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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
April 13, 1978     Shelton Mason County Journal
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April 13, 1978
 
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LEE eenls particularly cruel plan them, supply and when the it seems the and foundation will But one day you hear the wrecking and what took is leveled within a tnake room for the ring can stop time. Stop cycle of demolition. To is a season, etc. Ople who labored and even more who supervised its whole rise and nful. NeWkirk cried the down Belfair's ly he's not so But many years raw edge of the Was still felt in ach and Belfair community, man in charge of came to be Chalet. to 1938, he for the WPA 65 unemployed jobs and the nlUnity a new mazes me," says that everyone project was when it work, yet a serious accident injury during the n ver hr tile spirit of the times, tile Chalet was made from the resources at hand. Labor was supplied by virtually every man in the local area receiving public relief, while the materials were taken from the woods. Rocks, hardwoods and cedar shakes were all removed from nearby land to erect the structure that stood until only a half-dozen years ago. "The local school board's principal contribution to tile job was the donation of a one-ton Ford truck and we used it for everything. "We even managed to carry four 60-foot logs out of the woods on the back of that truck." Most of the raw materials. including stone for the outside walls and timber tbr the frame, were collected along abandoned railroad rights-of-way-. By the late 1930's, tile big loggirig outfits had left the local area, pulling up the steel tracks laid for their railroads. But the grades, often with the ties still left in them, were used as roads to get the one-ton truck into the woods. Although there were never any injuries on the project, Marion does admit to a few close calls. "The whole project consisted of three parts. First we cleared the building site, then we began construction on the building. Finally, more land was cleared for a playfield. "We did the logging and also blew all the stumps with powder. Even in that, no one was ever hurt, but 1 got a real scare one tops, not ven for building Thursday, April 13, 1978 Marion Newkirk recounts his days of supervising construction for Belfair's Chalet school. day. "There was one particularly stubborn stump up on the hill behind the school. The day they decided to blow it, I was standing in the door of the nearly completed building to watch. "Well, when the stump went, I saw one large chuck come flying down the hill. It was tumbling slowly through the air, headed straight for me. I got out of there quick, but I remember wondering how much of the ,building it was going to destroy. "With a 'thud,' the piece landed in a ditch beside the building, bounced a couple of times and came to rest fight inside the doorway. Not one piece of the building was even scratched." Marion says the hardest part of the whole project was getting local people to accept the rather unconventional-looking building as a schoolhouse. The Chalet was modeled after a structure that some people felt was less than appropriate for an elementary school, the Robin Hood Tavern on South Shore. "Apparently the man in charge of the whole project, my boss, a Lieutenant Mann, liked the looks of the Robin Hood building and felt it could be built by inexperienced labor out Section of the Shelton-Mason County Journal or center starts phone line rye information,, assistance Can sneak up on "chore worker referral system." and they don't know what to "But right now I think the can slowly when r the lack of can bring to iors deal with Simply offer th everyday Belfair Senior d up an hot Local youth interested in performing odd jobs will register with the center. Seniors with household jobs that need to be done can then contact the center via the phone line and a worker will be sent. "One of the most important things people should realize," says Sylvia, "is that the hot line will be strictly confidential. "If a senior has a problem, they shouldn't let any feelings of embarrassment stand in the way of their calling for help. Everything will be between just themand the person on the other end of the line." Another service seniors should be aware of, adds Sylvia, "is that we at the center can act as a personal advocate for seniors involved in a grievance concerning social security benefits. Senior "hot line' 275-5135 "We can help them prepare their case and appear with them at the hearing. The law provides for such a service now." Several weeks ago both Sylvia and Jodi attended a three-day session in information and assistance training. At the session they were briefed on dealing with some of the problems they expect to encounter. The topics included dealing with grief from the loss of a close relative, depression from being housebound, alcoholism and family problems. "You'd be surprised how many seniors have difficulties with their fam'ilies. And I'm not necessarily talking about with their children. "Quite a few seniors have parents who are either disabled or rapidly approa.ching that state do. They, themselves, are too old to take care of their parents, but on the other hand they don't want to send them away to a nursing home. "Decisions like that are hard to make, especially on your own, so we try to help them sort through their feelings." Another purpose of the hot line is for seniors to call and make use of tile transportation services offered by the Belfair center. Currently, tile center operates a mini-bus that serves residents in the North Mason area. Although the mini-bus is legally limited to use within the county, another bus travels up from the Shelton center every Friday and then journeys on into Bremerton. Sylvia encourages seniors to call and make use of either transportation service. Eventually Sylvia hopes the hours for the phone line can be expanded to fill out the day. One of the main limitations facing the phone line service right now comes from its having to operate out of the local sheriff's office. The location eliminates no't only the possibility of also running a drop-in center, but also limits operation of the hot line to the hours of the office. Sylvia says the center would like to eventually offer the phone service in the evening hours, but such service would not be possible until a new operating location can be found. Whatever the future plans, no expansion of the services can be contemplated until volunteers are found to help Sylvia and Jodi take calls. Volunteers will also be needed for a new service the cenler hopes to sotm have funclioning in conjunction with the hot line. This service.will be a visiting group consisting of seniors headed by Jodi or Sylvia who will travel to the homes of shut-away seniors. important thing for seniors to remember is that they have a phone line where they can call and we'll be there to help. "And if we don't have the answers we'll refer them to somebody who should." H ISTOR ICAL SOCIETY TO MEET Dave McMillin, owner of the Olympia Oyster Company, will speak about the local oyster industry at the next meeting" of the Mason County Historical Society on Thursday, April 13, 7:30 p.m., at the Little Skookum Community Hall on Lynch Road. Public is invited. Lane, Senior the phone give seniors the special them and Use of the that, unlike offered the hot with a When the its own to also but for best we line." a recent ason High Sylvia phone ng,', Sylvia Will be through 3 p.m. line services available SeCurity, to out for he new With an and ently ounty available ill be a of available materials. "Actually, l always felt the building was very attractive and I doubt if we could have constructed a conventional-type school building without professional help and that was out of the question." Opposition to the project also came from the local construction unions. "They opposed the project from the start to the finish." When tile Chalet was completed, it consisted of four classrooms and an attached gym. Another small room was planned for use as a kitchen but was quickly converted into a fifth classroom. Erecting the gym was a feat that still holds awe for Marion, even to this day. The gym's frame was built around four 60-foot posts. These were hoisted into place using 500 feet of one-inch rope, a quadruple block-and-tackle, the one-ton Ford, and some backwoods ingenuity. "We may not have known much about building construction, but we had several expert logging riggers and we put 'era to good use." In its final form, the Chalet was one of the "shakiest" buildings around, but that's not because there was anything wrong with its structure. It was covered by more than 50,000 cedar shakes. "Our shake cutters didn't know much about shake cutting when they started out, but by the time they were finished, they were leading experts." For some of the men their work on the school turned out to be more than a one-shot fling at construction. "I personally knew of six men who went on to work for the rest of their days in the construction trade they had learned while working on the Chalet." When the school was finished in 1938, the WPA planned another project tbr the local area and Marion was asked again to head up its construction. But he had several "falling outs" with the local school board during construction of the Chalet, so he declined the offer and decided to take his family and head back to his native Indiana. Once in the Hoosier state, however, Marion realized it was not the same as when he had left years before, at least not tile way he remembered "home." Maron was born in Crawfordsville, Indiana, in 1902. His father was a carpenter so Marion's family moved periodically m search of work. Several years were spent in Danville. Illinois. but they eventually returned to his small hometown located just outside Indianapolis. He graduated from Crawfordsville High School in 1920. Marion then joined the Army in time for the end of the war. He was placed in the Army Air Corps and performed mechanical duties at the airfield then located in the infield of the Indianapolis motor speedway. When the armistice was signed and the reduction bill put into effect, Marion resigned and took his pay-off. For a year Marion attended Wabash College, but the academic life was not for Marion. So with an old Army buddy he headed west. Jobs were scarce following the war, and there were plenty of young men out looking. By Ogden, Utah his friend was getting desperate. Marion had found work, but his friend asked him to go along down to the Navy recruiting station. Once there, Marion was talked into signing up for a hitch. Marion was assigned to the munitions ship "Pyro" docked in Bremerton and in 1922 he caught his first glimpse of the Northwest. "On my first liberty I bummed a ride by water over to Seattle. Halfway there we came around a point and suddenly there was Mt. Rainier. Now, I'd seen a lot of beautiful sights in my time, but nothing compared. I immediately fell in love with the Northwest and knew, by golly, someday I'd make it my home." During one of his cruises, Marion took ill and was sent back to Bremerton to recover. While resting in the hospital, Marion met Viola Hill. Within a few months they were married. "Right before we got married, I was assigned to a new ship. So I spent our honeymoon with 400 other guys on a shakedown cruise. She never let me forget it, either." In spite of his attraction to the Northwest, when Marion took his second discharge he decided to return to his home state, as Hoosiers are wont to do. They settled in Northern Indiana where Marion found work in Hammond and then, eventually, with an engineering firm in Chicago. Meanwhile, Marion and Viola began raising the first two children. Marion continued working at the engineering firm until the stock market crash. "It was really felt hard in Interior of a chalet classroom shows the handiwork of local workers that lent the building its characteristic charm. Chicago. The place I worked shared a building with several large brokerage firms and nearly everyone in my office was playing the market. I wasn't because I had a family to feed and no money left over for playing around. "Within 20 minutes after the crash, most of nay friends were wiped out. Most of them lost their life savings. Those were terrible times. "Two days after that, a friend and I were walking to lunch. We had just come out of the building when we heard someone yell, 'watch out.' We looked up and some guy had just jumped out his window. He landed about 30 feet away from US." Marion managed to keep his job for another year, but by 1931 his employer was forced to fold and he was out of a job. Looking for work in Chicag o was "a joke," so once again Marion headed west. Viola's father owned ten acres just outside Belfair off what is now known as Newkirk Road and was looking for someone to help him clear acreage for a garden. Marion gladly accepted. Before long he and Viola had enough money to purchase the adjoining ten acres and they set up their own home. For the next few years it was "catch-as-catch-can" for Marion and everybody else in the area. "Some of the men took to logging for 'gyppo' outfits. But since you could only count on getting paid about half the time, I figured it wasn't worth the risk. I'd rather stay home and work on the garden. At least then you knew you'd get something for your efforts - food on the table." When the WPA decided to build the school, it came as a great relief to Marion and his neighbors. But when the project was finished and Marion took his family, now numbering five children, back to Indiana, it took only one hot, humid summer to convince Marion his heart now rested in the Northwest. "When I told my parents that we were moving back to Washington, they asked what we were going to do. 1 said, 'I don't know, but whatever it is, we're going to be comfortable.' " Fortune smiled on Marion when he returned. At least he found steady employment. From 1941 to 1948, he vorked in the expanding naval shipyard. Then he pinned down the job as the Belfair postmaster, which he kept until his retirement in 1959. Even then he stayed active as a legislative lobbyist for the Grange. Last month, Viola, Marion's wife for more than five decades, died following a prolonged illness. Nowadays Marion is planning a journey around the country. His travels will include an extended stay in Indiana, his first trip back since 1938. Before he leaves, Marion decided to try and trace out the foundation of the old Chalet for the historical society. "The new elementary school playshed covers most of the old site - that much I could tell. But for the rest, it's hard to say. Time has changed everything so much; it doesn't even look like the same place any more." Materials for the Chalet came from the local area-- logs from the wmd., stones from the beach and 50,000 cedar shingles to top it all off.