Snoqualmie woman to celebrate 90th birthday at senior center

Nova Reed turns 90 Nov. 3. A birthday party will be held Nov. 4 at the Mount Si Senior Center, 411 Main Ave. S., North Bend, from 1-4 p.m. for friends and family.

She was born in Helger, Idaho, in 1916, one of seven kids; four sisters and two brothers. Nova's family moved to Kelso in 1922 when she was 6 years old. She attended Kelso High School, graduating in 1935. In 1936, she married Edwin L Reed. Nova had two daughters, one son and also raised a nephew. She worked as a housewife, kitchen help in a restaurant and owner of a restaurant. The Reeds moved to Snoqualmie in 1959.

Nova recalls the trip from Helger, Idaho, to Kelso: "He only had a horse," Nova said of her father. "They bought a case; I called it the first motor home ever. It had wall-to-wall beds in it because there were seven of us. We used it as a house until we bought a home on Harris Street. It was quite an adventure at my age; I was 6. It took us about two weeks to make the trip. That was a long time in those days. My father never drove a car after that. He didn't want to because he had such a trauma getting here with the family."

Nova remembers the move to Snoqualmie: "I thought it was such a beautiful place when we first came up to see about changing jobs," she said. "I thought, 'Oh, I hope we can move here.' If we couldn't find a place to live, [my husband] wouldn't come up ... We found this little cabin at Ernie's Grove and rented it for a year before we bought it."

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