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TI: Okay, so we have you in Yakima working at the St. Elizabeth. Then what happened? What was next?

MS: Well, my parents died, and so I decided I really wanted to get out and get back to recreation by this time. And I was hired at Great Falls, Montana. That was an experience, too, because Great Falls is out in the prairie, it's the wheat country. And they were very accepting of me. And they'd say, "How do you like the west?" And I said, "I'm from the west." "Oh, no, that's the coast." [Laughs] And Great Falls is a very interesting place because it's the river going through there. And there used to be a great big Anaconda plant there, Anaconda. And they had a great big tall stack, and they called it... they called it another name, but this community across from Great Falls. And I got to know a couple of the people that, the families had gathered there, and apparently, this little community that lived across the river were former immigrants, and they worked in the Anaconda factory. And she said, "What we used to do is every morning we would go out to see if there's smoke coming out of the stack," because that meant that there's work. Otherwise you were not working. And I found that kind of interesting. But St. Paul, I mean, Great Falls was interesting. Oh, gosh, I had a... the director was very much into square dancing, and I would have to go five nights a week to the square dance classes, and then I would do recreation in some of the schools during daytime. And that was my life. And I met a few people there. And in the summertime I ran the playgrounds and that program.

And I remember going one summer after we had the playgrounds, that we went to Glacier National Park with our staff. It was an interesting experience. But Montana was a beautiful place. I have never seen such gorgeous flowers in the springtime. And if you've never been to Glacier Park, that park and their lodgings, this huge, huge lodge. And they would have, I think, delphiniums growing about eight feet tall that would line it going up to the lodge. And the Glacier National Park, that lodge is huge. And we stayed there, we thought we were going to camp out, that was crazy. They put us on the fifth floor, and when we got inside, there was a big roll of rope. We said, "What's that?" Said, "Oh, that's your fire escape." [Laughs] But it was a great, wonderful park. And if you ever have a chance, you should go there. And they have a Going-to-the-Sun Highway that is absolutely magnificent. But I found Montana people very nice, and they were really cordial. And you know, you work there.

Oh, gosh, I drove this old pickup, and I'm going to the garage and get it serviced. And one day I was having trouble, so I went in. But when I came out, I heard this clanking in the truck, and I thought, "My god." I went back in, and the guys had tricked me. They put some gravel in the hubcap. [Laughs] And when I came back they laughed and laughed because they'd pulled a trick on me.

TI: Oh, interesting.

MS: But Great Falls was Great Falls.

TI: And how long were you in Great Falls?

MS: Two years. That's enough.

<End Segment 23> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.