Show Rug weaving special hobby of Lena Jacobson Dow was born on April 6 1909 This was the day the North Pole was discovered She was one of six children On May 16 1927 she married Donnell Dow They have three daughters and nine grandchildren LENAS LENA'S CHILDHOOD and youth were the farm She enjoyed the freedom there In the winter there was sleigh riding and in the Uie summer horseback horseback horse horseback back riding As she says Just had a ball all the ilie time What What- people think of as entertainment entertainment en en- now was so different different different dif dif- dif dif- ferent from what we did th then n. n My dad always' always kept a shotgun and every time my brother would hear a duck go oven he would jump out of bed put put put-on on n his pants grab the gun and go duck hunting He always brought back what he shot at When I was a little girl we lived at the Little Bonanza gilsonite mine where my father worked when about ten y years ars old he worked at Watson during the winter Some would ride the small hand cars and others had to be driven by truck down to the mine Watson had a store a telephone office post office school and a boarding house My dad worked for the Uintah railroad mostly in the shop Sometimes he would drive a truck like Donnells Donnell's ells ell's dad did jid When he was in the shop we would go over and pickup pick up the copper shavings that curled and were different colors We thought they were pretty The school was held in part of an old apartment house It had grades one through eight all in one room The Dow kids kid's four Jacobsons Jacobson's and all the other children around came I still like to go out there and look lookaround lookaround around I know exa exactly where the school and other buildings used to We be used to skate on the creek Usually there was just a drizzle of water but in the summer there were flash floods that would bring trees swirling down railroad ties and sometimes the bridge would go out and the old railroad bridge would have to be used There were lots of hills to explore around too too We would sometimes find fossil leaf prints in the shale Life was different from living on the farm after we married Instead of being able to cook with cream milk and eggs it was cooking out of tin cans and a paper sack There was a lot Jot of social events at the gilsonite mines that we enjoyed If we wanted to go to a show we would have to go to Dragon so sowe sowe sowe we didn't go very often I always enjoyed the hills and the scenery Within some of the hills there is no dirt just big areas of broken shale I didn't get to explore the area around the camp too much because we would not turn the children loose with the open mines around They could have been hurt hurl I still miss the area the scenery the peace and quiet We lived in the Rainbow Big Bonanza Watson and and for several months at the Black Virgin mine area This was a funny mine In the summer slimmer we would keep meat milk and the jugs of water which was hauled in cans in it because it was so cold We had to put wire screen around the meat boxes to protect them from the cats that people had brought out and left which ran wild So each meal mealtime mealtime mealtime time I would go out to the mine mineto to get the cold water and whatever else that was needed The boarding house kept their meat like that also aso We used water that was hoisted out of the mine to wash dishes and clean the floors at the Black Virgin Lena enjoys all types of handwork quilting crocheting knitting and etc But making rugs on a No 36 rug loom is her favorite hobby These rugs are made from all types of fabrics old drapes bedspreads dresses blankets nylons jeans and such Following cutting the fabrics into strips she sews them on a treadle machine and winds them into balls about the size of ofa ofa ofa a basketball She then looms them into rugs which average about 28 inches in width and anywhere from 18 inches to 12 feet in length She even loomed one carpet that was twelve feet square Lena has been doing this for some twenty-three twenty years and averaged one a day per year until the last few years The number of rugs she has made exceeds at this time These rugs have now been sent sentor or taken to at least 21 states from Boston Mass to California from Texas to the Canadian border and Alaska O Overseas they h have tr traveled to Germany Puerto Rico and Australia tha t she knows of For several years she has put the thew warp warp on the rug looms at the New Life Training Center This inter interest st in weaving is shared by several members of her family A daughter Melva Melv Allin in Carpinteria California has a more elaborate loom than her mother This past year she has woven the m material for two wedding dresses one for her daughter Miriam and one for her in daughter She also has woven wool saddle blankets in the Navajo patterns Miriam Lenas Lena's granddaughter grand daughter also likes to weave Lenas Lena's old oldest st granddaughter Sherie itt who lives in the S Salt lt Lake City area has taken weaving classes classes at the University and is saving to buy herself a loom at the earliest opportunity A short comparison was given by Miriam of her mothers mother's loom loomand loomand loomand and her grandmothers Grandmothers Grandmother's is a work workhorse workhorse workhorse horse moms mom's for fancies As the Dows Dow's vacation over the country Lena is always looking for places that weave If the opportunity presents itself she goes where this is being done to observe and learn Lena makes most of the gifts that are given to friends and I a f t jy 1 f t h f 6 j 31 n nr i r rt I t 4 4 k A t 1 L s r. r THE COMMUNITY has been placed In front of o the Uintah County building waiting more Christmas decorations family Another interest Lena has is collecting rocks from each state they have visited Sh She is still busy in the summer summer sum sum- mer canning and preserving food makes granulated stir soap which is used as a laundry I soap and d also makes their f bt 1 ap iii Lena is Is' Is Isa a a member of the thel thet Uintah Club of f Senior Citizens a Volunteer for People Friendly Visitor and dispatcher for the Council of the Aging transportation car which Mr Dow drives Dispatching for the transportation car requires many hours of service which Lena works into her already busy schedule While scheduling the rides Lena also uses another talent she listens As she says It takes all kinds of people to make a world and they all have problems I really enjoy it it think that that we we cannot do anything to o help others because we are are confined to our homes but Lena who stays home because she wants to is an example of what we can cando cando cando do to lighten our fello fellowmen's mens men's loads and bring joy to them via the telephone t eP own home |