Do you know what Councilwoman Sherri Lightner and I have in common? We both attended Crawford High School, although she’s a lot younger and more attractive. The other commonality is that we’ve both run afoul of the dog lobby. If you hadn’t heard, a judge recently evicted the seals from Children’s Pool in La Jolla. Suggestions on how to convince them to move on included broadcasting the sound of barking dogs, which somehow would have cost $687,000. Mrs. Lightner apparently believes that real dogs might be a lot cheaper, an assertion that caused me to spit my morning coffee. Had I been asked I would have told her to never, never, never voice an opinion about dogs. Remember the time Eve Anderson weighed in on the problem of unleashed dogs at Kate Sessions Park, and the gifts they leave behind? My tongue-in-cheek solution involved Boy Scouts BB guns and merit badges. I got a very nasty note from the Bay Area Dog Owners Association. Not the South Bay Dog Owners Association – the SAN FRANCISCO Dog Owners Association. Needless to say, they lack a sense of humor. I expect I’ll be hearing from them again. Have you eaten pho? Me neither, but they say the Vietnamese Beef Noodle soup is delicious. By the way, it’s not pronounced FOE. It’s closer to FUH. Which is why I burst out laughing the other day on El Cajon Boulevard when I drove by Pho King Restaurant. (That’s right – sound it out). Laura Curry Bartlett was born and raised in Pacific Beach, but has lived in Virginia for several decades. There is a picture of her as a child, standing on the sand next to Crystal Pier in my book about Pacific Beach. Anyway, she sent me a little packet of photos last month, one of which shows Smith’s Bungalow Inn on Cass Street in 1928. Not familiar with it? You know it today as Café 976, and it hasn’t changed a whole lot. I put it on the cover of the June Pacific Beach Historical Society newsletter. Also in the newsletter are 1920s photos of Snyder’s Gas Station, where Big O is today and Jack’s BBQ, which – as of last month – is Which Wich sandwich shop. You may remember it as Café Crema or, once upon a time, Pacific Telephone on Cass and Garnet. There’s also an ’80s aerial that shows the old Pacific Plaza. Remember B of A, Swensen’s, Mr. G’s, the Fine Arts Theater and Firestone. Let me know if you’d like a copy of the newsletter. John Fry may be reached at 272-6655 or [email protected]