Back to Oregon II

On November 9th the Canadian Chamberlins saddled up the Civic and began the trek back down to the great State of Oregon. There were four of us in my small car but it is deceptively roomy and we made the 10hr drive in relative comfort. Dad, Matt, Che and myself arrived in Salem a little road weary but looking forward to seeing everyone the next day. On Saturday morning we arrived at the same time as Kylie, Connie, and Vern and they got to setting up the trailer on Joe's front lawn.

The rest of us surveyed the task(s) ahead at the cemetery site. Dad and I settled on getting the firewood bucked and split while Matt and Che started on the blackberries.

Before we knew it the Oregonian Chamberlins were up the hill and setting the pace. Vern got a hot fire started so the blackberries could be cleared and piled on by the rest of us.

Soon afterwards Denny and Penny arrived from the Coast (Reedsport) and didn't waste time feeding that hungry fire...

Connie finished setting up the trailer and joined in on the fun, while Denny continued like man on a mission...

And Vern set to the enormous task of mowing all the tall grass...

Soon enough it was time to break for lunch. It was a pot-luck effort with more food than we could hope to eat...although we gave it our best effort! By then we also had the pleasure of Colleen's company, who had arrived from Albany.

After lunch Charlotte arrived and met a few new people. She enjoyed filling Matt in on some of the history of the area, and showing him some artifacts that were previously found on the property.

By then things were in full swing at the cemetery. I think the following video sums things up the best. It was such an inspiration to see so many people come together on a chilly November weekend for the common goal of making this special place just a little more special...

My apologies for the poor video quality, I will be investigating how to improve this!

As stated it was an incredible day on Saturday. It brought family and friends together for a meaningful experience at a meaningful place. It was so great to see Charlotte and her daughter Lisa, as I know they support all our efforts at the cemetery.

On Sunday it was more of a skeleton crew but we worked hard to keep up the momentum of the day before. Vern and Kylie had at least two hours of labour in by the time the Canadians arrived from Salem. Next time we will look at staying in Monmouth to cut down on the commute...or better yet get our own trailer, what a great setup!

Now that the grounds were manicured we could have some fun with the metal detector...

Kylie located the find of the day...it was a solid steel ring about 8" in diameter. We think it might have been for a cask of some type but it will be interesting to take it to a museum and find out for sure. There were also some old forged nails and a spike, as well as parts of metal markers used as temporary grave locators until the stones could be made. An entire one was also located but it was hard to make out the writing so we left it next to the stone we feel it belonged to.

The intrepid treasure hunters...

Unfortunately the day slipped by quickly and Kylie, Connie, and Vern had to depart. While they were packing up the trailer Matt, Dad, and myself borrowed Vern's metal detector and went exploring around the old homestead site on the adjacent hill.

An old barn next the long gone homestead...

We made it through the trees to the back half of the property, slightly rolling fields as far as we could see. At one time this was all part of the Chamberlin Donation Land Claim.

We eventually found the site of the original homestead and it didn't take long for the detector to go off. It the short time we had there we found a small variety of items including forged nails, porcelain, parts of machinery, and what looks like part of a gas lantern (not all objects are pictured)...

Soon we had to return our valuable tool to its owner and say goodbye to the rest of the group. But not before the obligatory Jiffy-Pop "Pop-Off". Yup, the Oregonian's groan (actually so do the rest of the Canadians) but everyone knows I have to have my Jiffy-Pop experience when in Oregon!

Brandy was extremely unimpressed...

The even heat of Vern's propane heater made for good popping but I have to admit Matt's was the best by far...after all he has incredible focus. I just wanted to eat Jiffy-Pop before I got old...who cares if it had a slightly singed taste!

Alas the time came and we had to bid farewell to the remainder of the Oregon family. It really was an amazing weekend...not only did we get so much done but we spent some great quality time together. Whether we made the journey from the Coast, down south, or from the 49th Parallel we proved that to the Chamberlins family is more than important.

I leave this post with some "after" photos of the Chamberlin Cemetery. Thank-you everyone, and I can't wait to see you all (and maybe even more of you!) again soon...

Back to Oregon

In early October Dad and I decided to head down to the Chamberlin Cemetery near Monmouth, Oregon to meet up with family and get to work on clearing the long grass and blackberry vines that had begun to overtake the historic site.  We hadn't bargained on the drought-like conditions that greeted us, which made it impossible to run machinery or power tools for any length of time.  In the end we regretfully canceled Kylie, Connie, and Vern as the long drive would not be worth it to them.  Despite Dad's ailing back we did what we could by hand.

The following three pictures represent the dry, unkempt scene that greeted us...

There was one large issue that had to be taken care of, however, and that was the danger tree in the middle of the cemetery...it was a half-rotten fir that had fallen and was hung up in other trees. Dad got to work with some expert falling:

See the results here:

The tree was definitely dangerous as it was half rotten but it still had some decent firewood in it. We had to yard it out to the edge of the cemetery to cut up another time, as we wanted to minimize saw use this trip. First we sawed it into three long cants...

Then we yarded them out using a block and the truck and stacked them for future attention.

We then got a visit from my brother Matt, his fiancee Che, and her father Peter who were on their way through from a trip to the Coast. It was my brother's first time at the cemetery and he really was taken by it. Colleen arrived from Albany shortly afterwards and got to meet Matt for the first time.

It didn't take long for Colleen to hit her stride and bring the newbies up to speed on the history of the cemetery!

Matt and Che with the original Matriarch Catharine.

Soon enough it was time for the guests to mosey on but not before a group shot of the Chamberlin and Collins decendants...

Some random pics on the way down the hill...

Dad and I then set about doing some hand-pruning to take advantage of the amazing weather. The cemetery was peaceful, with a light breeze...the absence of power machinery actually made for a very pleasant afternoon.

When we got back to Canada Dad and I quickly planned another trip, hoping to meet up with as much family as possible at the cemetery. Knowing they are eager and waiting to get together makes us all the more eager to get back and get back to work! Hopefully the rain will come between now and then to allow a full-on assault on the blackberries and long grass.

Till November...