Feb 19, 2019
In
1970, with a marine husband in Vietnam, Cheryl Erickson was tasked
with coming to 29 Palms to look for a home for herself and her
husband. After her initial trip, Cheryl decided not to tell her
husband she was not moving to the desert - 50 years later, she is
still here.
Having
a life-long love of books, Cheryl worked in libraries at the
University of Minnesota, Fairfax County, Virginia and Cal State
Long Beach and immediately, upon getting settled, took a job with
the 29 Palms Library. A marine officer's wife, Cheryl learned the
other Marine wives were a bit unhappy that Cheryl's work made her
unavailable to assist with the planning of teas and other service
spouse functions.
Oddly
enough, Cheryl's step-mother knew a women who lived in 29 Palms and
suggested Cheryl seek her out after settling in. The woman was Mary
Hayes, wife of Ted Hayes who was the first high school teacher and
principal in 29 Palms. Through Mary, Cheryl had an easy
introduction to the community and feels it was that sense of
community that has kept her in 29 Palms all these
years.
At the
library, Cheryl worked as assistant librarian to Harold Weight. One
day, while Cheryl was reading 'The Desert was Home', by Elizabeth
Campbell, an important early resident in 29 Palms history, a
library patron suggested that if Cheryl were interested in 'that
kind of stuff', he would bring her some items he'd kept in the
process of removing the contents of Campbell House. Cheryl and
Harold poured over the materials and lamented the fact that so much
from the home had been discarded without a thought of it's
historical value and importance. It was at that point, around 1982,
with the meeting of a few other local minds, that the 29 Palms
Historical Society was formed.
With
Harold's assistance and previous experience in collecting oral
histories Cheryl conducted oral interviews of more than 70 of the
oldest residents of 29 Palms. In this
episode, Cheryl talks about her conversation with
Johnnie Hastie, the towns bus-driving errand man.
Cheryl
went on to become the head librarian of the 29 Palms Library and,
along with Ann Congdon, was the Pioneer Days 2107 Old Timer of the
Year.
Cheryl
is also a member of Little Church of the Desert, where she played
the organ for many years, and continues to play an important role
in the community and in the 29 Palms Historical
Society.