in other words
december19
2019
19
The Good Ol ’ Days
By Tobie Finzel
First Christmas Community Festival
This month we look back just 41
years to see how Vernonians celebrated
Christmas in 1978. The December 6,
1978, Vernonia Freedom newspaper
announced the first annual Christmas
Community Festival, a forerunner of our
current Christmas in the Country Bazaar.
The event was planned for Friday the 8 th
(3 to 10 pm) and Saturday the 9 th (noon
to 10 pm) at the American Legion Hall
which was then being used as a Com-
munity Center. Local organizations and
businesses were encouraged to reserve
booth and table space to sell handicrafts,
fancy work, art, baked goods, refresh-
ments, a flea market, and local products.
Local musical groups such as
bands, choruses, and carolers were in-
vited to provide live music to accom-
pany the sale, and a talent show was
to be the highlight of the entertainment
Friday night. June Wilson (Note: Robb
Wilson’s mother) chaired the event with
the stated purpose of bringing the com-
munity together for an enjoyable holiday
festival, a fundraising opportunity for lo-
cal organizations, and a venue for local
businesses to display their wares. Pro-
ceeds from the festival were to help pay
expenses of operating the Community
Center.
Local Family Christmas Celebrations
The late Jenelle Wiggins was
a talented photographer and writer for
the Vernonia Freedom. In late 1978 she
wrote a series of articles about how local
families celebrated Christmas. The fol-
lowing two stories are reprinted from her
articles with approval of local members
of the families and Cory Colburn, Jen-
elle’s husband.
Christmas at Everetts
This Christmas has extra special
meaning for Janice Everett. Janice, who
is pregnant, eight months and counting,
thinks the birth may fall on Christmas
day. “What better present could I give
to my family for Christmas than a new
baby?” she asks. Her family includes
husband Gary Everett, three year old son
Eli, Grandma Mary Everett, and Janice’s
younger sister, Michelle.
Just in case the baby is slow
to arrive, Janice has been working on
Christmas presents. Her gifts are her
own creations, with lots of love, thought,
and time going into each one. She re-
members one Christmas when every gift
was hand crocheted. This year she has
spent many hours collecting old family
photos and arranging them into picture
albums.
“Christmas is a time to celebrate
our love for each other,” Janice explains.
“This year our son Eli will get to help
put up the tree and wrap presents. I
want him to learn to enjoy giving gifts
as well as getting them.” Three years
ago Christmas time, Janice was eagerly
awaiting the birth of her first son. When
Christmas day came and still no baby,
Janice tied a big red ribbon around her
middle with a note attached that read:
“Merry Christmas Dad, we tried!”
The Everett Christmas tree is as
beautiful as it is traditional. All the or-
naments are handmade by Janice. The
family strings popcorn and cranberries
around the tree and hangs peppermint
candy canes from the branches. Christ-
mas Eve is spent with Grandma Mary
and Christmas Day everyone gets to-
gether for turkey with all the trimmings.
Janice’s parents will be visiting from
California over the holidays and with
a house full of friends, relatives, and
hopefully a new baby, Janice wonders
if she’ll get around to baking Christmas
cookies this year.
Christmas with the Curls
Christmas comes early for Betty
Curl. It begins two days after Thanks-
giving when she begins playing Christ-
mas records to psyche herself up. A few
days later she begins to drape the outside
of her house with colored lights, 5,000
to be exact. It is no small project, espe-
cially this year since many of the lights
are worn and need to be repainted. But
then nothing Betty Curl ever attempts is
small. A good example is her family of
nine children, eight of which she deliv-
ered at home.
As Christmas approaches Betty
finds she spends more and more time in
the kitchen. While the cashew and pea-
nut brittles are cooling, she whips up
some divinity, red and green hard candy,
a nut log or two, and handmade cara-
mels. These goodies are wrapped and
distributed throughout the community.
Betty decorates the Christmas
tree herself. She readily admits to being
a picky perfectionist. If the kids want
a tree, they can have one of their own
upstairs. She begins to trim the tree two
weeks beforehand and sometimes is still
touching it up come Christmas morning.
The tree in all its splendor makes Betty
very happy, so happy that one year she
left it up until Easter.
Betty somehow seems to leave
color and beauty in her wake as casually
as a broom leaves dust. “I remember a
couple of years ago during the power
shortage when we couldn’t have any
Christmas light,” she laments. “It was
our saddest Christmas, the world looked
like a dead planet.” Husband Bob gets
into the act, too. Every year he dresses
up like Santa Claus and rides through the
town on the fire truck.
“Traditions?” asks Betty. “We
have no real traditions. We try every-
thing. We do hand stockings every year
and we used to put out cookies and milk
until Santa got fat and now we put out
a carrot.” It’s tough buying presents
for nine kids. One year (daughter) Deb
bought all nine presents with only 80
cents. Chewing gum and Lifesavers
go a long way. And then there was the
year Becky gave used magazines with
the covers torn off. It’s the thought that
counts. And Betty Curl is full of good
thoughts. She already wrote a children’s
book for the Cancer Society and is now
working on a cookbook for the Catholic
Church. In her spare time she writes po-
ems to her children. In her own words:
“There will be peace on earth when ev-
eryone learns the basic 3 R’s – to Re-
spect others Rights and accept the Re-
sponsibility to preserve them.”
From Virgil Powell’s Diary
Virgil Powell (1887-1963) was a long-
time resident whose family had a farm in
the Upper Nehalem Valley between Na-
tal and Pittsburg. Each year from 1906
until 1955, he kept a regular diary of his
activities. The formation of a telephone
company for the Natal area begun in No-
vember continued through December.
Saturday, Dec. 18, 1909: Went
down home about 8.30. Done
up the things and started back
up at 11.30. Got back to Verno-
nia at 1. Had a big time in the
afternoon. Certainly had a big
time in the night, tore the door
off and done a lot of throwing
out. A full house of people. Very
cold in the morning. Fine in
afternoon.
Sunday, Dec. 19. Bummed
around town till about 12,
then went down to Parkers to
see _______, got down there at 2
P.M. Very cold in the morning
but bright through the day. Got
back to Vernonia at 12.30.
Monday, Dec. 20. Went down
home and commenced setting
telephone poles about 1 P.M. Got
all of Elliotts set and about 1/2
of mine. Frozen very hard in
the morning. Got back to Ver-
nonia at 6.10 P.M.
Tuesday, Dec. 21. Went down
and set telephone poles all day.
Got them all set to Cook place.
Went over and stayed overnight
with Elliotts. Very cold till about
10 AM.
Wednesday, Dec. 22, 1909. Com-
menced setting poles about 9
A.M. and had them finished to
Pringles by 12. Did not work on
line in afternoon. Came back to
Vernonia about 3 P.M. Frozen
up solid in morning but fine
through the day. We will put up
wire tomorrow. Went down to
Woods to skate in the evening,
but nothing doing. Got back to
Vernonia at 10.
Thursday, Dec. 23. Bert and
I left Vernonia at 7 A.M. and
commenced at Pittsburg put-
ting up wire. Got down to Arm-
strong road. Put in my phone
after supper about 7.30. Stayed
overnight at Elliotts. Frozen
very hard in the morning but
fine through the day. Got El-
liotts phone in and we were
talking in the evening.
Friday, Dec. 24. Worked put-
ting up wire all day. Finished
down as far as Pringles at 3.30.
Left down there at 4 and got to
Vernonia at 6. Took in the do-
ings in the church and went
down below for a walk after the
doings. Got back about 1.30.
Snowed a little in the evening.
Saturday, Dec. 25. Did not
get up till pretty late. Fooled
around town all day. Went
down to Wood’s at 6.15 and
spent the evening, also stayed
all night. There was a doings
over in the school house also a
big fight. Pretty good day.
Monday, Dec. 27. Went down
home about 9 A.M. Sacked up
some oats for Wm. Deeds. The up
River Telephone Co. connected
on to our line about 3.15. Got
back to Vernonia at 3 P.M. Went
over to Spencers in the evening
to a party. Had a fine time, lots
of fun going home. Got back
to Vernonia at 1 A.M. Very fine
day.
Wednesday, Dec. 29. Went up
and cut down a big tree up
by the Tucker School House for
bark. Hauled down 3 loads.
Worked at it all day. Frozen
very hard in the morning, but
very fine day.
Friday, Dec. 31. Did not do
much of anything in the morn-
ing. Went down to Woods at 12
and Gaynell and I went over
and visited the school in the
afternoon. Got back to Verno-
nia about 5 P.M. About 1 inch
of snow on and snowed quite a
bit all day.
The Vernonia Pioneer Museum is locat-
ed at 511 E. Bridge Street and is open
from 1 - 4 pm on Saturdays and Sundays
(excluding holidays) all year. From June
through mid-September, the museum
is also open on Fridays from 1 - 4 pm.
There is no charge for admission but do-
nations are always welcome. Become
a member of the museum for an annual
$5 fee to receive the periodic newsletter,
and if you are a Facebook user, check
out the Vernonia Pioneer Museum page
created by Bill Langmaid. The museum
volunteers are always pleased to enlist
additional volunteers to help hold the
museum open and assist in other ways.
Please stop by and let one of the volun-
teers know of your interest in helping
out.
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