What This Story Means to Me

          Dad always told stories about his childhood and early adulthood.  Those stories add flavor to genealogy.  It gives it color.  I may have talked about these stories before when I’ve talked about Dad.  If so, oh well, they deserve to be repeated.  If not, you are in for a treat.

The Tractor

         This took place shortly after the family moved to Galvin and settled down (in the early 1940’s).  Dad can’t remember if it was something that Grandpa William and Uncle John built or if it was Papa and Uncle John.  It was built while Grandpa William was still on the farm out past Adna.  Anyway, they had taken an old Dodge pickup (at least that is what Dad believed it to be) and converted it into a tractor (wish I had a photo). There was a spot that was just perfect for a little boy.  Dad said he would hold on to the edges of this platform.  One day, his hand was hit and did some damage to one of his fingers.

         Dad indicated that Papa had to put extensions on the clutch, brake pedal, and throttle so he could even reach them.  This was shortly after they had moved to Galvin and he was 6 or 7 at the time.  Its last rumble was when he was taking it from the driveway to the orchard, turning the corner into the orchard that was on the farm.  There was this little bump on the shoulder of the road that jumped up about 4".  Evidently, the tractor motor didn't like that bump and that was the last time it ran.  Seems like a piston broke about that time and the bump up was what caused the piston to break.  It probably had a crack in it to begin with.  It wasn't too long after that Papa bought a little Model L John Deere which was a crank start.

 

The Go-Cart

         Another story from Galvin youth.  Dad was about 8 years old.  He and a friend had built a go-cart (Uncle Clyde

may have been involved on this one).   Dad talked about how they built it and what type of wheels they used (see photo to the right).  He also talked about riding it down the Lincoln Creek road into Galvin.

         One time, after Papa had obtained a small, gas-powered engine that was used in a washing machine, the boys had dismantled it (it wasn’t working), cleaned up the parts using either gasoline or oil, then put it back together.  Added a little bit of gas and started it up.  It worked!  So, they then attached the motor to their cart.  They zipped up the road until it ran out of gas.  As they were pushing it back home, a deputy sheriff pulled up (actually, it was the Sheriff).  He asked them some questions, then escorted them home to talk to the parents.  Guess Grandma was upset, and Papa tried really hard not to laugh.  However, those two were back at it again!

         Another story (I’m not sure if this was before the motor was attached or afterwards), the boys were out and the steering broke.  The cart ended up crashing into the local blacksmith’s brand-new car.  Did some damage.   Well . . . guess who had to go to work to pay for the repairs.  Dad ended up doing a lot of odd jobs around the blacksmith’s place.  The best was in the shop – Dad learned a lot about welding using both an arc welder and a settling welder.

That’s just a few stories.  There are many more from his youth.  There’s one he loved telling about when he was in National Guard.  Oh, the twinkle in his eye and the smile on his face,  you knew he had good memories.  I’ve been slowly trying to write these stories down and add them to my family history – it’s what makes genealogy more interesting – not just names, dates, and places.

Father's Day - My Dad

A day to remember Dad.  OOPS - I forgot to send my Dad a card.  Guess I'll have to send him an email.

Dad is doing something he loves - railroading.  His hobby is the miniature railroad at Train Mountain.  He's been involved with this group since 2005.  He and mom have a summer home in Chiloquin so he can be close by and doesn't have to spend so much gas money taking the motor home down.

My Dad was born in February 1937 in Pendleton, Oregon to Edward William Kludt and Bernice Laverne Swinehart.  Some of his young days were spent in various logging areas as Papa worked for Weyerhauser.  Every once in a while Dad would tell a story from those days.  Like the time they lived in St. Maries, Idaho.  They would play hide-n-seek amongst the equipment.  Dad was so little he would be able to hide in the tire of the big rigs.  Another of his memories was visiting his dad at the logging camps on a weekend and he learned that if he wanted to eat, he had to grab his food fast.  Although, somebody hollered "hey, men, we have a guest, let him get his food first".  See, they were so hungry, they just jabbed their forks into the meat.  And Dad was so little, he couldn't reach the meat.  Another story was told by Aunt Loreca Swinehart Stredwick.  They were staying with them in the Edison District of Centralia.  They were walking over the 6th street viaduct and all of a sudden dad took off running.  When he got over to the other side, he said something like "that was a close one".  What happened was a train was going underneath and had blown his whistle.  I love these stories and I really need Dad to write them down for future generations.  In the meantime, I try to capture them.


Eventually the family settled down in Galvin, Washington and Dad attended the school in Galvin then went to Centralia High School, graduating in 1955.  Dad played trombone in the band in high school.  He was also involved in FFA.

Dad met mom and they got married in 1957.  They lived in Seattle for about a year then came "home" to Centralia to the dairy farm in Zenkner Valley (owned by Papa).  They operated that until 1962 when they decided to own their own in Grand Mound.  In 1967, they sold the farm and went back to the valley.  The farm there was no longer a dairy farm but was beef.

Dad worked for the Centralia School District as a bus driver.  His main route was Galvin.  By the time he retired, he was hauling 3rd generation kids.  Those kids had a lot o respect for him.

Our summers were spent camping, fishing and hiking when we weren't busy with haying.  Winters were spent with his hobby, model railroading.  He had an entire room dedicated (still does) to a layout.  We spent a lot of time creating trains and running them around.

Dad loved being around kids.  He was an advisor to an Explorer Post involved with Search & Rescue in Lewis County.  He did that for several years (from about 1975 until probably the 1990's),

I spent a lot of time fishing with Dad out on lakes until I had to have a license at age 16.  Dad & I were really close.  

Happy Father's Day, Dad.  Love you.

Here's a collage of pictures of Dad through the years.

Senior Class Photo

Toddler

6th Grade

Yearbook - Dad is in the middle row on the left

Aug 1957

1960

1972