Normally I'd put corrections for errors printed in the last issue down at the bottom of this commentary. But this time they themselves are worthy of commentary - a commentary on me.

My story about Bud Lewis had an inordinate number of errors, and I think I know why. To me, the reasons for the errors are as important as the errors themselves.

First the errors:

Bud's son's name is Doug, not Greg as I reported.

The landmark windmill in Hillsdale was not called the "Dutch Mill" but the Dutch Village. The reference to the Village being a restaurant is questioned by reader Carolyn Rust in her letter below. More on that in a minute.

Bud bought his lot for $2250, not $2650.

And finally, as Bud gently pointed out to me, coyotes do NOT run in packs, which is the way I described them. "Groups" is a better description, he said.

First a little background on what I have found out in the course of sorting this out.

When the Dutch Village opened in September 1929 (talk about bad timing, a month before The Crash) it included a gas station, a repair garage, a car dealership (Essex and Hudsons, brands long gone), a pharmacy, a real estate office, a lunch and soda fountain AND a restaurant.

I seem to have had the restaurant right, but it may not have survived  The Crash and the Depression. Hence Carolyn's not recalling it.

The windmill, by the way, was huge - a 50-foot-tall replica of one in Holland.

Thanks to Tim Lyman, president of the Multnomah Historical Association for providing these details from an old Oregonian article. Tim is a confessed "old gas station nut."

Back to the corrections:

The "packs" of coyotes was my error. In fact, Bud and I never talked about  the social habits of coyotes. The packs were my creation. Call it literary license if you will. The license should be revoked. I was wrong. And, on reflection, the famed Wiley Coyote of the numerous Roadrunner cartoons of my youth never ran in a pack, or a group for that matter.

Now for the reasons for these errors.

As anyone who knows me can tell you, my hearing is no longer the best, even with hearing aids. As you can imagine, reliable ears are vital to reporting. I try to make up for my deficit by having folks I interview confirm what I'm hearing. We usually agree, but in Bud's case I actually thought I heard him say "Greg."

Likewise with the mistake about the price of his lot.

Bud, who is 94, would likely agree that sometimes his speech is a bit murky. And then there was the location of the interview: outdoors in front of Zupan's next to busy West Burnside.

What was I thinking?

While I'm at it, I inadvertently deleted my name from the bottom of my "Views of the News" commentary in which I supported Measure 90, the open/"top two" primary initiative on the November ballot. Because State Senator Ginny Burdick was the last person mentioned in the commentary, one reader misread the commentary's support as being the Senator's. He then posted it on a Measure's web site with some jubilation.

As it turns out, the senator has not yet taken a position on Measure 90 . She is weighing benefits (attracting more moderate candidates and participation of independent voters in primaries) with liabilities (more costly campaigns and some odd-ball crazy results.)

In any case, My apologies for the confusion.

Rick Seifert
Editor


Francis lived in the neighborhood from 1947 to 2013, when she moved to a nursing facility. She died last month at the age of 99. Her green house, with its prominent sun room, was on a triangular lot on Sunset Boulevard at the turn to Robert Gray Middle School.

In 2012, in a true labor of love, Frances published and co-authored a book about her uncle, the well-known Western painter CS Price.

A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m., Monday, Oct. 6, at the Hallie Ford Museum, 700 State Street in downtown Salem. Frances donated many of Price's works to the Museum, which is a part of Willamette University.

The Hillsdale News published a story about Frances in July 2010. You can see it HERE.

Editor:

Regarding the interview with Bud Lewis in the last issue: My parents built a house in Hillsdale in 1953, and to my knowledge there was never a Dutch Mill restaurant there.  The windmill was the office for the service station, and was possibly a left-over from a previous function.

Also, Mr. Lewis might remember the last vestiges of the auto court from seeing it before he moved there, but by 1956 it was pretty much gone.  In 1953 some of the shacks were left, but within a year they had been torn down to make way for Dewitt Street and the fire station and library.  

I'm attaching a picture my dad took of the building lot preparation for our new house.  He was standing on Pendleton Street looking south.  It shows the last of the auto court shacks.  Beyond the trees were Capitol Highway and Fulton Park Dairy, which soon became Wilson High School.  Hillsdale, as we know it now, was yet to be built.  The fire station is now where these shacks were.

I enjoyed reading about the memories of Mr. Lewis as it reminded me of my ideal childhood in this wonderful neighborhood.  

Carolyn Rust

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