8A | SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 2019 | SIUSLAW NEWS
PHOTOS BY CHANTELLE MEYER/SIUSLAW NEWS
FARM from page 7A
Jami said they got treats
for helping. In those days, it
was Pop Rocks, candy cig-
arettes and bottles of Squirt
bought at the Cleawox Mar-
ket.
Barb said the older gener-
ation didn’t get those — but
they would stop at Woods-
man and pick out flowers.
The milk runs were spe-
cial, something their family
did. It created a shared mem-
ory of helping with the cows
and cleaning out the barns.
The family remembered de-
tails — the smell of the feed
bins, squishing the scratch in
between their toes, walking
along the fence, hauling hay.
“I don’t remember much
(about my childhood),” Nan-
cy said. “I remember milking
cows. Other than that, I just
remember having fun.”
She added, “We used to
ride the cows.”
“Yeah, Mom and Dad
wouldn’t give us a horse so
we had to ride the cows,”
Georgia replied.
According to Barb, the
Smith, Huff and Martin
farms sold their milk to big-
ger productions out of the
area.
“They were all Grade A
milk, so they sold their milk
to the big farms. In the early
‘70s, the government bought
out all of those farms,” she
said.
The Elliott farm continued
to produce milk from their
Guernseys until the 1990s
when regulations shifted.
Around that time, Richard
Elliott, brother to Nancy,
Georgia and Barb, brought
in the Scottish Highlands.
Despite the passing of
more than 20 years, Loni
said she still shakes her gal-
lons of milk when she takes
them out of the fridge. This
shaking action would re-
combine the cream in whole,
unpasteurized milk, but is
unnecessary in much of the
milk Americans drink today.
If people sit down with the
Elliott Family progenitures,
they can tell a story about ev-
ery foot on their 116 acres of
land. The hard part is getting
them to sit down.
“We weren’t allowed in
the house” said Nancy. “We
spent all our time outside.”
“We either had to be dead
or asleep if we were in the
house. That was the rule.
We were never in the house,”
Barb agreed.
While historically that was
for farm chores, as genera-
tions passed, more of that
outdoor time went to enjoy-
ing the beauty of the hilltop
acres — or getting into the
usual and unusual scrapes.
Barb and Nancy described
playing baseball in a field,
putting a bag over a cow pie
and using them as bases.
“If you slid, then you’d go
far,” Nancy said.
Barb added, “We made
sure third base was on a hill
so you slid down the hill.”
The family talked about
injuries, problems with farm
vehicles, accidents with the
electric fence and the fun
and peril of being on the
farm.
“I’d drive a motorcycle,”
Nancy said, describing a
Honda 50 that they used for
trips as far away as Mapleton.
“I’d have Loni in the back of
me, Keli behind her. I don’t
know how they survived!”
Barb described the years
they “had good snow” and
would send kids down the
hills in inner tubes. One
accident with a fence con-
vinced them to place some
hay bales to avoid further
injury.
“It’s a wonder any of us
survived,” several family
members said as they remi-
nisced.
“Well, it was soft dirt,” one
person added.
There was also a pond —
full of at least a dozen base-
balls and golf balls — where
the neighbor kids swam. And
despite more than 60 years
of kids playing on the farm,
there were only a handful of
broken bones, even after the
brakes went out on a truck
hauling hay from the Libby
farm.
In the 1980s, the Loni and
some friends wanted to film
a Mountain Dew commer-
cial for a contest. They put
together some inner tubes,
got inside and rolled down
the hill into Woahink Lake.
The first made it. The sec-
ond ended up with several
scrapes.
“And then we learned we
probably shouldn’t do those
commercials,” Loni said, still
laughing. “We tried it here —
it worked then.”
“We tried a lot of things
we probably shouldn’t have,”
Barb said.
And many things they suc-
ceeded at. The family talked
about kindnesses over the
years, much of it the inspi-
ration of Leona, who taught
them “there’s no such word
as hate.” She volunteered for
years with the senior center,
Florence Area Chamber of
Commerce, their church and
more. She hosted foreign
exchange students, several
of whom are still in contact
with the family, and picked
up strangers to bring over
for dinner.
“We’re just kind of remi-
niscing,” Nancy said.
The day was emotional,
not only for the end of the
popular field trips, but also
as the 21st year since Leona’s
death.
“Twenty-one years ago
yesterday, she was in her
bed watching the kids go by
on their field trip. She got to
see them one last time,” Loni
said.
Anytime the wind picks
up, it’s Grandma, Richard
and Grandpa, the family said
— all family who have died
on or near the farm. Or the
rain, since the family played
“Tears in Heaven” at Leona’s
memorial service. “Every
time I hear the song I think
of Grandma,” Jami said.
Despite concluding the
big milestone of 55 years, El-
liott’s Hilltop Acres Farm will
continue, the family said.
“It’s not the end for us,”
Barb said.
After cleanup, helped
along by family, friends,
neighbors and Ada Grange
members, Megan said, “One
person wanted to buy shirts,”
indicating the shirts the
family and volunteers were
wearing.
“Oh geez. We could have
made a fortune!” Barb an-
swered.
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