Winter 2008 - Vashon-Maury Island Heritage Association

VASHON-MAURY ISLAND HERITAGE ASSOCIATION DEDICATED TO THE PRESERVATION OF VASHON HISTORY VOLUME 23 ISSUE 1 Winter 2008 A LITTLE HISTORY ON DOCKTON PARK Part II
By Richard Warren
Dockton Park swimming program during 1946 – 1951.
The years I was at Dockton Park, there was a custodian named Berger Gord. On cold days Berger would keep a fire going in
the two wood stoves in the cook shack, so the kids and the instructors could thaw out; that felt good! I am sure some of our
students remember it well.
Swimming lessons were divided into several skill levels: Beginners, Advanced Beginners (those who could dog paddle), Intermediate and Advanced and Life Saving, usually one class per session.
There were four weeks per sessions. The first two classes learned to swim from the beach, which was a mix of sand and
mud, the water was pretty murky. At the start of each season, we would line everyone up, march them down the beach at
low tide and pick up the rocks with barnacles and toss them out of the lesson area. Imagine, having to reach down to the mud
and put your face in that cold murky water! Somehow they all made it. Now and then I had to do it to demonstrate; only
once per session, if possible. We did it rain or shine, they were great troopers.
After learning to put their faces in the water, mud-crawl, float and finally to dogpaddle the students were ready for the final
exam; out to the dock, jump off the float and swim to the ladder. What a day! They were always eager to reach this level so
they could become intermediates. Some were so eager, they faked dogpaddling or talked me into letting them try. Off the
float they would go without hesitation only to flounder and I would have to pass them the pole or jump in and take them to
the ladder where they would immediately ask to do it again!
Continued on Page 3 PAST REMEMBERED III
Mary Jo Barrentine and Barbara Steen have completed the
project—PAST REMEMBERED III. It is now in the final stages
of being printed and bound.
th
Save the date, April 13 for the book selling and a brief memorial, honoring two wonderful ladies, Garland Norin and
Blanche Caffiere, who started the plans for the book. The
time will be at 2:00 pm and held in the Gordon Building,
which is located directly behind the Museum on 10105 SW
Bank Rd.
Contact Either Mary Jo or Barbara, if you wish to pre-order
the book. Until all costs are in, the price of the book is yet
undetermined. Inside this issue:
Looking Back 2 Officers and Board of Trustees 2 Betty MacDonald ~ Happy 100 th Birthday 3 Driftin’ 5 Memorials & New Members 5 Request Wanted 6 Membership Form 6 Brick Order Form 7 DUES FOR 2008
Thank you to those who responded to the reminder letter .
For those who haven’t done so yet. PLEASE, WE DO NOT WANT TO LOSE YOU AS A MEMBER!
VASHON-MAURY ISLAND HERITAGE ASSOCIATION
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INTERESTED IN VOLUNTEERING? CALL TODAY!
LOOKING BACK:
125 Years Ago—Vashon Island’s first Post Office
opens on April 12, 1883. Samuel C. Herriott is the first
postmaster.
History Link
I00 Years Ago—If Pierce and King County Commissioners grant the franchises, within eight months electric cars will be in operation on Vashon Island. Practically all of the right-of-way has been secured and the
residents have offered to buy $50,000 worth of stock.
Promoters expect to make the Vashon route a competitor of the present boat and electric railway lines
between Seattle and Tacoma. The water route is 29
miles, the interurban is 39 miles and the Northern Pacific is 42 miles. The Vashon route is expected to be
about 24 miles.
Tacoma News Tribune
75 Years Ago—The Island was visited by the most
destructive fire in its history, said the April 20, 1933
News-Record. “About half of Vashon was destroyed
and half of the business concerns left without a place to
carry on.” The fire started on the east side of the
street in a hotel in the Martin Building, The blaze
spread southward, then jumping the street to the England & Peterson Feed store; continuing north it consumed half the block before it was contained.
Vashon Maury Island Beachcomber BOARD MEETING TIME CHANGE FOR 2008
The December 4th Board Meeting confirmed that the 2008
Board Meetings will be held on the first Tuesday of every
month at 7:00 pm.
OFFICERS PRESIDENT: Bob Fetterley Vice President: Laurie Tucker Treasurer: Steve church VASHON-MAURY ISLAND
Recording Secretary: Carolyn smith jones HERITAGE ASSOCIATION
Correspondence Secretary: Barbara steen Newsletter Editor: Barbara cooper BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Frank Davis Bill Palmer Barbara Steen Gene sherman Tom Sherman Charlie hanson Reed Fitzpatrick Bruce Haulman Rebecca wittman Yvonne Kuperberg PO BOX 723, VASHON, WA 98070
206-463-7808
www.vashonheritage.org
Email: ADMIN@VASHONHERITAGE.org
Winter 2008
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The kids invented a new stroke called the “Quartermaster
Crawl” where you picked up seaweed and threw it aside
with each stroke.
We once took the group to Seattle to race the Green Lake
Mile. Everyone had fun, but also caught the infamous Green
Lake itch.
For the final exam we took the students to the Coleman
Pool in West Seattle, as it had heated salt water and lights.
What a luxury after the water at Dockton Park.
Advanced Class on the float at Dockton Park ~ 1946-1951
Photo from Richard Warren
Continued from Page 1
History of Dockton Park Part II
In 1952, I had to report to Ft Lewis for ROTC summer
camp, so I turned my wonderful job over to Dave and said
goodbye to a wonderful way of life and the greatest job
ever.
Betty MacDonald
Happy 100th Birthday
By Rebecca Wittman
Once they passed the float test they were Advance Beginners. The next step, Intermediate, where they learned the
basic swim strokes, how to tread water and how to dive
standing up.
The more advanced swimmers worked on what was then
known as the “Australian Crawl”, now called “Freestyle”.
Each year on the Labor Day weekend we put on our version of the “Aqua Follies”, like the one at Green Lake. We
had precision swimming, ballet, races, comic events and I
would stand on the paddle board and jump rope and stand
on my head. We drew a crowd of family and friends. It was
a great way to end the season.
The Life saving students, normally older; had a great time.
We followed the Red Cross requirements to the letter.
Unfortunately, we taught the then current form of artificial
respiration using applied back pressure. Think, if I could
have shown the girls the present standard: mouth-tomouth!!
We also tried to develop some competitive swimming and
had frequent races off the float. We even organized the
“Quartermaster Harbor Mile”, like the Green Lake Mile.
The course was from Dockton Park to the Burton Baptist
Assembly Grounds (now Camp Burton). We had a row
boat with each swimmer and everyone made it across and
were rowed back, shivering!
As Stratford-on-Avon had William Shakespeare and Key
West had Ernest Hemingway, so Vashon Island had Betty
MacDonald. Initially known for her entertaining and hilarious
The Egg and I, a recollection of her earlier life as a chicken
farmer’s wife in Chimicum, Washington on the Olympic Peninsula, MacDonald also preserved indelibly the textures and
memory prints of life on our unique island in her lush Vashonera autobiography, Onions in the Stew. This down-to-earth,
charmingly talented writer who called Vashon home for 14
years would have celebrated her 100th birthday March 29th
2008, and even though she lost her battle with cancer over
fifty years ago, the Vashon community along with her adoring
readers worldwide will be taking up the celebration in her
memory.
On March 16th, the Vashon Island birthday celebration will
take the form of collaboration between Vashon Heritage Museum and the Vashon Library. The schedule includes storytelling from the Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books, performed by Jennifer
Carroll at the Museum; special Betty MacDonald exhibits at
both the Museum and Library; a “Betty MacDonald Slept
Here” discussion about the homes in which the author lived,
guided by Paula Becker who is a staff historian for historylink.org, the online encyclopedia of Washington; and film
reminiscences about the MacDonald’s, featuring family and
friends.
Anne Elizabeth Campbell Bard MacDonald first settled on
Vashon with her family in 1942, at the age of 34, variously
Continued on Page 4
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VASHON-MAURY ISLAND HERITAGE ASSOCIATION
Continued from Page 3
Betty MacDonald ~ Happy 100th Birthday
describing the island in her writing as a place that “looks like a stout gentleman taking a Sunday nap under a wooly dark green afghan… (that) reminds
me of a nice girl who doesn’t know how to dress… plethoric with views…
(where) everything grows with insane vigor.” Once she and her husband
Donald MacDonald and her daughters (from her first marriage) Anne and
Joan had nestled into their Dolphin Point home (which at the time did not
enjoy the luxury of a road) the muse began to stir. In1945 her first book,
The Egg and I, which had found its first readers as a serial in the pages of
Atlantic Monthly, had rocketed to worldwide fame selling over a million
copies in less than a year. The Egg and I was shortly thereafter adapted for
film, starring Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray, and the success of
the film spun off the zany Ma & Pa Kettle films based on those characters in
the original story. This all firmly launched MacDonald’s writing career, one
that included another successful franchise, the equally beloved Mrs. Piggle
Wiggle books, and ultimately four more autobiographical works, along with
a children’s story modeled on her two daughters, entitled Nancy and Plum.
With few exceptions, critics hailed enthusiastically MacDonald’s writing, for
its intelligent wit, innocent mischief and entertaining introspection.
As an island resident, MacDonald’s reminiscences captured and authenticated for posterity a time that, in the reading now, seems simpler yet
richer than our modern age, a way of life formed within a natural human
scale that has begun to feel elusive to many of today’s
islanders. An island brimming with lush still-cultivated
farmland, beaches rife with the sea’s delicious bounty,
evergreens measured in circumference in dimensions
rarely findable today – these were the treasures Betty
MacDonald saw and celebrated in her generous writing
about our place. The home the MacDonald’s paid $7000
for (furnished!) in 1942 changed hands in 2007, selling
for nearly $1.5million dollars. It’s approvingly rumored
that a writer bought it. The beautiful gambrel roofed
barn the MacDonalds built after the success of The Egg
and I is now a bed and breakfast, providing a “footsteps”
link for travelers looking for the quintessential Betty
MacDonald experience. But the smells and feels of the
island life she made famous will have to be found in her
books because many of those sensory thrills and island
institutions are but distant memory.
It’s fitting to consider that Betty’s maiden name was
Bard. Though rhyming couplets were not her mode,
Betty MacDonald could fairly be crowned the Bard of
Vashon. Translated into more than 30 languages and
cherished by devotees of all ages, her literary works live
on and make any visit to Vashon Island a meaningful
pilgrimage for generation after generation of her readers. Happy Birthday, Betty. Thank you for all the beautiful gifts you’ve given US!
Winter 2008
Memorials Reported by Barbara Steen
IN MEMORY OF
Lorraine Kimmel
Dick Nortness
By:
Sue Knight
Ladd & Sun Bacchus
John VanDevanter
By:
Clayton & Elsa Mae Williams
Cashmere Chamber of Commerce
Clayton Williams
By:
Beachcomber February 17, 1977
Beachcomber, May 25, 1977
Bonnie Shride
By:
Driftin’
George Endlich whose friends have been known to note
that he has penchant for practical jokes, wants to sell the
Island dehydrated water for the summer season if our supplies run short. It comes in a quart can, easily storable for
summer, lightweight and easy to handle, concentrated and
naturally processed. Just mix with a gallon of water to reconstitute it. Makes one gallon.
Joe Milligan
By:
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Max & Barbara Steen
Barry & Nancy Graham
Gordy & Peggy Steen
Barbara Perkins & Family
Robert & Dorothy Jacobson
William C. Palmer
WELCOME
NEW MEMBERS
Rebecca Wittman
Patron
Zubine Mary Goldman
Individual
Mary Alice Sanguinitti
Individual
Jodi Abbott
Senior
Bert Hutchinson
Senior
Kelly Robinson
Senior
Anita Halstead
Senior
Jane Rosen
Senior
Bob Norin
Life
Kevin Britz
Life
Nick & Anna Martinsen
Family
Looking back, George McCormick recalled how the Alibi
restaurant really got started. He’d opened Vashon Hardware about six years before, but because he lived some
distance from the store he commonly took meals in a little
coffee shop in town. One day he wanted more than the
“two little rolls” offered with the soup he’d ordered. But
the woman running the place said that’s all he could get.
“To hell with you,” he recalls saying, “I’ll start my own restaurant .” He lined up Elmer Harmeling (“he was a good
cook, everybody liked him, and he’d lost almost everything
in the Depression”) and opened a restaurant. There’s a
lesson there, I think, for us all.
Elmer’d turn over
If my Dad, Elmer Harmeling, could read the article about
how the Alibi Restaurant got started he would turn over in
his grave.
The Alibi got started when George McCormick decided he
was not getting enough to eat at the local eatery. My Dad
at that time, during the early thirties, had lost everything
except an old model A truck and had nothing to do. So,
George asked Dad if he would be interested in starting a
lunch counter business. George borrowed the money and
became a silent partner. The old building was just north of
its present location. It was used as a warehouse and feed
store.
Anyway, the front of the building became the lunch
counter. My mother and Mrs. McCormick would occasionally cook a special dish for the lunch trade. It just naturally
evolved into a restaurant.
For the name, my Dad listened to many suggestions and
finally opened the dictionary one night and started with the
A’s. When he came to alibi the word seemed to fit, so that
was it!
Continued on page 6
VASHON-MAURY ISLAND HERITAGE ASSOCIATION
Page 6
Elmer’d turn over
Tentative Events for 2008
Continued from page 5
I am unable to come up with the opening date. I was
just a couple years out of High School and had other
things on my mind.
·
Betty MacDonald‘s100th Birthday-March 16th
Vashon Celebration and March 26th BBC Radio
Documentary aired that week
George McCormick cannot remember the date. My
sister, Joyce Green and my brother-in-law, Joe, who
remembers most everything, even the day he earned
his first nickel, cannot remember for sure.
Collectively we put the opening during the spring of
1936.
·
April 13th—Release of Past Remembered III
·
May 17th & 18th Norman Edson Exhibit and
My Dad eventually bought out George and the
building. He sold to Mr. and Mrs. Jim Smyth in
September, 1943.
Dick Harmeling -
Beachcomber, May 25, 1977
Presentation at VMIHM
·
July 2nd and 3rd Tall Ships visiting Tacoma’s Waterfront for the 4th. Ships will gather in Quartermaster Harbor a day or two before.
·
July—Strawberry Festival
·
August—Virginia V Annual Cruise
Request Wanted:
What would you like to see in your newsletter?
Do you have a request for an article and/or pictures, please let us know. This is your newsletter—”A Link to the Past for
You and Your Family”.
Also, If you have an interesting short story or pictures you would like to share; please send to the address (Email or PO
Box) listed on page two.
Thanks for your help!
MEMBERSHIP FORM Annual Membership Dues*
Return to: VASHON­MAURY ISLAND HERITAGE ASSOCIATION PO BOX 723 VASHON, WA 98070 NAME:
Seniors and Students $15.00
Individual
$20.00
Family
$50.00
Supporting
$75.00
Patron
$100.00
Life*
$500.00
Benefactor*
ADDRESS: $1,000.00+ *Life and Benefactor Memberships are a one time only, others are paid annually, January thru December. CITY: STATE: ZIP: paid members are entitled to a 10% discount in our gift shop and discounted rates for special occasions. Email:
Page 7
Winter 2008
HISTORY BRICKS PRESERVE YOUR FAMILY’S HERITAGE! Yes, I want to help support our HERITAGE MUSEUM, My order is: □ ONE HISTORY BRICK ­ I HAVE ENCLOSED A CHECK FOR $60.00 □ TWO HISTORY BRICKS ­ I HAVE ENCLOSED A CHECK FOR $120.00 □ THREE HISTORY BRICKS ­ I HAVE ENCLOSED A CHECK FOR $150.00 Please use additional forms if ordering more than three bricks. Three or more bricks are priced at $50.00 each. Bricks previously purchased apply to your total. Each Brick may have up to three (3) lines with no more than 14 characters/spaces per line. INSCRIPTION FOR BRICK # 1: INSCRIPTION FOR BRICK # 2: INSCRIPTION FOR BRICK # 3: Name: Address: State: City: Phone ( ) ­
Zip: Email: Return Service Requested PERMIT NO. 120 VASHON, WA VASHON, WA 98070 US POSTAGE PAID PO BOX 723 BULK RATE VASHON­MAURY ISLAND HERITAGE ASSOCIATION Coming in April 2008 “Past Remembered III” Museum Hours
Wednesdays: 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Saturdays:
10:00 am to 1:00 pm
www.vashonheritage.org
Email: admin@vashonheritage.org