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TI: And so when your father needed to sell his crops, how did he sell his produce? Where did they go?

FS: Two places. In Sumner, they had the Puget Sound Vegetable Growers Association, where a lot of stuff went. But he also used to take a lot of stuff into the farmer's market in Tacoma, and he used to have certain markets and stores that were his regular customers. I remember going with him when I was little, five, six year old, going with him to the market.

TI: Now, describe the farmer's market in Tacoma? Who were the stalls and what was it like?

FS: You know, it was open stalls, and that market, I think... I was the (youngest), and I'd go with my dad. We'd leave when it was still dark at home on the farm, the objective was to get there at daybreak, and there were open stalls and markets, and hour and a half, two hours later, everything is gone.

TI: So this just opened, like, just a couple hours in the early morning?

FS: That's right.

TI: And they're open, people buy their stuff, and then they're gone.

FS: And my dad, if he didn't sell everything, he had certain places that he would go and sell it to certain markets. And he also had friends that we used to always drop off produce. In fact, interesting story, you know, Tom... Taniguchi, head of transportation for Seattle?

TI: Oh, Harold?

FS: Harold. Harold's grandma was named Hoshiwara in Tacoma, they had the hotel there in Tacoma. Very good friends of my mom and dad. My dad used to always stop there and drop off produce. But Grandma Hoshiwara used to treat me as her own child. And I have such fond memories about that, and I tell Kerry and Harold about that experience often. I really have fond memories of that time.

TI: That's a good story. Okay, good. So any other prewar childhood memories? Stories or anything that you want to talk about before we go to December 7th? Like any events that were significant for you or the family that you remember before the war?

FS: Well, one thing that sticks out is, as a kid in grade school, every Christmas, each grade would practice Christmas carols. And before Christmas break, we'd all go to the Methodist church, which is down the (street), it's still standing there today. And we would have, by each grade, sing carols in a Christmas program there. And as a kid, I remember walking in there and seeing all those glass, painted glass...

TI: The stained glass?

FS: Stained glass, and the organ and everything. And I distinctly remember that, I used to really enjoy that. But that's one thing that sticks out.

TI: Yeah, that visual is so powerful. So when we go to December 7, 1941, you're, what, about twelve years old at this point?

FS: Yeah.

TI: And I just want to set the scene in terms of your siblings now. Your oldest sister would be, then, around twenty-one, twenty-two, and then after that was John, so he's close to around twenty, nineteen, twenty. And so what were they doing? Because they were out of high school, were they still at home, or where were they?

FS: Sister Betty was still at home, she was helping on the farm. John was a sophomore at the University of Washington.

TI: And what was he studying at that point, do you know?

FS: Physics.

TI: Okay. He was a really smart guy, wasn't he?

FS: He's one of the high IQ guys I mentioned to you, even when he went into the service. But he was studying physics and was one of the top students, as far as I know.

TI: And then Bess? What was Bess doing?

FS: Bess had just started nurse's training at Tacoma General Hospital.

TI: And then Bob was in high school at that point?

FS: Yes. He graduated in Hunt High School.

<End Segment 10> - Copyright © 2017 Densho. All Rights Reserved.