Interviewee: David Davies
Interviewers: Leonardo Fitzpatrick, Gabriel Avina
Date: May 6, 2024
Leonardo Fitzpatrick: This is Leo Fitzpatrick and..
Gabriel Avina: Gabriel Avina.
LF: I'm pleased to welcome David Harrivern…, is that it?
David Davies: Harrivern.
LF: Harrivern Davies, whom I am interviewing on behalf of the Saint Helena Historical Society's Oral History program. We are conducting this interview at four o'clock on Monday, May 6, 2024 at Saint Helena High School. Welcome Mr. Davies. Can you begin by telling us where were you born and when you first came to the Saint Helena area?
DD:I was born in Santa Monica, Southern California. On 12-8-41. Does 12-7-41 ring a bell? December 7. 1941.
GA:I think it was Pearl Harbor.
DD: Bombing of Pearl Harbor. So I was born the next day.
LF: Wow.
DD: Anyway.
LF: And then you first came to the St. Helena area in…
DD: I came to St. Helena in 1955.
LF: 1955, so you were 15? 14.
DD: Yeah, I guess I was. Just around there. Right.
LF: And then were you straight up in Angwin then, or did you then move to St. Helena? How'd that work out?
DD: From Southern California, we moved straight to Angwin.
LF: Straight to Angwin. And you went to PUC prep there?
DD: Yeah.
LF: When it was high school?
DD: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
LF: Tell us a little bit about your family history. Where were your parents from?
He was born in Wales and immigrated here just after the First World War, like ‘23
DD: Well my mom was from Nebraska. Her parents came from Germany, came over from Germany early in the 20th century, and she was born in Nebraska. My dad came from Wales.
LF: And was he in Santa Monica or did he move from somewhere?
- Yeah, well he came over here to go to school.
LF: Medical
- Medical school. So he lived down in Southern California because he went to Loma Linda Medical School.
LF: And how did they meet, how did your mom and dad meet?
DD: He was in medical school, and she was, I think she was working out there at the medical school doing something out there. He met her out there.
LF: And they decided to stay down there?
DD: Well, when he graduated, he decided to open a practice in Redondo Beach. So that's where we lived for several years after I was born.
LF: And was your family Seventh-day Adventist?
DD: Uh-huh. Yeah.
LF: Can you describe the role of religion in your childhood and how it might have influenced your upbringing?
DD: Oh. Well, yes. Seventh-day Adventism is a pretty conservative sect, religion, group.
And so, we had quite a limited amount of things, secular things that we could do. We didn't go to movies. We didn't go to dances. That's the idea. So yes, in that way it defines your early life.
LF: There's no Christmas, right? There's no holidays?
DD: No, we had Christmas. We had Christmas. It's not quite as strict as like Jehovah's Witness.
LF: Right.
DD: We had holidays and got together with relatives, celebrated birthdays and all that stuff.
LF: And then, similar to that, on the other end, how do you think your childhood experiences shaped your values and beliefs that you now hold today?
DD: Well, I think it made me pretty conservative than I may have been otherwise. I don't know. That's probably the main thing. Everything was defined by the church, what you did, who you visited with. So in that respect, you know, it was pretty conservative.
LF: Right. And then just going back to Napa Valley, was there a thought process behind leaving Santa Monica and going to Napa Valley, what was that like?
DD: My dad wanted to do something. He was a doctor, and he had a practice there in Redondo Beach.
He would be seeing more, what should I say, working-class patients maybe. So that's why we came up to St. Helena.
He wanted to do something more of a missionary type, medical work, and so they looked around you know and coming up to Saint Helena Hospital was like going to the mission field, see, and he could do mission work. The wages were quite a bit lower, less than what he was used to, so in that respect it was a change.
LF: Okay, and by missionary, it was like, was the demographic different up here than down in Santa Monica? Or was there a lot of Seventh Day Adventists down in Santa Monica?
DD: Yeah
LF: Not many up here?
DD: Well, there was a church, you know, there was a church down there. I wouldn't say a lot, but there was a church in Redondo beach, there was a church in Palos Verdes, there was a church in Santa Monica, you know. But when we came up here, of course, and worked at the hospital, most of the employees were Adventist. It was much more than it is now. Angwin, of course, had the college up there. And so in those days, I'd say it was more than 50-50.
LF: More than 50-50 Adventist?
DD: Yeah. Whereas nowadays it's probably 10%, maybe 20%.
LF: Right. So is that one of the... that's how the community of Angwin changed over the years in your view?
DD: Yeah.
LF: Less Adventism?
DD: Yeah, there's a lot more vineyards. There's a lot more secular activities and things going on.
LF: How about changes within Seventh-day Adventism itself?
DD: Well, there's still a really conservative sect part of Adventism.
LF: In Angwin itself or just in general?
DD: In Angwin and everywhere, in Angwin too. But there's also more of a liberal section.
So there's a large group of Adventists. Well like say... I don't know what percentage, 20, 30, 40 percent, they're more liberal. And they feel it's perfectly fine to have a little wine. Adventists traditionally don't drink alcohol. But a lot of Adventists nowadays think it's fine to have a little wine... And it's fine to go to the movies now and then. And things like that. Right.
LF: And also in this area, do you think the economic thing, where we have a lot of wine around here, we're kind of grown on grapes, is that influencing a lot of the change?
DD: No.
LF: Or is it more just?
DD: No, it's just secular society in general. I don't think it has a lot to do with the wine industry.
LF: How about significant events, do you have any memories of significant historical events from your childhood? Like, what were people saying about the Red Scare, Korean War, Bracero Program, just stuff like that? Like, anything that's memorable to you?
DD: When growing up, you mean?
LF: Yeah.
DD: Well, you know, after the Second World War got over, and we had moved up here. It seemed, I don't remember anything specific until Vietnam.
Vietnam was a big deal. We had protests like we have now with Palestine. Protests on campuses. It was the same type of thing.
LF: Were there any on the PUC campus?
DD: No. No, PUC was too separate and too conservative. There may have been some discussion of the war, Vietnam War, but it didn't interfere with student life like it does now- like it is nowadays.
LF: And then you were just about draft age during the Vietnam War correct?
DD: Yeah,
LF: What was that like for you?
DD: Well I was drafted.
LF: Yeah, you were drafted into-
DD: Yeah into the army.
LF: You talked about- you were part of the white coat program.
DD: Uh-huh.
LF: Do you want to explain a little bit about what that was?
DD: Yeah, The Vietnam War brought a whole lot of new illnesses.
Boys over there were getting these weird diseases, you know, warm country diseases, I don't know what's the right word, fevers and things like that, you know, and the Army didn't really know how to deal with them and they needed vaccines to treat the guys so they wouldn't keep getting these weird diseases from that part of the- from a hot climate, you know. So they developed this program.
The Army had a special section called- they named it White Coat
I don't know why. But you could volunteer, and if you volunteered, that saved you from going to Vietnam. So it was kind of a big deal. And also, the other thing that was different about it, you could only volunteer if you were Seventh Day Adventist or Pentecostal or one of the other religions in that small group. They did that because they wanted a homogenous group as they could get, people who kind of lived the same lifestyle, who had somewhat the same diet, it would help them to be able to control things better when they did their experiments. So once you got into the program, then you volunteered to get a certain vaccine.
They had vaccines for yellow fever, [tularemia, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, etc.]
I don't know, all the different vaccines that they had developed and they needed to test them out and see how they worked. So that's what we got. So they gave us the vaccine and we were in a kind of a hospital setting and they monitored us to see what kind of reaction we would get. Do we get a fever? Do we get rash? And then they checked our blood almost every day. And then they took blood to see if we were [producing appropriate antibodies for these diseases. Anyway, that's what we did.
LF: And it was in defense of biological warfare that they were saying.
DD :Yeah.
LF: Was that something that was talked about usually like at a dinner table or in a community? It was like we could get...
DD: Yeah, biological warfare was... an option that we hoped would ever happen, but we needed to be prepared as we could.
LF: So you felt like a duty to help?
DD: Yes, so we felt like we were doing something helpful to the country.
LF: For sure.
DD: Plus, we didn't have to go to Vietnam.
LF: And then, is that more of a religious thing, or is that just not wanting to go?
DD: No, just because we didn't want to get killed. [We had made friends in Basic Training in the Army. Some had been sent to Vietnam and came home in a box.]
LF: Right. So it wasn't like a Seventh Day Adventist thing where, you're against war?
DD: No, no. A lot of Adventists went there.
LF: Oh yeah?
DD: Yes.
LF: Okay.
DD: We could volunteer for this special program because of the fact that we were conscientious objectors.
LF: Right. And similar diets.
DD: And similar diets, similar lifestyle, and that is good for the experiments.
LF: And then, with the diet, is that vegetarian? Is that?
DD: You didn't have to be a vegetarian. I'd say in those days maybe half Adventists were vegetarian. The other half ate clean meats. But Adventists stayed away entirely from pork, shellfish.
LF: How do you think Seventh Adventism has affected your either physical health and or mental health throughout the years?
DD: Well, I think... They have a pretty healthy lifestyle. And so that's made, I think that's been good for me because I got in the habit of doing certain things, eating certain things, exercising and so forth. And I think it's been pretty beneficial. I don't think I could do what I'm doing now.
LF: Right.
DD: Most 82 year old's that I know don't work out in the yard.
LF: No, for sure. And can you explain some of that? Like what you do today and the gardening and-
DD: What did I do today?
LF: Yeah. Yeah, what'd you do today?
I always tried to practice every morning on my French horn.
DD: Yeah, what'd I do today? Let's see, when I got up. I practiced first. Yeah. And then I did weed whipping in my orchard and around the house for a couple hours. And then I had to trim a lot of bushes with a hedge trimmer and clean it up. I looked at the time and it was three o'clock. So I zipped in and tried to wipe the weed whipping stuff off of me and come down. That's what happened today.
LF: And how about your mental health? How is Mr. Davies doing today?
DD: Well, let's see what can I compare. I'm doing fine. I don't have big swings of mood, depression or anything like that. And I suppose that, you know, is part of being pretty healthy. It helps a lot.
LF: That goes hand in hand.
LF: And then with the Adventist lifestyle, how does that affect your mental health? Like... Thinking about things in a way like that.
You believe in the scripture, the Bible, and that focuses you on how you're going to behave in your life
DD: Well, I would say because of the Adventist lifestyle, you have a pretty good basis for what you believe. You believe in the scripture, the Bible, and that focuses you on how you're going to behave in your life as far as dealing with fellow men, as far as how you're going to deal with business, for instance, it just steers you away from a lot of bad things you could get involved in. And then you have a pretty good reason to have a conservative life because— We believe that in the end, after you die, then there's another life.
LF: And by conservative life, you mean?
DD: Well, as far as diet, as far as how you interact with other people, as far as in your business, you don't cheat people and stuff like that, you know?
LF: Yeah, very good. Let's go back to the white coat for a second, because that was... It was very interesting. It's an interesting program. What did you feel about the nature of the program? Was it fair? Was it valuable? Was it dangerous? Was it...
DD: They gave a lot of background in why they were doing it, and they told us exactly what was happening and what we could expect. So, you know, the government, I feel, explained it really well.
LF: You felt well informed?
DD: At any point if you didn't want to go further you could get out of it. But we just felt that it was going to be valuable. And looking back now, there were some guys who felt that they got side effects afterwards. In other words, I can't even remember now, they had breathing disorders or something. And they would try to pin it on what happened in the White Coats, the vaccines they'd gotten. But the government did a whole lot of testing and nothing was, they were not able to pin anything on the White Coat program. Anything that happened, it was a result of something else.
LF: And what was the testing like? Was it inoculation?
DD: Yeah, just an injection. Vaccine injection.
LF: And did you ever get a vaccine injection? If so, do you remember what it was?
DD:I think it was yellow fever. That was their biological warfare headquarters. Huge labs.
LF: It's also interesting how it's close by to the Seventh-day Adventist Head Church in Maryland.
DD: It's in Washington, yeah, it's in Washington, D.C. Yeah. It was nice to be close there, but we were in the Army, so we stayed in the barracks and everything, just like you were in the Army.
LF: So there wasn't free time? How did free time work? Were you allowed to go off?
My job was taking photo-micrograms of slides
DD: You could go off base, and we had jobs we did. Besides the testing stuff, you had a job you did every day while you were there. My job was taking photo-micrograms of slides. The pathologists would make slides of bacteria, and then we would take pictures of them, and then prepare them so they could show them on the screen when they gave their lectures.
LF: So like an active, involved part of the [biomedical research].
DD: So my job was taking photographic pictures of these slides and preparing them. Anyway, that's what we did all day. But yeah, we had time off, you could go to town and stuff like that.
LF: Were you ever like scared before a test or when you first got there and you see the steel dome, steel sphere? [of the research facility]
DD: I can't remember being scared. I suppose there was some apprehension when they gave you the injection, you know. But you knew what the records were with others who had gone before and done it. And the worst thing they had gotten was a fever for a day or so. Some of them got a fever. Nobody got, you know, nobody died or anything like that. Right. [I had a close friend who had been in the program a few years earlier and talking to him helped a lot]
LF: And then were you there for your two years of service?
DD: Well, not in total, but like after basic training. Everybody had to go to basic training, which was like six months. In Fort Sam Houston, Texas. That was the training site at that time. After that, then we went to Fort Detrick stayed there the rest of the time.
LF: And then you heard about the White Coat Program. How did you hear about it and how did you get in on it, I guess?
DD: All conscientious objectors knew about it. I don't know how we knew about it.
Word gets around. And all Adventist guys, when we were in high school, we heard about it.
LF: Then after your service was done how were you feeling coming back to California if you were coming back to wherever you were?
DD: Yeah we were ready to come back to California.
LF: How was like the reception? Was it like a well-known thing or was it more of a lesser known operation?
DD: The White Coat?
LF: Yeah like were people asking you about it? Were people saying thank you for your service?
DD: Curiosity, people would ask yeah but it wasn't that big of a deal.
LF: It wasn't like a top secret thing.
DD: Wasn't like coming back from Vietnam. It was much worse for some of the guys that came back .
LF: Was there anything else you want to talk about that project, specifically the white coat that you remember?
DD: No, no you got it all
LF: You want to talk about the hospital work.-
GA: So how many years did you work [at] the St. Helena Hospital?
DD: 31, As a nurse.
GA: And what inspired you to pursue a career in hospital work?
DD: Well, after I got out of college and finished college, I was a music teacher.
So I taught music in Southern California for several years. And it became pretty clear to me that it wasn't my forte. I didn't enjoy it. Some parts okay, but having to monitor and discipline a class of 25 teenagers, that wasn't my thing. Some guys love it. Mr. Blasingame, he loves it, I guess.
LF: Mr. Fitz.
DD: Mr. Fitz, yeah, he loves it. But see, Mr. Fitz is, he's part magician, part entertainer, you know, and that's what you need to be a successful teacher and that was not me. So anyway, and that's why I took nursing, to go into nursing.
GA: And what was a typical day like in the hospital?
DD: Well, you have to show up at 6:30 for a report. And 6:30 to 7:00, you have a report on the patients that you're going to have for that day. And then you go out and do your assessment, see each patient, and assess- how they're doing, what they need for the day, and then what the orders are. And the doctors usually come around, around 9:00 or something in the morning, and write new orders for the day. So then you have to take care of those, follow them, and see that they get implemented, and all that.
LF: What were some of those orders, what would they be?
And then there's always activities, the patients have to be exercised.
DD: What would they be? Different medications, they would change medications. So you had to make sure that the orders got sent to the pharmacy and the proper meds came up and the proper medications were dispensed. It's a terrible thing to just lay in bed all day. So a lot of times the doctor would say-would order: 'out of bed', you know, twice a day or whatever. So you do that and then meals, you have to make sure they get their meals, clean up, we have to do a lot of, I have to give them a bath every day. Am I getting off the subject?
LF: No, no, this is day to day what you did.
DD: That's what you do during the day when you're a nurse, yeah.
GA: And kind of like what are the positives and negatives of working in the hospital?
DD: The positive things to me were helping people, helping people when they need, especially when they need help.
And without fail, they're always grateful for whatever you do. So it's a win-win. They're getting better and you get good feedback for helping them. So, you know, it's pretty inspiring. Plus, the other nurses that you work with, you develop quite a bond, you know, friendship with all the nurses you work with. And you see them for the rest of your life, you know, you have friends with them.
The negative parts are sometimes it gets kind of stressful, because patients don't always get well. And then you have to deal with that. And sometimes the days get long. We work 12 hour shift. And so it can get pretty long by the end of the day. It's tiring. That's the thing that come to mind right off.
GA: And have you observed any changes like in the hospital or even, you know, in patients?
The biggest, to me, the biggest change was computers. When computers came in, they just got more and more.
DD: Yeah, a lot of changes. Yeah, a lot of changes. Pretty soon doctors were putting their orders in on the computer instead of writing them out like they used to do, and then our orders would come to us on our computer screen. And every nurse had a laptop, and their vital signs and all that had to go into the computer. That was the biggest thing to get used to. What was your question?
And then they would do surgery on sicker and sicker patients. So the recovery was longer and more difficult than it was in the beginning. St. Helena Hospital was noted for their heart surgery. And what we noticed was over time, heart surgery started there in the 80s, I think, and then over time the patients got sicker and sicker before they would do heart surgery. So that was quite a change, especially in the 90s and in the 2000s. But then [there was] angiography. As angiography got better and better and better, then instead of doing heart surgery, they would just fix the patient's arteries by putting in a stint.
And so it was much easier for the patient, much easier for us. And that was quite a change. Nowadays, that's quite popular. Doing angiography instead of heart surgery. So that changed.
LF: How about in the hospital itself? It's kind of a big facility now. Was it always that building/structure?
DD: Yeah. They've always been adding, you know, there's always construction going on or something. But. It has always been about the same size, I think. It hasn't changed a whole lot.
LF: Wanna switch to music questions? A couple of music questions?
DD: Yeah, music questions.
LF: What inspired you to become a music teacher at first? Was anyone in your family musical?
DD: Well, my dad would sing, and at home we always had classical music
So that's how I got hooked on classical music. There again, as Adventists, jazz was: 'no, no'. Jazz was of the devil. So I got directed into classical music, so that became my focus. And so then when I went to college, and in high school, I just enjoyed it a lot. Music. I would make arrangements and do some music writing and stuff like that. And then when I got in college, it just seemed natural to pick a music major.
LF: Yeah, where did you learn to play your first instrument? What was your first instrument?
DD: Oh, my folks got me a trumpet when I was probably 10 or something. And so I played that first until high school. And then in high school there were 59 trumpets. So they needed some horn players. So that's how I got shifted over into playing French horn.
LF: Was that self-taught or?
DD: No, no, I had lessons.
LF: You had lessons.
DD: I had lessons. But you know, it wasn't, it's not a huge change. You know, mouthpiece, fingering are somewhat similar.
LF: Right.
DD: So, then from then on, I played horn in college.
LF: And then you remember what age you were when you got your trumpet?
DD: Well I think I was eight, nine or ten. I was nine or ten.
LF: And then you talk about classical music. Do you remember any songs, artists that inspired you from a young age? Or was it just classical music in general?
DD: No, just classical music in general.
LF: Just in general. Throw a record on and- yeah. Were you ever intrigued by the so-called devil music?
DD: Jazz and dance music, and things?
LF: Yeah, did it make it something that was forbidden and sometimes makes you want to learn more about it?
DD: No.
LF: Or were you fine with it?
DD: The same thing was in high school when I went to prep. We weren't exposed to it, and so we knew about it, but it just wasn't a big draw. I never was particularly drawn to it, and so consequently, I didn't learn much about jazz.
So even today, jazz is everywhere, and not like it was then
But I still don't know that much about it, and that's probably not- that's held back my musical life, I'm sure. Because when we play in community band now, we play these arrangements. And the rhythms are tricky, you know. They're just not natural to me. I can learn them, but it takes some effort.
LF: A bit newer. And what role does music play in your life today?
DD: Well, it's pretty important. I play every day, and I play in, you know, three or four different groups, and I look forward to it. I arrange music for some of them. And so, yes, it's very important.
LF: And have you noticed any changes in the way music is taught or appreciated compared to when you were teaching?... And real quick, you taught at which elementary school?
DD: It was in Mountain View, Miramonte Elementary School, and also San Fernando Valley Academy. Again, both Adventist schools.
LF: Adventist schools.
DD: Yes.
LF: Mostly classical?
DD: The repertoire was, you know, just folk music or classical music. So, you know, that's the way I grew up... What was your question?
LF: Oh, have you noticed any changes in the way music is taught now?
DD: Well, now there's a broader base on it. They teach more side folk music, they teach various jazz composers, things like that. It's just not so conservative as it was.
LF: Within the Seventh-day Adventist schools, or in general?
DD: [I’m speaking about SDA school music]
LF: What was your wedding song?
DD: What did we have? Music? What music did we have? It was pretty standard wedding music for that day. This was 1969. And so we had the standard classical organ pieces at the beginning. I had a friend who played a classical piece. One of my wife's friends sang there, again it was typical for that day, a typical wedding song.
How would you describe the sense of community in Angwin during your childhood
LF: Let's switch just the kind of [basic] history of Angwin and Saint Helena. Compared to what it is now? You said there's demographic changes and there is, there's less Adventism there. How has the community changed?
DD: In those days when we lived there, it was much more of a little town.
You know where Circle Drive is- where the pottery shop is. You know, those stores right along there. And now on one end there's a church. Well, that whole thing was stores. There was a five and ten cent store. There was a craft store. There was a fabric store. The whole thing was different shops, you know, stores. And across, there's a building across on the other side of the road. That was a market.
That was a regular Howell Mountain market, Hilltop store. It was just a regular grocery store. At the same place, there was a gas station there. There was also a gas station just on the other side down from where the church is. It kind of looks like a gas station now, except it's an apartment now, I think. Somebody lives there. There was two gas stations, right, in that part. And that wasn't even going over to the college, you know. When you got over to where the college is, there was another market there, plus a barbershop, plus other stores over there. So it was much more of a community of businesses.
LF: There was like a main street, you're saying?
DD: Yeah, businesses. And people did their business there. They didn't go running to St. Helena every time they wanted something, because you could get it right up there (In Angwin). So there was less, I'm sure there was less running around, running downtown and stuff like that. And it was more of a- you knew everybody who worked in the store. You knew the store owners who had businesses up there. And so it was just more of a community. Whereas now you just drive by.
LF: Right.
LF:A little more like secluded and individual it seems. It's very quiet.
DD: Now?
LF: Now. Yeah. Is that what you're saying? More than it was before.
DD: It's just quieter, it's just different. It's just quieter and people just go through. They don't stop and do their business and stuff like that.
LF: What are some of the main differences between Angwin and St. Helena? Because you say, now you have to go down to St. Helena to get your…
DD: To go to the store.
LF: Right.
DD: Well, St. Helena always has had little businesses all up and down Main Street, you know, the same as it does now. When we first came here, you know where Gott's Roadside is, well it was Taylor's Refresher. It was a little drive-in, just like it is now. So a lot of things were the same. They're just now they're just updated and different. That's the main thing I would say about it. But there was always little stores up and down Main Street, just like there is now. There weren't as many fancy stores, like high-end clothing stores. They weren't there.
LF: What kind of stores were there, instead of those?
DD: Well, there were just small little bakery. There was two or three bakeries. There was more kid's stores. There was the toy store, stuff like that. Little cafes like there is now. But there weren't these big art galleries. Like there's four or five big art galleries now. They weren't there.
GA: And what has stayed the same?
DD: I would say what stayed the same is the store owners. The store owners that are there still work in the store. They still own the store and they work in it. So you can get acquainted. I probably know half a dozen or more of the owners of the stores because they're working there. It just feels like- you know, more connected and you feel better about buying from someone you know. So I think that's still the same, in that respect.
There's a lot more tourists, there's always been tourists, but there's a lot more now.
And the whole town depends on tourists coming and spending their money. There's a lot more wineries, there's a lot more tasting rooms than there used to be. I don't know what they were before, but there weren't that many tasting rooms for sure. But again, that's a tourist attraction.
LF: Right. And then forward to the last one here. I do want to ask about [what] you wrote in your questionnaire that someone named Judge Horace Jenkins had a significant impact on your life- Do you mind elaborating on that?
DD: Horace Jenkins. He was the town judge in the city hall. When I got my driver's license, I was fifteen and a half, I guess, and I had a learner's permit. You could drive... if you had a license driver with you, you could drive. Well, me and my friends, we were doing a project for biology class. We had to make a flower collection, I think.
So we were in Pope Valley collecting flowers, just me and a couple friends.
Well, a [policeman] stops us, you know, and he figures out what's going on here. So I got a ticket. I had to go see the judge in the courthouse. This was on, well, it was across the street from where the old city hall was- the courthouse was.
The judge's office was there. So I went in, my mom went with me, went in and he's sitting up there behind his desk, you know, and he had these big glasses on. We come in and stand there in front of him and he looks at us like this (Mr. Davies impersonates Jenkins with a judging, playful scowl) and he says, "Well, I see Davies, I see you don't believe in following the law." It was pretty intense. I forget now what- I got probation or something, I didn't have to go to jail. But it was quite an intense situation and impressed upon me that it was probably a good idea to follow the law.
LF: What was that process like? Was it more, was it less sort of like this federal- or was it more of a community thing where like, you are, not necessarily required, you're more, you have an incentive to follow the law because it's a community and it's less like you're scared about going to jail.
DD: Yeah, it's more because you're in this community, which is a law-abiding community.
LF: It's kind of like the small town justice.
DD: Yes.
LF: And then, so did he kind of let you off or did you...
DD: Yeah, yeah, like I say, I got probation of some kind. I can't even remember exactly what it was, but for several months I had to... I didn't do any service or anything. I just was limited in driving, I think, and stuff like that.
LF: You didn't drive alone again.
DD: No- not until I got my license. That's the main thing I remember about it. And if that had been in a city, you know, a big city, I don't know how it would have been dealt with differently. I suppose it could have been.
LF: How did you meet your wife?
DD: Well, let's see. I was working, I was teaching down in Southern California and she was working as a secretary in an office for my cousin. And my cousin said, "Hey, this girl in the office here, you should meet her." So he got us together. We met and had a few dates and seemed to be working out. So that's how I met her.
LF: Was she Adventist?
DD: Yeah.
LF: As well?
LF: And then what year did you guys get married?
DD: ‘68.
DD: I was still in the military. We got married while I was in the military.
LF: And this is in California? This is in Maryland?
DD: No. She was in California. She lived in California. But I was in Fort Detrick.
LF: Right.
DD: So I came out. You know, we got married. And then she went back there and lived back there until I got out of the service, which was like six months or something. So, she lived back there and worked back there. We got an apartment. You didn't have to live in the barracks if you were married. So you could get an apartment off base.
LF: And then I read somewhere that if you did agree to take some of the tests, you'd get like a two week leave, or you'd get some time off because you agreed to do an inoculation or…
DD: No, you could apply for a leave. When you're in the military, you could apply for a leave. Say, I need two weeks off, such-and-such time to get married and stuff. And you could do that. You could get time off.
LF: What was that process like? You just write a letter to...
DD: How did you do it?
LF: Yeah.
DD: Well, you had to fill out a form. As I recall, you just fill out a form and talk to your... superior officer, whoever it was. And it went through, there's all kind of regulations, you know, in the military it's quite amazing how regulated it is.
LF: And then I do want to ask, you wrote in your questionnaire about a son. Did you raise your son as a seventh-day Adventist?
DD: Yeah. He went to Prep. And he lives in Angwin. Yeah.
LF: Do you want to ask the last one, Gabe?
GA: So we're gonna go back to [questions about] Angwin and Saint Helena.
You have been part of this community from the days of grazing cattle on the future grounds of modern-day vineyards, wineries, What is one positive aspect of this transition between like grazing cattle on the future grounds to the wineries in these modern days?
DD: The vineyards.
GA: Yeah.
DD: When we came, you would drive from here to Calistoga, and all on either side, it was just oak forest with cattle grazing.
There was very few vineyards. And was that better or worse? I don't know. I'm not prepared to make a statement on that [laughs]. In some ways, I think it's nice to use the land, make it productive with grapes, with vineyards. But on the other hand, it was nice to have it natural too, you know.
GA: Yeah.
LF: Right, well it's just more like, much more aesthetically pleasing, you know, it can be anything about it. It can be demographic changes, it can be economic.
DD: Yeah, well, you know, if we've done for economic reasons, and so because of that, there's a lot more money in the Valley now. So I suppose...
LF: A lot more fancy stores, a lot more...
DD: We have better infrastructure, maybe, I would hope. And certainly more expensive stores,
yeah. It takes a lot more to live here now, I'm sure, than it did in those days.
LF: Absolutely.
DD: Yeah.
LF: That's all the questions we have now. Is there anything that you would like to touch on that we didn't?
DD: No, I think you grilled me pretty well.
LF: Grilled you? Yeah.
DD: Yeah.
LF: That's pretty good.
DD: You think you can make anything out of it?
LF: Absolutely. You've lived and continue to live an amazing...
DD: [Chuckles] It's good to have guys like you who are interested.
LF: For sure. So we will send you down the transcript and it will be posted to the St. Helena Historical Society website. There's a bunch of interviews there, with various people.
DD: It tells who they are and so forth.
LF: Yeah, it tells who they are and it has a picture of them. Actually, if you would like to take a picture, that's one of the things that we do.
GA: Yeah.
LF: We do. We can get Mr. B to take a picture of us.
DD: Take a picture?
LF: Just of all of us, just saying- We did this, anyway.
DD: Sure, yeah, sure. It was fine. Can I keep this?