MEDFOHD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFOHD. OREGON
SUNDAY. APRIL 14. INS
A 3
Shady Cove Grandmother Is Log Truck Driver
By CLEVE TWITCHELL
Mail Tribune Staff Writer
If you pass a logging truck
on almost any southern Ore
gon highway or back road
and see a woman behind the
wheel, don't be surprised. It
more than likely is Mickey
Cooper, 42-year-old Shady
Cove resident, who has been
driving a logging truck for
12 years.
As far as Mrs. Cooper
knows, she is the only wom
an logging truck driver in
the Pacific Northwest, and
ahe's pretty certain she is the
only grandmother driving
one. She has driven some
thing in excess of half a mil
lion miles, and is now in the
process of wearing out her
fourth truck.
Mickey is Mrs. Alford
Cooper, and she hauls for Al
Cooper Logging of Shady
Cove, "working for and with
her husband, hauling about
1VS million board feet of logs
a year.
Mrs. Cooper had been in a
logging truck just twice be
fore she started driving one.
Start New Business
Her debut as a driver came
about when her husband
started a new type of business
dealing with salvage logging.
It necessitated getting a new
type of truck to haul eight
foot logs. The truck needed
a driver.
"I'm fortunate in having a
husband who has taught me
that I can do anything I put
my mind to," Mrs. Cooper
commented.
Actually, Mrs. Cooper had
quite a bit of contact with
the lumber industry before
she started driving.
"My first job in the woods
was at the age of 16 as a
flunky in a logging camp,"
she explained. "We arose,
another two women and I, at
4:30 in the morning to cook
and serve breakfast to 75 men
in the Walker-Houvey log
ging camp in Eastern Ore
gon." She served, made
lunches, prepared vegetables,
scrubbed floors and washed
dishes.
As the years went on she
worked in a box factory, fired
8 boiler in a steam mill
where all the sawdust had to
be shoveled, worked on a log
pond where she sawed 32 foot
logs to length and fed the
log slip, ran trim saws in a
mill, helped to fell timber
with a two-man saw and
scaled logs in the woods.
After her husband went to
logging on his own, she
learned to run a crawler type
tractor and skid logs, run a
fork lift and load logs, hook
logs on the landing for a
swing boom loader and op
crate a dump truck.
In the 12 years Mrs. Cooper
has been behind the wheel of
a logging truck, she hasn't
been spared many of the ad
ventures of the occupation.
"I've had blow outs, brakes
; fail, loads dumped, wheels
come off. trucks turn over,
j rear-ends walk out from
under the truck when spring
hangers were left loose, logs
spill out into the chains, peo
ple pull out on the highway
without stopping and babies
I get away from their mothers
and walk out into the road in
front of me,' she reminisced.
Spring Graduates
Urged To Start
College Studies
Ashland-"High school grad
uatcs receiving diplomas this
spring should seriously con
sidcr attending college during
the summer," according to Dr.
Bill Sampson, chairman of the
education division and direc
tor of summer sessions at
Southern Oregon college.
Such students find it easier
fo make the transition be
tween high school and college
Study. They take fewer credit
hours, classes arc smaller, al
lowing for more individual at
tention, and there is the op
portunity of contacting people
at all stages of the educational
process-whether it be at un
dergraduate or graduate level
-and in many fields, he point
ed out.
Another factor to be con
sidered is that most of the
summer employment oppor
tunities in this part of the
state do not materialize, par
ticularly in the fruit harvest
ing period, until shortly after
the summer session which be
gins June 17 at Southern Ore
gon college, and ends July 26.
Dr. Sampson said.
Openings Are Fewer
Because of certain labor
laws, an economy which de
mands more white collar em
ployees, and the impact upon
the labor mart made by the
increasing automation of in
dustry, iob openings for high
school graduates arc fewer in
number each year, thus indi
cating that this critical period
could well be employed to at
tend college, he noted.
For the current year, the
Oregon state system of higher
education has conducted a
public relations program di
rectly aimed at attracting the
recent secondary school grad
uate to attend college as soon
after receiving his diploma as
possible.
Members of high school vis
itations teams have been
stressing the need for an im
mediate start on obtaining
college degrees in order to
prepare Oregon's young peo
ple for meeting educational
demands of the future.
Those interested in obtain
ing more information con
cerning the summer offerings
are asked to contact the regis
trar at SOC about courses,
fees, housing, transcripts, and
other details.
Staff Members Resign
Portland -IP1 Three Port
land State College staff mem
bers have submitted their
resignations. President Bran
ford J. Millar announced
Thursday.
MRS. ALFORD COOPER
Driven Truck for 12 Years
"And several years ago
while 1 was peacefully fol
lowing the Cat out through
the woods, a snag tree fell on
' me."
Mickey also reports she s
fallen off the truck, had 20
pound stakes fall on her head,
been black and blue from put
; ting on and taking off chains,
! and has driven in snow, ice,
1 fog. rain, cold and heat.
"She doesn't stand back
and let the men do all the
work," comments her hus
band. "She's treated the same
on the job as the other truck
drivers."
"In all those 12 years I've
never heard any of the men
swear, and I've never heard
them tell any off-color stor
ies." Mrs. Cooper added.
Mickey says she is frequent
ly asked if her husband has
a truck and if so does he fol
low along behind her as sort
of a chaperone. "People do
not understand when 1 say
that he runs a logging outfit.
They don't realize that he
doesn't have time to chap
crone me." she explained,
noting that her husband has
plenty to do.
Running Logging Outfit
Running a logging outfit in
volves coordinating fallers,
watching the terrain of the
ground in order to log to the
best advantage, maintaining
skid trails and landings ahead
for the cats and fallers to
work up to. guarding against
erosion, keeping roads open
for the trucks, building wat
er reservoirs for summer fire
protection, keeping equipment
repaired and so forth, she
said.
She feels she is well taken
care of anyway by the sev
eral hundred other truck dri
vers on the road.
The biggest single problem
facing a woman truck driver
is emotional stability, Mickey
12 YEARS BEHIND THE WHEEL - Mickey
Cooper of Shady Cove, who may be the only
woman logging truck driver in the North
west, poses beside the truck she drives.
She's in the process of wearing out her
fourth truck in 12 years of driving, during
which time she has driven in excess of half
a million miles and been treated to some
rather unusual experiences.
Mill II
NEW production facilities permit
to LOWER PRICE
of MICRO-TV
i
The fantastic demand for the remarkable SONY Micro-TV has forced
a step-up in production facilities. And now the 81b. Television ol
the Future, that operates on its own rechargeable battery, 12v
auto- boat power and AC, lists at only $189.95. The perfect set for
every room in the house, and anywhere outdoors. Come in for a
convincing demonstration today.
NOW!
18995
Complete inge of Tele
vision Models from the
fabulous 5" screen up to
the Maqntftcient Magna
vox 27" screen or color
TV!
OPEN FRIDAY NITES
PURUCKER
MUSIC HOUSE
111 North Central
Phone 773-7538
thinks. But her co-workers
don't consider this a problem
for her anymore. "She's driv
en some narrow mountain
roads that would have shat
tered almost anyone." her
husband remarked.
Now Have Fir Employees
The Coopers started as just
a husband and wife team in
the logging business. Today
they have five employees, and
Mickey takes care of the busi
ness when her husband is
away.
It is not exactly a 9 to 5
sort of job. "I come home
when the truck is in shape to
come home," she explained.
When Mrs. Cooper began
driving the logging truck, her
daughter Joanne was just 11,
but the family agree that the
situation has worked out
well.
"1 learned to keep house."
says Joanne. Her parents
point out that she was given
responsibility at an early age,
learned home management, to
help keep books, the mechan
ics of a motor vehicle and to
help in case of a forest fire.
Dickenson's
PRIMROSE
GARDENS
Giant Hybrids
Wide Rang of Color
On Mil. Off Highway on Old Ferry Read
SHADY CO VE OREGON
LUXURIOUS...
COMFORTABLE...
by KROEH
aataaBBbala! - ' jftmJmgXMmj HH H
ajsju bt19H ?7 i I fiT Horn 249hr
RQ
199
95
and
Authentic Early American
styling Is hart faithfully in
terpreted In classic wing
arm treatment, ssml-at-tachad
pillow back and
familiar box-pleated skirt
ings. It s priced with a pio
neer's eye tor valua, tool
83" long.
Matching
Chairs
OVAL
RUGS!
Presenting the unusual
Americana Collection
jgaaaaaaifP9a LaVaaaw
II II ' mm 1 1 aaal !
- raaM aaai
Add warmth, color, charm to your homo with
braided rugl Good selection of sizes and
colors. Choose now!
2 ft. by 3 ft $2.95
3 ft. by 5 ft $8.80
4 ft. by 6 ft $9.90
6 ft. by 9 ft $24.80
8 ft. by 10 ft. $39.80
9 ft. by 12 ft $49.60
10 ft. by 14 ft $66.00
lift, by 16 ft. $79.60
. Aat-laat tLl.. tm.lti luw.. rnairt will.
vnym wiji. i. .-. , ......
JL. ...... L. Bl. 1 - Jaalo.a Tka Jiaait In w a, Irmamh ia
wr - " " -w
end quality mat, run. Ulthlol onny manca- otngni mmi ...
amity ana atli to your docar. Vary ipacial la.inoi now!
Jflllire lOedfonl ai.t,,t a iu. ..;, u. Km
;. 1-iilu. fwaY Jaeumanta.V Brinta cr cuitam auiltu
Hovoriiala feam aoikio", foam back and faam paddad armi. M.pla
liniihad aipaiad waad trim 39.50
.I..D,.La Inunaa -hil
ar i iwimn. - .
far har la 'm.tcKln ar aafltraatiaf clan and fabrlcl.
Samo llbuolul aoil.tnistion 09.50
kaclina lava laat. 3t" high
and 4t" wtda. Faam back and ravartibla ml
cuibiaa. Maala fl.iiliad wood trim, piloted
skirt. Choaia (ram a bait af aalart and fabric".
$149.50
EASY TERMS!
NO CARRYING CHARGES. Wa carry our own contracts. There
is no extra charge added to your payments. At Weeks t Orr
you pay ONLY for the merchandise. Shop and save at Southern
Oregon's oldest and largest furniture store.
MM
J? IB I
mmim
aSsssssssT v. r - m: t
mm
OPEN
FRIDAY EVENINGS
You are cordially invited te come In
and browse around - leek over our
entire 3 floors of fine home furnish-Ingsl
114 West Main Phone 772-9351