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HomeMy Public PortalAboutJarvis, LarryLo h Udticy Ad v6c ate_ .Dee.. l5, t'Y Sl3 Pc) t` t a t° jarvises proud of Finnish ancestry, long-time Ray Stout Staff Writer (Editor's note: The follow- ing story was written just prior to Larry Jarvis' untimely death Nov. 11 at the age of 82. The story is a true testimony to the life of one of Long Valley's pio- neers, and his death only gives more impetus for the Perspectives series that appears periodically in The Long Valley Advocate. We think it's impor- tant to record the reflections, remembrances and opinions of those who've walked this valley long before most of us who live here now. Here is the latest in that series.) Somewhere amid their 151 acres (:,f pasture land north of Lake Fork, Larry and Thelma Jarvis' white bodge Caravan sits p,rked just across tl_:e gravel lane from tyke red iron pitcher- piimp behind the big white house. 0.t the black f,aming around the license plate nun- bered "191 l" — the year he was born in Rock Springs, Wyo. — and featuring the bluebird perched on the blooming syringa are the words "Finnish American" After arriving. here when he was six, his was one of the Finnish families which the harsh win- ters didn't send flee- ing to the west side_ of Oregon's Blue Mountains. Despite their having to build a new house on the site in `29 and a new barn in `30, Raino Lawrence Jarvis has known no other home. "Been in the same place ever since," he says, barely intelligible but with no trace of Baltic accent. "I've seen a lot of changes. A lot of changes." His father had come to the United States in 1884, following parry's grandfather by eight years. He supported himself and wife by working in the Coca -cola bottling residency works in southern Colorado and in the Wyoming coal mines, soon fathering the three boys and a daughter. He died when Larry was 12, leaving the family to operate the 160-acre parcel of land. Larry was the only kid who stayed on the farm. Bill, the old- est, became an attorney and rep- resented the irrigation district when Cascade Dam was put in. Axel put in about 40 years with the Forest Service and Government Services Administration. Tekla, the only daughter, taught grade school in the local area. "I'm the only one left, the youngest and the orneriest," he says, chuckling. They raised cattle until 1924, when the new irrigation system encouraged them to switch to alsike, potatoes, peas or grain. which was downtown where K & L Jewelry and Gifts is now. For 20 years, she was superintendent of the hot -lunch program for the schools before retiring in 1978. Though he's one of the longest - lived Finns remaining, Larry's family wasn't one of the earliest to settle in the valley. Most of the Finnish families who homestead- ed here did so in 1904, he said. One of their accomplishments is the Finnish Church out on Fann- To-Market Road two miles south- east of Lake Fork, built in 1917. When Larry and Vern Heikkila had the siding replaced in the `70s, Gus Maki, the president of the Finnish organization of patrons, "heard a lot of guff about it" for the financial commitments they made, said Larry. family When the last of the harvest- ing died out after World War II, however, they, like most farmers, went back to cattle. They credit people such as J. B. Whig _ey, Carl Bevers and Nealy McBride, all of them private cit- izens, with getting the irrigation system put in place. "After it was all organized, everybody wanted to join," said Thelma, 77. In `44, he married Thelma. She had grown up in Emmett, where her family had moved from McCall before she retumed two years before her marriage. She went to work for C. C. Anderson's Mercantile, The Jarvis Old or new, however, the church has long been invigorated by the women. "The Finnish ladies kept it a-goin'," said Thelma, by turn- ing out sock after sock, pillow- cases, embroidery and more. In fact, she said, a recent sale brought in over $1,000, which will be used to pay their electricity bills and taxes. "Some of the older ladies still make sweaters and things, but that's kind of dying out" because many of their children don't have as great an interest, she said. Also to the Finns' credit is the community hall they built in 1930. "Used to have quite a bit of music there. Danced three times a week," said Larry. The building burned in the late `40s. 'To have our wedding dance, we had to go to McCall," said Thelma. "No, it hadn't burnt yet," Larry corrected her. "Why did we go to McCall, then?" "The clubs there put it up. They sponsored it." But not all the clubs' activities were so virtuous. "There were 14 or 15 clubs in McCall during the Depression," said Thelma. "Gambling was wide open." "There were quite a few boot- leggers" before the repeal of Prohibition, said Lary. "The sher- iff was after them. He'd catch a few of them. Some got shot. In Donnelly, one guy got shot while they were trying to raid his still." Speak-easies? "Boise had them — quite a few of them," he said. But no secrets in McCall, where alcohol sale was "wide open." Once alcohol started becoming available in the barrooms, how- ever, bootlegging died down as everyone would head for the bars in Donnelly or McCall. There were dances to boot, in Donnelly and in the big dance hall at Roseberry. A frequent performer at those dances was Sansoo Strutters, a band headed by a Boise woman, they said. Larry remembers when his clos- est neighbor was a half mile awav and when the house first got its electric power. The first electric company, West Coast, was bought out by Idaho Power, which recent- ly gave him a $20 credit on his electric account for being the longest -living customer on their books. "They looked back, and they couldn't find anyone who'd been here longer than Larry," said Thelma. It was indeed a long time ago when the coal they burned in their basement furnace sold in Donnelly for $9.50 per ton. "It was so dirty," said Thelma. "This gas heat now — nice and clean," said Larry. . 06g• ✓a lie y Ad v0 c.+Te ,. c. i 5-i 993 Star News - December 15, 1993 Od P4 e & of Though the people in town knew Finland, so why teach `em?"'he The Jarvises said the valley has a Finn when they saw one,Larry said. undergone too much subdividing. said, his father both spoke and Whether they speak Finn or While many farmers have sold out wrote English fluently.Likewise, not,however,Thelma is thankful to developers,the Jarvis farm has Larry is well-respected as a speak- her daughters are alive and healthy. given up only nine acres,on the er of Finnish,said Thelma. "When I hear someone complain east side of the highway.Nowadays, "Someone who talks Finn he about the hospital or the doctors, Larry and Thelma only use their really likes to get together with," I tell them, `Listen, you should land to rent cattle pasture in the she said."They really like to talk have lived here when we didn't summer. with Larry because he can answer have no hospital —didn't have It was 1925 when Larry's fain- in Finn. no doctors—and we had to go ily got their first car.That was also "There's not many around all the way to Council." when he first went to Boise,where though who can still talk in Finn." Such was the case one night in he had never been in the horse- They said it's sad the language `46,when their second daughter and-buggy. is going out."It even is forme," Sharon was born in the car at 2 The county road running by said Thelma. a.m.on a snowy February morn- their farm became a highway in ing. She is also thankful for Sue 1929,he said.It was paved in about She said that while Larry's Kerr,who acted as midwife. `32. mother spoke only"really broken" "The county had good equip- English,most Finns didn't speak Next spring,Larry and Thelma ment and good men," he said. any.Listening to her husband and would have recognized their gold- Before there were so many peo- mother-in-law,she soon came to en anniversary,50 years together ple,said Thelma,the county would understand and speak a little bit in the same house in the same val- plow the driveways of residences 4 of Finnish,but her ability passed ley. "That's a long time with the their snowplows passed while clear- on with her mother-in-law, she same woman,"he said,chuckling ing the highway. said. at his wife. They tried to get his mother to teach the language to their four - "That's a long time with the daughters, said Larry. "But she same man,"said Thelma,leaning said, `They'll never go back to toward him with a laugh.