Hugo Harvala Interview

Hugo Harvala Interview

Transcript at 0 seconds: (00:00)

JUSTIN KOSKI (JK): My name is Justin Koski, and I will be interviewing Mr. Hugo Harvala on today, February 17th, at his home in West Ishpeming. Okay, first I’m gonna start off by just giving--asking you questions about your stuff about your life and that, you know, and as a kid and that. So, when were you born is the first question.

HUGO HARVALA (HH): I was born March the 19th, 1914. I’m an old guy, you know.

JK: Uh-huh. And what were your parents’ names?

HH: My mother was Ida Harvala, and my dad was Steve Harvala.

JK: Steve Harvala. Okay. What did your parents do for a living when…?

HH: My dad was a miner.

JK: A miner, underground miner?

HH: Underground miner, yeah.

JK: And your ma?

HH: She didn’t work. She was a housekeeper.

JK: A housekeeper?

HH: Yeah.

JK: Okay. What are the names of your brothers and sisters?

HH: Well, I had two brothers. I got--there was three brothers. The oldest one Edmund died and then Richard and myself.

JK: Richard, okay.

HH: And then my sisters are Amy, Thelma. I forget now. Thelma and Selina, Edna, and Marta.

Transcript at 1 minute and 35 seconds: (1:35)

JK: Marta. Okay. When and where were you married?

HH: I married initially at the parsonage over there in Ishpeming, and we got married in 1942.

JK: 1942. Okay. And what is your wife's name and where was she born?

HH: My wife's name is Elsie. She was born in Ishpeming, but she lived most of her life in Republic.

JK: In Republic.

HH: I mean, her single life in Republic.

JK: Yeah. Okay. What are the names of your children?

HH: Susan is the youngest and Michael is my son about [inaudible word]. The only two children we have is Susan and Michael.

Transcript at 2 minutes and 36 seconds: (02:36)

JK: Susan and Michael. Okay. Where did you go to school? What school did you go to?

HH: I went to the West Ishpeming school here in West Ishpeming. In West Ishpeming for the first to eighth grade. Then, I went to high school in Ishpeming.

JK: Them schools have been around for a while then. Okay. What memories stand out most in your mind about growing up in this area?

HH: Well, that’s a…

JK: That’s a tough one, eh?

HH: That’s quite a vague question.

JK: Yeah.

HH: But my childhood, I would say we had a lot of a lot of togetherness when we were kids. And we’d have baseball teams and football teams and hockey teams and ski riding, when we were younger that is. Of course, we had our share of chores to do, too.

JK: Yeah, chores and…

HH: Uh-huh.

Transcript at 3 minutes and 33 seconds: (3:33)

JK: Okay. Do you have any humorous or interesting stories about the kinds of things that you and your friends did as kids? Stand out in your mind, like.

HH: There’s a lot of them, but just… I just can’t pinpoint…

JK: Yeah.

HH: …pinpoint any particular one. I mean, there’s--like I said, we’d—like, the first question you had about things we—well, like I said, we had our baseball teams and everything, had football teams, and we played--we used to play one location against the other. We’d play--our team would play the North Lake team, and then we’d play the Junction team, …

JK: Oh, yeah.

HH: …the Barnum team and…

JK: Just like all different leagues.

Transcript at 4 minutes and 32 seconds: (04:32)

JK: Okay. How old were you when you first found your first job and where did you work?

HH: When I graduated from high school in 1932, I cut out for about a year, and then… And then, my dad was hospitalized with silicosis so I took his place underground in the mine.

JK: Oh, yeah.

HH: So, I was… I was just 19 years old when I went underground to work in the mine, at the Horst [phonetic spelling; there is no local mine matching this] Mine, so.

JK: Was that a tough job to do? Underground mining. Like, what sorts of things did you…?

HH: Well, it was a--I was what they call cleaning track. You had to shovel. See, there’s underground railroad tracks underground, you know.

JK: Mm-hm. Yeah, there’s tracks that go on the little cars.

HH: Yeah, yeah, yeah. We had to--I had to keep them clean and shovel into--you know, just…just keeping them tracks clean so the motors would go through it, I mean.

JK: Yeah. Okay. What did you do after then…then after you were done underground mining?

HH: Oh, yeah. Well then, then after I quit--I quit in the mine in 1945, and I worked with the conservation department as a fire officer. And then--I was there for about five years, five, six years. And then, I went--I quit them And then, I worked, and then I went to working for the CCI [Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company] in their chemical laboratory for until I retired. I retired in 1976.

JK: So, you’re a chemical engineer, kind of.

HH: Analyst, that’s what they call it. Chemical analyst.

JK: Oh, yeah. Huh.

Transcript at 6 minutes and 53 seconds: (6:53)

JK: Okay then, we’ll go to the next question. Was it difficult finding your first job and jobs after that?

HH: Well, I didn’t… It wasn’t difficult for me because I was more or less...

JK: There were a lot of openings in that area.

HH: No, it was because my dad was…because my dad--this was during Depression. This was during the [19]30s.

JK: Oh, yeah, the Great Depression.

HH: The jobs were hard to come by then, and my dad being not being able to work anymore on account of his silicosis. So, the company, the Inland Steel Company, gave me the chance to take his place underground. That’s why I got to work there. Otherwise, God knows how--

JK: You might not have found a job, yeah?

HH: Yeah, that’s right, because it was during the Depression.

JK: Yeah, never--jobs were hard to come by. Mm-hm. After that was with the fire fighting and that?

HH: Yeah. Yeah. Like I said, we were--I was working with the conservation department as a firefighter and powerman and a fire warden. Then, I’d work with the game warden for every once in a while, …

JK: Mm-hm.

HH: …so.

Transcript at 8 minutes and 12 seconds: (08:12)

JK: Okay. Please describe the duties of your first job as--

HH: Shoveling. [laughs]

JK: Yeah, shoveling.

HH: That is my first job underground.

JK: Shoveling the ore into the little train wheels, eh?

HH: Yeah.

JK: Yep. And then, you said you were…you fight--fought fire. Did you have to go and…?

HH: Oh, yeah. Like, I’d be up—well, I’d be up working on a different fire tower. In them days, we had fire towers. Nowadays, they got airplanes and…

JK: Yeah.

HH: …to fight fires. But in them days, we had fire towers. They were—oh, they were anywhere from 80 to 110 feet high, and we would spot fires from there. And when we’d spot a fire, we’d have to call in, and then we’d have to go and fight that fire.

JK: Yeah.

HH: So.

Transcript at 9 minutes and 10 seconds: (09:10)

JK: Okay. In your lifetime, what places have you been employed? That’s just…

HH: I just said that. Well, I worked a little while at the flooring mill over here, too.

JK: Oh, yeah.

HH: That is when I was…I was working for--

JK: Robbins flooring mill?

HH: Yeah. When I was working at the--when I was working for the conservation department, I’d be laid off in the winter time because there was no fires, naturally, in the winter time. So I’d be laid off, so in order to make ends meet, I’d have to look for a job. So, I worked at the flooring mill for one winter.

JK: During the winter?

HH: Yeah. And I worked for [inaudible word] another winter.

JK: That’s where the gas station is now, right?

HH: Yeah. Yeah. No, that’s right. Yeah, that was where gas station was, yeah.

Transcript at 9 minutes and 56 seconds: (09:56)

JK: Okay. And what job did you enjoy the most out of your life and why?

HH: Well, being underground for seven years, I liked to get on surface. That’s why I left the mine. I wanted to get on surface away from the mine, so I worked for the conservation department. I liked that job because, you know, because I’m an outdoor person anyway, and I used to enjoy going out like that. But the job that I retired from as an analyst at the lab there, the Cliffs-Shaft lab, I enjoyed that too. It was something that I never had done before because I didn’t--I never had any experience. I didn't even have chemistry in high school, so--a little bit of--so I had to learn chemistry while I was working. I enjoyed that.

Transcript at 10 minutes and 59 seconds: (10:59)

JK: It was a new experience for you then. Okay. Well, we'll go into the questions about the Riverside Club now because you’re involved in that. And so, when was the Riverside Club first established? In what year?

HH: 1945.

JK: 1945?

HH: Yep.

JK: Who were the original charter members for the club?

HH: Well, I didn't mention--one winter, when I was working, when I was laid off at the conservation department, …

JK: Okay.

HH: …I worked for Douglas Bartanen in the body shop. Well, Douglas Bartanen, myself, and Timer (??) Korpi, we started that club. Three of us started that club. We’re the original members.

Transcript at 11 minutes and 50 seconds: (11:50)

JK: Mm-hm. Okay. So, there were three of you guys that started it, and why was the River Club--Riverside Club built?

HH: Well, it was built simply because during that time, during [19]45 and [19]44, [19]45, most of the people were--people my age were--they were in the Army. And Dougie Bartanen and one of…one of the owners—well, in fact, he owned that garage, and he…he moved next door to me, and he was the--he had just come from the Copper Country, and he was a stranger around here. He didn’t have any friends around here. I mean, well, he wanted to make friends, but he didn’t have any around here that he would…

JK: Oh, I see.

HH: So, he… He’s the one that originally asked the three of us. The three of us got together, and we started that club.

JK: Mm-hm. So, it’s basically a place…a place where you just meet new people and…

HH: Yeah. Yeah.

JK: …and hang around and that, huh?

HH: Because he wanted to--him owning a business in Ishpeming, he wanted to have friends and stuff, you know.

JK: Yeah.

HH: Go out.

Transcript at 13 minutes and 6 seconds: (13:06)

JK: Mm-hm. I see. Okay. Well, that question’s pretty much answered. You and what were the other two guys that started it?

HH: Myself and Timer (??), Timer Korpi.

JK: Timer Korpi.

HH: That’s his nickname. [laughs; coughs]

JK: And who was the other third guy?

HH: Myself. Myself and Dougie Bartanen.

JK: You—oh, okay. Dougie Bartanen and Timer Korpi. Okay. Where was the first club located and what kinds of social activities went on there?

HH: The club, the first one, was located right adjacent to the club we have now.

JK: Mm-hm.

HH: And it was an old--it was an old barn, more or less. It was an old tar-paper two-story…two-story building, kind of rickety and shaky.

Transcript at 14 minutes and 10 seconds: (14:10)

JK: And like what kind of stuff did you do there? Did you have furniture and just… [inaudible crosstalk]

HH: Oh, yeah. We had… We had a pool table in there. We… We… Yeah, we bought a pool table from--oh, a guy from downtown. What's his name? The guy that's—it's an old tavern.

JK: Okay.

HH: And we bought a pool table from him for 15 dollars, so we brought it to the club. And like I said, we used to play cards out there and play pool, and we had dances out there and suppers and stuff.

JK: Did you still have your cribbage league, and did you throw horseshoes in that?

HH: No, no. We didn't have it then, no.

JK: No, not yet.

HH: They weren't even started then.

JK: Oh. How many members were there at that time? Like…

HH: Oh, I'd say we had a—We've maintained a pretty stable membership. We had—well, our membership now is about 60.

JK: 60.

HH: But in them days, we must have been about 30, you know, about 25, 30 members.

JK: Yeah. That's still pretty many, though.

HH: Yeah. We had good cooperation.

Transcript at 15 minutes and 22 seconds: (15:22)

JK: Mm-hm. Okay, what memories stand out most in your mind from those very early days of the club? Another vague question.

HH: Well, what I remember most--and I hold that dearly--is the fact that when we got our club in--on a paying basis— I wouldn't say paying basis, but where all our bills were paid and we picked up--saved up enough money, we went on a—22 of us went on a— with five cars, we went to Milwaukee to a baseball—Big League baseball game. And we had a—we stayed there. Well, we left Friday evening. We left Friday, and we come back Sunday night. So, we watched the Milwaukee--they weren't…they weren’t the Brewers then. They were Milwaukee Braves.

JK: Yeah, Milwaukee Braves.

HH: Yeah, them Braves. And they played St. Louis. So, that's the only Big League game that I ever saw, but I enjoyed it. We had a lot of fun there.

JK: It's a lot of fun watching them games. Okay. What was the most challenging part about establishing the club in the early days, 1945?

HH: That runs (??) out (??). We had a… We had a lot of good people, a lot of dedicated people that helped. They worked their day shifts in the mines, their night shifts in the mines, and while they were working, they'd come over to the club and work on the club.

JK: Yeah.

HH: I mean, we had a lot of good cooperation. [coughs]

Transcript at 17 minutes and 8 seconds: (17:08)

JK: Mm-hm. That helps. Okay. Then, how did you go about making up the rules and regulations and stuff for the club?

HH: Well, we had—we formed a committee. We had a six--or was it five- or six-man committee?--and we’d meet…we'd meet together. And then each one—and we done this for about…about two weeks, two weeks in a row. And we'd meet everyone about three, four times in two weeks. And then, we'd have—well, each member would—or each member of the committee would have a new rule or something that he thought of during that…

JK: Mm-hm.

HH: …during that interim time.

JK: Yeah.

HH: So, we eventually set up a bunch of rules there, and the rules are even today there. We've still got the same rules. And like, I would say that the rule that really adhered to was dues, and we figured that the dues is a good—the dues is important in any formation of a club.

JK: Yeah.

HH: Once you get there, once you— if you don't pay your dues, well, then your club isn't going to last.

JK: Uh-huh.

HH: But we do know that dues alone ain't going to support a club.

JK: Yeah. You've got to have more than just—

HH: Uh-huh.

Transcript at 18 minutes and 50 seconds: (18:50)

JK: Okay. Because that's another question. How was the—how did the—how has the club lasted over the years?

HH: Yeah, I mean, that's how it—that's why it lasted, simply because—

JK: A lot of cooperation.

HH: Yeah, that's right. Cooperation from the membership and—and you might call it respect, too, because the club— the club has been in… [coughs] in existence for pretty close to 50 years now.

JK: Yeah.

HH: And if you didn't have that respect and cooperation, well, they'd never last that long.

JK: Yeah. Okay. What do you feel are some of the club's most important rules and regulations?

HH: Dues is the main one.

JK: Dues.

HH: Yeah. We got to have that. And then, we got—naturally, we got, well, behavioral…behavioral rules, and we got closing time rules, you know.

JK: Yeah.

HH: So.

JK: And special rules for women and that you--

HH: Well, you see, the women's club, they're on their own. I mean, they don't…they don't…they don’t have nothing to do with the women's club. We let the women have the club two nights a week—two nights a month. So, they set their own rules, you know.

Transcript at 20 minutes and 14 seconds: (20:14)

JK: Oh, okay. Okay. Why was the club moved from its original building to where it is now?

HH: Well, simply because, like I told you before, the initial club was just a shack. It was cold, and it was rickety. And I remember one time when we had a dance up—see, we had our dance floor up on the…on the upstairs.

JK: Second level.

HH: Second level, yeah. And I remember once us having a dance, well, and we had the pool table in the middle, and we'd be dancing around that little area around the pool table. And I could feel that the floor was on the whip.

JK: Yeah.

HH: So.

JK: It could go out at any time.

HH: Yeah, so me and another lad, we went down in the base—down in the garage part underneath that dance floor, and we started propping it up. So, we were afraid that floor was gonna bust. If it would have, there would have been—

JK: A couple of accidents.

HH: Oh, I guess so. So, like I said, we…we got that too.

JK: Just to improve the standards.

HH: Yeah. Yeah. Well, then eventually, then we picked up enough. Well, the old club—see, we paid, I forget, 50 dollars for that old club, more or less, at the rent point. So then after everything was paid for, well, then we started on a new club. So in order…in order to start the new club, well, we had to buy the…we had to buy the land, and then we had to get—we all dug the basement by hand.

JK: Oh, yeah.

HH: I remember that.

JK: Was that a big job?

HH: Oh, I guess it was. And we hauled the gravel, and then we hired…we hired a contractor to put up a cement block, and then we done the rest.

JK: Did you take time off of all the guys' jobs to—

HH: No, no. This was all spare, spare time.

JK: Spare time.

HH: Yeah.

JK: A lot of dedication, eh?

HH: You bet.

Transcript at 22 minutes and 18 seconds: (22:18)

JK: Yeah. Okay. How did you raise the money to build the club and buy the property then?

HH: Well, we had we had parties there, and we had dances and we charged admission. And then, the women, the women, they got involved into a ladies' club with us, and they were helpful to us, you know, raising money, so. Well, when we built the club, see, I was manager at the time. In fact, I was--I've been the manager there the most, the longest. And…and we—in order to start this new club, we had a—me and another guy, two other guys, we went down to the--to Negaunee to the—what's that? Lumberyard out there, I forget. We asked them if they would float a loan, give us a loan, so we could buy material on credit.

JK: Yeah.

HH: So, they gave us credit for up to a certain amount, and then we'd nail that on and use that up. Well then after that was gone, we'd—

JK: Have to pay.

HH: Yeah, have to pay them and then go get some more.

JK: Yeah.

HH: So. They were independent. Independent Lumberyard, that's what he was. Neeley [phonetic spelling] was the owner.

Transcript at 24 minutes and 3 seconds: (24:03)

JK: Okay. Could you explain how the new club was built? You already answered that question. And what memories stand out most in your mind about the construction process?

HH: Well, George Johnson, he was a contractor by trade, and we were fortunate to have him as a member. He was a—like I said, he was a good leader as far as carpentry was concerned. He knew everything about carpentry.

JK: Yeah.

HH: And then, like the rest of the guys, like myself and the rest of them, we’d none of us ever knew too much about carpentry and stuff like that, but he would direct us.

JK: He would just do all the work, hey?

HH: Yeah. He’d… He’d… He knew how to phase out work. He'd put you here, and he'd put somebody else up on the roof, and--you know what I mean? He was a…

JK: He was kind of, yeah.

HH: He was a cooperative leader.

JK: He just told you where to go and what to do.

HH: Yeah. He was… He was good that way. And of course, we had our arguments too. Somebody would get mad and say, “Well, I'm going home. I'm gonna quit.” Stuff like that. But they always come back.

JK: Yeah, you always get stuff like that going. Okay. What memories stand out most in your mind about—well, you just answered that one. So, could you describe all the ways that women have been involved in the club over the years?

HH: Yeah, the women…the women, they were a big help to our club. They--in fact, we built--when we built the club there, we made a--had a kitchen down in the basement, and the women, they supplied that kitchen with an electric stove and refrigerators and dishes and a sink, the whole kitchen. They were a big help.

Transcript at 26 minutes and 28 seconds: (26:28)

JK: Big help. [coughs] Okay. What kinds of things do the members do while they are at the club? Basically pool. Do you have a TV there?

HH: [coughs] Yeah, we got…we got a TV. We got two pool tables. We got a big…we got a big eight-foot table. Nine, whatever. Eight, nine, eight or nine feet.

JK: Eight foot.

HH: The bigger one.

JK: Them are nine. Yeah, them are nine feet.

HH: Yeah. We got the big one…

JK: Uh-huh.

HH: …down in the basement, then we got a smaller one upstairs on the first floor. And we play cards. We got a cribbage league, and we got a pool league. I mean, we belong to a pool league, and we belong to a cribbage league. So...

JK: Do you have, like, competitions in there, or do you just play for fun and get together?

HH: No, we... Well, during the league, it's competition, but then... And then when the club members play by themselves, …

JK: Yeah.

HH: …generally they play for a treat.

JK: Yeah, just for something.

HH: And then, we got dartboards in there, of course, and... [pause] But, like I say, we got enough.

Transcript at 27 minutes and 44 seconds: (27:44)

JK: Yeah. A lot of stuff to do then. Okay. Let's see, where were we? Okay. Could you... Or how many officers are there, and what are their duties?

HH: Well, we got a... We got what we call a manager. We don't have a president, but the manager is the president. He presides at the meetings and stuff like that. And we got a treasurer and an inventory man. We take inventory once a week so we always know what our finances are. We... We count… We count the inventory, remember? We got two of them, and they count all our material there. And then, the treasurer's got how much money was taken in and how much money was spent so we got a running account of what's happening throughout the week.

Transcript at 28 minutes and 47 seconds: (28:47)

JK: Okay. How often were the meetings held that they decided? Stuff like that.

HH: We always--once a month, we hold our meetings the second…second Mon—second Tuesday of every month.

JK: Mm-hm.

HH: So. Yeah, like I said, we have meetings once a month. And that's another thing I think is really necessary of a club is to have meetings regularly. And that way the membership knows what's going on, and those members that don't come to that meeting will have no reason to bitch or complain about the operation of the club.

JK: Mm-hm. Yeah. Okay. Have you ever been an officer of any kind or…?

HH: Yes, I've been an officer more times than I want to remember. [JK laughs] I've been... I was a... I was an officer when it started. I was a... the…

JK: Manager.

HH: Manager. And I've been manager. No, I haven't now for the last ten years. I haven't even been an officer, but…

Transcript at 30 minutes and 5 seconds: (30:05)

JK: Okay. What memories stand out in your mind about being a manager and stuff like that? Being an officer, basically.

HH: Well, I know... [laughs] I remember one time, I was an officer at the club there. I was the manager. And this was... This was during Christmas.

JK: Mm-hm.

HH: No, I... It was one... Yeah, I remember. Yeah, I think it was Christmas, right? And I was just eating dinner at home, and I was laying down there, and somebody come and knocked on the door, and he said, “Hey, Gob. (??)” He said, “There's trouble at the club.” So, I got up. I went over to the club. I went up to the club, and there I... I went downstairs there and--I'm not gonna mention his name, but he... I don't know. He must have been a little shined up or something, and he said that—"Gob Harvala,” he said, “who do you think you are?” And he hit me in the face. He damn near knocked me out, you know.

JK: Uh-huh.

HH: And I shook myself and I grabbed a hold of him, and I... I hit him too. But anyway, what happened there, I... I got a layoff. I got a suspension from the club for 30 days. Being manager, and I was expelled from the club for 30 days. I still had to... I still had to do the manager job.

JK: But you just couldn't go down to the club or anything?

HH: No. The only time I would go down there was when I had to buy material or pay some bills or whatever, you know.

Transcript at 32 minutes and 0 seconds: (32:00)

JK: Mm-hm. Well, that's interesting. Okay. Do you have any... Do any of your family members belong to the club?

HH: My son does, yeah.

JK: Your son does? Your son--what did you say his name was?

HH: Mike.

JK: Mike. Yeah, Mike. Okay. Over the years, what kinds of friendly competitions have you held with other local members? Like horseshoes or anything like that?

HH: Yeah, we always have an inter-club competition with the Brownstone Club and Junction Club and National Mine Club and... There are different clubs that we... We play crib--and mostly cards.

JK: Mostly cards.

HH: Inter-club competition.

Transcript at 32 minutes and 53 seconds: (32:53)

JK: Okay. In general, over the years, could you describe some of the most interesting or humorous events that have taken place at the clubs?

HH: I don't know. There's been a lot of them, but I wouldn't dare tell.

JK: A lot of them, yeah.

HH: I wouldn't dare tell that. It wouldn't be...

JK: Fair to [inaudible word], yeah. Yeah. Yep.

Transcript at 33 minutes and 18 seconds: (33:18)

JK: Okay, then. Could you describe what your co-members are like?

HH: Well, like in any organization, you've got good ones, and you've got bad ones. I wouldn't say bad ones, but...

JK: They don't participate as much as the other ones.

HH: Yeah. Yeah. And like over the years that I've noticed, if you want something, if you want something done to the club or some kind of a work deal or something like that, you can always bet that there's gonna be the same guys.

JK: Same guys, yep.

HH: I'd say about--like in our club now, I would say there's about 15, 15, 20 guys that you could nearly bet that they're gonna be there.

JK: Yeah, you could count on them.

HH: Yeah.

JK: They’re the kind of guys you like.

HH: Yeah. And then there’s…then there's some guys out there you just, I wouldn't say detest, but you don't want to do nothing with them, you know.

JK: They don't want to participate as much as the other ones, eh? Okay. How has the club's activities and events changed over the years?

HH: They've changed.

JK: You've developed a cribbage league and that.

HH: Yeah, and before… Before... Well, the younger generation has been changing since when I was young. They don't do what I done when I was young. What I mean is that their mode of…their mode of fun or their mode of... It's different than I was. I always thought that—like, when I was their age, well, I'd go--we'd go out to woods and stuff like that, and we'd play ball and stuff.

JK: And build forts and stuff.

HH: Yeah. And it isn't anything like that anymore.

Transcript at 35 minutes and 11 seconds: (35:11)

JK: Yeah. Okay. Has the club faced any difficult problems or letdowns during the year or history of it?

HH: Yeah, one time... Well, nothing difficult, but I mean, you know ... There's been some times that you're kind of anxious. Like, a lot of times when you go by here and then you see a state police car go by, and we're out to search the department. You wonder why are they going around here, you know? It’s…

JK: Yeah.

HH: There's nothing that… There’s nothing that we've ever done that warranted a cop to come into a club, but that's never happened, so...

JK: Yeah.

HH: So, like I said, but nevertheless you wonder.

Transcript at 36 minutes and 6 seconds: (36:06)

JK: Okay. Why is the club important to you? It’s just you grew up with it and stuff.

HH: Yeah. Well, yeah, the club is... The reason it's important to me--and I don't want to see that club fail--is simply because I was...I was right at--or me and these three people were the ones that started the club.

JK: Yeah.

HH: And so, to me, it's more important than to anybody. I’m the only…I'm the only living member now that…that started this club. The other two people, they’re…they’re… They died. So...

JK: So, it's important to you?

HH: It's important to me that the club grows as it does.

Transcript at 36 minutes and 52 seconds: (36:52)

JK: Okay. And I think we've already answered that question about why the club survived because of earlier in the interview. And what direction would you like to see the club take in the future?

HH: Well, I would like to see it continue the way it has been. Because the way we got it now, we've got good members in our club, and the way it's going is it's going in the… [coughs] in the right direction. It’s… It’s… In fact, there's always... See, we hold a monthly meeting, and every month there's always somebody that wants to join the club.

JK: Yeah.

HH: And in order to join the club, you've got to be 21 years old, and... Yeah, you got to be 21 years old, and you pay 20 dollars to join.

JK: Yeah.

HH: And then from then on, you've got to keep paying your dues, you know. You know, it is--like I said, it's a good club.

Transcript at 38 minutes and 2 seconds: (38:02)

JK: Okay. And if you had to do it all over again, would you choose the same careers and jobs you did?

HH: I think I—well, I wouldn’t do--I wouldn't go underground.

JK: No?

HH: Of course, there's no such thing as underground mining now anyway, but.

JK: Yeah.

HH: But I would...I would… I wouldn't change. I would like to have stayed with the conservation department longer, but the money wasn't there.

JK: Yeah, because no winters.

HH: Yeah, and we were laid off in the wintertime.

JK: Yeah.

HH: So, I... Like, when I was working for the conservation department, all I was getting was 75 dollars a month. And raising a family on 75 dollars a month, that's…that was that was hard to do.

Transcript at 39 minutes and 2 seconds: (39:02)

JK: Okay. In closing, is there anything else you would like to add about yourself or the club, of anything?

HH: I don't know. I don’t have any regrets. I know that. That's why the club is good.

JK: Yeah, that's good.

HH: Yeah, it's... Like I said, it's... I never dreamt... I'll never forget when I was--when we first started this club. There was a guy that didn't belong to the club at the time, but he eventually did. But he told me, he said that this club is never gonna last. And in fact, when we were building the old club there, well, I had to go and get some fuel oil because we had a fuel oil stove in there. And I had to go get some fuel oil, so I got it from Lucia Vivian [phonetic spelling]. And Lucia told me that--like, I wanted 100 gallons of fuel oil. He said, “Who's going to pay for that?” I said, “The club will pay for it.” And he said, “That club will never,” but… [coughs] He said, “That club will never...it'll never last.” He said, “We tried. We had a club like that in Barnum, and it only lasted for about a year, and it busted. Your club is going to bust, too.” So. But anyway, he gave us the oil, and our club never busted. It's still going.

JK: Fifty years almost now.

HH: Yeah, fifty years.

JK: Okay. Is that it then?

HH: Yeah.

JK: Okay. Then, I'd like to say thank you for your time.

HH: That’s quite alright. I enjoyed myself.

JK: Yeah. I appreciate your answering my questions and stuff like that.

HH: Yeah, it was great. I’m really… I'm glad I could help.

JK: Okay, me too. It was my pleasure.

HH: Yeah.

JK: I'm gonna stop the recorder.