About The 2006 Margaret Thompson Historical Essay Contest

The 2006 Margaret Thompson Historical Essay Contest, sponsored by the Los Altos Historical Commission and the Los Altos History Museum, challenged students with the theme: “Recreation Remembered: Toys, Books and Games from the past.” Essayists had to interview an older person about what his or her favorite toy, book or game was and why it was important.The contest was open to Los Altos children in grades 3-6. The top three entries from each grade were honored at an ice cream social May 9. Julan Prasad (Springer), Anna Wong (Santa Rita) and Farzan Fallah (Covington) were the third-grade contest winners. Caitlin Crosby (St. Simon), Christopher Lanman (Santa Rita) and Michelle Albright (Santa Rita) were the fourth-grade winners. Kathryn Johnson (Loyola), Saloni Kaikat (Pinewood) and Diana Gong (Oak) were the fifth-grade winners. Jared Vallner (Loyola), Jasmine Xu (Santa Rita) and Andrew Eggers (Covington) were the sixth-grade winners.The following are the essays from the first-prize winners in each grade.

Julan V. Prasad, Third Grade, Springer Elementary

“What ever happened to those metal roller skates?” asked Roy Crenshaw, a native from the Bay Area. I chose Roy Crenshaw to interview because he is an older man that lived in California his whole life. He told me his favorite toy was the iron wheeled roller skates. “These roller skates were different then the ones today because you used your own shoe and clamped it down in the roller skate,” described Roy. The wheels would wear out every 3 weeks and you would have to buy new ones. The only way you could get your shoe out of the clamp was by a key. If you lost your key you could not unlock the clamp! Roy thought that these roller skates were fun because he raced his brother down the street and skidded around the corners of his neighborhood in North Sacramento. Every once in awhile he would fall and hit his head against the ground. After he got up he would go crying to his mother. Even though he got hurt, there was no stopping him. Roy would definitely go skating the next day! Roy rode these roller skates in 1944, at the age of 7, when would War II was happening. He was scared that his dad would get picked for the draft and get killed in the war. Luckily, it happened that his dad was too old to fight. When Roy was rollerskating, he forgot about all the bad things that were happening in the war. I enjoyed interviewing Roy Crenshaw because I learned about how toys from the past are different from toys in the present. It is amazing that a simple toy like metal roller skates could provide Roy with so many happy memories!

Caitlin Crosby, Fourth Grade, St Simon

He was riding his bike down the paved road. He could see brown and green mountains before him; but around him it was like a desert. Jackrabbits scampered in front of him. In the distant hills, he saw majestic oak and walnut trees.1 He breathed in deeply. He was free. Then he heard a distant voice calling: “John-ny!” the feeling of freedom ended. This young boy riding his bike was my grandfather: John Cornelius O’Keefe. He rode through the temperate desert of Nogales, Arizona on his favorite toy: a shiny, all-aluminum Silver King Bicycle. He did not have many toys, but of the few he had, this was his favorite because it gave him, “an outlet, a feeling of freedom, a chance to get away from boredom” the way cowboys feel.”2 Also, the bike gave him another treasure ‘Äì a paper route. He received this toy during the Great Depression. This bike was given to him after being good all year. His father purchased this bike at the Western Auto parts Store. His “Grandma O’Keefe” and father couldn’t spend much money for him, but now that he had a bicycle for a paper route, he could spend the money he earned for almost anything he wanted. The Monark Silver King Bicycle was a shiny, all-aluminum bicycle with fat balloon tires. It was on this bike that John rode five miles to the Santa Cruz River, which supplied the border town of Nogales with water. My grandfather has always been special to me. When my mom and I visit, I can usually find him in the den reading. I snuggle down next to him and we discuss what we’re reading. He’s always been close to me, so I decided to interview him.

Kathryn Johnson, Fifth Grade, Loyola

My Uncle Mannie Garmy was born in Jerusalem, Israel in June 1959. Mannie lived in an old part of Jerusalem. Israel was a young country and at war. There were bombings, explosions and shootings right near where Mannie lived. Even though there were shootings every day the kids didn’t think about it since it was normal and grew up with it. In his house he lived with his whole extended family, about 20 people all together. Since the house was crowded Mannie and all the other kids had to get up early to get dressed, grab a sandwich and go outside to play. The neighborhood had no toys except a rusty bike that the kids would ride it. All the kids in the neighborhood were good friends except when they were deciding who was goingto ride the bike. The bike had no brakes and the tires had no rubber. In fact the only way to ride the bike was to take it up the hill and coast down. The bike was a fun way for kids to stay in the neighborhood and keep out of trouble. Looking back, Mannie remembers riding the bike the most when he was five years old. He was too short to get on the bike himself, so Ilan, his best friend and his favorite cousin, would help him get on the bike. He would also help Mannie get a turn on the bike either by giving Mannie his turn or fighting for it. If Ilan wasn’t there Mannie would just stand and cry until someone gave him the bike. Mannie would wheel the bike up the hill, have someone help him on it and then fly down the hill feeling the wind in his face. The bike wasn’t stable and fell over many times. Mannie still to this day has scars from riding that bike. Using the bike wasn’t a problem until 2:00-4:00, nap time for the adults. The loud ruckus of the bike woke the adults up causing them to shout at the kids to be quiet. Even though Mannie’s fortunes have changed and he has moved to another country, these memories of the bike still bring back joy because he remembers the love, attention and support that his family and friends showed him.

Jared Vallner Sixth Grade, Loyola

When my mother was a little girl, her favorite toy was her rocking horse. Her family raised horses on their farm and her rocking horse was the closest thing to a real horse that she could have as a little girl. As she rocked on her rocking horse, she could imagine that she was in a race, galloping very fast. On other days, instead of rocking she would bounce up and down like she was jumping over fences in a field. On those days she was pretending to be in the Olympics. Every day my mom rode her rocking horse until she went to school. She turned six when she was in kindergarten. For her birthday, her parents finally got her a real pony named Smokey. Even though she got a real pony she still loved her rocking horse and kept it in her room to play with at night. She brought Smokey’s halters and blankets from the barn to put on her rocking horse. She was so proud of her little rocking horse when she dressed him up in “real pony” clothes and leather. When she was in third grade she finally gave her rocking horse to her little brother to play with so it would still be part of their family. He loved it, although not as much as Mom, until he was in first grade when he retired it to the family attic. My mother’s rocking horse remained at her parent’s farm until she started college. It was given by my Mom to another little girl who would dream one day of running in races and jumping over fences.1 Nogales means “Walnut Trees”2 Quote from John C. O’Keefe