James Laird - "Settling in at Lark Ellen Home for Boys" - Page 3

Another was a student teacher at Emerson Jr. High school and he had us doing exercises on the concrete patio in the mornings. He also gave me and another kid basic electrical principles class in the library at night. I was involved with that the rest of my working life. He later taught metal and machine shop at Bell High School. I took his class as a senior that led to a job at a machine shop that summer before entering the Navy in WWll.

Besides the musical get togethers in the big living room, mostly singing World War I songs. People in the entertainment industry came and gave lesson in the violin, harmonic and piano. A dance studio in Westwood gave us dance lessons. They brought the girls from their studio; some were in my class at Emerson. We also had pro baseball players from the Los Angles come and teach us how to play baseball besides getting to see free games. When one knocked a home run we got a case of Wheaties, "The breakfast food of champions."

We got free passes to foot ball games in the coliseum when USC or UCLA played. On the fourth of July sheriff Bascules' sponsored a rodeo in the coliseum with a big fireworks show after. We were very lucky kids.