John Butterworth Wilkinson and Hazel Johnson Wilkinson donated five acres of land next door to their home on El Monte Road for the purpose of a school building. The school was built by volunteer labor and opened September of 1915.  Grace Wilkinson Wright recalls on hot days the classes were held under the trees or the children went swimming in the river. She remembers the day it hailed about one foot of hail. The children did not know about snow. Tommy Vanoni remembers the teacher, Miss Ruth Ellithorpe married Russell Wilkinson when he returned from World War I. Ruth became the aunt of the Wilkinson children. Jacob Kuhner was a school board trustee for the first school in El Monte.
  A flood in 1916 destroyed the El Monte school house. While the second school was being built on higher ground, on land also donated by the Wilkinson family, the classes where held in the living room of the Clarence Foster home. Clarence also built a swimming pool on his ranch for the children. He believed every child should learn to swim and be able to take care of himself in the water.
  Anna Ford Wilkinson, a school trustee on the Lakeside School District Board, planted in the front lawn of what is now the Lakeside Middle School the tall Christmas-like evergreen tree, "So all the children of Lakeside would always have a Christmas Tree". She also dug small Oak trees from the El Monte Valley and planted them at the school. Today they are large magnificent old Oak trees -- standing tall and beautiful.  And the 'Christmas Tree' stands the tallest in the front of the school. 
  A. B. Foster was one of the first board members when the Grossmont Union High School District was formed in 1920.  The A. B. Foster family working, with the Fraternal Order of Elks, each year invited 400 poor and orphan children from San Diego to have a weeks camping adventure at El Monte Park. All the members of the Foster family worked to secure foods, cook and plan activities. Families from all over the back country donated foods and materials for the adventure. Edna Kouns remembers being a camp assistant and sleeping in the tents with the girls.
  When A. B. Foster retired from the Grossmont High School Board, due to health reasons, his son Ralph filled the vacancy and served until 1936 when he moved to Pamo to dairy. During Ralph's time on the board he sponsored the first turf football field at Grossmont High School. He also served on the Lakeside School Board.
  Clarence the second son of A. B. began his service to the board when his brother Ralph resigned. Clarence served for 25 years.  When he retired in 1960, this ended 41 years of consecutive family representation to the Grossmont High School Board. Clarence served longer than any other board member.
  Just for fun the Clarence Foster family served the Grossmont football team a "Corn Feed" every summer and a "Turkey Dinner" at the end of the football season for at least 20 years. The gymnasium at El Capitan High School was named the Foster Gymnasium. This was in honor of the many years of service to the youth of the

Grossmont District by the Foster family.
  The swimming pool at El Capitan High School was named the Reginald Kuhner Swimming Complex in honor of all the many years of love and service Reginald gave to the youth of Lakeside.
  Lakeside families recall the Vanoni family donated beautiful land covered with Oak trees to expand El Monte Park. The Vanoni family members always kept the park clean and safe and welcomed the children when they visited.
  Ben and Joan Furrer were happy when children who were physically and mentally challenged came to their dairy on El Monte Road. Every week for four years the children would come to see the farm and learn about dairying and caring for the animals.
  Beginning in 1941 Mildred Langlois, of the Sylvan Glen Dairy in Winter Gardens, each weekday provided the school children in the Lakeside School District with a one-half pint bottle of cold fresh milk. This amounted to 600 bottles every weekday. Each afternoon she would get the used bottles, wash them, and have them ready to be filled for the next days treat at school.
  Today the Van Ommering Family hosts each year more than 10,000 children who come from as far away as Hemet, Chula Vista and San Clemente to visit Oma's Pumpkin Patch. Enjoying a hay ride to view the 600 cows, holding the milk bottle for the calves to have a little nourishment, seeing a one day old calf, testing the water beds that the cows sleep on, having their picture taken in the cow board, checking out the pumpkin patch, sliding down the giant nut shell hill, running through the maze of hay bales, watching and listening to small lectures and of course, enjoying Oma's well known cookies are just some of the activities on their visit. This project takes months to prepare.
  In a previous issue we shared the activities at the Rocky Home Dairy as they supported our youth. The Field Day and the school visits are remembered by people today. Don Buckel still hears from many of the young people who are now successful in life due to the love and training at the Rocky Home Dairy.
  A sincere "thank you" to all our dairy families.