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When thousands of people donate no more than $100 per person per election, we can build a campaign without money from special interests. _______________________ But it's about more than money. We need your energy and your enthusiasm, too. Sign up to volunteer on Jim Hansen's campaign for Congress.
 _______________________ 
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Finding new relatives and going with the flow in Lava
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Location: Blogs Jim's Blog |
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| Posted by: Jim Hansen |
6/25/2006 |
I found another relative today! This time it was in Lava Hot Springs. It was like listening to my grandmother's stories again. Lava is another of Idaho's amazing small towns with a lot of history and water, which not only flowed down the mountain and into the pools, but today also briefly dumped on us from above.
Wouldn't you know it, I met some more realtives today! This time it was in Lava Hot Springs, where I spent the day with James Ruchti, who is a candidate for the Idaho House of Representatives in District 29. We were having lunch at the Senior Center and found out that most of the people there today were from Soda Springs. Among them were Carl and Barbara Norris. Carl figured it out pretty quickly and explained how we were related. His mother, Elise, is the sister of my great-grandfather Andrew Wahlquist. Between the two of us, we filled in the gaps on all the relatives in between.
What a thrill to hear stories of the early days again. My grandmother, Lily Wahlquist, passed away in 1998. As I was growing up in Idaho Falls, she shared so many stories about how her father was the first in the family to immigrate to Idaho from Sweden more than 120 years ago and how he then went back to get his siblings and parents. Elise was the little sister who had pneumonia and the family thought for sure she would not survive the sea voyage. Not only did she survive, but she lived into her 90s. Carl is the only one of her children still alive.
Buoyed by the family encouragement, I spent the rest of the day visiting lots of different people. Since it was such a warm day, James and I felt a little overdressed as people in swimsuits were walking around town to the pools and floating down the Portneuf River. The museum is particularly impressive. We also met Mayor Bailey and his wife, and James and I each had a great conversation with them at their home. We also got caught in a sudden downpour, but fortunately the crab apple tree under which I took shelter was big enough to keep me pretty dry. Typical Idaho rain -- suddenly here and suddenly clear again.
By the way, the best grocery store in town (the only one, actually) is Shawn's and he is excited about the prospect of building a bigger store once all the paperwork is done. He is working with the Small Business Development Center based in Pocatello. Since Congress is so busy giving most of the tax breaks they can to the biggest corporations, small businesses are largely ignored. I am glad to see someone as tenacious as Shawn sticking it out.
The day flew by and I was energized by all the great people I met. By the way, when you go to Lava remember to pronounce it like "have a" so you'll sound like a local.
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