Work To &Thru College
At the end of the summer when I was 12 or 13, I had my first job outside of the neighborhood. I helped Uncle Wayne and Aunt May pick corn. The corn field was South of the old high school and probably on the ground where the new high school is. We were to start at eight in the morning but dad would drop me off at seven before he went to work at the steel mill. I would start picking corn and work hard for that first hour. The Tanners had to get the cows milked before they could come to pick corn. I remember how nice it was to be out in the field with the sun coming over the mountain. It was calm and quiet. Then the Tanners would arrive. Aunt May was in charge, while Betty Jean, Connie and Daryl would pick. We were required to pick one row at a time so that we would not miss an ear. The ears were placed in rick rows such that a truck could be driven between. As I remember it six rows went into one rick and six into the next. We would follow along and toss the corn from the rick rows into the truck, which would then be delivered to the Del Monte cannery in Spanish Fork. In five days we finished the field of corn and then came payday. Aunt May wrote a check for $18.75 just enough for a $25 savings bond which I bought at the bank. I am not sure that Aunt May wanted to pay me more than her children, but she did.