from Cleo Mann

We moved from Connell WA to our farm on Elm Road in March of 1957. We rented a trailer from Doyle Mathews to live in. No Water or any plumbing. We did have electricity and the biggest sand pile in the world and lots of sage brush. Christine was 4, Kim 3, and Cheryl 6 weeks old. “But we had some land”.

We went to Church in the old Eltopia School House. We were so glad when they moved to the Church building out on the farm unit. We all worked on the Church farm to get us a new building. I remember thinning beets with Cheryl hanging on my back and Kim and Christine playing at the end of the rows.

I was Camp and Sports Director for years. It was fun after work, which we all had to work. “Oh, those sprinklers had to be changed”. We played softball. We had a team of 23 girls. We traveled to Connell, Basin City, Pasco, Kennewick, Richland, and Walla Walla. There were the Adamson girls, Robinsons, Rigby, Cheney, Bitton, Herron, Bleazard, Nelson, Baker, Asay, Gibbons, Withers, Woodard, Hopes, Naef, Merrill and two nonmembers the Vance girls all got to play, IF, they came to church and practice.

We had a Volkswagon (Beetle). I put 8 girls and myself in the car. We had 2 other cars full. I would tell Warren the meat loaf and baked potatoes were in the oven and away we would go. We won some games but I hope the Sportsmanship trophy was the most important.

We went on many camp trips to Idaho, Elgen, WA, Catherine Creek, Union, OR and Canada and Burbank WA on the Snake River. We took our boat and the girls got to water ski. Then things got tough and I had to go to work at the potato plant, which I did until we moved to Vancouver, WA in 1973.

Warren worked in the sugar factory every winter for 8 years at Moses Lake, WA. He drove 63 miles up and 63 miles home every day. We grew mostly all alfalfa and some wheat on the farm. He got a truck and hauled most of his hay to the coast. He was a Stake Missionary two different times.

The reason we moved was Warren’s asthma cleared up when he would bring a load of hay to the coast.

Christine graduated high school in Pasco and when we moved she worked in a sheltered workshop here in Vancouver. She is now retired and is still here at home with us. She enjoyed a bowling league for many years.

Kim, our son, left on his mission from CBW in November of 1972. He served in the Florida Tallahassee mission. He has 2 boys and 2 girls and 6 grandsons.

Cheryl has 1 son and twins (a girl & a boy). She served a mission in the Frankfurt Germany mission in May 1980.

Kim and Cheryl both live in the Vancouver area.

Warren worked for 5 ½ years in the plywood plant. In 1978 he had a stroke. That was 31 years ago. He hasn’t been able to work since the stroke.

When the Columbia Basin Ward building was being built we all helped feed the workers. One of the boys, Roland Harris lived with us for a few months. There was Jerry who was older and Hewey and of course the Asays. What great memories.

We are so thankful for being in the Columbia Basin Ward and all the memories.

Cleo