Listen and learn from your elders

GARDNERVILLE, Nev.

by Sharlene Irete

sirete@recordcourier.com

Any study of the history of the United States shows cyclic ebbs and flows of the economy. People 75 years and older have lived through times of high unemployment during the Great Depression and rationing for the war effort during World War II.

People who lived through these times could be a valuable resource for advice on how to make it through a tough economy.

"Are you kidding? The younger generation never listens to the older generation," said Bobbe Sigerist at the Douglas County Senior Center on Monday. "They never think they're going to be old."

Growing up in a family of six Sigerist, 75, said she learned how to squeeze a nickel. She said the younger generations should learn they can't get everything they ask for.

"We learned how to make do, but we never felt deprived," she said. "Kids have to get away from instant gratification. When my son was 11, he wanted a CB radio, but we told him we didn't have the money for it. Within a week, he started a paper route. He got the money for the radio and he's been working ever since."

Sigerist's best advice: "If I don't have the money, I don't buy it."

Erma D'olivia, 96, said experiencing tough economic times is just something people have to live through. She said there was more of a sense of community when she was growing up in San Francisco.

"The Chinese and Italians in our neighborhood had vegetable gardens and told us to pick what we want and not waste," D'olivia said. "It's how it used to be. People used to help each other. It's different now."

At the Washoe Senior Center, Steve James said having a close community helped in bad times.

"People watched over each other. We always got along well and people didn't go hungry," said James, 77. "We always had something to eat and always had shelter. Way back then, different families had homes close together. If someone got sick, we took care of them."

Lunch at the Washoe Senior Center on Friday was tripe soup and Neapolitan ice cream.

"Years ago most of the people in the Valley ate tripe," said James. "They had a slaughterhouse and didn't throw anything away. We'd make our own sausage and hot dogs. Young people don't know how to cook. They have to eat in a restaurant in town, fast food.

"We had our own gardens " carrots, onions, a lot of potatoes," James said. "We had a big cellar where we kept it all winter. We did our hunting in fall and winter. There were deer in large herds and they competed with the cattle around the haystacks. There's no haystacks now. The deer are eating people's yards these days."

His advice to young people in a down economy: "Go out and look for work and find income. If a person looks hard enough he can always get income, but it might not be permanent."

Carnegie Smokey Jr., 60, said a down economy could be harder on the young people.

"It could be worse for kids. They're shown that living beyond your means is the way to live life " putting it off until tomorrow," Smokey said.

"The Washoe Tribe is in a unique situation. We were never part of the economy. On the outskirts, there is no difference between repression or depression."

Smokey explains the effects the recession has on him as a member of the workforce.

"I'm a journeyman carpenter and have been out of work for over a year," he said. "I do whatever I can find, which could be hard at my age when they have 20-somethings going around looking for work.

"I've lived here all my life and it's been booming since the 1960s when Red Swift was building in the Ranchos. It's been boom and bust, but that's Nevada," Smokey said.

"Everything is a circle. It all comes around and then it's your turn."