November 5, 2024 • 45 mins
A lot about my early dayz in Temecula... elementary school, more stories about my parents, siblings, etc.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Hello and welcome to Bumbershoot where we cover life's chaos with humor and heart.
(00:07):
Charity Prestifilippo here along with Tracy and Rhonda.
Say hello.
Hi.
Hello.
They're getting a little less shy each week you guys.
You're doing great.
They're, they are a little intimidated by the microphones but we're going to break them
of that probably in the next couple of weeks.
(00:27):
As soon as I get the other one, another microphone and they have both in their faces.
They'll get over it pretty quick.
A little shout out to Pogigliano Wine and Olive Oil.
Check out Pogigliano.com.
They are our sponsors for our wine of the week.
So thank you.
All right.
This week we are covering some more little chaos with humor and heart.
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And this week is about my move to Temecula, California, USA.
So yes, I moved to Temecula in 1981.
It was Christmas vacation of 1981 where it was 80.
We cannot remember but I was in second grade.
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It was Christmas vacation of second grade.
So if I was a great mathematician, I could probably figure it out.
So I moved to Temecula in 1980 and 81 Christmas vacation.
That's when we moved to Temecula.
And that is when they literally had a bumper sticker that said, where the hell is Temecula?
And I remember we weren't allowed to say hell when we were little.
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We would say where the beep is Temecula.
So yeah, it was back when Temecula was like a drive through town for people that lived
here, like the original Pachonga Indians and the ranchers that lived out here as well.
It was home.
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And we moved from Orange County, actually Irvine out here.
You want to know why?
Because my dad, you know, the jack of all trades or master of all trades.
He bought a lumber yard in Wildemar.
So Wildemar is two cities up from Temecula, the 15 freeway, I'll say north, depending
(02:23):
on where you're coming from.
It's a very small town.
It actually still is pretty much a small town today.
But yeah, dad bought a lumber yard.
Don't really know the story.
You'll have to listen to his podcast if he ever does.
I don't know why he actually thought that was a great idea.
But it ended up being a great idea because we are where we are today because of it.
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So anyway, I do know that he knew the owner of the feed store next door to the property
that he bought and opened a lumber yard.
This was back in the day when there was no Home Depot's or Lowe's.
So you know, back then it was mom and pop, rolling shops for your home needs.
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Out here it was a lot of ranches, so he ended up buying the neighbor's, he kind of was his
business partner.
I think the guy that owned the feed store next door got him up and going.
But dad ended up taking over the whole place and it was called West Valley Feed Fence and
Building Supplies.
So yeah, that's what brought us out here.
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And I remember my mom not being real crazy about it to move out of Irvine into this
poedunk town, I don't know, that's it.
It had one stop sign from what I remember.
No stop lights.
There were no grocery stores.
We used to shop at Old Town Temecula Market.
Yep, it was just a little like, it was like a mini market, not grocery store, but market.
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And that's where we shopped.
We would travel to Escondido or I don't think we really went north, but I think we usually
went south to go get like, go to bigger places like a grocery store.
But it was shortly after that they opened and I don't remember whether there was Safeway
and Stater Brothers were the first grocery stores that came to town.
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But anyways, going back to like the one stop sign, literally it was far ranches, Old Town.
I mean, it wasn't dirt Roads and Covered Wagon's guys don't go crazy.
But where the mall stands today was dairy farms and it was huge out here, dairy farms.
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And they still are like an Ahimut area, but yeah, that was big out here.
And at the time when I moved here, like I said, it was Christmas vacation of second
grade and there was one elementary school outside of the private schools.
There was I think a couple of private schools, Linfield being one of them that had probably
had 80 kids from kindergarten all the way to senior year.
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But yeah, they had Temecula Elementary School and then they added a middle school.
So they made our school Vale Elementary and then Temecula Middle School.
So those are still around today.
The Vale Elementary School is where I went to Vale and then Temecula Middle is now at
a different location.
But I was the new kid on the block and it was pretty exciting to come to this little
(05:32):
town because it was like new blood, fresh new blood.
So I feel like when I got to school, the boys were crazy about it and the girls were not
the new girl in town.
But at the time it was funny because my mom put me in acting.
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And so kind of basically when I moved to Temecula, I was also doing commercials and television
shows, not principal parts.
I was not a child celebrity, but I did do some acting.
So that got around campus pretty quick.
So I think that was part of the big deal early on.
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But yeah, I remember in not in second grade, but in third grade, there was these three
boys that were crushes on me and Christmas that year.
So it was a year later.
They each bought me gifts, which is so cute for like that age to do.
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I'll never forget, you know who you are.
If you ever hear, I got a roll on cologne.
Roll on cologne.
Yep, little stick.
I got a gold dipped leaf necklace.
And to be honest, I can't remember the other thing.
Sorry.
But yeah, it was really sweet.
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And those boys are still friends with all of them today.
I don't see a couple of them.
Well, actually, I don't see any of them regularly, but we are in touch like through social media
and stuff.
Yeah, they ended up being really good friends.
And then I did meet my best friend back then, Tammy.
And we are still friends today.
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Actually I feel like through social media, that's the great thing.
If you want to be friends with your classmates that you've got to keep up on their lives
and stuff.
But Tammy and I actually, she actually worked with me in my nonprofit for a little bit a
few years ago.
And we are moms to still keep in touch and stuff.
So that was, it was great to meet someone right away and make a good connection.
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She was a really good friend to me.
And then something that stands out in elementary school, a few things do, but I think it was
third grade.
My dad took us on a trip to Utah because he got untangled in the pyramid schemes back
of the day.
That's a whole nother podcast for dad.
(08:06):
If he ever does one, I'll be saying that throughout all of his sessions.
Dad, another thing, but this was when Urban Cowboy came out and we loved Urban Cowboy.
And so when we were in Utah, dad was making some money.
It was a little red game and he bought us all his stern clothes.
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And so we were so into it.
Well, you know how you do show, show, show and tell.
Yeah, show and tell.
In elementary school.
So I decided I came back with my Western outfit.
I wanted to wear it and sing looking for love to my class.
Picture that.
Yeah.
I mean, to know me is to know me.
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I'm not kidding.
I've never changed.
Actually, I probably wouldn't do that today.
But I didn't even have music to sing along with.
And I'm not a singer.
Let's note that I'm not a singer.
I love to sing, but I'm not.
That's not one of the biggest blessings that God gave me.
So I sang in front of my whole class very confidently and it was a big deal.
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I loved it.
That's when I probably should have taken singing lessons and really pursued that because so
good.
You're so brave.
I love it.
But I never did.
I don't like lessons, so I never did.
My mom tried to give me singing lessons, not her herself, but she tried to offer them
to me.
I just don't like lessons.
She tried piano too.
That was another thing I just couldn't do.
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But I love music, and so it's silly.
I wish I knew then what I know now and really would have dedicated time and energy into
what I potentially ended up loving.
Another, I guess, story I'll say that my mom likes to tell, but it does give you a little
(09:57):
insight to who I am and how I've always been.
In fifth grade, we would win popcorn parties.
You'd earn it for, I don't even remember why, but you probably get so many points towards
something and then you earn a popcorn party.
So I won a popcorn party and I had all my closest friends, that first popcorn party,
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but then later in the year I won another one.
So to be honest, I don't totally remember this, but my mom tells the story a lot that
I invited all the kids that never got invited to popcorn parties to my second popcorn party.
That's why I love you.
So I'm happy that I just wish I could have the experience because that's pretty special.
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And like I said, I've told you that my mom's really like it's still a lot of who I am and
my mom and dad, good people.
And so I just feel like that's, you know, they, my mom always taught me about like God's
love and how to love one another.
So I think that's what, where that was coming from.
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So anyways, that was pretty special.
And then another thing that was cool and that I think it was fifth grade, fourth, maybe
it was fourth grade, was that with my acting, I don't want to say career, it was no career,
but my acting phase, I guess you'll say.
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I landed a role.
That sounds so much bigger than it is.
I got a job being the little nun on airplane two.
What?
Yeah.
So in the beginning of the movie, there is, it's actually still while the credits are
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being shown in the beginning.
There's two nuns that walk out a man in a, well, no, it's a nun and a priest.
That's what it is.
The nun and the priest walk out and then they kind of separate and then the little nun and
priest as if were their kids come walking out.
And if you know, yeah, Catholic, like the priest.
And so I look up at my mom, none, and she kind of like fixes my little head thing, head
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beast thing.
Yeah.
I really just posted that video, my cousin sent me a clip of it and I posted it on TikTok,
I think in social media.
I know about it.
Yeah.
Thanks for that.
And so anyway, so because this was such a small town, there was a movie theater.
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It was a two screen movie theater.
It was called Winchester Theater.
And my dad takes my, you know, you have like a, like when you're in acting, you have your
head shot paper, I don't know what you call it anymore.
I can't even think.
Well, it's just a head shot, like where we used to send them to all of the agents and
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tried it when you are not agents.
Like if your agent wanted you to apply for a job, they would send them your head shot
back in the day.
You know, there was no digital transferring of anything.
So anyway, my dad takes that head shot down to the local theater, which you know, my dad
too, and he's never changed you.
They're the biggest fan.
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Takes it down to the theater, the owner of the theater and says, my daughter's in this
production.
So they put me in the marquee where the airplane two poster is and they put my head shot down
in the corner.
It says starring Temecula actress, Charity Comella.
So it really shows you how small our town really was.
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Yeah.
It's very funny though.
It's very funny.
Yeah.
So in my acting, I did TJ Hooker, Matt Houston, Simon and Simon.
I did a McDonald's commercial.
I did the new I Dream of Jeannie, Still the Beaver.
And those are kind of like the ones that still do.
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Can we get access to any of these?
I need to see some of these.
I have pictures of them.
I'll have to look up like, you know, with Matt Houston, that was like a show.
And William Shatner was not Matt.
No, no, no.
Sorry, TJ Hooker.
Sorry, Matt Houston was totally different.
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TJ Hooker was William Shatner who passed away.
I think we kind of reasonable in the last year or so, but he, they picked me out of
the kids that were playing on the school playground to play his partner that had been killed in
the line of duty's daughter.
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So he was visiting the school campus that my quote unquote mom taught at and was asking
about Sue.
And then I see him and go running up and he picks me up and turdles me around.
And he was just the sweetest man.
They were all so sweet.
Like on the airplane too, Sonny Bono was on it.
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Yeah.
And he used to, or he used to, he was so, I think he crushed on my mom.
I don't blame him, but he was sticking around us a lot.
And he was messing with me like with skirt water in my face and like do different things.
And there was a scene that I don't even know if it made it into it.
I can't remember, but where you're like waiting in line at the ticket counter.
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So I was waiting with my fake mom at the ticket counter and Sonny Bono was at the ticket
counter at the same time.
So that's really where he like was messing with me the most, but very sweet.
So I met a few celebrities through all the different shows.
They were always very nice.
Connie Celica, and that her, she was really sweet.
I mean, if you're this generation, 20 and under, you have no clue who we're talking
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about.
But yeah, that was a fun time of my life.
But I stopped doing it because Temecula to LA is really far.
And I just didn't have the passion to go all the way out there and then not get the job
so many times that it didn't last too long.
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I probably did it from second grade to about, probably about fifth or sixth grade.
And then I tried again later in life and same thing.
I didn't want to live closer and it's a lot.
It takes a lot of time and energy.
So those actors and actresses give them kudos because you get way more noses and you get
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yeses.
Anyway, do you guys have any questions so far?
I think we need to get together and watch all these.
Well, I'm sure there are kind of somewhere, but I wouldn't even know what episode or,
you know, I don't know if I could figure it out.
That's Google your maiden name.
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Oh yeah, they're not the family and the credits.
That's for sure.
I was going to ask you who's the most famous person you worked with before you started
saying some of them, but who's probably William Shatner then?
Sonny Bono, William Shatner.
Kind of think.
I mean, in the, yeah, I can't remember now.
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I'm totally drawn blank.
I'll have to go through pictures and maybe we can revisit it.
But I mean, I remember Connie Celica being a big deal back then too because I think,
wasn't she on like, I remember her name.
I can't remember what she was.
Greatest American hero, maybe?
Or I don't know.
The McDonald's commercial had somebody big in it and I can't remember.
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That was like Little House on the Prairie.
Love that.
You don't get any like, what's it called when you get little bits of money of something
replayed?
Or residuals?
No, none of that's being anywhere.
No, because like, going from, like I never had any speaking parts, like where I was the
principal actor.
That's where you get.
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Yeah, no.
None of that.
And then later, like when I tried later in life as an adult, like in my 20s, I got like
an eye contact commercial.
I got something else small, but I just see I didn't have that.
I didn't have that drive, passion, heart, what it takes.
I mean, I don't know that I have it now because you have to sacrifice so much, you know?
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Like, I'm good.
Just a dream of being a Hollywood celebrity and today, I mean, no diss on the Hollywood
celebrities.
I feel like seeing how they don't get to live a normal life is where I'm grateful I didn't
do that because that's really tough.
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And now with social media, your target and picked on and talked about it.
It's just like, I don't have skin for that.
I really don't.
I don't cry to see people to like, and if you don't just ignore me.
So, okay, so another thing that was really special to me in this period of life was my
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grandma and grandpa, my dad's parents, they lived in Rhode Island when they used to come
out and stay the winters.
Oh, sorry, I'm tapping my sorry, that's me tapping these microphones are really sensitive.
But yeah, they used to come and stay the winters with us, which was really special for me because
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they lived so far away.
And they're my Italian grandparents.
And so my grandma would cook for us and my papa would drive us, we call him Papa, he
would drive us to school and pick us up.
And one of his favorite places to go every single morning was the Swingin Cafe.
He used to sit at the counter.
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Yeah, today Dean Norris from Breaking Bad owns it, but back in the day, it was actually
Alyssa Rattan's family and Randy, they owned it.
They were three generations of ownership up there.
And so Swingin has a special place in my heart just because it makes me think of my papa.
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But yeah, he was a very, he was a very strong role in our lives.
And he used to mess with us.
He'd sit and tap.
Can I do it now?
Yeah, go do the little little little.
And he would do this and he would he loved horses.
So for him, that was like the reminder.
He reminded him of the horses running and then you'd be walking by and he'd go, hey,
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nine, ten, eleven.
So you stop and look and then he messed with us in the driest way.
It's not like he would laugh, crack up like he would just like be really serious and mess
with us.
It was really special.
This is your dad's dad, right?
Yes.
And my grandma taught us like five Italian words.
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She learned when I mean, she moved to the States, like I said, in the last episode when
she was sick.
So her Italian was very elementary school.
But that's when I learned my first five words.
I don't know that it really totally helped me later in life, but at least I had some
kind of familiarity.
What were they?
They were bonjourno because in the morning she'd wake us up in the morning and say bonjourno.
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And then, maane was bred and amore was love.
And five words, what were the other two?
Oh, grazie.
And bono not, they went to put asleep.
Not bad.
Yeah.
So that was special.
I was very proud to know those five words of Italian.
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So yeah.
Oh, another thing.
I don't know.
Like I'm just trying to.
We have little notes here, guys.
We're just very transparent and candid here.
So our little notes.
When I was young, me and my sisters, so I grew up with three sisters.
We would perform for our family.
But we didn't just do the sister.
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We also would recruit friends sometimes too.
So my mom loved to do productions and we loved to be in them.
So she, remember the video cameras that sat on your shoulder that were like the size of
a boombox?
Yes.
Yes.
She would film us.
Well she had tripod, at least she didn't have to hold it on her shoulder.
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She would film us.
We did Peter Pan.
And my dad rigged a like a horse.
You know the harnesses that would go around a horse like when they would pull parts and
stuff, it's a big like leather harness.
Well he had one who knows why.
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And he rigged that with rope into the trees.
So when I was Peter Pan and I was supposed to fly, I hung in the harness and he pulled
it on.
Awesome.
I love it.
Yes.
And then we had, and that's when we had a couple of friends in there that I still know
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today and see today.
And then we also did, well Nicole, my sister Nicole and I did that song Don't Go Break
in My Heart.
We did a music video to it.
We also did it to Uptown Girl.
This is back when music videos weren't, they weren't like, well actually to kind of like
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went away.
Like they came and then they went away.
But this is like when they were coming out.
They were actual videos.
And yeah.
On MTV.
Exactly.
And so yeah, we did that and we did, what was our, did we do?
Peter Pan and then there's another, oh Cinderella.
And my mom was the Bippity Boppity Boo lady with a tutu on her head.
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Like we didn't buy anything for it.
We just used everything we had at the house for everything.
But those are such great memories, you know?
You're like, I mean we love doing it.
But I think even when your kids don't love it to get them to do things that they, you
need to push them outside of their comfort zone and get them to do things that they're
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not totally comfortable with.
It's a memory that lasts a lifetime.
And it also created a family bond, you know, doing that together.
So those are really like special to me.
And then we would also, we didn't record these, but at Christmas time every year.
Yeah, my sisters would do like a play, whether it was, you know, Mary and Joseph, the Nativity
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Play or, you know, some kind of fun Christmas Santa thing.
I have a funny story about this.
So also my cousins lived here and they're younger than us by a few years, like five
and six years.
Back in the day, their mom, we did for a little bit as well, which I will show that too, that's
(25:29):
kind of crazy, but we used to take care of mentally disabled kids.
My aunt and uncle did at the time, they remember, or maybe we had a couple of kids, but they
went home with their families.
But my aunt and uncle had this gal, Joanne, but didn't go home to her family.
And so she spent Christmas with us.
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She was in a wheelchair.
I don't know what her condition was, but she definitely physically was also like, had developed
normally maybe cerebral palsy or something.
But I know that her limbs were kind of shorter.
And then she was blind.
She was the cutest thing ever.
We just love Joanne so much.
Well, there was this Christmas that we did play and we were doing like reading out of
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like the Christmas story or something.
So everybody was taking a turn, all the kids.
So we get to, so we're passing, passing, passing.
Well Joanne sitting between like one of us and another one of us.
So she had her, she was borrowing, I think, I think my glasses because she was being Mrs.
(26:38):
Claus, but she's blind, but she was wearing my glasses.
So she, the book passes past her and gets to me.
Well, I can't read it.
So I take my glasses off her and she goes, and then I can't see.
And we thought it was hilarious.
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It was so funny.
It was just so sincere that like, you just took my glasses and now I can't see.
But I'll tell you, those kids really filled our cups.
They were very special to our families.
Yeah, we had a little boy, which was the first one that we had in our home.
And he was so cute and we would dress him up super fashionably and take him.
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It was when I was a, I was actually a freshman in high school when we had him.
And he, my mom would bring him to the games and all the girls just loved him.
He was nonverbal, but he would get really excited during the games.
And yeah, they just, I feel like along the way, like that there's just always been,
(27:44):
I will say other people with life, like with challenges, physical or mental challenges
have inspired me all along the way.
That's what I'm saying.
Same.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's awesome.
I did not know that.
We are one.
I don't know.
That's really cool.
I didn't know that either, but it makes sense.
Yeah, it was, it was very, we had, we also had a very scary episode with one of the
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gals.
It's not her fall, but this is something that's very, it's crazy.
It was when I was in high school, but it was just my mom and me and my best friend at the
time, the house.
And this gal, she was a teenager, or actually she might have been a young adult even.
(28:31):
Yeah.
Cause she was going to a work program.
Well, she would go home to her family every other weekend.
And we didn't know at the time, but her, her mom would let her watch horror films like
Vicky, scary horror things.
And she, this gal, I mean, to say she was the sweetest thing, quiet, shy, always polite,
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that everything mom ever asked her to do, just amazing.
But this just goes to show, like a vulnerable brain can really be affected.
And we were home, I witnessed it with my own eyes.
All of a sudden I hear my mom and her in the kitchen, but it's not her.
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It doesn't sound like her.
And I'm wondering who's in the kitchen with my mom.
But I look from the living room and I see it's her.
She is like possessed and like hanging at my mom.
And my mom told me, don't come in here.
And I looked and I, it was literally like she was possessed because that wasn't her.
(29:43):
And she was to my mom and my mom was like trying to stay calm, trying to like talk to
her.
She tells me charity call 911 call 911.
And I'm just in there praying, praying, praying me and my girlfriend.
And what I didn't see because it was just like an opening into the kitchen.
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I couldn't see everything, but mom ended up getting her into her room off the kitchen.
When my mom said like she got into bed, but she was still like, I don't know how you say
that.
It's not a growl, but it's not a, it's like snuff.
Like, yes, it's like hissing, snarling, yeah, like that.
And my mom said like she was reaching for her, but it was like this protection was around
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my mom that she didn't get to her, nor did she like, she stayed where she was.
But then the police got there and came in at the very end and saw her and then like saw
it happen.
And then they started talking and it was like gone.
That's crazy.
Yeah.
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Like it's something you see in the movies and you might hear about, but like it literally
happened in our house.
And they had to take her.
And it's sad because I don't know like where, but my mom found out after that, when they
did investigating and figuring out what the background was that she would watch those
(31:11):
horror evil films when she would go home.
So it was like her little vulnerable brain started getting like programmed and so sad.
So I know, isn't that sad?
That's not really humor, but with our humor and heart, but no, I know, but, but it was
something that I witnessed that you like it's just one of those things that you just never
know what people have seen and witnessed.
(31:34):
And how old were you in this class?
I think I was, uh, I was in high school.
So I don't know, probably like 16.
Well, I'm sure at any age that would be just a quarter of a month, you can see.
It was.
Well, and, and it was scary, but also it was heartbreaking because I saw the police walking
her out and she was her again.
Yeah.
And that's just crazy.
(31:54):
I don't like it, it's hard to comprehend how and why those things, but it was real.
I can tell you that it was real.
So yeah.
So anyways, what do you guys have any questions about like Temecula back in the day or elementary
school?
Actually, I do have a question.
Okay.
Where was the first stop sign in Temecula?
(32:18):
I believe it was at Rancho and Yinez, if I remember correctly.
Because that was the only off ramp into Temecula was the freeway.
It was Rancho.
Yeah.
And I don't think that I don't, I don't totally remember, but I can tell you, I think, I don't
(32:38):
know if I said it in the last episode, but we used to walk, we lived up off of Rancho
Vista, if you know the area, um, you know where Rancho Vista is.
And it's above Vale Elementary School, actually.
It was the first, it was called Hill 27.
It was the like the first housing tract in Temecula.
They had 27 homes on it at the time.
There's more now, but when Brandi and I were in elementary school, we used to walk down
(33:05):
Yinez Road from there down to Tower Vista or like, or maybe Italia yesterday.
We would walk as elementary school kids without our mom and like, she's pretty protective.
I mean, she wasn't helicoptery per se, but she was pretty protective and what was over
there by it?
Was there a school or by where Tower 20s?
(33:25):
Well, the Tower Plaza, well, it had been Franklin and it was like, uh, kind of like a whole
CVS kind of where the pharmacy, there was a pharmacy.
We went down because they had candy bins and you could get like candy for a penny or five
cents or something and fill your bag.
So we would walk down, get our candy and then walk back.
(33:46):
And we may never see a car or maybe see like one car driving down to us today and it's
like traffic backed up.
Yeah, I would never, I wouldn't even walk down Yinez Road as an adult today.
No, I would never mind walking, you know, little kids walking.
Was Old Town Temecula like the street?
Old Town Front Street, was there anything there yet?
(34:08):
Cause I thought some of those buildings were pretty old, but yeah.
I think some of them are old and some of them were like replicas of old.
It was super small.
I mean, the bank was there.
Um, 1909 building was there, but obviously it wasn't restaurant.
It was actually, I'm not sure that might have been even later than that.
(34:29):
Um, but like I said, the swing in, I remember it was just smaller.
It was just like a couple blocks versus like a whole street.
And then you know, like we're veiled headquarters is right now.
Yeah.
I used to be something like a long way older.
Well, we used to go to Rancho Fruit Market that's no longer in existence, but they had
(34:50):
reopened it in Old Town next to the swinging cafe.
The fruit market used to be out Winchester Road out there.
Um, I mean, obviously there's way more streets than there are now.
So where it is today is kind of a different place than where it was that, but, um, yeah,
there was barely anything.
(35:10):
There was something else I was going to tell you guys about back in that time.
Oh, shoot.
I lost it.
Was there anything down around show California that is still here today that you can remember?
Hmm.
Or was that all farmland?
Yeah.
Well, I mean, it was so, so it was so little.
(35:33):
I don't remember the years that things developed, but there was definitely nothing like right
off Rancho except for ranches.
Yeah.
You know, so I mean some of the, like there's some really old apartments there now.
But I don't, they might, maybe, maybe by the time I got to middle school, I know there
(35:55):
was apartments across the street.
The ones across the street from Target?
No, across from, I think it's Maculah Elementary again.
Yeah.
So, yeah, I mean, we have to Maculah, if you don't know the area, it's Maculah Museum
has a lot of history in it.
Um, I mean, it goes back way further than before I was here, but, but there is some fun pictures
(36:21):
in there and a lot of the, like, the, there's stores or places, restaurants have old pictures
through the years, but to make it was a really great little community.
You know, in the beginning, my mom didn't like it, like being moved out to the boondocks
in the middle of nowhere.
But, but then it was like, well, we really got plugged into like a church here and then
(36:45):
got to know people and ended up loving it.
And of course, as I grew up, it was, it was, I mean, there was such small class sizes that
we all knew each other.
We were all really close and, um, I think that's so cool that you got to like, watch
like basically a city form while you were living in it.
Yeah, exactly.
(37:05):
Yeah.
We're not that old.
Yeah.
To be able to see the back, that's so cool.
Yeah, it is definitely.
That is a good point.
Yeah, it really is.
It's lucky.
Yeah.
I know it's, it's, it's really, it was like, it's bittersweet because back in the day,
it was just so special.
Yeah.
And now obviously, you know, when there's, there's good and bad with everything always,
(37:28):
but there's a lot of conveniences with the size it is today, but it's also kind of sad
because you lose a lot of that small town feel.
But I also, I always say like, we have a small town and a big city.
Yeah.
Because everybody really makes a point to know each other.
I mean, even when you look at like the, the people that had developed this city, the people
(37:55):
that were still involved in the city.
I mean, a lot of them have been involved in the part of it since the beginning and take
a lot of pride in it.
But it is hard to see new people move in and then not, not give it the same care and love
that, that you have for it, you know, there's a lot of tourism here too.
So there's a lot of people that don't live here that are here, you know, a lot.
(38:18):
Right.
Yeah.
And what, which yeah.
Well, and that's a beautiful thing.
I mean, especially for our industry.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I think it's one of those, we love that.
And, and I love it because when you have something great, you want to share it with
people now.
You want other people to love it as well.
You know, so I think, you know, it's just something that you have to, you have to take
(38:43):
the good with the bad and the bad with the good.
The way of love.
Yes.
Yeah.
So anything else guys?
How are we looking?
I have a couple other like, you know, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think,
I have a couple other like thoughts about like different things from that age group.
But I also, I feel like so many things run into like, as I get older.
(39:08):
But I will say I had some really great friends from elementary school and had some really
great teachers too.
A lot of the teachers lived in Fallbrook, which is really close to Temecula, you know,
and one of them, her husband worked for Pringles.
So I remember she used to bring us all Pringles all the time.
(39:29):
That was a pretty cool thing.
And then my sister's teacher lived next door to us.
Oh yeah, back in the day, I remember Jack Klugman used to live in Temecula.
I don't know.
Jack Klugman.
Oh gosh, he was on, he was a television star.
He had his own show.
(39:50):
I can't remember when it was called, but I remember when we saw him in the, it was like
I saw a teacher in the grocery store and that was a big deal to me and my mom saw Jack Klugman
in the grocery store and that was a big deal to me.
So that was pretty cool.
Yeah, I think it was so funny.
I'm not kidding that there was bumper sticker that people had on their like trucks that
(40:12):
said where the hell is Temecula?
But now everybody knows where Temecula, I mean, I think a lot of people know where Temecula
is now, wine has made us so well known, the hot air balloons.
Like you said, tourism in general, Temecula is a really special place.
If you've never been, you should look it up.
We've got Pachonga Resort Casino, which is the second largest I want to say hotel casino
(40:40):
in the country, second to Fox Woods, I think it is.
In Connecticut, is it?
I might be wrong, but that's what I believe.
Yeah, and it's a fun place.
They've got us, they're not paying me to say this, but they've got to agree.
Cool and spa and yeah, a lot of events they host there.
(41:03):
Huge casino for.
I don't know, it's a little bit about Pachonga.
It's an amazing place to visit.
I'm going to say that.
Yeah, so it's really cool.
A lot of the kids that I went to school with an elementary school, you know, they're
Pachonga Indians and so today they get the benefits of the resort and casino and they
(41:24):
deserve it.
They're all really good people on all the ones that I went to school with.
They all have like careers and taught their children very well.
It's a good thing.
So yeah, so what else do we have here?
We've got a little old town.
(41:45):
We've got obviously who said wineries, but there's a lot of breweries.
Oh yeah, breweries too.
We've got a lot of breweries.
Yeah, so to make it let's come a long way, baby.
Great restaurants here.
Yeah, really great restaurants.
I might know somebody that has a couple of restaurants here.
I don't know why I'm saving it all.
(42:07):
I know.
Saving the goods, but yeah, we do own restaurants.
I'll talk all about them later.
But yeah, we do own restaurants out here in Temecula.
We own Spongebobizaria, Gourmet Italia and Bottega Italia in Old Town.
So amazing.
Yeah, one's on the way.
Spongebob's on the way out to Wine Country.
(42:27):
Bottega's in Old Town and Gourmet Italia's kind of on the middle.
In the heart, yeah.
So we've spread our wings all over.
Spread our wings.
Spread our love.
Spread our love to all the areas.
Well, the scenery too here is beautiful.
So beautiful.
We have citrus, we've got avocados.
I think it's like a good place for people from LA come to get out of the big city.
(42:52):
Yeah, we have a lot of celebrities that come and stay here.
I don't think we're allowed to mention some names, I think.
We have to get approval.
I think that's all the podcast thing works.
I don't think all the ones I mentioned from back in the day even care.
Yeah, we've met a couple that have come out to visit.
(43:14):
I hope he doesn't mind.
He's swinging.
I think he's fine.
Dean's also a neighbor.
He's in his own town.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, but it's a really great place.
So you guys look it up if you don't know or are familiar with Simucula or haven't been,
check it out.
I encourage you to come stay.
(43:35):
You only need a weekend, really.
Come back no matter where you are in the country or in the world.
Make sure it's a stop for you.
Simucula, California.
We're on the border, the north border of Rivers, well, the north border of San Diego County.
Yeah.
We'll say inland.
We're the valley.
So, all right.
(43:56):
Well, I think that's it for today.
Next week we will be talking about, well, we'll be talking about like middle school and some of the stuff going on in there.
But yeah, I think in this episode, what kind of things did you guys learn about?
I mean, we didn't really kind of more of an informational stories.
(44:19):
Yeah, storytelling.
You know, it always kind of goes back to like your upbringing and, you know, you're fine.
This is where you get it from and that sort of amazing your mom and dad were.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So as we just kind of build the picture, you'll see them all along the way that there were ups and there were downs.
(44:42):
So, yeah, so this is, this is a wrap up for this week's episode.
Thank you guys for listening and thank you guys for being here.
And don't forget you can reach out on bumbershootcharity@gmail.com, bumbershootcharity@gmail.com.
(45:04):
And I still haven't looked up if there's a way through the podcasting that you can contact me, but I'm sure if there is, I will get notified of it through my registration of that.
All right, you guys.
Like I like to say, but that's not all we will see you next week for our next episode, episode, or next episode of bumbershoot cover last day also with humor and heart all of a sudden I have an accent again.
(45:35):
Bye.
Hello and welcome to Bumbershoot where we cover life's chaos with humor and heart.
(00:07):
Charity Prestifilippo here along with Tracy and Rhonda.
Say hello.
Hi.
Hello.
They're getting a little less shy each week you guys.
You're doing great.
They're, they are a little intimidated by the microphones but we're going to break them
of that probably in the next couple of weeks.
(00:27):
As soon as I get the other one, another microphone and they have both in their faces.
They'll get over it pretty quick.
A little shout out to Pogigliano Wine and Olive Oil.
Check out Pogigliano.com.
They are our sponsors for our wine of the week.
So thank you.
All right.
This week we are covering some more little chaos with humor and heart.
(00:53):
And this week is about my move to Temecula, California, USA.
So yes, I moved to Temecula in 1981.
It was Christmas vacation of 1981 where it was 80.
We cannot remember but I was in second grade.
(01:15):
It was Christmas vacation of second grade.
So if I was a great mathematician, I could probably figure it out.
So I moved to Temecula in 1980 and 81 Christmas vacation.
That's when we moved to Temecula.
And that is when they literally had a bumper sticker that said, where the hell is Temecula?
And I remember we weren't allowed to say hell when we were little.
(01:37):
We would say where the beep is Temecula.
So yeah, it was back when Temecula was like a drive through town for people that lived
here, like the original Pachonga Indians and the ranchers that lived out here as well.
It was home.
(01:58):
And we moved from Orange County, actually Irvine out here.
You want to know why?
Because my dad, you know, the jack of all trades or master of all trades.
He bought a lumber yard in Wildemar.
So Wildemar is two cities up from Temecula, the 15 freeway, I'll say north, depending
(02:23):
on where you're coming from.
It's a very small town.
It actually still is pretty much a small town today.
But yeah, dad bought a lumber yard.
Don't really know the story.
You'll have to listen to his podcast if he ever does.
I don't know why he actually thought that was a great idea.
But it ended up being a great idea because we are where we are today because of it.
(02:47):
So anyway, I do know that he knew the owner of the feed store next door to the property
that he bought and opened a lumber yard.
This was back in the day when there was no Home Depot's or Lowe's.
So you know, back then it was mom and pop, rolling shops for your home needs.
(03:08):
Out here it was a lot of ranches, so he ended up buying the neighbor's, he kind of was his
business partner.
I think the guy that owned the feed store next door got him up and going.
But dad ended up taking over the whole place and it was called West Valley Feed Fence and
Building Supplies.
So yeah, that's what brought us out here.
(03:31):
And I remember my mom not being real crazy about it to move out of Irvine into this
poedunk town, I don't know, that's it.
It had one stop sign from what I remember.
No stop lights.
There were no grocery stores.
We used to shop at Old Town Temecula Market.
Yep, it was just a little like, it was like a mini market, not grocery store, but market.
(03:56):
And that's where we shopped.
We would travel to Escondido or I don't think we really went north, but I think we usually
went south to go get like, go to bigger places like a grocery store.
But it was shortly after that they opened and I don't remember whether there was Safeway
and Stater Brothers were the first grocery stores that came to town.
(04:20):
But anyways, going back to like the one stop sign, literally it was far ranches, Old Town.
I mean, it wasn't dirt Roads and Covered Wagon's guys don't go crazy.
But where the mall stands today was dairy farms and it was huge out here, dairy farms.
(04:40):
And they still are like an Ahimut area, but yeah, that was big out here.
And at the time when I moved here, like I said, it was Christmas vacation of second
grade and there was one elementary school outside of the private schools.
There was I think a couple of private schools, Linfield being one of them that had probably
had 80 kids from kindergarten all the way to senior year.
(05:05):
But yeah, they had Temecula Elementary School and then they added a middle school.
So they made our school Vale Elementary and then Temecula Middle School.
So those are still around today.
The Vale Elementary School is where I went to Vale and then Temecula Middle is now at
a different location.
But I was the new kid on the block and it was pretty exciting to come to this little
(05:32):
town because it was like new blood, fresh new blood.
So I feel like when I got to school, the boys were crazy about it and the girls were not
the new girl in town.
But at the time it was funny because my mom put me in acting.
(05:55):
And so kind of basically when I moved to Temecula, I was also doing commercials and television
shows, not principal parts.
I was not a child celebrity, but I did do some acting.
So that got around campus pretty quick.
So I think that was part of the big deal early on.
(06:16):
But yeah, I remember in not in second grade, but in third grade, there was these three
boys that were crushes on me and Christmas that year.
So it was a year later.
They each bought me gifts, which is so cute for like that age to do.
(06:37):
I'll never forget, you know who you are.
If you ever hear, I got a roll on cologne.
Roll on cologne.
Yep, little stick.
I got a gold dipped leaf necklace.
And to be honest, I can't remember the other thing.
Sorry.
But yeah, it was really sweet.
(06:59):
And those boys are still friends with all of them today.
I don't see a couple of them.
Well, actually, I don't see any of them regularly, but we are in touch like through social media
and stuff.
Yeah, they ended up being really good friends.
And then I did meet my best friend back then, Tammy.
And we are still friends today.
(07:21):
Actually I feel like through social media, that's the great thing.
If you want to be friends with your classmates that you've got to keep up on their lives
and stuff.
But Tammy and I actually, she actually worked with me in my nonprofit for a little bit a
few years ago.
And we are moms to still keep in touch and stuff.
So that was, it was great to meet someone right away and make a good connection.
(07:46):
She was a really good friend to me.
And then something that stands out in elementary school, a few things do, but I think it was
third grade.
My dad took us on a trip to Utah because he got untangled in the pyramid schemes back
of the day.
That's a whole nother podcast for dad.
(08:06):
If he ever does one, I'll be saying that throughout all of his sessions.
Dad, another thing, but this was when Urban Cowboy came out and we loved Urban Cowboy.
And so when we were in Utah, dad was making some money.
It was a little red game and he bought us all his stern clothes.
(08:30):
And so we were so into it.
Well, you know how you do show, show, show and tell.
Yeah, show and tell.
In elementary school.
So I decided I came back with my Western outfit.
I wanted to wear it and sing looking for love to my class.
Picture that.
Yeah.
I mean, to know me is to know me.
(08:51):
I'm not kidding.
I've never changed.
Actually, I probably wouldn't do that today.
But I didn't even have music to sing along with.
And I'm not a singer.
Let's note that I'm not a singer.
I love to sing, but I'm not.
That's not one of the biggest blessings that God gave me.
So I sang in front of my whole class very confidently and it was a big deal.
(09:13):
I loved it.
That's when I probably should have taken singing lessons and really pursued that because so
good.
You're so brave.
I love it.
But I never did.
I don't like lessons, so I never did.
My mom tried to give me singing lessons, not her herself, but she tried to offer them
to me.
I just don't like lessons.
She tried piano too.
That was another thing I just couldn't do.
(09:35):
But I love music, and so it's silly.
I wish I knew then what I know now and really would have dedicated time and energy into
what I potentially ended up loving.
Another, I guess, story I'll say that my mom likes to tell, but it does give you a little
(09:57):
insight to who I am and how I've always been.
In fifth grade, we would win popcorn parties.
You'd earn it for, I don't even remember why, but you probably get so many points towards
something and then you earn a popcorn party.
So I won a popcorn party and I had all my closest friends, that first popcorn party,
(10:22):
but then later in the year I won another one.
So to be honest, I don't totally remember this, but my mom tells the story a lot that
I invited all the kids that never got invited to popcorn parties to my second popcorn party.
That's why I love you.
So I'm happy that I just wish I could have the experience because that's pretty special.
(10:51):
And like I said, I've told you that my mom's really like it's still a lot of who I am and
my mom and dad, good people.
And so I just feel like that's, you know, they, my mom always taught me about like God's
love and how to love one another.
So I think that's what, where that was coming from.
(11:12):
So anyways, that was pretty special.
And then another thing that was cool and that I think it was fifth grade, fourth, maybe
it was fourth grade, was that with my acting, I don't want to say career, it was no career,
but my acting phase, I guess you'll say.
(11:32):
I landed a role.
That sounds so much bigger than it is.
I got a job being the little nun on airplane two.
What?
Yeah.
So in the beginning of the movie, there is, it's actually still while the credits are
(11:53):
being shown in the beginning.
There's two nuns that walk out a man in a, well, no, it's a nun and a priest.
That's what it is.
The nun and the priest walk out and then they kind of separate and then the little nun and
priest as if were their kids come walking out.
And if you know, yeah, Catholic, like the priest.
And so I look up at my mom, none, and she kind of like fixes my little head thing, head
(12:19):
beast thing.
Yeah.
I really just posted that video, my cousin sent me a clip of it and I posted it on TikTok,
I think in social media.
I know about it.
Yeah.
Thanks for that.
And so anyway, so because this was such a small town, there was a movie theater.
(12:40):
It was a two screen movie theater.
It was called Winchester Theater.
And my dad takes my, you know, you have like a, like when you're in acting, you have your
head shot paper, I don't know what you call it anymore.
I can't even think.
Well, it's just a head shot, like where we used to send them to all of the agents and
(13:01):
tried it when you are not agents.
Like if your agent wanted you to apply for a job, they would send them your head shot
back in the day.
You know, there was no digital transferring of anything.
So anyway, my dad takes that head shot down to the local theater, which you know, my dad
too, and he's never changed you.
They're the biggest fan.
(13:24):
Takes it down to the theater, the owner of the theater and says, my daughter's in this
production.
So they put me in the marquee where the airplane two poster is and they put my head shot down
in the corner.
It says starring Temecula actress, Charity Comella.
So it really shows you how small our town really was.
(13:47):
Yeah.
It's very funny though.
It's very funny.
Yeah.
So in my acting, I did TJ Hooker, Matt Houston, Simon and Simon.
I did a McDonald's commercial.
I did the new I Dream of Jeannie, Still the Beaver.
And those are kind of like the ones that still do.
(14:13):
Can we get access to any of these?
I need to see some of these.
I have pictures of them.
I'll have to look up like, you know, with Matt Houston, that was like a show.
And William Shatner was not Matt.
No, no, no.
Sorry, TJ Hooker.
Sorry, Matt Houston was totally different.
(14:36):
TJ Hooker was William Shatner who passed away.
I think we kind of reasonable in the last year or so, but he, they picked me out of
the kids that were playing on the school playground to play his partner that had been killed in
the line of duty's daughter.
(14:57):
So he was visiting the school campus that my quote unquote mom taught at and was asking
about Sue.
And then I see him and go running up and he picks me up and turdles me around.
And he was just the sweetest man.
They were all so sweet.
Like on the airplane too, Sonny Bono was on it.
(15:19):
Yeah.
And he used to, or he used to, he was so, I think he crushed on my mom.
I don't blame him, but he was sticking around us a lot.
And he was messing with me like with skirt water in my face and like do different things.
And there was a scene that I don't even know if it made it into it.
I can't remember, but where you're like waiting in line at the ticket counter.
(15:42):
So I was waiting with my fake mom at the ticket counter and Sonny Bono was at the ticket
counter at the same time.
So that's really where he like was messing with me the most, but very sweet.
So I met a few celebrities through all the different shows.
They were always very nice.
Connie Celica, and that her, she was really sweet.
I mean, if you're this generation, 20 and under, you have no clue who we're talking
(16:05):
about.
But yeah, that was a fun time of my life.
But I stopped doing it because Temecula to LA is really far.
And I just didn't have the passion to go all the way out there and then not get the job
so many times that it didn't last too long.
(16:26):
I probably did it from second grade to about, probably about fifth or sixth grade.
And then I tried again later in life and same thing.
I didn't want to live closer and it's a lot.
It takes a lot of time and energy.
So those actors and actresses give them kudos because you get way more noses and you get
(16:48):
yeses.
Anyway, do you guys have any questions so far?
I think we need to get together and watch all these.
Well, I'm sure there are kind of somewhere, but I wouldn't even know what episode or,
you know, I don't know if I could figure it out.
That's Google your maiden name.
(17:09):
Oh yeah, they're not the family and the credits.
That's for sure.
I was going to ask you who's the most famous person you worked with before you started
saying some of them, but who's probably William Shatner then?
Sonny Bono, William Shatner.
Kind of think.
I mean, in the, yeah, I can't remember now.
(17:33):
I'm totally drawn blank.
I'll have to go through pictures and maybe we can revisit it.
But I mean, I remember Connie Celica being a big deal back then too because I think,
wasn't she on like, I remember her name.
I can't remember what she was.
Greatest American hero, maybe?
Or I don't know.
The McDonald's commercial had somebody big in it and I can't remember.
(17:55):
That was like Little House on the Prairie.
Love that.
You don't get any like, what's it called when you get little bits of money of something
replayed?
Or residuals?
No, none of that's being anywhere.
No, because like, going from, like I never had any speaking parts, like where I was the
principal actor.
That's where you get.
(18:15):
Yeah, no.
None of that.
And then later, like when I tried later in life as an adult, like in my 20s, I got like
an eye contact commercial.
I got something else small, but I just see I didn't have that.
I didn't have that drive, passion, heart, what it takes.
I mean, I don't know that I have it now because you have to sacrifice so much, you know?
(18:43):
Like, I'm good.
Just a dream of being a Hollywood celebrity and today, I mean, no diss on the Hollywood
celebrities.
I feel like seeing how they don't get to live a normal life is where I'm grateful I didn't
do that because that's really tough.
(19:03):
And now with social media, your target and picked on and talked about it.
It's just like, I don't have skin for that.
I really don't.
I don't cry to see people to like, and if you don't just ignore me.
So, okay, so another thing that was really special to me in this period of life was my
(19:25):
grandma and grandpa, my dad's parents, they lived in Rhode Island when they used to come
out and stay the winters.
Oh, sorry, I'm tapping my sorry, that's me tapping these microphones are really sensitive.
But yeah, they used to come and stay the winters with us, which was really special for me because
(19:45):
they lived so far away.
And they're my Italian grandparents.
And so my grandma would cook for us and my papa would drive us, we call him Papa, he
would drive us to school and pick us up.
And one of his favorite places to go every single morning was the Swingin Cafe.
He used to sit at the counter.
(20:06):
Yeah, today Dean Norris from Breaking Bad owns it, but back in the day, it was actually
Alyssa Rattan's family and Randy, they owned it.
They were three generations of ownership up there.
And so Swingin has a special place in my heart just because it makes me think of my papa.
(20:31):
But yeah, he was a very, he was a very strong role in our lives.
And he used to mess with us.
He'd sit and tap.
Can I do it now?
Yeah, go do the little little little.
And he would do this and he would he loved horses.
So for him, that was like the reminder.
He reminded him of the horses running and then you'd be walking by and he'd go, hey,
(20:55):
nine, ten, eleven.
So you stop and look and then he messed with us in the driest way.
It's not like he would laugh, crack up like he would just like be really serious and mess
with us.
It was really special.
This is your dad's dad, right?
Yes.
And my grandma taught us like five Italian words.
(21:15):
She learned when I mean, she moved to the States, like I said, in the last episode when
she was sick.
So her Italian was very elementary school.
But that's when I learned my first five words.
I don't know that it really totally helped me later in life, but at least I had some
kind of familiarity.
What were they?
They were bonjourno because in the morning she'd wake us up in the morning and say bonjourno.
(21:40):
And then, maane was bred and amore was love.
And five words, what were the other two?
Oh, grazie.
And bono not, they went to put asleep.
Not bad.
Yeah.
So that was special.
I was very proud to know those five words of Italian.
(22:05):
So yeah.
Oh, another thing.
I don't know.
Like I'm just trying to.
We have little notes here, guys.
We're just very transparent and candid here.
So our little notes.
When I was young, me and my sisters, so I grew up with three sisters.
We would perform for our family.
But we didn't just do the sister.
(22:27):
We also would recruit friends sometimes too.
So my mom loved to do productions and we loved to be in them.
So she, remember the video cameras that sat on your shoulder that were like the size of
a boombox?
Yes.
Yes.
She would film us.
Well she had tripod, at least she didn't have to hold it on her shoulder.
(22:50):
She would film us.
We did Peter Pan.
And my dad rigged a like a horse.
You know the harnesses that would go around a horse like when they would pull parts and
stuff, it's a big like leather harness.
Well he had one who knows why.
(23:11):
And he rigged that with rope into the trees.
So when I was Peter Pan and I was supposed to fly, I hung in the harness and he pulled
it on.
Awesome.
I love it.
Yes.
And then we had, and that's when we had a couple of friends in there that I still know
(23:33):
today and see today.
And then we also did, well Nicole, my sister Nicole and I did that song Don't Go Break
in My Heart.
We did a music video to it.
We also did it to Uptown Girl.
This is back when music videos weren't, they weren't like, well actually to kind of like
(23:54):
went away.
Like they came and then they went away.
But this is like when they were coming out.
They were actual videos.
And yeah.
On MTV.
Exactly.
And so yeah, we did that and we did, what was our, did we do?
Peter Pan and then there's another, oh Cinderella.
And my mom was the Bippity Boppity Boo lady with a tutu on her head.
(24:19):
Like we didn't buy anything for it.
We just used everything we had at the house for everything.
But those are such great memories, you know?
You're like, I mean we love doing it.
But I think even when your kids don't love it to get them to do things that they, you
need to push them outside of their comfort zone and get them to do things that they're
(24:40):
not totally comfortable with.
It's a memory that lasts a lifetime.
And it also created a family bond, you know, doing that together.
So those are really like special to me.
And then we would also, we didn't record these, but at Christmas time every year.
Yeah, my sisters would do like a play, whether it was, you know, Mary and Joseph, the Nativity
(25:06):
Play or, you know, some kind of fun Christmas Santa thing.
I have a funny story about this.
So also my cousins lived here and they're younger than us by a few years, like five
and six years.
Back in the day, their mom, we did for a little bit as well, which I will show that too, that's
(25:29):
kind of crazy, but we used to take care of mentally disabled kids.
My aunt and uncle did at the time, they remember, or maybe we had a couple of kids, but they
went home with their families.
But my aunt and uncle had this gal, Joanne, but didn't go home to her family.
And so she spent Christmas with us.
(25:49):
She was in a wheelchair.
I don't know what her condition was, but she definitely physically was also like, had developed
normally maybe cerebral palsy or something.
But I know that her limbs were kind of shorter.
And then she was blind.
She was the cutest thing ever.
We just love Joanne so much.
Well, there was this Christmas that we did play and we were doing like reading out of
(26:15):
like the Christmas story or something.
So everybody was taking a turn, all the kids.
So we get to, so we're passing, passing, passing.
Well Joanne sitting between like one of us and another one of us.
So she had her, she was borrowing, I think, I think my glasses because she was being Mrs.
(26:38):
Claus, but she's blind, but she was wearing my glasses.
So she, the book passes past her and gets to me.
Well, I can't read it.
So I take my glasses off her and she goes, and then I can't see.
And we thought it was hilarious.
(26:58):
It was so funny.
It was just so sincere that like, you just took my glasses and now I can't see.
But I'll tell you, those kids really filled our cups.
They were very special to our families.
Yeah, we had a little boy, which was the first one that we had in our home.
And he was so cute and we would dress him up super fashionably and take him.
(27:23):
It was when I was a, I was actually a freshman in high school when we had him.
And he, my mom would bring him to the games and all the girls just loved him.
He was nonverbal, but he would get really excited during the games.
And yeah, they just, I feel like along the way, like that there's just always been,
(27:44):
I will say other people with life, like with challenges, physical or mental challenges
have inspired me all along the way.
That's what I'm saying.
Same.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's awesome.
I did not know that.
We are one.
I don't know.
That's really cool.
I didn't know that either, but it makes sense.
Yeah, it was, it was very, we had, we also had a very scary episode with one of the
(28:11):
gals.
It's not her fall, but this is something that's very, it's crazy.
It was when I was in high school, but it was just my mom and me and my best friend at the
time, the house.
And this gal, she was a teenager, or actually she might have been a young adult even.
(28:31):
Yeah.
Cause she was going to a work program.
Well, she would go home to her family every other weekend.
And we didn't know at the time, but her, her mom would let her watch horror films like
Vicky, scary horror things.
And she, this gal, I mean, to say she was the sweetest thing, quiet, shy, always polite,
(28:57):
that everything mom ever asked her to do, just amazing.
But this just goes to show, like a vulnerable brain can really be affected.
And we were home, I witnessed it with my own eyes.
All of a sudden I hear my mom and her in the kitchen, but it's not her.
(29:19):
It doesn't sound like her.
And I'm wondering who's in the kitchen with my mom.
But I look from the living room and I see it's her.
She is like possessed and like hanging at my mom.
And my mom told me, don't come in here.
And I looked and I, it was literally like she was possessed because that wasn't her.
(29:43):
And she was to my mom and my mom was like trying to stay calm, trying to like talk to
her.
She tells me charity call 911 call 911.
And I'm just in there praying, praying, praying me and my girlfriend.
And what I didn't see because it was just like an opening into the kitchen.
(30:04):
I couldn't see everything, but mom ended up getting her into her room off the kitchen.
When my mom said like she got into bed, but she was still like, I don't know how you say
that.
It's not a growl, but it's not a, it's like snuff.
Like, yes, it's like hissing, snarling, yeah, like that.
And my mom said like she was reaching for her, but it was like this protection was around
(30:30):
my mom that she didn't get to her, nor did she like, she stayed where she was.
But then the police got there and came in at the very end and saw her and then like saw
it happen.
And then they started talking and it was like gone.
That's crazy.
Yeah.
(30:50):
Like it's something you see in the movies and you might hear about, but like it literally
happened in our house.
And they had to take her.
And it's sad because I don't know like where, but my mom found out after that, when they
did investigating and figuring out what the background was that she would watch those
(31:11):
horror evil films when she would go home.
So it was like her little vulnerable brain started getting like programmed and so sad.
So I know, isn't that sad?
That's not really humor, but with our humor and heart, but no, I know, but, but it was
something that I witnessed that you like it's just one of those things that you just never
know what people have seen and witnessed.
(31:34):
And how old were you in this class?
I think I was, uh, I was in high school.
So I don't know, probably like 16.
Well, I'm sure at any age that would be just a quarter of a month, you can see.
It was.
Well, and, and it was scary, but also it was heartbreaking because I saw the police walking
her out and she was her again.
Yeah.
And that's just crazy.
(31:54):
I don't like it, it's hard to comprehend how and why those things, but it was real.
I can tell you that it was real.
So yeah.
So anyways, what do you guys have any questions about like Temecula back in the day or elementary
school?
Actually, I do have a question.
Okay.
Where was the first stop sign in Temecula?
(32:18):
I believe it was at Rancho and Yinez, if I remember correctly.
Because that was the only off ramp into Temecula was the freeway.
It was Rancho.
Yeah.
And I don't think that I don't, I don't totally remember, but I can tell you, I think, I don't
(32:38):
know if I said it in the last episode, but we used to walk, we lived up off of Rancho
Vista, if you know the area, um, you know where Rancho Vista is.
And it's above Vale Elementary School, actually.
It was the first, it was called Hill 27.
It was the like the first housing tract in Temecula.
They had 27 homes on it at the time.
There's more now, but when Brandi and I were in elementary school, we used to walk down
(33:05):
Yinez Road from there down to Tower Vista or like, or maybe Italia yesterday.
We would walk as elementary school kids without our mom and like, she's pretty protective.
I mean, she wasn't helicoptery per se, but she was pretty protective and what was over
there by it?
Was there a school or by where Tower 20s?
(33:25):
Well, the Tower Plaza, well, it had been Franklin and it was like, uh, kind of like a whole
CVS kind of where the pharmacy, there was a pharmacy.
We went down because they had candy bins and you could get like candy for a penny or five
cents or something and fill your bag.
So we would walk down, get our candy and then walk back.
(33:46):
And we may never see a car or maybe see like one car driving down to us today and it's
like traffic backed up.
Yeah, I would never, I wouldn't even walk down Yinez Road as an adult today.
No, I would never mind walking, you know, little kids walking.
Was Old Town Temecula like the street?
Old Town Front Street, was there anything there yet?
(34:08):
Cause I thought some of those buildings were pretty old, but yeah.
I think some of them are old and some of them were like replicas of old.
It was super small.
I mean, the bank was there.
Um, 1909 building was there, but obviously it wasn't restaurant.
It was actually, I'm not sure that might have been even later than that.
(34:29):
Um, but like I said, the swing in, I remember it was just smaller.
It was just like a couple blocks versus like a whole street.
And then you know, like we're veiled headquarters is right now.
Yeah.
I used to be something like a long way older.
Well, we used to go to Rancho Fruit Market that's no longer in existence, but they had
(34:50):
reopened it in Old Town next to the swinging cafe.
The fruit market used to be out Winchester Road out there.
Um, I mean, obviously there's way more streets than there are now.
So where it is today is kind of a different place than where it was that, but, um, yeah,
there was barely anything.
(35:10):
There was something else I was going to tell you guys about back in that time.
Oh, shoot.
I lost it.
Was there anything down around show California that is still here today that you can remember?
Hmm.
Or was that all farmland?
Yeah.
Well, I mean, it was so, so it was so little.
(35:33):
I don't remember the years that things developed, but there was definitely nothing like right
off Rancho except for ranches.
Yeah.
You know, so I mean some of the, like there's some really old apartments there now.
But I don't, they might, maybe, maybe by the time I got to middle school, I know there
(35:55):
was apartments across the street.
The ones across the street from Target?
No, across from, I think it's Maculah Elementary again.
Yeah.
So, yeah, I mean, we have to Maculah, if you don't know the area, it's Maculah Museum
has a lot of history in it.
Um, I mean, it goes back way further than before I was here, but, but there is some fun pictures
(36:21):
in there and a lot of the, like, the, there's stores or places, restaurants have old pictures
through the years, but to make it was a really great little community.
You know, in the beginning, my mom didn't like it, like being moved out to the boondocks
in the middle of nowhere.
But, but then it was like, well, we really got plugged into like a church here and then
(36:45):
got to know people and ended up loving it.
And of course, as I grew up, it was, it was, I mean, there was such small class sizes that
we all knew each other.
We were all really close and, um, I think that's so cool that you got to like, watch
like basically a city form while you were living in it.
Yeah, exactly.
(37:05):
Yeah.
We're not that old.
Yeah.
To be able to see the back, that's so cool.
Yeah, it is definitely.
That is a good point.
Yeah, it really is.
It's lucky.
Yeah.
I know it's, it's, it's really, it was like, it's bittersweet because back in the day,
it was just so special.
Yeah.
And now obviously, you know, when there's, there's good and bad with everything always,
(37:28):
but there's a lot of conveniences with the size it is today, but it's also kind of sad
because you lose a lot of that small town feel.
But I also, I always say like, we have a small town and a big city.
Yeah.
Because everybody really makes a point to know each other.
I mean, even when you look at like the, the people that had developed this city, the people
(37:55):
that were still involved in the city.
I mean, a lot of them have been involved in the part of it since the beginning and take
a lot of pride in it.
But it is hard to see new people move in and then not, not give it the same care and love
that, that you have for it, you know, there's a lot of tourism here too.
So there's a lot of people that don't live here that are here, you know, a lot.
(38:18):
Right.
Yeah.
And what, which yeah.
Well, and that's a beautiful thing.
I mean, especially for our industry.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I think it's one of those, we love that.
And, and I love it because when you have something great, you want to share it with
people now.
You want other people to love it as well.
You know, so I think, you know, it's just something that you have to, you have to take
(38:43):
the good with the bad and the bad with the good.
The way of love.
Yes.
Yeah.
So anything else guys?
How are we looking?
I have a couple other like, you know, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think,
I have a couple other like thoughts about like different things from that age group.
But I also, I feel like so many things run into like, as I get older.
(39:08):
But I will say I had some really great friends from elementary school and had some really
great teachers too.
A lot of the teachers lived in Fallbrook, which is really close to Temecula, you know,
and one of them, her husband worked for Pringles.
So I remember she used to bring us all Pringles all the time.
(39:29):
That was a pretty cool thing.
And then my sister's teacher lived next door to us.
Oh yeah, back in the day, I remember Jack Klugman used to live in Temecula.
I don't know.
Jack Klugman.
Oh gosh, he was on, he was a television star.
He had his own show.
(39:50):
I can't remember when it was called, but I remember when we saw him in the, it was like
I saw a teacher in the grocery store and that was a big deal to me and my mom saw Jack Klugman
in the grocery store and that was a big deal to me.
So that was pretty cool.
Yeah, I think it was so funny.
I'm not kidding that there was bumper sticker that people had on their like trucks that
(40:12):
said where the hell is Temecula?
But now everybody knows where Temecula, I mean, I think a lot of people know where Temecula
is now, wine has made us so well known, the hot air balloons.
Like you said, tourism in general, Temecula is a really special place.
If you've never been, you should look it up.
We've got Pachonga Resort Casino, which is the second largest I want to say hotel casino
(40:40):
in the country, second to Fox Woods, I think it is.
In Connecticut, is it?
I might be wrong, but that's what I believe.
Yeah, and it's a fun place.
They've got us, they're not paying me to say this, but they've got to agree.
Cool and spa and yeah, a lot of events they host there.
(41:03):
Huge casino for.
I don't know, it's a little bit about Pachonga.
It's an amazing place to visit.
I'm going to say that.
Yeah, so it's really cool.
A lot of the kids that I went to school with an elementary school, you know, they're
Pachonga Indians and so today they get the benefits of the resort and casino and they
(41:24):
deserve it.
They're all really good people on all the ones that I went to school with.
They all have like careers and taught their children very well.
It's a good thing.
So yeah, so what else do we have here?
We've got a little old town.
(41:45):
We've got obviously who said wineries, but there's a lot of breweries.
Oh yeah, breweries too.
We've got a lot of breweries.
Yeah, so to make it let's come a long way, baby.
Great restaurants here.
Yeah, really great restaurants.
I might know somebody that has a couple of restaurants here.
I don't know why I'm saving it all.
(42:07):
I know.
Saving the goods, but yeah, we do own restaurants.
I'll talk all about them later.
But yeah, we do own restaurants out here in Temecula.
We own Spongebobizaria, Gourmet Italia and Bottega Italia in Old Town.
So amazing.
Yeah, one's on the way.
Spongebob's on the way out to Wine Country.
(42:27):
Bottega's in Old Town and Gourmet Italia's kind of on the middle.
In the heart, yeah.
So we've spread our wings all over.
Spread our wings.
Spread our love.
Spread our love to all the areas.
Well, the scenery too here is beautiful.
So beautiful.
We have citrus, we've got avocados.
I think it's like a good place for people from LA come to get out of the big city.
(42:52):
Yeah, we have a lot of celebrities that come and stay here.
I don't think we're allowed to mention some names, I think.
We have to get approval.
I think that's all the podcast thing works.
I don't think all the ones I mentioned from back in the day even care.
Yeah, we've met a couple that have come out to visit.
(43:14):
I hope he doesn't mind.
He's swinging.
I think he's fine.
Dean's also a neighbor.
He's in his own town.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, but it's a really great place.
So you guys look it up if you don't know or are familiar with Simucula or haven't been,
check it out.
I encourage you to come stay.
(43:35):
You only need a weekend, really.
Come back no matter where you are in the country or in the world.
Make sure it's a stop for you.
Simucula, California.
We're on the border, the north border of Rivers, well, the north border of San Diego County.
Yeah.
We'll say inland.
We're the valley.
So, all right.
(43:56):
Well, I think that's it for today.
Next week we will be talking about, well, we'll be talking about like middle school and some of the stuff going on in there.
But yeah, I think in this episode, what kind of things did you guys learn about?
I mean, we didn't really kind of more of an informational stories.
(44:19):
Yeah, storytelling.
You know, it always kind of goes back to like your upbringing and, you know, you're fine.
This is where you get it from and that sort of amazing your mom and dad were.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So as we just kind of build the picture, you'll see them all along the way that there were ups and there were downs.
(44:42):
So, yeah, so this is, this is a wrap up for this week's episode.
Thank you guys for listening and thank you guys for being here.
And don't forget you can reach out on bumbershootcharity@gmail.com, bumbershootcharity@gmail.com.
(45:04):
And I still haven't looked up if there's a way through the podcasting that you can contact me, but I'm sure if there is, I will get notified of it through my registration of that.
All right, you guys.
Like I like to say, but that's not all we will see you next week for our next episode, episode, or next episode of bumbershoot cover last day also with humor and heart all of a sudden I have an accent again.
(45:35):
Bye.
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