in other words
august20
2020
13
The Good Ol ’ Days
By Tobie Finzel
Summer Fun – 1936 Style
Mildred
“Millie”
Thacker
Graves grew up in Vernonia and stays in
touch with friends from those days, of-
ten attending the Old Timers/Old Grads
picnics over the years. Millie was in the
Vernonia High School Class of 1953;
her late husband, Selwin, was Class of
1947. Last winter she sent some of her
writings, one of which we saved for
this month due to its timely subject. I
reprint it with her permission. She re-
cently emailed us of her deep sadness at
the loss of her dear friend and school-
mate, Claudine East, whose passing we
all mourn.
THE SEA… BY THE BEAUTIFUL SEA
In the 1920s while my parents,
Wilbur and Laura Thacker, were
living in Scofield, Oregon, and later
in Vernonia, they would often take
the train to go to the beach, usually
to Pacific City and Oceanside. With
the advent of the automobile and after
purchasing one of their own, they
began going to the beach to camp
during summer shutdowns that were
common in the logging industry due to
the danger of forest fires because of dry
weather and low humidity in the woods.
There was little vegetation at
the beach and drifting sand was often
a problem, at times even causing small
lakes to disappear. Different areas of
the coast tried a variety of plantings
to stabilize the sand but most met with
little success until years later. One
means that went awry was the planting
of gorse (a Scotch broom like plant)
which resulted in the destruction by fire
of Bandon, Oregon in 1936.
My parents and others traveled
on corduroy roads to a small lake
(then unnamed) not far from the beach
near Hammond, Oregon. In the area
in which we camped near the lake, for
some reason, probably an underground
spring or maybe one of the covered
underground “used to be” lakes, there
was a wonderful grove of Alder trees.
It was like an oasis in the desert, as
it provided shade in the heat of the
summer for us and for our dark green
canvas tents which became like bake-
ovens during daylight hours. We loved
this area and considered ourselves
fortunate to have access to it. We
always referred to this spot as The
Alders. At that time the lake had no
name, as far as we knew, but later the
lake would be known as Coffenbury
Lake and be an important part of Fort
Stevens State Park. There were no fish
in the lake, but it was used as a spot
for obtaining water for washing dishes,
bathing and other household uses by
those who were camping there.
It was an effort to get to The
Alders, but both of my parents loved the
beach and the camaraderie of friends.
Some of their friends who lived at or
near the beach at Hammond would
leave the comfort of their own beds at
home to join them there. These friends
would often set up camp in advance
of the arrivals of those who travelled
longer distances, thus reserving a spot
for those arriving later.
During the closures of the
woods, often The Alders became sort of
a reunion for loggers. People often said
that during shut-downs, you would find
half the population of Vernonia at the
beach and many of those at the beach
would be at or near the lake. The early-
comers or those most fortunate had
a spot at The Alders, the best of both
worlds… the water and waves of the
Pacific Ocean and the cool, clear water
of the lake and of course, the shady
canopy of The Alders.
The ocean became our dinner
table, the source of food, such as
clams, crabs, mussels, and oysters,
and a variety of fish for families who
were feeling the pinch of restricted
incomes. Most families had gardens at
home, so between the vegetables from
the gardens and home canned food
which they brought along and with
the additional bounty of the sea, the
seafood, they ate very well indeed.
In typical fashion, they, the
loggers of Vernonia, “rolled with the
punches,” so to speak, and turned the
lay-off into a vacation. It undoubtedly
was not much of a vacation for the
women in the family who spent a good
portion of the day canning the seafood
obtained on a wood-burning stove on
the beach.
The late evenings were spent
around the campfire with lively music,
singing, and storytelling. It was the
best of times for a young girl innocent
of the struggles of survival who was
transformed from a country girl to
living in a close-knit community of
loving friends and relatives.
From Virgil Powell’s Diary
Virgil Powell was a long-time
resident who had a farm in the Upper
Nehalem Valley between Natal and Pitts-
burg. Each year from 1906 until 1955,
he kept a regular diary of his activities.
He was on Fire Patrol the hot August of
1910. There are some interesting com-
ments about burning slashing during the
high fire danger that sound like a party
went on while tending to the slash burn.
Friday, Aug. 12, 1910. Started
up pretty early on the fire ride.
Got back home at 1 P.M. Did
not do much of anything in the
afternoon. Started up at 6.15
P.M. and took Edna for a buggy
ride. We went to Vernonia then
down East side of river to Pitts-
burg and back to Mellingers.
Stopped in the covered bridge
for a while. Certainly had a
dandy time. Got back home at
11.20. Very hot all day.
Saturday, Aug. 13. Did not
do much of anything in the
morning. Went up to Vernonia
in the buggy about 12.30 and
stayed for camp meeting. Not
much of a crowd out. Got back
home at 10.30. Sprinkled a
little in the afternoon.
Monday, Aug. 15. Did not get
up very early. Called Edna
up in the morning. Will go
up Rock Creek tomorrow.
Went down the river about 2
1/2 miles horse-back in the
morning. Rained quite a
little for 2 or 3 hours in the
morning. Rode the colt around
quite a bit in the afternoon.
Tuesday, Aug. 16. Took two
horses up and Edna took Pit
and went up to Pettijohns. I
went up as far as Ruds then
she went on up alone. I came
back and went up to Placke to
get a brace for my buggy fixed.
Got back home at 7 P.M. Had a
dandy trip. Pretty hot all day.
Expect to go up to Pettijohn’s
again tomorrow night.
Wednesday, Aug. 17. Did
not do much of anything
any of the day. Started up to
Pettijohns at 5 P.M. and got
up there at 7. Edna and I
started back down about 7.45.
Came down to Vernonia and
fooled around a few minutes
and then came on down to
Mellingers. Got home at 12.
Certainly had a dandy time.
Edna rode Pit and I Lad. This
is my first trip up Rock Creek
this far. Pretty hot all day.
Friday, Aug. 19. Jack Ray
came up and cut grain all
day. We worked till about 7.15
P.M. Got all cut and shocked
that was ripe which was about
8 acres. Awful hot all day.
Was supposed to have gone
up the river for a drive this
evening but could not make
connections.
Tuesday, Aug. 23. Started up
on my fire ride at 7.45 A.M. Got
up to Mellingers and Edna was
there to go out to Clatskanie
with Keasey. Went on up and
looked at a slashing. Not extra
warm any of the day. Got home
at 12.45 P.M.
Wednesday, Aug. 24. Went
off on my fire patrol and did
not get back till about 3 P.M.
Went up to camp meeting in
the evening. Started up at
6 and got home about 12.
Awful windy all day. A big
fire burning between Mist and
Clatskanie.
Thursday, Aug. 25. Went up
above early in the morning
and looked over Mellingers
slashing. Went on up around
by Crooked Creek and got
home about 1 P.M. Went up in
the evening and burned the
slashing. Pretty good sized
crowd there. Stayed till 11.
Had a dandy time after the
slashing was burned. Very
smoky all day.
Sunday, Aug. 28. Was raining
in the morning so I did not go
out on Fire Patrol. Received a
telephone message from Astoria
about 11 A.M. Will and I left
for Clatskanie at 3.45 and got
out at 7 P.M. Saw Grady and
sister on the road. Took the
evening train and went down
to Astoria. Got down there at
10.30. Saw Grace after we got
there.
Monday, Aug. 29. Left Astoria
at 8.30 A.M. Henry, Myrtle and
Grace went on to Portland and
I got off at Clatskanie. Hitched
up and got home at 2.15 P.M.
Pretty warm most of the day.
The Vernonia Pioneer Museum is located
at 511 E. Bridge Street and is normally
open all year from 1 to 4 pm on Satur-
days and Sundays (excluding national
holidays, Easter and Mothers’ Day.)
There is no charge for admission, but
donations 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
and our page on Vernonia Hands on
Art website, www.vernoniahandsonart.
org. 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 volunteers know of your interest in
helping out.
TOO BUSY?
Call your LOCAL bookkeeper
R
Y
OLL
A
P
PLUS LLC
Edi Sheldon 503-429-1819
edisheldon@gmail.com
Vernonia’s Voice is
published twice each month
on the 1 st and 3 rd Thursday.
Look for our next issue on
September 3.
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