“I was born on October 31st, so there was always a big celebration on my birthday! We went trick-or-treating, and bobbed for apples, and there was always a bonfire. All the kids played together; nobody was left out. Bevan was like a big family. If anyone was down and out there was a collection for them, even if it was just canned foods. Everyone helped each other - you knew everyone and you never locked your door. We all worked in the mine or the logging camp, that is all there was. My brother worked in the mine as soon as he was old enough.

“Years before I was married, I went down the mine; I remember I was still in school. It was dark and cold; we had hats on with lights and battery packs on our backs. My friend Rita’s dad was a shift boss; he was down checking and asked if we wanted to go down with him to see what the mine looked like. We went right down to the bottom on the elevator and it was a fast drop! Rita’s dad went up into the hole where the brattice cloth was to check that there was no gas in there; we just stayed right down on the track where there were lights and all the mules were right there as you came down. We were wondering how dark it would be if we turned off the lights on our hats, but we were afraid we would not be able to turn them on again! The lights did not go all the way down the tunnel, but when miners were working, they all wore hats with lights on them. This day was Sunday so no one was working; it was quiet, just the three of us down there.