Nestle on the west bank of the Panama Canal, just past U.S. Naval Station Rodman off Bruja Road lies the enchanting town site of Cocoli.

Cocoli for many years was my home. In its hey day, Cocoli boasted everything from a clubhouse to a clinic dispensary for common prescriptions. There were four family houses, duplexes, cottages, single apartments for the bachelors, and also 12 family units. It was a bustling town like those carved out of the jungle of the Panama Canal building days. Yes, living in Cocoli was fun! I can still see it in my minds eye as if it were only yesterday. The main part of the town was on a mesa surrounded by a series of low hills to the west that led toward K-9 Road and Miraflores Locks. A portion of the town dropped away rather sharply to the west past the Cocoli Elementary School. It was affectionately known as Sleepy Hallow. Yes, just like the Halloween Tale we all had to learn in grade school. And on an spooky night when the moon played hide-seek among the low dark gray mist clouds, you might even see the headless horseman ride up the hill out of Sleepy Hallow on his shiny white horse and he would rear up...and we would all run home as fast as our small legs would carry us. It was really scary attending first and second grades at Cocoli.

You may ask at this point what am I leading up too? Well, were going back to the Future to the years of the late 50s.

Elvis The King

Cocoli Grade School