Corralitos

California

History

WE HAD SOME MARVELOUS TIMES IN CORRALITOS AND THE MEMORIES WILL ALWAYS BE THERE, HAPPY AND SAD ONES ALIKE. THERE IS A LOT I REMEMBER ABOUT MY GROWING UP YEARS AND A LOT OF PHOTOS TO HELP WITH THE MEMORIES:

WHEN I WAS BORN IN 1925, MY PARENTS, CLINT AND BERTHA MANCHESTER, LIVED ON BROWN'S VALLEY ROAD (133). OUR FIRST AND SECOND HOUSES ARE STILL THERE TODAY. ONE OF MY EARLIEST MEMORIES IS ABOUT REFUSING TO GO TO THE DAY CARE CENTER AT THE APPLE DRYER IN WATSONVILLE WHERE MOM WORKED. I SAID, "I WILL RUN AWAY IF YOU TAKE ME BACK THERE!” SO, I WENT WITH DAD. WHILE HE PICKED APPLES, I PLAYED AND NAPPED UNDER THE TREES. I WAS HAPPY BEING WITH MY DAD. ONE DAY WHILE HE WAS PLOWING WITH HIS LITTLE HAND PLOW, HE WAS ATTACKED BY A SWARM OF BEES. I WAS YELLING AT THEM TO LEAVE MY DADDY ALONE. TRYING TO FIGHT THEM OFF, HE DROPPED THE PLOW, PICKED ME UP, AND TOOK OFF FOR THE HOUSE.

I HAD A DARLING BABY BUGGY TO GO WITH ALL OF MY DOLLS. INSTEAD OF THE DOLLS, THOUGH, I DRESSED UP MY CAT, WHITEY, AND PUT HIM IN THE BUGGY. WE WOULD STROLL AROUND, THEN WHEN HE WAS TIRED HE HAD A WAY OF LETTING ME KNOW. I WOULD TAKE THE DOLL CLOTHES OFF OF HIM AND HE WOULD TAKE OFF FOR A WHILE. WHEN HE WAS READY, HE WOULD COME BACK FOR A REPEAT. MOM GOT SO UPSET WITH ME BECAUSE I DIDN'T PLAY WITH THE DOLLS. MY DOG, LIGHTNING, WAS MY GUARDIAN ANGEL. HE WOULDN'T LET ANY ONE NEAR ME IF HE DIDN'T KNOW THEM. I WOULD BE WANDERING OR BE IN BACK OF THE BIG ROYAL ANNE CHERRY TREE NEXT TO BROWN'S VALLEY ROAD AND MOM WOULD CALL, "WHERE IS SHE LIGHTNING?” HE WOULD WALK AROUND THE TREE TO ME, OR TO WHEREVER I WAS SO SHE WOULD KNOW ALL WAS OK.

WHEN I WAS EIGHT OR NINE YEARS OLD, DAD AND I WOULD PICK OUR PEACHES AND OUR OTHER FRUIT IN SEASON. WE WOULD TAKE THEM TO TOWN AND I WOULD TAKE THEM INTO THE STORES TO SELL. THEY JUST COULDN'T SAY NO TO A KID. DAD TAUGHT ME HOW TO MILK OUR COW. HE ALWAYS MADE ME FEEL AS IF I COULD DO ANYTHING. HE ALSO TAUGHT ME TO WORK HOMING PIGEONS. WE HAD SUCH A GOOD TIME DOING THINGS TOGETHER.

DAD DECIDED TO MAKE THE BROODER HOUSE THAT WAS BEHIND OUR HOUSE INTO A LARGER HOME FOR US. AT THAT TIME, THE ONLY ACCESS TO THE SECOND FLOOR WAS BY LADDER FROM THE OUTSIDE. DAD MADE DOORWAYS ON THE 1ST FLOOR, THEN BUILT STAIRS TO THE 2ND. LEVEL, DUG A CELLAR, AND MADE STEPS DOWN TO IT. HE REMODELED THE ENTIRE INSIDE. HE BUILT BOXES ALONG THE BACK SIDE OF THE HOUSE AND MOM WOULD PLANT HER BEGONIAS EVERY SPRING HER FLOWERS WERE SO BEAUTIFUL. SHE REALLY HAD A GREEN THUMB. THERE WAS A DRIVEWAY FROM BROWN'S VALLEY ROAD THAT RAN ALONG SIDE OUR FRONT HOUSE WITH THE MOST BEAUTIFUL EVERGREEN TREE BY IT. WE SPENT MANY WONDERFUL YEARS THERE. WE ALWAYS HAD TO EAT AT THE DINING ROOM TABLE EXCEPT ON FRIDAY NIGHTS WHEN WE WERE ALLOWED TO SIT IN FRONT OF THE RADIO TO LISTEN TO "LITTLE THEATER OFF TIMES SQUARE" WITH DON AMECHE. THAT WAS REALLY SPECIAL.

ALONG THIS SAME TIME, THE BRODIN FAMILY MOVED INTO OUR FRONT HOUSE. THEIR DAUGHTER, RUTHIE, AND I BECAME GOOD FRIENDS, AND WE WOULD ALWAYS THINK OF FUN THINGS TO DO. ONE OF OUR FAVORITES WAS TO TAKE A PURSE AND ATTACH A LONG CORD TO IT, PUT IT OUT IN THE ROAD, AND THEN CLIMB UP INTO THE BIG ROYAL ANNE CHERRY TREE TO HIDE. WHEN SOME ONE WOULD STOP TO PICK UP THE PURSE, WE WOULD PULL IT BACK INTO THE TREE. WE DID A LOT OF ROLLER SKATING AT THE WATER WORKS AND BICYCLE RIDING WAS FUN, TOO, BUT GETTING OFF THE ROAD WHEN A CAR WAS COMING WAS A MUST. IF WE DIDN'T DO THIS AND OUR PARENTS FOUND OUT, WE WERE IN BIG TROUBLE. ANOTHER FUN THING I DID, FOR ME AT LEAST, WAS TO CATCH A BUNCH OF BEES IN A JAR, SHAKE THEM UP, AND LET THEM GO AROUND THE KIDS I WAS PLAYING WITH AT THE TIME. ("SO BAD!") I NEVER WAS STUNG AND THE KIDS NEVER TOLD HOW THEY GOT THEIR STINGS. A GREAT MEMORY WAS ABOUT ONCE A MONTH MY COUSIN, NORMA RIPPY, AND I WOULD EACH GET A NICKLE TO SPEND. WE WOULD GO TO SCOTT'S STORE AND GET AN ORANGE ICE IN A CUP MADE AT THAT TIME BY PEP CREAMERY. MR. SCOTT WOULD ALWAYS GIVE US EACH A STICK OF GUM. WE WOULD HEAD BACK HOME AND MAKE IT LAST MOST OF THE DAY. THIS WAS SO SPECIAL FOR BOTH OF US.

Gwen with cousins Dorothy, Eva, Norma and Joyce

RUTH SMITH WAS MY FIRST AND SECOND GRADE TEACHER. WE WERE ALL IN AWE OF HER AND SCARED, SO WE WERE VERY GOOD. FOR THIRD AND FOURTH MRS. BRODIN WAS NOT SO STRICT, SO WE ENJOYED THOSE YEARS MORE. AT THIS TIME, I WAS MADLY IN LOVE WITH BUDDY LEMON. WE OF COURSE TOOK OUR LUNCH TO SCHOOL WITH US AND USUALLY ATE OUT ON THE PLAYGROUND. I REMEMBER SITTING ON THE SWING EATING, BUT I WOULD NEVER DRINK MY MILK. I HAD NO THERMOS, SO THE MILK WAS WARM. I WOULD DAILY DUMP IT ON THE GROUND; AGAIN I WOULD HAVE BEEN IN TROUBLE HAD MOM KNOWN. I DID LIKE MILK, THOUGH. I WOULD GO DOWN TO THE CELLAR AND SKIM THE CREAM OFF THE MILK PANS, MOM WOULD GO TO GET CREAM FOR BUTTER, AND GUESS WHAT! I WAS IN TROUBLE AGAIN.

Gwen in first grade first row second from right with Mrs. Munson, Elma Bradley and Mrs. Brodin. Norma Rippy top right

8^th birthday
L to R: Gwen, Marjorie Dye, Leota Burhman, unnamed and Helen Bradley

ANOTHER MEMORY, AND I DIDN'T GET IN TROUBLE, WAS WHEN I DECIDED ONE DAY TO HAVE DINNER READY WHEN THE FOLKS CAME HOME. WE HAD AN OLD COAL OIL STOVE. HOW I HAD THE COURAGE TO TACKLE IT, I DON'T KNOW NOR DO I KNOW WHAT I FIXED. HAMBURGER SOME WAY, PROBABLY, BUT I WAS IN HIGH GLORY THAT DAY. MOM DECIDED AT THAT POINT THAT IT WAS TIME FOR ME TO REALLY LEARN TO COOK. BIG MISTAKE ON MY PART.

I HAD A BURRO NAMED JENNY. SHE WOULD NOT WALK ACROSS THE WOODEN BRIDGE THAT CROSSED THE CORRALITOS CREEK. MEN TRIED TO DRAG HER ACROSS, BUT NO LUCK. I HAD TO WALK OR RIDE HER DOWN ONE SIDE, ACROSS THE CREEK, AND UP THE OTHER SIDE. SHE DIDN'T WANT ANYONE RIDING HER EXCEPT ME. SHE BUCKED OFF OTHERS. OUR NEIGHBOR, ERMA LEE FREDERICK, WAS DETERMINED TO STAY ON, BUT NEVER DID. I HAD A LOT OF FUN WITH JENNY.

IN A BUILDING ACROSS THE WAY FROM OUR HOUSE, DAD AND I WOULD WORK FIGHTING COCKS. HE HUNG A SMALL SET OF SPRINGS FROM THE CEILING AND ATTACHED A MIRROR TO THE WALL IN BACK. WE WOULD TOSS THE ROOSTERS ON THE SPRINGS TOWARD THE MIRROR SO THEY WOULD LEARN TO ATTACK FAST, BUT WE HAD TO GRAB THEM BEFORE THEY ATTACKED THEMSELVES AND GOT HURT. I SPENT LOTS OF TIME DOING THIS. SOME PEOPLE FROM TOWN WOULD COME OUT TO BUY THE ROOSTERS FOR COCKFIGHTS. DAD AND SOME OTHERS HAD A COCKFIGHT ONCE, BUT WERE SO AFRAID THE COPS WOULD COME THEY NEVER DID IT AGAIN. THESE FIGHTING COCKS HELPED US GET THROUGH THE DEPRESSION. DAD ALSO DROVE THE SCHOOL BUS AND WAS THE CUSTODIAN FOR CORRALITOS SCHOOL. I WOULD GO WITH HIM AFTER SCHOOL AND MY JOB WAS CLEANING THE BLACKBOARDS. I THINK THIS WAS DURING MY FIFTH AND SIXTH GRADE.

FIFTH AND SIXTH WITH MRS. MUNSON WERE GREAT YEARS. SEVENTH GRADE MOM, DAD AND I WENT TO TAFT FOR A YEAR, THEN BACK HOME FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE. DORIS MCGOWAN AND I WERE IN TROUBLE A LOT, BUT IT WAS A GREAT YEAR, TOO.

1934 8^th grade girls
L to R: Annie Vegar, Helen Bradley, Annabel Lemon, Gene Reihle, Majorie Dye, Betty Lee Perkins, Doris McGowan, Lucille Pybrum, Marian Davies, Gwen, Marjorie Tarbell (Marjorie Dye Ransom was a Corralitos School teacher for many years)

Memento of 8^th grade graduation

THE SUMMER OF 1939 CLINT'S GROCERY WAS OPENED. THIS WAS IN PART OF EARL LEMON'S GARAGE AT CORRALITOS AND ALDRIDGE ROADS. LOYAL FRIENDS SUPPORTED US AND THE BUSINESS GREW. I HELPED OUT AT THE STORE AND ALSO STARTED HIGH SCHOOL FALL OF ‘39. WE TOOK CARE OF THE GASOLINE PUMPS, TOO. AFTER THE WAR STARTED AND GAS WAS RATIONED, SEVERAL VERY SWEET LADIES WOULD GIVE ME THEIR COUPONS THAT THEY DIDN'T NEED. I REALLY TOOK GOOD CARE OF THEIR CARS WHEN THEY CAME TO GET GAS. I WAS LUCKY AND GOT MY DRIVERS LICENSE AT AGE THIRTEEN OR FOURTEEN. THIS WAS SO I COULD TAKE THE CAR TO SCHOOL AND THEN PICK UP GROCERIES ON MY WAY HOME.

Gwen with Betty Lee, Mona Beryl, and Susie Perkins at side of Clint's Grocery

Sitting in front of the Corralitos Store are L to R: Marjorie Dye, Ruth Schalow, Dorothy Dye, Bob Sinclair, Bud Lemon, Ruth Brodin, Albert Cowart, David Dye in back

IN 1941 OR 1942, WE BOUGHT THE HOUSE AT 12 ALDRIDGE LANE WHICH WAS HANDY TO THE STORE. DURING THIS TIME, THERE WERE LOTS OF USO DANCES. THIS IS WHEN I REALLY USED THE EXTRA GAS COUPONS AS THE SOLDIERS DIDN'T HAVE CARS, SO I DROVE THEM. DANCES WERE THREE OR FOUR NIGHTS A WEEK, AND SOMETIMES MORE OFTEN.

Gwen in front of 12 Aldridge with soldier from Texas

IN 1945, THE WAR ENDED. MOM AND ETHYL KEPPLE HAD GONE TO SAN FRANCISCO. WHEN THE ANNOUCEMENT CAME OVER THE RADIO EVERYONE, OF COURSE, WAS JOYOUS. FRIENDS CAME INTO THE STORE EACH WITH A BOTTLE, IT SEEMED, TO CELEBRATE. BY THE TIME I GOT HOME THAT DAY, DAD WAS PRETTY MUCH OUT OF IT. I FINALLY LOCKED UP THE STORE AND POURED HIM INTO BED.

IN THE LATE FORTIES , WE MOVED UP EUREKA CANYON TO BUZZARD LAGOON ROAD. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL THERE WITH LOTS OF REDWOODS AND A STREAM RUNNING THROUGH THE PROPERTY. THERE WERE FIVE FINGER FERNS AND MAIDENHAIR FERNS, WHICH I STILL LOVE. EVERYONE SAID THAT "IT WAS A MISTAKE FOR US TO MOVE," SO DAD BOUGHT AN OLD SLED AND PAINTED ON IT IN WHITE LETTERS “MANCHESTERS' MISTAKE.” IT HUNG ON THE FRONT PORCH ALL THE TIME WE LIVED THERE. I STILL HAVE THE SLED HANGING IN A BEDROOM.

ON BEING A CHILD IN CORRALITOS DURING WORLD WAR II
By Alice Sams Montgomery

1941 The first day of school

September 1941, was my introduction to first grade at Corralitos Union Elementary School. Miss Edith Gipson was our teacher. There were two grades in each room with one teacher. We sang and read and enjoyed every day of that beautiful fall.

1941-1942 Grades 1 and 2 (Some names available)

Following December 7, 1941, Corralitos was no longer a sleepy little community in the foothills of the Santa Cruz mountains. War regulations soon became known with Civilian Air Raid Wardens given the task of being sure their friends and neighbors obeyed the rules. Window darkening fabric soon was available. Every window had black out curtains at night. Car lights had to be half covered so the light shown down, not up. People were encouraged to stay home at night. For a time there was a great fear the west coast would be bombed, especially after a submarine shelled an oil refinery near Santa Barbara. An air raid lookout station was established on the crest of Hames Road just where it goes into Pleasant Valley. This station was manned by Corralitos volunteers, and the logbooks still exist showing the name and type of each aircraft that flew over. Then one day all the Japanese classmates disappeared. No reason, no explanation, no warning. Just gone.

1942 My brothers Meredith M. and Glenn A. Sams

Soon fathers, uncles, brothers and other young men began answering the draft for military service. Then came all the government ration regulations and they became tighter as the war progressed. It was made clear to everyone this was a way we all could participate in the war effort. In the first year of the war the children of Corralitos knew what was happening but it did not effect them much. All children were required to wear identification tags and every week there was an air raid drill. The old Corralitos School was on Aldridge Lane near the Grange Hall. The playing field was split by a deep concrete flume designed to carry drainage water from Blake Road down to the creek. All the students were directed by their teachers to run across the sandy playground and jump into the flume. Jumping in was easy. Getting out was a trial and caused scraped and bruised knees for weeks. Just in time to jump again. Later these drills were discontinued when it became clear there would be no attacks.

Edith Gipson Stevens, my 1^st grade teacher

Many people were “frozen” on essential jobs, for example, teachers, meaning they could not quit or retire. The only successful way to leave the job was to die. Very early in the war effort everyone was ask by the government to sacrifice their comfortable existence to help the United States win the war. One slogan seen everywhere on signs said: “Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.” Another slogan was: “Save tires, drive 35 miles an hour”. The government started a program to ration food and other things so more supplies could be sent overseas to help the soldiers with food and equipment. Some of the goods rationed were made from materials grown in foreign countries. They could not be shipped into the United States because there were no ships available and it was far too dangerous. Some of these special things were sugar, coffee, chocolate and rubber for car tires. The rationed item that effected the population most was gasoline. The distribution was accomplished by issuing ration cards to owners of cars and trucks. “A” cards for passenger cars got three gallons of gas a week, “C” cards for cars and pickups used for work got five gallons a week and there were “T” cards for trucks. A ration board had charge of distribution of ration books and stamps to the people. Other things on the rationing list were butter, meat, shortening, shoes, clothes, nylon stockings and auto parts. Car tires were ‘recapped' by putting a new layer of rubber on the old tire. The eight grades of Corralitos School participated in all the Victory drives in Santa Cruz County. They bought U.S. Saving Stamps. Their parents bought War Bonds. Families grew Victory gardens to add to their food supplies. Mothers canned fruits and vegetables each summer when the abundance of Corralitos orchards and gardens was ripe. Children collected scrap metal and newspapers. It was all piled up at the side of the school building where trucks came to haul it away. Children who collected scrap metal received a small American flag pin to wear.

During the war years, Mrs. Ceschi had a key to the old band house that was behind the school. Every Saturday morning she opened it up for the 4-H girls and for us who weren't even old enough yet to belong to 4-H. We hemmed dishtowels and helped her cut out the pieces for her Red Cross slippers and made potholders. She also taught us how to work the old treadle Singer sewing machine, so we could develop eye, hand, and foot coordination by sewing the lines on newspaper with an empty needle. By the time we had done all the thread pulling and cutting and pinning and basting and hand hemming required, we were able to start sewing when we were old enough to join 4-H. She was a lovely lady who must have loved kids very much.

By 1945 the world was weary of war and finally it was over. It took a few months for all the restrictions to be lifted and life to return to normal. The military men were discharged and began to return home. Corralitos was once again a happy place. On VJ Day, when final victory was declared, the bell of the Free Methodist Church was rung for hours by the pastor, Charles E. Leland. The bell could be heard all over the valley. There were tears and many prayers of thanksgiving that Corralitos and our nation were at peace again.

Hazel Bradley Woronick

Early 1920s view of Brown's Valley Road with the Christian Church on the left and the Free Methodist Church on the right

On April 20, 1919, Gilbert Silas Bradley and Belva Ellen Guinn were married at the Corralitos Christian Church located at the intersection of Amesti and Brown's Valley Roads. A small cottage nearby on Amesti Road, fondly called the “honeymoon house,” was their first home. Previously a place for single men to stay, it became a place for newlyweds to live until they could establish a home for themselves.

"Honeymoon house”

They continued to live there into the next year when their first daughter, Norma Hazel, was born.

Hazel one year old

My father was born in 1892 at home on Brown's Valley Road. He was one of eleven children. His parents, William Thomas Bradley and Ida Jane Caudill, were also from Corralitos pioneer families. William was the third child of Richmond and Susannah Bradley who had come to Corralitos about 1866. My mother was the youngest of fifteen children born to Abraham and Emelin Guinn of Springfield, Illinois. (Family photo in Family section) In 1905, the Guinns' son, Lloyd, took a notion he wanted to go to California and the family could not talk him out of it. They did not want him to go by himself, so they sold everything but their personal possessions. Abraham bought tickets for the whole family and in December they left Illinois by train. They moved to Corralitos a few months before the 1906 earthquake. When it hit, the plaster began falling from their ceiling. Abraham pulled the bed mattresses over them as the plaster fell. He told the family he would have gone right back to Illinois if they hadn't been so poor at the time. It was 1923 when my Grandpa Guinn passed away and Grandma Emelin came to live with us. I remember her telling about when she was twelve years old. One day, her mother packed a lunch and all the family got into a flatbed wagon. They rode to the train station in Springfield and saw Abraham Lincoln's casket being displayed at the back of the train that was crossing the nation. This had been so important to them.

News article:

Respected Resident of Corralitos Died in Santa Cruz:

Death in the form of a third paralyzing stroke at Santa Cruz yesterday ended the sufferings of A. P. Guinn, an estimable resident of Corralitos. Deceased came to this valley in 1905, and has resided here ever since. He engaged in farming, but failing health compelled him to retire about two years ago.

Mr. Guinn was a very fine man, and enjoyed the confidence and esteem of all who knew him. He raised a large, very creditable family of children. He was a native of Missouri, and was aged 72 years. He was a member of the Christian Church.

Besides his sorrowing wife, Emelin Guinn, he is survived by the following children: Mrs. Bert Huntington, Mrs. W. H. Kirkman, Mrs. Theo. Caudill, Mrs. Lester Phillips. Mrs. Gilbert Bradley and Harry Guinn, all of Corralitos; Edward Guinn of Soquel; Mrs. Ammon Davis and Fred Guinn of Gilroy and Lloyd Guinn.

The funeral will be held from the undertaking parlors of Aston & Neal, Odd Fellows' building, this city, on tomorrow, Thursday, Aug 30, 1923 at two o'clock in the afternoon. Interment in the Odd Fellows' cemetery.

The first place my parents bought was on Eureka Canyon Road across from where the filter plant is today. The Tindalls were our next door neighbors. (Photo #3 in Mementos II Bradley and Tindall houses on the right) We were there when I started school at the second schoolhouse on Aldridge Lane. Ruth Karstedt Smith was my first teacher. One day I was on the heavy, wooden teeter-totter with Arthur DeLaPena, and while I was up high in the air he stepped off the other end. I dropped and fell to the ground. I felt paralyzed. I was a tiny kid weighing only 37 pounds. Mrs. Smith came over, picked me up, and carried me inside our classroom. She told the kids that we wouldn't have any more lessons for the day. She said she was going to hold Hazel and read stories. That was what she did until it was time to go home.

My parents bought me a new lunch pail to take to school. One day I came home and my mother noticed my lunch box wouldn't open. When she asked me about it, I told her it was broken. She asked me how it got broken. I said it had a dent in it. Then she asked me if I knew how it got a dent. I told her it had a dent because I hit Chucky Lemon over the head with it because he wouldn't stop teasing me!

First grade with Hazel in center of group ( Some names available)

One day when the mail arrived, there was an ad from the Fox Theater. It was on heavy paper so I asked Mama if I could have it. I made a little boat with it, then pulled an old box up to the rain barrel so I could float my boat. While I was leaning into the barrel, the box fell away and I went into the water headfirst. I couldn't turn myself, but my foot could touch the faucet that was above the barrel. I maneuvered my foot around the faucet and was able to pull myself up. I walked up to the porch and knocked on the door. My grandma came to open the door. When she saw me she yelled for Mama. I was standing there drenched in my red wool sweater and overalls, and I had green moss in my hair because my head had gone to the bottom of the barrel. After they warmed me, Grandma held me and told me God was watching over me that day. I told her I didn't know about God, but I was sure glad that faucet was there!

We always went camping in the summer. Once we set up a tent at Manresa Beach so we could spend the night there with my Uncle Harry and Aunt Lola Guinn. We were near the water line and during the night, a light was shone on our tent. I heard my father say for no one to go out. We could hear voices from the cliff and could see a boat shining a light from the water. A rowboat came in on the shore, while all the time the light was on our tent. It was bootleggers bringing in a shipment and we were in the middle of it. They finally all went away.

When my Uncle Harry won a contest at a local gas station, we went to their home in Watsonville to see his prize. The prize was a child-size replica of a car. After that, whenever we went to visit they would get it out of the garage so we could play with it. It had pedals and a steering wheel. My little cousin, Alice, was too short to reach the pedals so she would ride on her tricycle. She liked to pretend she was giving me a ticket.

I was thrilled to be asked to take part in our next door neighbor's wedding shower. Annie Tindall was going to marry Gus Bailey. For the shower, I was dressed in a crepe paper dress. My mother curled my hair with a curling iron that had to be heated by putting it inside the top of the coal oil lamp and turning the lamp to low. I thought I looked so cute. I pulled a wagon that was decorated with crepe paper and filled with gifts. I got to pass out the gifts when Annie opened them. Gus thought I was so cute, too. When I got the measles, he would come over everyday to see how I was. He would caution my mother to be sure to keep our green shades down. He said the light could damage my eyes. He was so concerned because he had had measles and his eyes had been affected.

When I was seven, I loved to play at my cousin, Albert Huntington's, house. Aunt Stella was my mother's sister. Uncle Bert had the last blacksmith shop in Corralitos at 490 Corralitos Road . There were so many things to see in the shop like the bellows and all kinds of iron. Albert made me rings with the horseshoe nails. One day, my mother asked if I wanted to spend the night there. I sure did and I was so happy. About 7:00 in the evening, my father came to the house to get me. I told him Mama had said I could stay. He said they wanted me to come home to meet my new sister. While riding home I wasn't too happy about leaving, and also I was wondering where the heck they got a kid! When we got home, Mama was in bed and had something under a blanket on her shoulder. She asked me if I would like to see my new sister, Helen. I lifted the blanket and looked at that tiny little face. I was crushed because I thought they had a kid for me to play with. I went down on my knees, lay my head down and cried. Mama asked why I was crying. I told her it was because the baby was so tiny, and she was red!

Not long after Helen was born, my parents bought a twelve-acre apple ranch on Amesti Road near the “honeymoon house.” There was a big house on the property with indoor plumbing and a washing machine. My dad worked the orchard and we all liked it there.

Top to bottom: Ira Phillips, Eldon Dye, Gilbert, Claude and Homer Bradley, Luther Fritz

I don't remember why, but one day I decided to run away from home. When I told my mother, she put a red handkerchief on the end of a stick and put a sandwich in it. She gave it to me and told me to be careful. Grandma was crying as Mama told me good-bye. I went outside and walked across the road. Somehow I hurt my finger. I went back inside and showed Mama. After she looked at it she said, “Oh, Honey you have to be careful out there. Now it is going to get dark, so you better hurry and go.” Grandma was still crying. I told Mama I thought it was too late, so I would do it some other time. That was the last time I ever did that.

During the Depression, my Dad could not make enough money to keep up with the mortgage. He worked for 25 cents an hour doing orchard work for E.W. Jack, Emeral Dickie, and anyone else he could work for. At night, he would come home and work his orchard with a light on his tractor. When we lost our ranch in 1933, there were no rentals left in Corralitos. The Bellangero's old family home was on the hillside on their property on Brown's Valley Road above where they had built a newer home. They said we could live there. It was in shambles. We had to put blankets up against the cracks at the door so lizards wouldn't be on our beds in the morning. It didn't even have an entire roof. We could see the sky when we were inside the place. One time when it was raining, Lymon Spain and his wife were coming to visit. There was a potbellied stove in the middle of the room, so for a joke we were sitting around it with umbrellas when they came in the door. The water would come through the roof and it had leaked into my piano, so that the keys in the upper octaves froze. Mama had bought the piano for me from the Christian Church when it was closed. She had wanted me to learn to play. For two or three years, I had lessons from Olive Brewster. She lived with the Phillips family in a house that used to be on Corralitos Road opposite Merk Road. She played the big pipe organ during intermissions at the Fox Theater. My lessons cost 50 cents a week.

Fred and Ermalee Frederick had built a house on Brown's Valley Road next door to the Manchesters. They were not moving in to it until they were married, so they invited us to live there until that time. When we moved down to the Frederick house, my aunt, Elma G. Bradley, who lived across the road from us, came to the house and told my parents that she would like to pay for me to continue my lessons for one year. Pearl McFarland was the best piano teacher in Watsonville, and she came out to continue my lessons. She would bring her little spaniel with her. When it had a tooth problem she took it to the dentist. It got a nice gold tooth.

Margaret Diehl's birthday party at the Manchesters on Brown's Valley Road with Frederick house in the background
Back - L to R: Isabel Bradley, Hazel, Margaret. Front - L to R: Melba Caudill, Eunice Krieger, Grace Bradley, Kathleen Carpenter, Mildred Parsons, Norma Rippy

After a time, a rental became available next to Ceschi's Hall and we moved there. Before the Grange Hall was built, Ceschi's Hall was the main place the people in the community gathered for events. A group from the Christian Church had skits and plays there. My Uncle Harry was always cast as the villain, and my mother was always the damsel being hassled. They told me that when I was about three or four, every single time, because I'd see my mother seemingly in distress, I would start bawling. The audience would laugh thinking I was playing my part so cute. The WCTU also met there. One time I was in their Silver Medal contest. I had to stand on the stage in front of a lot of people and say a little speech. It was scary, and I didn't win. Connie Brodin won the medal that time. When I was about ten years old, on Halloween my parents left me at a big masquerade party at the hall. I hadn't been there very long, when an older boy began to tease me. When he smacked me in the nose, I walked out the front door and started heading for my Uncle Harry's. That is where my parents were for the evening. At that time, they lived off Aldridge Lane down the dirt road that is on the hillside. It was dark and the road had tall bushes on both sides. When I got to the house, they were very surprised to see me. I told them what had happened and how mad I was. My mother always said I looked like a wasp in a frying pan when I got mad. One time when the county nurse was at the hall, one class at a time marched there from school for small pox vaccinations. Helen Jensen, the daughter of the Jensens who started Alladin Nursery, was standing in front of me. She was so scared, so I told her I would go first and show her it didn't hurt. When I was done I said to her, “See, nothing to it.” After the hall was closed, my friends and I would go inside to roller skate. No one ever told us we couldn't.

1930 Hazel in fifth grade is fourth from left front row (Names are available)

A third schoolhouse was built on Aldridge Lane and the old one was removed. I was there from third grade until I graduated from the eighth grade. When I had Mrs., Munson in fifth grade, it seemed I was always in trouble. She sat me in the hall or put me in the closet to get me away from the class. I made them laugh and they wouldn't do their work. Once a week at lunchtime, I would divide my lunch with some of the kids, then I would go up the flume to Uncle Homer and Aunt Edna's when they lived at 44 Aldridge Lane. This is when my aunt baked. She would cut the ends off her freshly baked bread and that would be my lunch. I told the kids never to tell on me or I wouldn't share my lunch with them anymore. It was against the rules to go into the flume, so I had to lean down so no one would see me. Mrs. Munson didn't get any rest when I went into sixth grade since she was still my teacher. I got very good grades, but my report card had a line of red Xs for deportment. My aunt, Elma, was the principal and she told me one day to ask my parents to come to speak with her. I didn't tell them, so one day she drove over to our house. She told my parents that she thought I was bored with the schoolwork and that was why I was disruptive in the classroom. She wanted to move me into seventh grade so that the work would be more challenging to me. I ended the school year with six months of sixth grade and three months of seventh, and then I went into the eighth.

Aunt Elma was my eighth grade teacher. The work was hard so my grades weren't as high as they would have been if I hadn't been skipped through the grades. I wanted to be valedictorian, but wasn't chosen. At the end of the year, we had our graduation photo taken. I was seated at the end of the front row. I was so mad and a little hurt. A girl, who had only been at the school for eighth grade, got to sit next to Aunt Elma and held her hand. Her father, Mr. Handshy, was the principal at the high school. I thought I should have been next to her because she was my aunt. Besides that, when I saw the photo, my slip was showing! (8 th grade graduation photo in Mementos III #26)

I went to Watsonville High School. Thelma Bradshaw was one of my good friends, and also a girl named Marguerite MacGregor, who had moved to Corralitos from Colorado to live with her grandparents. Her grandmother, Nanny Crowl, owned a dress shop in town. One time I stayed with her when her grandparents were out. It was a bright, moonlit night so she and I decided to take off all our clothes and dance naked on their lawn in the moonlight. They lived at the corner across Hames Road from Blake Road. In those days there were very few cars on the road.

I wasn't allowed to date boys alone until I was sixteen. I had a lot of boy cousins that my parents trusted so I got to go a lot of places with them. My cousin, Eddie Guinn, and I would fish up Eureka Canyon when it was trout season. We would catch our fish then he'd clean them, string them up, and build a little fire to cook them. He always carried salt in his creel so we would eat our catch right there by the creek. Then, we'd fish some more and take some home.

I had learned to dance at the same time my parents did at the Grange Hall with my Aunt Bertha Bradley playing the piano. Her son, Frank, had a car so I went with him places like Coconut Grove and Capitola Ballroom for dances. We dressed up, and sometimes I wore formals. There were Saturday nights when my friend, Louise Garbarino (Peterson), would come to my house. We would lay out our clothes, primp, and curl our hair, and then go to the dances at the Grange Hall with my parents. We thought we were the belles of the ball.

I was seventeen when I graduated from high school. I tried to get a job at the telephone company, but I was too short to reach the switchboard. I was only 5'2” and so young no one wanted to hire me. I worked doing whatever I could. I worked for Rider's in the apples and for Ben Ceschi in his orchard raking and burning brush. I did housecleaning for Mrs. Helen Scott, next to the market, three hours a week for $1.00. She let me use her library that had encyclopedias and other books to read. One day, I saw a sign in Pleasant Valley that said “ Pickers Wanted,” so I went there and told them that I would like a job. The man handed me a twelve-foot ladder and said, “Go pick cherries!”

About 1937, we moved to Mrs. Lord's house. (543 Corralitos Road) My parents then bought the property when she decided to sell. John and Florence Rippy bought the second house (547) on the Lord property from my parents. My dad's brother, Homer, and his family moved to the other side of the Rippy house and his brother, Claude, and his family lived on Hames Road.

Brothers Homer, Claude and Gilbert Bradley

At the Grange dances I met the Johnson boys, Joe, Norman and George, and their cousin Glen. I dated Glen first, but Norman was the one I had my eye on. We dated and then married. We moved into the house on the corner next door to my parents, and this is where our three children, Norman, Sharon and Leland, were born. I really enjoyed growing-up in Corralitos. My grandma lived with us, and we had many relatives from both sides of the family near us. My sister was so much younger than I was, that we didn't do a lot together outside of family activities when we were growing up, but we have always been close and great friends since then.

Hazel and Helen

Read more about Hazel in the Summer 2004 issue of The Corralitos Report

Ed Ledbetter

It had been a hot, dry summer that year. Oklahoma and the central states were in the midst of one of the most noteworthy droughts recorded up to that time. It was the Dust Bowl era. Dry, arid, poorly plowed and cultivated land was disappearing, prompted by incessant winds blowing across the plains out of Canada. When the depression was over due to the war, people had jobs once more. God called upon Uncle Charles to pack up and move to an obscure place he called Corralitos. Just like the ol' cotton boll weevil, he had found a home, and convinced some of his relatives to join him in this newfound paradise!!! Aunt Delphine, along with her husband, Homer, and their boys, Jimmy and Danny, were the first to move out there. Soon after, Grandma and Grandpa Leland joined the fray. (Charles Leland was the pastor at the Free Methodist Church from 1941 to 1946.) Somehow or another, they pressured / persuaded Mom and Dad to move out. So, in August 1943 Dad quit his job, we sold the house, packed essentials, and joined the group. I had never changed schools before and dreaded the move. I hated to think of being in a class with kids I had never known. It was not near as much of a hassle as I had expected and I eventually fit in pretty well with the 7^th and 8^th grade kids in Mrs. Bradley's classroom. I met a person there with whom I still communicate - - - that's not all that bad!

It's hard to believe that was 61 years ago. The trip was worth it!!!

Jolyne Sears Hunter

I was raised here in Corralitos since age 3 by my mom, Marylee Bradley, and my new daddy at the time, Roy Bradley. You see, he was hand picked to be our daddy by me and my two sisters, Kay Sears Rockwell and Robin Sears DeLaPena. My daddy used to climb up to the top of pine trees in Eureka Canyon to cut the top off for our Christmas trees...one time he climbed up the wrong one and was such a good sport...he got down and climbed up the one we wanted…we would holler "TIMBER, HERE COMES DADDY". I remember the barefoot summer walks from our home at 294 Hames Road pulling our red wagon full of pop bottles to cash them in for a good 50 cents, or so, for candy at Corralitos Market. We always loved it when we opened the door to Jake Head calling us "snicklefritz". We always enjoyed shopping through the penny candies. This trip was carefully scheduled to be at 15 minutes to 6 PM allowing us enough time to shop before the store closed and, also, just be in time to jump on the back of our daddy's big ugly yellow Freedom Tire Supply service truck. You see, riding home with my daddy was a highlight in my day...we never were buckled into a seat...we rode in the back with the dirty old tires and loved the whole ride. I was often joined in this trek by my best buddies and just about brothers...Randy Williams and Bryan Williams. We grew up with only a steep gravel driveway between our homes. The three of us would dig underground forts in their orchard and we built a wonderful three level tree fort, also. My grandparents, Claude and Madeline Bradley lived in the house that now is at the beginning of the Rancho Corralitos Mobile Home Park...you see that whole property of the park used to belong to my grandparents and I had the run of the apple orchards and punkin patch, etc., that were all through the hills there. One of the greatest ways we would have fun was to get the biggest piece of cardboard we could find and climb up to the top of the hill which is where the lower part of the Mobile home park driveway is now...then sit on the cardboard and slide down to the bottom. We would stay there doing that over and over ‘til the Williams' "time to come home bell" would ring and my mom would holler for me to come in. It was always dark when I got in the door. Oh what fun we had...Having my grandpa (Claude) Bradley, so close was hard on my dinner time appetite. I used to walk through the backyards of the houses between our house and his and he would always serve me sliced up fresh apples or apricots or good old peanut butter on saltine crackers...my mom couldn't figure out why I didn't want to eat dinner...she did find out and my snacks had to get limited. Riding on the seat of the Big Red tractor with my grandpa was wonderful...he had so many stories to tell us. I attended Bradley School K-6th grades and had such a wonderful batch of teachers. I always loved Mrs. Ransom and must say she was my favorite teacher. The spaghetti feeds were wonderful memory making times. I remember the great bike rodeos, too...always great participation. When our tires went low or flat, Bob Gilardoni would pump them up for us. Going down to the pancake breakfast every year is still a wonderful routine. I will never forget the time that the Padres put on the play of Cinderella...My daddy was Fairy God Mother and Mr. Ford was Cinderella...it was an all male cast...and we laughed pretty hard at that for sure...crazy fun times. My grandma, Madeline Bradley, used to teach the neighborhood kids Ladies Temperance League...we would all gather in her living room and look at posters with booze bottles with a big black line across them and cigarette packs with the same black line across them. Then she would serve us all wonderful lace oatmeal cookies and punch. She was quite a special lady who was very religious. (Article in Register-Pajaronian November 16, 1978) My life in Corralitos has been wonderful...filled with memories. I have been blessed to have raised my kids, Roy, Shannon, Cherish and Dustin Hunter for much of the time, here in Corralitos. I really never want to move away from here again. I was in 4-H club in the Pleasant Valley Branch...I enjoyed one year of Camp Loma for camp...we heard about President Nixon resigning while we were at camp. My daddy was the Pack Master when my boys were in Cub Scouts here, too. I remember the 1989 earthquake...the house I was raised in was torn down due to the damage it caused. My parents bought a wonderful new modular home and it was placed where the old house was. They continued to enjoy living there until 2001 when my precious daddy went to be with the Lord. My mom moved to her childhood hometown of Nampa, Idaho where my sister Robin also lives. She sold the home to a great family, Brian and Liz Hansen and they are raising a wonderful bunch of kids there. My other sister, Kay, lives in Lincoln City, Oregon. I love being a member of Corralitos Community Church. As a youth leader, I am enjoying working with the kids...I praise God that I am here in wonderful Corralitos.

Inez Weedon Wisdom Learn

Inez grew up on the same property that she lives on today at 325 Brown's Valley Road. She lived with her parents, Fred and Jessie Weedon, and her brothers, Merle, Max and Ellis. Her grandmother, Mary Eliza Horton Davis lived with the family after her grandfather, Isaac Davis, passed away when Inez was a year old. Her grandparents had been helpful in beginning the Free Methodist Church on Brown's Valley Road. Her grandmother's brother, F.H. Horton, was the first pastor of the church in 1884. Isaac was a trustee.

It was a country life. The family had chickens, a cow named Bossie, a couple of dogs and cats. They also had a brown horse that the kids could ride around the nearby area. Their neighbors were the Vorheis, Bellangero, Tate, Spain, and Jack families. Mrs. Wieman had a chicken ranch down the road.

1918 Inez in class photo with her brother Max at top left (Group photo is on page 132 in book)

Inez began school at the Brown's Valley School that was near Caudill Lane. Her teacher was Mrs. Scott. She then went to the Corralitos School on Schoolhouse Lane (Aldridge) for second through eighth grades. Her teachers here were Effie Jenkins, Clara Munson and Elma Bradley. All the school programs were held at Ceschi's Hall, including Christmas programs and her eighth grade graduation. (8^th grade group photo is in MementosIII #6)

Her friends came to her place to play baseball, and they always had a net up for basketball. The kids would dam up a place in the creek that ran behind their property so they could swim. The most fun they had was at a place by the creek that they called “the sand bank.” Kids from all around would come there with her and her brothers with gunnysacks. They would go up as high as they could on the sandy embankment then slide down on the gunnysacks to the edge of the water. Of course, she would always try to do everything her brothers did.

When she was a teenager, the Free Methodist Church had a good size group of young people. They would get together for picnics and to go places like the beach or Monterey. Her mother taught her to drive their old Ford when she was sixteen. When she was eighteen she moved to San Jose for nursing training. She moved away three times, but always came back home to Corralitos.