Iris JaKay

Community listener Iris JaKay submitted this Oregon coming-of-age story on our online form. Listen, as her words transport you from growing up on canned food, powdered milk, and government cheese, to becoming a teacher, and living all over the state. 

You can read more about the project, about Wordcrafters in Eugene, about our sponsors and community partners, and send in your own Lane County, Oregon stories at StoryHelix.Wordcrafters.Org.

Thanks for listening!

Transcript

Leah Velez: [00:00:00] You're listening to Story Helix: intertwining stories, past, present, and not yet imagined in Lane County, Oregon. What's up, earthlings? I'm Leah Velez, and I'll be your host. 

Today I'll be reading a story submitted by Iris JaKay, a listener. The story you're about to hear was submitted in writing on our online form, one of the many ways you too can submit your story to StoryHelix. 

Let's open up our ear nuggets and give it a listen. 
...

How did my family come to be in oregon?

Mom's family thought they were going to be working in the migrant fields of Bakersfield California, but instead they knew of a businessman who offered them the job of working on the golf course and keeping the grounds there. That was in 1935 and they came from Ravenden, arkansas.

That's family moved to Mitchell Oregon in 1943 to work in the sawmills.

Dad got out of the Navy in 1952 and went to see a cousin in bakersfield. There he met my mother and they married in 1954. They moved up to Salem Oregon for a job, but it was very short-lived.

Most of my early years was weekends at Grandma's in Lebanon Oregon because they had a 10 acre farm, with fruit trees, cows, pigs, eggs. Because Dad worked and Mama didn't, a lot of times it was just Mama kept bringing us up but frequently was both. At home, we were eating powdered milk, grains, and government cheese.  Mama made sure that we went to her husband's family for the weekend so that we could eat well. Mama help can food and with the chores of the farm when she was there because we would be eating what was canned.

I grew up with frequent moves. We went with that to wherever his work took him, at one time dad had worked on every Meijer and Frank department store in Oregon. In second grade I went to three elementary schools. And fourth grade life got better because Mama went back to work since my youngest brother went into kindergarten.

Because I grew up in oregon, I count this as my home. I have lived elsewhere in California Idaho and Wyoming. But, this is home.

After graduation, I found work as a teacher in several Oregon schools. I have lived in most of different places in Oregon except for the most eastern part of oregon. I love all the different areas I've lived two different places on the gorge up by Hood over on the coast down in Albany over in Redmond down south of it too. Oregon has a very special feel to it.

...
Thanks for listening. You can find us wherever you listen to your podcasts. If you've got your own Lane County story to tell, we'd love to hear it at storyhelix dot wordcrafters dot org.