Mel,

 

How wonderful that Ivy is beating her cancer. I’ll bet her new grandchild was an influence for her to move back to Bottineau too. She was living in Everett, WA.

 

Congratulations with your new Grandson too.

 

Gary 

Wow! What a blog. I lived at San Haven for 3 years, so i really enjoyed the photographic tour. I have gone back quite a few times to drive by and remember what it used to be like. I used to be able to drive through it, but now it is barricaded up. It sure was a beautiful place at one time. My mom was a cook there for about 15 years  and my dad also worked there for a time.

     Oh, the cement work is fascinating too, as I was a masonry contractor for many years, retiring in 1999. That’s 13 years ago, but , back then, my foremen were paid $45 an hour, my masons $35 and laborers $20-25. Concrete (ready-mixed, delivered) was about $80 a yard. Roughly, your garage floor and driveway (4000 sq. ft.) would have cost about $10,000 in 1999, if I remember right. It would cost about $15,000 today, in Mpls. Oh, and OSHA would shut you down and fine you for not wearing hard hats. I don’t know what they would have said about the foot wear. When all is said and done you have a floor and everyone is happy. Makes you wonder about all the regulations we have to put up with, doesn’t it? Oh, it would have taken us 2 days to prep and pour all of the concrete. Have a good day and thanks for the memories.�

Dennis,

 

Portland Cement here costs about $5.00 a bag. With a five bag mix per yard that is $25. Sand and Gravel costs about $22/yard. The labor cost per yard is about $4.00. So the grand total is roughly $51/yard complete (poured and finished). Here everything is in meters, so I had to break it down into yards.

 

Material costs have sky rocketed since we have been here too. When we first got here nine years ago, Portland Cement was only $1.40/bag. Some of the cost increase though is attributed to a weaker dollar and a stronger Peso. Nine years ago the exchange rate was 56 Peso’s to the dollar. The current exchange rate is 41.25 Peso’s to the dollar. 

 

Gary 

 

 

 

Shirley LaRocque Wendt (’59):  Tukwila, WA

With her Grandson Zach

 

 

 

 

Gary,

 

Going back to my days in Dunseith (during World War II – early 40’s) Ray Murry lived in this house  the Father of General Emerson Murry. 

The house to the right that you can see part of was were the Haynes (sp) family lived.  He worked for the U.S. Customs & Border Protection.

Our house was the next one right of the Haynes home and then came the Campbell house.  I know we rented, and I think from Mr. Horsman.

I would guess the Haynes family also rented because the Custom Officers were transferred a lot.  I always thought, but don’t know for sure

that Murry’s & Campbell’s owned their homes.  If any one has an old photo of the third house South from the corner where this picture was

taken I would love to get a copy.

 

LARRY LIERE