Just a word or two about concessionaire when I first came to the park. There were the Smiths, father and son [Harry], Pop Smith and his son, and they were just the greatest individuals (24). Pop Smith, particularly as I understand it, his expertise was in restaurant management. He would go into a city or something, and take a run-down restaurant and build it up and then sell it. Basically, that’s what he did at Crater Lake. But he was a very approachable person. I remember one time I was up there at the lodge just talking with him and for some reason, we got around to talking about projectors. And I just mentioned that I was in the market for getting a projector and he says, “Well, come on down to my office.” And I got down there and the throws out a catalog and he says, “Look through this and find one that you want to order, and I’ll order it out for you at my cost.” And I thought that was pretty decent of him. At the cafeteria, the uniformed staff got free coffee and we got discounts for our foods and this sort of thing. He was very, very cooperative and not pushy. He wasn’t out to further commercialize the area, but out to present a good facility, good food, and this sort of thing. And when it was purchased by Griffin and Peyton, I really felt that we lost a good concessionaire in Pop Smith.
Did some of those discounts, or the kind of friendly feeling that the concessionaire was trying to build with the park staff, disappear?
Yes it did, but maybe that was my interpretation. Once again, once Griffin/Peyton came in, seeing their attitude and their way of operation, really kind of turned me off. The degree of confidence I had in them disappeared greatly. They did bring their children up and I’m sure you’re aware that one of their sons and a seasonal employee’s daughter were both murdered one winter there in the Portland area. I certainly felt badly for the Peyton family because they certainly had their grief to work out.
A lot of people said that this grief was really the beginning of a lot of Ralph Peyton’s problems.
Right. It was really sad.
How do you feel about further development in the park?
Personally, on the feeling of further development, I was very opposed to that.
That pretty much sums up my recollections. I will say this; Crater Lake will always have a special place in my heart as long as I live. The individuals that I mentioned, and there are many more, and I don’t mean to slight anyone that I came in contact with, but there were just so many and I just feel that they were really great, great people to work with. I feel very fortunate in having had that experience.
