Page 16
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Ten minutes
with ...
… Delphin ‘Spike’ Berglund,
92, with his 10-year-old
companion, ‘Teddy.’
Did you come from a large family?
There were three boys and a girl besides me. My mom is
from Sweden, and my dad is from America. I was born in
1912 on a farm in Rush Point, Minnesota. It was really just a
little jerkwater store that sold groceries, hardware and
clothes. We raised mostly milk cows on a dairy farm. Back in
1925, my dad rented 80 acres for $250 a year; not a month --
that’s when a buck was worth a buck.
Were there phones on the farm?
Yes. They had two lines that ran to farmers all over. And
when your telephone rang, it rang on all the phones. When
we had snowstorms and blizzards, sometimes the lines would
go down. If you wanted to call your neighbor to see if they
were OK or needed something, the line would be down.
Many times, I would saddle my horse and go find the break
in the line and pull it together so we could have the telephone
again.
Did you go to high school?
No. It seemed like the farm boys weren’t supposed to go
to high school; just the people in the city.
Where else did you live as a youth?
My dad rented a boxcar for $25 and migrated from Min-
nesota to North Dakota. There was more open country there.
Land was only a dollar an acre; you could even homestead.
When we got there, we bought 320 acres in two different
fields. The road ran right through the middle. There were
even buffalo bones on the farm. I remember I took the horses
and the wagon out on the prairie and picked up the bones.
We got 12 bucks a ton. Them bones were like a feather, so it
took a lot of work to get a ton. At 14 years old, I hauled grain
like the older men; I even handled my own team and wagon.
I got about five bucks a day; that was big wages back then.
When we bought our land, for 10 years we never used
our seed. The drought came in, and we had to sell the cattle
we raised. We couldn’t feed them, so the government bought
all of them. We got $15 apiece. And if they were really good,
we got $20.
Were you involved in World War II?
I volunteered for the Army in 1942. I was a staff ser-
geant; although I was a PFC (Private First Class) most of the
time. I made staff after the war was over. I was in for 7 1/2
years.
I saved three soldiers from drowning when we were in
Germany. There were six of us in a boat we had captured.
One of the guys suggested that we all throw our weight to
one side and see what happens when the guy driving makes a
turn. After we capsized, I threw a cushion to one guy, then
went and helped the other two. I grabbed Prostinick, who
couldn’t swim, just as he was going under.
I was also shot in the hand while I was in. I met my
brother in Germany, and he had taken a P-38 off a dead Ger-
man officer. He asked me to hang onto it for him and take it
home. I brought it back to base and got a permit to carry it.
Guys were always asking me to see the gun.
One day, after the war, my sergeant asked me to see it. I
had already been showing the gun to some guys who were
loading a truck. I was in a hurry and quickly put the maga-
zine back in. I accidentally released the hammer and the gun
went off. It went through my hand, and passed between two
guys. When they were stitching me up, they ran water over
the hole to clean it out, and it poured right through my hand.
What do you like about Illinois Valley?
Nothing. I moved here in 1969. I cut firewood for many
years. Everybody knows it; Berglund Firewood. I sold a lot
of wood, and cedar fence posts. I’d go find the logs and cut
‘em and split ‘em. I was still cutting wood at 80 years old.
What is your favorite ice cream?
Maple nut. I like maple really well. All we had as a kid
was vanilla. I remember when we had an ice cream social,
my dad would give me 10- or 15-cents for homemade ice
cream.
~Interview and Photo by Shane Welsh
On account of being a democracy and run by the
people, we are the only nation in the world that has to
keep a government four years, no matter what it does.
-Will Rogers -
Corinna Fierro
Pregnancy
Center aide
offers hope
Corinna Fierro, a volun-
teer with The Pregnancy Cen-
ter of Illinois Valley for seven
years, first learned about the
services when she was a teen-
ager in need.
Due in part to all the sup-
port and encouragement that
she received when the center
was known as Living Alterna-
tives, she now has a beautiful
daughter.
Fierro particularly enjoys
being able to help clients
when he or she feels as
though all is lost.
“We show them that
there is hope,” she said. An-
other area where she strives to
help others is in sharing with
them about all of their options
-- helping them to see that
they have real opportunities to
explore.
One goal she hopes to
accomplish at the center is
showing people “what God
has done for me, and that He
can do it for them too.
“Our main need in the
Illinois Valley is truthful edu-
cation about all options in a
crisis pregnancy,” she said.
The center provides ac-
curate information about par-
enting, adoption, legal guardi-
anship and abortion in a non-
judgmental way.
“The valley also needs
truthful abstinence educa-
tion,” said Fierro, “and there
are many counterfeit ‘truths’
out there.”
Abstinence is encouraged
for unmarried clients, along
with information about the
risks of STDs and possible
long-term effects.
Said Fierro, “We need
more client advocates. God
calls us to use our talents, not
to hide them. Being a volun-
teer helps one to use their
talents wisely.”
She challenges folks to
“seek God’s will. It is won-
derful volunteering here. God
can use you to make a differ-
ence in someone’s life.”
EQUIFAIR 2005 was held at the Josephine County Fair-
grounds Saturday, April 9. The free, day-long event
was sponsored by the Josephine County Equestrian
Coalition. Many horse breeds were shown and there
were many demonstrations of equestrian training and
skill. There were also many free clinics for horse own-
ers, and vendors offered a wide variety of products
and services. It was the first such event in the county,
according to the coalition.
(Photos by Dale Sandberg)
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Hey, it’s free!
Scholarships are avail-
able for “Supervision &
Customer Service Train-
ing” Tuesday and Thurs-
day, April 19 and 21 in the
RCC Kerby Belt Bldg.
The class is sponsored
by Illinois Valley Commu-
nity Development Organi-
zation (IVCDO). The class
will run from 5:30 to 8:30
p.m. both days.
For more information,
or to register, go to the
IVCDO office next door to
Caves Pharmacy.
When my time comes,
just skin me and put me
up there on ‘Trigger,’
just as though nothing
had ever changed.
- Roy Rogers -
Horse sense is the thing
a horse has which keeps
it from betting on
people.
- W.C. Fields -
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772-0282
474-1060
677-9001
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