Bob Hall:  

Life Hello,,,my name is Bobby Hall. I was born and raised in the San Jouquin Valley area in California. Born in Visalia. Spent all of my school years in Porterville. My sister and brother-in-law still live in the house that Dad, Mom, little brother Johnny and I moved from in the fall of 1965. My mother,s family, including all 7 children, Moved from Gans, Oklahoma to the crop fields of California to escape the wrath of the infamous "Dust Bowl" that had made their lives as sharecroppeers intolerable. "Grapes of Wrath" could have easily been written with Mom's family the basis for the famous novel. Dad's parents and their younger, more dependant chidren were the only Halls that did not go about the same time. Fact is, Dad was in love and Mom moving 1200 miles would not deter him. Dad had 7 brothers and 4 sisters. 2 of Dad's sisters made the journey to eventually (actually pretty soon) marry 2 of Mom's brothers. I have a lot of "double cousins". 2 of Dad's bothers went also. All of them knew California needed laborers to work the crops. My parents and their siblings were the equivalent of the "migrant labor" referred to today. California was a great place for me. The teaching/learning process was more aggressive than Oklahoma, making my move to Bixby a lot easier. School was a cinch here compared to California. For example, when I joined Bixby Schools in the 8th grade, the math taught was the same as what we had in 6th and 7th grade in California's school system. Athletics was a different deal. Out West we played basketball on outdoor, asphalt coverd courts. 2 feet out of bounds was bermuda grass. We played flag football until you entered the 10th grade at which point one entered a huge school system. K-8 we had approximately 28 students in each grade per school. A teacher was always available for all students and learning was much easier than in Oklahoma. As a whole, California teachers were...Expand for more