MY HOME, RIDGEFIELD, a Poem by Avis Alice (Reid) Eaves 1964

I received this email today from David Eaves. I am posting it in its entirety and am excited that we have our first oral history contribution.  Thank you, David, for sharing your treasure with us.

Avis Alice (Reid) Eaves
Born March 20, 1923 - Died January 8, 2009

"My name is David Eaves. My family lived in Ridgefield in 1964. We lived high on a hill overlooking all the Ridgefield valley. This view inspired my Mom to write this poem about Ridgefield.  My mom passed away last year and I would like to donate this poem to your town historical group in her memory." 

My Home, Ridgefield

                     By Avis A. (Reid) Eaves

I’m in love with Ridgefield town.

So peaceful and so small.

Its building memories renown,

And I treasure each and all.

For I live high on top of a hill,

In the land of rivers and trees.

And rise up early at my will,

To see the sights like these.

Majestic mountains in the east,

Snow-capped and standing high.

Glittering light shine in the west,

And a river boat goes by.

This is my town, my very own,

My heart and soul, they call it home.

***

Memorial Services for Avis:

We are gathered here in the sight of God, and amongst loved ones and friends to remember the life of our mother, a grandmother, and a great grand mother.

To remember the life of Avis, I would like to take you back to before Avis was even born. For to know the character of who Avis was, you must also understand the roots of the parents who brought her into this world and the surroundings that formed her into the loving, caring, nurturing person we call mom.

Avis was the youngest sibling of Charles Reid, Sr. Charles was a pioneer settler in Oklahoma during the time of the American migration into the mid-west. Charles Reid was a young man in Kansas when the Cherokee Outlet was opened for settlement in Oklahoma on September 16, 1893. He and his neighbor friends decided to make the run on horseback. They started at the state line of Kansas south of Hunnewell and arrived at a site north of Tonkawa Oklahoma. As Avis had told the story to us, Charles staked his claim in a valley where it was a foggy misty morning and when the air had cleared mid-day, he noticed that someone else had also staked the same section of land. Charles simply picked up his stake and relinquished the claim to the other man. Avis said that her dad noticed that the other man had a bigger gun and he didn’t think it wise to argue with him. The following spring, Charles did purchase a relinquished stake near what is now known as Deer Creek, Oklahoma. Charles was a bachelor on his homestead farm for a number of years, and as Avis tells it, he was quite the eligible bachelor. His friends were always trying to match him up with some young single woman by hosting parties and inviting all the eligible young women in the area. In the summer of 1906, Florence O. Robinson came to visit her sister and attended one of these parties. A romance started soon after and on November 27, 1907 they were married. As the years went by Charles and Florence had six children. Avis being the youngest of them all.

Now Avis lived in a time of our history where she experienced a worldwide depression, a dust bowl, a world war. This generation of time has been characterized as the “Greatest Generation”. There is a popular book written that describes this generation as “the generation who grew up in the Great Depression of 1929, who came of age in World War II, and following the war shaped the world thru the greatest times of national growth and innovation. This is a time in Avis’s life where personal sacrifice was common place. These times shaped her life and built character of one who was to influence each us here today. It was this generation that had grown accustomed to personal sacrifice, honesty, integrity and caring for their neighbor. This attitude of personal sacrifice for the benefit of those around you was developed within them from their own experiences as they lived life in the era known as the greatest generation. I recall Mom discussing these times as I wondered how they were able to endure such great hardships as the depression, the dust bowl era, and the war, and their willingness to sacrifice of themselves as they pursued their own way thru life. They did it because they knew it was the right thing to do. As Avis once stated, ” we did not think of ourselves as sacrificing but simply we were living life the best way we knew how”. This attitude of sacrifice and doing the right thing was an integral part of their daily living and became a strong trait that was instilled in each of us thru Avis nurturing ways.

In 1942, Avis being a young woman of 19 was attending a local community college. She met a young man, Leland Edward Eaves of Fairfax, Oklahoma, who was also attending the same community college. They dated for some time even though Avis was in love with her high school sweetheart and had fully expected to marry him. Lee, however, was persistent in perusing Avis’s heart despite her many refusals when Lee would propose to her. Lee finally won her over thru numerous proposals which concluded with the possibility that Lee might join the Marines. This news was too much for Avis to bear and her heart revealed that this was the man whom she would spend her life with. In February 1942, Avis and Lee left northern Oklahoma to get married in Oklahoma City and start a life together. It wasn’t long before they discovered that Avis was pregnant with their 1st child. By June of 1942, the news of bringing a child into the world was received with the concerns that there was no way they could make it on Lee’s current salary of $90 per month. Being that this was a wartime era, the news of good jobs in the shipyards of the Pacific Northwest led Lee and Avis to set out for Portland, Oregon. Upon arriving in Portland, they only had $10 in their pockets. They rented an apartment for $7 a month, leaving them only $3 to survive until Lee could get a job and get paid.

Lee quickly got a welding job at the shipyard and they were able to rent a small house in the countryside near Woodburn, Oregon. Shortly after, their 1st son was born. Leland Edward Eaves Jr. was born on September 17, 1942. The baby was born pre-mature and Avis was sacred to be raising a new born baby. Shortly after Lee Jr. was born, notice to appear for induction into the Army was received. Being that Lee was from Fairfax, Oklahoma, he was required to return there to be drafted into the U.S. Army. Avis, Leland, and Lee Jr. boarded a train and returned to Oklahoma.

Avis Eaves remembrance set in Puerto Rico (Obituary)

Avis Alice (Reid) Eaves, formerly of Deer Creek, Okla. Died in Thornton Colorado on Thursday, Jan. 8th 2009.


Avis is the last surviving daughter of Charles and Florence (Robinson) Reid of Deer Creek, known as being a pioneer settler of Cherokee Strip, Oklahoma in 1893. Avis was 85 when she died. In her life, she was a devoted loving wife, mother and grandmother. She was married to Leland Edward Eaves of Fairfax, Oklahoma for 48 years. Avis is survived by 7 children, Leland Edward Eaves Jr., Charles Lamar Eaves , Deanna Janell (DeLong) Eaves, David Reid Eaves, Jay Clifton Eaves, Laura Ellen (Ballard) Eaves and Earnest Lee Eaves. Avis and Lee were proud loving grandparents of 15 grandchildren and many great grandchildren. Avis will be put rest next to her loving husband, Leland Edward Eaves Sr., in Ponce, Puerto Rico at a private family memorial service on March 21, 2009. The family may be contacted by writing David R. Eaves, 26802 Via Zaragosa, Mission Viejo, Ca. 92691

Don't Limit Living History to Family Stories

One of the biggest mistakes many of us make when envisioning a Living History Project is by restricting ourselves to the familiar. Unless we have a famous uncle who invented the toilet plunger or an artist relative with a work in the Smithsonian, most Americans tend to downplay our own family histories.

Of course this makes sense in a culture that is founded on individualism and freedom for the average person, but community has always been an amazing part of American life. That sense of community and how it is expressed is what intrigues me about the Ridgefield area, and I would like to know all the people who live here.  Why not?  It is a fascinating bunch of great people.

So... when thinking about what could possibly interest another person about your life experience, or that of your ancestors, don't forget your friends too! They are your chosen family perhaps, but friends and neighbors are part of our lives and mean a great deal to us.  They may also be interesting characters all on their own.

For instance, my mother-in-law lived in southern Ridgefield near the Fairgrounds for forty-two years.  The first thirty she had never ventured into downtown Ridgefield even once.  She didn't even know how to get there, as she worked in Portland and all her travels by car were southerly.

Her first trip into downtown Ridgefield was filled with amazement.  I can still remember her saying, "They have a post office and a hardware store and a library!"  She also loved the food at the old Victoria's Restaurant, now the Pioneer Street Cafe. Eventually she ventured up as far north as the Oak Tree as she loved their salad with the beets and sunflower seeds. After we started the Ridgefield Art Association in 1993, she came to our May Art Show for many years.

I admit I ordered the Mature Learners Catalogue be sent to her house after she retired, as she was a very fit  if introverted woman and her younger friends were still working.  She was going a little crazy with nothing much to do, so I was talking to her about volunteering or taking up a hobby.  She had mentioned that she had always wanted to paint. I knew she read two things religiously from cover to cover. The Reflector and every bit of her mail, junk or otherwise. One day she called me and asked if I would help sign her up for a class.  Then she explained how like a miracle, this catalogue had come to her 'out of the blue' in her mail.  She studied watercolor painting at Clark for five years, starting her art class at the age of 76! 

There are also very unconventional ways to preserve living history other than just writing memoirs - for you or other people. There are recipes people have given us , pieces of art, photographs, recordings, old year books, newspaper clippings somebody saved, magazines from the attic. They may not be about your ancestors or relations, but maybe somebody else in Ridgefield or the Clark County area would treasure them. Plus the old garage and attic thing are problems and there can always be a house fire. Things happen.

So talk about them, write about them, try to remember them.  Nobody is going to judge your stories, your history or how you experienced it.  This is your viewpoint, nobody else's.  That's what makes a Living History Project so special.  Everything is wide open. Let's talk or come to our first meeting on May 25th at 7:00 p.m. at the Pickled Heron Gallery, 418 Pioneer, Ridgefield, WA 98642.

Picking Dinner | The Columbian

This Sunday, May 9th, a wonderful speaker is going to share his knowledge and recipes for local 'Wild Foods'. Want to become an educated forager in your own backyard? Meet him  - he's a PhD with a book coming out on June 1st - at the Plankhouse.

The event is free, but parking is $3.  Details are in the link below from the Columbian!

Picking Dinner The Columbian