I was nineteen in 1948 and at our beach house on Balboa
Island. I was coming up from the beach for lunch when our
neighbor called to me. "I want you to meet Bill MacGowan,
an Alpha Tau Omega, from the University of Maryland."
(She always mentioned fraternities!!) Actually, Bill was-also
a war veteran, having served four-years in the U.S. Navy
during the war.
And so we met that afternoon ... and as the day, June 23rd,
continued we went sailing and in the evening had a ferry
ride to the mainland and a speed boat ride in the harbor.
Later we went dancing and had a bite to eat. Well by this
time, we had fallen in love! By 1:30am, Bill had asked me
to marry him and I had said "Yes!" All to a man to whom I
could not remember his last name!
The next morning his father, a smart engineer, asked Bill
how he liked the girl from last night. Bill replied he had liked
her and he had asked her to marry him!
And we did marry, had fifty-two wonderful years together,
two children, two grandchildren and most of all a wonderful
happy and long life together!
The charms of Balboa Island had won the day!
Marilyn Woods MacGowan (Mimi)
By Paula Kruse
THE FIRST TIME I MET MY HUSBAND
It was "Bal Week" on Balboa Island and UCLA's Spring Vacation, 1952. The
hordes of students had descended on the small island, ready to celebrate a
week of freedom from books and tests. The main goal for the boys was to
ingest as much alcohol as possible, mainly in the form of beer. For the girls,
there was the hope of meeting a cute guy, who might evolve into a boyfriend
after the week had passed. The place to meet was on the beach at Big
Corona. The time to arrive was about 10 a.m. Great! This plan did not take
into consideration the Southern California spring beach weather. The daily
forecast would read, "Night & morning low clouds, clearing in the afternoon."
We would arrive at the beach to find it cloudy and rather cool, so we would sit
on the beach and shiver until the sun came out about noon! I had arrived after
working half the week at my job, and settled in at a house on Amethyst
Street, which was owned by the aunt of one of my sorority sisters and
available to us free. There were about ten of us staying there. The cottage sat
back from the sidewalk on Amethyst Street, with a small lawn edged by a
picket fence.
The first evening I got "fixed up" with a blind date by one of the girls. He
arrived and he was cute. We went to a house occupied by his fraternity
brothers, and he worked on his goal of getting as drunk as possible. He was
successful with that, so I walked back alone to Amethyst Street. The next day,
I saw him on the beach, and he didn't recognize me. "Just as well.", I told
myself. I was feeling a bit disillusioned about the social prospects of the week!
That evening, I turned down the offers of more blind dates, and decided to
just sit around with the few other girls remaining in the house. About 8:30, as
we lounged around chatting, in walked three Navy officers in uniform. WOW!
This was an improvement! One of them asked for "Marilyn", and when she
heard their voices, she came out from the bedroom and greeted them. It was
her older brother, John, and two of his buddies from their ship in San Diego.
She introduced us, and we sat and talked together. Then John asked me if I'd
like to go out with him to a party. Of course I'd like to go out with him! One of
the other men asked Marilyn to go with him. So off we went to house in
Laguna Beach, where John's fraternity was having a party. John had
graduated the year before, so still knew a lot of the guys. We had a drink and
stayed a while, then left to go to a small bar with music for dancing. We
danced to "Tenderly" and "Ebbtide", and talked and talked. He felt so easy to
talk to. Just back from his first overseas trip on a destroyer, which had spent
the winter patrolling the seas off of South Korea, he had a lot to tell about. At
the end of the evening, he asked me to go out with him the next weekend. I
said, "I'd love to!" Eight years ago, we celebrated our Golden Anniversary with
a party for family and friends. We danced the first dance to "Tenderly". We've
lived "Happily Ever After".
Balboa Island has meant love to my family since 1938. My
mother Virginia was a 16 year old girl living on Marine Avenue
with her parents and attending Newport Harbor High School.
She would often take the ferry across to the peninsula with her
friends and on one particular day she caught the eye of an 18
year old deckhand. Norm was from Santa Ana but had always
loved the water and especially Balboa Island. As he was
collecting the 5 cent fare, he purposely passed her by and
called her cutie. She was not impressed. But he was not easily
discouraged. Their paths crossed frequently and soon they
were dating. Not wanting to leave Virginia or Balboa Island,
Norm spent quite a few nights sleeping on her parents front
porch! 2 1/2 years later on November 23rd 1941, they were the
very first couple married at St. John Vianney Chapel, which
had just been completed and built on land that my grandfather
had owned. Norm was able to move into the guest house with
Virginia for two weeks until Pearl Harbor when he was called to
war. But he came back to Balboa Island and his bride. I am the
youngest of four siblings. My two sisters and brother lived here
but by the time I came along my parents had moved off the
island. I had always been enchanted with my parent's love
story on Balboa Island. A year and a half ago my husband and
I were lucky to find our 1935 home on Apolena Ave. I felt at
home the moment I entered the door. We are in love with our
life here and truly blessed to call Balboa Island home.
Valerie and Robert Schnieders
107 Apolena Ave
Summer & Dennis Bress, 110 Agate Avenue Newport Beach
28 years ago I was a UCI student riding the ferry boat in my cute little British Sports
Car on my way back to campus after enjoying Perry's Pizza "All You Can Eat
Spaghetti Night for 99 cents." As it goes with most little British Sports Cars... it
broke down on the ferry ride. The guys working the boat pushed my car up and off
the boat and onto Agate Avenue. Just then, I was flagged down by a cute boy on
his balcony offering to give me some assistance.
He was friendly , lively, funny and thoughtful. He tried several things and eventually
was able to get the car running. That evening I thought..."l'm new in town and he is
a nice guy that would be fun to have as a friend." The next day I snuck up his back
stairs and left a nice bottle of wine with a note on it that thanked him for his help
with my car... and included my phone number. He called me that night and we've
been together ever since!
4 years after that meeting , sitting out on the seawall overlooking the harbor, he
proposed. My answer wasn't exactly what he had hoped for, I said "I need to think
about it." He was furious and stormed home. I followed close behind begging for
his patience. He begrudgingly agreed to give me more time and we proceeded to
spend the next few weeks really talking about all the things that make a marriage
work and how important that was to both of us. One day, I blurted out of the
blue... "YES!" He was shocked and thrilled but when he looked to see my
response, I was in a state of shock and fear. He asked me, "do
you want to take it back?" I sheepishly nodded my head yes, knowing full well how
terrible
that really was. I was expecting rage. Instead, he tenderly grabbed me, placed me
on his lap and said... "I have been engaged to you for 10 minutes now and it has
been the happiest 10 minutes of my life. If I have to wait 10 more years to get that
feeling back, I will. You take as much time as you need."
Needless to say that was all I needed to hear. The next day happened to be
Valentine's Day so I snuck up his back porch and once again left a bottle of wine
with a note of thanks and my phone number, but this time with the word "YES" in
big bold letters. We were married a year later on the stage at the Lido theatre and it
was the most beautiful day of my life.
Now, 23 years of marriage later, as we raise our boy/girl twin teenagers in the
same house on Agate Avenue, we fondly remember that fateful ferry ride
each time we glance out at the beautiful Newport bay over that same
balcony.
Balboa Island LOVE STORY
Sharon Lambert
I fell in love with Balboa Island at an early age.
Trips to the Jolly Roger with my family started it
and it continued with Arcadia High School friends
and Bal Week (my parents chaperoned). My high
school sweetheart worked on the ferry, so I made
a 1,000 trips and wished my time on the Island
would never end.
College, marriage, children and responsibilities
came along and the thought of living on the island
was tucked away. However, my daughter kept
the dream alive and always reminded me that the
Beach was where I should be. We rented on the
peninsula for a week three summers in a row and
our end-of-vacation routine was to ride the ferry
across to Bl, have a Balboa Bar and then depart
for home, leaving a part of our hearts behind.
In 1996 the miracle happened: Bob and I
purchased 130 Topaz! My daughter, Melinda, did
not live to enjoy our home on the Island but we
- along with our family, friends and especially
grandchildren - continue the Love Of Balboa
Island in her memory.
Sue and Scott Sibley
127 Agate Ave - Balboa Island
February 14, 2014
Our Love Story
Whether random circumstance or fate - Looking back I like to think it was “destiny”.
Sue and I first met in Fair Oaks, California just about 30 years ago. It was a Candle Light Social put
on by the Sacramento branch of “Parents without Partners”.
The intent of the Organization was to give single parents, whatever their circumstances a night out to
mix with other single parents. Expectations? - Worst case was a night out – best was of course that
you could somehow meet your soul mate!
Candlelight Social was actually a less awkward – low key opportunity to meet and talk to someone of
the opposite sex without too much pressure and where everyone had at least one thing in common they had Kids!
This particular evening was a small get together with maybe 20 people in attendance – held in a
private home – early in the evening with some refreshments and Candle Light – it was relaxed and
casual.
I remember – and will always remember – standing in a group in the center of the living room --chatting and thinking that this was very nice but really couldn’t see anything coming from it.
Then the unimaginable happened !
I look up towards the hallway leading from the front door and I
see a wonderfully attractive young lady (actually as I found out later – a Mom with two daughters)
peeking around the corner. She had an infectious smile and radiated a joy for life.
I was immediately lost and however corny or improbable it may sound - I had for the first time in my
life experienced “Love at first sight “ well at least from my side it was.
I didn’t know her name, her story or anything at all about her. But for me during that second of time something changed in my heart and I knew that nothing would ever be the same. This was the
woman I would spend the rest of my life with.
I’d like to say the rest was easy – that she immediately felt the same way and fell into my arms without
a second thought!
But truly it took time because behind every successful romance and enduring marriage is a lot of hard
work - but boy has it been worth it.
Sue is my best friend - my lover – my confidant and my life partner.
Happy Valentine’s Day – This is the Sue and Scott Love Story.
My love affair with Balboa Island started some 30 years ago.
We lived at the end of 19th Street in Newport Beach. My
husband having an adventurous soul brought me to Balboa
Island for an after dinner walk one evening. It was love at first
sight. I fell in love with this remote island on the Pacific: the
quaint downtown with it’s unique stores and restaurants, the
scenic walk along the sea wall around the island, Saint John
Vianney Chapel, and the Balboa Ferry.
We came back the next night and the next night and the next
night. Right there and then, I told my husband this is where I
want to live someday.
Fast forward 15 years, we were relocating back to the
Orange County area from Hawaii. I was back teaching in
Irvine, and after school everyday for two months I made my
husband drive me to Balboa island to find us a place to live.
We drove up and down many streets looking for rentals. This
one day I found a small index card on the bulletin board
outside of the real estate place on Marine Ave. It said
“apartment for rent on Pearl Ave.” We rented the apartment
and have been here living happily ever since. I love our
street with the beautiful trees. I love my neighbors and my
Pearl Girls Group. I am also very involved with my island
living my dream.
Love,
Jenni Samuel
Love,
Jenni Samuel