File #4274: "Transcription"

Transcription

Richard Barb Interview
Transcribed by Emmy Freedman
Emmy: Please state your name.
Richard: Richard Barb.
E: Where are you from?
R: Jerome, Virginia. Born in 1938. September 29th.
You weren’t born on Bird Haven?
No. We moved to Bird Haven when I was in first grade. I was seven years old. And I lived
there until I joined the air force in 1958.
When did it close down?
You know, everyone asks me this, and nobody knows the answer. But near as I can figure it
was between ’60, ’61, that time. Because I was home from Iwo Jima in 1959. And I came
back from Germany in 1963. And somewhere in between it closed.
I left in ’58 and I was gone for four and a half years.
Did you continue school at Bird Haven?
First grade, we were living in Jerome at first. I started school at Charlie Miller school down
by the church. They closed it, so then I had to go to grade school in Conicville, Virginia.
Then we moved up here and they switched me to Mt. Herman school, which is closed and
gone now. And then from there I went to Tripley.
What was your experience like living there?
Bird Haven? I just lived there. See, my parents both worked at the community workers
store. My daddy was a foreman, he ran the place. And my mother basically sprayed all the
stuff with a new finish. They both worked there until it closed.
Did your parents have those jobs before they moved there?
Yes. Yes, I don’t really know what year they started but I’d say it was around ’30-something.
1935, ’36. Originally the place built wooden toys and jigsaw puzzles. Then they switched to
making bowls later on, which is what they were doing back when I first was around.
Did they move there out of convenience?

Yep. They wanted him there because he always made sure the fire was turned off at night
and everything because fire… this, that and the other and they ask him all the time anytime
anyone wanted to know anything. He basically had the heart and the farm.
Were there a lot of other people there?
No. In Bird Haven there was three houses. The one we lived in, the one the owner lived in
and then our old homeplace down below my great great grandfather had built or built.
Did you get to play with the toys that were made there?
Yeah, I played with the toys, which I don’t have anymore. But, you know, it’s like anything
else. Time changes. But they had the toys, they used to have the jigsaw puzzles. Now, one of
the kids we had was Hubert. Now, he was there in the homeplace. But they were the only
ones around there in Bird Haven.
Did you have a favorite puzzle?
Well, I got one hanging in the bedroom that’s never been cut out. It’s just a picture of a deer
jumping through the woods.
Do you have a favorite memory from Bird Haven?
Well, basically the fact that you could do what you wanted to do. We used to go hunting, I
could go fishing in the little stream and the little trout would come up from Stony. And just
running around free through the woods.
How far was school?
Well, it was about six miles to Mt. Herman. But I had to walk from the house to the road to
wait for the bus, which was basically a mile.
Did kids from school like to come over and play here?
No. When you left school, that was it. You didn’t see them until the next day.
How did you learn woodworking?
Practiced. (Points to table) I did quite a few things that I give away to people because when
I was in Tennessee I had a woodworking shop that I built 20 by 40 and I built people stuff
and gave it to people. Like my Godson, I made a cradle for him. It was the type that sat on a
pedestal. All you do is pull a couple pins out and the whole thing came apart. I made it out
of cherry, just like that. Made with Virginia cherry.
What’s the best wood for woodworking?

Uh. Well, maple and walnut and cherry are all real hard woods. They’re a little hard to work
with, but still I like the walnut. But it’s rather expensive.
But can you sell it for more?
Oh, yes.
Did you make other things?
Yeah, I made a few other things. I made kitchen cabinets and I made a bed for my son when
he was living in Tennessee in Knoxville. A lot of little stuff.
Do you have a favorite thing you built?
Oh, the cradle I made for my godson. Made it out of cherry, too.
How long did it take you to make it?
Well, I was working full-time so I only did it in the evenings or whenever I got home
because a lot of times I’d be gone for weekends. So it took me quite a while, about six to
eight months. But I had it done before he was born.
How old is he now?
Oh, God, he’s probably 50.
Is the cradle still around?
Oh yes, they got it.
So it stayed through the generations?
His kids slept in it, too.
E: (pointing to blankets around the house) Did someone make these blankets, too?
R: My wife made them. She made that. She was doing that type of stuff all the time.
Did she experience Bird Haven?
Yeah, a little. But not much. Because we came back from Germany in ’63.
What was the hardest part about living in Bird Haven?
Fact that there just wasn’t anything there. I mean, to get your groceries and everything you
either have to go out to a little community store or you have to go to Mt. Jackson.

What was your experience in the military like?
I enjoyed it. I mean the basic training, that was a pain, but it really wasn’t that bad because I
used to stomp up and down the hills here in Bryce all the time so I was in the condition for
it.
Did living on Bird haven help prepare you?
Well, you definitely got your exercise in because going to school I had to walk a mile each
way to get to the bus. Plus stomping through the woods all the time. I mean, working in the
garden and cutting wood and this, that and the other weren’t that enjoyable, but we did it.
Did you say you were in the Air Force?
Yep.
Where were you stationed?
I started out in San Antonio for basic and then I went to Amarillo for tech school and from
there I went to Iwo Jima and then from Iwo Jima I went to Germany for three years. So I got
to see a little bit of country.
And you met your wife in Germany?
Right, she worked for Vantage Radio over in Ramstein air force station where I was
stationed and I did work for them at night. That’s how I got tangled up with her.
When did you get married, and where?
We got married in ’62 in Ramstein, Germany, and she passed away, let’s see, right at 20
years ago.
What was your favorite thing about her?
She was a good hard worker. You could trust her. She didn’t go out and blow money. These
other guys, their wives would drive them crazy trying to make enough money to keep them
going. She wasn’t like that. If she spent over $20, we discussed it first. Even though she had
a check book and knew exactly what we had.
Do you have any kids?
One son. He lives in Brewer, Maine.
So your son grew up around here?

Yeah. He grew up in, let’s see, Bird Haven, Chesapeake, Virginia, Jacksonville, Florida, and
Murfreesboro, Tennessee. We sorta moved all over like military.
How did he like Bird Haven?
He liked it. But he was so little he didn’t realize what was going on at the time.
Right. How old was he when you moved away?
When we moved away from Bird Haven he was probably six or seven. Something like that.
Because he ended up going to college in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, MTSU.
So once you got back from your service, what did you do here?
What did I do? I worked for Bryce’s for a little while and then I went to work for Eileen,
which was a clothing manufacturer in Edinburg. I was in charge of production and control
and as for that I drove tractor trailers for 30 years and then I retired and that was it.
That’s all the jobs I ever had.
So woodworking has always been more of a hobby?
Just a hobby, yeah.
Do you still get to do it?
Every once in a while when I get the energy.
Are you working on anything right now?
No.
What was the last thing you made?
Probably just some picture frames.
Do you want to tell us about your childhood on Bird Haven?
Childhood on Bird Haven? You just, well. We did a lot of hunting, go out and gather
mushrooms in the summer. Go fishing. And every weekend we usually go to the river or
something out in Mt. Jackson and do some more fishing. Did a lot of, y’know … I was never
into sports, other than hunting. And fishing. Sports at school, no. I read library books. That
was my big thing. As many books as I could get out, I’d read it. It didn’t matter what it was.
What’s a really good book you read recently?

Uh, Jesus. I can’t even think now. The last one was one of Bill O’Reilly’s and I can’t even
think of the name of it right now. I just jump from one type of book to the other, it doesn’t
make a difference. I like a lot of stuff with World War II, Vietnam War and then just old
Westerns or whatever. Like I’m reading John Grisham now. So, you know, I just jump
around.
Do you still like to hunt now?
No. I gave that up. I couldn’t bring myself to shoot an animal anymore.
What did you like about hunting when you were younger?
I dunno, it was just a challenge. You would just see which could outsmart the other one.
Who usually won?
It did.
What would you shoot at?
Deer, squirrels, rabbits.
Were they everywhere?
Yeah. Back then they were.
How big was Bird Haven?
Well, land-wise, I think it was 75 to 100 acres maybe. But then before it was all over with I
think it was close to 300 acres.
Did your parents live on it until it closed?
Yeah.
And then what did they do?
They went and worked for Rocko’s back in Edinburg. Poultry plant. There weren’t many
jobs around?
Do you have a lot of neighbors?
I got one of the first to come in, Christina, who im related to. And then on the left, next
house on the left is Bernadette and her husband. And then across the road is the Pope boy
who lives there. Down there I got another relative, Gary and Linda baker. And then theres

another house being built one of these days on the left, then you got jimmy Delaurey and
his wife and bill bean. And that’s it. That’s the whole neighborhood.
E: We drove by one house where two dogs chased us down the road?
R: The one on the right or the one on the left?
E: Left.
R: Oh, you’re talking about that first house there. I always play with that dog when I come
in, especially the white one. Ill stop at the bottom of the hill and make him come down and
then we race each other to the other end of the road.
E: They’re very energetic. They were out-racing my car for a little while.
Oh, yeah, he loves to do that.
Is it nice and peaceful out here?
Very quiet.
Is that why you wanted to stay in the area?
Yep.
Despite living in Florida?
Well, I lived in Jacksonville, Florida, that was nice. But it was still too many people. And I
lived in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, for 21 years but I was out on the out of town. When I
first moved there you could leave the driveway and be in the middle of town in five
minutes. Now you’re lucky if you can get out of the driveway in five minutes.
What happens when it snows?
Not really. If it gets too deep I just stay home. Nah, this last snow we had eight inches I was
out plowing snow from probably about 8:00 until 12. Opening up people’s driveways and
the road going out.
Do you ever go to Harrisonburg?
Yeah. I go up to the VA all the time. Out on 42.
What’s your favorite thing to do there? Or are there too many people?

Harrisonburg? (laughs) Go to Costco, get groceries and come home. Yeah I usually go up
there a lot of times to see a movie. If they got a good war movie I’ll go … Like “Hacksaw
Ridge.”
How was that?
That was great. Based on a true story, of a guy who was conscientious, objective, but he
wanted to serve so he became a medic. Yeah, it was very interesting.
Do you have a favorite movie that depicts war really well?
Probably the one on Charlie and company in World War II.
What’s your favorite thing about this whole area?
Well, this was Bird Haven until they incorporated everything. Bird Haven had its own post
office. When they closed up, they closed the post office and somewhere it just more or less
disappeared and everything was called Basye. See the old original building when you first
went in, where they had the showroom upstairs, there used to be a dentist office on the
right side, post office on the left side and then the back end, that’s where they got all the
products ready and packed them up and boxed them and shipped them out. And the next
floor up was the showroom for tourists. And the next floor they had all the labeling
equipment for labeling the boxes and everything.
Was your house on Bird Haven like this one?
Yep. Except it was an old house. I mean it was old, old.
What year do you think it was built?
Probably back about the ’20s. Maybe. Or maybe earlier than that.
How far was it from where we’re sitting now?
From where we’re sitting now? Just straight over the hill. Maybe a half, three-quarters mile.
Does it still exist?
Yeah. It’s still there. And the old homeplace is still there.
Do people live there?
No. The only one, the Carrs built a new house where the owner’s house used to be. They
tore it down and built a new one.
How long have you lived here?

Here? I’ve only lived here now for about 12, 13 years. Because I built this house with my
mother, and she passed away when I was living away from here. And then I decided one
day that I’d move back home. So I came back up here and did a bunch of work. Put new
flooring in, new siding on. Everything. And moved in.
Does your son ever come back up and visit?
He comes every once in a while. Mainly I go to Maine.
Do you like it there?
It’s all right. Winter’s sorta a little discouraging for me. 10, 15, 20 below zero is for the
birds. Especially with all the snow. Well, my grandson is in Limestone, Maine, going to
school and my son got a weather forecast for him for 15 days. Out of the 15 days, they were
supposed to have snow 11.
What’s your favorite activity to do here on a normal day?
Read my books.
Where’s your favorite spot to read?
Right where she’s sitting on the sofa. In fact, I was sitting there reading when you came up.
That magazine there. Yeah, it’s talking about World War I. It’s been a hundred years since
that.
What’s your cat’s name?
Peaches.
Is Peaches good company when you’re reading?
Yeah, she lays on my lap. Well, actually, I put the recliner up and she lays between my legs.
When did you get Peaches?
My girlfriend’s son brought those two over here. (points to painting of two cats above the
couch.) And they were little kittens. And something happened to it. Someone either shot it
or a coyote got the black one. And he’s been here ever sense. It’s probably been a year and
half, two years now.
Does she shed a lot?
Yes. Yeah, you need a vacuum cleaner all the time.

Does Peaches ever go outside?
All time time. Yeah, she got a door. She goes through the sliding glass door. It’s got a section
in it, it’s got an animal door in the bottom of it where they go in and out.
She never got attacked by the dogs?
Not that I know of. She never said anything.
Camille: Were there any animals at Bird Haven?
Yeah, my dog. I always had a dog when I was a kid.
Like a hunting dog?
Nah, just a mutt. When I was homeschooled at Bird Haven, someone threw a dog out and
she had pups and I got one of them. It was a good dog. It hunted. It’d bring my mother
rabbits. Alive. She was always proud. She’d sit in the door of the paint shop where Mom
worked and sat there with her rabbit when she was ready to go off work.
Did your parents like Bird Haven?
Oh yeah. You see it was my dad’s homeplace was right there on Bird Haven. He was born in
West Virginia, but they also had a place there where they stayed. My dad’s mother was fullblooded Cherokee Indian. And she believed that you should own property because they
don’t make anymore and she died when I was a baby, probably out and maybe two or three
months old and she had a massive heart attack and died. So I never do remember her.
Do you keep up Cherokee traditions?
No, we can’t document it. We know who we are, but we can’t document it. Even my cousin
out in Oklahoma tried to adopt the manner of it and couldn’t.
Why not?
Well, nobody’s got a record of it.
Your grandmother also lived on bird Haven?
Yep.
Was she born there?
I don’t know where she was born, somewhere in Carolina.
How did your family end up on Bird Haven?

I have no idea. That’s before my time. I guess mainly because my daddy worked there. He’d
been there for years. Ever since I can remember. So it was prior to ’38.
So that was just home to him?
Yeah.
What about your mom’s family?
She was born in Jerome. She was one of 13 kids and they lived on a small farm and all the
kids had to work on the farm.
But then they moved?
Yeah, she always worked somewhere.
So your parents had really skillful trades?
Right.
Do you remember a lot about what they did?
Yeah, I remember most of it. Like my grandmother and grandfather were farmers and a lot
of the kids, one was a school teacher, another used to be a manager of Leggett’s department
stores up in Delaware but Harrisonburg is where he started. Used to be one of them on
main street. Right where the square is. And they worked all kinds of jobs. They had one that
was a mechanic down in Martinsurg, West Virginia, another kept running the farm. And the
girls, they all married and lived all over the country. But, basically, all of them are still in
Virginia. Now there’s one girl left she’s about 95 right now. And there’s two — one, two,
three — of the boys left. And they’re all in their 80s.
Do you keep in touch with anyone that you knew from Bird Haven?
There’s no one here really to keep in touch with. Well, David Kline, yeah I know him. And
Kurtis and Robert. They’re brothers. That’s about it. Now Leroy Pope, down in Edinburg,
gotta see him every once in a while. Now he worked back here. Which was funny because
he was back at Bob’s little store back here, trying to find Bird Haven. And my daddy’s there
and he asked him “well, what do you want to know about it?” and he was like “Well I wanna
see if I can get a job.” And he said, “Well, I’ll take you back and show you where it’s at.” And
then he said “you’re hired.” And he said “What do you mean?” “You’re hired. I just hired
you.” So he worked there for years, too.
So did you learn woodworking from your dad?
Basically, from watching him and everything.

Was he a good teacher?
Yeah. I tried to get him to open up his own shop after it closed there but he wouldn’t do it.
He was afraid of this and that, you know.
Would you ever wanna do that?
I don’t really wanna do anything now. I’m too old to worry about it.
What year did you retire?
I retired when I was 62. So must’ve been 16 years ago.
Yeah. I mean I do whatever I want to do. I don’t do whatever I don’t want to do.
I mean every summer I like to ride my bike. Oh, long trips. I like going to Texas, down to
Florida. You name it.
How long does that take?
Well, if I go to the West Coast, it takes about a month. You know, by the time you see things,
go to Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, four corners and around through Utah. There’s a lot of
scenery.
And I love to stop at museums. Especially the military museums.
What’s the best one you’re been to?
Pensacola. The naval station. They have a gigantic air museum there. Now this summer I
wanna go to Dayton, Ohio, and go through the Air Force Museum there. That’ll probably
take three days or so. To go through it. I like to see everything while I’m there. I don’t like to
rush through it.
Have you taken a bike trip to Florida before?
Yep. I went to Pensacola.
Are you going to bike to Dayton?
Yup. All my traveling I do during the summer is on motorcycle.
Soon as the weather breaks. Our first trip will be the third Sunday in May. We go to Pigeon
Forge. Which is just a short trip. To some of the other guys it’s a long trip but for me it’s just
getting started. I drove to Maine, been up to Canada.

Yeah, I just like the idea, I don’t know why.
What’s the farthest you’ve gone?
I’ve gone all the way to California, all the way up into Canada. California would be the
farthest. I think that trip we rode almost 8,000 miles.
What was your favorite sight to see?
Yellowstone.
Did you go and explore?
Yeah, we rode all through Yellowstone, we saw Old Faithful, you name it. We saw it all.
E: Do you know the band Rush?
R: What?
E: My dad likes this band called Rush. And the drummer, whenever they go on tour, he just
rides his motorcycle to the places.
R: Oh, ok.
E: And he writes books about it, too. So what was the most recent trip you’ve taken?
Well, I just went to Pigeon Forge. I had a lot of doctor’s appointments so I couldn’t really do
any riding last year. The year before that I went to Waco, Texas, to the Texas Rangers
Museum and down to Corpus Christi and down in that aircraft carrier. That was a good trip.
Especially when you get down to that hundred-degree weather. Now, Palo Duro Canyon is
fun too. It’s just south of Amarillo. Yeah, it’s the second largest canyon in the United States.
Who do you go on these trips with?
My nephew and I went to Utah one year. We was gone about three weeks, I guess. And back
through Colorado and around. A lot of times I go with Glenn Franklin and Money
Shoemaker, Jerry Crowder, Larry Prior. Just about a dozen of us that I ride with. Usually
there’s only about four of us at a time. Or just two when the nephew and I go. We plan to go
to Alaska in a year but he had an accident in the big city of Harrisonburg and broke his
wrist. That eliminated that.
Do you wear a leather jacket?
A lot of times I wear a short-sleeved shirt.

Yeah, it gets a little warm. Leather is hot. I got a leather jacket I wear sometimes. I got the
other with all the back support and the elbows. But that one was fairly cool in the summer
because it’s got little air holes all over it. But still you got the protection. But when I got in
the accident, when I had the leather jacket on, back in ’63, still got mud on it I haven’t been
able to get off.
Have you ever seen Rolling Thunder in D.C.?
I’ve seen it on TV, but I’ve never been to it. That’s too much of a crowd for me.
E: It’s overwhelming.
R: Yeah. Have you been involved with it?
E: Sometimes my parents and I go on a little bike road over there and watch it…
R: Yeah, that is a mess.
E: It’s cool though.
R: Yeah. Been to Vietnam wall? World War II monument? The Iwo Jima monument?
Yep.
R: Oh, you’ve been to all of them.
Yeah, I live very close.
And the Korean War one?
Yeah.
Oh, ok.
R: You know, the guy who did the Iwo Jima monument used to live in Mt. Clifton. Yep. That’s
where he passed away at.
What inspired him to make it?
I guess just seeing the flag raise in Iwo Jima so then he made the monument. In fact, I got
pictures somewhere on the Iwo. There was like a set in stone cliff. Some GI had come in
there and carved out the flag raising on there and then white-washed it. And it looks just
like looking at the statue. This guy was really good. But I don’t know who did it. See when I
was there on the anniversary of the battle, they had the marines come in and they would
have this ceremony and raise a new flag on top of Mt. Suribachi. Now the Japanese own it
again.

Have you been up to those monuments in D.C.?
Yeah, I’ve seen all of them.
Did you ride your bike?
No, not for that. That was years ago.
What took you to D.C.?
Just to see those monuments and things. And I’ve been to Arlington Cemetery. A few years
ago I went down for a friend of ours. He had died and got buried there and we went out for
the services. Which was very interesting.
It’s so beautiful there.
Yeah, it’s well-kept.
What was the service like?
It was very enlighting. Because of the case and everything, the way they do it. And what
really gets you is they got all those tombstones laid out. I mean … it’s amazing how many
people are buried there.
E: I like how Peaches likes the tripod case a lot.
R: Well, all you gotta do is throw a paper box down and she’ll be in it.
Such a typical cat. Is she good company?
Yeah, she’s a pain but she’s good company.
Cats, they don’t talk a lot.
They don’t give you any backtalk either.
When was the last time you had a dog?
Oh, God, it’s been 10, 12 years ago. See the little picture up here? Beside my grandson? The
dog there, licking my head? That was the last dog I had. He was about 20 years old when I
had to have him put to sleep. His heart was so bad that he couldn’t walk. He couldn’t walk
from me to you. He’d keel over.
That’s a long life, though.

Yeah, he was a good little mutt. He was supposed to be a purebred with long hair, a Mexican
Chihuahua, but we never could figure out what he was.
What was his name?
Well, I called him Killer a lot, but his name was Teddy.
A little different.
Yep.
Why Killer?
Because he was a mean little devil. Like if you were sitting there, and he was sitting on the
sofa beside you, I couldn’t touch you. Couldn’t even get close to you. If he was sitting beside
her, same story. My dog, but he wouldn’t let me to ya. Whoever he was with, that’s who he’d
protect. When I’d go to work, I’d have to hold his mouth shut if he was beside my wife to
kiss her goodbye.
So protective of other people.
Yeah. And he would bite. My wife got a call one day that if she didn’t come to Germany
within 72 hours she’d never see her mother alive again. So we put the dog in a dog hotel.
And I come home from work at the end of the week and I go down to see him and I couldn’t
bring him home so I took him some rawhide bones to chew on. I walked in and that dog
was jumping that high off the floor because he thought he was going home. And the girls
told me “don’t come back until you’re ready to take him home.” Well, my wife came back
from Germany and picked him up and I come home the second weekend and I say “how you
doing, Teddy?” He bit me in the hand and I mean blood flew everywhere. It was three days
before that dog had a thing to do with me. And I wasn’t the one who put him there, I just
left him there.
But a long-living dog.
Yep. I had a cat that lived for 21 years. After my wife had passed away, I walk out the garage
one day and it was laying there on the mat and I thought it must be sleeping and then I
realized hmm it’s not breathing. Yeah, she just died in her sleep.
Oh, what a way to go … We saw an alpaca on our way here.
Yeah, they get those. It keeps the coyotes out from their cattle and stuff. Oh yeah, they’re
just like a watch dog, except bigger.
I didn’t know that.
Yeah they get ’em and put them in with their cattle and stuff. Keeps coyotes and stuff away.

Are there a lot of them over here?
Quite a few.
Have you ever had one?
Uh-uh. No.
They seem like they’d be fluffy pets.
Noooo, you must be talking about the llama because the alpacas are a lot bigger. They’re
great until they spit on you.
Have you ever been spit on?
No, never been around them much. But if you’re going across Wolf Gap Road into Wes
Virginia, there’s a place over there just after you pass Perry Zoo, on the left, they used to
have 25-30 of those over there. Of the llamas. I don’t know if he sold them or what he did,
but I mean he had a whole field full of them.
Camille: They’re like a really good investment. There’s an alpaca field down in Monida,
Virginia, and my dad has a house down there. And ill go and play with the alpacas. Because
they can be insured and get good money. It’s a good business.
What was the one they had back, not an ostrich, some other type of bird. I mean these
people made all kinds of money and then pfft that was the end of that. But yeah they were
high dollar. Someone said the meat was selling for $60 a pound. But it’s like everything else.
The gold rush is over.
These ones, they like the fibers. It’s good for sweaters and stuff.
Yeah, it’s supposed to be real soft.
So where’s the farthest place you’ve traveled to, outside the United States?
Iwo Jima. I forget how many miles it is to get to Japan, and then you have another 750 from
Japan down to Iwo Jima. One of those Pacific Paradises.
Was it pretty, despite the issues?
It was pretty, like it was ugly. There was a good looking female behind every tree but we
didn’t have anything but a shrub bush. We didn’t have any trees because they’d all been
blown up during the war. Never growing back then until ten years after the war was over.
How long were you there for?

I was there for a year. It was an isolated tour of duty. And it was actually a refueling
emergency landing strip. We had aircrafts … in fact the aircraft than I came from Iwo back
home on had been there four times with engine problems. People would leave and get on a
plane to Japan and end up back at Iwo again until they got the plane fixed again.
What was your favorite thing about serving?
About service? I guess just being with all the other troops. Just like a bunch of brothers, like
a family
In a way, was it like living in Bird Haven?
Well, my family was smaller, it was just three kids and my parents. But right down the road
there, was my grandparents. They had 13 kids and God only knows how many
grandchildren. So it was a pretty tight-knit group.
Do you miss it at all?
At times, yeah. At times I especially miss my parents even though they’ve been gone for
years. Yeah. I miss my wife, too. Even though she’s been gone for 20 years.
I feel like you can never forget that, though.
Yeah, it’s hard to, you know.
Do you have any other final thoughts on Bird Haven?
Not really, no.
I didn’t know anything about it coming into this.
Oh, ok. Well, I remember back when I was a kid the small factory. They had at least 28
people working there. They worked six days a week. That’s how much they had. And after
the owner died, it was left to his step-son and he ran it into the ground. I mean that thing
would still be going if they had had someone who managed it. But he would take everything
they made and instead of putting in orders, I mean they had orders shipping all over the the
United States. He’d take it up to New Market and sell it beside the road and pocket the
money and just let the factory go. And that was the reason it ended up closing up. It wasn’t
that they didn’t have the business. They had the business. But he wouldn’t let them fill the
orders. He was a great guy. His nickname was Parasite.
How did he get that?
That was the nickname I had for him.

Any particular reason why?
Yeah. Because he was always stealing everything. The only thing he was interested in was
himself.
I feel like that’s the antithesis of what Bird Haven was.
True. I don’t know what year it was opened or anything. Here’s some of the stuff that they
made.
A cheese plate, a salad bowl.
Who’s Philip Bard?
I’m not really sure.
Oh, he’s not related to you.
He was a little bit before my time.
Did they have a lot of social events?
No. The main thing around here was uh… oh this is of Bryce Mountain.
What inspired the design of these items?
You know, I have not the faintest idea. They used to make them, I don’t know if it’s in there,
but the big cobbler’s manch. I always wanted one, but never did end up with one. Made out
of magazine racks. And a lot of small stuff. And everything made from maple, they got most
of the lumber out of West Virginia. Had their own dry kiln where they dried it out. They got
it fresh cut.
Did you ever make anything that was sold?
No. Everything I ever made I gave away.
That’s nice. So when you moved back to Bird Haven, where did you work?
When I moved back here I was retired. I didn’t do anything. I’m a firm believer that when
you retire, that’s what it means. You don’t do anything. Except mow the lawn and take care
of your junk.
I look forward to the day.
Well, thank you so much for talking to us. And it’s so pretty out here. It’s a nice reprieve
from college.

Yeah, well just down the road out here there’s a ski slope. Have you been down there?
Well, I was gonna say if you want to I can take you down there and show you that.
Is it right outside?
Yeah. Yeah, we’ll see it.
Do you have anything else you want to add?
Not that I can think of. I’ll think of it after you leave.