Edward Kelley Alumni Recall a Rural Rosemont

Like so many other Japanese-Americans, Joe Furuike and his eight siblings were ripped from the Rancho Cordova area and sent to an during World War II.

Unlike many others, they were able to get their farm back when they returned, thanks to the brother of Furuike’s principal, who watched their farm while they were away.

Alumni of the gathered Saturday for a , crowding around old photos and catching up on the decades that have passed since they attended the school.

“One memory I have is ringing that bell after recess,” Furuike said. “I couldn’t hardly pull that rope.”

The farm Furuike grew up on was located on what is now Happy Lane, and produced strawberries, grapes and cucumbers. It was adjacent to Mather Field, and is now a gravel pit, he said.

The event was organized by Rosemont historian , who displayed historic photos and memorabilia.

The attendees Saturday remember Rosemont as a very different area. Sharon Honda (Hayashi), who attended the school until 1954, recalled a .

“There was an almond orchard next door,” Honda said, pointing south. “This was all open.”

Her family grew vegetables on a farm near Mayhew Road, and their ranch house build in 1956 still stands on Matador Way, she said.

“The was part of our ranch,” said Grace Ishimoto, who graduated from Edward Kelley in 1958. “When they made the new Highway 50, it went right through the middle of their land, so the state bought them out.”

Russ Menke, 94, first started at Edward Kelley School in 1923. He recalled playing baseball, picking on the girls who attended the school, and watching pilots drop “practice bombs” at Mather Field.

“We dug up some of those bombs for souvenirs,” said Menke, who enlisted and flew 35 combat missions over Germany during World War II and was later a middle school teacher in Sacramento.

Menke also recalled the agricultural roots of the area. The farm he was raised on produced hops until the prohibition era, then switched to peaches and later grew alfalfa.

But most of all, he said, it was good to see the school’s history being remembered Saturday.

“I think it’s really great to see all these people out here and [the fact that] the school’s still being used.”