Applegater
Spring 2011 21
BACK IN TIME
A special grade-school friend
By EvElyn ByrnE Williams WiTH JanEEn saTHrE
W
hen I started grade
school at Beaver Creek
School, my cousin
Douglas McKee and a distant cousin of
ours, Marcene McKee where the only first
graders. Marcene and her family moved to
Jacksonville before I was in second grade
and when a Walter Offenbacher started
school he and Douglas got along right
well. I missed having a girl friend in my
class. When the boys started bringing toy
trucks to school and making roadways on
the school’s hillside I felt very left out, it
looked to be so much fun.
My mother surprised me one day
with a little toy pick-up she had bought
when she was shopping in Medford. It
was bright red with white wheels. (It is
the only toy I remember her buying) I
was so happy to take it to school and show
everyone, but chose to make my own roads
on the hillside because I figured the boys
didn’t want me in their territory. I don’t
remember any other girls joining me.
Elsie Dietrick was her name and
the toy car bit was over by the time Elsie
joined us in the fourth grade. Her family
came here in 1934 during the Depression
and moved nearby, into a small log cabin,
on the first mining claim up Palmer Creek.
She had two brothers, Loren, older than
her and Harry Jr., the youngest. This was
the first family with children during that
time to live on Palmer Creek. There were
quite a few other miners up there but I
only remember two who had wives; the
rest were bachelors.
It is interesting how well Elsie and I
got along. We never had any disagreement
as most children do some times. We liked
doing the same things and our teacher
would let us study together away from
the other students if we had finished our
homework. We could go into the library
room or the girls coat room, our favorite
place, where we would go into a small
closet and sit on the top shelf to look out
the small high window.
It didn’t take long for Elsie’s family
to get acquainted with mine. Her parents,
Harry and Hilda, liked to play a card game,
called Pedro, with my folks. The family
would walk down some evenings before
dark to have some enjoyable card games.
The adults played in the living room with
the door closed and we kids played cards
and other games at the kitchen table. We
were cautioned to not “rough house” be-
cause kerosene lamps were to be protected
as well as the rest of the kitchen. We had
so much fun and the time seemed to go
too fast before they had to leave for home.
Often times, Elsie was asked to
stay all night with me, like a Friday after
school. One Friday is quite memorable! I
decided we needed a special treat after the
mile walk home from school. A hunger for
some candy resulted in us making our own.
Some powdered sugar and butter blended
together with some red food coloring to
get a luscious pink candy. Even though
it was before the evening meal, we ate all
we could hold. Sometime in the middle
of the night, I became very ill and was
unable to keep from throwing up over
the side of the bed. Of course, this woke
Elsie up and I was so embarrassed to find
Elsie’s shoes the target of my distress. My
mother had to clean everything up so no
one got much sleep that night. To this day
I cannot stand the sight of any kind of pink
candy or frosting.
I don’t know how Elsie was able to
forgive me or if her shoes were ever the
same, however, she did invite me to stay
all night with her which pleased me. I so
enjoyed being in the one-room log cabin
as it was the first time I had ever been
inside one. It seemed so cozy with that
nice family. I prayed that I would not
eat something to cause another nighttime
episode. Of course it was difficult for Elsie
and I to go to sleep and not disturb her
family with our giggles. I don’t recall how
all the beds were arranged in such a small
area. In those times one had to make do.
My uncle, Ernest McKee, got word
to us that his family was moving from
Klamath Falls to Cottage Grove, Oregon.
They had a player piano they did not
want to take with them and he said my
folks could have it for $50.00. During
the Depression, that was a lot of money
but my dad thought it would be especially
nice for my sister and I to learn to play. I
don’t know how he was able to get that
much money but since he was known as
“honest John” I am sure he didn’t steal it.
Anyway, dad contacted Mr. Dietrick, who
had a fairly new pick-up and they went to
Klamath Falls for that wonderful piano. It
had some piano rolls with it so our house
was constantly being filled with the roller
music or our own terrible playing. (Mom
still has this piano and the rolls which I
remember playing as I was growing up. J.S.)
It didn’t take long for our closest
neighbor, miner Bill Oats, to hear about
our musical addition. He was English and
we thought his name was Mr. Bloats when
he first introduced himself. It took some
time before we found out it wasn’t Bloats.
He had built a cabin at the far end of our
field which belonged to my grandfather,
Amos McKee, who let the miners build on
his properties in return for a percentage of
gold they may find and also to help him
during haying season. One day he came to
see our piano and sat down and started to
play. To our amazement he played classical
and other songs we knew. How I wish we
had asked him about his background as it
was obvious that he had some formal train-
ing. In those days it wasn’t proper to pry.
Elsie was here for three more years,
finishing the seventh grade at Beaver Creek
School. The family moved to Ruch, prob-
ably for her older brother to ride the bus
into Jacksonville for high school. They
lived in the old dance hall that Cap Ruch
had built in 1900. Elsie finished the
eighth grade there at Ruch and graduated
from Jacksonville High, while I graduated
from Medford High. Her folks eventually
moved to Dunsmuir, California and com-
munication with Elsie got less and less.
We both married and were kept busy with
household duties and raising our children.
However, we never forgot each other.
When Elsie was living in Eugene,
Oregon, and her mother, Hilda, was liv-
ing in Shady Cove, Oregon they came to
see me. It was a wonderful surprise which
brought back such wonderful memories.
At Christmas time, we share our love for
each other along with our happenings dur-
ing the past year. Sometimes there is much
happiness and sometimes much sorrow to
write in our letters, but I have always felt
so fortunate in having this classmate friend
for so many years.
Evelyn Byrne Williams
with Janeen Sathre
541-899-1443
1933-34 School Picture Left to right:
Front Row: Orden Phillips, Harry Dietrick, Dean
Phillips
Middle Row: Douglas McKee, Walter Offen-
bacher, Elsie Dietrick**, Evelyn Byrne**
Back Row: Clara Faye McKee, Lorne Dietrick,
Rosella Offenbacher