History has it, the first home in Del Cerro was built in 1954. Our community is several weeks away from being 70 years old.

Jane Klofkorn is the historian for the Friends of Del Cerro (FODC) and a board member of the Friends of Del Cerro. Periodically she interviews Del Cerro residents who have a long history of Del Cerro.

What follows is part of Joan’s interview with Lisa Long.

The year was 1957. The Robert Long family moved to a beautiful house on Romany Drive in the new neighborhood of Del Cerro. My name is Lisa Long, the youngest in the Long family. I was four years old at the time. Del Cerro was so new and fun to explore. A new elementary school was being built and opened in February 1958. I would be in the first class to start at Phoebe Hearst Elementary School in the Kindergarten class.

On my street alone were two other kids my age; Alexis Walker (who would prove to be a life-long friend and the namesake of my first child) and Fred Provence, who still lives in his parents’ house today on Romany Drive. Farther up the street lived the Ortleibs. Mr. Ortleib was the head umpire for the little league that was at the site of today’s market, Windmill Farms.

Del Cerro holds so many memories for me. Walking to Hearst with my sisters every day, meeting friends at the Speedy Mart, and watching the cute boys playing baseball, never thinking that I would marry one of those boys that played on the Seedorf team, Eddie Hume.

At that time, there was a tunnel we could go through that ran under Highway 8 all the way to where the Alvarado Hospital is today. And, San Diego State was a college, not a university.

It was there on College Avenue my family and I watched President Kennedy ride by in an open car. His bright hair glowed red in the sun, as I recall.

It was a time of safety. We rarely locked our doors. Our parents never had to supervise us outside, no matter how young we were. Everyone took care of each other, and the memories of that time spent in Del Cerro will always stay with me.

Lisa Long

If you know of a long-time resident of Del Cerro Jane should interview, contact Jane at [email protected].

The FODC was recently invited to attend the SDSU student interns fair for the Department of Public Administration and Criminal Justice. As a result, we have two highly qualified and very motivated interns who will be working on projects to benefit our community.

Members of the Princess Del Cerro Park committee recently met with a contractor to discuss a bid to repair the paver brick area in front of the park’s playground.

Thank you to everyone who shared their concerns regarding Del Cerro and to each of you who recently became members and/or volunteered to serve on a committee. For more information and/or to become a member of the Friends of Del Cerro, go to friendsofdelcerro.org.