Sid Davidson had been my boss from 1937 to 1943 while I was teaching Vocational Agriculture at the high school. In 1943, I resigned and with the wife and two daughters moved to Pullman, Washington to attend the Washington State College, School of Veterinary Medicine. On my return to the Harbor area in 1946, l began reading about a new junior college district that was being formed. At the time I didn't pay much attention to the project because I was busily engaged in establishing a veterinary practice.

Early in 1947, while I was visiting with Sid one day, the junior college subject came up. He showed me the application for acquiring lands and buildings on the former Santa Ana Army Air Base. This application was a real tome representing hundreds of hours of work and thought by many people. Sid was ecstatic as he riffled through the pages. In his mind's eye a junior college had already been established -the buildings on their some 300 acres of land were all in use. Everything was being taught from Agriculture to Zoology. Sid, who was a former vocational agriculture teacher, had the imaginary curriculum full of such solid vocational subjects as Navigation, Floriculture, Boat Handling, Cosmetology, Petroleum Technology, Agriculture, Sheet Metal and Welding.

To anyone who had taught a vocational subject and been steeped in the practical philosophies of vocational education this outlined curriculum was fascinating in its potentialities. I began to share Sid's enthusiasm .

A week or two later I contacted Sid and asked him what he thought about my running for the new Orange Coast Junior College Board of Trustees. For nearly 35 years I had either been attending or teaching school and education was in my blood-and still is. If I were elected to the Board it would give me the opportunity to keep in touch with school work. However, as a former teacher, "The Board" to me was a hallowed institution of individuals blessed with exalted powers. I seriously doubted if my humble endowments were worthy of such a distinguished group.

Sid reassured me somewhat and said, "Give it a try Parky. Go ahead and run and I'll help you with the details of filing and offer my blessing."

So I ran for the first elected Board of Trustees of the Orange Coast Junior College District. The fathers of the new junior college felt that inasmuch as the school would be located in the Newport Harbor Union High School District while Huntington Beach with its oil revenues would be contributing the larger share of the finances, Huntington Beach should be entitled to three of the five Board members. With the cooperation of the newspapers and leaders in both communities, this gentlemen's agreement became an actuality. Huntington Beach elected a man from Seal Beach, Westminster and Huntington Beach proper while the Newport Harbor area had a man representing Newport Beach and Costa Mesa. Legally, any area could have loaded the Board.

Although I lived on Balboa Island, my primary loyalties were with Costa Mesa because of my years of teaching vocational agriculture on the Mesa and because my veterinary hospital was located there.

When we held our first meeting on June 2, 1947 as a duly authorized Board and I met the Huntington Beach contingent I knew we had a winning team. Every man was an individualist but the team spirit was there.

Hub Howe, my old friend from Rotary Club days on Balboa Island, was the representative from Newport Beach. Hub had a tremendous and at times boisterous sense of humor, but was recognized as an efficient business man and experienced executive. He was manager of the South Coast Company of Newport Beach, who built many mine sweepers in their shipyard during World War II and contributed much to the economy of the Harbor area during the War. It was Harry Welch, Secretary of the Newport Harbor Chamber of Commerce, who talked Hub Howe into running for the Board. Hub acquiesced after some argument and doubt but he told me many times later that the changeof-pace and inspiration of the new school and Board and administration was like a tonic to him. Hub was tired, far more than any of us realized, after the hectic days of World War II with the South Coast Company and a tight schedule of innumerable community activities.

Don Lawhead was the Board member from Seal Bcach. He was a former member of the Huntington Beach Union High School Board and had served on the appointed Orange Coast Junior College Board. Don owned and operated a trucking business with his sons. He knew machinery and was a shrewd, practical, and earthy businessman and was never one to pussyfoot around or ride a fence. He stated what he thought and believed-diplomacy be damned. If we neglected girls' athletics or the non-certificated employees or relegated some other phase of the college's activities to a minor role, you could bet your bottom dollar Don would pull us up with a jerk mincing neither language or words. But for all this, Don was a loyal team man, wellrespected as indicated by his later election to the Seal Beach City Council.

Louis Conrady was a former elementary school board member from Westminster. He had come up from a roughneck in the oil fields to a supervisory position in the Texas Oil Company. Louis was one of the gentlemen on the Board, careful in his selection and expression of ideas and suggestions. We seldom, if ever, heard him swear. He would wait until the more impetuous of us had expressed a snap-judgment and then smooth things over with a carefully worded thought or two.

Dante Siracusa of Huntington Beach had been elected to the first Board but before we had a chance to meet he moved out of the district and resigned. Harry LeBard was appointed in his place. Harry was the Standard Oil Distributor for Huntington Beach and had been raised on the Irvine Ranch. He had attended Santa Ana High School, where he had made a name for himself on several championship football teams. Harry was popular and well-known in Orange County and later served a couple of terms on the Huntington Beach City Council. He was the typical football athlete turned successful businessman, and his interest in athletics has never waned. Jovial and extroverted, yet deadly serious at times, he added a zest to the Board which we all enjoyed. Harry LeBard (originally an appointee) is the last member of the first elected Board who is still active on it.

At our first meeting we established a few informal rules and practices. For example, the office of the President of the Board would be rotated yearly between members of the two high school districts. The clerk's office would go to a member in the district which did not have the presidency at that time. We decided that everyone, including the president, should record a vote on every issue. In the days prior to the Brown Act, we agreed to stand either unanimously in favor of or opposed to any controversial issue as a Board and not as individuals. In retrospect I might say the Brown Act has merit but it can cause disharmony on a board by ill-conceived publicity - newspaper or otherwise. Many times the Board and even the administration and the Board would tie into each other in great shape. If left alone we could eventually work out our differences, but if it became a more or less public free-for-all, disharmony might result. Also, if snap-judgments are stated, even though they are later withdrawn, they can look pretty ridiculous in print. Many times in closed personnel meetings allegations are made and proved which result in the discharge, resignation or assignment change of an individual. The individual is protected by the sworn secrecy of the meetings, but the Board and administration are castigated severely in the newspapers and by the public. After I left the Board such a case of unjust resentment against the Board and administration aroused the public, though if the facts had been known, they would have caused just the opposite kind of public furor. A school board does not sit as a court of law and even though our facts undoubtedly would stand up in a court of law, individuals and even entire families could be maligned and humiliated. Basically school people are honest and moral but when they do err, what would be a minor scandal in the business community becomes very serious in the public eye, not only because school people are public employees but especially because they are entrusted with the leadership of the nation's youth. I must acknowledge that during my 10 years on the Board we had wonderful cooperation from the newspapers within the district.

We agreed there would be no public bickering between members of the Board and administration. The Board felt every effort should be made to keep the Board representation as it was-three members from Huntington Beach and two from Newport Harbor. In our esti mation the district wanted and could support a junior college without a peer. We wanted the finest administration, faculty and physical plant money could buy-inasmuch as we were a wealthy junior college district.

In pursuing the old Board minutes, I find that at the first Board meeting, in my youthful exhuberance and enthusiasm, I was quoted as saying, "Unless we are going to have a vocational junior college, my interest is nil. The bulk of your junior college programs to date have been set up as feeders for the University of California. I feel, however, a jaysee should offer a solid curriculum of terminal courses in order that the students may have a firm two-year training in their chosen vocation and yet at the same time have a strong parallel academic program for those academically inspired and qualified." Fortunately, from the start the entire Board was imbued with the philosophy of terminal vocational training as well as a strong academic program.

After taking our oath of office and a general get-acquainted session, Hub Howe was elected president of the Board and Harry LeBard, clerk. Sid Davidson, Ray Elliott and cohorts were on the sidelines, like bantam hens, mothering and guiding us, and like chicks we asked to be shown where to scratch next. First we needed an administrator but during the interim a budget had to be drawn up. Sid and Ray took over the preliminaries of these strange chores. They agreed to draw up a budget and begin screening applications for an administrator. Instead of giving us a hundred or so applications to look over they would form a committee and weed them down to a dozen or less.

It was about this time I had my first look at the future college site and buildings. Actually we were trespassing but Mr. Wilson, who was then custodian of the Base, furnished a guide and allowed us in. I was duly impressed-little did I know.

There was an auditorium complete with kitchens, stage, projection rooms, an immense pile of frame building complete with two enormous oil paintings of Air Corps gremlins. When we were shown the theatre I thought it was a superb structure. There were mess halls, administration buildings, classroom buildings, a dog kennel, pigeon loft, plus other structures too numerous to mention. There were enough old and new barracks to house an army. The most attractive was the little chapel painted a drab, olive green. Actually there were about 100 buildings, large and small, included in the jaysee project.

Although there were still many odds and ends remaining in the buildings, most of the valuable equipment had hurriedly been high graded. There were a number of large walk-in refrigerators and freezers but minus refrigeration units. There were kitchens that had been gutted, but a half dozen new meat blocks had been left behind. Most of the barracks had lost their heating and hot water units. Somehow I had the feeling that despite the short interval since hostilities had ceased, the powers-that-be were in an unseemly haste to erase all vestiges of the war effort. It was like sending a winning thoroughbred to the rendering works-there was something sacrilegious about it.

The mute and mutilated body of the once proud and active and in some ways beautiful Santa Ana Army Air Base as I remembered it lay all about us. The weeds were taking over and pushing up through thin skins of blacktop. Only the grim barbed-wire barricades enclosing the prisoner-of-war barracks, where many of Rommel's elite Afrika Corps had whiled away their days in captivity, appeared to have vestiges of life. But even here it was only the numerous signs in English and German that seemed to contribute something living to an otherwise deserted and ghostly set of buildings. We apparently had plenty of land and buildings for the ethereal Orange Coast Junior College and we were assured on all sides it was an easy route from here on out because all the hard, spadework had been done-typical promotional dreams.

Our sifting committee for an administrator did their job well. Out of a tall stack of applications had come a final selection of six or eight potential candidates.

We went through them and decided to hold special meetings and ask two or three applicants in at a time for interviews. Some of us were perturbed that we had only a salary and a dream to offer. The district was an actuality but we still had no campus nor buildings- just promises.

We obtained quite an insight into school administrators and their modus operandi. Even though we had a good group to select from, about half of them eliminated themselves for one reason or another. A big front, smooth talking extrovert, or expensive clothing didn't impress the Board. Even educational background was secondary to practical experience. Most of them had no experience outside the cloistered, protective halls of educational institutions. It is still strange to many of us how educational administrators and educators can assume to teach students about life and living when their educational experience is one supplemented by a few summer-vacation or after school jobs at best.

We knew the type of man we wanted. First off, he should if possible, have the prestige of a doctorate degree. He should have an intense interest and some experience in vocational education. He should make a good appearance, for from his shadow would come the college. We wanted a family man. He should be between 35 and 50 years of age. We needed a leader and a worker who had demonstrated these abilities through past experiences. We felt the Orange Coast Junior College District was composed of a sophisticated citizenry and the administrator must not be awed by such constituency.

The choice narrowed down to two men and Dr. Basil H. Peterson, President of Glendale City College was one of them. He impressed the entire Board except for one minor trait. He was so deadly earnest and serious we didn't quite know how to take him. If we addressed an obviously humorous or flippant remark to him, he would carefully weigh it and then give us a serious reply devoid of humor.

For some reason Harry LeBard and I, either as an appointed committee or just snoopy Board members, began an investigation of Dr. Peterson. Through our business experience of hiring and firing we knew it is almost impossible to appraise a man by letters of recommendation, educational background and experience, or personal appearance. Also, the entire Board knew that this was probably the most important business we would ever do for the District-the selection of a superintendent. So Harry and I snooped.

Harry had contacts in Glendale and I had some in Berkeley and Bakersfield. In addition we paid out of our pockets for a Credit Bureau check on him. We found Dr. Peterson's primary reason for wanting to leave Glendale was that he preferred to deal directly with a junior college Board of Trustees, and not through a City Superintendent of Schools and then through a City Board of Education interested in the three levels of education. Under such a set-up the junior college is inevitably low man on the totem pole.

We found he had been an outstanding athlete at both Berkeley High and the University of California. He had coached football and basketball. He had taught physics, served as Associate Dean of Students at University of California at Davis, had done supervisory work in the U.C. Nuclear Laboratory, had been a high school principal and at present was President of the Calitornia Junior College Assn. His father was a Professor of Education at the University of California. He came from a long line of devout Mormons. At no place in his past could we find a black mark.

The concensus among our informants was that Dr. Peterson was a top man, intelligent, well-educated, ambitious, serious and dedicated, with a superior background of experience, excellent family ties, thoroughly versed in junior college educational philosophy, enthusiastic about terminal education and a leader among his peers. One informant stated it succinctly when he said, "You'll be getting probably one of the top men in the Nation in the junior college field, but you'll have a helluva time keeping up with him." He was right. As if to test us we began hearing rumors that Dr. Peterson had signed or was considering signing as president of Modesto Junior College.

As I look back we were a rather penurious board. The inflationary spiral was in its early stages and most of us were thinking in prewar terms. We had all settled on Dr. Peterson as our administrator and offered him an annual salary of $8,000.00. He chuckled, and stated that he felt inasmuch as he would have to move from Glendale and sell his house, the minimum he could accept was $8,500.00. We went into conference again and after some haggling among ourselves agreed to the sum of $8,500.00. Then the point came up-what would happen if after a couple of years the junior college had not come into being and the entire project was scrapped? Dr. Peterson fixed this up in short order-he agreed to insert a contractual clause which stated in effect that if the college was not an actuality after two years he would resign and relinquish his third year's salary. This was the first and last time Pete discussed personal salary with the board during his 16 years of presidency. A year or so later during some board discussions in which there was no criticism of Dr. Peterson, he offered to file a permanent letter of resignation so that if the board ever desired a change of superintendents there would be no muss or fuss. This was purely a personal philosophical point with Pete and I doubt if the letter was ever mentioned again.

Pete was in the driver's seat at last and the board had to hold on tightly while he set a fast pace and took some sharp curves. The junior college site and buildings on the Santa Ana Army Air Base were as far from being an actuality as when the original group had started. Only the general location on the base seemed agreed upon but the boundaries were indefinite. We were criticized by many for not taking over and starting the college. Letters from the War Assets Administration indicated that the deal was far from being consummated and it was doubtful if a site would be made available. We could not enter the SAAB and proposed junior college site without trespassing. So we stayed off and opened administrative offices in the Newport Harbor Union High School. Every board meeting and conference agenda started out with "Status of the College Site on the Santa Ana Army Air Base."

Pete needed two key assistants-a vice-president in charge of curriculum, and an assistant superintendent in charge of business. He sent out the word and began interviewing candidates.

The abandoned air base was a rich plum which drew envious eyes and schemes from many groups and individuals. Some wanted the sewer system, some wanted land, former owners wanted their lands back, all types of educational institutions were negotiating, while certain adjacent districts were apparently dedicated to seeing that Orange Coast College would never come into being. Dr. Peterson would apparently be on the verge of consummating an agreement with one Federal Administrator or Department and then either the administrator would be transferred or the entire deal would be taken up by another department. Reams of correspondence passed between Dr. Peterson and Federal Administrators, both in California and Washington, D.C. with nothing concrete emerging.

On September 22, 1947, Dr. Peterson recommended the hiring of Dr. James Thornton as Vice President of the college in charge of curriculum. On November 1, 1947, William F. Kitnes was signed as Assistant Superintendent in charge of business. Then came a ruling from the General Services Administration which would cost the district many thousands of dollars in supplies. In brief, we were not entitled to acquire any war surplus materials because we did not have any actual college classes. Sid Davidson came to our rescue. Why not take over the Newport Harbor Union High School night school classes? In February, 1948, the high school's night program became officially the first active classes of Orange Coast Junior College. Dr. Thornton was in charge and we reimbursed the high school district for use of its buildings, etc.

A few weeks prior to the starting of the Orange Coast Junior College night school program, the Board and Dr. Peterson were becoming alarmed at the continued procrastination of the Federal Agencies as regards our acquiring the buildings and site on the Santa Ana Army Air Base. Hub Howe, from his business experience with government contracts at the South Coast Company, recommended that Dr. Peterson be sent to Washington, D.C. at district expense. Furthermore, and we all agreed to this, Pete, as we now affectionately called him, was to remain there until the deal was consummated.

Early in December, 1947, Dr. Peterson left for Washington, where he had the assistance of Mr. Edwin Dale in charge of war surplus for the California Departmentof Education. The two men began to contact our Representatives, Senators, and various Government Agencies.

They immediately ran into a snag! Our Congressmen were fuming and so were the governmental agencies. It was apparent that an adjacent junior college district had sent numerous telegrams to all concerned protesting Orange Coast Junior College District's acquisition of buildings and site on the Santa Ana Army Air Base. This obviously involved the people in Washington, D.C. in a controversial local matter which put them on the spot as judges and arbiters. They wanted no part of it. Mr. Dale and Dr. Peterson were informed that local controversies should be settled at home and if they persisted the entire war surplus program for California Educational Institutions might be terminated.

Mr. Dale immediately flew back to California. He called a meeting of representatives from our board and the adjacent junior college district plus administrators to a meeting in the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. Dr. Thornton, who was the nominal chairman of our group, Bill Kimes, Harry LeBard and myself attended the meeting. We had no inkling of what was transpiring and all we knew definitely was that the press was not to be alerted before or after the meeting.

The meeting was one of those typical smoke-filled room affairs. Mr. Dale was boiling. We were uncomfortable in our ignorance. Mr. Dale ordered some ice-whether it was for a few calming drinks or water we never found out-the ice remained unused. The other district sent only two lambs to the slaughter-their business manager and acting head of their college. We gained a little confidence figuring we would whip 'em in a freefor-all-verbal or otherwise.

Mr. Dale opened hostilities with a full broadside aimed at the representatives from the adjacent district. "Do you admit sending a telegram or telegrams on such and such dates to such and such people and agencies in Washington, D.C. protesting Orange Coast Junior College District's acquisition of the Santa Ana Army Air Base as a site for a junior college?"

They admitted such telegrams had been sent. Our group was in the dark; we knew nothing about such telegrams.

Dale continued. "You have endangered the entire War Surplus Program for the schools of the State of California. If these telegrams are not retracted and California loses the entire war surplus program, your school will be held up as the culprit all up and down the State."

By this time things were getting rather uncomfortable. As a conciliatory measure the Orange Coast Junior College District was instructed to send a letter to the adjacent district indicating we would not encroach upon their boundaries nor proselyte their students. That was about like a migrant sheepherder's promising not to invade a cattleman's calf pasture, but it saved face all around.

Ben Reddick, publisher of the Newport Harbor News Press, got wind of the meeting. Ben tried and tried to get Dr. Thornton to talk but Jim held tight. Anyone knowing Ben Reddick will recognize that this was quite a feat.

Leave it to Ben, when Sam Meyer wrote his history of Newport Beach, Fifty Golden Years in 1956, on pages 166-67 is most of the story and posterity may as well know the remainder from a participant -Ben eventually got his version before the public.

Sometime after the first of the year 1948 Dr. Peterson returned home with the deal more or less consummated. Roughly, the Orange Coast Junior College District was to acquire buildings appraised at nearly a million dollars plus 243 acres of land at $750.00 per acre- then we were to get a 100% educational discount! We felt jubilant. We could now start moving onto our future campus.

The Fire Marshal and State Board of Architecture were called in. None of the buildings, with the exception of the Chapel would meet standards without major alterations which in most cases exceeded the building's value. Here were over 68 buildings appraised at a million dollars but worthless for school purposes.

It looked as if we had a white elephant by the tail. The Federal Government wanted to close the deal and get Dr. Peterson off their collective necks. But now we had to figure out some method whereby we could at least obtain the 243 acre site for the District. The worthless buildings were the catch. We had no building fund of any size. We couldn't tear a building down unless we replaced it. And later we found no one would move or demolish the buildings even for the materials except in a few minor instances. Later we even had to pay for their demolition.

Then we were told if we leased the buildings frolu the government for temporary use we could use them with minimum alterations. How long was temporary? After some weeks of negotiations, it was decided temporary was "about two years." Now began negotiations for an "interim lease of two years" from the War Assets Administration. The District would lease the buildings and site from the government for two years and then purchase them with our 100 percent educational discount. Unfortunately, we didn't know if we had enough money for even basic alterations. Could we spend District money on altering buildings which didn't belong to us? Furthermore, we must insure these worthless buildings for a million dollars against fire with the Federal Government named as beneficiary. Now we were involved in another complex legal hassle.

In spite of all this apparently needless expense, the acquisition of the air base site and buildings would still be a very profitable move for the District. Somehow, Dr. Peterson and Bill Kimes got this all straightened out and the government accepted the two year interim lease. This meant, however, that at the end of two years money must be voted by the district for building and replacement of buildings.

In the interim we needed water, sewers and fire protection. The water came Tom wells on the base, but no one was authorized or wanted to operate the system. In addition, there were other small water users on the base, including the County airport, the Bible college, fairgrounds, mosquito abatement center and others. So we ended up in the water business with all its headaches. As if this wasn't enough, we were saddled with the sewer business for the base for a time. The primary electrical installations were on the college site and we became engaged in supplying and prorating electricity costs to everyone on the base. In addition to all of these duties, we inherited a couple of fire trucks, which we had to man and furnish fire protection to the entire base with bastard couplings on the hydrants no hoses but ours would fit. The good Lord protects the innocent-we had no major fires.

At the same time Dr. Thornton and Pete were assembling a faculty. Our target date for the opening of school was September 1948. Architects had to be hired for master planning and to assist us in bringing the buildings up to minimum standards Jim Thornton and Pete were working on a curriculum for the college. Bill Kimes was busily obtaining war surplus for the college and for teaching aids ranging from mattresses to motors.

During our spring and summer board meetings, we constantly harassed Bill Kimes, our business manager, for progress reports on the repair and alteration of the buildings. I must put in a word for Bill to the individuals who considered him a tough, irritable old goat. He was under tremendous pressure. If we raised the dickens with Pete, Bill caught it too. Bill attended every board meeting. He was cheerful and jovial. Too many times the board or individual board members kidded Bill for this, that, or the other because he seemingly could "take it." Many times Bill served as buffer between Dr. Peterson and the board. All of us were edgy from this complex business of getting a junior college started. Dr. James Thornton, or Jim, as we called him, was an academician, a man recognized and appreciated for his academic training, ability and philosophy. He was one of the original triumvirate selected by Dr. Peterson. This was an excellent crew: Dr. Thornton carefully picking his words and keeping us abreast of the academic progress; Dr. Peterson, serious and forceful in his thoughts, the overall coordinator; Bill Kimes running the business office and directing the building schedule. This was a triumvirate whose problems I am proud to have shared.

All was nearly complete for the opening of Orange Coast Junior College. When September, 1948 rolled around, it was Hubbard Howe, President of the Board, who delivered the first convocation to the first regularly enrolled students of the college. It seemed at last that many of our major hurdles were behind us, although we knew many were still ahead.

September came and passed; then October-early in November, 1948, came a severe blow to this close-knit board and its triumvirate of administrators. Hubbard Howe suddenly died. A young man burned out from war time and community responsibilities and worries. Hub, whom we all respected and looked forward to for his humorous quips and sage council was no longer with us.

During the intervening weeks I served as president pro-tem until a board member could be appointed and once again bring us up to full strength. Harry Welch, perennial secretary of the Newport Harbor Chamber of Commerce, called me up and suggested the board consider appointing Walter Longmoor of Newport Beach for this vacancy. I was both surprised and delighted. I did not know Walter personally, but I did know from many years in the Harbor area that Walter was a leader in the community, one of the owners of Western Canners Company, and a man of many varied talents. For years he had served on and still was the chairman of the Newport Beach City Planning Commission-a ticklish job which only a diplomat of superior talents could handle.

On November 29, 1948 as president of the board, I administered the loyalty oath to Walter Longmoor and then was elected to fill out Hub Howe's unexpired term aspresident. Walter immediately became an asset. His knowledge of finances and business, in addition to his experience in community and county affairs was most helpful. He was very similar to Hub in these respects. Walter offered a steadying influence to the board with his cool, calm and collected manner-but he could be riled, as we found out on several occasions. He too was a fine team man. Insofar as dedication goes, Walter was one of the most dedicated on the board. He is still active after 16 years and his enthusiasm never seems to wane-O.C.C. is an integral part of his life and living just as it is with Harry LeBard.

I remained on the Board for 10 years and yet in some ways those first 18 months of trying to bring a college into being were the most vital. We made friends and enemies. We fought battles in and out of the district. We have many memories, some good and some distressing. Those of us no longer on the board watch the fortunes of Orange Coast with interest-and we hope, unlike old soldiers, that we shall not fade away-but come forward from time to time to serve as we may when our college calls, because it has come to be such an integral part of us.

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