The Aug. 9 and 10 class reunion in Oak Harbor has come and gone and only the memory lingers on. And what wonderful memories they are. It is said that “you can’t go home again,” but I’m an optimist, so I’d rather think, “Backward, turn backward oh time in thy flight and make me a child again, just for tonight” (and you can always do that).
My sister, Gloria Barker Lamping, came up from California and we left Rainier (down by Olympia) Saturday morning, Aug. 9, early with a song in our hearts, a prayer on our lips, and a full tank of gas. On our way to Oak Harbor we reminisced about the first time our family took the Utsalady Ferry to Whidbey Island in 1931. The minute we landed on the island we stepped out and jumped up and down, expecting the island to float. We were from Montana and we had a lot to learn about islands.
Our father, Charles Monroe Barker, had accepted the position of Superintendent of Schools in Oak Harbor for the 1931-32 term and we were all looking forward to making new friends and learning the history of that Dutch and German town.
As Gloria and I sped along the freeway laughing and talking less than a month ago, we didn’t realize that the highway department had changed some roads without a “by your leave,” and we got off in Mount Vernon, crossed the beautiful green, fertile field only to end up right back in Mount Vernon (I made a mistake going home too and ended up in Burlington), but we did find the Farmhouse Restaurant and were glad to see it is still a popular place.
The Reunion Committee did such an excellent job of preparing for us and they even planned the weather perfectly. We arrived three hours before the festivities started so we could check in at the Queen Anne Motel on Pioneer Way and start on a trip back in time.
The first thing we noticed was Dave Judson’s post office was gone, and we never did find it. We went at once to our second home in Oak Harbor, but the first one we owned. No homes had addresses then, but it was on the east end of town, so it was not hard to find. We had had 13 acres and a windmill and a huge barn and big garden patch. Gone! All gone! The big stone trimmed home is still very much there, but the lawn is cut through to the basement door giving access, and a little yellow school bus sits in front declaring, “Little Britches Pre-School.” Surprise! Surprise!
I remember Dad and I digging post holes for a fence a block up hill at the edge of our property by the road. A bare hill was east and so help me now, there seems to be a thousand homes and a school, a college, a library! It seems the Navy has taken over. Bless them!
“The eyes of memory will not sleep, my ears are open still, and memories with the past they keep against my feeble will.” The home has an address now, it’s 1508 8th St.
I drove down to Maylor’s Point to renew old sights. A cute little guard house produced a lonesome sentry from Alabama who politely told me to “get lost.” Ah me! I drove up to Cackle Corners where we first lived among our neighbors the Nienhuises, Judsons, Emerys, Ronhaars, and on up the road a bit to the Vanderhoorns and Eelkemas. The house and barn and six chicken houses, gone. The road, so help me, is abandoned.
I let the new Oak Harbor speak to me. It did! I don’t know if I’ve ever seen more artistry displayed in landscaping and creative painting of homes. What a wonderful place to raise a family or retire.
At the reunion whether the folks were in your class or not, faces all had happy smiles and excitement at being together. We knew everyone in school, not just those in our class. Our sister, Lorraine Barker Norden, was waiting a little breathlessly for our return to tell her all about it, as it has been several years since she has been able to get out of her house in Seattle. There certainly is not one thing wrong with her mind; we depend on her now, as we always have, for any memories that elude us, she is sure to know.
I remember my parents going to Olympia to talk to the Legislature about the “crying need” for a new high school in Oak Harbor. It worked! How excited we were when the high school could move from the top floor of the old white school to the new red brick one across the road. The Class of 1963 was the first to graduate from that building, and Lorraine was the valedictorian. I’m so glad it is back in use again, and with new buildings added to it. I was at the 2,000th anniversary of Paris. I’m not trying to say that all those buildings are 2,000 years old, but unless it was built on a freeway, they at least wait 500 years to think of replacing it.
I remember Dave Judson’s work at the Legislature on the need for a Deception Pass bridge. When he took the delegation from Olympia to Deception Pass lookout to explain what a perfect place it would be, his daughter, Helen, and I came along. Helen and I sat all day by the bridge counting cars and recording them the day it opened. Before it had quite closed the gap, I climbed under the bridge and took a loose bolt, which I still have. It didn’t need it. At least it hasn’t fallen yet.
I wonder how many remember Berta Olson. They called her the “Tug Boat Annie of Puget Sound.” She owned four ferries and therefore held up the bridge to Whidbey as long as she could. Later, I married her attorney, Jack Cissna. Boy, how the islanders hated Berta. When I lived there, not a good word was ever said about that crowd from Seattle.
I know all who came to the class reunion appreciate and want to thank the Class Reunion Committee for their work and dedication. I’m sorry I don’t have their names for you but they gave us a memorable event.
Evelyn Barker Cissna lives in Rainier.
