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About Sandy post. (Sandy, Oregon) 1938-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 1986)
A v» Local college students study in Japan, France H o m e at O ra l H u ll After a lifetime of travel, woman at home in Sandy by PAULA BURNS Alice Bankston, 88, has worked and traveled throughout the world, but she has a fondness for the quiet weekends she spends at the beautiful and secluded grounds at the Oral Hull Foundation for the Blind, where she stays in her privately owned trailer with her seeing-eye dog, Dixie. Bankston, who looks 20 years younger than her age, talks with pride about her accomplishments She was born and raised in Brooklyn, N .Y ., and after a brief m a rria g e , moved to southern California and purchased a home in E l Monte, which she owned from 1923 to 1986 "However I traveled all over the United State* in bet ween," she said One of her Jobs took her to the East Coast where she worked for four months for Reader’s Digest magazine as a training supervisor for 109 women She returned to southern California and said she "tried to get in uniform when the second world war started." She had some fam iliarity with the govern m e n t. h a v in g w o rked as a secretary for the domestic trade department in Los Angeles from 1928 to 1934 Bankston said getting into uniform did not materialize. Even though she passed all written ex am s, she failed the physical because of retinitis pigmentosa, a progressive degenerative disease of the eye. which would eventually cause total blindness “ When 1 was 18, they discovered I had it," she said A fter failing the physical, Bankston was still determined to work for the government in some capacity. "So 1 got a Job with the war department as a civilian," she said She was sent to the war depart ment in San Francisco, which was responsible for employing workers for Venecia Arsenol, a branch of the arm y Her Job consisted of analyzing various Jobs, writing job descriptions and assigning ap propriate grade numbers to each Job Little did she know that her Job experience would prepare her to travel overseas at a later date, per forming similar tasks. Bankston resigned 2'» years later because of a reduction in force, and returned to her home in El Monte, where she took flying lessons She BORING - Two L in fM d College students from this community are studying overseas this fall as par ticipants in L in field 's semester s broad program received a pilot's license, but her eye disease prevented her from realizing a goal of getting a com mercial license, and as a result, she was restricted to flying alone. **I could not take anyone but myself and I certainly did have a delightful tim e,” she said While she was having fun flying, the personnel officer she had work ed for at Venecia Arsenol. who was with the Department of Defense in Washington, D.C., recommended her for a Job in Okinawa, where he was being transferred "So I went as head of the classification branch of civilian personnel." she said H er Job involvea w ritin g jo b classifications and assigning grade numbers to them After working about three years in Okinawa. Bankston said, " I got bored with being on the island and resigned " She decided to tour the Orient, and included Athens. Italy, Paris and Germany in her travels While she was touring Wiesbaden. G er many, she was offered a Job with the Air Force She wrote job d e s c rip tio n s fo r a ll c iv ilia n employees of the command level of the A ir Force, including NATO employee* One year later the headquarters were moved from Wiesbaden to Paris " I did the same work all over Europe," she said. "That was very interesting work There were all kinds of Jobs Jobs you’d never guess about ” In 1953. she resigned, returned to California, "and played for three years.” she said. "Then I decided I'd better do some more work in my life because I was running out of money." She then applied for another government job and was sent to San Diego writing Job descriptions for the Bureau of Yards and Dock, an engineering arm of the U S . Navy About two years later she was transferred to the head office in Washington. D.C., and stayed there until she retired in 1 *4 During the years she worked her eyesight progressively worsened. Bankston said But it did not ad vance into the final stages until after she retired and moved to Seat tle . She tra v e le d throughout Washington and got people in terested in forming an organization called Washington Council of the Blind, an affiliate of the American Anne Lindberg is studying in Japan, while Lisa Lind is in France The students left Oregon Aug- 1 and w ill return home in i In the Japan pro w ill be studying. Japanese culture snd society snd Japanese political and economic in stitutions at Kanto Gakuin Uaiverei- Z 7 Z i Council of the Blind Bankston said the p rim a ry function of the organization was to develop means of assisting blind individuals to live as independently as possible Bankston also wrote for the Braille Reporter, a newspaper for the Wind. One article she wrote was about the beauty of the park main tained by the Oral Hull Foundation for the Blind in Sandy She said because she knew about the beauty of Oral Hull, and after researching it for the article, she decided to move to Sandy and has lived there on weekends from spr D a v id B u r g h a r d t J o h n S c h u ld h e is s Navy Seaman David A. Burghardt has completed a Russian language course at the Defense Language In stitute at the Presidio base in Monterey. Calif Classes, which consist of six to eight students, offer six hours of in tensive spoken language instruction daily. He is the son of Adam and Charlotte Burghardt of 40977 S.E Wildcat Mountain Drive. A ir F o rc e 2nd L t. John J. Schuldheiss has arrived for duty with the 2021st In fo rm atio n Systems Squadron. Tyndall A ir Force Base. He is the son of Iris Harris of 21965 S.E. McCabe Road, Sandy: and grandson of John Steiner, 49550 S.E. Coalman Road. Sandy. 3 CUSTOM HOMEBUILDING J a m e s S o rre ls Country Cut-ups offer lessons BORING - The Country Cut ups, a Boring-based square dance group, is offering lessons beginning Sept 11. T h e lessons a re o ffe re d on Thursdays from 7:30 to 9:30 p m at the Boring Bam , one-fourth mile south of Highway 212 on Southeast Richey Road Don Young is the caller and instructor for the classes Cost is 84 per couple per less«’., but the first session is free For additional information, call 781 2493. 863-3102. or 655-1775 ing to fall for about 13 years She also has an apartment in Sandy Currently Bankston is a coor dinator of volunteers for Oral Hull She is also a spokeswoman for Oral Hull and has often spoken on televi sion and in front of groups at various clubs. “ I give talks to various organizations, accom panied by slides," she said. Even though Bankston refers to her life now as being “lazy” com pared to her past, overall she feels she has led an exciting life. ‘‘I've had fun I've had a delightful time living," she said. CLASSIFIED HAS IT ALL! ★ Look BUSINESS SERVICE DIRECTORY here for the Professionals, all kinds of services! ★ Schools, ANNOUNCEMENTS Business Opportunities and Personals! ★ REAL ESTATE ★ RENTALS ★ EMPLOYMENT * MISCELLANEOUS FOR SALE ON YOUR LAND ADAIR HOMES INC - YOUR FULL SERVICE BUILDER 10 YB WARRANTY CUJTOSf# StWCf I* TB YETBMN t r w M » ru n s chiton rum on mus uap confuti ob I ad Dixie Alice I Fla He is an a ir traffic control officer. SOUS «JlCSS ty in Yokohama. Thia month, she snd the other i l Linfield students visiting Japan are participating in an orientation pro gram with emphasis on intensive “ s u rv iv a l” Japanese lan g u age •studies snd field trips to acquaint them with Japanese culture. In Paris, France, Lind and 13 other Linfield students will be studying French language. French a rt and literature and contemporary French society this fill The students in France also are involved in an orien tation program this month. / In the military James S. Sorrels Jr has enlisted in the U S Army and will leave for his assignm ent as a food service specialist at Fort Bragg, N.C., on Nov 19. Sorrels is married to Sandra Lyn Sorrels of Seaside He is the son of James Sorrels Sr of Sandy and Wan da Sorrels of Seaside >1. ISM (tec. 1) & AM 0Y (Or* ) ROST-7 * AUTOMOBILES * SPECIALISTS super star • mia un w m w » lounsi m u n i tabs «e an srcwi cmstxucixm r < ju * h m ’ s * ’22 - ‘29/SQ. FT. H O M E R E *IH M . . THROEXLH<X)T MOST OF VASHINCTON ANO OREGON I VISIT OUR MOOEl HOME AND NOW WHEN YOU NEED IT MOST ADAIR OFFICES IN OLYMPIA BEAVERTON REND Send Io» FREE BROCHURE' t h I iS li It I» Look for this special feature in today's Classified in the Gresham Outlook, Sandy Post & Metro »
