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Show THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Page 22 Volume VI, Issue I April 15, 2002 Remembrances of Klee, and Jean Berlin Wangsgard Editor’s Note: At the time of this publication in 2002, Jean Wangsgard, daughter of David and Agnes Allen Berlin, lives in Huntsville, and is 94 years of age. Her sister Klee passed away several years ago. My mother and father’s early married years were the end of the pioneer era. They worked hard. They didn’t have any conveniences nor much money to raise their family. I remember pumping water from the well, located outside our back door; the cold trips down the paved path, to the outdoor toilet; bathing in the tin tub by the kitchen oval range. I remember milk being strained into a pan that was too wide for the shelf, so we would fasten the door with a string extension from lock to hook. A refrigerator, we didn’t own until the weather dropped below freezing, then our milk, as well as the whole kitchen, would stay chilled. I have fond memories of running to the pot bellied living room stove to dress on the early cold mornings, warming first one side then the other. Huntsville must have been cold. I would dampen my hair to make it curl before leaving for school, and after the two and a half block walk, I’d have ice cycles hanging around my face. Kenneth (a brother) and I would build an igloo or a slippery slide on the pile of snow daddy would shovel off the house each winter. I had a lot of earaches when I was a child. The folks tried every remedy they knew or heard of. Someone told daddy to smoke a cigar and blow the warm smoke into my ear, and it would stop the ache. He was game to try that too, though it didn’t stop my earache. Our songfests are one of my most enjoyable memories. When we finished dinner, we girls would leave the dishes on the table and head for the piano. Jean would play while Lorna, Lois, and I would a sing for hours, or as long as time would permit. Daddy would stack the dishes and come laughingly tell us he had done his half of the dishes. We had some good times washing and drying dishes, and gabbing too. Daddy was easy to live with, letting us do as we thought best. We seemed to sense our responsibilities, though, because we all learned to work and kept the house and family going. I was twelve when mother Financing Available died, so we had the house to run, and three smaller children to take care of. We would peel peaches, daddy and the whole family helping, pack them in two-quart bottles, and process them in a big old clothes boiler. We could really bottle a large quantity of fruit in a minimum of time. I remember sewing dresses for Lorna and Lois with panties to match. I would never have to purposely leave an opening in the hem to thread the elastic. Try as hard as I could, there would be plenty of unintentional places big enough to slide the safety pin trailing elastic into the hem. I learned with practice, and still enjoy sewing. The first batch of bread I made for daddy when I was a kid, was a catastrophe. I know now I used too hot of water, and killed the yeast. I went ahead and made the bread, baked it, and I guess tried to feed it to them. I still remember the funny little rock loaves. The family was used to home baked bread, so I tried again until I learned. It would please daddy when I would bake. Daddy was generous, and a friend to everyone. When I was real young, he drove a milk route to Ogden each day. He would spend most of the day in Ogden doing the errands and shopping for the town’s people, and never would take a cent for his troubles (Klee Berlin). The first house I remember living in was on the south side of town (Huntsville). We had a dog, a yellow and white terrier named Jack. I remember when he chased a peddler and ripped his pants. The man ran into the house. Mother gave him safety pins to pin his pants together, and I held on to Jack while the peddler hurried down the road. We moved to a house in Middleton, (east Huntsville) the year before I started school. Mother was near grandmother and grandfather Allen, and she like that. Church was held in the Middleton Ward. We rode in the wagon or buggy. I rode to school in Huntsville in a wagon that we called the “Dummy.” It had a canvas top like a covered wagon. In the winter they put it on sleigh runners, put straw and hot rocks in the wagon box to keep our feet warm. Ras Rasmusson drove the horses. It took nearly an hour to get to school. We lived in two other old houses after this, that have long since been torn down. Mother always cleaned, fixed, and painted (if we could afford the paint) and made a pleasant home. She made all of our clothes, often making over dresses and coats. Our undies and handkerchiefs (no Kleenex then) were made of flour or salt sacks bleached white as could be. She bottled fruit, jams, and jellies. I remember going into the foothills to gather wild currants and chokecherries. We would take a lunch and have a fun day over in Bennett or Sheep Herd. Dad would build a root cellar or pit to store our potatoes, carrots, beets, and apples in for the winter. The only house dad ever owned in Huntsville had belonged to Aunt Lottie Allen’s mother. I’m sure dad and mother were glad to own their home. It took a lot of fixing, sometimes pans in the attic to catch the leaks, but we kept warm by the coal or wood fires in the stoves. Mother would bake delicious bread and cake in the old black kitchen range. Ken, Lorna, and Lois were born here. Mother and her last baby died here December 1928. Barbara died in April 1930. After mother died, Lorna went to school with me. She was five years old. It was my second year of teaching, the first year in Huntsville. Lois stayed with Aunt Ada, mother’s sister, or with Aunt Margaret Berlin. Klee was about eleven, and Ken about eight. We emerged a tight knit family with lots of love for each other. Pathways Essay Contest Essay Contest Sponsored by Ogden Valley PathwaysTheme: Why I would like to see a network of interconnected, multi-use, non-motorized pathways in Ogden Valley. Name:____________________________________________ Grade:_________ Address:___________________________________________ Phone:___________________________ Contest information: Contest is open to Valley Elementary students. Applications can be obtained through the newspaper or at each school. Cash awards of $25.00 to be awarded to ten students - one from each grade level if there are entrants at each level, or ten best essays overall. Winning essays will be published in the Ogden Valley News or the Standard-Examiner. Essays will become the property of Ogden Valley Pathways and will not be returned. Completed entry form and essay must be turned in to Mrs. Evans at Valley Elementary by April 26, 2002. Essays without signatures on this contest form will be disqualified. Late essays are disqualified. Essays must be neatly hand printed or computer printed in size 12 font. Essays should contain no less than 100 words, and 200 words maximum. Essays should reflect the following ideas. 1. Promotion and planning of a coherent network of non-motorized public pathways that maintain, enhance, and preserve the natural beauty of Ogden Valley. 2. The value of pathways of this nature in Ogden Valley. 3. Safety factors that could be enhanced because of pathways. Other. Newspaper release signatures: Parent signature:____________________________________ Student signature:___________________________________ Your donation to Ogden Valley Pathways is tax deductible and greatly appreciated. 801-393-2304 |