We Moved to Newport when I was in the second grade. I was enrolled in
Central Grade School and my teacher was Mrs. Ayers. As I remember, Mrs. Ayers was a nice lady in her late 50's or early 60's,
with perfectly permed gray hair.
She was nice but very strict. We were living in an apartment
at the corner of Southwest Canyon Way and Southwest 9th St.. After a few months we moved to the north end of town, into a big
red house next to KNPT, the
local A.M. radio station. I still went to Central Grade School. We only lived there for a few months before we moved to
714 S. W. Lee St.. We moved into a nice two bedroom house
and we were on the northern boundry of the Central Grade school zone so we continued attending Central School.
Mom and Dad purchased a blue Volkswagen camper, from the Volkswagen dealership next to Central School,
and we started going camping on holidays. Camping was a great experience, there was always swimming involved.
My brother got to sleep on the front seat and dad fashioned a piece of plywood to fit over the bench seat right behind the front bench seat. One end of the plywood rested on the countertop and rested on the window sill on the other end.
Mom and dad slept in the bed that was made when you unfolded the rear bench seat and laid it down flat. We went camping down to Bandon a few times before we went camping at
Clear Lake and Hood Canal. Camping at
Clear Lake was a very cold experience. Dad was a scuba diving enthusiest and had wetsuits made, by White Stag, for my brother and I.
I remember getting into my wetsuit and putting on the scuba tank with regulator, modified weight belt, and mask. I waded out into the water with dad. When I got out to waist deep in the water I leaned forward
and tried to swim. The water was so cold that I was paralyzed and turned upside down with the scuba tank on the bottom and my face pointed up at the sky. We tried it a couple of times and
I was just too cold to move in the water. I think my brother had a similar experience. When we went camping at Hood Canal we gave it another try in warmer water but I just couldn't seem to get the hang of it.
After a few unsuccessful attempts, I was pretty sure that I was not destined to be a scuba diver. Dad pretty much gave up on the idea of teaching my brother and I the fine art of scuba diving. My brother and I were O.K. with masks, snorkels, and fins,
but scuba diving was out.
My third grade teacher was Mrs. Apt. She was nice and in her 40's. She made school a very pleasant experience. Recess was getting to be my favorite part of the school day. I finished the 3rd grade and we moved to
1528
N.W. Lake Street and we changed school zones and began attending
Sam Case Elementary School
on the north end of town.
We moved across the street from the
Allen Family.
There was the father, Dave Sr., his wife, XXXX, Mike, Shelly, Steve,
Kim, Dave Jr. (Davey). Dave Sr. was a very successful car salesman and
worked at Gaither Motors at 12th st. and Highway 101. This was a Ford,
Lincoln, Mercury car dealership. He always drove a brand new
demonstrator car. A few years later he would team up with another car
salesman, Mr. Simms, and buy the Dealership from Mr.Gaither and it would
become Simms/Allen Ford.
Mike and Shelly were doing High School stuff and
weren't interested in playing with us. We
played with Steve and Kim. Kim was a "tomboy" and liked to do guy stuff
with guys. We used to spend a lot of time trying to ditch Davie when we
played. Davey was a lot younger and there were no kids in the
neighbohood his age for him to play with. We used to go over to the sand
dunes and build forts and caves. One time, when we were digging a cave
in the face of the sand dunes, my brother asked me to throw him the
shovel. I didn't even look as I tossed the shovel over my shoulder. The
shovel struck my brother in the side of the head, causing a fair sized
gash which began to bleed profusely. We went home immediately. We went
into the house and as soon as Mom saw that David was bleeding she yelled
don't bleed on the furniture and dragged him into the kitchen. She
cleaned up the gash and put a large bandaid on it and that was all. No
stitches or anything.
We used to walk across Ocean View Drive
and go down a trail that
was located next to the Tradewinds Motel
to get to the sand dunes and the beach. They were both an easy wlking
distance from the house.
Sometimes we would go down to the beach and take turns riding Steve's
skim board. This was a round piece of 5/8th inch thick plywood that was
painted on both sides andabout 36 inches diameter. We would throw that
down in water that was about two inches deep and jump on the board and
ride it while it skimmed on this shallow water. Sometimes, when the
tide was out we would pour bleach on the exposed rocks and get sea worms
which would crawl out of hiding to get away from the bleach. We would
then use the worms to go fishing. Sometimes we would catch a couple of
fish and sometimes we would catch nothing.
After a year or so, Dick Crowe
and his family moved into a house around the corner from us. Dick
had two daughters, Julie was the youngest and Jackie was the oldest.
Dick worked for the Lincoln County School District. The girls kept to
themselves pretty much and we rarely saw them.
School was still fun but it was starting to get serious.
