Last week I began a series on the memories of Norma Quinn Potter who moved to the valley as a kid in 1931. She is a charming woman and she was a charming kid. She wrote about her childhood in an essay she titled “It’s All About Me!” and I’m quoting directly from that.

We pick up her narrative in 1933. That was a disaster-filled year for the valley. In March the Long Beach Earthquake shook the valley, in November the San Gabriels burned, and the New Year’s Flood punctuated 1933 with an exclamation mark. Norma wrote about all three events. I’ll insert my comments in [brackets].

Norma writes: “On March 10, 1933 I was roller skating with my friends on the sidewalk up the street when, all of a sudden, we were falling all around and I found myself skating in the grass of my neighbor’s yard. The Long Beach Earthquake had just hit and it was a very damaging one. This was my first memory of a quake, which has since become quite familiar. The humorous side of this was that it caught Mama on the toilet and she couldn’t get off. That part gave us all a good laugh (except Mama).

“Our next move was to a little bit bigger house at 3131 Evelyn [that house is unchanged], which was still in the Lincoln school district. This house was owned by the Olsons who lived right next door. They had two daughters who were both studying to be teachers. At a later date, they both happened to substitute teach my class at Lincoln. That was fun but really hard to remember to call them ‘Miss Olson’ rather than Alice and Mabel.

“In November 1933 we were amazed to see the whole range of the San Gabriel Mountains above us ablaze. It burned for five days and we were so enthralled that we took our meals out in the street so we could watch while we ate.

“It was a whole different reaction when a couple of months later a wall of water came roaring out of those same mountains and devastated the valley with the New Year’s Flood. I have read many accounts of that event but, for me personally at age 10, I seemed to have missed the horror of its strike. I experienced the aftermath of its damage but the full fury of it swirled around us just a block away. [Their house was safe between two flows of the flood.] Mother and Pop were at the American Legion Hall in Glendale for a New Year’s Eve dance. Mama [grandmother] was at home with Jeanne [sister], me and the dog and was faced with the decision whether to wake us or let us sleep. We slept.

“The flood swept through at midnight and we awoke in the morning to the sights and smells that I will never forget. [Norma told me the musty, moldy smell of the mud was overwhelming.] The heavy flooding had missed us by about a block and we were allowed to go survey the damage close to home. I remember looking into houses where the mud was up to the windowsills and everything else was swept away, and cars were buried up to their roofs.

“Mother was the Disaster Relief chairman for the American Legion in Glendale and went right to work in Montrose seeing to the needs of the refugees and the workers. Mother received special recognition for her tireless efforts and it was well deserved.

“My personal discomfort from the flood came when a neighborhood boy threw dirt in my eye, which required a trip to the doctor for removal. Within days after the flood, I broke out with boils, which was attributed to contaminated water. Weekly trips to Dr. Boyer, where I was well-known, was necessary for lancing and ultra-violet treatments. At one time, the nurse counted 100 boils on my back. This continued well into summer before the last one faded away.”

Happy belated birthday Norma! She just turned 99 years old. Next week we’ll hear more from Norma.