50 Years, Starting in Chico

It was fall 1975. Gerald Ford was president, Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine won the World Series, the Cold War was at its height, and the defense contractor I worked for opened an office in Silverdale in advance of the coming Trident boom. The photo shows the first place I rented in Kitsap County for more than a few weeks. It’s in Chico, across the street from Town & Country Auto Repair and just a few steps from Hank’s Grocery.

Relocating here from Virginia Beach, Virginia, that fall involved several key events. First was a working trip in early October 1975 to help set up the new office. It was in a trailer in an empty lot behind what is now the big gray office building at 3100 NW Bucklin Hill Road. While I hadn’t yet committed to moving, I made the decision quickly despite needing to say goodbye to many good friends on the East Coast. Next was the actual household move in December, which included a long cold drive in my 1956 Chevrolet across the northern United States with my Dad helping out. That trip is worth a blog post of its own someday. Finally, there was a short move in January 1976 from a temporary waterfront house on Chico Beach Drive to the apartment in Chico. It was in an old stucco building, the first of several that made up what was then called Kougl’s Court and got progressively nicer as you went up the hill from Chico Way.

So while there’s no exact anniversary date, every fall, when the rainy Washington weather returns, I think about the move and what was then the biggest decision of my life.

The Chico apartment was small dark and dumpy although it had two cool features—a heatilator fireplace and a built-in wall oven. There were two bedrooms, a tiny kitchen, a bathroom, and baseboard electric heat. It shared the building with two retail units that fronted on Chico Way and fortunately were closed on weekends. In the apartment during the evenings after work I could still smell the various sprays and lotions the two businesses—a nail place and hair salon—used to beautify their customers. An old washing machine, no dryer, was available in a nearby shed on the property. At least it was free.

I lived there for almost two years until I bought my first house on Mud Bay. When you are young, you can live just about anywhere.

The apartment is still there and, judging by the SUV that was parked alongside it when I took some photos last week, someone lives in it. The two commercial spaces in front are rented too, by a PC repair place and a beauty salon.

Hank’s Grocery is also observing its 50^th anniversary this year and is in the same location. The store seemed old when I first saw it back in 1975. Perhaps it was a new business then in an old building. I was a good customer—mostly for beer, snacks, and the pay phone. Hank’s is barely surviving today due to the Shell Station and C-Store across the street. Still, I hope they last another 50 years.

Final note: On the initial trip out from Virginia, a co-worker and I rented a car and drove from SeaTac to Kitsap County after our flight landed. When we got to Chico, which is one exit south of Silverdale on Route 3, there was plenty of daylight left so we decided to get off the freeway there and thus delay our arrival by a few minutes. I can’t remember any details from that side trip, but it was the start of a long relationship with Chico.