Farewell, Elva

“How’s the most beautiful woman in all the Valley?”

That was how I would greet Elva Evans whenever I saw her around town. Whenever I’d say that, she’d get a big grin on her face and laugh which, in turn, would bring a smile to my face.

I wasn’t always that way. When I first met Elva, I was in high school. I was at the grocery store with my mom and we were behind Elva at the cash register. Mom, even then already knowing so many people, introduced us.

When I spoke, I thought Elva was going to melt right there in front of me as she began commenting on the deepness of my voice. I quickly became embarrassed and could feel my face turn red. Once I left and returned to the Valley, I leaned into Elva’s flirtatious nature and cemented the greeting I’d give her every time I saw her.

For such a small woman, she had a big impact on everyone. That includes the Saratoga Sun. When the Sun was owned by Mike and Pat Lindsey, Elva volunteered her services to the newspaper and began writing a weekly column; “Reflections from Our Files”. The column was popular and still runs today. 

Despite the amount of time I lived in Saratoga, I didn’t really get to know Elva too well until I worked for the Saratoga Sun. My first year, she had come into the office to look through our archive for a book she was writing. I made her promise, when the book was published, I would get the first interview.

When “Saratoga: 150 Years” was published in 2020, Elva called me to arrange the interview. When I sat down in her home, she was the one who reminded me I had made her promise the first interview with the Saratoga Sun. I had completely forgotten the promise, though I had remembered the conversation preceding it as it was about The Waterloo Hotel and the “working women” who would stand on its balcony.

The interview I had with Elva about her book was one of the best experiences I have had while working at the Sun. She welcomed me into her home, offered me coffee and snacks, and was a great interviewee. I got a small glimpse into the love she and Val had for each other as she told me about the years it took to work on the book and how Val would cook dinner for her and retrieve documents from her various paper piles throughout the house.

I never got to know Elva when she was younger, but I got a glimpse into it that day. As I was talking with her and Val in their dining room, she walked over to the kitchen to have a cigarette. Sitting on the stool by the kitchen sink, one hand holding the cigarette with her elbow resting on her other arm, I was reminded of the housewives in movies from the 1960s. There was a certain elegance, even then, to Elva.

There was one other time, prior to our interview, I saw what Elva must have been like in her younger years. In May 2019, Elva called the Saratoga Sun office and asked if I could take her picture. This same picture ended up on the back of her book.

When she called, I was honored. Despite working for the newspaper, I don’t see myself as a professional photographer. So, we scheduled a photo shoot in front of the brick building next to the Sun office. Elva showed up well dressed and wearing a straw hat. We tried two different poses; one in which she looked directly at the camera with a sly smile and another with her looking off into the distance. It was the latter which was used as her author photo.

I was also lucky enough to see Elva’s collection of documents before they were donated to the Saratoga Museum. From the Hobo Hot Springs to the formation of the Saratoga-Carbon County Impact Joint Powers Board, it seemed she had it all. Many of those documents were articles clipped from the pages of the Saratoga Sun.

“I have always believed that history should be gathered up to the present,” she told me.

I can’t say I disagree.

A copy of Elva’s book is at the Sun office and, in it, she wrote “The Saratoga Sun, our pride! I love it so much.”

We love you, Elva and you were Saratoga’s pride.

Farewell to the most beautiful woman in all the Valley.