By Sandy Museum Staff
Local Sandy artist Kim Nelson’s series of portraits of local Sandy women is on display at the Sandy Historical museum. Nelson is a member of the Wy’East Artisans Guild and the Clackamas Arts Alliance and a lifelong Sandy resident. She started painting after she retired, taking classes at Lori Ryland’s gallery. Working from photos, Nelson painted four prominent Sandy women in the last year: Kate Schmidt, Nettie Connett, Viola, or Violet Howlett, and Alice Scales, all from from historic photos Nelson found in Whistle Punks and Misery Whips; An Album of the Early Sandy Area, by Phil Jonsrud.
Kim Nelson’s painting of Kate Schmidt
Nelson remembers Kate Schmidt from her childhood. “Kate Schmidt used to have a house by the Junker building. As a child, my mother and I would walk to Ogden 5 and Dime. Kate would call to us from the front porch to listen to her play the piano.” Kate Schmidt and her husband Frank ran the Schmitz Cafe, at the site of what is now the Gateway Inn. After selling the cafe in 1939 the Schmidts opened a restaurant in their own home.
Alice Scales by Kim Nelson
Like Schmidt, Alice Scales was a successful business owner. Alice and Jack Scales arrived in Sandy In 1911 and rented the Bornstedt General Merchandise store. Scales was on the city council with Sandy Mayor Blanche Shelley in the 1920s. After Jack passed away in 1936 Alice bought the Percy Shelly home and remodeled the building into the Dewdrop Inn, a popular restaurant and lounge. Alice died in 1973 at the age of 93.
Violet, or Viola, Howlett by Kim Nelson
Daughter of Oregon Trail pioneers, Viola Howlett raised 12 children.
Nettie Connett by Kim Nelson
Nettie Connett, a local Sandy legend, was a logger, trapper, and hunter. Known for her red hunting hat and her ability to stand on her head on a chair or bar stool, Connett had a soft side, always eager to lend a hand. Kim Nelson’s paintings are on display in the upstairs hall at the Sandy Historical Museum and are available for purchase.