Wednesday, June 26, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
21
KIDS IN PRINT
Sponsored by Kid Made Camp | A service of The Nugget Newspaper
Ski Lifts & St. Bernards: an interview with the Fosters
By the middle school students of Black Butte School
Black Butte School students in Camp
Sherman, Oregon interviewed Sylvia and
Leon Foster, a retired couple that helped
make Central Oregon what it is today.
The Fosters worked on building and
managing the early skiing facilities at Mt.
Bachelor and Hoodoo Ski Bowl. Later they
bought Cold Springs RV Resort in Camp
Sherman.
They were really nice and answered our
questions with a lot of details. We docu-
mented what they said in class and took
careful notes. The following is part one of
our collective article. — Emily Bourdage
The Early Days: Mt. Bachelor
Mr. Leon Foster was very excited about
skiing.
Leon used to climb Mt. Bachelor and
ski down with his brother and a friend. The
snow was up to eight feet. “We’d start a
campfire and…in the morning it would be
beneath five feet of snow,” Leon said.
They did not ski at Mt. Bachelor very
often. It took a lot of effort to climb it. They
had skied at Skyliners up to that point.
Leon decided that he wanted to be
part of the Mt. Bachelor ski program when
it started up. He helped build the first chair
PHOTO PROVIDED
Mt. Bachelor ski area, circa 1960.
lift in 1962. He also helped build the runs
with a D8 Cat, a large tractor/bulldozer
made by the Caterpillar company. — Daniel
Yoder
Their Sweet Meeting
This story is going to be about how the
famous Sylvia and Leon Foster met! Bend
used to be a small little mill town, nothing
like the bustling city it is now.
Leon explained how they met at Bend
High. Leon saw her, the one, the only Sylvia.
Their sweet meeting made me and some of
my classmates tear up.
Leon explained, “We graduated from
Bend High in 1950 and we were also mar-
ried in 1950, in November.”
Leon told us, “We spent some time
in Southern California during the Korean
War, building airplanes for the Navy—and
that was the time we were needed in the
defense.” — Addison Russell
Living at Hoodoo
A long time ago Leon and Sylvia Foster
managed Hoodoo, the ski area near the
summit of Santiam Pass. Before then, Leon
said, “I will take over Hoodoo and run it.”
Sylvia and Leon’s family lived in the old
Hoodoo lodge. It was a four-story building
with 52 rooms. It was built in 1938.
They had five kids at the time, living
in the lodge at Hoodoo. They also told
us about their two dogs: a German shep-
herd and a St. Bernard named St. Santiam.
St. Bernards are very large dogs that are
famous for rescuing people in snowy
conditions.
St. Santiam did not like fur. Sylvia said,
“A lady came into the parking lot had fur
boots on. He saw those fur boots and took
off after them.”
Sylvia laughed. “He had her up on the
roof of the car, trying to get rid of the St.
Bernard.”
PHOTO BY TL BROWN
Weston Dean shakes hands with Sylvia Foster. His
class interviewed Sylvia and her husband, Leon,
about their life in Central Oregon over the decades.
She said that St. Santiam loved people.
Back then, there was a flat area at the base
of the chair lift, and people had to walk or
push on their skis to get back to the lodge.
“He would come up behind you and take
ahold of your ski pole or glove…” Sylvia said.
“…and Santiam would tow the people
back to the lodge,” said Leon. “One time he
was at the loading ramp and he decided he
was going to go up with them.”
The dog jumped into the ski-lift chair
with a skier. The skier pushed Santiam into
the net under the chair — then the skier fell
into the net after him. Leon chuckled, “We
had to shut it all down.”
Later a forest fire came to Hoodoo in
1967 and burned most of the trails. It burned
their double chair lift, which Leon said was
“the first double chair lift in North America.”
— Kellen Petke, Ace Chew & Weston Dean
Coming Soon... That wasn’t the only fire
the Fosters lived through. In next month’s
issue of Kids in Print: the Foster family flees
Hoodoo.
Our Reporters: Emily, Kellen, Ace, Daniel, Weston and Addison
WORDFIND!
Kids in Print Mission: Kids are the readers, writers,
and leaders of tomorrow. We’re passionate about
getting them involved with print media — as both
creators and readers. Expressing themselves in
their local newspaper empowers children and
teens, and connects them with their community.
Through educational events with our sponsor, Kid
Made Camp, the youth of Sisters Country learn
hands-on artistic, literary, and critical-thinking
skills.
T. Lee Brown, Kids in Print Page Editor
kidsinprint@nuggetnews.com
Jess Draper, Kids in Print Designer
jess@nuggetnews.com
Contributors: Emily Bordage, Daniel Yoder,
Addison Russell, Kellen Petke, Ace Chew, Weston
Dean, Naomi Bennette, Mac Maloney, Elliot E.,
Zephyr Sharp and Gusty Berger-Brown.
Want to join the crew?
Contact t@kidmadecamp.com.
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Hoodoo
Interview
Retirement
Santiam
Skiing
Skyliners