As modern families abandon old-fashioned traditions, one Moscow couple knows that people are going to turn out in droves for their neighborhood's annual block party this Sunday. They come to sit and visit and to eat and drink. But most of all they come to hear the stories of Bill and McGee Parish, the last original residents of the University Heights neighborhood. Parish, 85, and his wife, 84, have been living on Borah Avenue since 1951. They know why their ridge got some of its nicknames like Hurricane Hump, Snob Hill and Idiot's Ridge. Residents like Glen Kauffman, who moved in about 12 years ago, are still learning. Then The neighborhood began in 1949 with an idea that a group of about 40 professors could develop and build their own homes. "The people in town laughed at us," McGee Parish said, but at the time, "there was nothing to rent and nothing to buy." After World War II, a rush of students to the University of Idaho coincided with the hiring of lots of young professors. Thus began a housing crisis. In 1946, space was so tight that students even took up cots in Memorial Gymnasium, according to a history booklet by local historian Julie Monroe. In 1947, the university built three temporary housing villages dubbed the Veterans Villages, as well as a limited number of faculty residences called the South Hill Homes. There still weren't enough dwellings to meet the demands of the faculty. Meanwhile, none of the housing in Moscow seemed to suit the affordable, modest and sensible needs of the young professors' families. They created a cooperative corporation to pool their talents, so they could purchase the land and begin building. It took only $100 to become a member of the corporation and the average price for a lot was $1,000. To get a mortgage through the corporation, each household had to muster up between $1,200 and $2,000. Then they could get to work. "We built this house, every stick and nail," Bill Parish said. His wife smiled. "You had a hand in nine houses up here," she said with a laugh. That wasn't all he did. As an electrical engineering professor, Bill Parish led the charge to create a cable system that supported the neighborhood's television sets. His system lasted into the 1970s. Meanwhile, other professors used their skills as horticulturists and lawyers to help in other ways. "We were all in it together," Bill Parish said. Despite living in a neighborhood where frames sometimes fell down and a roof once got blown off, the residents seemed to overcome every difficulty in a hard-working and systematic manner. "It was the best time of our lives. It was just wonderful," McGee Parish said. Her husband agreed. "I don't know of anything quite like it," he said. Now Kauffman described the block party as a way to pass on the stories and information that make their community unique. Many wonderful people have sold their homes and left over the last couple of years, she said. "We thought it was really important for new residents and old residents that we start (the block parties) again ... to keep that neighborhood memory," she said. "We found people who are newly arrived love to hear the stories as much as we love to hear them the 10th and 12th time." McGee Parish knows. "How you've told those stories so many times, I don't know," she said to her husband. The arrival of several new families is reason enough to hold another party and help everyone get reacquainted, she said. Down the street, another historic couple is finding that they don't know their neighbors as well as they used to. "I know the names of more dogs than people," Malcolm Renfrew said with a laugh. The retired chemistry professor meets these pets - and sometimes their owners - on his morning walks, which take him over the original streets of Walenta Drive, Alpowa Avenue, and Borah Avenue. He also sees the houses for sale and knows that another big change is coming. Renfrew, 96, and his wife Carol Renfrew, 93, were considered late-comers to the people who lived in University Heights. They arrived in 1959 and purchased one of the last four empty lots. They built their home and remain today. "Although our coming was not exactly like new people," she said. The Renfrews attended the adjacent University of Idaho for their undergraduate degrees and were already familiar with the area. Still, it was a warm and receptive neighborhood when they arrived. Now, there aren't as many faculty members living in the neighborhood, though many are still attracted to the area, Carol Renfrew said. Some of them even come from Washington State University, Malcolm said. They keep coming despite an increase in traffic and area development that Carol Renfrew said has taken place. Kauffman says she thinks she knows why they come. "I don't know if you've been up there much," she said. "They are really very modest homes. People make a conscious choice to live there. A lot of the homes need work and stuff updated." "We still think of it as our new house, but things are wearing out," Carol Renfrew said. Kauffman explained that residents make a conscious decision "to join this community and love these homes that have been a place where people have raised their families and good things have happened." "I think you can feel that," she added. "More than just the stains and the stories, there is a real soul to this neighborhood." IF YOU GO: University Heights Neighborhood Block Party When: 6 p.m. Sunday Where: Cul-de-sac of Walenta Avenue Cost: Open to residents of the neighborhood and former neighbors Kate Baldwin can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 239, or by e-mail at kbaldwin@dnews.com.
