January 26, 2009; interviewed by Cheri (Stadler) Ryan
[Speech fillers, such as “um” and “uh,” have been omitted.]
Cheri Ryan, Alderwood Manor Heritage Association: It’s January 26th, 2009. I’m Cheri Ryan at the Alderwood Manor Heritage cottage in Lynnwood, Washington, and I’m doing an oral interview with—
Sandra Konikson: Sandra Forsgren Konikson.
CR: And I can call you Sandy?
SK: Yes, please.
CR: And Sandy, if you could give me your age and address.
SK: I am 69 and I live at [edited for web publication].
CR: And where—when were you born?
SK: 1939.
CR: And where?
SK: In Swedish Hospital in Seattle.
CR: And have you lived your whole life in Alderwood Manor?
SK: My whole life.
CR: And so, tell me about your family, about your parents. When did they come to Alderwood Manor?
SK: I believe they came about 1917. And—it might have been the first time—but from the records I gather that they got their property in 1918.
CR: And what were your parents’ names?
SK: Uh, Jay Harry—John Harry Forsgren and Ida Forsgren.
CR: And did your dad go by John or Harry?
SK: He went by Harry. He hated John.
CR: And did he have brothers that lived out here, too, or—?
SK: He had two brothers and a sister. And his sister’s name was Astrid Forsgren and his— Dad was the oldest, and then the second brother was Richard [Nils Richard] Forsgren and the youngest was Al [Carl Alfred] Forsgren.
CR: And where did the sister fit in?
SK: She was the oldest.
CR: She was the oldest.
SK: Yes.
CR: And where was your father originally from then, before he came to Alderwood?
SK: From Luleå, Sweden.
CR: And your mom?
SK: My mother was from Sauk Rapids, Minnesota.
CR: And where did they meet?
SK: They met out here. My mother’s sister was already out here and she said, “Oh, come to Seattle.” And they owned a cleaners, I believe, up on Capitol Hill. And Dad was—I think Dad was working there. No. I’m not sure how, how that— But Mom came out here and worked in the cleaners. I don’t really know how they met. But I think the cleaners had something to do with it.
CR: So they met in Seattle?
SK: Yes, they met in Seattle.
CR: And then married in Seattle?
SK: Yes.
CR: And then your mother—you said she had a sister?
SK: Tillie.
CR: Tillie. And did Tillie live in Seattle, or—?
SK: Tillie lived in Seattle. And she got killed in a hunting accident. Her husband shot her. [inaudible] that was, I don’t know how many years later it was, but…
CR: So what actually brought your parents to Alderwood Manor? Do you know?
SK: My grandparents owned it. They bought land on Ash Way South. And it was a chicken ranch. A huge chicken barn, or building. And they had— The grandparents had lived in Seattle first. They had a boarding house. And then they moved to Seattle. I don’t know how that progression really went.
CR: And what were the grandparents’ names?
SK: Wilhelmina [Emma Wilhelmina] Forsgren and Algot Forsgren.
CR: And so did your parents live with them?
SK: Oh yes.
CR: In that home. And then, so what makes up the rest of your family? Siblings?
SK: I have an older sister, Ardith Astrid Forsgren, and a deceased sister, Sharon Dee Forsgren.
CR: So did your whole family live with the grandparents in that house, or did your family have another house then? Where did you grow up, what house, I guess.
SK: I grew up in that house.
CR: That house.
SK: Yeah.
CR: And were your grandparents still living when you were a child?
SK: No, no.
CR: Okay, so they had deceased before you were born?
SK: Yes. Ardith, my oldest sister, she knew Grandpa. And I think Grandma had gone before then.
CR: So your mom and dad moved out here from Seattle; so how did they make a living then?
SK: Well, Mom worked part time at dry cleaners, and Dad worked—during the war, he worked in the shipyards in Everett. And then after that, he worked as an ornamental ironworker in Seattle. And then he had heart murmurs, and so the doctor sent him to bed for sixth months, and we were not supposed to make any noise in the house or anything else, and that’s the worst thing that could have happened to [inaudible – “him”? “it”?]. So when he finally did get back, he went to work for the West Coast Telephone Company in Everett. And he was very, very happy. But he was going to the doctor to check, you know, his heart. He was having pressure in his chest and he went to the doctor, and the doctor said, “Oh, it’s just gas,” and gave him something for gas. And I believe later that week, he had a massive heart attack. And my sister Sharon and I were working—we worked at night at our neighbor’s, and so we were at work, and Ardee came over and said that Dad that was in the hospital with a heart attack, and I thought—the thought went through my mind, “He’s not coming—He’s not going to make it.” So, that was… [sniffs]
CR: What year was that?
SK: That was in 19—let’s see—I was a freshman at Lynnwood Junior High, so that would be 1954. Spring of ’54 [May 4, 1955[1]].
CR: And when did your mother pass away?
SK: [exhales] It was after I graduated. I— Probably— I don’t keep these in— Probably 1955 [Dec. 6, 1960[2]]. Just before I was 21.
CR: So, I’m going to go back to the house on Ash Way: whereabouts on Ash Way was it?
SK: It was about a quarter mile north, and our—
CR: North of Alderwood?
SK: Of Filbert Road.[3]
CR: Filbert Road. Okay, thank you.
SK: And we were kitty-corner from Virgil and Mona Schoentrup.
CR: What’s on that piece of property today? Do you know?
SK: It’s divided into probably, maybe five different homes. And on the back property, as far as the road goes, there’s a place that’s there and it’s got horses.
CR: And was it five acres, do you think?
SK: Yes. Just a little bit more than five acres.
CR: What do you remember about the house?
SK: It was wonderful. It was a white house, and it had a dirt basement at the time. And it had a beautiful front porch, and you could look and you could see the Olympics [Mountains] from the west side of the house, and you could peek at the Cascades [Mountains] from the backside of the house.
CR: And how many bedrooms did it have?
SK: It had three bedrooms.
CR: So did you share bedrooms?
SK: I shared a bedroom with Sharon.
CR: Your younger sister.
SK: Yes. No, my older. She was thirteen months older than I.
CR: So you’re very close in age then. And Ardith was older than both of you.
SK: Yes.
CR: Okay. And did your mom work at all? Or she—
SK: Oh, yeah. She worked as a presser at a dry cleaners.
CR: In Seattle?
SK: She worked— No, when they moved out, I was born— She was working at Edmonds. And there was about three cleaners that she worked at.
CR: Did your family have a car? Did she drive down to work, or did she— Do you remember?
SK: We had a car, but I only remember there being one. Dad was in Alaska during the summertime—
CR: What was he doing in Alaska?
SK: He was mining [gold mining[4]].
CR: And he would just do that in the summertime?
SK: Yeah, because he had to wait until the permafrost to defrost before he could get the dredge working.
CR: So he had a lot of different jobs.
SK: Yes he did.
CR: Very resourceful.
SK: He was a wonderful man.
CR: Did you— So, besides the house on the property, which your grandparents originally—do you know, was that house there when they bought it? Or did they have a house built?
SK: Oh, no! They lived in a tent for what my aunt said for a while, while the house was being built.
CR: And were there any other buildings on the property?
SK: There was a huge lone chicken house.
CR: Did they raise chickens?
SK: Oh, yes.
CR: How many? Do you ever remember?
SK: No. I don’t—
CR: Because they did that before you were born?
SK: Yeah. Yeah.
CR: Okay.
SK: And there was still some chickens when I was growing up, but not that many.
CR: They weren’t raising them then.
SK: Yeah.
CR: And was there gardens, or— Do you remember?
SK: Oh, a big garden.
CR: —your parents having a garden?
SK: Yes. And I had the pleasure of getting to weed it.
CR: [laughs] You got to weed it. So tell me about where did you go to school.
SK: Alderwood Manor—
CR: The grade school.
SK: —Grade School.
CR: And what can you tell me about that?
SK: It was gorgeous. It was— It was just like, it was elegant. And I remember the library as just being awesome, because you could sit in a window seat and look out over the playfield, the front playfield, and just read your books. It was— It was— It was up-class, I thought. Really nice.
CR: And did you walk to school then?
SK: No, because we lived more than a mile, so we— Sandy was our bus driver when we first started.
CR: Sandy?
SK: Yeah.
CR: A man or a lady?
SK: Man.
CR: A man. Do you know his last name?
SK: No.
CR: You don’t remember; just Sandy.
SK: Yeah.
CR: So what else do you remember about the school? Do you remember any teachers?
SK: Oh, I remember all my—all but one.
CR: Tell me about your teachers.
SK: Miss Bird was absolutely great. She was a first-grade teacher. And she was kind, and patient, and just very elegant looking. And she went on and she got many achievements from the school district, and she was just a wonderful lady. Then second grade I had Mrs. Allen. And she was my most outstanding teacher, I think. We— I remember one time it was thundering and lightning and it was scary, and she had all the children in a semi-circle, and explaining why, you know, what caused the lightning and that. And she let us have a candy store, and we could sell candy to any students in the playground, and then we’d take that money and we saved for a train ride to go to the aquarium. And I was so excited about going, and I was sick that day so I couldn’t go. I was so, so disappointed.
CR: The aquarium in Seattle? Or—?
SK: I’m not sure, but it must have been Seattle.
CR: Because you didn’t get to go. So who else did you have for teachers?
SK: Third grade was Mrs. Edwards, and I learned to tell time there. Fourth grade was Mrs. Cousens, and I learned my time tables. Fifth grade was Miss Summers, and she was the music teacher, plus the fifth-grade teacher, and she was stern. Really stern. And my sixth-grade teacher was a man, and I can see his face and all that, but I can’t remember his name right now[5]. And I was talking with a classmate of mine, and he said he was a wonderful, compassionate man. He really— Some of the boys who were kind of, you know, from troubled backgrounds and such, he would take them under his wing and I had never known that about him. Miss Bowling was seventh-grade teacher and she taught us girls in Health how to take care of ourselves: how to give ourselves a manicure, and our hair, and that’s the— I was very, very chunky all through school, and that was the first time that I started to lose weight. So— And then in eighth grade, I had Mr. Clemenson [Clemans[6]], and he became a principal. And his brother was—worked with Scott Paper Company, which my sister, who’s in Alabama, talked to him. So anyway, I thought that was quite a coincidence. He was a very nice man. And then in freshman year, we had the opening year of the Lynnwood Junior High [1954], and so it was in the spring of that year that Dad passed away.
CR: So, when they opened Lynnwood Junior High, you were the first—
SK: Right.[7]
CR: Did they open it—to what grades that year? Let’s see, you were a freshman, so that’s ninth grade.
SK: Yeah.
CR: Did they have seventh, eighth grades there, too, or—?
SK: Hmmm. [laughs] Yes, they must have.
CR: Okay, so you spent that— What was that like, going to a new school?
SK: Oh, I loved it. I had— I was at the top of my world and at the bottom of my world in that year, you know, but—. I worked for the office and, you know, I did attendance so I would be walking the halls. It just— I just really loved my freshman year.
CR: So where did you go to high school?
SK: Edmonds.
CR: Edmonds High School.
SK: Uh-huh. [Yes.]
CR: And you graduated in what year?
SK: ’58. 1958.
CR: And what can you tell me about Edmonds High School?
SK: I loved the old high school. It was wonderful. And several of my classes, I looked across Puget Sound and the Olympics, and I did a lot of letter-writing to my aunt in History because I thought History was— To remember history dates is really hard for me. To read history, I liked; but then the dates were thrown in, and so it became not my favorite class. [laughs]
CR: What was your favorite subject, do you think, when you took—when you were in school?
SK: Creative writing.
CR: Creative writing.
SK: Yes.
CR: Do you attribute that to one of your teachers, or—?
SK: It was Miss Love who taught it. I don’t know. I really didn’t write much before, and I still have those writings, you know.
CR: You do?
SK: Yeah.
CR: Huh. So who were your friends, like when you went to Alderwood Grade School? Who’d you play with?
SK: Carolyn McAnulty and Bill North and Jim Nopson and Susan something[8], but it was— I had probably more guy friends than girl friends.
CR: And were they neighbors, some of them, or—?
SK: No, I didn’t have really any neighbors.[9] They were hill-top people, more or less.
CR: And you said you didn’t have any neighbors; were they far apart from your house—
SK: Well, Nettie and I were close—
CR: Nettie?
SK: Schoentrup.
CR: Schoentrup.
SK: Yeah.
CR: Did you live near her then?
SK: Mm-hmm. [Yes.]
CR: Okay.
SK: And she was a year younger than me, so she [we] didn’t play together in school.[10] I never thought of that. But anyway, a lot of them were the hill-top people, and Dorothy Nopson—it was Dorothy Love then—and Paula Miller and, like I say, Jim Nopson, and Larry Campbell, and those were my friends.
CR: What kind of games did you play at school? Like—
SK: Baseball![11]
CR: Baseball. So you were a little tomboy—
SK: Yes!
CR: Were you a tomboy?
SK: Oh, definitely. The guys only had two girls on the baseball, when we played. And it was Carol McAnulty and I. And we were good enough.
CR: You could play with the boys.
SK: You bet!
CR: All right! Do you remember where your family shopped, where they bought groceries?
SK: Oh, Dave Dahlin’s Red and White.
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CR: So the Red and White. Do you remember anything specifically about the store?
SK: Oh, Dave. I remember Dave Dahlin. He was— He was so friendly, and so kind. And I can remember these—going down these shelves of goods, and it was, it was really wonderful.
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CR: Are there any other stores or businesses you remember in Alderwood?
SK: There was, oh, the one that had the post—the—Schoner’s. Where they had the lockers [meat lockers and cold storage lockers]. I can remember my mother, you know, berries and all that, and she had a locker and she’d take me in there and I hated to go in there because I froze! And Mother didn’t mind it. But anyway, I never did like it. But we had our own rabbits, own chickens, and all that, so we definitely did need a locker. And I remember a variety store[12] that we used to go to, and the drugstore[13], the local drugstore. And Virgil Schoentrup had a fountain [Virgil’s Fountain] there and we stopped there quite often. But the majority of our shopping was the Red and White.
CR: You talked about your dad had brothers and a sister that lived in the area; did they all stay in the area, or were you close to the family, or—?
SK: We were close family, but my aunt Esther [Astrid[14]], she and her husband lived in Richmond Highlands, and Richard lived in Everett, and he worked for a jewelry store. And Al lived in Lake Stevens. So, but then we had a great-aunt Frieda and uncle Joe[15], and they lived just by Green Lake. And on a given weekend, it was not at all uncommon to have some part or all come out to the—what we called “the ranch.”[16]
CR: When you were in high school, did you work any place? Did you—
SK: Oh, I always worked. I wanted to letter. I wanted to earn my letter and I couldn’t. I worked at the Lynnwood Lockers[17] right after school. And—
CR: And is that different than the Schoner’s lockers?
SK: Oh, yes!
CR: Where was Lynnwood Lockers at?
SK: It was right on [Highway] 99 where—kind of where Safe—no, not Safeway, but along the line where Safeway is.
CR: Where Albertson’s is or Safeway?
SK: No, Safeway [southeast corner of Highway 99 and 196th St SW]. And it was right on the corner there of the— There was a store there, Ed’s Market. And that’s where it was.
CR: So you worked there; what did you do there?
SK: I rented out lockers, I collected rent, I made sure nobody came in and stole anything. [laughs]
CR: And what other kind of jobs did you have?
SK: During high school?
CR: Mm-hmm. [Yes.]
SK: That was babysitting, of course. And we— We didn’t pick strawberries then. But, well, working every day. I mean, that was five days a week.
CR: Did you pick strawberries when you were a kid?
SK: Oh, yeah!
CR: Where’d you pick them at?
SK: The Tolt River, and we had a bus that would come and pick us up. Usually it was an open-air truck, and we’d have benches to sit on, and we’d freeze ourselves. We’d freeze ourselves in the morning and hotter than heck in the afternoon.
CR: And did you have friends that went with you and—?
SK: My sisters and [inaudible – “aunt”?]—
CR: Oh, your sisters?
SK: Yeah, and friends. We all went. You know, that was our spending money.
CR: Uh-huh. So after your parents passed away, did their place get sold then?
SK: Yes.
CR: And so—?
SK: Well, we had, after Dad died, we left the ranch, and Mother had got a place in Lynnwood, right east of the bowling alley [Lynnwood Roll-a-Way / Lynnwood Bowl & Skate, 6210 200th St SW, southeast corner of Highway 99 and 200th St SW], where the rest home [GenCare Lifestyle, 6024 200th St SW, as of September 2017] is now.
CR: Oh, yes, yes.
SK: And…
CR: Was it a little house, or an apartment, or—?
SK: It was a house that had continual plumbing problems. It was never right. Never finished the backyard. [laughs] She cemented the front yard. [laughs] Anyway, that’s the place that got sold. Underpriced, we think. But anyway. Anyway…
CR: So did your folks have a car?
SK: Yes.
CR: Do you remember anything about that car?
SK: The first car I remember was a DeSoto, but it was blue. And Dad did get it brand new. And I believe that when they were mining up in Alaska, for a few years they did well. Not wealthy, but well enough to have, you know, Dad buy a new car. And so yes, that was nice. And then later on, Mom did get a car, because, you know, she worked, and so did Dad.
CR: When did you learn to drive?
SK: I learned to drive in Driver’s Ed.
CR: In high school?
SK: In high school. And I was… hmmm… I can’t remember what year it was. But anyway, one night I got called to go babysitting, and this was after Dad died, this was after Dad died, so it was— Anyway, they cancelled on me, so I had decided to take Magnolia Way [Road] south, which is where [Interstate] 405 crosses the freeway [Interstate 5] at 196th, and go see my friend Nettie Schoentrup. And I was going— It was dirt road at that time, and it was very gravelly, dangerous road. And I was going 32 miles an hour, and the car went into a slid—skid, and I turned wrong, and I hit a bank, and I hit that wrong, and I rolled that car, and ended up right side up. And then I tried to start it again. God, I’m so—I was so blessed that I didn’t blow myself up. I didn’t have a scratch on me. I had shattered glass in my bra.
CR: But not a cut on yourself.
SK: Mm-mm. [No.]
CR: Was the car drivable then?
SK: No. It was totaled.
CR: Totaled.
SK: To-taled.
CR: Was that your mom’s car?
SK: That was my Dad’s ’55 Ford car.
CR: ’55 Ford.
SK: That was his second new car. Yeah. I felt horrible. I wouldn’t drive. I wouldn’t even try and drive. And, I don’t know how much later, but within that year, my friend—Nettie Schoentrup—came over to show me her Ford car she had. And she says, “Get in! Drive it, Sandy!” I said, “No! I’m not going to drive it.” Well, Nettie can get me to do anything, so I drove it. But after the accident I hadn’t gotten behind the wheel. It was just awful.
CR: Tell me about yourself. You’re married.
SK: Yes.
CR: How long have you been married?
SK: It will be 45 years this April 25th.
CR: And you’re married to—?
SK: Nick Konikson.
CR: And where did you meet him?
SK: I met him at a birthday party of the manager— My sister lived in Seattle, in an apartment. And there was three, two or three apartments connected, kind of right in a row. And Ardith worked with Dick Logie[18], who’s manager of the third apartment. And he was going to have a birthday party, and Ardith had known Nick [Konikson] through Boeing. And she said, “You’ve just got to meet him, Sandy.” So we proceeded to try meeting for almost sixth months, and it didn’t work out. And he was going to be at this birthday party, so Ardith wrangled me an invite along to go to the birthday party. And that was in ’62, and we had a nice party and I ended up sitting on his lap, and that was all she wrote.
CR: That was it, huh? [laughs] And you and Nick have children?
SK: We have two children.
CR: And grandchildren?
SK: And we have four grandchildren.
CR: So, you obviously still live out here; how did you talk Nick into living out in Alderwood Manor?
SK: I wanted to go. Well, we were living in Wallingford district and it was getting, we didn’t feel a good place to raise children. And the house was too big for us, and a few other items. But anyway, we went out looking, and he didn’t want to get too far out, and Alderwood Manor was a good place, not too far out. And— Oh! We stumbled across this place; we thought it was for sale. And—this is where we live now—and they said, “No, it’s not for sale,” but they invited us in, and we started talking. And they said, “Well, we were thinking of selling, but we wanted to get this done and that done and that.” And we told them we were seriously looking for a place, and so they would think about it, and I remember sitting in the living room, on a chair, and just bouncing inside. It’s an acre and a half on Swamp Creek, and it just was— We wanted it. We—
[end of side A]
[beginning of side B]
SK: [resuming story about buying house on Swamp Creek] So, we went home and we were told to call them back or something, and they decided that yes, they would sell. And there were certain conditions that had to be met: they had to have a new drain field put up, away from the creek, and a few minor things. And Olsons had really gotten tired, and so they had about, I would say not more than a 20 by 20 backyard, and they had let all the grass grow, and I think it was about three feet high. It was a jungle. So— But anyway, we definitely got it, and we were really happy. The kids loved growing up there. And I loved being back in Alderwood.
CR: Can you think of any other special memories or—you can share with me about Alderwood Manor or—?
SK: My sister Sharon and I used to go— We had Puget Mill land just south of us, between properties, and there was a swamp there, and we were very much into pollywogs and frogs and all that. And Sharon and I used to go wading in that swamp up to our necks, catching pollywogs. And I think back to it now and I think, “Gosh, what if there was a hole there!” [laughs] Anyway, that was—that was fun. And I can remember riding our horses in the pasture.
CR: Oh, you had horses?
SK: Oh yes. And— Well, Ardith had a horse. Then later on, Sharon got a horse, and lastly I got a horse. But it was all dirt roads back then, so it was really nice. And I can remember riding on the trails where Floral Hills [Floral Hills Cemetery, 409 Filbert Road, Lynnwood] is now. It was a wonderful trail system. And Mountlake Terrace, there was a barn there, and there was trails all over Mountlake Terrace.
CR: So you rode your horses a lot, all over then.
SK: Oh yes. Yeah. Yeah.
CR: Did you have them all through high school, or—?
SK: I had— We had them, yes, all through high school, until 1962—3, probably. Somewhere in the time when I knew Nick and I were going to get married, I had a horse. And she was really a nice horse. But it wouldn’t work. We lived in Seattle for ten years before we came back to Alderwood. And I know I couldn’t support a horse; it’s too expensive. And by the way, I had to sell my hand-tooled saddle to pay for my wedding.
CR: [gasps] So the saddle went before the horse, huh? [laughs]
SK: I think the horse went, and then the saddle went. [laughs]
CR: You were hanging on to that saddle.
SK: Oh, I didn’t want— It was hand-tooled! Hand-made for me! That was a sacrifice.
CR: Did you ever get horses again?
SK: No.
CR: No? That was it.
SK: Yeah.
CR: That was it.
SK: There wasn’t enough acreage to take care of them. And Nick had so many animals to care for when he was on the farm, and he always had to be home. So we decided that wasn’t a good idea.
CR: So it felt good when you moved back out to Alderwood?
SK: Oh, yes! Yes. I wanted to come home so bad.
CR: So are you still friends with any of the people that you grew up with, and went to high school with? Do you see them a lot?
SK: Oh, yeah! Yeah. We have high school lunches the last Saturday of each month up in Marysville at the Golden Corral [restaurant]. And I’m still, you know—a lot of us just went all the way through high school, so I’m still in touch, yes.
CR: Anything else you can think of that you want to share?
SK: [sighs] I know there is, but I can’t think of it right now.
CR: Thank you.
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CR: So you told me that you worked at the Lynnwood Lockers, and you babysat; but were there some other jobs?
SK: When I was young, we used to work at our neighbors’—Chase—they had a poultry farm, and I first worked as a babysitter, and their daughter was named Nadine, and then there was the twins. And then after that, I got a job packaging chickens with the rest of the—after the chickens were, you know, ready to be cut and packaged for selling.
CR: Was this at Chase’s?
SK: This was at Chase’s, still.
CR: Okay. So they actually raised their chickens and butchered them there, and packaged them, and then sent them to the stores?
SK: Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah.
CR: Oh.
SK: So— Mr. Chase was kind of a bully, and he was picking on me all the time. And my sister stood up for me—Ardith—and, you know, I was doing just as good a job as anybody else, the older women. But anyway, I—finally, it just wasn’t worth it to me. And Sharon had a job of de‑beaking chicks, and I went to help her do that, because otherwise, chickens would peck themselves, each other, and just kill each other. And so I did that. And then I picked raspberries at Auckland’s.
CR: Where was Auckland’s at?
SK: Aukland’s is at Hazelwood, where is— What street is Hazelwood on?
CR: Damson [Road]?
SK: No.
CR: Danvers [Road]?
SK: No, Hazelwood Elementary [3300 204th St SW].
CR: Oh! Over here.
SK: Yeah. Is it 212th [St SW]?
CR: 204th [St SW].
SK: 204th. It was 204th and Old Manor Way. They had a raspberry farm, and my mother picked there. And she asked if we could come down, and they said, “Well, we’ll see.” And we were pretty good pickers. I mean, Ivy Auckland—Mrs. Auckland—taught us well not to leave any behind. She’d make us go pick it again. And Jack [John] Aukland, he would take his berries in five days a week to Seattle, and they were dear, dear people. She reminded me of a Polish, a Polish woman. I don’t know why [inaudible]. My mother’s Polish, and I am Polish and Swedish. But anyway, we did that for many years. And then we used to go pick strawberries. And that was our fireworks money. And— So it was fun. I got so I was quite a strawberry picker. So—[inaudible – “what was this?” ?].
Oh! Then I had a paper route. And my first paper route was probably a mile long, and I walked. And then when I got older, I got— Ardith had a paper route. It was about a hundred and two customers. And it—area was to where the lamp place [Lamps Plus, 3611 196th St SW] is, passed the old hardware store, Manor Hardware [formerly at 195th Pl. SW. and 36th Ave. W]. And it went around, say, to where Mervyn’s [3301 184th St SW] was, and it came past Shipley’s, and then the old North Trunk Road, that was one part. And then from Geltz down to Ash Way North, that was another part. And then it was Ash Way South, around Cypress was another route. And then another part was down to, on Filbert to Locust Way, and back. And then the last of it was up from Larch Way, Tutmark Hill [Maple Road and approximately 180th St SW], and down around back to—back to Ash Way somehow. So it was quite big.
CR: And what paper was this?
SK: The Seattle Times.
CR: And did you do this on a bike, or walking, or—
SK: It was split up three ways: Ardith took the northern one, Tutmark Hill; Sharon took the one, Ash Way North—Ash Way South, and down to Locust Way and that; and then I had the one— The girls had horses; I had a bike and I took the one in the west side of Alderwood.
CR: So they delivered the paper on their horses and you had a bike.
SK: Yeah.
CR: How long did you do that for?
SK: It seemed forever!
CR: Were you in junior high then?
SK: Until 1953. ’52 or ’53, when we took our first vacation as a family. And I think that the paper route had been taken over by somebody else at that time.
CR: Where’d you go on vacation?
SK: Oh! We went back to Minnesota, and that was the first time I remember seeing my grandma Sendek, and she was quite old, in her eighties, I believe. And— That’s not so old nowadays, but it was then. And then we went down to Texas, Dallas, Texas. We had friends—Francises. He was a captain in the Air Force. And then over to Los Angeles; my mother’s brothers, two brothers were there. And then home.
CR: The whole family?
SK: Yes.
CR: In a car?
SK: In a station wagon that we bought from Echelbargers. It was a Dodge, green Dodge. It was a wonderful [inaudible – “one”?]. And we did this in two weeks.
CR: Oh, my goodness!
SK: We traveled at nighttime. There was three drivers—
CR: Oh, okay.
SK: —Ardith, and Dad and Mom. And we slept in the, you know, along the way.
CR: Good vacation.
SK: Oh, it was a wonderful vacation.
CR: It was the first one you’d ever taken as a family.
SK: Uh-huh. [Yes.]
CR: Probably one of the last. And only? I mean—
SK: It was. It was.
CR: Wow. That’s great.
SK: We’d go little places, but Ardith would be home, or, you know. I don’t recall [inaudible – “her”?] ever going.
CR: I wanted to ask you back about the Chases, with the chicken farm. Was that a pretty good-sized chicken farm?
SK: It was, yeah.
CR: What was his name? Do you remember?
SK: Harold.
CR: Harold Chase.
SK: Yes. He was the one that did that tape [Harold Chase, the Yodeling Ranger, “Singing With Guitar,” in Lynnwood-Alderwood Manor Heritage Association and Museum’s permanent collection, item number 2017.FIC.002].
CR: Oh, okay. He must have had that for quite a while, do you remember?
SK: Well, let’s see. I was probably ten, so—
CR: And that butted up to your property on the south side?
SK: North side.
CR: The north side.
SK: Yeah.
CR: Was it right next to your property then?
SK: Yes.
CR: Okay. And did he just have five acres, or did he have more, do you think?
SK: No.
CR: He had five.
SK: Yeah. I think we might have had—we always thought it was six, but it was between five and six.
CR: Uh-huh. But you never raised chickens.
SK: Oh, we had—
CR: But for to sell. You had your own.
SK: Yeah.
CR: Your dad was never—he never got into the chicken business.
SK: No. But can I tell you what we raised?
CR: What?
SK: We raised rabbits and my mom would butcher them and skin them. Put the skins on boards, and cure them, and sell them. And we had our own chickens. And we had this one rooster that was mean. And when Sharon and I had to go gather eggs, he would try and spur us, and we kept telling mother, you know, and she sighed, “You’re just being sissies.” Well, she went there one time to gather eggs, and he charged her. Well, he was in a pot that night. Don’t believe [laughs] [inaudible]. But anyway, I was glad to see him gone. We raised bees; we had ducks. We raised one steer. We had pigs, off and on. We had four cherry trees, and each girl had a cherry tree, and that was ours to get up and eat [inaudible – “all of one”?]. The Bing was supposed to be Daddy’s, but we snitched them every now and then.
CR: [laughs] What kinds were the other ones?
SK: Royal Annes.
CR: Royal Annes.
SK: Mm-hmm. [Yes.] We had a big garden. And my mother in later years grew dahlias, and then she gave that over, she said, “You can take care of them.” So I have dahlias ever since. I still have dahlias in my garden.
CR: Huh. That’s great.
[tape ends]
~ 44:59
Transcribed by tv, February 2018
Rev. B
[1] Date found online; confirmed by Sandy 4/3/18.
[2] Date found online; confirmed by Sandy 4/3/18.
[3] On Ash Way, a quarter of a mile north of the intersection with Filbert Road. That intersection is now 24th Ave W (Ash Way) and 196th St SW (Filbert Road), according to Sandy and Nettie Schoentrup 4/5/18.
[4] Confirmed by Sandy 4/3/18.
[5] Mr. Schneider, according to Sandy 4/5/18.
[6] Name confirmed by Sandy 4/5/18.
[7] She was in the first ninth-grade class at the new school, according to Sandy 4/3/18.
[8] Susan Francis, per Sandy 4/3/18.
[9] Sandy (4/3/18) clarifies that she did have many neighbors in homes near their home.
[10] Sandy (4/3/18) emphasizes that they did play together at home, though.
[11] Also marbles, kick-the-can, pick-up sticks, hobby horses, skating, riding horses, riding bicycles, according to Sandy 4/3/18.
[12] Gladys’ Variety Store, according to Sandy 4/3/18.
[13] Alderwood Drugs, according to Sandy 4/3/18.
[14] Astrid listed on 1910 Seattle census (Washington, King, Seattle Ward 2, District 0074) as “Ester”: https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/7884/4454957_00808?pid=174304306 . Listed on 1920 census, Cedarhome, as “Esther”: https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/6061/4391491_00172?pid=13934723
[15] Great-uncle; confirmed by Sandy 4/3/18.
[16] “Our house,” according to Sandy 4/3/18.
[17] Confirmed by Sandy 4/3/18 that this was the business name.
[18] Name and spelling confirmed by Sandy 4/3/18.