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By Wilma WieclawClara Hamm, who was 82 in August, has a passion for words. Last year she sold her first story. “The Day WeBuried Flossie Alive.” to Tower Publications, and expects publication sometime before September She felt inspired last year to take a correspondence course in writing from Oklahoma ^j^piversity, “Many students start selling before finishing | the lessons.”lt; “1 sold before 1 started.”\ Clara said She didn't finish | fhe course With failing{ eyesight she turned to writing * poetry and corresponding t with other writers.Iiit»tttiiiShe was born in Reno County. Kans.. nine mileseast of Hutchinson, the youngest of nine children. Childhood MemoriesChildhood memories include Hutchinson's board sidewalks and false-front stores She remembers rising* before the sun was up. piling[ into a wagon with hay in the j back and riding with the rest ■{ of the family to the State FairvV\1I»♦•»and the Anti-Horse-Thief Association picnics, carrying basket dinners for a big day of entertainment.Mv father, was one of the*first in the community to get a telephone. she recalled.M 82 Clara Hamm is interested in a variety of things, annum ih.-m poetry and writing. She sold her first story to i ..... ml Duns’* last \eur. “We found it so exciting and♦ii*iIt*i*►*ientertaining we went around for days making lines out of string and 'talking' to each other“Father was justice of thepeace, and superintendent ofthe Sundav School I was the ♦center of all school programs i and plays since I played the organMrs Hamm's father came from f)es Moines. Iowa.BURT MAHANEY INSURANCE AGENCYwhere her grandfather Barnes had a mule farm. He also had one in Canada He sold mules after the Civil War to an expanding railroadgoing through Kansas.In Covered WagonHer mother's family, the Mourns, came to Kansas in a covered wagon, one of eight families following Horace Greeley's advice to “go west They settled in the rich valley along the Big Arkansas River in Valley'township.When her mother was 13. her father in his early 20s, heL os I Y our Drivers License7 Need SR 22 Fil.ng7SEE ME♦«401 E Downing Tohlequah 456 0548Expert Watch RepairClark's JewelryWestville, Okla.CHRISTIAN FAMILY BOOKSTORE119 W. PlumIn the Building with the Tag Office Open Every Thursday evening Until 6 p.m.BACK TO SCHOOL SuppliesPencilsPensErasersPencil Sharpeners and Much MoreAlso in Stock Both OLD arid NEW TESTAMENT on CassetteOne table of Records and Tapes$7.98 valueSale price $3.98was working a team on the railroad and she was earring water from her home to workers. He fell in love with her. vowing he would come back for her when she was 16. Nobody believed him. butthree vears later he did come*back with a mule team, a wagonload of books, and two hives of bees along with a catalog for ordering queen bees and other supplies.When he came to marry her the families from all eight covered wagons came, bringing with them food, music and advice.As a surprise they offered to build a shanty for him and his bride. But the surprise was on his side'. He unrolled a map of the county and showed them a spot he had circled. It was 160 acres, part railroad land, part school land, which he had bought for 10 cents an acre, thr.ee and one-half miles from his father's home.He planted orchards, peaches, apples, cane, sorghum. “I can remember Mama making apple butter outdoors in the big iron pot that was used for heating bath water, scalding hogs and a lot of other things around the farm. Clara said.She attended school at Sunflower school, walking the quarter-mile Her father, director on the school board, was so intent on education that he gave land for the school- and built “an extra room on their house to board the teacher, who taught all eight grades, a total of 27 pupils.The school was near Old Nine Fond, which froze over in the winter time. “The teacher let us skate during recess until we heard the bell,” she recalled.Lots of Water There were lots of ponds and lakes, but Brandy Lake was the big one. People came out from Hutchinson for parties and picnics on the ice.“After I got my first pair of skates at six or eight years of age. I lived on skates. WeShe recalled that some 6f the children didn’t even own a pair of shoes, but few had colds or were sick. The boys would dare each other to put tongues on the cold pump handles, get bitten by the prairie rattlers or spreading vipers.“Mother’s recipe for snake bite was to catch up a setting hen (she didn’t have to chase it down) and remove the entrails to make a poultice. Mother died when she was 90. the oldest settler in Reno County, Kans.She worked like a man. since her family was all girls and Mama was the second oldest. Grandpa made a boy out of her.”“Literally, the hand that cradled the grain (the method of cutting wheat) later rocked the cradle.”Her father, on his own at 14. was self-educated. “But he reached out, read and studied. He kept a diary, entering memos daily in beautifulSpencerian hand writing. In writing about his wedding, he named those who attended. One entry said, “Gave my wife $3.Clara inherited his liking for books and reading, also his love for growing things. She wrote a poem .for her parents called “Stairway to Heaven” which was found in their things after they had died.She was reading as early as three or four.“I hated numbers, but loved words I started reading the editorial page in the newspaper. wrote letters to the editors, and got lots of mail,corresponding with readers.Wins Cash PrizeDuring World War II, the llutchinson News offered u prize for the best human interest story and Clara won first prize for a story about her sons' 1.000-mile bicycle ride. The prize. $10. looked big then.”One of the sons. Tommy Hamm, lives in England Hollow.The boys wanted to go to Arkansas where they had lived formerly. to pick tomatoes and strawberries. Soldiers were being transported on buses and traihs.and to avoid taking up '^p^jcethe boys made the trip ton bicycles, taking along a supply of penny postcards, self addressed to their parents. Their experiences included a fast trip down the steep streets of Eureka Springs, and an encounter with a bull while sleeping under a hay stack Home again, they were heard to say at bedtime, “Sure beats sleeping ip a ditch, don't it')”In 1923, Clara and her husband George bought a small house in Hutchinson. They scrimped and saved to pay for it, but when the Depression hit and the banks went broke they had to sell their home to eat.“This experience changed us and our attitude toward America.” Clara said. “We saw people who had spent their moneyliving well, being given relief. Since we owned a home, we were not eligible. We literally had to eat our home. We never owned another one. We had to pay for our thrift.”Marshall, Ark. Now they came back and moved to Stiiwell, thinking they Would raise strawberries.In 1958 Tom bought his Enlgand Hollow home, butClara found no job: :She decided, at age 60, to go to California where her. experience with children would qualify her for work • 'inSacramento.She saw that people would pay well for someone to care for older people to prevent their going to a nursing home, so she took a course in practical nursing at night, working in a hospital during the day. She graduated from nursing shcool when she was61Then she took a course in caring for mental patients in institutions, finishing second in her class, but when called to work she decided against the added expense. She was getting board and room where she was working, without the risk of abuse or lawsuits.More EducationWith an eighth grade education, Clara grasped every opportunity for further education—psychology courses. correspondence courses, and a course in selling insurance. At one time she worked for an insurance company in Fort Smith. Ark., and received her license to sell insurance. “I always worked night and day.” she said.She returned to Stiiwell in 1969. and with her savings and social security bought her present pface. a small house on the northwest edge of Stiiwell.She took up Joe White's offer of free driving lessons to senior citizens. “1 learned todrive in the vard. between the•house and the road. The butane tank was the only thing in my way. I needed to go to Tnhlequah so I went bytnvself without a license•“I promised Joe if I passed that driver's test I'd bake him a cake d cake with white frosting—and I did. I was stunned when I passed the test I've kept up the license to this day. also a tag for my old car. out at Tommy’s.But her vision grew worse.In 1976 she was operated onfor removal of cataracts.However her bodv has•rejected the implants and her vision has grown steadily worseWriting was something she could do with impaired eyesight and she enrolled in the course from OklahomaUniversity. Prof e s s i o nal%Writing Fundamentals, butwas able to finish only six*lessons when she got sick witharthritis.Nowadays she has turned to writing poetry. She has had a poem published in a national anthology. Some of her poems are titled “When I was a Bride.” “Goodbye to the Little Brown House. “Ode to the Cottonwood Trees. “Elderberry Wine. and others.Clara Hamm feels her association with others who are interested in writing has helped her. She loves people and nature. Her latest interest is a hanging hummingbird feeder which is a source of delight.so _____
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