Forty years ago, a horrible event shocked Foster City
Forty years ago, a teen tragedy shocked Foster City to its core. The April 1979 deaths of five girls who lived in that island community remain one of the worst (if not the worst) incidents in the town’s relatively short history.
All five perished in a horrendous auto accident off Skyline Boulevard in the Santa Cruz Mountains west of Woodside.
The girls, students at San Mateo High School, reportedly were heading toward a picnic area in a Lincoln Continental at what was reported to be high speed. The driver apparently lost control.
The girls — Cherie and Christine Branston, Kelley Butcher, Tina Dias and Dawn Sievers — all were under the age of 18.
They never had a chance.
The big sedan they were riding in powered off the road and plummeted down an embankment. No other vehicles were involved. The auto’s speedometer was frozen at a fatal 85 miles per hour. The awful event stunned the area.
Emergency personnel at the scene were shaken by what they saw.
Counselors were brought in at San Mateo High to assist students with their grief. A full week of mourning was declared on the campus. The funerals were poignant and emotional.
It’s a sad anniversary indeed. A small stone plaque in remembrance of the terrible accident is located under a tree at the front of the school on North Delaware Street. Each April, someone places flowers on the memorial, according to school officials. A wilting bouquet was still there last weekend.
Turning 100
Longevity is becoming more common these days. Advances in medical care, better personal habits and even helpful genetics are producing an increasing number of centenarians.
Chuck Baker is one of those fortunate folks. He turned 100 recently. He celebrated in a most unusual manner, at least for someone of his advanced age — he went sky-diving via a Hollister flight service.
Baker, who lives in Los Altos, is a U.S. Army Air Force veteran; he piloted B17 bombers over Europe during World War II.
A charter member of the San Carlos Rotary Club (which he helped create in 1949), he said he parachuted out of the flight group’s plane, with an assistant, at 13,000 feet and returned to terra firma with nary a bump or bruise. It was his first use of a chute.
He said he had one minor regret: not having champagne available on landing. He noted that he wants to do this on or near his birthday from now on.
Kudos to him. And thanks to Ray Snider for alerting us to Baker’s novel celebration.
Functioning adult?
No matter how hard we try to avoid it, politics seem to intrude on a regular basis. Heading up to South San Francisco last week, sure enough, a car parked off Grand Boulevard featured a bumper sticker reading, “Any functioning adult — 2020.” Can’t argue with that.
Climbing high
Have you noticed that odd TV commercial? It’s a brief blurb for a brand of booze. And it touts the stuff as part of a mountain-climbing exercise. Really? Alcohol at high altitude? Talk about a formula for disaster. Next time, try coffee.