Women runners of the US Olympic team practicing on the high seas aboard the
S.S. President Roosevelt in 1928. Left to Right: Elta Cartwright, Elizabeth Robinson, Ann Varana, Mary T. Washburn, Olive B. Hasenfun, Loretta McNeil and Edna E, Sayer.
Coach Mel Sheppard is seated on the ladder.
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Courtesy of the Clarke Historical Museum
Elta Cartwright is sitting up front on the right, near bicycle.
After breakfast at the Blue Room on the outskirts of Ferndale, my dad was taking me to see a group of turtles his friend Menard Hendrickson had found in a ditch off Frog Alley. I was a little kid but I remember the story my dad told me on the way about Menard's wife, Elta. Her talents were unknown when she was a child but became unexpectedly recognized later. A Cinderella story.