Dobson High School: Class of ‘85

 

Kenneth in the (602)

As the 40th anniversary of my graduation from Dobson High School approaches, it seems fitting that I would wake up to this yearbook inscription I wrote four decades ago to a girl I tutored. (A big thank-you to Michelle for thinking of me and sending. I stand by my advice to "stay away from fractions and stoners" -- and bonus points if you can identity the song lyrics I quoted ... because I was 17!)

If there's a 40-year reunion in the works, I'm not aware of it. (In the top post on the Class of '85-specific Facebook group, someone named Rachel Davis writes: "DHS 85 Alum....just sent out the official Evite for 30th reunion. If you didn't get it, please message me your most current email address. Thanks!") As a Catholic-born closeted-gay agnostic at a massive school of Mormons, I was always more ripe for a fish-out-of-water afterschool special than becoming a reunion organizer. So it wouldn’t really surprise me if I somehow missed the boat. 

At 17: Going up?

But I did recently find these photos on the school's Facebook alumni page, which believe it or not are now the only pictures I have from my commencement ceremony. 

(Disturbingly, I found the images directly below the news that current Dobson football coach Richard Godsil had been arrested for sexual exploitation of a minor.)

It's never the coach you want it to be

It's no secret that Molly and Gary took laissez-faire parenting to the max. As such, no photos were taken that day -- not even of me in my gray honors cap and gown (as opposed to standard-issue blue ones). Four years later my parents knowingly skipped my college graduation ("there'll be so many people there you won't even know the difference," my mom said when I protested their conflicting travel plans), and I have no recollection of their being at my high-school ceremony. Perhaps my memory is wrong about this -- I do remember our going to Swensen's for ice cream with my grade-younger friend Kristen at some point to mark the occasion -- but suffice to say graduation day wasn't the big milestone occasion it was for so many others. 

P.S. My tutee-cum-gal pal also shared this, which may be of interest to fans of the Sonic Thrills, who narrowly missed the notable alumni section on our school's Wikipedia entry:

Michelle writes: 

Remember the band I hung out with in school and they came over to Suzanne's apt. And she screwed my crush, Tony? I found Jim Monarch, the lead singer. They sung at the Mason Jar. He was lead vocals for New Born South, The Voice and Sonic Thrills. I found my yearbook this morning.😁🤗memories!!! 

Another song. Jim's the vocals.❤👍i used to be semi cool for about 2 years.😂

Read HERE.

Jim Monarch weighed in on Mesa's own Hollywood Alley, aka "Arizona's Only Ultra-Chic Pissant Hip Dive Bar," HERE.

P.P.S. 

Just stumbled upon this 2022 film that is apparently so low budget they couldn't afford an apostrophe. Has anyone watched it? 

Writer/director Kyle Misak's movie is set in Southwest Michigan and tells the story of "an unorthodox high-school teacher with an outlandish persona [who] helps his small class of nine students get a better understanding of life."

Related: "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"

UPDATE:

A friend saw my post and then noticed this on FB, which prompted this exchange!

Old Times at Fiesta Mall

 

Was fun to be a part of this Fiesta Mall retrospective in my beloved Phoenix New Times, even if it’s a bit littered (like a food court) with errors! (I never worked at the mall; I bought the first Cyndi and Madonna LPs there, not the first Blondie album; and a since-fixed caption transposed me and my friend Greg. Also, it was open for 39 years, not 29.) Read HERE.

Read my memorial HERE.

A New Wave Xmas

 

Hope you're all having a Merry Christmas! I'm actually working today -- the news never stops -- but I had a wonderful time with my in-laws last night celebrating the birth of Christ. (That's what this is about, right?) While I was in Arizona for Thanksgiving I came across a bunch of old photos I didn't even know existed, mostly from the early '80s when I segued from Oliva Newton-John into my Debbie Harry phase (I'm holding the Blondie singer's official 1983 calendar, above) which continues to this day! More BELOW.

My mom really went cuckoo that year, shopping at the "punk" store called Roads to Moscow in Old Town Tempe!

The Fiesta's Over

Me with my friend Greg outside our second home (1986)

These photos (below) were posted by an alumnus of my high school in Mesa, Ariz. The Fiesta District was once one of the hottest shopping areas in the country and the site of my first job -- as an usher and concessionaire at the Fiesta Village movie theater, where "Sixteen Candles," "After Hours," "Desperately Seeking Susan" and "Just One of the Guys" once played. And it's where I bought my first Blondie, Pretenders and Go-Go's albums. 

Hard to believe how different childhood is for today's youth, many of whom appear to live their entire lives online. (I ditched school and walked to Wherehouse Records the day Blondie's "Island of Lost Souls" came out!) 

Jason Layne writes:

 Well, there goes the last part of many of our childhoods 😡🙄😒

The entire area is now gone 😥 The nickel arcade, both movie theaters, Tower Records, Rockaway Records, the Warehouse, Fiesta Mall, Toys R US, Lionel Playworld, Circuit City, used to be the best hangout area in all the East Valley ...

I also spent countless hours at nearby Hollywood Records, across the street from Mesa Community College, which always had the best 12-inch single imports in town. 

This demolition was a long time coming -- the mall was pronounced dead in 2018 -- but it still makes my Gen X stomach turn, which other readers of Jason's post agree with: 

"This hurts my heart. I grew up around this mall." 

"I worked in Juniors at Broadway Southwest! And my friend Skinny Bill worked at the record store inside the mall. Was it Bill's Record & Tapes? << tapes! 🙂 We were all new waver/punkers. I took acid one day with my dorm roommate after finals and remembered, "I have to work at 3!" so I DROVE to Fiesta Mall from ASU and told one of my co-workers that I was tripping. "I'll just go over here and sort out those two big clearance racks. Keep customers away from me, OK?"

"A sad day for anybody that grew up in that era. The younger generation is never gonna know the feeling and excitement of  going to a mall to actually hang out and interact with people. RIP Fiesta Mall."

"The other malls still left don't hit the same as Fiesta did, either."

"Don't forget Montgomery Wards and Service Merchandise."

"Waiting in line for concert tickets at Dillard's ..."

"Will be so strange to drive by when I come back to visit."

"I learned to drive around that mall's circuit road and parking lots." 

Rich Kochanski shared this interior photo, writing: The fire department was given permission to train inside for about a month before the demolition. These are from about a week before they started bringing it down.

1985 and 2023: Hello and goodbye

"We spent so much time there instead of class."

Having a camera, much less one with film, wasn't common back then. But here are a few Fiesta Mall memories I do have: 

Judy's turn to buy

My friend Yuki on the elevator at Fiesta Mall, in its earth-tones heyday! 

The Wild life

Krush grooved: Breakin' in '85

Mall of confusion

Fiesta Village marquee (1982)

The ticket window at AMC Fiesta Village. My first day on the job, this brash Italian girl from New Jersey walked right up to me and asked me if I'd had my nose broken. At the time I didn't even realize I have an off-center nose -- like my father and brother Bill -- so sheepishly said no. "Oh, I was just wondering cuz you look just like all my uncles back home." (Charmed, I'm sure.) 

1983 fare

Village life

My place of employment in 1984

The Musicland (near the Sears anchor) where I bought Cyndi Lauper's "She's So Unusual" on the same day my friend Greg bought "Madonna" by Madonna so we could hear them both!

Aladdin's Castle, where I'm proud to say I never spent a penny! 

Looks like some other Dobson High alums are taking it to the streets ... or at least the parking lot!

Senior (High) Living

This meme made me smile -- sign me up -- leading me to a search of the haunt where my "Fast Times at Dobson High" played out: Fiesta Mall (RIP). 

Was tickled to discover this photo of the Musicland where my friend Greg purchased "Madonna" she same day I bought “She's So Unusual" at the height of the great Madonna vs. Cyndi Lauper War! Also seen is the Sears -- the mall's first anchor store -- where my classmate Donna Sullivan worked, decked out in the coolest mod fashions and smoking cloves on her 15-minute breaks. Below: Fiesta Malls three other early anchors -- The Broadway, Goldwaters and Diamonds, which was the fourth anchor in the mall's before being replaced by Dillard's! 

The rise and fall of Fiesta Mall

Greens 'n 'wiches in the food court

P.S. And look what's in the news today!

Developer files initial plans to redevelop shuttered Fiesta Mall in Mesa