I HAVE SEEN THE ELEPHANT’S EAR. That’s what folks in the Old West said when they experienced something extraordinary. In my case it was the change of command ceremony aboard the USS Carl Vinson last Thursday. Commander Naval Air Forces Vice Adm. Thomas Kilcline chose the flight deck of the Vinson to hand off his post to Vice Adm. Allen Myers IV. Get this! Vice Adm. Myers is a 1978 graduate of the Air Force Academy. After the change of command, folks rode the aircraft elevator down to the hangar deck, which was decorated in red, white and blue for the reception. There was an ice sculpture and a large cake, both in the shape of an aircraft carrier. I can’t imagine I’ll be part of anything more impressive in the near future. YOU WON’T FIND IT ON MAPQUEST or in your Thomas Brothers map book, but every graduate of Mission Bay High School knows Buccaneer Boulevard. Technically, it’s known as Lee Street. Willie Skinner is a 1967 Buccaneer and, with the approval of the Mission Bay High administration, ordered some Buccaneer Boulevard street signs. Willie personally installed them under the Lee Street signs recently. Willy also allowed that the street signs are a lot higher than they look, or at least it’s a long way up if you’re at the top of a ladder. PAM MECKLENBORG enjoyed my nostalgia column of May 27 and tossed in some of her own, two of which were about restaurants a block apart on Mission Boulevard. Pam remembers the old car filled with plants in front of Krishna Mulvaney’s, where the new Beachwood is today, and the Spice Rack on the northeast corner of Mission and Thomas. “There were lines out the door for the fresh baked bread basket and the quaint old house environment,” Pam recalled. “No paved parking there. We walked but others drove from all over the county and parked on the big dirt lot surrounding the restaurant.” C. P. MARTIN CALLED to let me know that he’s the fellow with the “JU 6 44” license plate who waded ashore on Omaha Beach June 6, 1944. His job was to establish communications, but he couldn’t get his radio to work. He later learned that he wasn’t alone – no one could communicate over the air on Omaha Beach. DONCHA LOVE THE NAME WALLY SEAFORTH? Sounds like he ought to be captain of a half-day boat out of Mission Bay. The Englishman will be 90 next year and, after reading last week’s column, decided he’d like an Apple computer as a companion to his PC. He and his wife stopped by to pick up the eMac I offered last column. We’ll see how he does. John Fry may be reached at 272-6655 or [email protected]