by Tom Morrow

BACK WHEN — Some time ago, Oceanside’s Kristi Hawthorne of the Historical Society had heard the rumors about a famous movie star who once was a contestant at a beauty pageant here in Oside. Today we know that beauty as Raquel Welch, but in July 1956, when she entered Oside’s annual Miss Southern California beauty pageant it was under her maiden name: Raquel Tejada, age 16, of La Jolla.
Surprisingly, Raquel won second place behind a 17-year-old blonde beauty from Glendale. The July 2, 1956, write-up in the Oside Blade-Tribune described the winner as a: “blue-eye blonde with a ‘perfect 36’ figure, sponsored by the Huntington Park Chamber of Commerce.
Raquel went on to win “Fairest of the Fair” at the Del Mar Fair later. Today, at age 74, Raquel is one of the most beautiful women in the world.
Sponsored by the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce, the beauty pageant described in the Blade-Tribune article was part of an annual six-day Beach & Community Fair, which ended with the Fourth of July.
TURN-ABOUTS —- A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin, 5, and Ryan, 3. The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson. “If Jesus were sitting here, He would say, ‘Let my brother have the first pancake. I can wait,'” she said. Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, “Ryan, you can be Jesus!”
AMERICANS ALL —- Only in America would we have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering.
THAT’S LIFE!
The hardest years in life are those between 10 and 70.” — the late Helen Hayes (at 73)

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