<Begin Segment 32>
RP: Have you attended any reunions in Seabrook?
SK: Well, yes. We attended that Seabrook Farms reunion last October, and that's the first time that, well, my sister Joanne, Shirley, and Fay and I and their spouses went to Las Vegas, but on the way to Las Vegas we stopped at Manzanar. And that was the first time for myself and my wife and my sister Shirley. And that stop at Manzanar was really, I mean, it was really nice. It kind of amazed me how well that the museum or the dedication or whatever is set up. And it was very impressive. But like I said, we did attend that Seabrook Farm reunion last year.
RP: What was that like for you?
SK: Well, it was nice, but in sixty years or fifty years, I mean, everybody's changed so much I couldn't recognize anybody. If they didn't have a nametag on, I wouldn't have known them from anybody. It was fun, though, it was fun. It was a nice gathering. I mean, they had a nice show, they had some skits and things like that, and they introduced different people, they had a nice dinner, a dance. And after talking with people that I knew by name, I kind of looked at their faces but I still had a hard time. But we reminisced about old times, so it was real nice. And I figure, well, they probably have one in two more years, so we'll plan to go to that one, and probably before we go down again we'll stop at the museum again. And what I'd like to do probably one time is on the way to Disneyland or something, I'd like to take the grandkids down there and show 'em.
RP: So you've never been to Seabrook itself?
SK: No, never have. We always, with the sisters and everything, we always talked about it, but we never did go back. From what I understand, Seabrook Farms itself is pretty well... I don't know who lives there now, but the people that lived there at the time we were there, most of 'em are all scattered out through that area or most of 'em are gone, too. So I don't know. It would be nice to just go see it.
RP: I guess there's still three to five hundred Japanese American residents in the area, Bridgeton,
SK: Yeah, Bridgeton and Vineland are that... Deerfield, that's right. Deerfield, Bridgeton, Deerfield is the one that I was trying to think of earlier, which is just, I'm going to say, I think it's north of it. But anyway, that was a small town right outside of Seabrook Farm, probably about not even ten miles. I don't even think Bridgeton was about ten miles, I'm not sure. I remember that person that had the reunion, Seabrook Farm reunion, I believe she was from Deerfield or that area, that lady.
RP: I guess they went ahead and developed a cultural center out there, education center, sharing some of the stories of Japanese Americans during that time, and other groups as well. But I think you summed it up pretty good earlier talking about how that gave so many families sort of a new beginning.
SK: Yeah. I don't know, like I said, camp experience wasn't bad, and my time at Seabrook was really great, too. I have no bad memories of either places really. One because I was too young, and the other one, well, we were growing up teenage time, so it was nice.
RP: So did you get into any real trouble at Seabrook?
SK: No, no. We had the same type of, mischievous type of things that we did, you know, as most teenagers did, but we never got into serious problems. Never had to worry about anything like that, serious. Most of the time it was just spent having a good time.
RP: That's a noble pursuit. Any other stories or memories you'd like to share about anything we've talked about this morning that we haven't touched on?
SK: No, I think we covered just about everything.
RP: Well, Shig, it's been great hearing about your life and your experiences, and thank you so much for sharing it with us. On behalf of us and the Park Service --
SK: Well, I thank you for having me. I mean, I really appreciate it, and I felt more comfortable than I thought I would be.
<End Segment 32> - Copyright © 2011 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.