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Ex Hawaii/Riverside Staff

pineapple

Silver Meritorious Patron
So why was Frank Walker com ever? Being too close to Bent?
I don't remember what the actual charges were. My recall gets fuzzier later in my scn history. I think this may be the result of cognitive dissonance. After the "glee of insanity" of the Dn Clear thing petered out, I was struggling mentally. I still believed in the "tech," but there was a growing sense that things weren't right.

I know there were cases, after the Florian period, of staff blowing Hon. Mission and complaining to Hawaii Org about conditions there. This went pretty far back, even before Bent took over. I think the Comm Ev was the result of something that had been brewing for a very long time. There certainly were "outnesses" at the mission and staff were sometimes abused.

When the Comm Ev happened I actually welcomed it -- not because I wanted to see Frank strung up, which I didn't -- but because I thought it might improve conditions. It DID lead to Renee getting routed off staff, which I thought was a VERY BIG improvement (she was psychotic, IMO), but that didn't save things. And then when Jeff arrived Liza and I jumped ship. (Or maybe Liza jumped ONTO the ship, figuratively, by rejoining Sea Org.)

@Scout, was it you who told me you revisited Hon. Mission sometime in the late 80's and there were only 4 or 5 staff left? Next time I was there in the early 90's, the building had been torn down and I couldn't find a new location. It seemed the mission had completely ceased to exist.
 
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programmer_guy

True Ex-Scientologist
Wow! René Walker was routed off staff in Honolulu?
She was a Div 6 reg at the Riverside Mission.
She regged people from the Intro Lecture to the Comm Course.
 

pineapple

Silver Meritorious Patron
Wow! René Walker was routed off staff in Honolulu?
She was a Div 6 reg at the Riverside Mission.
She regged people from the Intro Lecture to the Comm Course.
Yes. I knew that's what Renee did in R'side, and I'll bet she was good at it. She was also head of Div VI in Honolulu. The problem I think was that as the ED's wife, she outranked everyone except Frank, who was reluctant to contradict her, and she specialized in verbal interpretations of policy, wrong indications, and caving people in. She was probably okay in an environment where she didn't have so much power.

With one or two exceptions, the Hawaii staff were all very glad to see her go.
 

Scout

Patron
When the fond memories manage to surface, it is the people we worked with that are the reason the memories are fond.
Well I've figured pineapple out..
Right, about the fondness for the people I worked with. So helpful Pineapple that you know what happened to so many.
Also right about reaching a point you feel untouchable. Get pounded by E/Os, the Guardian office and other fear merchants and you survive, at some point you are no longer controllable. Like pounding iron into steel with compression and heat.
They can control you only with your consent..
Easy for me to say..... Never got a call. There is one person still there that knows where I am. Hey maybe I don't rate, but after more than 6 years I hoped to have left something behind.
See with Google maps that the building has been replaced with a skyscraper. Guess weight watchers is gone too. They didn't appreciate our loud exercises like yelling at ashtrays.

So what happened to Barney and Erin? Steve Uyematsu? And why was Frank comm eved?

I can think of some good that came out of my experience there that I use all the time. However I regret the worry I caused my parents and family. They deserved better. I made amends to them.
I remember your parents, Pineapple, were at the end of University ave. I hope your parents had more comfort because you were close.

Well I heard Mary and Bent are split up. Hope Frank and Renee are together... But I don't know.
 

Scout

Patron
I don't remember what the actual charges were. My recall gets fuzzier later in my scn history. I think this may be the result of cognitive dissonance. After the "glee of insanity" of the Dn Clear thing petered out, I was struggling mentally. I still believed in the "tech," but there was a growing sense that things weren't right.

I know there were cases, after the Florian period, of staff blowing Hon. Mission and complaining to Hawaii Org about conditions there. This went pretty far back, even before Bent took over. I think the Comm Ev was the result of something that had been brewing for a very long time. There certainly were "outnesses" at the mission and staff were sometimes abused.

When the Comm Ev happened I actually welcomed it -- not because I wanted to see Frank strung up, which I didn't -- but because I thought it might improve conditions. It DID lead to Renee getting routed off staff, which I thought was a VERY BIG improvement (she was psychotic, IMO), but that didn't save things. And then when Jeff arrived Liza and I jumped ship. (Or maybe Liza jumped ONTO the ship, figuratively, by rejoining Sea Org.)

@Scout, was it you who told me you revisited Hon. Mission sometime in the late 80's and there were only 4 or 5 staff left? Next time I was there in the early 90's, the building had been torn down and I couldn't find a new location. It seemed the mission had completely ceased to exist.
Not the late 80s but perhaps 83 or 84.... The last time I was in Hawaii. So long ago. Also didn't know about John Ruane.
I think about Dave Furey each time I drive thru his home town. He and I escaped a few scrapes in Hawaii w the locals. Big haole attracted some challenges.

Hey my son lives in Brooklyn now so I've become familiar with the area. Like Boston lots of diversity.
 

pineapple

Silver Meritorious Patron
- snip -
See with Google maps that the building has been replaced with a skyscraper. Guess weight watchers is gone too. They didn't appreciate our loud exercises like yelling at ashtrays.

- snip -
Well I heard Mary and Bent are split up. Hope Frank and Renee are together... But I don't know.
I think last time I was there it was just a parking lot. Was there a Weight Watchers downstairs? I remember a furniture store, maybe at a different time. If there was a Weight Watchers I think we missed an opportunity: "Want to lose weight? Scn can help you with that!" (Especially if you join staff. You won't be able to afford food!)

Yeah, I heard that about Bent and Mary. I read somewhere -- maybe not here but on OCMB? -- that Frank and Renee have long since split up. Frank is still active in scn, apparently.
http://www.truthaboutscientology.com/stats/by-name/f/frank-walker.html

Somebody I'm sure you'll remember, Bill Ruzicka. Bill joined Sea Org about the same time as Liza. Liza wrote me that she and Bill occasionally crossed paths at Flag. Apparently he died a few years ago.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/52971935/billy-leonard-ruzicka

Bill was from Verdigre, Nebraska, which had a population of only 500 people! He told me he never rode in an elevator until he was 14, and never saw a black person until he joined the army. I used to pretend I thought Ruzicka was a Jewish name and bullbait him about being Jewish. :) Of course where he came from Jews were as common as Martians.

I do wonder what became of Barney Barnes. He was more thoughtful than most, kind of your "thinking man's scientologist." I thought of him as an example of what a scngst should be -- but very few actually were. I remember Peter Baranet bullbaiting him about being "Mr. Integrity." :) On the other hand he was also very committed and had done some stuff for the GO... Last I heard ('80-'81?) he was heading for the Indian Point power plant in upstate NY to work as a nuclear power technician, which is what he did in the navy.
 
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pineapple

Silver Meritorious Patron
I see in the RIP section that Dennis Clarke has passed on. He was one of the in crowd during the Florian years. Think Liza knew him. She still with us?
The name Dennis Clarke is familiar, but it's a common-sounding name. I can't say I remember him. Reading the thread about him, he doesn't sound like a very nice guy, to put it mildly.

Is Liza still with us? I doubt it. She must have been about 60 the last time we saw her, which would make her 95 or so now. I would like to know how she ended up.

Someone who deserves a mention is John Rafanello. He passed away a few years ago. If I hadn't found his intro lecture so interesting, I'd probably never have come back. He posted here a little as "The Magic Thetan," but wasn't very well-received. His posts tended to be tl;dr ("too long, didn't read"). He got declared sometime in the 80's and eventually found his way into the Freezone. He apparently died still drinking the koolaid. I used to think highly of him, but I now think he was rather delusional. He thought he was in telepathic contact with LRH, and other beings, including Elvis.
http://scientolipedia.org/info/John_Rafanello
 
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Scout

Patron
The name Dennis Clarke is familiar, but it's a common-sounding name. I can't say I remember him. Reading the thread about him, he doesn't sound like a very nice guy, to put it mildly.

Is Liza still with us? I doubt it. She must have been about 60 the last time we saw her, which would make her 95 or so now. I would like to know how she ended up.

Someone who deserves a mention is John Rafanello. He passed away a few years ago. If I hadn't found his intro lecture so interesting, I'd probably never have come back. He posted here a little as "The Magic Thetan," but wasn't very well-received. His posts tended to be tl;dr ("too long, didn't read"). He got declared sometime in the 80's and eventually found his way into the Freezone. He apparently died still drinking the koolaid. I used to think highly of him, but I now think he was rather delusional. He thought he was in telepathic contact with LRH, and other beings.
http://scientolipedia.org/info/John_Rafanello
My apologies for the lack of editing.
Sad to see old timers like Hambone Hamre and others pushed to the side to fend for themselves in old age. Don't think I thought that far ahead. There will be quite a few more in next decade so it will be important to keep this site active.
 

Enthetan

Master of Disaster
A "classed auditor" was an auditor who had a number, e.g. Cl IV, Cl VI, etc. In 1982 the lower part of the Grade Chart got flipped around and Dianetics, which used to come before Grades 0-IV, got moved after them. Prior to 1982, a Dianetic auditor (HSDC or NED) was the lowest level of professional auditor and didn't have a number, so he/she wasn't "classed." Today a NED auditor is a Cl V. Prior to 1982 there was no such thing.
It used to be that people would come into Scientology at a mission, be given some Dianetic auditing, then be sent up to the Org for Scientology grades.

When they flipped Dianetics to being a Class V action delivered after grades, then all of a sudden missions were left with very little which they were really allowed to deliver. Which was probably the point. 1982 was also when the Mission Holders Conference happened.
 

Scout

Patron
It used to be that people would come into Scientology at a mission, be given some Dianetic auditing, then be sent up to the Org for Scientology grades.

When they flipped Dianetics to being a Class V action delivered after grades, then all of a sudden missions were left with very little which they were really allowed to deliver. Which was probably the point. 1982 was also when the Mission Holders Conference happened.
Well that would explain some things...Bent and Mary with some highly trained staff unable to deliver the lucrative services. That would stir up all the top missions.
Unfortunately that would never get explained properly to the ones most affected.
 

Enthetan

Master of Disaster
Well that would explain some things...Bent and Mary with some highly trained staff unable to deliver the lucrative services. That would stir up all the top missions.
Unfortunately that would never get explained properly to the ones most affected.
They would not like the true explanation either: it was harvest time.

LRH would do that periodically: allow part of the Scientology field to prosper through the effort of intelligent and energetic people, then grab the accumulated assets for himself. During the 1970's, a number of missions had expanded and prospered. They had accumulated assets, like the real estate they occupied (missions had been pushed to own rather than rent their premises). During the 1982 Mission Holders crackdown, they were forced to sign over these accumulated assets.
 

Scout

Patron
They would not like the true explanation either: it was harvest time.

LRH would do that periodically: allow part of the Scientology field to prosper through the effort of intelligent and energetic people, then grab the accumulated assets for himself. During the 1970's, a number of missions had expanded and prospered. They had accumulated assets, like the real estate they occupied (missions had been pushed to own rather than rent their premises). During the 1982 Mission Holders crackdown, they were forced to sign over these accumulated assets.
And Bent, to his credit, recovered the ownership of the Riverside property.
 

programmer_guy

True Ex-Scientologist
It used to be that people would come into Scientology at a mission, be given some Dianetic auditing, then be sent up to the Org for Scientology grades.

When they flipped Dianetics to being a Class V action delivered after grades, then all of a sudden missions were left with very little which they were really allowed to deliver. Which was probably the point. 1982 was also when the Mission Holders Conference happened.
So, after the creation of NED (grade chart change) were the franchise missions still delivering Life Repair and ARC Straightwire?
 

programmer_guy

True Ex-Scientologist
Here was a pic of the Riverside Mission building (after it was no longer Scientology).

Picture033.jpg
 

pineapple

Silver Meritorious Patron
So, after the creation of NED (grade chart change) were the franchise missions still delivering Life Repair and ARC Straightwire?
To clarify, NED (New Era Dianetics) was introduced several years before the grade chart flip. NED was introduced in 1978, shortly before "Dianetic Clear." The grades and dianetics weren't flipped around until 1982. (I got out of scn in 1981.)

When NED was introduced in 1978, it didn't impact what missions could deliver. I'm not sure about the impact of the grade chart flip on this, but my guess would be that 1) missions could no longer deliver the NED course, which now came after the Academy Levels, but 2) could still deliver NED auditing if they had NED auditors.

Those who were in scn more recently, please correct me if the above is wrong.

Note that in the 70's missions could deliver the entire processing side of the lower bridge from Life Repair to Grade IV, but could deliver training only through the dianetics course (HSDC and NED for the first few years), so there was always a disconnect between training and processing a mission could deliver.

Are there any viable missions left today?
 

programmer_guy

True Ex-Scientologist
<snip>

Note that in the 70's missions could deliver the entire processing side of the lower bridge from Life Repair to Grade IV, but could deliver training only through the dianetics course (HSDC and NED for the first few years), so there was always a disconnect between training and processing a mission could deliver.

<snip>
Yes, they could audit a PC up through Grade IV but not do training up through Level IV.

I think this is why the Riverside Mission had an L.A. Org extension nearby to deliver Level 0-IV auditor training.
However, that L.A. Org extension in Riverside failed to deliver internship (needed for cert) at each auditor training Level.
I know this because I was there at that time.
(This was the part of my bait-and-switch experience.)
 
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