Elsinore Naval and Military School

It is my sad duty to inform you that John Penfield has passed away. John, as many of us know, served in the capacity of Commandant as well as Asst. Commandant at ENMS during the 1960s. Looking back, there were few personalities that made as deep an impression on me as John did. I will elaborate in greater detail shortly in a Memorial Tribute page that will be posted on our website. John was a good man and set an exemplary example for many of us that crossed his path at ENMS. His Obituary is be posted on the What's New page.

I ask that anyone with more information on John, Fred Jameson and Don Lohn, who have also passed, forward me the information to add to a Memorial page. If you are of the mind to contribute any additional info, I ask that you do so in a timely manner. Factual data, reminiscences etc. will all be considered for inclusion. My apologies for not informing the Alumni sooner, but unfortunately lack of communications prevent timely updates to this site.

Best Regards;

Dennis Guzik

Website updated Oct.17, 2009

My apologies for the lack of updates or new material since April. I have been very ill since Sept. of last year and have not had the ambition nor the energy to work our website. Hopefully I will have something new soon. Thank you for your understanding.

I've added photos to Photo Page 5 recently submitted by Steve Newman and will have Photo Page 6 up shortly which will include some aerial photos taken by the Elsinore Police Dept. I have also received a few things from the Elsinore Historical Society that I hope to post in a week or so. We have a new computer with Windows Vista (oh boy) which is not compatable with my digital camera. Once I replace the camera, I'll have a few new photos to post from the ENMS annuals and some donated items from Carl Schmidt. I've had no luck obtaining anything from the ENMS/Conklin Trust after more than a few requests. I was informed by the Secretary that they are primarily still functioning to allow access to student records. I've tried and will try once again to obtain my own ENMS records. If you have the desire to get your own school records, please contact the Secretary at (951) 678-1433.

Submissions are still needed. It's come to my attention that some are hesitant to submit anything for fear it won't get posted to the site. I make every effort, time allowing, to post what I recieve. It may not go up as quickly as you'd like, but it will be done in good time. I'll be honest and admit that my own enthusiasm waxes and wanes as interest in the site indeed seems minimal since our reunion. All I can say, is that I'll do what I can, but I most certainly cannot "make up" things to post nor fabricate non-existant updates without the input of others.

On another note, I was pleasently surprised to hear from Jim Moody a few days ago. Unfortunately we had guests from out of town and Jim and I couldn't get together. I'm waiting to hear from Jim in regards to some things he said he may submit.

Since our reunion in 2002 the building has suffered much vandalism and is in considerably worse condition then when we all once again toured its' halls. Some of us at the Reunion had discussed purchasing the building so as to save it from ruin, but sadly it never went past simple discussion.

My plan is to compile a more thorough and complete history not just of E.N.M.S. but of the building itself. After the Reunion, we all drifted back into our own lives much as I had suspected. But one thing we will always share in common is E.N.M.S. and the property it stood on. That will always remain. With the help of the Conklin Trust and Elsinore Historical Society, and more importantly, former students, we will be able to preserve in perpetuity a piece of the past that was such an influence in so many peoples lives. Good or bad, we all lived this shared experience.

So I ask any of you that are interested to contact me ( Email link below ) with anything that you would like to share. Photos, reflections or memories are what I'm looking for. Some may be included on our webpage and some may just go into a book project I'm contemplating.

Additionally, all photos compiled will eventually be converted to CD format and offered for sale at a very nominal price. This may also be expanded to include memories sent in by Cadets.

I have ungraded the site at my own cost to exclude the adverts and pop-ups. But I do need your help with submissions, photocopies, or what have you to keep the site interesting and alive. I have plenty of photos, but who wants to see the hundreds of pictures that my parents took of me? See my point?

So get out your photos, rack your brains for interesting memories and send them along to me. You'll be glad that you did. Somebody is interested, we have over 8000 hits on our page.

Best regards and I'll leave the light on for ya,

Dennis

E.N.M.S in 2002

How did we get here?

How many of us know exactly why we ended up as Cadets at E.N.M.S.? For many years I've wondered why my parents sent me packing. And on top of that, to a Military School. I was a Cadet in 6th grade in 1961/1962, and came back for my Freshman/Sophomore years 1964/1966. I was then "freed" to finish my education in a public High School. I never found out "why", and never asked until years later, long after my mother had passed away. I suppose many of us came from dysfunctional families, as I know I did. I'm not being accusatory, but it seems many of us shared stories about our parents always fighting about one thing or another. As for myself, my mother had emotional problems and one reason to ship me off to parts unknown was that she had difficulty having a child around. And the always popular reason, "to get a good education".

So how about the rest of you Cadets? Was it family tradition, whereas the father had attended a Military School? Was it indeed for a better education than was available in the puclic school system? Or perhaps to have us learn about discipline and respect through careful guidance? Or maybe to shelter us from the '60s, which my own parents thought was out of control. All of us must have wondered about the answer to this question, and I'm certain the answers are as varied as they are interesting.

I'd welcome hearing from you with just what you think. Surely we have all been touched in one way or another by the commonality of our shared experiences. Some of us invariably have had a hard time coming to grips with why we were sent to E,N.M.S. With so many years behind us and even less ahead, I've found that sharing memories of our time at the ol' school has been very therapeutic.

What we do for this website, which belongs to us all, will in time be left for our children and grandchildren to come and visit and to see how and why Elsinore Naval and Military School shaped our early lives.

School History

The "History" page offers a brief overview of ENMS past. We will endeavor to provide additional historical data as it becomes available. Rest assured there are many blanks to be filled in, especially concerning the school's final years. New research is currently underway into our vast and varied history.

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UPDATES

E.N.M.S. has been sold! The property has been aquired by the Garrett Group LLC based in Temecula Calif. After numerous failed attempts on the sale of the property by various entities, escrow has closed and it no longer is owned by the Conklin Trust. Tentative plans call for a Bed and Breakfast in the main building and cottages for sale on the land from where the old sign stood down to the lakeside. An E.N.M.S. Museum is to be included in the project in the main building.

The principle of Garrett Group aparently spent a summer at the school in the 1930s. But since escrow closed about 2-3 years ago, the main building has deteriorated dramatically. With the neglect of the building It causes me to wonder if the building will be preserved, much less house a museum. Personally, I would hate to see it plowed under. Maybe a petition for its' preservation, signed by students? Let me know your thoughts.

Cadet Lieutenant Carl F. Schmidt 1958/1959 has graciously donated his E.N.M.S. yearbooks to help this webpage project along. If you attended and remember Lt. Schmidt, I would be happy to put you in touch with him.

Gary Simpson has sent in a Photo CD with many great photos covering the time period froom the 30s through 2002. Also on the CD are items donated to the Historical Society by Garys good friend Harry Maroni and some great early photos from Harry Hill. Watch for posting of the new photos shortly.

Any donations of material, including my own, will ultimately be donated to the Lake Elsinore Historical Society, which retains a large collection of E.N.M.S historical data and artifacts.

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