PHOTO: HERB SCARONI
IVANO SAYS: GINO CAMPIONI SENDS US A STORY ABOUT HERB SCARONI (NOT RELATED TO THE SCARONI'S IN THE PHOTO (BELOW)
It was the cold war era at a time when all transmitting devices were to be silenced in case of emergency. All radio stations, including amateur radio were mandated to have some sort of device which would alert of required shut-downs. Someone placed a plan and schematic diagram in a Ham radio magazine, showing how a simple tube type radio could be modified so that it could be used normally in the listening mode, or with the switch set to the alarm mode,the radio would be silent until the local standard broadcast station went off the air. When the broadcasting stopped, the radio would give a loud squawk! Amateurs were then to keep radio
silence until the broadcasting resumed and the alarm device went silent again.
In the Santa Cruz Radio Club we had many members, and on most evenings there would be a gathering of any number between two and thirty friends, each taking a turn at talking for a few minutes.(round table contacts) Herb was one of the most talkative, and frequently took a bit more time than the rest of the group.
Someone decided to play a trick on good ol’ Herb, and by talking over the top of him while he was transmitting, told the rest of us to keep silence after he relinquished the frequency. (it may have been me, but I don’t remember for sure.)
Herb called others of the group with no response. Finally, after about 15 minutes, someone came on with, “Herb, didn’t you hear the signal to stop transmitting? Boy, you will be in big trouble now!”
Most of the members in the group continued in that line of harassment, until we got tired of it, and told Herb it was just a joke. He took it very nicely, as I remember, but it actually had him worried.
So there is my ineptly written report. There is a home address for Herb on QRZ.com and it can be found using his current radio call-sign of AI6D.
Saluti e sempre avanti. Gino
Ivano:
Sending you a foto that was given to me by Sue Girard (she found you on the Facebook).
She attended the reunion and came all the way by herself from Nipomo ( San Luis Obispo area).
I took the foto of all her family with Scaroni’s and Al made it into just the Scaronis. He did a great job. Most people will just know the Scaronis and not Sue’s family but in our archives it will be nice to have her family as well. She thinks this was taken in late 1920’s (way before her time!).
If you post this, it will be interesting to see how many people remember this great family. They were certainly very unique and I, for one, sure do miss them! You might post both fotos – one with Sue’s Family intact. Anyway let me know what you think – I know you have good memories of these people.
The summary is very brief – so much more can be said. I know that Ted Templeton (of Harpers Bizarre singing group spent all his summers at the Dairy), etc. etc.
Sempre Avanti. LaNorma
IVANO SAYS: Thanks LaNorma and Al. I also posted the one photo with Al's brief explanation on the Davenport North Coast Facebook Page. I think I met Sue briefly at the Reunion. She came up to me and showed me copies of the above photo(s). We but them with our Historical Photos display. Thank you, Sue. I wish I would have more time to spend with you. Thank you for coming all that and attending our Reunion.
FOR A RELATED SCARONI FAMILY ARTICLE ON THIS BLOG, 'CLICCA': http://nostra-costa.blogspot.com/2007/06/lanorma-remembers-scaronis.html
7 comments:
Ciao Ivano,
Thanks for the photos of the reunion and the other people.
Did you know Herb Scaroni who lives on Meder St. off Bay St. in the Westlake area
of Santa Cruz? He was a typical farmer type, rugged but kind. He once took me for
a ride in his pickup through some of his property, and when a cow blocked the path,
he gently bumped it out of the way with the truck.
He qualified for his amateur radio license before I did. We had lots of contacts with
people around the world. His location was better than mine, due to his higher
terrain.
Somewhere in my collection there is a color photo of Herb, (at that time WA6FFV) and
if it would be of interest to you, I can scan it and send it, along with a humorous story
of an event on radio.
Trusting that you and yours are all well and happy.
Gino: Thanks for your comments re: Herb Scaroni. No I did not know Herb, however, at the Reunion I met a Scaroni who was not related to the Scaroni's in the photo. He said that he own property near the Scaroni Dairy. Unknown if it was Herb since I didn't catch his first name. By all means send photo and I will add on to the article. SA ivno
Gino:
Yes – at the DDCRR Renuion that was Herb Scaroni (who Ivano spoke with) and he stills lives on Medar St. He lived at the Pio Scaroni dairy just before DalPorto’s
Ranch (and next was the other Scaronis – Eagle Glen Dairy).
He is a wealth of information and talked to me for awhile but it was rather hectic with so many people
Coming up and unintentionally interrupting. He is very nice and we should do an interview with him as He is getting on in age (as we all are!!) but he is so full of info. His family’s property has the beautiful old Barn that has now completely collapsed – what a shame that we have not preserved these precious old Barns and buildings. (Laguna Inn being one of them.
Gino – I don’t know how to get a hold of him – don’t know if he does e-mail, etc. but he is still at Medar St .
And so pleasant and informative.
Ciao per ora - LaNorma
Signora Norma,
Herb Scaroni's address is shown on QRZ.COM as 225 Meder St. but no
E-mail information is listed there for him.
Yes, Herb is a pleasant and very talkative fellow. If you make contact with him, give him my regards. He should remember me as
"Bob", radio WA6LCK.
Distinti saluti. Gino
those pictures of the Scaronis are priceless. I knew thme when I was a kid through late 50's to 60's . Does anyone have more ? thank you so much , you don't know how much those people meant to me .
God Bless
I know that's Katie ; she was the hardest person to get a picture of. could never get her to pose for the camera .
Thanks Jim for your comments. Yes indeed the Scaronis were great people. Because of the articles LaNorma has written on this blog,and the remembrance of people such as yourself, they will live on in our memories. Those 'Ghosts of the Coast' will not let us forget.
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