Special Guests Visit the Farm

Cedar Creek Alpacas had two very special visitors this week. Jackie and Karla came all the way from the East. Jackie from West Virginia and Karla from Tennessee. They came to visit the town where Jackie was born in 1934. She was a very special baby, weighing less than 15 oz when she was born! Yes I said 15 oz! She was so small she could lay in the hand of the nurse that took care of her. Visiting our area was on Jackie's bucket list and her daughter, Karla made that dream come true. I first spoke with Karla about two years ago when she called me at "my off the farm" job, at the local newspaper. She was inquiring about the area and was wanting to do some research about her mother in our archived papers. Two years later she contacted us again to tell us that they were finally going to make it out here. I invited them to visit our farm if they wanted to see some friendly fuzzy alpacas. While here visiting our farm they wanted to create their own felted alpaca scarf. It was fun teaching them how to wet felt. Jackie is the crafty one of the pair, according to Karla. I think they are both creative! Their scarves are beautiful and they are looking forward to wearing them this winter! I got to spend a bit more time with Jackie and Karla the next day. They came to the newspaper office and spent time looking through the 1934 and 1935 papers. We determined that Little Jackie was quite the celebrity in the small town of Stevenson WA. Her father was working on Bonneville Dam and her family lived across the river in Cascade Locks, OR. In order for them to get to the hospital in Stevenson they had to walk across the bridge. Jackie's Doctor and nurse cared for her for more than 6 months. When she was born she was fed with an eye dropper and was kept warm with water bottles and warm cotton blankets. When she left the hospital she weighed about 8 pounds. She really was the talk of the town and the entire community pitched in to help this tiny little babe. They sewed doll clothes for her and the local women's club held a baby shower for her. In the 30's it was rare to have actual photos on the pages of this newspaper. But low and behold there was a photo of Jackie with her nurse! She was just the cutest little thing! The doctor and nurses were very proud of this little girl! We were beginning to wonder why she had not been taken home but we finally found an update about her a couple of months later and we discovered that her parents were not able to care for her where they lived. I am sure it was rough living for the dam workers and Jackie needed special care. It was such a pleasure meeting these two lovely ladies. I am glad that we were able to entertain them on our farm for a while and glad that we were able to assist them at the newspaper in researching their amazing family history!