In the 1959 Mirada… we find that there was an Electronics Club during the 1958-1959 school year. The Electronics Club set up a school amateur radio station, K6KGD. They also set up a booth at the school carnival on the defiance of the law of gravity. They provided all the sound equipment of the carnival. […]
Oral History: Nick Trujillo — September, 2005
Summary: Nick Trujillo was interviewed by Julie Sullivan in December 2005. Nick was a barber in Lafayette for 58 years. He started in 1947 with a shop on Mt. Diablo Boulevard, and then moved to a location in the Plaza Shopping Center in 1963. In this interview he shares his memories of the many customers […]
Oral History: Angelo Rossi — July, 2005
Summary: The Rossi brothers, Frank, Serafine, and Angelo, grew up on their parents’ farm on Reliez Valley Road. Each of them developed skills for woodworking and furniture making in high school, and in 1949 they opened Rossi Brothers Furniture Shop on Mount Diablo Boulevard. Their shop was located next to a lumber yard that is […]
Oral History: Gary Bedsworth — October 22nd, 2021
Gary Bedsworth was interviewed by Andree Duggan on October 22, 2021. Gary’s father, Jay Bedsworth, operated the Tunnel Inn Restaurant and also performed professional-level magic tricks on its stage in the 1940’s and 1950’s. In one trick Gary’s mother would be raised four feet into the air, then made to disappear. Gary later worked alongside […]
Oral History: George Blodgett — October 2004
Summary: George Blodgett was twelve years old in 1946 when his father Kermit founded Blodgett’s Linoleum. His father also purchased land off Reliez Valley Road, then put in Vaughn Road, and developed homes for his family and others. Eleven years later George joined the business, expanding it to offer carpeting in addition to other floor […]
Oral History: Dave Cutter — December 2005
Summary: Dave Cutter was interviewed by Julie Sullivan in December, 2005. Dave grew up in Berkeley, then went to Stanford for both an undergraduate degree and MBA. He worked in the accounting field for a couple of years, then returned to Berkeley to work in the family business, Cutter Labs. He settled and raised a […]
WOW (Wonders of the World) Presentation – Mt. Diablo State Park Centennial
Rising almost 4,000 feet form the valleys of Contra Costa County, Mount Diablo is one of the most recognized geological features of the San Francisco Bay Area. This year, Mount Diablo State Park is celebrating 100 years since being established in 1921. They did a webinar on November 10th, 2021 that explored the human history […]
Oral History: Robert ‘Bob’ M. Fisher — June 28th, 2021
Summary: Bob Fisher was interviewed by Andree Duggan on May 28, 2021. He and his wife and children lived in Lafayette for 19 years, between 1966 when he became a professor of criminology at UC Berkeley and 1985, when they moved to New York for a new career opportunity. Not long afterward they returned to […]
Lafayette History Rabbit Holes – Acalanes Radio Station KCEQ: Miramonte 1957-1958 Electronics Club
In the 1958 Mirada… we find that there was an Electronics Club during the 1957-1958 school year. The Electronics Club played an important role in Miramonte activities this year. Their main goal was the achievement of a licensed radio station at the school. Among their other accomplishments for the year were aiding other students in […]
Oral History: Fran Schroder — November, 2004
Summary: Fran Stanley Schroder, the daughter of M.H. Stanley, was interviewed by Julie Sullivan in November 2004. Her father had been instrumental in developing Lafayette Schools for over 30 years while serving on the Lafayette School Board and the Acalanes High School District Board. Fran has fond memories of growing up in Lafayette in the […]
