Posts Tagged ‘Oysterville Schoolhouse’

Gearing Up for School

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2016
Gin after cutting her bangs - a year or so ago

Gin after cutting her bangs – a year or so ago

My lively seven-going-on-eight-year-old cousin (2nd, twice removed) Gin came calling the other day.  She and her brother are here in Oysterville for their last visit before school starts.  “We’ve already done our school shopping…”

“It feels kinda sad,” she told me, lamenting that summer is on the wane.  Then she dashed off to see if there were any eggs that needed collecting and was back not long afterwards asking to use our outdoor faucet to fill her super-duper water gun.  “We’re going to ambush the Bemis Boys,” she told Nyel.  Those are her first cousins who were arriving shortly from Sun Valley.

School Street

School Street

Amazingly, we are gearing up for school here in Oysterville, as well.  Just yesterday Diane Buttrell sent me the schedule for the Fall 2016 Schoolhouse Lecture Series.  It will be the fifth semi-annual series she has organized and hosted and she’s asked if I will again do some write-ups for the paper.  I see by the dates that I’d better get cracking.  The theme is “Local Lore” and those who will be presenting the talks are:

9/8: Bud Goulter
9/22: Dobbie Wiegardt
10/6: Michael Parker
10/20: Ernie Soule
11/3: Susan Holway
11/17: Tom Downer

Be sure to mark your calendars – every other Thursday, September 8th through November 17th at 10:00 a.m.  I’ve already marked mine!

“In The Mood”

Friday, February 5th, 2016
Cupid, Diane Buttrell

Cupid, Diane Buttrell

Undoubtedly I overuse the word ‘fabulous’ but yesterday’s Oysterville Schoolhouse experience was FABULOUS! Notice I said ‘experience’ because the event went above and beyond. First and foremost, Kuzzin Kris Jones held the attention of a packed house and was kept afterwards with many questions by her enthusiastic listeners. For no logical reason, I was bursting with pride. What a life she has had! No, scratch that. Is having!

But there was another story unfolding yesterday as well. At the top of the program, before introducing Kris, Diane Buttrell quickly and breathlessly told us a bit about our friend Wayne Downing. In a whirlwind romance that began only weeks (six I think) ago at one of Diane and Hal’s “Read to Me” evenings, Wayne has won himself a bride!

The Groom, Wayne Downing

The Groom, Wayne Downing

Most of us know Wayne – if not personally, then from his column “An Old Dog’s Tale” in the Observer or as host of “In the Mood” on KMUN, our Coast Community public radio station. We’ve clapped for him in several of Sandra Nielson’s productions of “Shoalwater Shenanigans” (Wayne played Chief Carcowan as well as Henry Feister and Eldridge Higgins.) He is, in my opinion, one of the most loveable and huggable of men and I couldn’t be happier for him and for his bride Sharon.

Before they arrived at the schoolhouse, and for reasons I cannot yet reveal, Diane told us in a rush of their courtship story beginning with her own introduction to newcomer-to-the-Peninsula, Sharon, at church and of inviting her to the “Read to Me” evening. She told of Wayne and Sharon’s immediate attraction as evidenced by instant and total immersion in conversation and eye contact.

The Bride, Sharon Patterson

The Bride

The story even involved the couple being stuck in the elevator where Hal and Diane live. And then there was the day they met for lunch at the Full Circle and had to be asked to leave at 5:00 p.m. – closing time. Talk about smitten! They apparently set a wedding date, then decided they couldn’t wait and went over to the courthouse at South Bend and… voilà!

Sharon and Wayne arrived at the schoolhouse yesterday after Diane’s commentary and just in time to hear Kris.  They were glowing, smiling, and holding hands – all of which continued right through Kris’s talk. When I gave them my congratulations afterwards and teased a bit about not waiting, they both glowed even more and Wayne’s response was “Our loins were on fire!” A fabulous response… and pure Wayne!

 

My Gypsy Kuzzin

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2016
Kristina Jones, Performer

Kristina Jones, Performer

In my mind, anyone who has moved fifty-four times (or is it fifty-seven?) qualifies as a gypsy. Not in the ethnic, Romani sense, but in the wandering, nomadic, intrepid sense. I mean, how many people do you know who have sung (and even starred) in operas on the national and international stage? Or have lived in Nepal and begun a Foundation to stop sex-trafficking of young girls? Or worked in New York City for an antique dealer specializing in Asian art and antiquities?

Those are just some of the things I could tell you about my friend and ‘kuzzin’ Kristina Jones. Her life epitomizes romance and adventure and she has many a story to tell! I haven’t heard half of them yet, I’m sure! I’m looking forward to learning more tomorrow morning at the first of the 2016 Spring Lecture Series at the Oysterville Schoolhouse. Kris begins her talk at 10 a.m. and I intend to take a front row seat!

Kris Jones, Teacher

Kris Jones, Teacher

Kris is a great storyteller. She pulls you into the plot, keeps you mesmerized throughout, and often leaves you wondering whether her story is fact or fiction! I’m pretty sure it’s all true, though, and probably only the tip of that proverbial iceberg. I say that because I went online to find out more about the Little Sisters Foundation.

According to her founding partner Stuart Perrin: In 1992, my distinguished colleague, Kristina Carlson Jones moved to Kathmandu to open a meditation center. She contacted me in New York and told me about children being abducted and trafficked into sexual slavery… On one occasion, at the risk of her life, Kristina Carlson Jones outfitted as a nurse, went into the Falkland Road hellhole of brothels in Mumbai to document the dismal condition of young girls who were sold to traffickers. Had the brothel owners known what Kristina was really up to, most likely they would have killed her.

Now that’s a story I’ve not heard! Perhaps she will tell it tomorrow…

Oysterville School: Education Mecca!

Friday, October 23rd, 2015
"Tucker at the Helm"

“Tucker at the Helm”

Yesterday, the Oysterville Schoolhouse was crowded with eager learners, all there to hear Tucker Wachsmuth tell about his great-grandfather Meinert Waschsmuth’s long, adventure-filled journey from Sylt in Germany to Oysterville in Washington Territory back in the mid-1800s.  And about his great-great uncle, Meinert’s brother, who shipped out at the same time on a different vessel and whose fate is largely unknown. I will say only that it was a fabulous talk, illustrated and documented to the max. It was a learning opportunity for us all.

But, there was another sort of learning happening at the Schoolhouse yesterday even before Tucker was introduced. People were circling the room, looking at the bulletin board display cases that contain bits and pieces of Oysterville School District No. 1 history. There are photographs, class registers, receipts for work done, examples of early 20th century art projects and on and on.

1914 Oysterville School Register

1914 Oysterville School Register

For the most part, those contents are copies of “school stuff” that had been stored haphazardly in our old woodshed. They were left-overs from the forty-some years that my grandfather, Harry Espy, served on the Oysterville School Board,

When the Oysterville Community Club, under the able leadership of Casey Killingsworth, undertook the restoration of the building, Larry Freshley and I were asked if we would work interpreting the school’s history. The large sign outside and the cabinets inside with their historic information were the result. Little did we know then – back in 2001/2002, that they would be the source of ongoing “education” in and of themselves!

Yesterday, before things got started, two audience members who had come to hear Tucker shared some important historic information of their own. Community Historian Kathleen Davies found her grandmother’s name on a 1914 class list. Previously, she had thought her grandmother might have been in school here in 1910 but we couldn’t find any documentation.

Yesterday: success! There was the name “Jones, Maude [age] 13. Kathleen was thrilled and so was I!  It never occurred to me when I put the bulletin boards together that I would be continuing to learn about their contents all these years later.  Kathleen and I talked a bit, also,  about where she thought Maude might have lived, about the old school attendance boundaries, and who might have had a big farm where her Great-grandfather would have worked. So interesting! I hope we both learn more as time goes by.

Oysterville Schoolhouse

Oysterville Schoolhouse

And, a lovely woman whose in-laws are part of the Eugene Andrews family, pointed out her mother-in-law’s name on a list of teachers in another display case. “? – 1926     Ellen ? (Andrews)” is what it said. I now know to update that information to say “1924-1926 Ellen Andersen Andrews.”  I wrote it down (correctly I hope) but didn’t write down the daughter-in-law’s name for which I am truly sorry.   The record will be updated on my computer and, when time permits, in the schoolhouse display.

I love it that those display cases “keep on giving.” Maybe, eventually, we’ll gather enough bits and pieces to replace all the gaps and question marks. Eventually…

Coming Soon: Oysterville Science Academy!

Thursday, June 4th, 2015
Oysterville School, 1940s

Oysterville School, 1940s

Diane Buttrell and I have been talking about her plans for the Oysterville Science Academy this summer and I am feeling totally out of the educational loop. Maybe “educational” is the wrong word. It’s the kid loop I’m no longer part of.

Twenty years ago, I would have known most of the fourth graders in the Ocean Beach School District and I could have said to some of them, “Have you heard about what’s happening in Oysterville this summer? Are you planning to go? Will I see you in the schoolyard or down by the bay? I hope so!”

Ascan0021s it is, I can only hope that kids and parents get the word and sign up for the exciting program that Diane and her colleagues are planning. Beginning July 27th and continuing for three four-day weeks (Mondays thru Thursdays) fourth graders will become totally immersed in science. Through demonstrations, experiments, and hands-on activities and they will have an opportunity to learn from an amazing number of experts. Yes! Experts in matters such as oceanography, logistics, biology, and geothermal activity!

They won’t be learning in quite the usual way, either.  They will be using a curriculum developed by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.  Lessons are based on the time-honored processes used by actual scientists world-wide — observing, inferring, predicting, using numbers, measuring, communicating using time/space relationships, and classifying.

Imagine! Lab Coats!

There will be some writing, some research, and some time for art.  And, there will be lab coats! If I were a kid, that would be the final caveat! The experiments, the research, the field trips to look at ‘stuff’ in its natural habitat – all well and good. But there’d be nothing to make me feel more like being a real scientist than wearing a lab coat. What a great touch!

From the vantage point of an Oysterville resident, I can’t wait to hear children’s voices on the school grounds again. It’s been 57 years since school has been held on a regular basis at the little one-room schoolhouse. The occasional Easter egg hunt or visit by a group of school kids is great, but three weeks in a row of daily use by school children is a Big Deal. It almost makes me want to be a fourth grader again. Or maybe a teacher again. Almost.

Clay gets an A+! And maybe so do I.

Friday, April 24th, 2015

 

Oysterville Schoolhouse

Oysterville Schoolhouse

Yesterday we attended the next to the last of the 2015 Spring Lecture Series at the Oysterville Schoolhouse. Poet Susan Holway entertained a delighted audience with her reminiscences about growing up in Oysterville and her ongoing love of bay, ocean and peninsula. We laughed and clapped and the hour went by all too quickly.

We lingered for a while afterwards to talk a bit with Sue and with our many friends and neighbors in the audience. That’s one of the greatest pleasures of the series – seeing familiar faces time after time and feeling a bond beyond the usual – almost as though we’d been taking a class together or belonged to a special club.

A.K. Smiley Public Library, Redlands

A.K. Smiley Public Library, Redlands

Yesterday we also met a couple from Redlands, California – Hopi and Mike Hayes who are friends of Sue’s who were interested in getting one of my uncle Willard Espy’s books. I told them that Willard and my mother and their brother Edwin had all graduated from the University of Redlands and, as one thing led to another, I learned that they were good friends of Larry Burgess, longtime Director of the Smiley Library in Redlands.  That’s where Willard’s own library was placed several years ago after the demise of the Espy Foundation. Nyel and I had gone to Redlands met with Dr. Burgess on several occasions and… it began to feel like an old Southern California Home Week right there at the Oysterville Schoolhouse! They promised to look in on Willard’s books for us and “report back.”

Grandpa Clay Likes Butter

Grandpa Clay Likes Butter

And, speaking of reporting back… Clay Nichols told me that in following the “assignment” I had suggested at the end of my own Schoolhouse Lecture last month, he has written twenty-five stories about his own growing up years – stories for his grandchildren! Twenty-five! Now THAT’S  ‘putting the story back into history” in a big way! I was SO pleased. Without even reading those stories (not that providing feedback was even part of the suggestion!) I am giving Clay an A+!

One of my big goals was to encourage others to begin writing their own memories – the stories that will become the history of the future. And Clay is apparently doing so in the grand manner! Come to think of it, I believe I’ll give myself high marks, as well. Imagine inspiring an internationally known geothermal engineer who has been an adviser to scientists and politicians concerning climate change and other heady matters! I am delighted.

Thursday, Ten O’clock Ayem

Monday, March 9th, 2015

 

The Oysterville School

The Oysterville School

Day after day after tomorrow (as we used to say when we were kids) I’ll be talking at the Oysterville Schoolhouse – taking my turn in the Spring 2015 Schoolhouse Lecture Series. My topic is “Putting the Story Back in History” and I’ve had in mind to tell about some of the pioneer characters I’ve come to know through years of research and putting bits and pieces of the historic puzzle together.  But, after hearing my friend Birdie Etchison talk two weeks ago, I’m waffling.

Birdie is also a local writer. In some ways, we are polar opposites. She writes fiction; I write non-fiction. She enjoys and is inspired by talking with other writers in workshops and writing groups; I spend my non-writing time in more solitary pursuits like examining old diaries and long-forgotten ledgers. She supports herself by writing; I feel lucky to break even.

Birdie Etchison

Birdie Etchison

Birdie’s topic was “The How, Why and What of Writing” and her audience was rapt. At hour’s end, there were many questions and comments and there were even folks interested in forming a writing group with Birdie as ‘doyenne.’ But, what has caused me to rethink my own upcoming presentation was moderator Diane’s concluding remarks that next time I’d be telling about my writing process…

“Will I?” I’ve been asking myself. “Perhaps I should,” I tell myself. And, all the while, I wonder what my audience would really like to hear. Stories or process? Maybe some of both.

Too, I want to do more than entertain and inform. If possible, I’d like to inspire. Not in a lofty kind of way – just enough so that a few listeners might be encouraged to document some of their own stories. For posterity. For future historians. For an Oysterville Schoolhouse Lecture a hundred years hence.

But fifty minutes isn’t much time…

Calling All Ten O’Clock Scholars

Wednesday, February 11th, 2015
"A Diller A Dollar"by Kate Greenaway

“A Diller A Dollar”by Kate Greenaway

A diller, a dollar, a ten o’clock scholar!
What makes you come so soon?
You used to come at ten o’clock,
But now you come at noon.

I remember, in my nursery rhyme days, wondering what, exactly, a ten’o’clock scholar was.  Every one knew that school started at nine o’clock.  I think the rhyme’s sarcasm was lost on me — probably because I don’t really remember tardiness as a problem.  Not when I was a student and not when I was a teacher.

But now, seven-plus decades later, “ten o’clock scholar” is taking on a whole new meaning here in Oysterville.  For the next two months, every other Thursday beginning tomorrow, we can all be ten o’clock scholars and be right on time for the ‘Spring 2015 Oysterville Schoolhouse Lecture Series.’

Sponsored by the Oysterville Community Club and organized by Diane Buttrell, this is the third series of lectures by community members — each an expert in his or her field and each willing to share their knowledge with friends and neighbors.  The sessions are free, though five dollar donations help defray expenses and pay for heat and light.  The atmosphere is informal and friendly and the information often cutting-edge and riveting.

Schoolhouse Clock

Schoolhouse Clock

Tomorrow Dr. Clayton Ralph Nichols will talk about “Living Fear-Free on Our Peninsula,” particularly with regard to natural hazards such as earthquakes and tsunamis that are of special concern here.  Dr. Nichols” knows of what he speaks.  He served as chairperson of the National Academy of Science’s Committee on Earth Resources and on its Boardon Earth Science and Research for 12 years,retiring Dec. 31, 2014.  Locals know him better as ‘Clay’ — a member of the Bayside Singers and currently serving as President, Friends of Willapa National Wildlife Refuge.

Clay’s description of himself on FaceBook is perhaps the most appropriate preview of tomorrow’s lecture:  I am a semi-retired scientist and engineer interested in scientific revolutions.  At present, I’m fascinated by the present debate over global climate change as an example of changing paradigms.  Most of all, I like his favorite quote:  “We have met the enemy and they is us.”  Pogo.

I don’t know if Oysterville’s is the oldest remaining school building in Pacific County or not, but tomorrow’s lecture will definitely be the most cutting edge ‘class’ in session.  Ten o’clock scholars dasn’t be late!

 

Our Second Town Meeting… Thursday!

Monday, March 3rd, 2014
kathleen_sayce

Kathleen Sayce

Kathleen Sayce will be speaking at the Oysterville Schoohouse Thursday morning and it promises to be the perfect weather for her topic – rain!  Actually, the forecast is for “showers” which fits the title of her talk, “The Many Names of Rain,” even more succinctly.  It’s always pretty spectacular here when the Weather Gods conspire to ‘climate coordinate’ in harmony for a special occasion!

In case you don’t know Kathleen – and that would most likely be because you don’t live on the Peninsula or you are not involved in birding, wetland issues, propagating irises or any of the other myriad activities that fall within Kathleen’s field of expertise – she is a botanist/biologist extraordinaire.

“She’s 10 miles deep and 100 miles wide in her knowledge base,” says Extension Agent Kim Patten, a WSU researcher and associate professor of horticulture who often asks Sayce to identify plants growing along the bay or in cranberry bogs. “I don’t think there is a living soul who knows half what she does – a quarter, even.”

4 R

Oysterville Schoolhouse

The part that no one says, though, and the part I like best is that Kathleen ALWAYS relates her information back to what her audience is interested in.  On the Peninsula, that has to do with the special features of our environment – not only the plants and animals, but the landforms and water features – as in the natural ones, not the backyard fountains or fishponds that newcomers sometimes try out.  (Like why would you need to, I always wonder.)

Thursday’s talk on rain will be no exception, I’m sure.  I expect to hear about our water table and whether or not we should be concerned during the dry months.  I expect to learn how we can be almost surrounded and, sometimes, quite inundated with saltwater and still have a safe fresh water supply.  And I expect to learn about the special gifts we have been given all because of our relentless rainfall.  (Maybe “expect” sounds too demanding.  Change that to “hope.”)

Kathleen’s inspiration for this particular subject, “The Many Names of Rain” came from hearing that the Eskimos (Inuit) have fifty names for snow.  “They don’t have anything on us!” she laughs. While they are all about snow, we’re all about rain, and she says that she learns a few more pet names for that particular sort of precipitation every time she gives this talk.

I’m looking forward to hearing the audience ‘contributions’ on Thursday.  The fun begins at 10 o’clock.  Organizer Diane Buttrell suggests that you hook up with a friend and then go to one of our North End restaurants for lunch and your own follow-up discussion.

And, what could be better than hunkering down in a cozy eatery and talking about the weather?  It combines two of the things we do best here on the Peninsula!

See you at the schoolhouse!

Meet the Neighbors!

Wednesday, February 19th, 2014
The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins

“The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins”

One of the things we pride ourselves upon here at the beach is knowing everyone – or just about everyone.  Sometimes it’s a burden.  There is no way, for instance, to go out and do a ‘few quick errands.’  Quick ain’t in it, as they say.  Whether you’re going to the bank or the pharmacy, to the grocery store or the gas station, there is no way in this community to accomplish anything quickly.

It’s a given that you will see someone you know at every turn.  And the frustrating part is that you actually want to see them.  You want to know how their mother is doing or if they’ve had a chance to try that recipe or whether they need a ride to the Grange tomorrow night.  For me, every foray out the door is another opportunity to ‘network’ – or at least that’s what we call it these days.  I’m always gathering information for a story or checking up on a fact that didn’t sit right and, invariably, I run into just the person who can help me out.

It happens everywhere – not just when you’re doing errands.  At concerts and school plays, at car shows and even at funerals, we are always visiting with people we know.  But then comes the question:  How well, exactly, do we know them?  Often, it seems, we wear only one hat per person and we don’t really know all that much about them beyond a certain role.  Seldom do we realize how many other hats a person wears – perhaps like Dr. Suess’s character Bartholomew Cubbins, we each wear 500 hats.

Poster

Lecture Series Poster

Diane Buttrell, who has lived on the Peninsula on and off for five or six years, has found this quality one of the outstanding attributes of her friends and neighbors here.  And she wants everyone to know more about some of the folks she thinks are amazing and special.  In typical Diane fashion, she is doing something about that desire.  She has organized a series of “Town Meetings and Lectures” which she says are not really town meetings or lectures.

They are opportunities for some of the “amazing” people she has met here to tell the rest of us a little more about themselves – about their interests, their background, their areas of expertise.  The first of such gatherings will be held tomorrow at 10 a.m. at the Oysterville School House.  The speaker will be Clay Nichols – a soft-spoken man you may know through his work with the Friends of the Willapa Bay Wildlife Refuge, or maybe as a performer/singer with PAPA and the Bayside Singers.

But did you know he’s been an adviser to Al Gore regarding climate change?  Or did you know that he serves as Chairman of the National Academy of Science Committee on Earth Resources?  Pretty heady stuff.  And now, thanks to Diane, we have an opportunity to learn more about Clay (Geoscientist/engineer Dr. Clayton Ralph Nichols, that is!) and maybe get the inside scoop on some of the news that’s making headlines these days.

And, chances are we’ll see a whole lot of other folks there wearing their Town Meeting Hats…