Sender
Dwight M Stark
Posted On
2009-05-18
Year
1963
Memoir
I was in Chatsworth's first graduating class, summer '64. We were in the 11th grade when the school was first opened. I lived in Canoga Park, but Chatsworth was closer so I had to transfer.
Most of us lived in new track houses. Our fathers were WWII vets and bought those houses with V.A. loans: no money down and 4% intrest. And most of those dads worked in the aerospace industry. The moms were housewives. The long defunct Rocketdyne plant would test a rocket engine every weekday afternoon, and the whole Valley would hear its roar.
I remember how we, Chatsworth's first students, got to vote on the school colors and what we would call ourselves, the Chatsworth Chancellors. My art teacher, a sweet man named Mr. Aaron, designed Chatsworth's logo, that little fellow whose name I've forgotten (editor's note, Charlie), and arranged for some outfit in England to design our coat of arms.
There was a famous married couple called Roy Rogers and Dale Evans who sang and acted in Western films and who were popular with kids. They had a ranch in Chatsworth and their daughter was in our first graduating class. One day it was announced that Roy and Dale were coming to entertain our class on the lawn. I thought I was too old and sophisticated by then to appreciate them. Well, they charmed me out of my sox.