|
from
my perspective . . . On the September 25th post, we didn't have some of the names of the Aero Squadron . . . now we do (ones in orange print) . . .
From left: Don Coonrod; Freddy Tufts; Sheriff Cotter; Frances Farley; ___ McFarland; Mary McFarland; Jack Young; Nick Nichols; Fran Greathouse; Rick Finwall; Bud Davis; Harriet Clough.
Soooooooo I emailed Mary Roehrich to ask and this answer came back: "Yes, Linda's father was Ken (Karl) Denny. He is the one who patented the shoes. He also invented the "Lucky Lady" Fishing Lure, which was the first one to have neon-glow colours in it." It is so wonderful that we can send out a question and the answer comes back so quickly! Here is another one: from Bob Gydesen in Greenview: "In talking to the 'old timers', see if you can find out where Joseph Morrison and family lived in Greenview. I was told they lived on Greenview Road, but that seems to be the Morris family. The Morrisons were some of my relatives." Waaaaaaaaay back in August (doesn't that seem like a long time ago now???), Marjorie Clay began our Adventure of finding more information on the 'Chicken Shack' aka 'Fryer Farm' restaurant. Geraldean Johnson mentioned in an email that along with Rusty Coleman living in one of the little cottages behind the restaurant, she also remembered Verdell Olson living in one of the cottages during the school year. After a little sleuthing, I found an address for 'a' Verdell Olson who Geraldean and I believed just might be 'the' Verdell . . . so I decided to send a copy of the Chicken Shack post and a letter to her written on one of my 11" x 17" handpainted Communiqué papers! (You can read more about them here.) If
you are going to write a letter,
A week or so went by after I mailed the package, and honestly I forgot all about it! Then one day, there on the recorder was a message from 'the' Verdell . . . whoopee!!!!
I called her back and we had a spirited conversation . . . these are from my notes, so I hope I got this right! Verdell's parents, Lorraine and Owen Gould were friends with Madge and Dee Bohannon in the 1940's in the San Joaquin Valley. The Bohannons wanted to come up to this area, so they did, and purchased the property (house and cottages) that we now know more about. The Bohannons two daughters, Karol (older than Verdell) and Sandy (younger) attended Etna High. We're not sure if they had one or two sons also. Verdell said the 'cabin' was like a 3-plex, which, now that I look at the photo I took . . . it certainly does look that way! (Always interesting how you look closer once you have more information!)
Verdell's parents moved from the San Joaquin Valley in 1949 after her father's Doctor told him he had 'Valley Fever' and if he didn't move, he would die. So they sold the ranch and along with his best friend, Smokey Kaiser, he moved his family to Cecilville. Verdell's mother, Lorraine would run the restaurant while the Bohannons traveled back and forth to the San Joaquin valley. Lorraine also ran the Callahan Cafe in Callahan and Verdell's father worked for the Forest Service. Their goal was to save money to build a Guest Ranch. And in 1966, they built the 'Lor-O-Ranch' 6 miles south of Cecilville, fulfilling their dream. Verdell said she shared the cabin with Lynn Wagner from Yreka (whose parents didn't like that school, so she came to Etna High for schooling). The most vivid memory she has is a water fight with Rusty in the coldest part of winter. She and Rusty stepped out of their rooms at just the same time and somehow a water fight ensued. It was so cold that the water froze before it hit the cement, forming an ice rink! Verdell said Rusty's parents bought a place on the South Fork of Salmon River and when she turned 14 she got a Driver's License under the 'necessity' clause. She bought a 195?? Oldsmobile Rocket in Robin Egg Blue!!!! On Friday night after school, she'd take Rusty home and on Sunday night pick him up and they would return to Bohannon's place.
"I remember the one time Rusty and I got in trouble was when we ate too many dill pickle slices. Mrs. Bohannon made them off-limits. She claimed we were eating up all her profit in the gallons of dill pickle slices we ate." Well, Verdell said she remembered Marjorie working there and she also remembered that the pickles and sliced onions were her favorites, but Rusty only liked the pickles! Verdell also said one of her good friends, Sharon Woodley, was a cheerleader . . . along with two other Sharons (Sharon Hjertager and Sharon Deppen) and Dona Young. She said they would start a cheer with: "I'm
Sharon,
I'm Che'usa and that's all for this post!
Thanks
for * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
|
