Holden Mine History: Community Activities
We are grateful to the photographers Larry Penberthy and Ray Baker, and their descendants for allowing us to use their images. To view the full set of mining period photographs, click here.
The townsite was the center for community activities, and its multi-purpose recreation hall served as the gathering place. Community members formed their own bowling leagues with names such as the Brass Hats, Zinc Streaks, Copper Queens, and Dynamites for the ladies. Men’s teams were Miners, Muckers, Engineers, Office, etc.
The company painted the gymnasium floor with lines for games such as basketball and badminton, and protected the floor with a heavy canvas for meetings, movies, church services, and theater productions. Theater productions were produced on a stage complete with curtain, dressing rooms, and footlights. Men gathered around pool tables and an area set aside for cards where a poker game could wipe out a miner’s hard earned pay. The “lunch counter” served soda fountain treats, hamburgers, and a simple short order menu. A library was well-stocked with books from the Chelan County library system.
In summer, the community formed softball teams with names such as Miners, Mill, Office, Diamond Drillers, Engineers, and Store, and the bleachers were always filled with supporters. Opportunities for fishing, hunting, hiking and backpacking were literally in Holden’s backyard. Residents nurtured gardens with vegetables and flowers during the short summer months, and deer frequently wandered into camp to dine on the delicacies. Hardy souls braved the icy water of Railroad Creek for swimming. Many families gathered wild huckleberries and blackberries and turned them into jams, jellies and pies.
The company’s annual Fourth of July celebration and picnic offered free soda pop and ice cream with contests and races for all ages: pie and watermelon eating, gunny sack and wheelbarrow races, log sawing and nail hammering contests, ball throwing, long jumping and three-legged races, to name a few. Fireworks were strictly taboo because of forest fire danger. The Labor Day celebration was similarly sponsored by the miners’ union.
In winter, the community enjoyed a ski area complete with rope tow. In early years, it was powered by a Model A Ford engine, while in later years, it became a portable rope tow with a small engine mounted on a toboggan. Sledding was popular and exciting on the steep roads, and much fun was had on wild rides on toboggans made of corrugated tin. Children made tunnels in the deep snow, jumped off roofs, made snowmen, and engaged in snowball fights. Ice-skating was for the very dedicated. Almost as fast as a pond could be cleared, it would be covered with two feet of fresh snow. Santa Claus arrived in Holden every year with a gift for every youngster in the community, and every family received a turkey from the company.
Leaders for Boy Scouts, Campfire Girls, and Blue Birds kept the community young people busy with many activities. Teachers of piano, ballet and tap dancing were found among the residents, and everyone enjoyed the recitals. The community formed a drama club, and a band of local talent provided music for dances.
Ladies formed bridge, pinochle, canasta, garden and sewing clubs. They raised money for hospitals and other charities in addition to rolling bandages and knitting scarves during WWII. Men labored at hard, physical work, and yet they found time to build their own homes, lead scout troops, coach softball and basketball teams, fight forest fires, and enjoy an evening in a “men only” poker club.
The community of Holden had some drawbacks. There was no high school, and children were sent to boarding schools or to board with relatives during the school year. In some cases, families separated with the father working at the mine and the mother renting a home in another town. There was no telephone service to the “outside” and company phone lines were limited to management personnel. Radio reception was mediocre, and newspapers arrived a day late.
The company doctor and hospital were intended for emergencies, routine physical examinations, and minor ailments. Pregnant wives left town in ample time to have their babies delivered in the hospitals at Chelan, Wenatchee, Spokane and Seattle. During the later years of the mining operations the doctor and nurse team allowed a few mothers to give birth in the Holden hospital. There were some exceptions during the early years due to emergencies and weather.
There was no last-minute running to the store for a loaf of bread or spool of thread, and a Sears & Roebuck catalog was a necessity. There was no regular church service. A Catholic priest visited once a month, and Protestant ministers of various denominations traveled to Holden occasionally.
In spite of the challenges, most “Holdenites” remember their Holden years as a very special time in their life.