More Gear Donated for EuroBall Teams

Monday, December 2, 2024

I received a call from Mark Servé, the Head Football Coach at La Salle H.S. in Pasadena, a few weeks ago. He had some shoulder pads to donate for our never ending EuroBall Improvement Project.

It should be noted that a couple of years ago when Mark was the Head Football Coach at Westlake H.S. he donated literally hundreds of game jerseys and game pants to our project.

Thus I headed to the hub of the magical San Gabriel Valley today to pick up his generous donation.

I got down to the Crown City a bit early, so I stopped off at my favorite independently owned coffee shop in South Pasadena to pass the time.

Kaldi Coffee and Tea is found in this

rustic building just across the street from

the South Pasadena Public Library

Kaldi has a warm and intimate

vibe that I thoroughly enjoy

My cappuccino was excellent and so was the book that

I brought with me to while away the time.

One thing that Kaldi does not have is a restroom, but I learned long ago that the library across the street does.

This nice sculpture greeted

my entrance to the library

An AWESOME find in this

combination library/museum!

It was empty of course but before the advent of the internet as a college student long ago, all researching of any topic started in front of one of these classic card catalogue cabinets.

I would love to own one of these when I grow up.

A series of Wizard of Oz related

nutcrackers were on display

The Cowardly Lion looked regal

A representative of the

Lollipop Guild was even in the mix

Time to go. I still had about 20 minutes of crosstown traffic to navigate before picking up the promised shoulder pads.

I was at the right spot

The La Salle Lancers were my

St. Francis Golden Knights' archrivals

in high school basketball 60+ years ago

Inside La Salle's cozy gym

Seeing this gym after so many years conjured up the need for a side story.

As a student/athlete at Pasadena's St. Phillip the Apostle School in the 6th-8th grades in 1958-61 our school's basketball team participated in numerous games in this gym. These games were, I'm sure, a part of the Lancers' scheme to attract future students to the all-boys school.

It worked, as most of my classmates entered La Salle as Freshmen in the Fall of 1961. I would have as well until I realized that I had a question to ask.

We were always at La Salle for basketball related reasons.

How about there football program?

That's when I was informed that La Salle did not field a football team.

Good-bye classmates, hello St. Francis!

Much has changed at La Salle

since the early 1960s

Amongst other things, the Lancers finally added a football program in the 1970s and the school is now co-educational.

How times have changed, for the better I'm sure.

Time to load up Laurie's new car, a.k.a., The Blueberry. 

Lots of good shoulder pads,

now to find them a home

When we got them home, we had

24 shoulder pads to ship

Left to Right: 10 Smalls, 7 Mediums, 5 Larges and 2 X-Larges

The recently sold, ancestral home

in San Marino of the Contreras Clan

Before heading to Camarillo with our donations, I swung by to see what the new owners were doing with our home of 66 years.

Although we hoped that the new owners would have deep enough pockets to do several much needed renovations, we thought that they would tear it down and rebuild anew.

I was more than a little excited to see workman busy doing renovations. It made me glad to know that the old homestead will still be standing for a few more years.

Tomorrow is Taco Tuesday after all

Reading Is FUNdamental!

So many great behind the scenes

insights into the day-to-day life

in London during The Blitz

This highly informative read is the result of this blog's two stalwart readers, Paul Sabolić and Michael D'Antuono.

Paul often reminds me that I need to read more historical books and less action packed mystery novels.

Michael is my recommending librarian who has gotten me started in oh so many different writers over the many years. He got me re-started on Erik Larson when he recommended his American Civil War non-fiction book, The Demon of Unrest.

It was a corker, so I headed to the Camarillo Public Library last week to pick up another of Larson's riveting historical non-fiction tomes packed with all sorts of deep researched tidbits.

I'm sure that Larson spent untold hours in front of a card catalogue cabinet researching this great read.

Thank you, Paul and Michael, for expanding my reading horizons.

Now to find a home overseas for these shoulder pads.