Plenty of work for boy on early Glendale farmThe Arizona Republic — by Gerry Niskern — Sun Cities-Surprise Section — May 2, 2003 — Page 4 |
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Fred Treguboff, 64, grew up
in
Glendale. His mother died when he was 5, and he went to
live with his
Russian grandparents on their farm on Lateral 20 (75th
Avenue) and West
Glendale Avenue.
"My grandparents raised various crops, had about 500 chickens, 20 milk cows. The milk went to Webster's Dairy. There was plenty of work for a little boy to do." Treguboff went on to explain a little of the history of his family and other Russian farmers in the Glendale area: "My grandparents came to America in l907 with a group of other Russians. They were young married teenagers. They went to California first, then the group moved to the Glendale area. They all bought land from the Griffin Land Company. The close-knit Russian community owned about a 15- to 20-square-mile area around Glendale in those days." |
When Treguboff was 10, his
father
remarried. His dad leased 40-acre plots and raised
cantaloupes, cotton
and alfalfa in the summer and wheat in the winter. One
parcel was on
the southeastern corner of 67th Avenue and Bethany Home
Road. A Checker
Auto Store, a strip mall and the Bethany Village
Apartments are there
now. Another plot was on 51st Avenue between Camelback
and Indian
School roads, site of Bret Tarver Elementary
School.
He recalled that Glendale High had a great football team. "The Glendale Cardinals always beat Phoenix Union, Tucson and Mesa," he said. A lot of the Russian guys made up the line, Treguboff said. "I got to play my freshman year," he said. "After that, I had to give it up because my dad needed me to work on the farms." |
Reach Gerry
Niskern
at niskern@extremezone.com
or (602) 943-3550. She is the author of "Don't Throw the Bread," a memoir of a young girl's journey during World War II. |