Man, you guys keep bringing the memories, very cool stuff!
The Flying Fools started at Hawthorne Park, at the corner of Prairie Ave. and El Segundo Blvd, about 1960 or 61. Any Saturday or Sunday morning you could find three or four circles going and probably 30 to 40 guys flying anything you could name.
Prior to that the kids that flew CL in my area would use local schools. I grew up in Lennox, an un-incorporated area between Inglewood and Hawthorne. We had one place, Jefferson elementary that we usually used. There was an old drunken woman that lived across the street who always called the cops on us for making noise, and the cops would show up and tell us to go and use another school until the old bag passed out and then come back. We did that many times, and the cops were always cool about our toy airplane flying.
Getting hooked up with the Fools was a great deal for a young teenager, and most of the members flew contests. They took the young guys, most who didn't have wheels let alone driver's licenses to all the contests in Socal. It was a great way to have fun before all of us started chasing girls, and forgot about flying for a couple of years!
Lawndale HS came about after we lost the use of Hawthorne Park due to noise problems. The school was situated right next to the San Diego Fwy. and the other side was industrial park. There were no houses close by then and so no noise problems.
Socal CL clubs I recall from back then:
Valley Circle Burners
Pico Rivera Condors
South Bay Piston Poppers
Orange County Thunderbirds
Bakersfield Flying Parts
El Cajon Modelaires
Hey Repp, give a call sometime, you know the number.
Dave