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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (June 23, 2004)
Page 16 Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, June 23, 2004 … Milli Chadderton Where were you born? I am originally from Worcester, Mass., outside of Spring- field. I was born during the Depres- sion and grew up doing all kinds of things with my mom and dad to help keep our minds and souls together. Things were pretty tight. There were six of us; my two brothers, Bob and Frank; my sister, Dody; and my twin sisters, Mickey and Terry. We didn't have a car until I was about 10 or 12. I remember my dad having to ride a bike to work each day. Dad would come home from work with a basketful of groceries on the back of his bicycle, and we’d all get excited. As a child, what did you do for fun? We lived near a lake, and I loved it. As soon as I was old enough to handle swimming without my water wings, I was allowed to go out in our canoe. My twin sisters and I used to spend a lot of time in that canoe. What was World War II like for your family? We had just bought a piece of property in Massachu- setts when the war broke out. All construction on the house we were going to build came to a halt because eve- rything went to the war effort. I remember victory gar- dens; everybody had one. The object of the garden was to have a food supply you grew for yourself so their would be more food available for the troops. We had a big gar- den. One of the highlights was if you got all your garden work done, dad would give you a quarter to go to the academy in town and watch a Saturday night movie. Be- lieve me, that was quite an incentive to get all the work done. If you wanted to buy anything, you had to have a coupon. My dad worked at a defense plant, and the guys used to car pool to save their gas stamps so they could take their families on a Sunday drive once in a while. Did you move around a lot before coming here? We moved to Connecticut. After I married my first husband; we moved to California. He had always wanted to live in California, but we never had an opportunity. When our other two kids, Tommy and Eileen, came home with Chicken Pox, our youngest son, Larry, got it so se- vere that it went into his lungs; and it was two months before I could bring him home. When he became ill with pneumonia, the doctor said the weather in California would be better on his lungs. So the two of us and the kids packed everything we owned into a utility trailer, sold the mobile home we had and moved to Spring Valley, Calif. in 1955. California was beautiful then; all the streets meandered through or- ange groves, by dairies; it was just beautiful country. There was a lovely arch over the town that said Casa De Oro (House of Gold). There’s a freeway that goes through there now. After my first husband and I separated, I moved out East for a while then moved back West and bought a mo- bile home and lived on the other side of El Cajon, where I met my husband, Rod; that’s how my name ended up be- ing Chadderton. He had such beautiful blue eyes that just sparkled when I looked into them. We had a little girl, Diane; she is 33 now. After my husband died, Southern California became overwhelming and I didn’t want live there any more. My dad and his wife had retired in Cave Junction. My dad owned 5 acres here. When I stopped to visit, he of- fered the property to any of us kids who wanted to buy it because he wanted to keep it in the family. I bought it for $5,500. I had to work like crazy to pay it off so my daughter and I could move from Alpine, Calif. I used to buy raw honey from a man called C.P. Baker. When I went to buy honey one day, I saw a big sign that the store was closing. When I went around back, I saw his son standing on some 50-gallon drums of honey. Since all my neighbors depended on me to take their empty honey jars and fill them, I decided to buy one of the drums for $300. I filtered the honey and sold it. The first year, I sold four 50-gallon drums. When we moved to Oregon, I packed everything we owned into those drums. What kinds of jobs have you had? When we first moved here, I had to build my home; most of which was funded with my “honey money,” and a little Social Security. We lived in a tent for the first year. We even built the frame of the home up around the tent, with it in the middle. By winter, my daughter and I were pretty secure. I was a watchman at Rough & Ready for six or seven years. When I turned 55, I worked for the forest service in their senior program. Rita Dyer was the mayor at the time. One day, she asked me if I wanted to work with her in the office and at the new Visitor Center, which had just opened. I loved that job; I took great pride in be- ing part of the center. My second year I was here, I met Harold Teague while stacking brush for the forest service; he was a sawyer. I also got a 25-year pin for volunteering at the Red Cross bloodmobile. One day, Rita told me that the city logo looked lousy. Since I was a bit of an artist, she asked me to draw a new logo. I made three different designs. Since she liked parts of each one, I combined them into one image; the same one that you see on all the city trucks and their shirts. It’s even on the sign in front of city hall. What is your favorite ice cream? Pistachio. Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve liked greenish-colored ice cream. Of course I like the flavor, but it was the color that caught my attention when I was little. ~Interview and Photo by Shane Welsh Three dates have come up that received attention from the publishers of magazines, newspapers and producers of educa- tional television programs. Beginning in June 1962, “The New Yorker” magazine, began publish- ing excerpts from a book that did not go on sale in bookstores until Sept. 27 that same year. The book was “Silent Spring.” It immediately became a best seller, and still creates strong feelings, good and bad, with many people. On June 14, 1972, 10 years later, the U.S. Envi- ronmental Protection Agency banned the use of DDT within the United States. Dichlorodiphenyl- trichloroethane (DDT) is a highly effective insecti- cide. It was used in killing harmful agricultural insect pests, forest insects, and also mosquitoes, that cause malaria and yellow fever. DDT also killed many other harmless insects and even beneficial ones if not properly controlled. The third date is May 27, 1907, the birth date of Rachel Carson. She was the scientist who wrote the book that created the tur- moil and public pressure that caused the formation of the EPA that banned DDT, in the country that George Washington helped to build. Rachel Carson was born in Springdale, Penn, a rural area where she grew up, and developed a love of Nature and writing. She graduated in 1932 from Johns Hopkins University, with a master of arts de- gree in marine biology. She then taught zoology for a while at the Univer- sity of Maryland and then began working for the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries. At first she wrote educational radio programs and pam- phlets, and eventually be- came editor-in-chief for all U.S. Fish and Wildlife publications. In her spare time she wrote magazine articles and published three books about the sea which be- came best sellers which gave her financial security. This allowed her to leave the government service after only 15 years and work full time as a writer. “Silent Spring,” her fourth book, was a direct attack on chemical pesti- cides and DDT in particu- lar. In scientific terms, the book shows that DDT not only kills insects, but it is picked up by plankton in the water. The DDT accumulates in fat cells and so is passed up the food chain and be- comes more concentrated at each level because it is not broken down by body processes. Therefore, in the top predator of each food level it can become lethal or destroy their abil- ity to reproduce. The idea was that all the birds would eventually die; hence a silent spring. Carson also enlarged on this concept to include DDT-causing cancer in human beings. This aspect of her book is still hotly debated because an in- crease in cancer rates has not been demonstrated in countries which still allow DDT. T h e t e r m “carcinogen” comes from a Greek word that means “crab,” and is not a deriva- tive of Rachel Carson’s last name, as some people have thought. By the way, the Latin word for crab is “cancer,” and so they are both dealing with the same topic. Since the banning of DDT in 1972, the popula- tion of some aquatic birds and peregrine falcons, has increased. The dark side of this story however, is that studies show deaths due to malaria have increased by millions of persons yearly, mostly in underdeveloped countries. “Silent Spring” is re- puted by many as the springboard for the envi- ronmental protection movement and a world- wide interest in ecology. It is still going strong today, but there are nega- tive issues in this move- ment that need to be inves- tigated and solved before the world is perfect. 1-541-476-2127 ‘Give ‘em a break,’ ODOT reminds summer drivers Work zone crashes accounted for two fatalities in Oregon during 2003 and five in 2002, said Oregon Dept. of Transportation (ODOT). More than 300 work- zone related crashes typi- cally occur in Oregon each year. Nationally, there is one work zone fatality every seven hours, or three per day, and one work zone injury every 15 min- utes, or 143 per day. Although Oregon’s work zone crashes have decreased in recent years, ODOT is committed to reducing them even fur- ther, the agency said. “A lot of people as- sume that workers are usu- ally the ones killed or in- jured,” said Anne Holder, ODOT Work Zone Safety Program coordinator. “Actually, motorists and their passengers are the most likely to be killed or injured in work zone crashes. “We help teach work- ers how to set up safer work zones. But educating drivers is one of the best ways to reduce work zone crashes.” ODOT offers safe driving tips for work zones: *Slow down - traffic fines double in work zones. *Pay attention to your driving. *Double your follow- ing distance. *Get in the correct lane well in advance. *Remember, work zone traffic lanes often are narrow, without shoulders or emergency lanes. *Be aware of tempo- rary accesses to the road- way from the median. *Uneven or sloped road surfaces can affect how your car handles. *Report the absence of signs, or poor signing, to the appropriate authority. *Patience is vital. Be as courteous to other driv- ers as you’d like them to be to you. Would like to express their appreciation to all who contributed and supported the ‘All-Night-Safe-and-Sober’ grad party. With more than 200 persons, businesses, and the grad party committee, our party was a big success. is open Saturdays: 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Hours: Mondays - Saturdays 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. For more information phone (800) 922-1025 Much appreciation to all, IVHS Class of 2004