Page 5 - 2022 Summer SWHS Newsletter

When a salmon was netted the seal
went after it, taking out large hunks
rendering it unsaleable. They also laid
havoc with the net. I don’t believe this
endeavor lasted too long. I remember
a few nights sleeping on the beach and
watching the activity.
My Dad and his friend Lloyd Board-
man operated a small tug for the Stink
Plant that went to Seattle and picked up
fish scraps on a large barge. I remem- Cultus Bay
ber my Dad referring to the tug as the
“Boogla Mary”. No guns of course. I believe we went a mile or so from us down Cultus Bay
They took me along on one of their
trips. First time I ever remember being back but found it all locked up, so it Rd. They had two daughters: Doris,
was a no-go.
who was in my brother Jim’s class, and
in Seattle. Wasn’t very pleasant from a Phyllis, who was in my class. I remem-
smell standpoint, but it was still fun. Here are a few of the people who ber she was voted most popular girl in
Dad took me to a movie called lived at Cultus Bay back then --as well our graduating class. There weren’t a
“Sahara” with Humphrey Bogart. Our as this 86-year-old can remember. lot of girls in the neighborhood, so the
trip probably happened in ‘43 or ‘44. I BAILEY: Clarence ‘Ray’ Bailey was Boardman kids were part of our social
can still remember most of the scenes owner and proprietor of Baileys Cor- group. Our house was kind of the cen-
from the film. ner Store after the second Ingleside tral gathering point so a lot of activities
Sometime after the war ended, a School was consolidated to Langley in happened there.
large barge and a surplus WWII ship the 1930s. (Ray moved to South Whid-
ended up at the stink plant. bey in 1893 at age 8 when his widowed BROCKMANS: Zola and Real lived
I think the plant had closed and dis- mother married Robert Parsons. He on Possession Rd. just up the hill about
mantling was getting ready to start. was not related to South Whidbey’s a half mile from us. They had three
The ship was termed as a “landing craft first settler, Robert S. Bailey). kids:
infantry.” Ray’s son had a stepson named Aus- Rodney: He was older than the rest
Us kids eyed that ship and discussed tin Howell, from Texas. He was in the of us. He worked on the mainland, but
what might be found on it. Finally, cu- age group of the rest of us kids. Natu- came home regularly to visit. He would
riosity got the best of us and we decid- rally, we called him “Tex.” drive us kids to the movies at the Clyde
ed to sneak on board. BALDWINS: Vera and Bill lived Theater in his brand-new car.
Audrey: Married Clifford (Kip) Hag-
We assumed it would be locked up down the Cultus Bay Rd. towards what strom, and I believe had two children.
tight, but we found one unlocked door is now Sandy Hook. I think they moved They lived on Hellman Rd., and later
and were able to roam freely through- to the Island from the Leavenworth moved near Langley when Kip became
out the craft. We didn’t bring a light, so area right after the war. They had three the school custodian.
our tour was confined to places where kids: Mary: (married Jim Grubb); Adie Marion: He was in my brother Jim’s
there were portholes. It seemed to still Mae; and Buster. Buster was a regular class. We spent a lot of time hanging
be fully equipped with life preservers, member of the neighborhood gang. out together. The hill from his place
firefighting equipment, and a galley BOARDMANS: Min and Lloyd were down to ours was a favorite for sled-
stocked with silverware, dishes, etc. my parents’ best friends. They lived just ding when we had a good snow. Their

A blurry 1920 photo shows the Sea Products Company fish reduction plant (dubbed the Stink Plant) which processed
salmon carcasses into fish oil at Cultus Bay. The sand spit was part of the former site of a Snohomish Tribal village known
as D’GWAD’wk. In the 1850s an Indian fishery was located there with salting and barreling of salmon destined for San
Francisco. Sandy Hook Yacht Club Estates was built there in the 1960s.
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