Hazel Hall recalls Farragut's impact on Sandpoint

On January 15, 2001 that Erik Daarstad and I sat in the living room of Hazel Hall to interview her for the upcoming Sandpoint Centennial movie. Today, in her own words, Hazel gives us a picture of the Farragut days and how the naval station influenced Sandpoint.

Question: Hazel, what do you remember about the Farragut days? What effect did it have on Sandpoint?

Hazel: The thing I remember most — now this is awful — is how hard I worked and how hard Ross worked. In fact, I had to go to the hospital after everything was all over. Anyway, as we remember, Europe was in turmoil at the time and we knew they were fighting. We knew that Hitler was already going to war. When we were hit by Japan that was a great surprise to us. I can remember walking into the back of our little house, the radio came on, and Roosevelt declared war. I can remember grabbing my little son up and holding him to my chest and saying no, no, no, no. It was hard to believe. I can remember the whole town was kind of in a little turmoil.

We soon saw an announcement in the Spokesman-Review that we were going to have a naval base on Lake Pend Oreille. Wow. Everybody in the whole town was wondering, "What does this mean?" In a short time, they knew because anybody who could even hold a hammer up could get a job. They could get a job doing anything. They were paying about a dollar and a half an hour and seventy-five cents was the highest that was being paid anywhere else at that time. So, everybody that needed a job, or even if they had a job, they left it to go over there because they wanted to help.

Our help — there is something I should have told you before this — Ross and I now owned the studio. We bought it from Mrs. Himes and we had hired a young man to help us. This young man quit the minute war was declared and went over to be in the shipyards in Seattle. Everybody was that way, wanting to help, wanting to do something. Ross wanted to do something but he didn't know what. He knew with a family, a business, and at his age, he probably would not be called. But he was anxious to help, when low and behold, Captain McMasters and two other officers came to the studio and asked him if he would be their photographer over at Farragut.

Captain McMasters said they had inquired from Eastman Kodak Company to get somebody and they told him that he could find no better person than the one right in his front door, right at his back door — or front door, I don't know which. So he wanted to know if Ross would like to have the job. He told Ross, "There is everything to do and we're in such a hurry because recruits are already starting to come in and they leave in six weeks. So you will have to take charge, build or plan a studio, the dark room and everything, and find the cameras that are necessary, and order a car load of chemicals and film." There was so much to do in such a short period of time.

So, Ross talked to me to see what we should do - should he accept the job. He said, "Hazel, you'll have to run the studio all alone while I am gone."  Well, I didn't know if I could do it because I had the two children. I knew how to do everything because I had worked in there (studio) for two years but I had not had the responsibility. So I said sure, I would do it.

(See next Saturday's Daily Bee for the conclusion of the Hazel Hall story.)