. And no matter what grade you
were in be it freshman, sophomores, juniors or seniors, when it came time to
yell for your class we were all shouting to see which class was the loudest
and proudest. From the first day I set
foot on campus until my very last day I felt like I belonged. In my first
semester I remember flunking Social Studies in Mr. Kafkas’s class. What can I say I
goofed off some. But by my Jr. year I was proud to be in service to Mr. Kafkas and BAL’s 100 Bucs Service Society.
That’s when the students supervised and controlled the school and its student
body at all major functions at BAL. We weren’t police, but we
students were policing ourselves and were respected by our peers. We needed no
outside Police or Private Security to patrol our
school. Shortly after I arrived
for my first term we did have small outbreaks of students clashing but again
Dr. King and Bobby Kennedy’s deaths had the nation
as a whole on edge. Balboa had
what you’d call a teaching staff that taught well and looked out for its
students. Teachers seemed to care more about you then. We had a great music
program and a kick ass ROTC
program. And Bal’s Sports Program was a force to reckon
with because we had the best Coaching Staff. Thanks to Coaches like Mr.
Quall. There was something for
everyone weather you were a popular student or a loner. I can’t think of any
other school I would have wanted to attend my High School years other than at
BAL. “First on
the Pacific” we’d yell to anyone who
would listen. One of the best times we
had in school was at our Senior
Picnic. Man did we have a great time. Then there was the Senior Ball, our Senior Breakfast in the Cafeteria,
and Move up Assembly, then finally
Grad Night and tears….many, many
tears…..for friends we may not ever see again after
graduation. BAL is where
I had my first major crush and heart break. At sweet 16 to a girl named Cindy.
I have never forgotten her, like Bal itself she has stayed in my heart for a
lifetime. For years I wished that girl could have seen what I did with my life
and how I strived to be successful. She married right before we graduated high
school. We locked eyes one last time while on stage at our Senior move up
assembly on our last day at BAL. I
never saw her again but her memory is frozen in time with the rest of my
memories of High School. Only the love for my wife has eased that
memory. I can honestly say that I
still miss my days at BAL and I
miss a lot of my old friends who are busy with their everyday lives still.
Even after I graduated for around a year or two after wards I would still go
to BAL and hang out in front of
the school with some friends I still had there. Then life moved on and we
each had to grow up and face the real world after High School. But like Peter
Pan I can believe and sometimes slip back into my memory and relive the good
old glory days at BAL.
What I took away with me
from Balboa taught me a lesson and
knowledge that I carry with me even today. I have traveled all over the world
in my life as a successful Musician and Recording Artist. I feel I really have
to thank teachers like Mr. Kafkas
& Mr. Larson. I had Mr. Larson for Stage Production
class. Yes from Bal’s stage in the
auditorium I played bigger auditoriums and stages like The Rose Bowl, The
Astrodome, Carnegie Hall, Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado, and many other
wonderful places and cities and it all started from that class at Bal. Thank
You Mr. Larson, and Mr. Kafkas and Mr. Chamnass, Mr. Benny and all my other
teachers that took that little extra time to help make me what I am
today. How I wish I could go
back in time and do it all over again. To all you future Alumni’s yet to
graduate from Balboa, I say this
to you….Enjoy this time. This is your
time, be Proud of it and share that SPIRIT and PRIDE with your friends and
class mates because this time will never come again in your life times no
matter how bad you want to go back there……..and one day it will be you too who
will sit back and remember…. Johnny Valenzuela Class of Spring
1971
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