I GREW UP IN HIGHLAND BOY by ERMA

GROWING UP IN HIGHLAND BOY

—ERMA YENGICH  DATED OCTOBER 12, 2011

Erma in Prom dress

I GREW UP IN HIGHLAND BOY, WITH MY 2 SISTERS, MEMORIES OF THE FUN WE HAD, PLAYING ON WHAT WAS CALLED, UTAH METAL FLAT, IS SO VIVD.

WE PLAYED HIDE AN SEEK, KICK THE CAN, HOPSCOTCH, RUN SHEEPIE RUN

AND CLIMBED THE MOUNTAINS IN BACK OF OUR HOUSE, JUST ENJOYING THE SCENERY. 

MY MOM WOULD PACK US A LUNCH, IN THE SUMMER AND WE WOULD CLIMB TO SUNSHINE PEAK, MANY TIMES WE WOULD GO DOWN THE MOUNTAIN TO MIDDLE CANYON, ON INTO TOOELE.

WE SPENT A LOT OF TIME AT THE HIGHLAND BOY COMMUNITY HOUSE, IN

THE LIBRARY WE WOULD DO OUR SCHOOL HOME WORK, WE WOULD ROLLER SKATE, IN THE BIG GYMNASIUM, THEY TAUGHT US HOW TO SEW AND COOK.

THE LADIES AT THE COMMUNITY HOUSE WERE SO HELPFUL, IN THE WINTER THEY WOULD HAVE SLEIGH RIDING PARTIES, THEN WE WOULD GO BACK TO THE COMMUNITY HOUSE FOR HOT CHOCOLATE AND CHILI, BOY, WAS THAT GOOD ON A COLD NIGHT.

MANY SUMMERS WE WOULD GO THROUGH THE UTAH METAL TUNNEL TO MIDDLE CANYON FOR A PICNIC, PLAY BALL OVER THERE, EAT OUR LUNCH AND COME BACK THROUGH THE TUNNEL, TO OUR HOMES.  WE USED CARBIDE LAMPS, FLASH LIGHTS TO BE ABLE TO SEE, WE USED, WHATEVER WAS AVAILABLE.

Carmela,  Erma,  Gigita 1939

NOW WHEN I THINK OF IT, I JUST SHUDDER TO THINK HOW DANGEROUS IT WAS.

WE ALSO WENT TO BUTTERFIELD CANYON AND STAYED OVER NIGHT, WITH THE LADIES OF THE COMMUNITY HOUSE, THEY TAUGHT US ABOUT NATURE, COOKING, LIVING IN THE WILDERNESS, ETC.

WE LEARNED TO HAVE FUN PLAYING GAMES AND SHARING SPOOKY STORIES.

I CAN’T SAY ENOUGH, HOW WONDERFUL MISS DUHIGG, MISS BROWN AND MISS MAY WAS TO EVERYONE.

MY DAD WORKED UNDERGROUND IN THE MINE, WHEN HE AND MY MOM ARRIVED, IN HIGHLAND BOY, IN THE EARLY 1920’S.  THEY CAME FROM

Gigita, Erma, Carmelita  1929

NORTHERN ITALY, AND WERE SO GRATEFUL FOR LIVING

IN AMERICA

MY DAD BUILT THE HOUSE WE GREW UP IN, SEVERAL YEARS AFTER HIS ARRIVAL, HE WORKED UNERGROUND, IN THE UTAH METAL MINE, HIGHLAND BOY MINE AND APEX MINE.

AS THE UNDERGROUND MINES BEGAN TO CLOSE, AROUND THE EARLY 30’S, MEN WERE LAID OFF AND MY DAD WAS OUT OF WORK, UNTIL 1938. I REMEMBER THE DEPRESSION, VERY WELL, SO MANY FAMIILIES NEEDING HELP.  MY DAD GOT A JOB AS A WATCH MAN ON UTAH COPPER, LATER ON.

ONE CHRISTMAS, MY SISTERS AND I GOT A SLED, WE HAD TO SHARE, OF COURSE, WE  DROVE INTO MANY SNOWBANKS AND GOT CUTS AND BRUISES, BUT BOY, DID WE HAVE SO MUCH FUN. 

I WAS SO HAPPY WHEN I FINALLY STARTED SCHOOL, PLAYING WITH MY FRIENDS, AND READING, I LIKED TO READ, STILL DO.

WE HAD 2 GRADES PER CLASS ROOM, SO YOU CAN IMAGINE HOW SMALL

 THE AMOUNT OF CHILDREN IN EACH CLASS, COMPARED TO TO-DAY.

I REMEMBER GOING ON A FIELD DAY TRIP, TO THE FLOUR MILL IN WEST JORDAN, WHICH IS NOW GARDNER’S VILLAGE AND ALSO GOING TO THE SUGAR FACTORY, IN WEST JORDAN, IT TOOK FOREVER, ON THE SCHOOL BUS, TO GET TO WEST JORDAN, COMPARED TO NOW, MY FAVORITE TEACHER WAS MISS SAMPSON, IN THE FIFTH AND SIXTH GRADE.

Mom, Gigita

AS I ENTERED JR, HIGH SCHOOL, AT THE OLD BINGHAM HIGH SCHOOL,IN COPPERTON, WE HAD TO WALK SOMETIMES, IN THE WINTER, TO THE ELEMENTRY SCHOOL, TO CATCH THE BUS, BECAUSE OF THE HEAVY SNOW THAT FELL, SOMETIMES THE BUS DRIVER COULDN’T MAKE IT ANY FARTHER THAN APEX YARDS, SO WE WALKED HOME, ABOUT A MILE.

SOMEHOW THOSE MEMORIES, I THINK ABOUT, ARE THE FUN WE HAD WALKING HOME, SOMEONE WOULD START A SNOWBALL FIGHT, AND EVERYONE GOT INVOLVED.

IN 1932 THERE WAS A FIRE IN HIGHLAND BOY, AND MANY HOMES WERE DESTROYED, EVEN OUR GRADE SCHOOL, GROCERY STORE, PRINCESS THEATRE, CONFECTIONARY/DRUG STORE.

YES, CHESTLER’S OWNEDTHATTHEATRE TOO THE UPPER PART OF HIGHLAND BOY WHERE WE LIVED, DIDN’T CATCH ON FIRE, BUT DOWN IN THE AREA WHERE THE SCHOOL WAS, THAT WHOLE AREA BURNED, SO MANY PEOPLE WERE LEFT HOMELESS.  AGAIN, THIS IS WHERE THE HIGHLAND BOY COMMUNITY HOUSE, WITH THE HELP OF THE RED CROSS, HELPED PEOPLE MOVE INTO EMPTY HOUSES AND PROVIDED, THE NECESSARY SUPPLIES TO START OVER.  I REMEMBER LIKE IT WAS YESTERDAY, I WAS 7 YEARS OLD, HAD JUST GOTTEN HOME FROM SCHOOL, AND MY MOM HAD SENT ME TO THE STORE.  I GOT ALMOST TO THE STORE AND THE WHISTLE FROM THE HIGHLAND BOY MINE STARTED BLOWING (THIS IS HOW, WE WERE NOTIFIED, WHEN THERE WAS A FIRE, OR SOME OTHER DIASTER) THE WHISTLE, KEPT GOING OFF AND YOU COULD SEE ALL THE SMOKE.

THE HOMES AND BUSINESSES, THAT BURNED, WERE NOT RE-BUILT, BUT THE ELEMENTRY SCHOOL WAS.  THEY REMODELED THE TEACHERS DORMINTORY, INTO CLASSROOMS, UNTIL THE SCHOOL WAS REBUILT.  SCHOOL WENT ON AS USUAL. IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY, THE FIRE OCCURRED ON SEPTEMBER 8, 1932, MY MOTHER-IN-LAW’S BIRTHDAY, SHE OFTEN TALKED ABOUT IT.

WE HAD OTHER TRAGEDIES, MANY SNOWSLIDES, THAT TOOK LIVES.  LIVING NEAR THE UTAH METAL TUNNEL, I REMEMBER SEEING MEN BEING CARRIED OUT OF THE TUNNEL AFTER A TUNNEL CAVE IN.

LIVING IN HIGHLAND BOY AT THE 7000 FT. LEVEL, WE GOT A LOT OF SNOW, AND OF COURSE, THE SNOWPLOWS, CAME UP EVENTALLY, TO OPEN THE ROADS.

I MET MY HUSBAND, WHEN THEIR HOME BURNED DOWN IN THE 1932 FIRE AND THEY MOVED UP THE CANYON WERE WE LIVED. 

WHEN THERE WERE SIGNS OF WORLD WAR II, IN 1940, MANY YOUNG MEN ENLISTED IN THE SERVICE.  THE DAY THAT PEARL HARBOR WAS BOMBED, LIFE REALLY CHANGED IN

Erma   Nick

 SO MANY WAYS, I STILL REMEMBER THE FEELING OF NOT UNDERSTANDING WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO US.  ALL THE NEWS WE RECEIVED WAS ON THE RADIO, OR NEWSPAPERS, BUT EVERYONE DIDN’T HAVE EITHER. I REMEMBER THE RATION BOOKS, IMITATION MARGARINE, RATION OF COFFEE, SUGAR, TIRES, GASOLINE, EVEN SHOES,

TOWELS, BLANKETS, WE MADE DUE, WITH WHAT WE HAD.

THEY COLLECTED POTS, PANS, ANYTHING RUBBER, FOR THE WAR EFFORT.

MY PARENTS HAD TO REGISTER, BECAUSE THEY WERE ALIENS, AND HAD TO REPORT TO CITY HALL, OFTEN.  THE SCHOOLS THEN STARTED TO HOLD CITIZENSHIP CLASSES FOR THOSE THAT QUALIFIED, TO BECOME NATURALIZED CITIZENS.

MY HUSBAND AND I MARRIED IN 1943, IN SAN FRANCISCO, HE ENLISTED IN THE U.S. COAST GUARD---OCTOBER 1, 1942---HE WAS STATIONED IN SAN FRANCISCO---I LIVED THERE AND WORKED, FOR THE ARMY ENGINEERS, AS A TYPIST, UNTIL THEY SENT HIM TO RADIO SCHOOL, IN ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY.  HE WAS SENT ALL OVER, HE SERVED FOR 39 MONTHS.

Miss Duhigg and staff

I RETURNED HOME, WHEN HE WAS SENT TO RADIO SCHOOL AND WENT TO WORK ON UTAH COPPER, THEY THEN, WERE HIRING WOMEN, I WORKED AS A FLAG PERSON, THEN LATER ON A LOT OF US WOMEN, WERE SENT TO COPPERFIELD TO STACK TIE PLATES, AND CLEAN UP WORK.

WHEN THE WAR ENDED, AND MY HUSBAND CAME HOME, WE HAD A LOT OF ADJUSTING TO DO, MY PARENTS HAD BOTH DIED, SO WE MOVED INTO THEIR HOUSE.  NICK WAS REINSTATED ON UTAH COPPER, BUT NOT LONG AFTER, THEY HAD A STRIKE, SO HE WAS UNEMPLOYED AND THAT WAS THE BEGINNING OF TRYING TO UNIONIZE THE EMPLOYEES.

WE HAD TO PUT OUR NAME IN WITH BINGHAM MERC AND BINGHAM RADIO SHOP, TO BE ON THE WAITING LIST, FOR A WASHER AND REFRIGERATOR, SO IT TOOK ALMOST 15 MONTHS TO GET THEM, WHICH WAS A BLESSING, NOT TO USE THE WASH-BOARD ANYMORE.  WE ALSO PUT OUR NAME IN FOR A CAR, SO IN 1949 WE GOT A NEW CAR.

YOU COULDN’T BUY ANY APPLIANCES, AUTOMOBILES, ETC, BECAUSE ALL FACTORIES WERE MAKING TANKS, GUNS, ETC FOR THE WAR, BUT WE MADE DO WITH WHAT WE HAD.

Miss Duhigg

WE RAISED OUR FOUR CHILDREN IN HIGHLAND BOY, AND TOOK PART IN THE SCHOOL PTA, AS WELL AS HELPING OUT AT THE SCHOOL, WHEN NEEDED.   MY CHILDREN WENT TO THE HIGHLAND BOY COMMUNITY HOUSE, TO ALL THE ACTIVITIES THAT I HAD AS A CHILD GROWING UP, THE ONLY THING DIFFERENT, WAS THEY HAD A PRE-

SCHOOL, WHICH OUR CHILDREN WERE ALLOWED TO ATTEND AT AGE 3, UNTIL THEY TURNED 5, THEN THEY WENT TO THE HIGHLAND BOY ELEMENTREY SCHOOL, TO KINDERGARTEN.

THE MEMORIES OF GROWING UP IN HIGHLAND BOY AND RAISING OUR FAMILY THERE, ARE SO MANY, WE SURVIVIED THE 1932 FIRE, THE WAR, SNOWLIDES, MANY MINOR TRAGEDIES, BUT TO ME THAT WAS A MINING TOWN

MADE IN HEAVEN, BECAUSE THE FRIENDS WE MADE, LIVED ON AFTER WE

MOVED AWAY.

Community Center

IN 1955, WE WERE TOLD WE HAD A YEAR TO MOVE, BECAUSE THE MINE WOULD BE EXPANDING AND THEY WOULD BE TEARING DOWN ALL THE HOMES IN HIGHLAND BOY, SO AFTER LOOKING AT SO MANY HOMES, WE SETTLED IN SANDY.

WE MOVED TO SANDY, IN 1956, THE 7^TH FAMILY TO MOVE INTO A NEW SUBDIVISION, MANY RELATIVES MOVED HERE, AS WELL AS SOME

OF OUR FRIENDS, FROM HIGHLAND BOY.    

I WENT TO WORK, SOON AFTER MOVING INTO OUR NEW HOME, I WAS TRAINED ON A KEY-PUNCH MACHINE, ADVANCED TO COMPUTERS, I WORKED FOR 20 YEARS, UNTIL I RETIRED IN 1978.

WHEN MY HUSBAND RETIRED FROM KENNECOTT, AFTER 42 YEARS, WE GOT A MOTORHOME AND TRAVELLED ALL OVER THE UNITED STATES, CANADA AND MEXICO.

Highland Boy

I REALLY ENJOYED GOING TO WASHINGTON D.C. AND VISITNG SO MANY PLACES OF HISTORICAL INTEREST ABOUT OUR COUNTRY.

I FEEL VERY FORTUNATE TO HAVE LIVED A LONG LIFE, BEING IN GOOD HEALTH AND LIVING TO SEE MY CHILDREN MARRY, TO SEE THE BIRTH OF MY GRANDCHILDREN AND NOW MY GREAT GRANDCHILDREN.

IN REMINISCING, I THINK OF THE THINGS THAT HAVE OCCURRED IN MY TIME:

Erma   Nick

DEPRESSION—WORLD WAR II—KOREAN WAR—HUMAN SPACE TRAVEL—CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS—JFK ASSASSINATION—RACIAL SEGREGATION OUTLAWED WITH CIVIL RIGHTS ACT—SPACE WALK—VIETNAM WAR—WALKING ON THE MOON—RESIGNATION OF PRESIDENT NIXON—FIRST WOMAN ELECTED TO THE SUPREME COURT—PERSIAN GULF WAR—TERRORIST ATTACK ON NEW YORK, PENTAGON, PENNSYLAVINA—

WAR WITH AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ—THE ELECTION OF FIRST BLACK U.S. PRESIDENT.

THINGS THAT WERE INVENTED--TALKING PICTURES—IRON LUNG—SLICE BREAD—CAR RADIO—AIR BAGS—AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSIONS—PLASTIC EVERYTHING--ELECTRIC RAZOR—POLRAID CAMERA—PARKING METERS—FM RADIO—STEREO RECORDS—BALL POINT PENS—PENICILLIN—KIDNEY DIALYSIS—ATOMIC BOMB—TUPPERWARE—FROZEN FOODS—CAKE MIX—CREDIT CARDS—POLIO VACCINE—VIDEO RECORDER—TV—COLORED TV--MICROCHIP—HULA HOOP—TAPE CASSETTE—VCR—DVD—CD’S--COMPUTERS—INTERNET—ARTIFICAL HEART—VIDEO GAMES—DIGITAL CAMERA—CELL PHONES—WOMEN ON POLICE FORCE—WOMEN FIREFIGHTERS—WOMEN AS MAIL CARRIERS—WOMEN AS SCHOOL PRINCIPALS, AND ON AND ON.

I KNOW THERE IS HUNDREDS OF OTHER THINGS, BUT THESE ARE THE ONES, THAT COME TO MIND NOW.

AS BOB HOPE WOULD SAY, THANKS FOR THE WONDERFUL MEMORIES.