10. A New Week Begins... June 22, 1964...

Will pick up after these words from yesterday...

"Monday morning we would return to a restaurant where a Mr.  Lutz seemed to be thinking there would be a job for me.
*************

My story continues...
Mr. Lutz said they still hadn't made a decision but I should come back on Tuesday at 4:00 PM.  
From a letter dated Tuesday, June 23, 1964...

"We've been here 1 whole week.  Seems more like a month... 

"A store here is looking for clerks & we plan to be interviewed for that later.  It would pay $40 / wk without R or B.  That isn't too good but we could change if something better came up later.

"I got my check cashed O.K.  Sure was good to get it.  (The check was payment from a shoe store when my mother returned a pair of shoes I had purchased but decided not to keep.  They had cost $14.00 so that payment was very welcome.)

"Our colds are better..."

"Just stopped at Mrs. Lutz Foods but Mr. Lutz wasn't there so I won't know until tomorrow morning about the job..."

9. Heart Breaking / Heart Warming...Sunday, June 21, 1964...

My previous post concluded with this:

How would prayers be answered - jobs or a premature return to WI from Colorado for my sister and me?  Will continue the story...

The last letter from which I shared some information had been written on a Friday - our 4th day in Estes Park.  I reported that we would be moving from the Bunkhouse to a cabin only a short distance away on the same property.

We made that move on Saturday, June 20th.  It seems the cabin needed a good scrubbing which we began to tackle as soon as we moved in.  It was wonderful to have warm water, heat, a kitchen and a living room with a handsome fireplace.  

On Sunday, we returned to the Baptist Church.  We had visited for the first time on the previous Wednesday evening for a prayer meeting service.  The church was less than a mile from our cabin so the walk there was not much of a challenge.

As soon as the service was over and we had been greeted by many, we left and walked back to our cabin.  Since this was Father's Day, I'm sure there had been an emphasis on Fathers which probably conjured up in each of us gratitude for our own father and some sadness that we were so far from him that day.

We now had a kitchen so had "stocked" the cupboard and refrigerator with a few food items on our walk to town on the usual job search outing the day before.     

My next memories are some of my most vivid from that summer - heart breaking and heart warming entwined as gifts from God.  

8. The Letter I Was Hoping Never to Write... June 19, 1964...

This concluded my post yesterday...          

June 19, 1964

Dear Folks,

"I don't really know how to begin this letter.  I'm afraid I won't be able to express myself as I would really like to but I'll try.  I was hoping I'd never have to write this kind of a letter but I'm afraid that now it is necessary...

To continue...

"To put it bluntly, things are rather rough out here.  We still don't have jobs even though we've tried almost every place in Estes Park.  Everyday we hike down town to the employment agency but without any encouragement.  Most every place we've gone to has told us they have all the help they need.

"This morning, however, one place took our names if we planned to be here for the next 1 1/2 weeks.  This would be waitress work.

7. Happy Father's Day from Estes Park, CO...June 18, 1964...

I have been in Estes Park, CO for two days.  My sister and I are searching for summer jobs as waitresses in order to make money to pay for college.

We are 1,200 miles from home...

• no car
• no personal phone
• no friends or family nearby
• $14 between the 2 of us 
• both have really bad colds
• beds in a bunkhouse with no heat or hot water or kitchen
• nighttime temperatures are in the 30's to low 40's
• broken window beside our beds allows cold breezes to keep us chilled
• but we are actively searching every business in town as we seek employment

I wrote a number of letters to my parents and I continue with some quotes from a letter I sent my Dad for Father's Day that year...

6. First Day in Estes Park, CO... June 16, 1964...

"The bus ticket to Denver is $2.20."  

This was the last line in yesterday's post.

*****************

It is June 16, 1964.  

I am 19 years old.  

I have just finished my freshman year of college at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

I am about to board a bus in Colorado Springs which will take my sister, Kathy, and me to Denver as we wend our way to Estes Park where we hope to find lucrative jobs so that we can save money to help pay our college expenses for the next year.   

Letters I wrote home to my parents which my mother saved are helping me tell my story.

Tuesday, June 16...

"...We got to Denver fine but found out there wasn't a bus leaving for Estes until 9:00am this morning. 

5. Letters Home...Estes Park Chronicles in Quotes... June 1964

With the letters I wrote home from Estes Park, CO located, I will continue my story with frequent quotes.  

Sharing today will include some additional facts about my travel adventures in getting to Estes Park.  Many of these details had been deeply tucked into hiding for me but have mostly been recalled as my letters have been reread - some of the details, however, are a surprise even to me as the memory no longer has lingered. 

4. Job Search Begins in Estes Park, CO,,, June 1964

Yesterday's post:
The story of my summer in Estes Park continues..
I concluded my last "chapter" with these words:

But a new day meant that job search must begin.  Somehow we got dressed and headed back toward town with plans to find a job.  
Our hopes were high...

******************

Our hopes were high.  We were eager to get started as we felt sure there would be a job somewhere in that bustling tourist town.

One of the first things we wanted to do that day, however, was to find the Post Office.  We had not yet any way to inform our parents of our progress so far.  We had not made any calls to them since we left home about a week earlier. 

3. Meeting Mom Manford in Estes Park, CO... June 1964...

Previous Posts:
Last paragraph yesterday: 
With her name and address, hope in our hearts and the need for a bed for the night, we headed off in the direction of her home on the south east edge of town.
***************************************
I was very grateful for a sister with whom to share my experiences in the summer of 1964.  We were both focused on the same need so there was no argument concerning what we needed to do next.  

Somehow we learned what direction to head in order to find Mom Manford's home.  It seemed people in that community knew who she was.  Fortunately it was a beautiful day so being on foot did not present a problem.

View from Park St. in August as I started the climb to Bascom Hall.

It was probably about 2 miles from the Employment office to Mom Manford's home.  Both my sister and I were used to physical exertion - farm girls?  Plenty of physical labor in our background. And the University of Wisconsin is built on rolling hills (see photos) so I had tramped many miles in going to classes over the past year.  Hiking around Estes Park was not daunting. 

2. The Road to Estes Park, CO in 1964...

I concluded yesterday's post with these lines:

When we arrived there, we were applicants numbers 95 and 96 to apply for jobs.... that day!!!  

And we were told there were no jobs for any of us!!!
************************************************************
The story continues.  It is June 16, 1964...
 
Though it seemed nearly hopeless, we filled out application forms and walked back onto the street.  What good that did I don't really know because we had no way for any prospective employer to locate us.  Of course there were no cell phones and since we didn't have a place of residence yet, we had no contact info.  We must have left the office promising to return often for updates on local job openings.  We were advised by the office personnel that our only possible way to find a job would be to walk into all local establishments, introduce ourselves and ask if there were any job openings.  Maybe in time there would be something.

Our most pressing need at the moment, however, was to find a place to spend the night and the foreseeable future.  

1. Returning to My Estes Park, CO Chronicles...

On March 8, 2012, I began to tell some stories from the first summer I spent working in Estes Park, CO which followed my freshman year at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.  My initial purpose was in order to introduce my dear friend, Joyce Bennett.  

As the story began to unfold, I realized it was much bigger, broader and longer than a blog or two.  I posted 4 entries as I began to tell about my Estes Park experiences.   I then was interrupted with my experience for a month in Europe to be Grandnanny for one of my grandsons while we toured with his parents.  And following that tour, life happened for me without a return to the story until today.

I have not forgotten that I promised a return and several sweet friends have entreated me to finish the story so I will begin writing today toward that goal.

But as I return to the story, I will repost the 4 previous entries over the next 4 days and then hopefully carry on with the story.