Vicki Linderborn, July 13, 2013

File

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

This collection contains recorded interviews with Boise citizens. Notable topics include Boise Bench history, Greenbelt history, Foothills Levy history, Boise Fire Department history, Boise Police Department history, and personal and political histories of former mayors and councilmembers.

Dates

July 13, 2013

Creator

Linderborn, Margaret "Vicki" (1936-October 25, 2022) (Narrator, Person)

Extent

577.7 Megabytes

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Additional Description

Abstract

Vicki Linderborn was born in Mackey Idaho in 1936. Her father worked for the U.S. Forest Service, out of the Boise office, near 900 River Street. Her parents bought a house on the Bench in 1941, when Vicki was five. She went to Franklin Elementary School and spent most of her free time playing in the open fields. She was the first class to enter South Junior High and remembers voting for school colors and a mascot. Getting to school was difficult due to canals with no bridges. As a teenager she went to Boise High School and spent her after school hours with friends – walking downtown or to the Train Depot. After High School she married her husband and traveled with him in the Air Force. They returned to Boise and bought their own home on the Bench in 1970, very close to where Vicki grew up. Raising children on the Bench was similar to her childhood, except less walking and more shopping options around her. Her children still live in Boise, but not on the Bench. She saw tremendous growth through the years but also expressed some concern with the “decay” especially along Orchard Avenue.

Time Index

TIME TOPIC
00:00 Summary of where she lived throughout her life.
01:22 1941: Information about parents moving to the Bench. Her parents buy the house.
02:20 Vicki starting school at Franklin. The schools she went to, moving to other classrooms because of the overcrowding during and after WWII. Best friend, Sharon Baldwin.
05:25 Parents involvement in the War, and her father’s work for the Forest Service as a Heavy Equipment operator.
06:20 Describing what she remembers about the Bench.
07:00 Learning to swim in the canals.
09:00 The bus system in Boise. How she traveled, including lots of walking to Downtown.
09:50 Hanging out at the Depot.
10:45 What she did for fun on the Bench as a child. Playing without many organized activities.
12:15 Jr. High and High School. First class at South Junior High. Picking school colors, traveling to SJHS over canals without bridges.
14:00 Ice Skating on the canals and ponds.
14:40 Using the auditorium at South Junior High. Commentary on the destruction of SJHS.
16:30 Learning to drive.
17:00 Street conditions and TV coming to Boise, and oiled streets. Listening to the Radio.
20:00 Hanging out as a teenager. Sat around and talked with friends, going to movies. Y-teens camp.
21:00 Movie theatres, downtown. Sneaking into the Vista theatre.
22:15 Shopping. Mother grocery shopped by home. Mr. Nelson delivered the groceries. Somewhere by Jefferson and 13th. Small stores on the Bench: 4th Avenue Market.
25:00 A young adult, married at the Red Rock Church, Roosevelt and Shoshone, 2nd Christian Church. Coming back to Boise after her husband retired.
28:00 Changes after moving back, comparing growth. Less use of Buses and walking.
29:25 The construction of Cassia Park, and subdivisions going up around Camas street. Buying their house in 1970.
31:15 Raising a family in her house in 3 bedroom house. Going to work as a police dispatcher.
32:40 Commuting to work with one car, a 90 cc motorcycle, buses.
33:40 Her children’s experience in school and summer activities. Commentary on education.
36:40 Kids going to the pool.
37:20 Shopping at the same store (Buttery’s, Albertsons) in the Hillcrest Shopping center for 43 years.
40:00 Changes to the Bench from the 1970s. Some decay.
41:30 Diversity growing up and the African American section of town (River Street).
43:00 How to get downtown by foot.
45:20 Cassia Park and her use of it. Her use of other parks and the Zoo.
47:15 Describing her children’s houses and where they live now.
50:45 The Depot is the landmark she remembers and other iconic items of the Bench.
52:35 End.