Getting Acquainted – All Eyes on Kitt!

First they told me four. Then, six. Finally, ten. “They” being the administration at Grays Harbor College. So imagine my surprise (and pleasure!) when thirteen people showed up at my “Putting the Story back in History” class last evening! Six men and seven women. And what a grand group they are!

Our first session concerned eight of the earliest Euro-Americans who came to this area, (cleverly) titled “Where the Settlers Came From and How They Got Here.” So, to start things off, I asked each class member to share a little bit about their own background – the how and why of being on the Peninsula.

Amelia Aubichon Petit, Early Chinook/Ilwaco Settler

Not one of us had been born here, but several besides myself had been ‘summer kids’ who had visited relatives here or who had just come for beach vacations during their childhoods. Several people had come to ‘the Long Beach Peninula’ as adults, more-or-less by accident, and had decided to retire here. One came because of a job opening, fell in love with the area, and stayed.

Amazingly, I knew most of them – eleven out of the thirteen – and am FaceBook friends with the two that I had not yet met. I felt like it was the first of eight Tuesday night parties! I only hope that teacher and subject matter don’t disappoint.

Next week: “Creating Communities and a Sense of Place.” I haven’t built-in a time for sharing on that subject. But, in a way, we’ll be building our own micro-community right there at the Columbia Center, Grays Harbor College,  at the Port of Ilwaco. I’m looking forward to our adventure!