OUT OF THE PAST

Coasting Parties--24 JULY 1958

It wouldn't do to leave out one of these past memories the coasting parties we used to have.

They took part mostly on BEGLEY's Hill, THOMPSON's Hill, SCHMERHORN's Hill and the River Hill to the bridge and the Depot Hill on the south side of town. These were very good hills to coast on those days but when I last saw them in 1956, I was amazed at how we could find enough slope to slide on.

We used hand sleds mostly but, of course, tried everything that would slide including barrel staves and skis and the most slippery things in the world-shoe-packs. You were the master of equilibrium if you were able to maintain an upright posture on an inclined plane with a pair of shoe-packs on. The man who invented those things almost busted the law of inertia almost completely. They are now regulated almost completely to where the woodbine eternal twineth and the younger set now are that much safer from knobs on the back of their heads, etc.  Handsleds became a little too tame for a large crowd of us one wonderful moonlight night and we wondered why we couldn't find a way for all to go downhill together. There was a tote sled of Dad's by the barn and we all got together and pushed it over to the top of the Black River Hill and tied the largest hand-sled to the end of the tongue so it could be turned and chose up for the kid to ride the sled and steer it down the hill and then all the rest piled on the tote sleigh.  Boy, what a thrill it was and away we went and clear on to the middle of the bridge. Then came the job of all pushing it back up the hill and a job it was to push those heavy sleighs, too. It must have been worth the work for we did it quite a lot after that until one night.

We coasted a few times that night and it came time for Baxter MARVIN to steer us down. My it was nice coasting that night and how we did go down that hill. But this time the guiding sled runner must have hit a little rock and it turned the sled to the right so quick he could not straighten it out. The approach to the bridge was graded with a fence on each side of it and whang, right into that fence went Baxter with us shoving him hard right into those posts, and a scared bunch of kids was right there and then. So we gathered him up and put him on the sleigh and all pushed him clear to the doctor. The doctor stretched him out and felt him over but he didn't seem to have any bones broken but he surely was terribly sore.

This was our first sight of the old needle and the doctor pushed it far into Baxter and we kids did wince. The next day Baxter was at school but he was somewhat impeded in his locomotion for a few days. That was the last time we used the old tote sleighs and I have often wondered since, what would have happened if we had met someone coming to
town in the opposite direction for we never made any provision for clearing the tracts for the events.

SOURCE: Greenwood Gleaner: July 24, 1958 Thursday Smith H. Miller, LaConner, WA