***Memory Lane***
Write a memory about Birmingham High School, an experience you had during your high school days, embarrassing moment(s),etc...........submit to : bogokbe@yahoo.com....It will then be posted here.
Well now, since I started this exercise in recall, it seems only proper that I attempt to start it out. On Feb.7th, 2000, I got an email from Linda (Glossenger), and she says; "You may not remember me, but I think you were in music appreciation class. After class, several protective young men would walk me to the next class. Were you one of them"?  Linda, not only do I remember you....I remember  the daily event like yesterday ; the end-of-class bell ringing, running my fingers thru my already receding hair line, checking to make sure my "ducktail"  was in place; looking down at my "wannabe" biceps, at the same time making sure the rolls in my white tee shirt sleeves will satisfy the eyes of  peers; perhaps most importantly checking for the thinest "tuck rolls" ever produced on a pair of Levi's; and lastly, before I face potential intruders, I walk out of that music appreciation classroom supported by white socks and "Keds".  Do I remember?....I think I remember. Actually, I'm sure I remember. Better yet, I'm positive I remember. Yes, that was me Linda (gulp,gulp!). Aaaah and you Linda; dressed in that "poodle skirt", cashmire sweater, bobby socks, and  those "penny loafer" shoes. How could I have not risen to the occasion. To win your heart and have you remember to this day my hero bravado, you have added five years to my life !
Ya know, on second thought, I'm not really sure that was me ! But I'll take it........thanks Linda.
eastwood'57
Memories from Vic Chaney'58-
(1) My best buddy Al Rawitch and I waited weeks and weeks to get our Birmingham Letterman sweaters. When we finally went to pick them up we discovered the sweater company had knitted them so that they hung down to our ankles. This was the way the kids in the inner-city wore them. So we had to wait weeks and weeks more until they were back to "Valley" length.  I still have mine, and it's in great shape and miraculously still fits!
(2.) I remember when the Letterman Club put on a cowboy sketch at a theme dance and just about everyone in the skit was suppose to get shot and fall in a number of dramatic positions. I decided to do a flip over the railing that led from the stage to the floor of the auditorium. After several rehearsals, the show went on and right on cue I was shot and did a fabulously elaborate somersault over the rail----and landed right on my head to a thunderous applause which I failed to hear because I was semi-conscious.
(3.) I remember exploding off  my mark in a relay leg and whipping around the first curve well ahead of the other runners and thinking what a hero I was going to be that day, then discovering that the baton was gone. I had knocked it out of my hand when my arm came down and my knee shot it away like a rocket. And I distinctly remember the look on the faces in the crowd when they saw me running in the opposite direction to retrieve the baton.
(4.)Then there was the day a bunch of guys threw a rather scrawny kid out of the boys locker room naked into a girls volleyball game. As an afterthought, somebody threw a towel out after him, and the kid did the funniest thing I ever saw-----he draped the towel over his head and face and walked leisurely back into the locker room.
(5.)And then there was the talent show where Nancy Becker and Pat Dooley sang "Hard Hearted Hannah"  sensuously in a terrific duet that I remember fondly to this day.

Memories from Ron Suttora'57-
Many, many memories. I remember in the music class in the 200 hall when Bob Dillon held the screen open on the window and I through in a pack of firecrackers. Dillon also painted a chemical on the piano hammers inside the grand piano, and each time a key was hit there was a small explosion. I remember JuneEllens Donuts. The back gate we used to climb over at lunch time. Meeting Bob Dillon in the hall and having a smoke in the restroom. Hitting the white covering on the pipes in the hallways, just to watch the white powder. I remember my yellow 50 Ford I bought from Chuck Noft, and my red 50 Oldsmobile on the San Fernando drag strip.
Memories from Kathy (Barrett) Dane'58-
I had three wonderful and very life-changing years at Birmingham High School from 9/55 through 6/58, coming in as a rather poor student, and leaving with honors, due to the fine teachers, wonderful and inspiring friends  (who were great examples of excellence and hard work), and a meaningful encounter with God through the Youuth For Christ Club that started during my 10th grade. Kenny Zimmerman got me to join the club, plus was my main dance partner at our many dances that year. I learned a lot singing at the school dances  and working with the skillful, if not always appropriate, Steve Geller. I have a fond memory of watching Lynn McCracken in the play "The Man Who Came To Dinner",  and always looked forward to when I could be in the senior musical review [except they stopped it my senior year -- maybe they knew something :-)]. I grew up loving baseball (my dad was with the Boston Braves when I was in 3rd and 4th grades),  but it was at Birmingham that I learned to love and understand FOOTBALL, thanks to our wonderful team (I especially remember Frank Muscarella), even though we didn't win a lot. It seems that our scores against Van Nuys HS my three years at BHS were 45-0, 40-7, and my senior year 14-7,  with us always on the losing end. I read with joy that we beat  them the next year, I believe, and some years later actually played in the city championship game! I am still an intense football fan & owe that to Birmingham. Thanks for letting me walk down memory lane, and I look forward to reading many other memories. Come on Braves, tell us your memories. God bless you all, Kathy Dane       Revelation 3:20
Fellow Braves
My first memory of Birmingham was the very first day the school was opened in the spring of 1953. I was attending Van Nuys Junior High. Those of us who lived in the Birmingham district were put onto busses one afternoon at Van Nuys JH and were taken to Birmingham and introduced to our new school. I was in the A7. The remaining five plus years hold too many fond memories to list, but here are a few. Mr. Levelles's science class where everyone could get an "A" if they did their homework and did well on the Friday test. Mr. Levelle also sold cars part time for my father who owned "Hudson Van Nuys". It was confusing for me. At school he was Mr. Levelle , at the shop he was Morgan. His name was Morgan Porter Levelle. I drove a '53 Hudson Hornet to school.  Dick Raczuk had a Model "A" . The Tisherman Brothers had a nice Cadillac Convertible.  I'm still a "car nut". I remember the day some of the football team players picked up the front of Mr. Pearson's Volkswagen and set it over the utility pole which was along the front edge of the teacher's parking area.  I remember selling things to get what we needed for the school. We sold donuts, candy and cookies to get paint to paint Birmingham, to get swimming pool motors anf filters which had been removed when Fort McArthur was built in Long Beach, and to bring the Gym up to standard with a new roof and floor so that we could use it. I remember trying to learn to diagram sentences from Mr.  Berkowitz (never could get that well). I remeber Gary Tarr doing flip flops across the front lawn at lunch time. Then there was the infamous Adelphians' senior ditch day at Santa Monica Beach. Very long line at the attendance office the next morning. Those of us who went lost our sports team privilages and our Candlelight Supper. Weren't many at THAT meal. We had very good teachers who taught us well. I certainly remember the football games, track and cross country meets, assemblies , dances, all of the activities that made us rich by our participation. Birmingham was unique. We were all lucky to have been there during that time. Very lucky. I had a great time while getting a good education. I don't know about you, but I would do it all again, in a heartbeat, including that senior ditch day. Regards, Jim Foster, Adelphians S'58 
I remember lunches in the courtyard area outside the cafeteria. Each group had THEIR table and you didn't just sit anywhere. One of the big memories for me was those 20 cent grilled cheese sandwiches; I must have ate a ton of them.  Jack McElroy'58
Updated on: March 22, 2014
Submitted by: Ev Lipson

Let's reminisce a while....And go back........
Before the Internet or the Mac,
Before semi automatics and crack,
Before chronic and indo,
Before SEGA or Super Nintendo.
Way back..............

I'm talkin' bout hide and go seek at dusk.
Sittin' on the porch,
Hot bread and butter.
The ice cream man,
Eatin' a 'super dooper' sandwich',
Red light, Green light.
Chocolate milk,
Lunch tickets,
Penny candy in a brown paper bag.
Hopscotch, butterscotch, doubledutch.
Jacks, kickball,  dodgeball, y'all!
Mother May I?
Hula Hoops and Sunflower Seeds,
Jolly Ranchers, blowpops, Mary Janes,
Grape and Watermelon Now-Laters (what about "Alexander the Grape," Lemonheads")
Running through the sprinkler (I can't get wet! All right, well don't get my hair....)
The smell of the sun and lickin' salty lips.......
Wait........
Watchin' Saturday morning cartoons,
Fat Albert, Road Runner, He-Man, The Three Stooges, and Bugs,
Catchin' lightening bugs in a jar,
Playin' sling shot.
When around the corner seemed far away,
And going downtown seemed like going somewhere.
Bedtime,
Climbing trees,
A million mosquito bites and sticky fingers,
Cops and Robbers,
Cowboys and Indians,
Sittin on the curb,
Jumpin' down the steps,
Jumpin' on the bed.
Pillow fights
Being tickled to death
Runnin till you were out of  breath
Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt
Being tired from playin'......Remember that?
I ain't finished just yet....
Crowding around in a circle around the 'after school fight', then running when the teacher came.
Eating Kool-aid powder with sugar
Didn't that feel good....just to go back and say, Yeah, I remember that!
Remember when....
When there were two types of sneakers for girls and boys (Keds & PF Flyers),
and the only time you wore them at school, was for "gym."
When it took five minutes for the TV to warm up.
When nearly everyone's mom was at home when the kids got there.
When nobody owned a purebred dog.
When a quarter was a decent allowance, and another quarter a huge bonus.
When you'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny.
When girls neither dated nor kissed until late high school, if then.
When your mom wore nylons that came in two pieces.
When all your male teachers wore neckties and female teachers had their hair done, everday.
When you got your windshield cleaned, oil checked, and gas pumped, without asking, for free, every time.  And, you didn't pay for air. And, you got trading stamps to boot!
When laundry detergent had free glasses, dishes or towels hidden inside the box.
When any parent could discipline any kid, or feed him or use him to carry groceries, and nobody, not even the kid, thought a thing of it.
When it was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real resturant with your parents.
When they threatened to keep kids back a grade if they failed....and did!
When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited a misbehaving student at home.
Basically, we were in fear for our lives but it wasn't because of drive-by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc.  Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat!