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SB High 1931 and 1957
updated: Dec 13, 2012, 11:00 AM
By Lynn Adams
I acquired some early yearbooks from SBHS. This is from 1931. It belonged to Edna Ludang who
married Bob Tenney the fire chief years ago. Looking thru it I recognized this fellow!
Legendary pilot and aviation pioneer Earle Ovington ran an airfield at what is now Santa Barbara Golf
Club. (Goleta Valley Historical Society photo)
Ovington, for whom the Santa Barbara Airport terminal is named, was an inventor and aviation pioneer
who spent much of his influential life on the South Coast.
Before moving to Santa Barbara, Ovington's diverse career included working for Thomas Edison as an X-
ray technician, earning his electrical engineering degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and
much more. Ovington made history in 1911 as the first American air mail pilot, flying a load of 640
letters and 1,280 postcards in a mail bag.
Ovington's local connections run deep. He operated Casa Loma Airfield, one of the South Coast's first
flying fields, now the site of Santa Barbara Golf Club, 3500 McCaw Ave. (Did you know that legendary
pilots Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh were known to fly into Casa Loma Airfield?) One of
Ovington's hangers was moved to Old Town Goleta and today serves as Santa Cruz Market, 5757
Hollister Ave. (Check out the historical marker on the front of the building).
In 1941, Ovington's wife, Adelaide, purchased Cold Spring Tavern, 5995 Stagecoach Road, for $2,000
and, along with her daughter, Audrey, founded and operated the tavern for more than 60 years. It was
their life's work to preserve the restaurant and it remains in the family today. And another bit of trivia
about Ovington: he was the first "commodore" of the Santa Barbara Yacht Club.
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Send this picture as a postcard
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Flight Plans and Path of ‘Birdman' Earle Ovington All Over South Coast
Send this picture as a postcard
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Senior Photo from 1957 of
Sam Battistone
Birth: Nov. 25, 1913
Death: Jun. 6, 1992
Business Magnate. He founder the Sambo's restaurant chain. The first Sambo's is still in operation on
Cabrillo Boulevard in Santa Barbara.
Family links:
Spouse:
Ione Isabelle Jensen Batistone (1914 - 2003)*
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