JUST A LITTLE BEAR LAKE HISTORY by C. T. Buttars

The August 26, 2025, issue of the RCT Online Newsletter featured a great article entitled “History of Our Area, Hodges Cash Store Part 2”.  As I read through the article, a few statements sounded familiar.  The author stated “I do remember that my dad had the post office for several years and it was located at the front of the store…I was quite young when the post office was moved to Ernest Woffinden’s place, and he was a postmaster for a good many years.  His daughter, Elaine was my very best friend…”  My mother, Stella Sims Terry Long, often spoke of Elaine Woffinden, as she was one of her favorite cousins.  Elaine’s mother, Viola Sims and Mom’s father, Everett were brother and sister.  The Sims family wrote stories about their history and families and compiled them in a book called “Celebrating 100 Years with Thomas and Emma Sims”.

This is part of Viola’s family story.  Ernest and Viola Woffinden moved from St Charles to Garden City in 1901, and Elaine was born in 1920.  “…In 1922 they bought their first home for fifty dollars.  It was a log house on back street…On the first of June 1925, Ernest was appointed Postmaster of Garden City (The family ran the Post Office for fourteen years.)  Ernest built a small building on Main Street for the Post Office on some land he purchased, namely one and one-half acres, for $650.  Then he moved the log house down from back street one log at a time.  He then added the front room and bedrooms.” 

[In 1941 Elaine married Raymond Webb and the family moved to Layton.]  “…Mother said it was wonderful to have a bathtub that had hot and cold running water, a tub you could get in a stretch your legs out and even have privacy.  This tub was a treat even though it was made of cement and was cold before the hot water could warm it up before you got in.  While we were living in Garden City, we would take our bath in an old, galvanized tub that we put in the corner of the kitchen where we would drape quilts and robes over the back of the kitchen chair for privacy.  We heated the water on the stove or in the reservoir.  Mother told of a time when she was taking a bath in the middle of the day, and a salesman came to the kitchen door and dad let him in.  He stayed and stayed, and mother couldn’t stand up to get dressed.  The water got colder and colder until the salesman finally left.  Mother was upset at dad.”

The “history” stories featured in RCT Newsletter are not only entertaining, but they also tend to link memories of our ancestors and their neighbors together generations later.  Hopefully future generations will continue to share the lifestyles and challenges our ancestors faced and overcame so we can enjoy life’s many pleasures we sometimes take for granted today.