I was born there in Fillmore, by accident on December 27, 1926.....My parents were visiting some friends, Mr. and Mrs. O'Neill, who were also the parents of my Aunt Mary,-- Mary was married to my maternal uncle, Everette Huckaba and they lived in Saticoy..The O'Neill's lived in a large two story home in the middle of a citrus grove between the Sespe Ranch and the river (On Santa Paula side of river) At the time, my parents lived (I think ) in Montalvo--- They called the nearest doctor, who happened to be Dr. Osbourne...So my birth certificate says "Fillmore" is the place of my birth, but I was raised in Santa Paula and consider SP as my home town..

Those were days of the Great Depression, so due to my dad having to move because of work, we did end up as residents of Fillmore for about a year.. I did my seventh grade there, in 1938/39, in , I think, the first year of the new Junior High addition at the high school...

I remember going to Dr. Osbourne's house with a bunch of beggars for trick or treat that Halloween..The Osbournes lived on the corner of the main thoroughfare into Fillmore--Where the stop sign was-Turn to the left to go over the Canejo to Thousand Oaks or turn to the right to go to Santa Paula. Their son later lived in the same house and was also a doctor--probably during your time there. Anyway,back to my story--Mrs. Osbourne gave each of us scalawags a nice treat. While thanking her, I told her that her husband had delivered me..She asked my name, then told me to wait a minute..When she came back to the door, she gave me a BIG BAG full of goodies as I was one of her husbands "Babies"--I remember the bag had a candied apple, candied popcorn ball, cookies, balloons,and lots of stuff...When I saw my bonanza, I told her that I sure was glad that my father had evidently paid the bill for my delivery !!! She laughed and said, "Yes, My dear, Mr. Bunch paid for you in full. "

We lived on Fillmore Street, next door to an old theatre---Go out our back gate, across the alley, through the back door of the grocery store, then we had access to the block long business district of Fillmore--This was our short cut to the theatre, drug store, hardware, or just the grocery.. The theatre, our house, and the next door house burned down..I stopped by there about twenty years ago--Those lots are vacant with the exception of the sidewalk that led up to our front porch and the old pepperberry tree that was between our house and the theatre---I looked at the tree and was pleasantly surprised to see a scar on the limb where my father had put a chain over it and fastened the chain to an old tire for a swing for us kids..

Goodnight...Billie

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I was born in Fillmore On Dec. 27, 1926---My parents lived (I think) at Montalvo then, but were visiting some friends, Mr. and Mrs. O'Neill...I was delivered by Dr. Osbourne

I attended 7th grade in Fillmore in 1937/38---I think it was the first year using the Jr.High addition to the High School on Main Street....We lived most of that year on Fillmore Street-Go out our back yard gate across the alley, could then enter the back door of a grocery store, which was two doors away from the theatre..It was our "Short cut" if we wanted to go to drug store, movie, etc. or anywhere in the ONE BLOCK OF DOWNTOWN FILLMORE ...Our house was next door to the old theatre--an unpainted barn of a place--Lots of us kids used to go in the windows, play around--Lots of old billboards, an old projector, lots of costumes, etc. was in there..-----I wish I had those billboards now---They were for old silent movies and announcements of live performers coming to Fillmore to perform..There was a water tank close to the back of the theatre--to catch rain water--Mother and I got water out of it to wash our family's hair..A large Pepperberry tree was between the water tank and our house--Dad climbed the tree. put a chain over a limb, and fastened it to an old tire for us kids to swing on.. I went back to this block about twenty years ago--The house we lived in had burned down , I was told -Also the house next to it and the theatre....But our front sidewalk was still there--and the pepperberry tree---I was looking at the tree when a woman came from an apartment complex and asked if she could help me--We chatted and I pointed to the limb in the tree with its scars made from our swing chain. We then lived about a month or two in North Fillmore before moving to Saticoy, where I attended the 8th, then we moved BACK HOME to Santa Paula..

The Sespe Creek brings back many memories as Dad and our brother Ray fished there..Ray was a freshman in school then--He and his friends spent many weekends on the Sespe...It was during the Great Depression--Mother and I canned everything that we could get our hands on, so we always had hundreds of jars of vegetables, fruits, olives, pickles, kraut, etc.. We didnt buy much food in cans-not necessary and we didnt have money to waste on such luxuries..Dad would drive Ray and his friends to the river area as far as they could go with a car, then the boys carried all their jars of food-also jars of cornmeal, flour, salt, sugar, etc. to their favorite fishing area..When it was time to return home, the boys went up to a higher dry area level and buried all the left over jars that had food in them..They brought the empty jars home. This way, they always had a cache , and didn't have to pack in so much weight every time they went.. Ray fished there for many years. Years later, long after he had lived in Las Vegas, gone through World War II, lived in Fresno, married and had three kids, they moved to Ojai...He told me he took his two grown sons to the Sespe, and they hiked in to his favorite fishing area---His favorite "HOLES" had filled in and the river had changed, but they were able to find some good spots and catch his favorite "Brownies" and "Rainbows"---Then he used his shovel, wondering if any of his old jars of food had survived the many years and high waters since his youth--Guess what--He found several jars with gummy black stuff in them and topped with rusty remnants of lids !!!

Love you..Billie

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My grandparents were Charles Everett and Mattie Huckaba, but we did pronounce it as Huck a bee. They lived in Santa Paula, and I think that was where they lived when Grandpa died in 1930. Grandma remarried to Albert Romp in the later 1930's, about 1935 or so. Grandpa Romp owned a stone house back up behind Santa Paula, and as I remember, there were huge rocks up there, and if you kept going over the mountain, you would come out at Ojai. And grandpa Romp raised bees and sold honey all over Ventura County. He was known for his honey. I was only about 3 or so, but I have some vivid memories of the rock house, and I remember, the last time I drove up that road, there were oil wells up there. Perhaps you know where I am talking about. My father is buried at the Santa Paula Cemetery as is my grandfather Huckaba and my grandmother Huckaba, Romp.

Aunt Flora married Frank Silva. The family name was Silveria, but Uncle Frank's parents changed their name to Silva when they migrated from Portugal. They lived in Saticoy, in one of the old large, large houses, right near the train tracks. The other real large house, Uncle Frank and Aunt Flora lived in it for many, many years. They owned the land from their place down to the Santa Clara River and had huge walnut orchards. They also had a large ranch over on North Road in Oxnard, and raised two crops a years. During the Depression, Uncle Frank kept us in lima or pink beans for years and years. Often, that is all we had to eat. Uncle Frank was a leader in the Portuguese community in Santa Paula, Saticoy and Oxnard. My grandma and grandpa Romp lived right across the street from Grandma and grandpa Silva, and all us cousins called them grandma and grandpa, just like we did our own grandparents. Grandpa Silva died of a heart attack I think, down in the orchard when I was about 8 or so, so that must have been about 1941 or thereabouts.

Love, Shirley