There’s more to the story of ‘trash’ house

I just want to comment on the excitement surrounding the house at 823 1st Ave., now Hwy 10, in Staples that was knocked down and turned into a pile of rubble. 

I drove around the block and shed some tears. I found it hard to join in the excitement of many that it was gone. You might ask why. Let me share the reason for my sadness. 

When does a house stop being a home and turn into a pile of rubbish? Ernie Weber, a former pillar of Staples, built that house, used wonderful wood on the floors and woodwork, put a lot of his person into that house. 

He later sold the home to another businessman from Staples, the owner of the lumber yard that was located where the Thread Shed is now. They took advantage of all of the space upstairs, basement and main floor and provide housing for vocational students, single mothers and their children. It was a home to many. 

My husband’s parents, Roy and Dorothy Cline, bought the house from them. That’s the house we came to when we came home from California in October of 1968. I was pregnant with my daughter, got really sick and she was born seven weeks early. When we brought her home from the hospital, we had to feed her every half hour, a quarter of an ounce and keep hot water bottles on her feet to keep her warm. We all worked together taking turns to take care of her. We lived with them for about six months. 

A couple of years later my husband Dave and I bought a house just north of that house on 9th St. We lived in their yard almost. It was a gathering place for aunts, uncles and friends all of the time. The laughter rang through that house when they all came to visit. Christmas eve was always at Grandma’s, everyone came home. 

Both of our boys were born when we lived near her. We helped rent the basement and upstairs to students and a couple of young adults. We would clean rooms every week and when she traveled, we’d watch the house and make sure everything was going well.

My father-in-law Roy, an engineer on the railroad, took very sick in January 1979.We were called over to help with him. He was taken to the hospital and never returned home, three days later he died. Everyone gathered in that home to share their grief and wonderful memories of our loved one.

My mother-in-law had a small flower garden a long side of the garage where she worked many hours, her feet dirty from the garden as she weeded and tended to that garden she loved. The only plants I remember were irises, rose bushes, pansies, but one I remember most was the cluster of the hen and chick plants. She had a couple of other flower beds with pansies, moss roses and many more plants. When she passed away, I took some of them to try and grow, but I don’t have a green thumb.

She loved antiques so they built a little screened room by the back door that she filled with antiques. She would sit there in the evening just enjoying all of her things. 

She had an old antique coffee grinder which she hung on the wall in the kitchen. Each and every child who came in the door would get lifted up, to crank the handle, “just one time.” I still have that coffee grinder, but didn’t carry on that tradition. 

We could always depend on a place for the children to stay if we had to be away. She loved having all the grandkids at the same time. She would take them camping, swimming at Dower Lake. They loved to go to Grandma’s house. 

In 1992, my mother-in-law, who had been a widow for many years, was killed in a car accident and we were charged with the challenge of cleaning out the house to sell to the next owner. Oh, the memories of the grand times we had in that house with family and friends. It was our home. 

We sold it and walked away. Many of us have said, if we would’ve had the money we would’ve saved it, restored it and filled it with people to share in the beauty of the home.

How did it get to be a place that everyone who passed by it would say, why don’t they do something with that place? My family felt such sadness each and time they went by and saw the deterioration. How did it get to that condition and why wasn’t it saved?

Our country has many people who are homeless, live in terrible places of disrepair, old mobile homes that aren’t fit to live in and we can’t do anything about these beautiful homes and turn them into good, sound places for people to live. There are many places in that area that are starting to look the same and it’s very sad there isn’t some way to preserve and fix these houses up to keep them as homes.

Now our home is nothing more than a pile of rubbish, the house is gone and people are celebrating the empty lot. To quote my children, “It’s bittersweet to see it gone. We hate the way it has looked the last few years, but we miss the home that it once was, our place to go home to.”

Barb Cline has lived in the Staples and Motley area for most of her life. She currently is the executive director of the Staples Motley Area Chamber of Commerce. She can be reached at 218-330-3830 or dbcline@msm.com