Gooding County Historical Society

JUNE 2016 TIMEPIECE©

GOODING COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
P. O. Box 89, Gooding, Idaho 83330
[email protected]
TELEPHONE:
MUSEUM – (208) 934-5318 – answering machine is attached
JOANI PAULS – (208) 934-5366
KRIS QUIGLEY – (208) 490-7466

SPEAKER NIGHT
JUNE 16, 2016
7:00 P.M.
GOODING COUNTY MUSEUM

THE IROQUIS NATION
By
ROD HOWARD

THORNE CREEK SCHOOL HOUSE
With money and donations from the 2016 Gala combined with a generous donation from Lucile Bickett, we are starting to work on the school house. In the next few weeks, you will see the ramp, with railings attached, and more gravel shoring up and protecting the ramp from erosion. The school house door is being sanded, repaired, and stained with new glass installed in the vandalized windows. Any remaining money will be used to start on the outside of the school house. We must fill in missing boards,and repair some of the cracked ones. Then we need your help. We need volunteers to help scrape all of the paint off the building. Instead of using primer and paint on the outside of the schoolhouse, we are going to stain the wood white. The wood is so deteriorated that it requires stain to protect it. The wood will absorb the stain. Another plus of using stain is that we will not have to scrape and paint again in 5 years. We will be putting out the word when we are ready to start on the outside of the school and if you know how to hold a scrapper and would like to volunteer, please let one of us know.
LUCILE BICKETT
The Gooding County Historical Society would like to thank Lucile Bickett for her generous support of the Society for many years. Lucile has turned 102 years and we thought you might like to read a bit of her history.
In 1914, Lucile was born in Marley, Idaho. Marley was a small community west of Richfield. Her father, Walter Stevens, acquired the farm where she was born in 1913. She lived there, going to grade school in Marley and then high school in Richfield.
Lucile first experience with horses (plow horses) was when she was 13. The following year, her father acquired a horse that no one could do anything with except for Lucile. Sparky gave her the first glimpse of showing and racing horses that year, where she came in first place at a Fourth of July race in Richfield. Sparky started her obsession of horses and everything that was connected to them.
In 1933, Lucile married a young farmer from Dietrich, Harvey Bickett, and they spent their honeymoon hunting deer at Rapid River. The young couple lived in Dietrich until they moved to Gooding. In 1941, the Bicketts bought a ranch on Gannett Flats to enhance their sheep business. It was ideal to pasture the sheep as they went back and forth to the mountains. They added farming to increase their pasture output and provided grain for the sheep. Lucile was still very much involved with horses as she spent most of her time breaking horses for the sheep camps. Eventually, the Bicketts sold the sheep and concentrated on farming.
Lucile and Harvey had three children, Harvey, Polly, and Walter. Mr. Bickett passed away in 1979 with Lucile still living in Gooding. Harvey took over the farming operation until he retired.
Lucile was a very active horseperson during her life. She spent 25 years jumping horses on the show circuit and then turned to pleasure riding. Even after her health became an issue, she still collected souvenirs from her travels. She has a souvenir from the Indianapolis Colts football team. Her grandson, Duane Bickett, who was playing for the Colts, sent a clock with a bird on it since he felt that she had too many horses.
Mrs. Bickett has donated several wonderful items from her personal collection to the Museum. She had bedspreads, bolster pillowcases, and curtains made from her hundreds of show ribbons. We have a display with a painting showing her performance in a trail class. She has donated a trophy that could only be owned when she won the class three times. We placed one of her marble etched painting of a Native American in one of our displays. Please come and see the wonderful exhibits of her items in the Museum.
HELEN CURTIN ROBERTSON
Helen Curtin was born in Beardstown, Illinois in 1900. She graduated from Beardstown High School attended college in Jacksonsonville, Illinois. She married Robbie Robertson in 1924 and lived in Chicago for several years while her husband worked as a seed buyer. Mr. Robertson spent about six months a year in Twin Falls buying seeds. In 1931, the Robertsons moved to Twin Falls on a permanent basis. Mr. Robertson met Joseph A. Johnson was offered a partnership in the Toponis Seed Company which was located in the old Clemons Feed Store building. He accepted the partnership and the Gooding Seed Company was formed. Helen and Robbie moved to Gooding in 1934.
Gooding Seed spent 71 years of selling seed, agricultural chemicals, and fertilizer to the farmers and ranchers in and around Gooding. Gooding Seed did have other subsidiaries including Beakon Bean. Several Robertsons worked in the businesses including their son and son-in-law. Gooding Seed was sold in 2007 to the Helena Chemical Company.
Robbie Robertson was born in Beardstown in 1896. He served in the Naval Air Force during World War I. During World War II, he served on the Ration Board. He was Chairman of the Gooding County School Board, participated in many seed organizations. He served on many committees and the Board of Trustees of the Gooding Methodist Church. Robbie was also an active member of the Gooding Masonic Lodge and El Korah Shrine Lodge in Boise. Robbie passed away in 1966
Helen was very active in the Gooding Methodist Church, the P.E.O., and Eastern Star. She worked with the Gooding Chapter of the American Red Cross and the American Cancer Society. She passed away in 1970.
Helen and Robbie had two children, Larry Robertson and Mary Jean Simis. Through their generosity, the Museum is now the proud custodian of one of Helen’s formals. We have it on display in the Museum.
MORE DONATIONS
We have received many donations the last few months. Roy and Mary Mink brought us items for the covered wagon, including a trunk, and several farm implements which will be put on a brick base and displayed around the outside of the Museum.
Donna Lucke Thomas has donated many articles of her parents, Ralph and Helen Lucke. She donated her grandmother’s and mother’s wedding gown, plus the safe that was used at their title company.
Todd Bunn of Clover Creek Realty generously donated a refrigerator for the Museum’s use. It will be great that we can keep drinks and lunches cold.
NEXT MONTH
More donations and the Gooding County Fair will be discussed.

Gooding County Historical Museum & Research Center
(208) 934-5318 273 Euskadi Lane (Hwy 46/ Hwy 26 Junction) Gooding, Idaho 83330
Membership Levels Gooding County Historical Society
P. O. Box 89 Gooding, Idaho 83330
Adult Membership (annual) $15.00 (208)-934-5318
Family Membership (annual-2 adults) $25.00 [email protected]
Individual Lifetime Membership $500.00 Name:
Couples Lifetime Membership $600.00 Address:
Donations -always welcome! City, State:
(tax deductible-we are a 501c3 non-profit) Zip: Phone:

Date:
E-Mail Address:

Memorial Gift in the name of : I am enclosing $ For membership dues.
Send the GCHS Time Piece newsletter to my E-Mail address:
Please make checks out to GCHS Yes No (circle one)