Class of ’55 returns

From benign pranks to drag racing at what is now John Wayne Airport, the Newport Harbor High School graduating class of 1955 had no shortage of stories to share at its 50th reunion held over the weekend.

Classmates couldn’t recall an official class prank, but that didn’t mean there weren’t pranksters roaming the campus. Two often-repeated stories involved a student who wore his pants too low.

One afternoon, friends picked up a slender classmate and dropped his feet into the back pockets of the sagging-pants-wearing student, sending his trousers to the ground.

The same student was the victim of another incident where one leg of his loose pants were wrapped over a pole.

“We weren’t rough stuff, but we knew how to have some fun,” said Skip Freely, a Newport Beach resident and a class of 1955 graduate.

When this class of more than 200 students was in school, Dwight D. Eisenhower was in the Oval Office, big band music was all the rage and a number of students were bolting high school early to enlist in the military.

There were memorable times inside the classroom, but it was at local dining establishments where some of the top moments occurred.

Merle’s Diner at the corner of MacArthur Boulevard and East Coast Highway was one of the most popular after-school hangouts, remembered Diana Mann, a class of 1955 gradate.

“Everyone would pile into one car, drive up to the window and order,” said Mann, who married Darrell Mann, a former Harbor High teacher. “We never spent much money there.”

Malts and hamburgers at Jolly Roger on Balboa Island were another savory option. And it wasn’t painful to get there: Gas was about 20 cents a gallon, said classmate Dick Reddick.

Chevrolets and Fords were the hot wheels to have, classmates remembered. Students would parade their cars around school grounds and take dates out for a spin.

One time, Reddick said, two students swapped engines on a Saturday to see how their cars would run. Oftentimes the Saturday destination was a racing strip a few miles from the school.

Back then, the gadget of choice was a rake that lifted up one end of the car and lowered the other. Freely, owner of an MG TD Mark 2, said an affinity for cars brought some students together.

The school rallied around its athletes, particularly track star Tod White, who set a record in the mile run.

The football team wasn’t so hot, Reddick said. “We could be crunched too easily,” he said.

Dozens of alumni gathered on Friday evening to see the present-day Newport Harbor football team in action. Mann was the official welcomer.

“I’m trying to recognize everyone, but I hardly am able to do that,” she said.

And Mann said graduates who hadn’t been back to town in recent years would hardly recognize the area anymore. Turtles used to walk through the quad, Mann said. There was nothing of note between the school and 17th street, Freely remembered.

“This whole area -- it was in the sticks,” Freely said. “It was a great place to live. We all feel fortunate to have grown up here.”

* ELIA POWERS is the enterprise and general assignment reporter. He may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or by e-mail at [email protected].