Today in Othello, there’s a building called “The Old Hotel Art Gallery.”? A certain group in the community have attended to keeping this building in its original form as much as possible.? What once were sleeping rooms are now small boutiques, filled with exhibits of art and other crafts.? A small specialty restaurant occupies the original kitchen, middle room and dining room.? Not only is it known through out the stat of Washington to artists, but to tourists as well.
A small pin has been designed to look like this old building.? I have one.? Though not an elaborate piece, it’s a treasured possession, for at one time this hotel belonged to my maternal grandparents, Jim and Lena Donley, and was known as The Donley.? I have delightful memories of happy times spent in my Grandma and Grandad Donley’s hotel.
My Grandfather was employed by the Milwaukee Railroad and my grandmother ran the hotel.? The roomers, with one or two exceptions, were railroad men.? Most of them engineers or conductors, whose runs necessitated their staying overnight.? ?My mother helped Grandma cook the meals, so I spent a lot of time during my pre-school years, the late nineteen twenties and early thirties, at the hotel.? I knew every railroad man that stayed there by name and room number.
From the back of the hotel, one came directly into the kitchen, what we called the “middle room” was next, and then the dining room.? The first two back rooms look somewhat different to me now, but the dining room has remained much the same.? It’s an oblong room, and it seemed ever so long to me then.? To one side, at the end toward the front of the hotel, a door opens onto a long hall with rooms on each side.? Except for the bathroom near this door, they were all sleeping rooms.? At the end of this hall is a lobby and the front of the hotel.? Another door leads outside to a porch across the front of the building.? And to one side in the lobby, is the staircase, leading upstairs to more sleeping rooms, along a similar hallway with a bathroom above the one below.
All meals were served family style.? One long table for the roomers, and two smaller ones, sat in the dining room.? One of the small ones, was always set, ready for occasional extra guests, and the other, a small oak one, was used for the family.? White table linens and napkins covered the tables, except for a bright patterned oilcloth on the family table.? Oilcloth was used, in those times, like we use plastic cloths now.? It was heavy and could withstand much cleaning with a wet cloth.? Regular restaurants dishes, glasses and silverware were used; no paper or plastic in those days.
Many times I played in the middle room, stopping now and then to watch Grandma deftly run table linens, bed sheets and pillowcases through her mangle, a revered piece of equipment.? How I enjoyed the middle room.? Always bright and cheery from the sun, it was a lovely place to play.? Spread out on the long counter, below the windows, were the luscious different types of desserts, including various flavored and colored jelly tarts, all products of Grandma’s kitchen.? I always had my choice in mind by dinner time.
In the late afternoon the men gathered in the lobby and visited as they waited for dinner.? If the weather was warm the front door often stood open, and some of them sat out on the porch.? It became my special job to call them for the evening meal.??
I was close to 4 years old, the first time I called the hotel guests to dinner, and I did it many times after that.? ?I’d wait, breathlessly, near the open door, and call out “Dinner”, as loud as I could, down that long hallway.
Oh, how I loved to do that!? I felt so important.? What fun to be allowed to yell that loud at least once a day and know those men were waiting to hear me.? And to add to my excitement, at the sound of my voice, the men made a point of jumping from their chairs and rushing down the hall.? I’ve been told since, this was not only fun for me, but that everybody behind me stopped to watch the process unfold.
Those railroad men had various names for me.? I was “Peanuts” to Hysmith, “Dutch” to Kelly, “Sunshine” to Mr Lent, and “Teeny” to several others.? I still have a few mementos some of them brought, just for me.? Little gifts that were so exciting because they came from what I considered “far away places.”
In memory, I can see their faces, and feel the parts of their personalities that I was privileged to know.? They spent so much time away from their homes.? They must have missed being with their own families, yet they took the time to make a lively, tow-headed little girl feel absolutely wonderful.