One thing is in the mind of man, but another is fate. This proverb can be traced back to 43 B.C. It is still relevant today.
Beverly Kohn had a plan in place for her life. But fate or God had another plan.
Kohn brought a present to the Shoshone News-Press office about a month back. Kohn saw a small, but heavy, cardboard box containing metal stamps and immediately recognized what it was.
Kohn was at Lewis and Clark State College for six months, taking courses in developing film, collating papers and cleaning and maintaining the photo offset press.
“I loved every minute of it. I was enthralled with the whole process,” said Kohn.
Offset printing is still a widely used printing technique where the inked image is transferred or “offset” from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface.
Although printing is an extremely safe occupation, the machinery used to print can present a number of potential hazards. This is most common when the machine operator is not trained in safety. It was important that students were kept safe and injuries minimized.
“I always kept my hair back,” explained Kohn, touching her own hair at the memory. “They had a big old, long piece of hair that had been pulled out of someone’s scalp taped up on the wall. To show you to keep your hair back.”
That didn’t scare off Kohn too badly, as she recalled the fond memories and all the fun she had while taking the courses.
“We laughed, we joked, it was quite the process and it was so fun.”
Although she had intended to be a printer, fate had other plans.
Kohn was advised to move to Portland or Seattle, but Kohn had a five year old daughter, whose needs she chose to prioritize over her own. Kohn considers Silver Valley her home.
She tried to get a job as a printer, but was stopped by some significant obstacles.
She knew the printing process and had studied it in school. However, she hadn’t completed her courses so her official degree was not awarded.
Two of the major printing companies in the area, the Kellogg Evening News and the Wallace Miner – both which were fully established at the time – turned her down.
Kohn stated that these jobs were lucrative and people who held them would stay with them until their death or retirement.
Again, it was clear that she had to choose between her passions and remaining close to family and friends.
She again chose her family.
Although she didn’t work for the Wallace Miner, she has fond memories of the owners.
“They were like Nana and PomPom. That’s what we would call them. Our grandparents at the time lived in Massachuetts and Texas, so they were like our Wallace grandparents.”
Because it was difficult to find work at the smaller printing facilities in the Silver Valley, Kohn spent time working in many local restaurants, walking through memory lane recalling them, “Sebastians, when it opened was named after my fiance’ who passed. It was a Chinese-American restaurant and I loved working there because she reminded me of my fiance.”
She shared the struggles of being single parent and how she took waitressing and bartending jobs in order to support her family.
“It was so hard as a single parent. You return home exhausted and still have to care for the children. Serving and bartending isn’t an easy job, you are always on your feet.”
There always seems to be one crab who stands out among the others when you wait for your turn at the table.
“I just took it, and smiled a lot,” said Kohn, “Today’s going to be better. I only had one experience and that was on Mother’s Day. A family visited, had their meal, and then discovered a hair. I knew it wasn’t mine, but the owner bought their meal anyway. Lesson learned.”
Kohn had hoped to follow a certain path in her adult life. But fate or God led her down another path. Although Kohn doesn’t have a degree from printing, she enjoys a happy, proud relationship and photographs of all things with her children, son, spouses, grandchildren.
“I used to develop the pictures, but I haven’t since I left college. I love taking photos; my family refers to me as the picture taker. It’s just something I’ve always loved to do.”
She lived in nearly every Silver Valley town, caring for her mom at home in Osburn. There she discovered the stamps from the printing press. She then gave them to the Shoshone news-press staff, sharing her amazing, selfless, and generous story.