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FALL 2006
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Letters My siblings and I are products of CSULB as well as the children of Greek immigrants. I want to honor my parents for all they have done for me and my siblings as well as CSULB: Jimmy and Angeliki Contos came to the United States with nothing more than what could be carried in a suitcase and in their hearts. Jimmy came to the U.S. in 1963 to enter the tough restaurant business. He had never entered a classroom to learn from textbooks, but life taught him the most valuable lessons of courage and determination as he struggled to make a meager living from fishing in the Aegean. There were bigger fish to catch in America as he worked 14-hour shifts and saved his pennies to some day open his own restaurants. The dream was actualized when ground was broken for Golden Star Family Restaurants, but Jimmy also saw the dreams of having well-educated children who would never experience his struggles. With Angeliki as a devoted wife and mother, Paraskevi, Aristi, Vasili and Sotiria were added to the Contos roster of pride and promise. Jimmy and Angeliki saw the blessings of education through the Long Beach Unified School District where they saw all four children pass through Riley Elementary, Hoover Middle School and Long Beach Polytechnic PACE. Accomplishments continued as all Contos children attended Long Beach State University—Paraskevi received her bachelor’s degrees in history and comparative literature as well as her teaching credential; Aristi’s B.A. and M.A. are in English literature; Vasili received a B.S. in chemical engineering from CSULB and an M.S. from USC; and Sotiria earned a B.A. and M.A. in chemistry. Jimmy and Angeliki take great pleasure in attending graduation ceremonies, as more are due in the near future. Aristi is pursuing her doctorate in English literature at Claremont and Vasili is completing doctoral work at USC. As for Paraskevi, she is teaching at Hill Classical Middle School, just a stone’s throw from Long Beach State. CSULB pride did not end, as she was recently married to Rodney June, a CSULB alumnus with a bachelor’s degree in business and an MBA from Auburn University.
My name is Kenneth Boteler. I received my B.A. degree in social science from Long Beach State in 1958 and my M.A. in social science in 1960. I taught for the Air Force and North American Aviation prior to my B.A and M.A. I then taught for the Fullerton (Calif.) Union High School District from 1959 to 1989, retired, and taught as a substitute for the Fullerton and Whittier high school districts from 1989 to 2002 for a total of somewhere between 47 and 49 years in the classroom. My son, Dwaine Keven Boteler, received his B.A. in social work from Cal State Long Beach in 1989 and received his Army commission from the ROTC the same year. He has completed 23 years in the Army and was promoted to lieutenant colonel as of this April. He is currently stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Dwaine’s daughter, Crystal Yoonhee Boteler received her B.A. in political science this May. We are, therefore, proud to be able to say that we are a third-generation Cal State Long Beach family, even though I attended when it was still Long Beach State College.
Nice article on the four rowers [spring 2006], but you forgot another CSULB rowing Olympian—me—Monica Havelka, Class of 1978. I rowed in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea (6th). I was also a gold medalist in the double sculls in the 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas, Venezuela. I am just starting to row again. I will be helping the new Redding YMCA Rowing Club by teaching sculling this summer and helping to coach the crews. We row on Whiskeytown Lake, which is just out of Redding—great for rowing and great for fishing! I am currently teaching ceramics at Shasta High and am loving it! |
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