I remember EXACTLY where I was when the big one hit. I was in my seventh grade class at Harvest Park Middle School in Pleasanton, and I remember a couple of things from that moment. The first is that it was a rolling quake, which rolled our wheelchair bound classmate from the back, to the front of the room, and right up against the blackboard. The second, which makes me still smile, is that the "tough" kid in the class ran screaming like a baby out of the room, into the yard. I also remember that the aftershock was more of a jolt, which I found more frightening than the original.
I really look forward to your columns, and almost wrote in about the Sunol Water Temple. My father took us there when we were small, and told us the history. I remember how wonderfully mysterious it all seemed then.

I have found as I've grown older, that there are fewer people who grew up, and still reside in the area. I love giving tours to people who have been in the valley for a number of years to show them all of the hidden treasures. Places like the drive-through dairy, and when I was able to work a deal with the owner to use over 1,000 of the glass milk bottles for a set decoration during a play in college. The history of the tunnels in Pleasanton (I was a bartender at Hacienda Del Sol and got to see that entrance, which may or may not still be in the wine cellar of Blue Agave). Of course there's the history of the angel sculpture overlooking 580, and how it always makes me feel like I'm on my way home. I really love the one about the year the Good Times Parade Grand Marshall was Carol Doda, who Carol Doda was/is, and the fact that my neighbor was one of the doctors who did her work. That there used to be a movie theater, and a Hick'ry Pit where the Safeway complex now stands at Santa Rita and Valley.

Thank you for bringing back some fond memories, and for ensuring that our local history lives on.
Jeannine Happ