This is Arthur McClain shoveling snow. I have only a guess for a date of this photo: that it was probably in the late 1930s or early 1940s.
I don’t specifically recognize the building in the background. It isn’t the McClain residence in Tallman, but nevertheless I imagine this is somewhere on the Tallman farm. This looks like a significant amount of snow, for the floor of the Willamette Valley. Not necessarily record-setting, but still significant.
Especially if this was in the 1940s, I imagine dealing with this snow was just one of many hints that Arthur would soon be physically unable to keep up the farm. It was this realization that led Arthur and Addie to make plans (reluctantly, on Arthur’s part) to sell the farm and move into Lebanon. They were in the process of moving in April 1947 when Arthur was killed in a accidental fall.
Poignant, Lloyd. Thanks. Sweet man. I remember how he would feign anger at us and toss us into the trunk of his coupe, which had only a curtain between the trunk and the interior of the car. When we crawled through to where he was driving he would feign anger once again at our escape. I also remember the call mom received and burst into tears. Her dad had died. My namesake.
Yes, we had some significant snowfalls in that time period. I remember walking home from school once and the snow was at least a foot deep. That would be the winter of 40-41, 41-42, 42-43 or 43-44. I remember Daddy stomping out a wheel shape in the snow so we could play fox and goose. (Don’t ask me details of the game! I think the fox was in the center and the geese ran around the perimeter.)