Archive for the ‘Community Spirit’ Category

Remembering Carolyn Glenn

Saturday, March 16th, 2024

 

 

 

Laurie Anderson, Darlene Battles (hidden behind), Una Boyle, Lorna Follis, Sydney Stevens, “44”, Bette Snyder, Karen Clarke, Karen Snyder,  Marion Oman.  (March 27, 2009  Bette Snyder’s 86th Birthday Tea at Carolyn Glenn’s)  Photo by Carolyn Glenn.

This photo was sent to me by Lorna Follis and, I’m chagrinned to admit that even though I’m standing next to her in the picture, I have no memory of her.  I think that the occasion of this “Tea” — which I actually remember as an elegant, full-blown luncheon — was our first and only meeting.  But, she reads my blogs and wanted to share this amazing photograph.  She remembered almost all of the women’s names (I knew maybe half) and she reached out to Karen Snyder to make sure of the one or two she didn’t know!

I remember the occasion very well. indeed.  Carolyn was working in the kitchen when I arrived and had commandeered two or three other early arrivals to help her arrange salads on plates, finger sandwiches on platters and carry things into the dining room.  Our hostess gave gentle suggestions but, as usual, appeared totally relaxed with plenty of time to introduce those of us who didn’t know one another and to answer the door and make each newcomer welcome.

I remember being impressed that she was using the antique green Wedgewood plates that were identical to my paternal grandmother’s set which are now treasured and on display in our home, but never used.  Hers had faded from their forest green color to a light green — the glaze having washed off over the hundred years or so of their use.  “I don’t know how old they are,” she said.  “Marguerite always used them for special occasion, so I do, too.”  (I tried to follow her example afterwards… but I could feel my father’s concerned disapproval and wished that he and Marguerite and Carolyn and I could have a philosophical discussion about the use of family keepsakes and treasures.  But… I digress.

I don’t remember much about the afternoon except that I only knew the hostess and the guest of honor and one or two others very well.  Indeed, some of us hatched the idea of having a movie nigjht (at Carolyn’s) once a month or so which might have lasted a half year until, perhaps, one of us got sick.

That the cardboard cutout of Obama was “part of our group” was typical of Carolyn during those years.  I remember that she brought him (affectionately called “44”) to one of Nyel’s and my Christmas parties and he was there, of course, when Carolyn and Guy brought in the New Year with eggnogs for the masses (or so it seemed to me.)  Always, Carolyn was the relaxed and interested hostess — whether it was a Tea for the Senator’s wife or a “Coffee” for a candidate for local office.

And for the last several years of Nyel’s life, she was his most faithful visitor — both here and in Seattle.  She mever failed to bring a half dozen of his favorite dark chocolate bars, always including a “new discovery” and wanting his expert opinion on its merits!  Her generosity of spirit, her gentleness of personality, and her forcefulness of belief were a combination that I at once admired and approached with awe.  I am so glad she made me a part of her life!

 

THE OYSTERVILLE SCHOOLHOUSE!

Wednesday, March 13th, 2024

The Oysterville School – Under Oysterville Community Club Stewardship since 1957

YIKES!  Miss Giraldo, my first journalism teacher at San Rafael High School, would never forgive me!  In my blog yesterday about Maggie Stuckey’s Soup Event I left out the fourth crucial W that every beginning journalist knows by heart.  WHERE?  The answer:  THE OYSTERVILLE SCHOOLHOUSE!

I think I covered the other W’s adequately, but just in case you missed that blog, here is the crucial information:

WHO?  MAGGIE STUCKEY, THE QUINTESSENTIAL QUEEN OF NURTURING

WHAT? MAGGIE WILL BE SHARING THE JOYS OF THE SOUP NIGHT TRADITION AND THE MAGIC IT BRINGS TO OUR SOMETIMES FRACTIOUS WORLD.

WHEN? WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20TH, FROM 2:00 TO 3:30 (OR SO)

WHERE?  THE OYSTERVILLE SCHOOL HOUSE

WHY?  MAGGIE BELIEVES IN “TEACHING BY DOING” AND SO SHE’LL SHARE A NO-STRESS WAY OF BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER, BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS, OVERCOMING ISOLATION AND FEARFULNESS — ALL WITH FRIENDSHIP KINDNESS, AND OPEN-HEARTED CARING.  AND SHE’LL BE SERVING  SOME OF HER DELICIOUS SOUP AND TALKING ABOUT THE SUCCESSES HER “SOUP NIGHT” BOOK HAS HAD ALL OVER THE COUNTRY! (And she’ll have copies of her book for sale: $20 cash or check only.)

And sometimes that H question, HOW is included as essential to an informative article.  But, in this case, we’ll leave the HOW up to Maggie.  She, after all, is the one with the magic formula and we will be the lucky recipients of her secrets!

Many thanks to Blog Readers who caught the error of my ways and full apologies to Maggie for my gaff!  Whatever was I thinking???  (Probably that all roads lead to Oysterville and, OF COURSE you’d find your way! )  I do hope you catch this follow-up information and spread the word to Maggie’s fans and, especially to those of us who are all about community and a wonderfully simple and delicious way to reinforce our friendships and togetherness!

 

March 20th! One week from tomorrow!

Tuesday, March 12th, 2024

Maggie Stucky, The Queen of Nurturing!

Mark your calendar.  Save your appetite!  Maggie Stuckey is coming to town!  And if you know anything at all about Maggie, you know that she is the Quintessential Queen of Nurturing — whether it be growing a garden, serving up a delicious homemade meal, or just showing us how to do it ourselves!

On Wednesday, March 20th from 2:00 to 3:30 (or so!), Maggie will be sharing the joys of the Soup Night tradition and the magic it brings to our sometimes fractious world.  She’ll share a no-stress way of bringing people together breaking down barriers, overcoming isolation and fearfulness — all with friendship, kindness, and open-hearted caring.  And the magic formula?  Soup!!

In this free program, we’ll sample delicious homemade soup while Maggie shares stories of Soup Nighters all around the country who are creating a real sense of community through the age-old idea of getting together for a simple meal on a regular basis.  In our greater Peninsula community, many of us do such get-t0gethers already — but perhaps not with the magic ingredient of soup.  (And somehow, that always reminds me of the old folk tale “Stone Soup,” but Maggie’s formula for Soup Night carries that idea just a bit farther along the magical neighborhood highway.)

Her book, “Soup Night” which is filled with recipes — several by community members you might know, including yours truly — will be for sale at the event — $20, cash or checks only, please, says Maggie.  And, you might even get her to autograph your copy!  Bring a friend if you wish.  And $20 if you’re smart.  Otherwise, just bring a bit of appetite for some delicious food and delightful discourse!  See you there!

History Forum on You Tube!

Monday, March 11th, 2024

Pacific County History Forum 3-6-2024 On YouTube!

Gillnetter Kent Martin explains how a drift works.

I hope you have time to look at this video.  It’s the best one yet!  As usual a great Forum AND the best video. Except for the body in the red jacket that keeps getting in front of the camera in the first few minutes.  Sorry.  I need to find a different place out of the camera’s relentless eye.

I LOVED hearing everything again!  And was I seeing all of us for the first time?  It sort of seemed like it.  This time around, I could really listen and look at the faces and the interest and the buy-in.  It was grand.  There’s something about being able to revisit an activity that you’ve participated in that makes it really special.  I suppose sportsmen know this in an absolutely visceral way — and probably are looking at their performances with a critical eye.  I’m sure I should have been, and maybe will next time, but mostly I was interested in hearing and seeing without having a little voice nagging at me about what I needed to do next.  Or not.

Dick Wallace tells about his summers at Derbyville when he was a kid.

I’m sorry all over again, of course, that we ran out of time before we got to see Michael’s presentation on the Ilwaco Fish Wars.  Maybe we can convince him to share it before we actually get started with our Wrecks ‘N’ Rescues Forum in April.  Speaking of which, we are already lining up some community experts to talk about shipwrecks and the long-lasting impact many of them have had on our community and on our development of rescue techniques and early warning systems.

Meanwhile, do look at Michael’s YouTube posting.  It is inspirational!  What a great community we have!

So… let’s talk about that “other place.”

Saturday, January 20th, 2024

Colleen!

Long ago, someone introduced me to the concept of  “Your Other Place” — not home, not work, but your other place that offers comfort, friendship, and a feeling of familiarity and security.  I suppose for some people it might be a tavern or a bar — a place to stop to have a drink between work and home — to meet with friends and shed the cares of the day,

Not being a drinker (or even very comfortable in a bar), that concept was new to me.  My daily life involved school (my workplace) and home (my family) and various gatherings of friends or outings to events of one kind or another for recreation. I couldn’t really imagine what having an “Other Place” might be like.  I liked the idea of it, but I just didn’t see how it applied to me.

But now that I’m retired, I’ve finally figured it out!  My Other Place is Colleen’s otherwise known as Colleen’s Coffee House and Tapestry Rose Yarn Shop!  It probably has been my Other Place for quite a long time — I just didn’t know it.  Colleen began the Full Circle Café about the same time I moved here full time — in 1978 or 79,  But it took until I retired for me to go there enough to consider it my Other Place.  And, for me, Colleen’s is not quite like the Other Place that was first described to me.

My Other Place!

No.  Colleen’s is not a place I usually go alone.  It’s more of a place to with a friend for a break in the normal routine of things,  Or a place to meet someone for a cup of coffee and maybe a snack and sit and schmooze for as long as the mood strikes… a place to meet a friend for a “catch-up” visit… a place where I invariably run into someone I haven’t seen for a time and can spend a few minutes exchanging our latest news.  And, it’s where my friend Colleen greets me by name, introduces me to someone she’d like me to know or asks if I’d autograph one of my books that she has just sold to “that lady in pink over there.”

But, anyway you slice it, Colleen’s is, indeed, my Other Place.  And I’m so happy that it’s the Other Place for so many people I know!  Thank you, Colleen, for making it the perfect place to spend quality time with quality folks and a great cup of coffee.  (Actually, make that a 12 ounce decaf mocha, extra hot, no whipped cream!)

 

I had to see it with my own eyes! So will you!

Friday, January 19th, 2024

I wish the young artist who drew my picture had signed it!

Yesterday I finally managed to visit the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum to see their current exhibit, “The Heart of the Museum Part II:  Seeing Local History Through Scrapbooks.”  And about time, too!  The exhibit has been up since January 5th and, though it runs through March 9th, I wanted to leave plenty of time to see it again.  And again!  As I knew I would, I loved it!

First and foremost, self-serving as it sounds, I loved seeing how my own scrapbooks were displayed!  Not all of them, of course — I think there have been 80-some donated so far.  And I loved the way “they”  (read: Betsy Millard) selected those they thought exemplified the collection and how they chose to display them.  My scrapbooks were in three different groupings and in three different areas.  First was was a stack of “Long Beach School, Room 5” scrapbooks — one for each of the last five years I taught– displayed beneath a sign about me which begins: “Sydney Stevens, former school teacher, author and historian…”

Croquet Scrapbooks!

Next was a display of some of my “Croquet Scrapbooks” with a special “exhibit” of the pages from the 1987 book showing scenes from Nyel and my “surprise” wedding that year.  So fun!  And, finally, as part of an exhibit of church scrapbooks, a number of mine are sitting on what appears to be a church pew.  “Since the pages are fully protected by Mylar,” Betsy told me, “we thought it would be fun for people to be able to look at these.  Everyone loves the Oysterville Church!”  Amen to that.

The most spectacular part of all the exhibits are the complete collection of Gordon Schoewe’s scrapbooks which he kept up from his college years (1944) until shortly before he died (2014).  Fifty years of scrapbooks in Gordon’s inimitable style — complete with a drawing of Ambrose-the-Rabbit, Gordon’s alter-ego!  There are also a few pages featuring one of his and Roy’s early ’80s Christmas Parties with Gordon’s cryptic word bubbles added to our photos.  So bittersweet to revisit those memories now that most of the party-goers are celebrating in the Great Beyond.

Have a seat and take a look at one or two Oysterville Church scrapbooks!

And others — so many others!  Joe Knowles’ scrapbook about his adventure into the Maine Woods in 1913 and schoolteacher Mrs. Osborne’s scrapbook with that infamous 1948 “all school” picture from Ocean Park School — and there I was again, in 7th grade!

And lest you think it was all about me — NOT!  It’s about all of us — our wonderfully intertwined and complicated greater community — a look back of over 100 years!  Be sure to check it out.  You are bound to run across someone you know or a place you’ve been or an event you attended.  Or, perhaps, you’ll be able to spend a few precious moments with a friend long gone.  It’s a great exhibit!

 

 

 

Today we said “goodbye” to Lee Crowley.

Tuesday, December 19th, 2023

Lee Paul Crowley left us on December 13th.  His funeral was today at the Peninsula Church Center — well attended as you might imagine.  Lee had lived here for his entire 86 years.  But, for that very reason, there weren’t as many people as you might expect — so many have gone on before him.

Even I missed his service — a doctor’s appointment, wouldn’t you know.  But I made it to the reception at the Cranberry Museum in plenty of time to give Melinda a hug and to meet so many of their friends and relatives who had gathered to remember and to reminisce.

I’m not even sure how long I’d known Lee.  It wasn’t for very many years and for that I’m sorry.  And yet, in a small community like ours, I felt connected.  He was named after his parents’ all-time favorite Peninsula doctor, Lee Paul.  That’s a name I grew up with in a way, for even though Dr. Paul was gone from here long before I was born (and before Lee was born, too), my mother often spoke of him.  If there was a serious problem, he would come to Oysterville (on his horse, if I remember the stories correctly.)  Otherwise, he’d speak to my grandmother (who had seven youngsters) over the telephone, she telling symptoms and what she thought should be done, he agreeing or adjusting and often “deputizing” her to involve the school teacher if the ailment was running rampant among the village children.  Dr. Paul was a demi-god in my mother’s childhood.  And some of that rubbed off a bit by osmosis when I finally met his namesake.

Too, my friend-since-childhood here in Oysterville, Larry Freshley,  was in the same class as Lee — two years behind me, I think.  Although I did go to 7th grade here, I was at Ocean Park School while Larry was in 5th grade in Oysterville and Lee was probably at Long Beach School… and yet, we had mutual friends because that’s the way it is on the Peninsula.

I’ll miss the twinkle in Lee’s eyes and his gentlemanly ways.  I’ll miss his determination, his perseverance, and his kindness.  I’ll miss the times Nyel and I went to breakfast at the 42nd Street Cafe with Lee and Melinda and Ardell and Malcolm… Nyel and Lee stoic about their physical ailments, but always ready to give one of the rest of us a bad time about something.

Missing our friends and loved ones.  It’s the hardest part of growing old.

 

“One by Land; Two by Sea” on Wednesday!

Saturday, September 30th, 2023

Tucker Wachsmuth, Storyteller, 2014

Did you mark your calendar?  The second-ever History Forum will convene at the Oysterville Schoolhouse at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, October 4th.  Speakers will be three of us “old ducks” — Dobby Wiegardt, Tucker Wachsmuth, and yours truly — and we’ll be talking about a subject near and dear to our hearts!  In fact, if it weren’t for what we’ll be telling you, we might not have been here at all!

Dobby with his grandfather’s hats, 2019.

We hope that you’ll have questions about our presentations — and, of course, hope even more fervently that we or someone among those gathered has the answers — or at least suggestions of where to find out.  Even more fervently, we hope that there may be some others among us who can share stories about their own ancestors who arrived in this area in the last half of the nineteenth century!

There are absolutely no prerequisites to attendance at the History Forum beyond an interest in Pacific County and Southwest Washington history.  And, whether you come to listen or to question or to share, you are bound to take away at least some new understandings about our past — maybe even some aha moments that illuminate the present.  You never can tell when the old-timers get to telling their stories!

 

 

Friends, Family, Music, and Flowers

Saturday, September 16th, 2023

Jim Lee listens to Barbara Bate and Fred Carter.

It was a Saturday afternoon to remember.  At one o’clock friends and family of Marian Lee gathered at the Senior Center in Klipsan to visit, to eat, and to celebrate her life.  They listened to the music she enjoyed during her 100+ years, told stories about their favorite memories of Marian,  and shared a few hours of tears and laughter.  Marian would have loved it all!

The inimitable Barbara Bate played the piano, Fred Carter sang a variety of tunes all of which Marian would have remembered, and Robert Scherrer sang a song that touched many of us — I doubt that there was a dry eye.  (Later I asked him to sing it at my funeral or party or whatever — he said he would, so please hold him to it!  If only I knew the name of it, it might help!)  Diana Thompson’s summary of her mother’s life was fabulous!  Marian would have been proud of her and of her sisters and all of the grands and greats who were there!

One of Patricia Fagerland’s lovely dahlia bouquets.

After we’d dried our eyes and said our goodbyes, Vicki and I headed south to Ilwaco to catch the last hour of the Dahlia Show at the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum.  We were just in the nick of time.  Apparently there had been a “dismantling” announcement and exhibitors were starting to comply…  We whipped around in nothing flat and managed to see everything, though we couldn’t do much lingering.

We also saw a lot of folks we knew — so many dahlia growers!!!  I had no idea!  What fun!  I hope it will be an annual event!

P.S.  Late Breaking News:  The name of the song that Robert sang is “Please Pardon Me.”

It’s The Piano Season! Did you know?

Tuesday, August 15th, 2023

Colin Staub at a Push-Play Piano in Downtown Portland

The President of the Board of the Oysterville Restoration Foundation at the present time is Colin Staub.  He has been a part-time Oysterville resident for all of his 34 years.  He has worked in the oysters during the summers, spends as much time as possible at his family’s second home here in Oysterville, even bicycling now and again from his home in Portland,  and has performed at Vespers on numerous occasions — he is a mandolin player of some note.

Sometimes when he is in town he stops by to visit — an occurrence which I consider a great privilege.  And I must say, he never makes me feel two-and-a-half times his age (and then some) — not even when we occasionally get into the thorny subject of technology and the ORF website and other things I think I might have known about once but have given up that brain space to more immediate concerns.  Like how to keep my balance when walking over uneven terrain…

“The Old Rugged Cross”

For a few years now, when he’s in Oysterville, Colin has been playing the piano in the church — sometimes ragtime, but more recently, some of the hymns from the old Methodist hymnals we used to use for Vespers.   (Though he began on the violin as a young boy and now is teaching himself the piano, he still considers the mandolin his primary instrument.)   Yesterday, he wrote me this note: There are a dozen or so pianos set up in public places around Portland right now, and I’ve been making the rounds to play them all. I was playing “How Great Thou Art” and “The Old Rugged Cross,” the versions I learned in the Oysterville Church hymnal, downtown the other day, and a guy came up and started singing along. He was visiting from Atlanta and said he didn’t anticipate hearing gospel music in downtown Portland. The hymnals are coming in handy!

When I asked Colin more about those pianos, he wrote that they are put around town by a project called “Piano Push Play” Wow!  https://www.pianopushplay.com/
They get painted by local artists and placed in various places throughout the summer. It’s pretty cool and has been going on for 10 years or so. I’ve had numerous interesting encounters with people at the pianos, exchanged numbers, had impromptu duets, all sorts of things. Last year I emailed the founder about one particularly memorable conversation and she posted about it on their Instagram:

Piano at the Oysterville Church

There was one in particular that sticks in my mind, where I sat down to play a few boogie-woogie songs and noticed a woman sitting nearby who was crying and clearly not having a good day.  By the end of the first song I noticed she was tapping her feet, although still crying.  A couple songs later she came over to the piano and asked if I could teach her a couple chords, and we ended up having an impromptu piano lesson and talked about what she was going through.  She said it was the best unexpected thing to happen to her all day, and I thought it really illustrated the power of public music.

If you are in downtown Portland this summer, keep your eyes and ears open!  You may come across Colin playing some of those old-fashioned hymns he’s been learning at the Historic Oysterville Church!