Comments for Action Items

Comment on mystery abandoned roadside attraction by Dawn

Dawn — Fri, 23 Sep 2016 06:31:42 +0000

We should overthrow Big City Chrome, and take over… any takers? Yes, I am serious. This place holds a lot of memories for me…

Comment on s.w.g. continued/day two by Chaska Carlile

Chaska Carlile — Wed, 18 Jun 2014 03:19:07 +0000

I love that old man, when I was 8 years old I lived in this creepy ghost town. With a abussive father. And I am so surprised to find this blog, I can remmember sittin with Melvin on that very same couch. Melvin was a great man and he was also very funny. Today june 17th 2014 I find out that a loving man with a great heart. Has passed away B.I.P. Ball In Paradise. Old man I love you. Connie I don’t know if you remmember me or if you will ever see this. But I would like to meet you again.

Comment on s.w.g. continued/day two by Rhonda Wright

Rhonda Wright — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 05:00:35 +0000

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJA4TGOAn98&list=RDrJA4TGOAn98#t=0 R.I.P. Mel.

Comment on NATIONAL MUSEUM of FUNERAL HISTORY (TM) by Joe

Joe — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 00:43:25 +0000

weird

Comment on NATIONAL MUSEUM of FUNERAL HISTORY (TM) by Joe

Joe — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 00:43:08 +0000

THIS IS WEIRD

Comment on s.w.g. continued/day two by Jaclyn Phillips

Jaclyn Phillips — Sat, 25 Jan 2014 09:10:37 +0000

Connie Hammons, I stumbled across this blog by looking up pictures of Hardman. I have wanted to visit for years because I photograph ghost towns. Every time I would look up Hardman online I saw the picture of your father but I didn’t read any further until tonight. I think your father is a beautiful human and I admire his way of life. Living in the middle of nowhere has always been something Ive aspired. Every time I go to a small town or ghost town with still some people living there, every person I meet is amazing unique individual. Your Father and the beautiful stories you have told above have totally touched my heart. I love listening to old men and women who have been living out in the country tell their stories. Im planning on visiting Hardman in the next few weeks, I will think of you and your father while visiting this beautiful little town. Don’t listen to what people say they don’t think before they talk and they don’t even know what they are talking about in the first place. I loved reading the stories you wrote about your father and wish both of you the best!

Comment on ghost city (detroit part 2) by Lisa

Lisa — Wed, 09 Oct 2013 08:57:25 +0000

Thanks, I find these images really beautiful and like to incorporate abandoned buildings as imagery in my paintings. There is something about the building being abandoned by humans, it takes on an identity of it’s own. A space of held memories. The building lies on the border of being demolished in an impending space.

Comment on s.w.g. continued/day two by Connie Hammons

Connie Hammons — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 00:25:58 +0000

I am new to Facebook and shocked at the liberties people take when shielded by the faceless anonymity. I may not be wise to the ways of the internet, but I know human nature. May I suggest you read How To Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age. This is an up-to-date version of the old standard. I don not recommend this in jest or sarcastically, but with a genuine belief that you are a nice person who would welcome a few pointers to help show your better side.
The following is a post I meant to send to you and sent to another person by mistake….

I am the daughter of Melvin Hammons. I sit here at my computer crying. I cry from the surprise I felt at finding this article about my dad via Facebook. I cry from outrage at the unkind things people said about him. I cry at the sweet memories people wrote about. And I cry at the sadness of the whole thing. Don’t people realize that every “strange” person they hear about or see in a picture is real and there are people out there that know and love them? Don’t they know that their comments may be read? There is always a story behind that strange picture. We all suffer from heartache and loneliness and, eventually old age and all the suffering that goes with it.

Yes, Melvin Hammons of the ghost town of Hardman, Oregon did drink too much at times. He was a broken old man who suffered from loneliness and depression. He refused to leave his home until he had to. He was unkept and so was his old house.

When he finally consented to come to Roseburg and live with me he weighed little more than a hundred pounds. And, yes, he claimed to be 100 years old, just as he has for decades.

Twenty some years ago, my two sisters, Jeanine and Glorene, and my brother-in-law, Ernie had a tavern in Heppner. Some hunters from Portland were sitting at the bar with Daddy. He bet them a beer that he was a hundred years old. He was only in his sixties at the time so they could tell he was bluffing and took him up on the bet. In order to prove his point Melvin said, “Just ask the bartender.” They asked Jeanine (Melvin’s youngest daughter) who promptly affirmed, “Melvin Hammons, he’s a hundred years old!” The hunters said that he must have put her up to it, so he told them to ask the other bartender. Glorene (Melvin’s middle daughter) confirmed it with, “Who, Mel Hammons? Why he’s a hundred years old!” One of the hunters asked the disc-jockey (Melvin’s son-in-law, Ernie) and was asked, “Are you talking about, Melvin Hammons? He’s a hundred years old!” Just then Melvin saw Nathan (his son) walk in the backdoor and go into the restroom. He turned to the two hunters and loudly proclaimed, “Just ask the next person who comes down that hall. If they don’t say that I am a hundred, I’ll buy you both a beer.” In a moment, Nathan emerged. They asked him and he answered, “Melvin Hammons, he’s a hundred years old!” I don’t think the hunters ever found out who they were dealing with, but my dad had plenty of laughs and fun and, of course, beer.

Daddy has been with for over two years. I fattened him up and bought him a total of three scooters which he road all over the neighborhood. He loved waiving to people as they walked or drove by. We took lots of rides in the country in the van. He loved watching the big plazma TV, playing cards and singing the old songs.

Now, our dad is 81. That seems young after he has been a hundred for so long. He has been very ill for months. He has lost all the weight he gained and can’t walk anymore. It won’t be long before he is gone. We will miss him.

Comment on s.w.g. continued/day two by Connie Hammons

Connie Hammons — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 00:17:51 +0000

Matt,
I admire your work. The pictures in this article are conceptional. You started out on the right track. It would have been a much more compelling story if you would have taken just a little more time to discover that Mel was not going to begin firing those racial or sexist slurs you feared. You might have found out that he not only served in the Air Force during the Korean war in the early 1950s, but that he remained in the reserves and joined the National Guard serving a total of almost 20 years. He was in Germany during Desert Storm.
Melvin only had a sixth grade education, but he got his GED and went to Barber College. He opened Barber shops in Heppner and Pendelton. He was a member of several civic organizations, including the Elks, American Legion and VFW. And he wasn’t racist or sexist. He hired a woman barber when he was off to serve in the military and paid her the same that he would have paid a man. He had friends of every race.
He had his faults, but couldn’t you have painted him in a better light? He always told us, “Be good to each other because you never know when it is the last time we will ever be together.” Another thing he always said was,
“Don’t judge someone until you walk a mile in their moccasins”.
The kennels he worked at with his wife Margaret was called the Douglas County Humane Society and is located in Roseburg. It is now called Saving Grace. He loved animals and spent hours filming the wildlife around his house along with cattle drives and sunsets. He called it Quite Time and would whisper to the camera as he captured the interesting sights.
Yes, Mel was talking in rhymes. He still does. He used to play the guitar and make up great songs on the fly. He even played and sang at the Hardman Hall.
These are just a few facts that come to my mind as I write about my father. Imagine how much more I could tell. Imagine what he could have told you, had you taken a bit more time and asked the right questions. Just like all of us, Melvin Hammons is a fascinating and dynamic human being. Again, your story could have been so much more compelling if you would have taken the time to flesh out his character and then written it in such a way that people would want to look him up and have him make up a song about them.
You don’t know this, but you made quite an impression on my dad. He talked about your visit for a long time. And he painted you in the best light possible. I always thought that I’d like to have you come and do a story about me. Wasn’t that a kind thing for my father to do?

Comment on s.w.g. continued/day two by Connie Hammons

Connie Hammons — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 23:54:33 +0000

I realize you made this comment many years ago. I hope you have grown up since then. It may seem like a moot point, but I feel compelled to reply. That “creepy” old man is my dad. He was going through the worst time of his life. He was lonely, sick and frail. I hope that when you are going through the worst time of your life and are unable to make a good impression on strangers, that someone does NOT come along and hurt the ones that love you by belittling you. You never know what other people are going through. Remember the golden rule. By-the-way, I think the name you chose for yourself really fits because, “piu piu”, your attitude is what stinks!