Van Nuys Demolay Bruce Timbers

Sad to hear of the passing of an old Van Nuys Demolay friend Bruce Timers

https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/mission-viejo-ca/bruce-timbers-8781375?fbclid=IwAR2b0S5QcaOAls0PveK2vdWrAIJsb-E0Bm_jW8J6DDYxhjeV7bzWqGhR1Qg

Van Nuys Demolay Memorial

 Not pictured - Gary Russell & Doug Drew (Canoga Park DeMolay)

Jeff Coleman 1974

These are all I know of and I hope it remains a short list. We remember all of them and the great times we had. If anyone has names or additional pictures please let us know. I have only included my chapter of Van Nuys since that is what I know best.

Lido Pizza Afternoon in Van Nuys/Sherman Oaks?

Attention Members of Demolay, Jobs Daughters and Rainbow, word has just come down that an afternoon of Pizza and fun is planned for Sunday September 13th at 2:00pm at Lido Pizza. I am sure everyone remembers where it is, but just in case Lido's is at 15232 Victory Blvd. in Van Nuys or Sherman Oaks, wherever the hell it is now, blame Phone Rat for that confusion. It is on the south side of Victory just east of Sepulveda. Renee is planning this so please e-mail her if you know it. For those who see it here please e-mail me at this blog account: vannuysboomers@gmail.com and I will forward you to her.

Mid-Summer Updates

A few quick updates and news:

I hear rumblings of a Demolay/Jobs/Rainbow reunion for some time this fall. I sent out a mass mailing asking for ideas and suggestions for the reunion. If you were not on the list or just found us here please e-mail me at this blog.

We are hearing from more Hazeltine Ave. School alumni. A few might even get together in the coming months. I also posted a link to the Photobucket page with a lot of old school pictures and much more. The link is to the left of this page.

Below the Photobucket link is one to a Reseda High School class page. Many of you might have gone there or know friends who went there. Be sure to check it out. The photo for this post is one I copied from their website. Check out the movie playing at the theater.

New Van Nuys Demolay Mascot?

I was looking at the reunion pictures, again, when it struck me that we did not have the Van Nuys Demolay Bulldog at the party. So, why not adopt a new mascot. He's not a Bulldog but he's a great looking boxer. Whadya think?

We have been hearing from more long time friends the past week. If this keeps up we will need a park for a summer reunion just to hold everyone. Thanks again to Bruce and Dorrie for keeping the food, drink, memories and smiles flowing.

Demolay Reunion Party a Big Success

The Demolay, Rainbow, Job's reunion party was a great success. Approximately 40 old friends got together and shared old and new stories. Many pictures were taken and are in the process of making the rounds. If anyone is interested in copies please email this blog: vannuysboomers@gmail.com, and we will put you in the loop.

Another get together is being talked about for this summer. This will be an outdoor event at a park, so there will be more room for booze, barbecues and Ben Gay.

If you are out of town and think you might want to come to the next get together please let us know so we can decide on good date for all.

As you can see from this picture of Radio Rat, one can always make new friends.

DEMOLAY, RAINBOW, JOB'S DAUGHTERS REUNION DATE

THE DEMOLAY REUNION DATE HAS BEEN SET FOR
SATURDAY JANUARY 24, 2009 AT 5PM

IN THE GREATER LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA AREA

PLEASE RSVP TO THIS SITES E-MAIL ADDRESS:
VANNUYSBOOMERS@GMAIL.COM

THE EVENT WILL BE HELD AT A PRIVATE RESIDENCE JUST NORTH OF THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY

HAPPY HOUR STARTS AT 5PM FOLLOWED BY DINNER, SO AN RSVP WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED

IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO ATTEND THIS REUNION EVENT WE WOULD STILL LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU AS THIS IS ONLY THE FIRST OF MANY FUTURE GATHERINGS

WE HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE

Rainbow & Demolay

Here is a Van Nuys Rainbow Assembly button from 1979. From the collection of Al Wilson.

Here is a newspaper article by Agnes Viola Dow of the Van Nuys Daily News about a Demolay Installation. Over the years Mrs. Dow wrote up almost all the articles about local Masonic related events.

Hy-Lo Drug

I found this partial newspaper ad on the back of something my Dad had cut out of the paper. Hy-Lo Drug was located in the shopping center at the southeast corner of Sherman Way and Sepulveda Blvd. Hy-Lo Drug became our destination of choice when we moved to Haskell Ave. in 1965.

As I recall the shopping center included a Food Giant Market, a Thom McAnn shoe store, an Oscar's Restaurant and Alfie's (Spelling?), a small coffee shop in between Hy-Lo and Food Giant. You could walk into Alfie's from Hy-Lo Drug. I probably ate the majority of my life time intake of French Fries there, as well as chocolate Coke's.

When we wanted a change we went to Oscar's where my Dad almost always ordered their Chili Size. Years later Oscar's went out of business and was taken over by a restaurant that featured red hamburger buns. I wish I could recall the name. It didn't last very long.

Over the years I remember a barber shop where my Dad got his haircut, as well as a Bank of America, and I think there was a bar at the end of the back section. Later Food Giant turned into Food King and a Wherehouse Record Store was built where Thom McAnn and Oscar's used to be. As far as I know the small ice cream stand is still out front near the sidewalk, and again I forget the name.

We moved away from the area in 1973 but I would still drive by and watch the changes over the years. My Dad would still drive to the Mobil Station on the Northwest corner to buy his gas from the station owner he knew. Van Nuys Demolay once had a car wash at the Shell Station at that corner, a newspaper photo which is on the Van Nuys Boomers Flickr Photo Site.

Van Nuys Demolay Reunion

The main reason for starting this blog, last November, was to get back in touch with friends from our Demolay/Job's Daughters/Rainbow, work and school days. To that end we have been very pleased with the response. So much so that a few of us are wondering if a small reunion might be possible. It can as simple as meeting at a restaurant such as "Bob's" or gathering at someones house.

If you are interested please contact me at this blogs E-mail: vannuysboomers@gmail.com

Since I am 2400 miles from Los Angeles I will forward all communications to Phone Rat who is more able to handle the logistics. Many thanks to everyone for your comments and memories and here's hoping we can all make new ones.

Please visit our Van Nuys Boomers YouTube page for more trips down memory lane.

Parlor Games of the 1970's

Within Demolay there were two types of parties. Sanctioned and unsanctioned. Having a responsible adult at sanctioned parties is a good idea for kids that age. There is nothing wrong with good clean fun. Unsanctioned parties were for the most part still tame, but a bit more fun. One of the popular parlor type games at these parties was called "Choo Choo." The game requires one bloke who has never played the game. Everyone lines up alternating girl than boy and so on. The new guy is put at the end of the line as the trains caboose. Music starts and everyone does a line dance walk of sorts around the room with their hands placed on the hips of the person in front of them. When the music stops the first girl turns around and kisses the boy behind her. The music starts up again and the line works its way around the room again until the music stops. This time the boy turns around and kisses the girl behind him. This goes on until the music stops for the last time and it's time for the the caboose to receive his kiss. The last girl turns around and smiles at the guy as she leans her head slightly forward. As the guy closes his eyes and sets himself up for a big wet one the sharp sting of a hand slap snaps his head sideways as his deflated ego crashes to the floor. He stands there stunned as everyone laughs and he tries to assemble a good natured smile from his aching cheek and bruised ego. Many years have now passed and I think I can say, I have forgiven Michele.

Another popular game was called "Black Magic." This is a two-man game performed on an unsuspecting group. The object of the game is for one of the men to identify an object in the room that the crowd picked out while he was away. This clairvoyant is asked to leave the room while his accomplice explains what will happen and asks the group to pick out a special object from the room. The clairvoyant comes back and takes a seat. His accomplice then moves about the room pointing out various objects until the clairvoyant correctly identifies the chosen object. What the crowd does not know is that somewhere in the game a black object is picked and found not to be the object. That is the clue to the clairvoyant that the real object will follow after a agreed upon number of objects are offered up. If your number is two, then the second object picked after the black object will be the real object. Hence the name "Black Magic."

A popular game when I worked at Builders Emporium was called "Truth or Dare." It was a step up from the clean cut level. We were a group of people who worked hard and played hard and there was at least one party a week, often more. If the crowds mix was right we'd tempt the hormones and play a game called "Truth or Dare." Most of the questions and dares involved mildly embarrassing sex questions. Even the dares were tame by today's standards.

Over the years the parties and games grew a little wilder. I'm sure we all have our own R-rated 'Twister" story. These are just the games it is safe to talk about. Most of our parties did not involve games. Most nights we would meet somewhere, talk, drink, flirt and find a dark corner if there was one. If not we were off to the Submarine Races...up periscope!

Our Cars

Last week Phone Rat and I got on the subject of cars. Cars we owned and those our friends had. Clearly the car in this picture is not a muscle car, but I am sure a lot of you will remember this car, its owner, and this charity event at the Shell Station on the corner of Van Nuys Blvd. and Sherman Way.

Phone Rat was remembering his 1966 Blue Ford Fairlane. Aside from numerous TP missions, what I remember most is the day a certain Sweetheart decorated his Fairline with shaving cream. Typical of the stunts many of us indulged in. Though it was just innocent fun this particular stunt set off a whole round of regrettable fireworks we still talk about.

My first car was a 1966 Pontiac Lemans. I used to drive it like a maniac through the hills. One of my favorite roads then was the dirt road section of Dixie Canyon. One day we were up there racing through the turns like a Midget car when Phone Ray shouts out, "Lock 'em up!" Like a damn fool I slammed on the breaks and we skidded left, then right until we came to a stop about a foot from the edge, which had no rails. After I restarted the car we continued on like nothing happened, such is youth.

Another memory is of an old Blue Chevy truck owned by one of the taller members of our group, "GZ". One day we were in the parking lot of the Van Nuys Temple. For some reason I was standing on the back of his truck, holding my acoustic guitar. All of a sudden the truck surged forward and I went off the back of the truck, face first with my guitar in front of me, onto the pavement below. When I got up I saw my guitar had taken the brunt of the damage. I was ticked off but the guitar did save me from serious injury. The fault was mine for standing on the back of an idling truck with a touchy clutch. The next time I rode with our tall friend was in his 1968 Plymouth Fury, which he called his "Grandfather Car".

Radio Rat used to run around town in an older Datsun station wagon blasting Deep Purples "Machine Head" on his 8-track player. Since that wasn't the ideal projection of cool he soon upgraded to a Chevy Vega Station wagon. Still not the epitome of cool, but functional for the things he needed it for, such as toting his drum kit to gigs, and so on, lots of so on. My fondest memory of the Vega was driving to the Ontario Motor Speedway the night before the race to hang out with another friend. But this was the era of van culture so Radio Rat traded up again for a souped up florescent yellow/orange Ford Econoline van. Into this "Love Truck" went the requisite shag carpet, television, refrigerator, quad stereo and I forget what else. There are too many escapades with that van to name one above the other. Perhaps Radio rat will elaborate. I hope he remembers this is a PG-Rated blog.

Other memories include me in my 1973 Ford Pinto racing "AT' and his Blue Ford Mustang down Sunset Blvd. It is written in my contemporaneous notes we reached speeds of 80 mph. I think that was top speed for my Pinto, while he was still in second gear. I recall another friend, "AB", who owned a Pinto, but this Green Pinto had a Mustang engine lurking under the hood. Another friend, "CF", had a Toyota Celica until one night when it met its fate. His next car was a low slung Lotus sports car. He told us he paid $10,000 for the Lotus. Exotic as it was, we all gasped and said we would never pay $10,000 for a car.

I also remember "JB" briefly owned a souped up Ford Mustang that I think he shared with his dad, "JB Sr". I seem to remember a Porsche 914, belonging to "GR". My favorite car was a Chevy El Camino owned by he father of our tall friend. Phone Rat remembers a 1964 Copper colored Plymouth Fury owned by "HW", and a 1954 Pontiac owned by "HM". I know there were a few more muscle cars out there you might remember?

Van Nuys Demolay 1924

The image at the left is a copy of notes from the first meeting of the Van Nuys California Chapter of Demolay in 1923. I could not find an article from any newspaper that mentioned this first Van Nuys Demolay meeting. I did find an article from the "Van Nuys News", dated Tuesday, May 6, 1924 about the 1924 Installation of officers. Unfortunately when you cut and paste from a poor copy to a Word Document you get some weird interpretations. I corrected what I could. Some of the original is too faint to make out so I apologize for the quality and incorrect names. I did however think the historical interest warranted this post:

LOCAL DEMOLAY

Installation

GEO. W. BUNTON GIVES

FINE ADDRESS

Officers Inducted Into Stations at Ceremony Attended by Masons, Families of Members and Hollywood Delegation

A 'public installation" of Van Nuys Chapter Demolay, sponsored by Van Nuys • Masonic Lodge, No. 450, was held in the lodge rooms at 8 o'clock Saturday night. The service was at tended by Masons and families o: members of the Chapter and by a number of Knights Templar of Hollywood Commandery. The address to the chapter was made by Geo: W. Bunton, first chair man of the advisory committee, am carried a "valuable message to the young men and their guests. The officers installed were: F. Waiton, Berkshire,. Master Councilor'; John Lamptt,. senior, counselor; Geo [Names cut off due to crease in paper] Kenneth Pierce and Gilbert Leslie, deacons; Kenneth .Gilbert and Richard Barling, stewards; Morton Colgrovc, chaplain; Sam Huffman, marshal; Frank K. Black, scribe; Draper Webb, treasurer; Samuel Morris, almoner; Alvis Murrel, standard hearer; Kenneth "McCartney, George Marsden, Lester Vincent, Harold Rasgosshek, Robert Phelps, Edgar Smalley and George Roth, preceptors; Henry Allen Lane, sentinel; Chauncey Chase, orator. Acting as installing officers were: Geo. W. Bunton, master councellor; C. E. Boag, commander of Hollywood Knights Templar, senior councellor; Thomas F. Marshall, Hollywood Commandery, junior councellor; M. H. Withers, Hollywood Commandery, orator; J. V. Tonkin, Hollywood Commandery, senior deacon; B. R. Holloway, past master Van Nuys lodge, marshal. The program included musical numbers, short talks by Ernest Gibson, master of Van Nuys lodge; George A. Chapman, chairman of the Demolay advisory board, and a number of others, concluding with the address by George W. Bunton. The service was impressive and gave visitors an insight to the splendid organization of Demolay. Refreshments were served the guests following the program. Van Nuys Chapter Demolay was instituted November 3, 1923, sponsored by the Masonic lodge. It is proving a very valuable organization
for young men, meetings being held four evenings each month. George A. Chapman is chairman of the advisory hoard, and the other members are J. P. Ingles, Rupert L. Stewart Walter Mendenhalll, Hugh C. Daugherty, Harry R. Bevis, W. W. Todd, S.L. Vaughan and C. M. Nance.

Bill Cosby and Demolay

Phone Rat and I have taken on a special project over the past few days of delving through the archives of the "Valley News and Greensheet" for old articles concerning Demolay, Job's Daughters and Rainbow. One of my first finds was an article from August 12, 1971 about a special celebrity basketball contest against the Valley Demolay League All-Stars. Here is the text of the article:

Television star Bill Cosby will bring his celebrity basketball team to Birmingham High School tomorrow evening to battle a team of Valley DeMolay All-Stars in a special benefit contest.
The event is being sponsored by the Reseda Chapter, Order of DeMolay, with all proceeds going to the Shrine Hospital for Crippled Childien in Los Angeles. Included on the celebrity team will be such notables as Cosby, former Ram star Bernie Casey, former Angel first baseman Don Mincher and television actor Mike Connors ("Manmx'). The Valley DeMolay All-Stars -will consist of Buss Damn, 6 ft. 5 in. center from the Granada Hills chapter; Jim Fox, 6-1 guard from Van Nuys chapter, Kurt Krueger, 6-1 guard from Canoga Park; Pete Giammaria, 6-3 forward from Burbank; Bob Allen, 6-3 guard from North Hollywood; Craig Fletcher, 6-2 guard from Reseda; Mike Fennelly, 6-2 forward from Reseda; and Ken Inger, 6-£ forward from Reseda. There also will be two surprise guests on the program. Game time is scheduled for 8 p.m. tomorrow at Birmingham. Tickets are priced at $175 for students and $250 for adults. Tickets will be on sale at the Birmingham Gym prior to the game tomorrow For further ticket information or reservations, contact Mike Fennelly at 342-9588 or 478-4051.

Quite an event, its too bad I have no memory of it. I went to Birmingham and was in Demolay at the time, though not active. So this gives you a taste of some of the stuff we are finding. Most of what we have found is normal installation and fund raising news, but that is a also a kick, and some of them have pictures. Phone Rat is working on a special project within this project for which he still needs some additional information. I will leave that cat in the bag so not to give him a stroke from the pressure.

I wanted to change the background color of this blog to green in honor of the old paper but this template does not allow that change, so instead I have changed the text color from the original article to green. It would have been great to be there and watch Chet Kincaid drive the lane against our team.

The Goblet, The Girl and the Street Sign, Part 2

The scene is Sherman Oaks California just off Valley Vista Blvd. Three slightly inebriated young men sit in a Bright Orangish Ford Econoline Van contemplating a crime. You see there is a street just off Valley Vista that shares its name with our beautiful brown haired brown eyed friend of Bob’s Big Boy silver goblet fame. There I sit with Radio Rat and another accomplice (Canid, not a Rat) staring up at the street sign trying to figure out how best to quickly remove the sign from the pole. We gather a few tools and emerge from Radio Rats Bright Orangish Ford Econoline Van, cleverly parked in a dark spot of the road. I stand guard as Radio Rat climbs the pole to remove the sign. A few tense minutes pass until he slides down saying it won’t come all the way off. Our accomplice is fresh and climbs the pole to take his shot at it. They take turns wrestling with the tight steel bands until one of them finally liberates the sign. He slides down with the sign and we run to the van, fire it up and high tail it out of there.

We laugh and snort as we flee the scene of the crime and drive straight to our friend’s apartment to present her with our trophy. We knock on the door and her Mom answers it. She calls her daughter as we stand there, three of Demolay's best holding a stolen street sign. She walks into the room and starts laughing when she sees us holding a city street sign with her name on it. We relate a slightly abbreviated tale of our larceny. She then takes the sign to her bedroom and places it proudly in her window. We take our leave and go downstairs. As we walk out we look up at her window. There she is with her sign and a big smile waving goodbye to her three slightly drunken if not devoted bandits.

The next day Radio Rat and I are working at Butler Brothers Department Store in Van Nuys. Sometime during the day I catch a glimpse of Radio Rat walking toward me looking as pale as a ghost that just saw a scarier ghost. He tells me he just received a phone call from a woman in Sherman Oaks who wanted something delivered to her house. As she was giving him directions she told him it might be difficult to find her house because last night someone stole the street sign from the street corner. Someone and I stood there in shock.

I suppose we could have told the woman where her street sign was but why break a young girl’s heart, or get tossed in jail. Our beautiful brown eyed friend had her street sign and I had my silver goblet, the spoils of our short career in crime. I hope she is happy and still has her sign displayed proudly in the window of wherever she lives now. Maybe if she one day sees this post she will send us a picture of it.

The Goblet, The Girl and the Street Sign, Part 1

This silver Goblet was procured from a Bob’s Big Boy restaurant in Van Nuys CA. I confess I am a questionable accomplice in its procurement. We were sitting in a comfy booth eating our meal when I simply mentioned to a friend I would like to have one of these goblets. We finished our meal, left a tip and walked out to our car. When we got into the vehicle my female friend reached into her purse and handed me the shiny silver Bob’s Big Boy goblet. We all laughed and hurried out of there just in case some eagled eyed waitress was on our tail. I was flabbergasted but I took it home and put it up on my memento shelf hoping my Mom would not ask where it came from. Accepting stolen goods is certainly a misdemeanor crime, however if a judge or God one day confronts me with my involvement I will throw myself on the mercy of whatever court and tell them it was given to me by the most beautiful brown haired brown eyed girl I had ever known. I won't claim insanity but I will tell you I was intoxicated by her smile.

This beautiful young girl and I did eventually go out on a date some time later. We had a nice time, but I am afraid I was so painfully shy that I never mustered the courage to ask her out again. We remained friends in spite of my ineptness. I have a fine memory of driving away from her place to Van Nuys Masonic Temple for our date. The radio was on blasting the hits of that period of 1973. So what song you ask plays in my mind now when I remember our date? My Love by Paul McCartney? Or maybe Love Train by The O’Jays? No, I recall rolling down Victory Blvd. to the sounds of Loudon Wainwright III squawking, “Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road”.

Not long after this I bought a top of the line Sanyo cassette player for my car. Never again would I allow the radio God's impose their will on my love life. In matters of the heart one still needs the proper tools. So now when my diet allows I break out the goblet and drop a scoop of ice cream in it, crank up iTunes and remember good times with a beautiful young girl, and a stinky old skunk.

Wednesday Night

This past Wednesday night Van Nuys Blvd. entertained two of its old road warriors. Gone were the muscle cars, vans and crowds of kids on the sidewalks. Wednesday night on the boulevard is now like any other night. Gone are the days when the boulevard looked like the 405 at rush hour, only more fun. Those days are a memory. For us Boomers Van Nuys Blvd. is better known now as Memory Lane. So it was that these old friends from the past found themselves cruising Van Nuys Blvd.

I was sitting at my desk working on a song when my cell phone rang. I picked it up to hear the voice of Phone Rat telling me he and our old friend Duane from our Demolay days had just left Coco’s and were taking a brief trip down memory lane. Before long we were remembering the old days, two bodies and one in spirit driving up and down the boulevard once more time.

Places and traditions change and so do people. The faces and facades change with the passage of time but the spirit lives on inside us. I hear that Los Angeles does not honor its history. To a large extent that is true. But the past does live on as a kind of ghost town. For Los Angeles the ghost town is Hollywood. Hollywood is as much legend as reality.

So it is with Van Nuys Blvd. It is still the main artery through the middle of the San Fernando Valley. It has seen better times and it has seen worse. I read and hear criticisms about the condition of the boulevard and Van Nuys in general. I understand them and have made many of the same criticisms. However distance and perspective over the past two years have made me realize it can't stay the same the way I want it or remember it. The memory is alive in the people we experienced it with. We old timers had it for a short time and that era still belongs to us. It has passed on to another generation. That is life in a big, vibrant city. While it is tough to watch your hangouts slowly disappear, in the end we keep it alive in our hearts and minds and that is how it should be.

My Demolay Story

A welcome flurry of Demolay and Rainbow activity this past week has inspired me to relate a small (clean and censored) bit of my Demolay story in hopes of encouraging others to share their stories and memories. Each of us has individual tales we can all relate to.

To this day my most fond memories are of my Demolay days. These friends, many who are still friends are the group of people I made that rite of passage into adulthood with. Together we made our first trips out into the world on our own, free from parents. We could drive, party, play music, and chase the opposite sex. Much of it was good fun and much of was less innocent, which is probably best left to conversations and personal e-mails.

I joined Van Nuys Demolay at the beginning of 1971. I was aware of Demolay through my Dad who had been in Demolay during the 1940's in Lakewood Ohio. I remember his stories about his Demolay days and in retrospect they echo what I experienced. I still keep his photo's and memorabilia in my office. By the time I had turned 15 my parents began to ask if I would be interested in joining Demolay. I said thanks but no, I am not a joiner. I had school and that seemed enough of a burden without adding to it. They continued to work on me until one day I decided to make them happy and join. Since they never asked much of me in that regard I decided to at least join and see what happened. They told me if I did not like it I did not have to stay in it. That seemed fair.

I was initiated in January of 1971. I learned my ritual and went through the degrees and then let it all slide through the summer of 1971. Then in September of 1971 I received a call from Chuck Fox asking if I would like to be Almoner for him. He told me the person who was slated for the office had dropped out and he needed to fill the position. My initial reaction was thank you but no. Finally Chuck came to visit me and I agreed to take the position. And it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

I began to attend the Wednesday night meetings at Van Nuys Masonic Temple. Slowly I worked into the fabric of the chapter and began to attend official functions and non-official functions. Soon after becoming active I was asked to come to a band practice at Ken Winte's house. In the Winte garage I met Larry Thornhill and Brian Lincoln. Soon after we became the trio know as "The Destinations". We practiced and began playing parties and installations. Soon we had our own little part time clique which consisted of Me, Larry, Ken and Gary Zeiger. Or as my Mom referred to us, Stud, Dud, Mud and Crud. I remember Gary was Stud, but as for the rest I forget who was who. Which is probably a good thing. I know I will catch hell for letting this out.

While Demolay had its fun social side it also was a serious organization which taught us all some valuable lessons and skills. It's true we sometimes had fun with the ritual but it did reinforce core values, and it did teach us how to speak before a group of people, which has served many of us well in our careers. I will admit that even I, the lone wolf did feel the sense of belonging to a special community with other Demolay members whether we were close or not. I believe this because it was something I wanted to be active in and not something I had to belong to.

A few of us followed up Demolay by going into Freemasonry. I never did. My dad went into Van Nuys Zenith Lodge right after I joined Demolay. In later years he served as chapter dad and for a time was also active with Van Nuys Rainbow. He received the Demolay Legion of Honor in a ceremony which included the famous cowboy actor Roy Rogers. My dad's dad was also a Mason as well as a Knights Templar. His ceremonial sword hangs on the wall right beside my desk. So while I have avoided the lure of Freemasonry I am forever grateful for their youth group called Demolay.

Van Nuys Demolay Members

Here are the names of a few Van Nuys Demolay members. Some of are still in touch while others are still out in the wilderness. If you are one of them, or know one of them we would love to hear from you:

Rusty Baingo, Larry Bittke, Richard Bowman, Kevin Bowman, Jim Bullen, Alan Butts, Jeff Coleman, Doug Corbett, John Crippen, Dave Farrand, Chuck Fox, Jim Fox, Paul Glassco, Tom Hart, Tom Martin, Keith Nance, Howard Mitchell, Dave Mitchell, Bill Mitchell, Karl Inman, Tom Raden, Ben Gordon, Garry Russell, Ron Steiner, Dan Swanson, Bruce Timbers, Greg Timbers, Jim Thomas, Scott Thomas, Curtis Thornton, Alan Trusler, Jim Drew, Keith Barrett, Ken Barrett, Brian Lincoln, Will Thurston, Chuck Weymouth, Bruce Arnold, Bob Harmen, Hal Weiblen, Lance Braun, Larry Thornhill, Ken Winte, Gary Zeiger, Duane Joslin, Lee Durgin, Mike Campbell and so on.

There is a only a partial list of the members during our era. Most of us were members during the late 1960's and early 1970's. If you were there before us or came after we would love to hear about your adventures.

If you were a member of and Job's Daughters or Rainbow Group in the Valley we would also love to hear from you. Bethel 80 and Bethel 303 met at Van Nuys Masonic Temple. We would also like to hear from our sponsoring Masonic Lodge, Van Nuys 135 Royal Arch Mason's, as well as Zenith Lodge and Van Nuys #450 Masonic Lodge.

Van Nuys Blvd.

It is impossible to speak of Van Nuys of the 60's and 70's without discussing Wednesday night cruising on Van Nuys Blvd. If you didn't spend time cruising you were at least aware of it, if not inconvenienced by it in your travels through the center of the San Fernando Valley.

Van Nuys Demolay met on Wednesday nights, about a quarter mile from the action on the boulevard. Those members who were old enough to drive, and trusted enough to drive alone were always anxious to get the meeting over with and hit the streets. If you had school the next day your evening probably ended after the meeting. Sometimes you were lucky and you hitched a ride to Bob's restaurant at the corner of Van Nuys Blvd. and Roscoe Blvd. What happened from there depended on your age group and mode of transportation. If you had a converted van like the drummer in our band, Desert Radio Rat, your options increased. Though I must confess he and I usually ended up parked somewhere watching TV in the back of the van,drinking what ever beverage was in his frig as we watched the cars and girls pass by.

Some of the local hangouts in the area were Mike's Pizza on Van Nuys Blvd., Lido Pizza on Victory Blvd. and the back of Butler Brothers department store where we worked. A few of our members worked at the Von's Market in that block and we would sometimes drop in and annoy them. We were like thousands of other kids. We cruised the boulevard and then left and found adventure other places. There is plenty of that for future stories.