Two sets of brothers and Les Taylor, on far left, joshed with each other at Friday’s open house. Taylor, Class of ’52, lives in the valley. The others are, from left, Leroy Lemaster, ’55, Medical Lake; Jim Lemaster, ’61, Conconully; Marv Johnson, ’62, Coulee City and Richard Johnson, ’55, Shelton. They swapped stories of their childhood days, when all kids played outside until dark and everybody helped each other.
By Karen West
Tall tales and insults flew around the Methow Valley Community Center gymnasium Friday (Aug. 11) as alumni of the old Twisp School started gathering for an open house at the former school’s final all-class reunion.
Leroy Lemaster, Class of ’55, took one look at Les Taylor, ’52, and said, “You kicked me all over the football field.” That sparked a group reminiscence about how every boy played football and seniors initiated freshmen with some pretty rough treatment. But there were no hard feelings on Friday, just good-natured joshing and laughter.
Lemaster, who has worked at Lakeland Village in Medical Lake, Washington, for the past 56 years, is the grandson of Cynthia Lemaster Bailey.
According to early valley history, Bailey arrived in the Methow via horse-drawn stagecoach on a sweltering July day in 1910. She told people that after seeing rattlesnakes that first day she prayed all night that she’d live ‘til morning so she could leave “this boiling hell.” But she stayed and helped populate the place with kids and grandkids. She became known as the legendary “Mother of the Methow Valley” for her cooking at a string of cafes she owned and for her kindness. She fed all comers whether they could pay or not, including throughout the Great Depression.
At the reunion, Lemaster recalled the delicious dinners and pies he ate at his grandma’s.
“Your grandmother put the first clothes on my bare bottom,” added Taylor, who claimed he was born outdoors on a rock.
Asked where he lives now, a straight-faced Taylor took full advantage of the moment. “I got me a hole dug in a bank out here. I crawl in and sleep on a buffalo robe, wrapped in a couple of bear skins.”
Then a twinkle lit up his eyes: “I live in a motorhome up the Twisp-Winthrop road.”
“Heck,” said a bystanding crony, “I wanted to hear how you got the bear skins.”
Donna Filer Schulz, Class of ’60, was a leader of the reunion organizing committee. “I grew up surrounded by men like these,” she said. “You could never believe anything they said.”
Schulz, who has no regrets about returning home to Twisp after a stretch on The Coast, as natives of Eastern Washington call everything west of the Cascade crest. She has deep family roots here; the first Filer moved to the valley in 1888.
Carol Filer, who married into the family, has been the all-class reunion ticket and money lady for some years, and maintains the official class records.
Filer said the work of organizing reunions falls to aging alumni who live in Twisp, which is why this was the final all-class gathering. She and Schulz were assisted by Billie and Chas Somerville, Rita Hanan, Karen Dahl and Loretta Maltais.
Friday’s open house was followed by dancing to live music by the Hottells, and a sold-out dinner on Saturday. The food was prepared by Kathy Borgersen’s Sunflower Catering. Her late mother was a Twisp School alum.
Donn Bigelow, 91, who graduated in 1944, was the oldest Twisp High School graduate at the dinner, said Filer. Cecelia Stokes Campbell, 96, who graduated in 1938, came for part of the day.
The oldest surviving graduate is 104-year-old Helen Watson Krinke from the Class of 1931 who lives outside Twisp. She was unable to attend. Krinke and Campbell both grew up on Beaver Creek.
Twisp and Winthrop school reunions gather more valley history into one room than you’re likely ever to find in one spot — descendants of first settlers and those who planted themselves here later as the valley grew.
The former Twisp School building, now the Methow Valley Community Center, opened in 1912 and housed all grades. The first eight grades were on the main floor and high schooler had the second floor and basement.
The first high school commencement was in 1912 at the Twisp Opera House. There were 10 graduates, including a Filer. The last graduating class was 1973 just before the school district was consolidated and the rival Twisp Yellowjackets and Winthrop Pirates became the Liberty Bell High School Mountain Lions.
