"All I can say is that there were about 60 young ladies lined up to see the 200 and some men get off the train and they were each picking out their husbands to be. It was quite an exciting time for the young ladies. It was really nice that they chose Bastian and Bland County. I love the incident with the girls picking out their husbands. It was just an exciting time."

Note: Zareda's husband, Daniel, was one of the CCC boys.


CCC Camp and Hardwood Lumber

Mr. Earnest: "...........See there was two parts to the CCC's ; the army part and the forestry part in this camp here. This was the Civilian Conservation Corp. Uh camp P53VA and the P was for private land and 53 was the number of the camp and they called 1388. And uh Camp Cherokee, Bastian, Virginia, so thats what they put on those rocks. Did you ever notice those rocks up where Margaret Ruth lives?

Barbara: "No sir I never noticed those rocks."

Mr. Earnest: "It was up there so that you could see it by airplane."

Barbara: " Oh, really."

Mr. Earnest: "We were rated a superior camp in cleanliness, organization and everything. And very few camps were rated superior. So it was a pretty place when all of us was up there.

Barbara: "Do you remember any of activities that went on at the CCC camp? Like recreation and social life?"

Mr. Earnest: "I tell you what besides the recreational activities we also had to go to school: 6 hours a week, whether we was the smartest boy on the hill or not. So a lot of boys came up here didn't get paid until they could write their own name. That wasn't a government rule. He said you have to sign the payroll so you don't get paid till you sign it. So they learned to write their name in a hurry. But there was a lot really were desperate."