Lakes Class of 1966 classmates. Can you answer these questions?

+What was the name of the Lakewood hamburger drive-in which reminds you of a farm animal?

Answer: Cow Palace.

+Who was the Clover Park School District superintendent during our time as Lakes students? He was the father of one of our classmates.

Answer: T. Olai Hageness

+Name of Lakes High’s combination cafeteria and auditorium?
Answer: Classatorium

+The year Lakes High School opened?

Answer: 1962

+What was dropped from helicopters onto the Villa Plaza parking lot during the day prior to the 4th of July fireworks show?

Answer: Ping pong balls which had merchant prize gift certificates inside each.

+The name of Lakes High School reflects the fact there are lakes in Lakewood. What are the lakes of Lakewood?

Answer:

·       Gravelly Lake

·       American Lake

·       Lake Steilacoom

·       Lake Louise

·       Carter Lake

·       Seeley Lake

(Others?)

+What kind of aircraft land and take off from American Lake?

Answer: Seaplanes

+What fruit was sold in coin-op vending machines at Lakes High School?

Answer: Apples.

+Clothing girl students not allowed to wear at Lakes High?

Answer: (All of the following)

·       Pants/slacks

·       Bermuda shorts or any kind of shorts except shorts worn by girls playing on Lakes tennis team.

·       Pedal pushers

·       Culottes

+Street on which Lakes High School is located?

Answer: Farwest Drive (Southwest)

+Name of the Lakes teacher who led college entrance exam pep assembly in the senior wing? She was the mother of a Lakes student.

Answer: Marion Warner

+Name of the Lakes teacher who was adviser of the Lakes Ledger student newspaper? He was the father of a Lakes classmate.

Answer: Charles Croasdill

+Which was built first in Lakewood near Villa Plaza? McDonald's or Shakey's?

Answer: McDonald's

(Restaurants located across the street from each other at corners of 100th Street and Bristol Avenue SW.)

+What song did Lakes High School students NOT sing after the Lakes High boys' basketball team beat Renton, 47-46, in the Puget Sound League championship game at Highline High School on Friday, March 6, 1964?

Answer: Alma mater.

(At that time, Lakes did not have an alma mater.)

+Both Lakes and Clover Park Fight Songs say their schools are "Best in the West." Which is the best?

Answer: Lakes

(Lakes: "All will know that Lakes is the Best in all the West...")

(CP: "Best in the West, you know we'll all do our best.")

+Name of the drive-in movie theater just off South Tacoma Way?

Answer: Star-Lite

+What is the prized possession car of classmate Jon Cox?

Answer: Corvette

+What planet was included in the name of Lakes High's Junior Prom during the 1965-1966 school year?

Answer: Moon

(A popular song at the time was "Everyone's Gone to the Moon.")

+Name of Lakes High's annual celebration of the arts?

Answer: Artasia

+Best place in Lakewood to get donuts?

Answer: House of Donuts

+Name of teacher who organized Lakes choir program in the fall of 1962?

Answer: Ed Harmic

+Who was the teacher who taught German at Lakes?

Answer: Frau Werny (Bertl Werny)

+On Oct 1, 2010, Fort Lewis Army base and McChord Air Force Base merged to become Joint Base Lewis-McChord. What was the name of Fort Lewis before it was called a fort?

Answer: Camp Lewis.

(Fort Lewis began as Camp Lewis in 1917, honoring explorer Meriwether Lewis of Lewis & Clark fame. In 1927, Camp Lewis became Fort Lewis.)

(McChord AFB was originally Northwest Air Base or Tacoma Field. It was renamed in 1938 for Col. William Caldwell McChord, who was a chief of HQ Army Air Corp trainings & operations division.)

Lakes band played Go!Twist! in 1964 Daffodil Festival parade

Lakes High School band, directed by Gerald Pepos, marched in the Saturday, April 11, 1964, Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival parade.
 
Lakes band was one of 20 which marched through Tacoma, Puyallup and Sumner during the parade.


Some floats in the parade reflected the 1964 parade’s theme, “Nations on Parade.” 

Some saluted the 75^th anniversary of Washington State's statehood. (Washington was admitted to the union on Nov. 11, 1889.)


Photo shows Lakes band marching on Tacoma’s Pacific Avenue in the 1964 parade. 

Note (at bottom of photo) Lakes drum majorette and cheerleaders leading the band and (at top of photo) Lakes Drill Team members following band.


Other photo shows example of the uniforms worn by the Lakes band in the 1964 parade.


Weather during the parade was breezy with temperature in the mid-50 degree temperature. “The start of the parade saw temperatures of 42 degrees and blustery, cloudy weather. By noon, the clouds had parted and April sunshine had appeared,” says one source.


“Go! Twist!” was the song the Lakes band played exclusively over and over and over in the parade. Mr. Pepos had band members memorize the song so they didn’t have to use read music while they marched.

Where Lakes Ledger student newspaper was printed

Will-Dee Printing Co., 6427 Steilacoom Blvd. SW, Lakewood. Firm sometimes identified as being in Tacoma since most (all?) of its life was before Lakewood was incorporated as a city in 1996. It was where Clover Park High's Clover Leaves and Lakes High's Lakes Ledger student newspapers were pasted-up and printed. Adviser to both newspapers was journalism teacher Charles Croasdill.

Ad from Dec 16, 1965, Catholic Northwest Progress, Seattle.

..........
According to the 1963 Lakes Legend yearbook, in the 1962-1963 school year, the Lakes Ledger newspaper was a "four-column publication" and was "printed at the 'Tacoma Star.' "

Mr. Wes Saxton: 30-year education career included service at CP and Lakes. At age 91, dies March 21, 2016

He was father of Bill, Bob and Greg Saxton, Lakes High School grads.

William Wesley Saxton, age 91, passed away March 21, 2016, in (apparently) Gig Harbor, Wash. 

Born Sept 12, 1924, he was a teacher, coach and counselor for 30 years in the Clover Park School District.

 

He served in the U.S. Navy at the end of WWII. 

In about 1947 he and Florence “Niki” May Nicole Anzalone Saxton (born in Berkeley, Calif.) married. They moved to Lakewood that year. Married for 67 years, she passed away March 15, 2013, in Gig Harbor. 

Info about Niki:

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=107563439

A 1942 CP graduate, he was voted “Most Athletic Boy” by his classmates. He competed for the Warriors in football, basketball and baseball.

Mr. Saxton graduated from the College (now University) of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Mr. Saxton played basketball for the CPS Loggers.

At CP his duties included teaching science and biology. He also (apparently) was a counselor. He coached CP Warrior football and boys' basketball. Soon after Lakes High School opened in 1962, he moved from CP to Lakes. 

At Lakes High, his positions, according to the 1973 Lakes Legend yearbook, included assistant principal/senior dean. He also coached Lancers girls' basketball. He served as a Clover Park Education Association president.

Mr. Saxton loved his family. 

His dedication and love for his sons --William, Robert and Gregory -- manifested itself in several ways. One was coaching. Not only did he share the love of sports with his sons but with many other young boys. 

Among the ideals for living he stressed were to live life with dignity win or lose, be true to your family and be careful to judge others. 

He will be missed by his family, including eight grandchildren and those who he influenced as an educator, coach and friend.

.........

Photos include Mr. Saxton as a Lakes counselor (Lakes Legend yearbook source) and as a member of the 1941 Clover Park High School football team (Clover Park Klahowya yearbook source). Also at Lakes from the 1973 Legend is Mr. Saxton as assistant principal/senior dean.  Note cropped version of same photo pointing to a photo of his sons near his office telephone.)

Story based on information here …

http://www.mountainviewtacoma.com/obituaries/William-Saxton

… and other sources

Best Wishes to the class of 1966

This full page photo advertisement from the 1966 Lakes Legend yearbook sports staff appears in the 1973 Legend. Why? The staff sought to pay personally for the ad in 1966 Legend, but yearbook advisor Rita Van Pevenage said “no.” But, the 1973 Legend said “yes.” Sports staff members: Bob Webb (floor), Joe Finley (seated), Tim Marsh and Roy Ellington (standing left and right). 

Gerry Austin slideshow

Lakes 1964 football season bittersweet

Lakes High School’s 1964 football season was bittersweet for the Lancers.

Gerry Austin was Lakes football coach, and his son, Rick, a senior, was the Lancers’ quarterback.

Playing a total of nine games and all of its home games at Clover Park’s Thompson Field, the 1964 Lancers were twice victorious by the same 27-14 score over the Clover Park Warriors. The Lancers won the non-league season opener for both teams, 27-14. That was played Saturday, Sept. 12, 196. The next game between the two teams, this time a Puget Sound League (PSL) contest, was Friday, Oct 23, 1964.

During the season’s seventh game, Lakes beat Franklin Pierce, 7-6, on Thompson Field when the teams were respectively ranked #3 and #4 in the state.

When the 1964 PSL season ended, the Lancers were the league’s only undefeated team with an 8-0-1 win-loss-tie record. It was the tie, a 0-0 game at Puyallup on a muddy field, which was the crux. Played Oct. 9, 1964, Puyallup’s quarterback gained 17 years on a run in the game’s final play. Statistics showed Puyallup gained 12 more yards in the game than Lakes.

Rick said, “As I remember, the argument after the game was about teams on the field not really supposed to know the stats during the game in order to avoid the ‘yardage’ issue. But the game was in Puyallup and the press box was on their side of the field. So we all wondered why the Puyallup QB, Jerry Henderson, (who ended up being a fraternity brother at WSU) ran a QB sweep on the last play of the game to gain 17 yards and out gain Lakes in total yardage by 12 yards. Why didn’t (Puyallup) try to score on the last play and try to win? A tough memory to say the least.”

League officials picked Puyallup as the PSL Southern Division representative to play PSL Northern Division rep Kent-Meridian (KM)  in the league’s championship game. Reason? The reason being those 12 yards and despite the fact Puyallup had lost a non-league game to K-M.

Gerry and Rick, proudly wearing his Lakes High letter jacket, attended the Puyallup vs. K-M championship game played Friday, Nov. 20, 1964, at a neutral site, Highline High’s Memorial Stadium in Des Moines, Wash. Puyallup won, 21-6.

“I remember it like it was yesterday,” said Rick. “We were disappointed to say the least. In our minds, we shared the Puget Sound League championship.”

  

Rich Goldberg, sports editor Clover Leaves, Clover Park High School’s student newspaper, agreed with the Austins. In a newspaper issue after the Lakes-Puyallup tie game, in Goldberg’s “sports shorts” column, he wrote that the PSL rule selecting the team in the tie game which gains more yardage was not good. “With a rule like this, teams in the future could play important games with the idea of picking up more yardage instead of points. Game scores may end up being measured in footage instead of tallies. In the end, a flip of the coin would seem better than the present rule. A playoff seems best of all.”

Story by Tim Marsh, Lakes High School Class of 1966. Updated Dec. 27, 2022.

 Top photo: On the evening of Oct. 23, 1964, after defeating Clover Park on Clover Park’s Thompson Field, Marion Oppelt, Lakewood Kiwanis Club president, presented the Kiwanis Club trophy to Coach Gerry Austin and his Lancer football team. The trophy was presented to the team winning the annual Lakes vs. Clover Park league varsity football game. Clover Park varsity beat Lakes varsity, 32-7, to win the trophy in its initial existence. That game was Friday, Nov. 1, 1963, on Clover Park’s Thompson Field. Lakes Legend 1965 yearbook photo.