March 21 . . . just one year ago the first volunteers
cut the tape and took the initial steps in building Manzanar . . .
spasmodically the barracks sprouted overnight . . . evacuees poured into
Manzanar as the desert sands drifted and shifted hands . . . and it
wasn't long before the social butterflies hatched ingenious dances . . .
parties . . .and get — togethers . . . and so the primary stages
were formed for bigger and better socials . . .
AT THE FIRST
You'll always remember the protozoan social cradle
was rocked . . . sometimes twice a week just for the heck of it . . .
most of these were just spontaneous affairs and sans decorations . . .
but that didn't bother anyone . . . trucking around in hi-top boots and
draped in Manzanar's social fashion scale Mary Wada, Lil Ito, Gene
Hashimoto, Miyo Kikuchi floated over to this first get-together . . .
then there was Itch Matsuzawa, Isa Hara and Kaz Hara arriving in this
desert metropolis to find the barrack without window panes . . . no roof
and door . . . but that didn't dampen their spirit as they dozed on the
wooden floor on G.I. blankets and a modified bonfire in the middle . . .
the next morning found a hole in the floor . . . the mess hall lines . .
. portable out-houses and the line that ornamented it . . . cuz of the
something new called the "Manzanar run" . . . eating on the mess hall
floor and the tin pan . . . the spoons which could very well be used for
shovels . . . and the forks as pitch forks . . . and cups that never
stayed put . . . and then the food . . . we won't mention . . . no means
of bathing . . . no hot water . . . plenty of cold and dust . . . but
their hearts were young and they struggled to act as stepping stones for
the incoming evacuees . . . all of this and plenty more will always live
in the memories of the volunteers . . . hats off to them . . .
THE FIRST BIG SHINDIG
As the camp's elite donned their frills and drapes to
jam pack Manzanar Free Press barrack for the very first invitational
dance . . . the committee men and one lone miss . . . namely Jimmie
Hashimoto, Nob Myose and Shiz Setoguchi guided the blue-bloods . . .
decorations . . . lite bulbs dipped in blue ink . . . refreshments . . .
and the notorious press room was transformed into the Blue Room with the
eminent Joseph Michael Blamey MCing . . . keeping itchy feet from
shagging was recording via RCA . . .
SOCIAL BUTTERFLY'S HUNGER CRAVES
Humans continued to boost this mushroom community's
population and so the crave for bigger and better and more dances
blossomed . . . Nori Masuda undertook the problem of tutoring the young
sprouts the latest thing hot off Murray dance floor . . . dance practice
. . . dance sessions . . . and just plain dancing prevailed . . .
jitterbugging . . . half-time . . . waltzing . . . and fox trot . . .
conga . . . rhumba . . . were all generating on the knot hole floors of
the recreation buildings . . . Hi-lighting the countless "a-res" were
the Sadie Hawkins in June . . . the Victory Dance with the diamond nines
answering the call of Dusty Clucks . . . 8 Misses and a Hit . . . Uptown
Strutters were dutifully awarded the femmes' baseball and volleyball
championship . . . Fuzzy Mizutani and Zombie Nitahara put on a floor
show with their version of jitterbugging . . . Kay Shimamoto is still
burning about the broom incident . . . and versatile Ayako Tanaka was
hailed for the decorations supreme . . . weiner bakes . . . picnics . .
. and all sorts of outdoor outings were the thing . . . and reservations
for picnic areas were placed far in advance . . . which was Nob Hino's
biggest headache for he was then the little-front man for the rec.
office . . . then someone got a bright idea and tamale bakes hit a high
. . . the Flatfoots are credited for giving the first such affair . . .
still remembered as one of the best throw-offs given on the Manzanar
Social Register was the Trojan-Bruin affair . . . it was the Sierra
Padres helming this gigantic affair . . . Vic Yokota, Floyd Fujiu, Toru
Haga, Harry Tashima, Kaz Mizumoto, Freddy Fujiu, Joe Nagano, Hank
Ishizuka and George Ishizuka did most all the worrying . . .
TRIVIA AND ETC.
Then there was the "Evening Under the Stars"
conducted by Henry Ushijima and his platter turners . . . Yuji Nakamura,
Sus Yakomizo, Louie Sugiwara, Sam Uyemura, Mas Nakadaira, Frank Endow,
George Fujino, Toyo Miyatake did the back scenery labor . . . these
evening concerts became a regular Sunday evening feature out under the
breeze, and you and me and them records . . . out on firebreak 10 . . .
about that time the weather was close to unbearable and the Bainbridge
Island lads practiced nature in the raw by sleeping outdoors nightly . .
. While crunching all sorts of canteen goodies Harry Koba, Ish
Suyematsu, Kaz Terayama, Satsakuma, Tok Chihara, Ned Nakamura and Toshi
Suyematsu were among the many block 3 fresh air . . . pranksters and
embarrassing incidents amounted unsurmountable . . . with Mr. Terayama
often the goat . . . Camouflage had just about everyone out there in the
warehouse region . . . Mits Otsuji, Charlie Saito, Hiro Hino, Noboru
Hino and Joe Tee boast of their record which went about like this . . .
the last ones to work . . . the first ones to lunch . . . the last ones
back to work and the first ones to leave . . . but they were the first
to finish . . . they must have been good, huh? . . .
IT WAS THE LATEST THING . . . THEN
Judo was a nitely feature . . . but Carl Yanagi's
tale still takes the prize . . . Big Boy Shiro Nomura did the tossing
and little Carl was flattened . . . only thing wrong was that the nearby
tree came out of nowhere and got in Mr. Yanagi's way . . . about that
time of the year the Phi Sigma Kappas' gave a charity dance with
proceeds falling into the hands of the community service department . .
. the "T" shirt raged furiously and numerous organizations were clad in
such identification marks . . . Betty Hashimoto was ornamenting the
Police office in the capacity of the Lost and Found Department . . . The
Canteen personnel gave a dinner dance (but the press gave the first) and
reports had Franklin Hirashima as the great undiscovered crooner of this
day . . . Geo. Stanicci went around this place in exotic colored shorts
. . . nite-mare confidentially . . . The Senior Prom went over with a
bang with Ted Masaoka taking the leading role . . . Dick Matsui was
nicknamed "Sweet Pea" for some unknown reason . . . the oil boys down
Bainbridge was brighten the head gears with their red hats . . . Jive
affair rightly titled was the "Gopher a Jive" and the S. P. Yogores did
likewise . . . Henry Kinoshita was acclaimed the perpetual motion when
he did the barker job for the Lost and Found Auction . . . boy did he
sell everything . . .
