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6 -- August 13, 2015
editor@newslj.com
When we got to Alaska
and moved into quarters on
Elmendorf Air Force Base, we
pretty much found a whole
new way of life. Alaska itself
had a whole different culture,
and stick the military life on
top of it -- it was definitely
different from South Carolina,
the state we had last lived in.
We went from the deep south
to a wild and woolly place with
a whole new vocabulary.
Our four kids all got enrolled
in school and I got a job in
what we called "the little BX,"
which was a small
store in the basement
of the single enlisted
men's barracks. We
didn't even own any
winter clothes at that
time and at first I
walked to work, but
as winter came on, I
started driving. The
ear was always icy
and I cussed all the
way to work like a
drunken Norwegian
farmer after a trip to the bar on
a Saturday night after the crop
was in.
We were not allowed to
wear trousers to work at that
time, but it was 1970, that
odd period of time when all of
the skirts were well above our
knees. They even sold dresses
with matching panties! Just try
to bend over and dust or stock
shelves in a workplace full of
cute, young single airmen! The
smocks that we were supposed
to wear over our clothes were
dang near as long as my skirt.
But I really liked my job and
also the people that I worked
with. I didn't quit until I started
making so much money selling
my artwork.
Meanwhile, the Air Force
was sending the man of the
house on regular rotations to
Greenland and other points,
and the kids were all turning
into teen-aged strangers who
snuck out at night, tried to
smuggle forbidden food and
drink (especially "drink") into
their rooms, and who thought
that I was probably just too
busy to notice what was going
on.
Once, my youngest
daughter came and asked if
she could go to the movies
and I said, "I don't see why
not." She gave me a kind of
odd look and said, "Well, I am
on restriction!" See? Proves I
really am oblivious and can't
Donna Goc[lanotff
I Remember When
see anything that's going on, I
had forgotten.
While all this was hap-
pening the Mister was busy on
his time at home with hunting
caribou, moose, and any other
critter that could be butchered
-- even a bear once! We had
a five-acre plot of land across
the inlet on a lake at the base
of Mt. Susitna, and the guys
were busy building a cabin
out there. They were building
it stockade style, but in the
meantime they had discovered
an old abandoned trapper cabin
about a quarter mile
away. It was a good
sheltered place to
camp at night, safe
from bear inva-
sion. They had cut
a stack of firewood
and stacked beside
the door; the cabin
had a barrel stove
in it and a couple
of bunks made out
of tree lumber still
there, some wooden
av-gas boxes nailed to the wall
for storage -- even musty old
blankets on the beds. There
was one window, with a tarp
flap over it. So they got settled
down for the night and then
they heard a huge bang and
crash and leapt out of bed to
see what it was. They couldn't
get out the door. It seemed
the firewood had been knocked
over and was blocking it. So
one of the men, Dick, stuck his
head out the window about the
same time as a big bear stuck
his head IN the window. My
husband stuck the barrel of his
rifle in the bear's mouth and
pulled the trigger and, Kapow!
Dead bear. Dick was seeing
stars and he wasn't able to hear
anything for a couple of days
afterward. When they finally
worked their way out the door,
they had a big, beautiful brown
bear. They were both pretty
shaky and super cautious from
that time on.
I remember once when we
went out there for the weekend
we saw a bear in the lake and
he was busily swimming after
a moose, who was also swim-
ming as fast as he could to get
on dry land. There seemed to
be a lot of them out there. What
we took to doing was stacking
cans in front of the door at
night. It was not much of an
alarm system, but it made me
feel a little better. Never under-
estimate a bear, folks!
The mighty hunter hauls home a trophy while the loyal wife
waits. (Donna Gochanour, NLJ)
4
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r
(~:.)))~i) 4¸ !/i i¸ / i
"The Old Hospital" stood firm for nearly four decades; the dedicated staff making late-night house calls, delivering countless
babies, and performing life-saving surgeries as the population of Weston County boomed. (Donna Gochanour, NLJ) •
i'
Donna Gochanour
NLJ Senior Correspondent
I have been writing about people who
worked at what we now refer to as "The
Old Hospital" in Newcastle, which opened
officially in 1949. Truly, this was the first
full-service hospital in Newcastle, and a
great deal has already been written about
it, which leaves very little that isn't already
published or remembered. The interviews
up to this point included personal infor-
mation and memories, but many former
workers at this hospital are gone now,
passed on, moved away or other things that
happen to us with the passage of time.
I remember it mostly because my
mother worked there in the Housekeeping
department, and when I came on my yearly
visit to see my parents, Ethel and Art
Roness, Morn would take me up there for
lunch to meet with her many friends and
co-workers. Through these interviews and
research I've learned more about the place
my mother worked years ago.
With the advent of the oil industry
around the time of World War I, the late
teens and early 1920s saw growth and
prosperity in the small town of Newcastle.
Shortly after, this boom faded out and
ranching seemed to pick up, but prohibition
and the Dust Bowl brought economy to a
halt all over this country. Along came World
War II and things changed so a hospital
was very much needed, and in December
of 1945 the Newcastle and Upton Lion's
clubs met and authored a petition to the
county commissioners for a new hospital
for Weston County. This was accepted by
the commissioners and funds were raised
to accomplish financing for this project. An
architect was commissioned, and while the
plans had originally planned for 40 beds, it
ended up being only 30.
The cornerstone was laid on July 31,
1948, with Earl Christensen from the
Masonic Lodge performing the ceremony
of laying the cornerstone and over 700
people in attendance. It was a big day. A
piano was brought by truck from up on the
prairie to provide music for the occasion.
The Daughters of the Divine Redeemer
contracted a 10-year lease to to manage
the hospital, and they were quartered in the
Donna Gochanour
NLJ Senior Correspondent
A group of family and friends gathered
in the activity room of Weston
County Manor on Sunday, July
26, to help Bonnie Fried celebrate
her 99th birthday.
Bonnie was born in Devil's
Lake, N.D., and credits her long
life with a spunky attitude and
a very good husband who took
good care of her. They raised
three children and while she was
a stay-at-home mom, she got a
basement. The cost was $280,000.
Later on, in 1951, plans were made to
add a new wing which would house the
nurses and Sisters, and include room for a
chapel. The new wing was finished in 1954
at a cost of $109,000. Every year, new fea-
tures were added, new improvements were
made. Then in 1961 the little clinic that
had been in operation had the misfortune
of burning down and the wing was used
for the clinic.
Between the opening of the hospital
in 1949 and October of 1956, the 1,500th
baby was delivered at the hospital, with an
average of 200 babies a year for the seven
years the hospital had been in operation.
In 1952, from January to June, I was told,
3,160 patients had been seen, an average
of 500 per month• People who had worked
there told me that it was very busy, and in
the 1970s, once again an oil boom boosted
the towns of Weston County and they
experienced an influx of prosperity and of
population.
The hospital had started bulging at the
seams and beds lined the hallways for
lack of any other place to put them. Many
times funds had been raised for different
much-needed improvement or repairs, and
between the ranchers and the oil workers
a lot of surgeries were performed. By
January of 1958 cost of a room had been
raised from $5 a day to $9 per day, and by
1970 room rates were raised to $26, and
to $38 per day for pediatrics. That sounds
amazing compared to the rates today!
There was no emergency department, as
the ER and the surgery were basically in
the hallway• Expectant fathers had to sit in
the hallway. There also were no emergency
medical technicians, so doctors would ride
the ambulance to an accident, and the
doctors also took turns doing shifts at night
duties. In those days they also made house
calls. Only the most critical ended up in
a hospital bed. The railroad and the oil
boom and the ranches provided plenty of
accidents to be dealt with, and the situation
was becoming desperate. Improvements
and expansion were discussed at length,
but in the end it became apparent that the
cost of renovation needed would be more
than the cost of a new facility.
Planning for a new facility started in
job when the kids were mostly grown and
became an excellent sales clerk, working
in Fargo, N.D., Laurel, Mont., and in
Sheridan.
One of Bonnie's daughters
told me that on her parent's 50th
wedding anniversary, they were
able to count 48 different houses
that they had lived in, "when the
boxes came out, we knew we
were moving," she said.
Bonnie's most favorite memo-
ries is of her family being all
together, and all of the fun that
they had.
the late 1970s, continuing into the early :,
'80, with the new Weston County Hospital :
becoming operational and opening its."
doors in 1986.
As I read current and past history, I'm
impressed by the quality and service of(
the doctors serving this earlier hospital.
They were as fantastic as their nurses :
claimed that they were, and the staff r
members that worked so hard to make it
all come together were utterly amazing.
These amazing doctors performed skin :
grafts, orthopedic surgery, general surgery. J
Weston County was exceedingly lucky to I
have had this staff, these nurses and doctors :
and others who worked there, and to have
had this facility serving this small com-
munity through the early years.
I thank the people who have let me
write about them and their experiences at
the 'old hospital,' the nurses, doctors, and
other staff members who have shared their
memories, both on and off the record.
Senior Happenings
• Weston County Senior Services
Aug. 13: Mexican Train 1 p.m.
Aug. 14: Blood Pressure Chk. 9:30 a.m.
Aug. 6: VFW Ladies Auxiliary Mtg. 4 p.m.
Aug. 15: Open Rec Room
Aug. 18: Mexican Train 1 p.m.
Aug. 18: Helping Hands Fdn. 7 p.m.
Aug. 19: WCSS Board Mtg. 9 a.m.
Aug. 20:Trip to the Lodge
Aug. 20: Mexican Train 1 p.m.
Aug. 21: Bridge Ladies . :?
Aug. 22: Open Rec Room
Aug. 24: Visually Impaired Sppt. Grp.1 p.m.
Aug. 25: Mexican Train 1 p.m.
Aug. 26: Creative Handcrafts after lunch
Aug. 27: Ceramics 1 p.m.
Aug. 28: Blood Pressure Chk. 9:30 a.m.
Aug. 28: Dance 7 p.m.
Aug. 29: Open Rec Room
oWeston County Manor
Aug. 13: Food Fancy 10:30 a.m.
Aug. 13: Manicures 2 p.m.
Aug. 14: Greedy 10:30 a.m.
Aug. 15: Movie 2 p.m.
Aug. 16: Proverbs 11 a.m.
Aug. 17: Farm Animals 1 p.m.
Aug. 17: Tony's Tunes 3 p.m.
Aug. 18: Stories 4 p.m.
Aug. 19: Crossword 10:30 a.m.
Aug. 19: Board Game 6:15 p.m.
Aug. 20: Yard Tour 10:30 a.m.
Aug. 21: Bingo 2 p.m.
Aug. 22: Happy Hour 3 p.m.
Aug. 23: Trivia 11 a.m.
Aug. 24: Wii 10:30 a.m.
Aug. 25: Keepsake Krafters 2 p.m.
Aug. 25: Cards 6:15 p.m.
Aug. 26: Catholic Study 10 a.m.
Aug. 26: Bingo 2 p.m.
Aug. 27: Catholic Study 10 a.m.
Aug. 27: Manicures 2 p.m.
Aug: 28: Greedy 10:30 a.m.
Aug. 29: Penny Ante 11 a.m.
We're proud to recognize Kelly and
Louis Stith for the improvements
made to the Sage Motel.
Wyoming
Refining
Company
Success
is no
Accident
R F.,. F [ N l N C, , ]. 1. C