Foundation History

Bob Zybach: Do you know Phil Hayes?

Lorna Grabe: No.

Bob Zybach: I'm going to talk with Bessie Murphy more about wild flowers because . . that's a big topic for me so.

Lorna Grabe: She's great, oh, she's wonderful.

Bob Zybach: Is it the Soap Creek School House Foundation?

Lorna Grabe: Yeah.

Bob Zybach: When did that start?

Lorna Grabe: We have an old scrap book here that was left to me, and the first letter was started in January 22, 1965, and it was sent to the Benton County Rural School Board at the County Courthouse. It was sent by Mrs. Warren Bacon and Mrs. Dick Nordahl, and they were neighbors living on Soap Creek Road, and they said, "Dear Sirs, we are interested in finding out what is to become of the old Soap Creek School House on Sulphur Springs Road. We live near this old school house and would like to see it preserved in some manner and not just left to deteriorate into a pile of rubble which will happen soon as the roof is in need of repair." And so that's .

Bob Zybach: That's kind of the start of the Foundation at that point?

Lorna Grabe: Yes, well not exactly ... yeah, it was really the instigation of the preservation in that first letter, I would say, in 1965. And then the next clippings in the scrap book are

Lorna Grabe: lot of them don't have dates on them, but August 18, 1967, it says that "the school house is now open to the public," and they are going to have the school needs, and they are going to have a gift shop and a museum and sell handicraft items, and neighbors are invited to sell things like painting, needlework, drawing, woodwork, pottery, ceramics. They are going to have a white elephant sale, and they were going to have a box social to raise money. Here's what they need to do ... "the immediate project to be done is reroofing the building which will require 14 squares of wood shingles, also new glass panes approximately 30 panes of 8 x 12 inch and most be put on the windows." And then there's another clipping which says that it was a good success, and they made enough money and that they put shingles on the school.

Bob Zybach: Would it be possible to get copies of these articles here?

Lorna Grabe: Yes. If we could get something that would take a big enough picture of them.

Bob Zybach: I can do that at school.

Lorna Grabe: Okay.

Bob Zybach: At the bookstore, what they can do is reduce them. Do you have the dates and the newspapers that these came from?

Lorna Grabe: No, this was given to me like this. The only date that I have is this one 1967, in August and September 28, 1967 and then this one.

Bob Zybach: Who made the scrapbook?

Lorna Grabe: Apparently, Bessie Nordahl. She and her mother, Pearl Bacon, started the Foundation.

Bob Zybach: Are they still members?

Lorna Grabe: No they are not members, but they're still living. Bessie lives up near Monmouth. And I have her phone number. And Pearl Bacon lives in Redmond. You could get in touch with her.

Bob Zybach: So the people who started the Foundation, don't live here anymore?

Lorna Grabe: No, right.

Bob Zybach: So you've kind of inherited the job from them in a way?

Lorna Grabe: Right.

Bob Zybach: When did they move?

Lorna Grabe: It was about ... I think Pearl Bacon moved first, it was about 1973 or '74, around in there. And I was going to tell you ... one of these clippings is rather interesting because well, two of them really are ... we wondered, we asked numerable students, that have come out, when the electricity was put in, because we wanted to know if the electricity was in the school when it was in operation. And right here in this one where it tells about the box social which was in 1967, it says "proceeds from the sale will be used to install electricity and to make other improvements."

Bob Zybach: So the electricity has been added since the Foundation was started?

Lorna Grabe: Yes. Now these ladies didn't know that it was destroying the historical integrity of the school. They just thought they were improving it, you know, and that was

Bob Zybach: And at that time it probably was?

Lorna Grabe: At that time, they probably thought so, because they were going to use it for other meetings and then no other meetings were held. And then there's another place in there ... we'd wondered if the school was originally red or white and here this clipping says "Mrs. Nordahl said that to date the red paint can has received nearly twice the amount of money as the white can, during the sale the two cans were set out with persons to put donations in to the can of the color they wished the school house would be painted." See, they wanted to preserve it, but they didn't know about puritive historical preservation.

Bob Zybach: And at that time probably the standards were more important to get it roofed, and to get electricity, and get some paint on it. A lot of the things about the purity of preservation are fairly new concepts. I think these articles point that out. Maybe in a University environment, they'd be a little more sensitive. So, do you know what the original color was?

Lorna Grabe: Well, I think it was white, from these pictures it appears to be white.

Bob Zybach: Is there any sentimentality to restore it to a white building?

Lorna Grabe: The subject hasn't been brought up, but I think it would be a good idea, except that everybody in the whole county knows it as "the little red school house." I mean, people all over that state, we might get static from people if we change it, but ... The inside also has ... was originally white above with green below and when that was repainted, probably in the seventies after I started in the Foundation, the board, other people other than myself wanted to paint it tan, because that would be a better background for our displays. And so even then, painting it to be historically preserved perfect was not the most important criteria for a color choice.

Bob Zybach: You're working with Dave Brauner right now to get this on the National Register?

Lorna Grabe: Yeah.

Bob Zybach: What is his discussion concerning the paint, is he in favor of restoring it to a certain era?

Lorna Grabe: I didn't talk to him about that, actually.

Bob Zybach: What's your preference?

Lorna Grabe: I think it should be preserved exactly as it was when it was used here, even though we're showing slates. We're becoming more and more purists; I don't want reproductions of anything. And I think it should be ... I love the red with the white trim, but I think even the electricity should be

Lorna Grabe: taken out. I think we should ... right now we have it turned off because we don't want to pay the ten dollars a month whether we use it or not, and we were just using it for making coffee for our open houses, you know. Now we're serving punch or something instead, and it's working out just fine.

Bob Zybach: And you always use wood heat or from the generator?

Lorna Grabe: Right. A generator was suggested.

Bob Zybach: Are there other members right now ... the purpose originally was to get electricity in, reroof it, and get a coat of paint on it. What's the purpose of the Foundation now in 1989?

Lorna Grabe: The purpose is still exactly as the constitution says, and we print that in every membership letter we put out. "The purpose of this Foundation is to maintain and improve as a public building, the Soap Creek School and its grounds, and to preserve and restore it as a historic site." I would say the biggest change that we've made from the original is that in the original they said that it could also be used for a picnic area. I think the old picnics that people used to bring fried chicken and bring a basket of stuff out and sit down on a blanket and eat it were the concept of a picnic. Now it is to bring your barbecue with a fire. Since Oregon is so dry here in the valley in the summer it would be a real fire hazard if people started having fires there. Also there is so much throw away litter now, that there would be such