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JD: We mentioned what happened when you came back from Moses Lake and you saw what had happened to Bainbridge Gardens. So I guess your dad and your uncle would have had no way of knowing what condition it would be in. What did they... initially, did they think it wasn't possible to rebuild it?

JH: Well, I can't answer that because that was beyond my scope of understanding. But what actually happened was that they had developed Bainbridge Gardens to the wonderful place and grocery store and greenhouses, nursery yards and vegetable gardens, ornamental fountains and water features. All of that went under trauma except for the grocery store. The grocery store was leased out to some very honest people who paid the rent. So by paying the rent they were able to pay the taxes. A lot of families lost their home and land and buildings because they couldn't come up with the tax, money to pay the taxes. So my uncle and my father, plus the grocery store owner or renter, were able to pay their taxes. Unfortunately, the people who ran the nursery just let it go and it crashed under the heavy weight of the snow, the greenhouses were totally collapsed. Most of the inventory and ornamentals, the beautiful fountains, etcetera, water features, they were all either pilfered or damaged beyond repair. It must have been really crushing to come back and see that. And my dad, I do remember when, after we came back, we were driving around the island for some reason, I'm not sure, but my dad would point out certain trees and he said, "You know, that used to be mine." So they must have had a free for all picking out the plants. So it must have been painful for my dad and my uncle because they'd worked so hard. The total devastation pretty much ended their partnership, so they split the property up. He got the east side and we got the west side. They both tried to, both my uncle and my dad separately tried to rebuild Bainbridge Gardens. We kind of had a Bainbridge Gardens One and a Bainbridge Gardens Two. But they were both getting up in age, and they didn't have the energy to bring it up to where it was.

JD: When you came back, you were, you got back into school, you were probably in sixth, seventh grade, something like that?

JH: That's right, yeah.

JD: But then would you use your spare time, you'd be helping your dad rebuild the...

JH: Oh, yeah. That's the reason I swore I'll never become a nurseryman because I hated the work, and we never got paid. [Laughs]

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 2007 Densho. All Rights Reserved.