Ruth

I was about 11 years old when we moved to the Tower City area, so most of my school days were spent at Hazelton, although I did finish my school years at tower City.  I spent two summers working for Percy Wilson, who farmed over 2000 acres and had a lot of hired hands, so it was a lot of work for his mother.  We cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner.  I gather Mrs. Wilson was satisfied with my work, since most of my younger sisters worked for him also in later years!

Growing up during the depression years was not the picnic that it is today for all of our descendants, but we all have many good memories since we did grow up in such a large family.  Since we had no inside plumbing or electricity, the job I hated most was doing the dishes after a meal.  We used to argue a lot over who did the dishes last, but Dad would point his finger at two or three of us.  which meant it WAS your turn!

After all the day's work was done, we used to have some great baseball games.  Dad would choose up sides, and we all had a great time.  We also used to play hide-and-seek.  Once, I hid in the haymow but I fell through the hole that was used to push the hay down to the cows.  Luckily, I was not hurt, but I sure was scared, especially with all those cows and horses looking at me after I landed!

We had two wood stoves - the pot-bellied stove in the living room and the kitchen range.  We burned coal in them, and also "cow-pies."  That was a job the everyone hated.  We'd take a wagon out to the pasture to pick up these "pies", hauled by two horses.  Our brothers would pick up those "pies" that weren't dried up yet and throw them at us girls.  Although they thought it was funny, we girls failed to see the humor!

Sometimes, on Saturday nights, we'd get to go to the movies, at 5 cents or 10 cents each, while our parents went to the creamery with the milk and cream and did a little shopping for flour and sugar.  We grew all of the vegetables that we ate, although it was a lot of work to can all the produce.  Dad butchered pigs and cows in the fall and made his own sausage, plus Mother used to can meat for the winter.

I will always remember Sundays.  Dad made sure that we all went to church, where we always took up two rows.  Mother would sit at one end and Dad at the other, probably to make sure that we all behaved!  After church, we always came home to a Sunday dinner of chicken and dumplings that Mother had set o cook before we left.

I came out to Portland, Or in 1945 with my girlfriend, Ann Sadke.  We really liked it there, so we both got jobs as waitresses.  I met my husband, Jerry, shortly after that as he worked in a restaurant nearby.  We were married in 1949 and have had several restaurants in both Portland and Elma, WA, where our last venture was Fisher's Doodle Inn.  We sold that in September, 1991 and have retired to a double-wide mobile home in Wamic, Or, on the lake at Sportsman's Park, located about 130 miles from Portland.

Jerry Fisher