Santa Cruz High School Alumni
Santa Cruz, California (CA)
Richard Ameil
Santa Cruz High School
Class of 1966
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RICHARD'S PROFILE
| First Name | Richard |
| Last Name | Ameil |
| Graduation Year | Class of 1966 |
| Gender | Male |
| Current Location | Sacramento, California |
| Hometown | Santa Cruz, California |
| Relationship Status | Married |
| About Me | “I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even use it in the food.” Rick Ameil loves food. He loves to eat it. He loves the taste of it. The scent of it. The look of it. And he loves the excitement and the surprise of it. But most of all, Rick loves cooking it! His passion for cooking gripped him when he was about 7 years old. “My mother was a wonderful cook,” said Ameil. “She taught me and my sisters how to cook. But the most important thing we learned from her was: Food is more than eating. Food is for remembering who you are, what you are, and where you came from.” An entrepreneur, nonprofit executive, lobbyist, author, restaurateur, passionate cook, host of his own television show, “I Love Cooking,” and self-proclaimed foodie, Rick has an appetite for life. He owned and operated successful restaurants in San Francisco and Honolulu for many years. Because of his passion for cooking and food he returned to the industry in 2005 opening a restaurant in the heart of downtown Palm Springs, California. Rick is the author of a celebrity cookbook, Cooking with the Stars released by Barron’s Publishing, New York, in October 1999. Prior to his return to the restaurant business Rick worked in the nonprofit sector. His experience and expertise in fund raising, marketing and public relations allowed him the opportunity to work for many prominent charitable organizations including the March of Dimes, United Cerebral Palsy Associations, American Cancer Society, City of Hope National Medical Center, American Red Cross and the United States Olympic Committee. An eighth generation Californian, Ameil was born and raised in Santa Cruz, California. He received an AA degree from Cabrillo College where he served as student body president. He went on to earn his Bachelors Degree in Political Science from Sacramento State College. Enterprising and resourceful as a youth, Rick opened a roadside fruit stand during the summer months selling apples, pears, plums and wild blackberries grown on the family’s 3½ -acre parcel of land. He also staged numerous backyard circuses and carnivals, built forts out of bales of hay, and had lots of fun and adventures with his sisters and friends all while under the watchful eye of the family’s faithful German Shepard, Boy. Rick and his good friend, George Kenny, opened a neighborhood movie theatre in his garage featuring silent movies, live entertainment and even a snack bar. In junior high school, Rick started to produce, write and direct his own motion pictures. Filmed on 8mm color film and starring friends and neighbors, movies included Kandid Kamera, the Adventures of Jungle Jane, Moment of Fear, Goodnight My Love, El Espantapajaros (The Scarecrow) and many others. During his senior year at Santa Cruz High School, Rick filmed senior class activities and events during the school year producing a 45-minute documentary entitled “And Then It Was June.” Additional footage was added from the Class of 1966 graduation ceremonies and a farewell beach party of departing New Zealand foreign exchange student, Lance Cameron. During his high school years, Rick wrote, produced, directed and starred in a series of noon hour plays for the student body. Productions included comedies Ride the Wild Pie, Outhouse of the August Moon and No Time Like the Past; Escape, a drama about an escape from communist East Berlin and A Long Story; and two variety shows: T.R.A.S.H. (The Rick Ameil Smash Hit) and the Son of T.R.A.S.H. The shows featured Santa Cruz high student and teacher talent. Rick was also president of the high school The Hi-Lighters Drama Club, yearbook editor and school photographer. He played the father, Frank Gilbreth, in Cheaper by the Dozen for which he received the schools best actor of the year award. He brought down the house in Arsenic and Old Lace playing Mr. Witherspoon (Paul Lynde-style), the doctor from the local mental hospital. Rick’s first job was at the age of 12 as a paperboy for the Santa Cruz Sentinel (Route 147). He rode his bicycle, blew his whistle and delivered newspapers for over 6 years. He also got his first experience in the restaurant business at 13 at the Bar-B-Que Pit on the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz. Starting at a dishwasher (at 50-cents an hour!) he progressed to “French Fry King” and finally grill cook over the summer months for 9 years. Active in local and state politics, Rick organized a statewide effort---Young Californians for Nixon---in 1970. Impressed with his initiative and organizational skills, Rick was recruited as a White House Special Assistant by political consultant and advisor Lyn Nofziger. Rick was assigned to plan, develop, organize, implement and oversee a statewide voter registration and get-out-the-vote effort for the Committee to Re-Elect the President. The success of his project contributed to Nixon’s landside victory in the 1972 Presidential Election in California. Disillusioned with the direction of the Republican Party, Rick ultimately changed party affiliation. A descendant of los californianos, the original Spanish settlers who came to California, Ameil has had a longtime interest in California history and its early Spanish Colonial and Mexican Republic landmarks. His great-great-great-great grandfather, Felipe Santiago Garcia, was a Spanish solider and one of three master carpenters brought from Mexico by Father Junipero Serra and by Captain Don Fernando Xavier de Rivera y Moncada for the second expedition to Alta California. Leaving Loreto in Baja California on the Santiago, the group arrived at San Diego on March 13, 1774. Garcia and his wife, Maria Petra Alcantara Joaquina Lugo, gave birth to a son, Juan Joseph Garcia, on November 11, 1774 at Oso Flaco---an area just south of San Luis Obispo. Mission baptism records indicate that the child was the first native son born to Spanish parents in Alta California. During his lifetime, Garcia help build and serve at several missions including San Carlos Borromeo del Rio Carmelo, San Antonio de Padua, San Francisco de Asis, Mission San Gabriel Arcangel, and Mission Santa Barbara. Because of his love for the missions, his ancestor’s ties to them and his desire to preserve these priceless historical monuments for future generations, Ameil founded the California Missions Foundation in 1999, a non-sectarian, nonprofit organization of civic-minded citizens dedicated to the preservation, protection and maintenance of California’s 21 historic missions Eager to return to the restaurant business, Ameil relocated to the Palm Springs area in 2004. Founded in 2005 by Rick and Dean with amazing creativity, fueled by a love for great food and the local community, GRILL-A-BURGER Palm Springs quickly became the desert favorite for big, juicy, blue-ribbon winning hamburgers. They opened a second location of the popular eatery in April 2007 in Palm Desert. The Palm Springs location was sold in July 2008. Ameil is in the process of launching the Academy of Culinary Arts and Sciences, a non-profit educational organization dedicated to fostering, promoting, encouraging and inspiring appreciation for the culinary arts and food sciences. Academy programs will include sponsoring culinary conferences and workshops, producing educational materials and funding scholarships for aspiring culinary professionals. Rick’s advice on cooking: learn how to cook---there’s a world of food out there---try new recipes. Learn from your mistakes, be fe...(read more) |
Class of 1966 Alumni
→ Reunite with 54 class of 1966 alumni that have joined.
Steven Steven Smith
Class of 1962
Charlotte Carrithers
Class of 1969
Howard (allan) Ward
Class of 1958
Krystyna Mccoy
Class of 1989
Austin Bates
Class of 2005
Jose Fernandez
Class of 2003
Steve Hartman
Class of 1967
James Wilson
Class of 1984
Lara Croft
Class of 2002
Rafael Rodriguez
Class of 1990
Debbie Blake
Class of 1975
Robert Meadows
Class of 1959
Gail Bisbing
Class of 1970
Juanita Sellers
Class of 1956
Linnea Brown
Class of 1962
Melinda Szilagyi
Class of 2000
Yesim Yilmaz
Class of 2016
Diana Cuevas
Class of 1962
Oscar Warner
Class of 1980
Richard De Worken
Class of 1970
Mark Harlan
Class of 1977
John Beiers
Class of 1978
Nadene Thorne
Class of 1967
Pam Maier
Class of 1974
Recent Class of 1966 Reunions
Plan a Class of 1966 Reunion for Free
2017 Santa Cruz High All Class Bar-b-que
Invited Classes: All Classes
Date: Aug 20, 2017
Description: Picnic to be at Harvey West Park. Email:schsalumni@att.net Alumni office open 1:15 to 4:00 p.m.
CLASS OF 1966 50TH GOLDEN REUNION
Invited Classes: 1966
Date: Sep 17, 2016
Description: Not to be missed! Mark your calendars for the Class of 1966 50th Golden Reunion scheduled for Saturday evening, Septembe...(read more)
Class fo 1960 55th Reunion
Invited Classes: All Classes
Date: Aug 23, 2015
Description: We have chosen to all meet at the Alumni All Class Picnic at Harvey West Park on Sunday, August 23, 2015. Casual Attire...(read more)
SCHS Calamari Cardinal Club Dinner-All Classes Invited
Invited Classes: All Classes
Date: Apr 10, 2015
Description: 1st Annual All-Class Calamari Dinner fundraiser for the Cardinal Club which supports all Santa Cruz High School athletic...(read more)
Drive for Schools 2020 - Tickets on Sale NOW
Invited Classes: All Classes
Description: Drive for Schools 2020 Santa Cruz High has kicked off its annual Drive for Schools fundraiser, which features a drawing...(read more)
Class of 1966 55th Reunion
Invited Classes: 1966
Description: Santa Cruz High School will celebrate its 55th Reunion in 2021.