I recently attended the 50th high school class reunion for Santa Monica High School. I would like to share some of my fond memories from the past.
At the reunion, I was reunited with two longtime Malibu friends, Lin Franklin and Don Donaldson. Lin lived at Escondido Beach in the 1940s and 1950s . Don lived in Point Dume during the same era. I lived in Paradise Cove with my father, Bill Swanson, and sister, Margie Swanson. My father was the original developer of Paradise Cove and pier. Being a typical 13-year-old in the summer, I would watch the beach daily, for boys. Don, Lin and the Rindge boys would gather at The Cove to swim, hunt grunion and build beach fires. Often, we would raid the watermelon patch up Ramirez Canyon.
During the school year, the bus would pick up Don and his brother from one of the few houses on Point Dume. I remember Don bounding out of the garage where he lived to the bus each morning while his parents were building the family home nearby. I shared a 35-foot mobile home (trailer) with my sister. Power outages were frequent. We shared common phone lines and also drove to Santa Monica for groceries.
We shared many memories at the reunion. Somehow, things don’t change much. We had a very special life in Malibu, free from politics, traffic and pollution. We were so lucky! My 50 years in Malibu will always be remembered.
Gloria Swanson Hayes