CLARA:  So in June, middle of June in 2001 or 2002 -- 2002, just out of the blue I thought, well, this is enough, I think I'm ready to leave.  So I retired December 29th, it would be three years come December since I retired from being a supervisor instructor.
 
KAREN:  What -- what was your maiden name?
 
CLARA:  Baldwin. 

KAREN:  When did you and Billy get married?
 
CLARA:  November 26, 1958.  I have an anniversary coming up.  47 years.
 
KAREN:  What inspired you and him to volunteer when that nurse was asking you to help? 

CLARA:  That doctor, she was just pretty pushy.  Well, she said she walked around town and asked -- asked people and asked the council, asked teachers and who they thought, you know, would be good to -- to ask.
 
And they gave them some names, and I guess the other ones didn't want to do it, so she came to us.  And we didn't have any kids then.  So we just said we'll give it a try.  And just kept on from there.

KAREN:  Uh-hum. 

CLARA:  As we went along, we saw the need for someone to be doing that.  Kids get sick and people get hurt.  Help them out. 

But before the -- the District Clinic opened, we pretty much didn't have anything.  Excuse me.  When the -- when we had to make calls to the Bethel Hospital, we ran across the airfield to the -- one of the FAA stations and talked to Bethel on their radio phone.  And yeah. 

I think we didn't got a phone until -- it was in the early '60s, I think -- no, early '70s when we finally got a phone. 

KAREN:  In other communities I know they had regular radio call with doctors.

CLARA:  Yeah.  Uh-hum.

KAREN:  Did you have that in Aniak? 
CLARA:  Uh-hum (affirmative).  We had -- in the District Clinic, we had one of those old northern radios.  And Bethel would take the traffic from the villages, and if they couldn't hear the upper villages, I'd get on the radio and, you know, talk with the village and pass it on to Bethel and like that.  And then when we couldn't get ahold of Bethel, we would call Knaknak, they had a good radio, reception. 

KAREN:  You could reach Dillingham but you couldn't reach Bethel sometimes? 

CLARA:  Yeah.  Sometimes we couldn't.  I don't know why.  Maybe the winds in Bethel.  So yeah. 

And then now when the doctors were there, they did the traffic to the upper river villages.  And then when the paramedic was there, he did the same, and after he left, I pretty much stuck with it of getting on there when I heard anybody talking and they couldn't get Bethel. 

Then sometimes just on before the villages got their phones, take everything down from the radio, and then call them on the phone and do that.  Always busy. 

KAREN:  What was that like doing everything by radio?
 
CLARA:  It was good.  Sometimes we talked about it to health aides when we had health aide conference, you know.  It seemed like it was better with the radio because we heard our coworkers' voices and who they were.  On the telephone, you just hear whoever you're talking to.  It was good.  It was fun. 

When the river in the spring started breaking up, I used to get on the radio early in the morning, 7:30, to the channel, you know, it wasn't shut off, anybody could listen on those radios if they had one, you know, and I'd call upper river villages and get a report on the ice condition and their breakup. 
So it was fun.