Bridgeport Ranger District Fire Control Officer Marion Hysell welcomed Smokey Bear to the Bridgeport Ranger Station on July 4, 1964. (Note: The 1960s-1970s era U.S. Forest Service shoulder insignia did not arrive in this corner of the Intermountain Region until 1966.)
As fire prevention guard on the Bridgeport Ranger District, Toiyabe National Forest, from 1963 through 1966, I continued the district’s practice of having Smokey Bear appear in Bridgeport’s famous Fourth of July parade. This small town of less than 400, nestled in a verdant valley of the same name at the foot of the eastern Sierra Nevada 85 miles south of Carson City, Nevada, and 85 miles north of Bishop, California, is county seat of Mono County, California, and a popular outdoor recreation center.
One of the larger guys on the fire crew or trail crew was cajoled into wearing the Smokey costume shipped our way from the regional office in Ogden, Utah, for this annual walk or ride down Main Street—U.S. Highway 395—lined by hundreds of local residents and summer visitors.
Smokey sometimes rode on a float accompanied by ranger station kids. On this occasion, as coordinated with the local 4-H Club and led by two of its members, he marched and waved to the parade’s appreciative onlookers.
After the parade, a properly-escorted Smokey always mingled with the crowd in town and then visited with kids in the Toiyabe National Forest’s large Twin Lakes area campgrounds.
When I was a little girl, my family took a road trip. We had a Volkswagen bus. Our destination was Tri-cities Washington, but we camped and stopped to visit with family along the way. I remember some areas where we drove, the road was long and all I could seem to see was hot golden landscape and we children frequently took turns saying “Are we there yet?” Some nights there was a star filled sky and others, there was a thunderstorm. I had a bunch of energy bottled up in my little body and remembered visiting a great aunt in Redding who didn’t have any children. but she had an adorable dog that looked like Toto. The funny little dog new so many fascinating tricks. Then as we pressed on. The next stop Klamath Falls. I had an endless barrage of questions for pops, who and one point or another let me sit on the huge steering wheel. The rest stops were a God send for my tiny bladder. I remember asking Dad, where are we going next? he said “Your Aunt Arlys and uncle Bob’s.” I was delighted but excitedly asked if they have a swingset. He said no, and I then asked if they have any kids. He said yes but he said they are grown up. He saw me looking a little apprehensive and told me that your aunt has lots and lots of picture books and she knows Woodsy the Owl. What he did not tell me is that in her job with the Forest service she would wear the Smokey Costume and visit school children. Boy was I excited! I knew who Woodsy was as we’d had a visit in Fairfield California. I remember sitting with her in the living room looking through every photo album looking for Woodsy. They took us for a ride through the woods with binoculars one visit and uncle Bob and Aunt Arlys showed us bear signs, like trees with sections scraped Away by bear’s claws. They also took us up to Crater Lake and although it was summertime, there was snow on top and there were tourists up there in Bermuda shorts and flip-flops throwing snowballs at each other. My Aunt Arlys Cudo passed away yesterday 7/12/2024