Oral History of Alice Kathryn Aulin Bunch
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0:00:00 Introduction
0:00:43 Attending high school during World War II
0:04:32 Career as a bank teller and meeting Richard Burdett Bunch
0:06:16 Founding families
0:07:47 Church social life
0:09:53 Influence of the military on Oviedo
0:11:38 Oviedo History Harvest
0:14:49 Parents and siblings
0:18:44 How Oviedo has changed over time
0:21:51 Closing remarks
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Dossie
My name is Porsha Dossie. This is an oral history interview of [Alice] Kathryn Aulin…
Bunch
Bunch.
Dossie
Bunch, and it is April 18th, 2015, and we are at the Lawton House in Oviedo, Florida.
Bunch
Yes.
Dossie
So, Kathryn, please tell me a little bit about growing up in Oviedo. You were born here? Is that correct?
Bunch
I was born here in[sic] July 2nd, 19, uh, 26 [laughs], and lived here ‘til I graduated from high school, but most everything we, uh, did, we did it e—either at the church or at school. That was[sic] our activities in those days—back in those days.
Dossie
Uh, you went to the Oviedo School? Is that right?
Bunch
Uh huh, it was just one school. You went from first through, um, twelfth, and then you graduated from there, and it was only three of us that graduated, because it was wartime. Not that we had that many to start with, but with—it was ‘cause of the war and the boys were gone—had gone off to be in service during World War II.
Dossie
What was that like?
Bunch
We just got used to the war. We—I mean, like, a lot of things that were different—uh, you were limited, uh, to a lot of things back then that, Uh, you couldn’t, uh,—you couldn’t buy clothe[sic]—or shoes—leather shoes. You were limited to so many like that and things, uh, but other than that, we got used to it, and, uh, had, uh, some—I—I was older when I was—in high school, I was—had boyfriends that would go off to the service and come—and not come back, and that was sorta sad too, uh, in those days. We had servicemen stationed in, uh—in the [Armed] Service, uh, in the woods near here too, as well as—they were—their main place was in Orlando, but they would be over here at different times, and my father[1] ran the—we had two swimming pools, and there was, um, dance hall there, and, uh, he ran the swimming pools, and we—that’s where we had a number of the service boys—would come and dance there with—as well as the local, but we didn’t have that many local boys of that age around anymore. So…
Dossie
Mmhmm.
Bunch
That was it.
Dossie
What were the swimming pools called?
Bunch
They were the Oviedo swimming pool. It was, um, by the city, and they did away with ‘em. Uh, I have a couple of pictures of them that—I don’t know if they still ever—that—there’s—it still belongs to the City [of Oviedo].
Dossie
Mmhmm.
Bunch
The property does, but the pools have been done away with, and they got ballparks there or somethin’ now, but that was the thing to do. Uh, we had a sm—a small and a large one, uh, and he man—he managed those for—during that period of, um—my daddy did for a while.
Dossie
Was that the—Sanlando?
Bunch
No, we went to Sanlando when you went—go on a big date[?].
Dossie
[laughs].
Bunch
[laughs] I have a picture of, uh—of the three…
Dossie
Mmhmm.
Bunch
The three seniors at Sanlando, and it, uh—in my book, or it’s in our yearbook, I think.
Dossie
So tell me a bit about your yearbook. I know you brought that with you today…
Bunch
Uh huh.
Dossie
To be scanned. You made that yourself?
Bunch
We, uh—we put it together, although I’m sure somebody else helped us, uh, but we did have to glue the pictures in, and, uh, I noticed that I—in the other one—the year before me—that we typed the words in there, and actually, I noticed that in one place, the typing—if we made a mistake, instead of erasing the letters, just typed back over it, which [laughs] would not be a thing to have done, I don’t think, in those days, but they’re hand-typed. I mean, everything was done by hand, not woven books and things, like they are nowadays, but other than that—and we had an awful of, uh—I was a Baptist, and we all went to the Baptist church, and did most everything—social life was there, as well as school. Those were our two main things [sniffs] to do during—but other than that, I don’t—I…
When we left Orlando, we still [inaudible], uh—I graduated from high school, but I had a job in Orlando, uh, my last year, and I started working at the bank. My sister—older sister[2]—two years older than me—was already working in Orlando, so I moved from Oviedo to Orlando, and been there the rest of my life, after that.
Dossie
So you, uh—what did you do at the bank?
Bunch
Teller. When you started out, in those days, at the bottom, you learned every step. Nowadays, I understand you go in whatever department you’re gonna—but you—you started answering the phone, then[?] learning the each thing—bookkeeping—and, uh, I ended up—I was a teller when I left.
Dossie
So how did you meet your husband?[3]
Bunch
That was—my mother-in-law[4] was a big person to go into bank, and I understood she wanted my husband, who was in the service—and I didn’t know ‘im. I knew her from being a customer at the bank, but, uh, she wanted to have him meet her—my sister, but for some reason, he just—and she was already there two years ahead of me.
Dossie
Mmhmm.
Bunch
But for some reason, he would rather have met me, so…
Dossie
[laughs].
Bunch
[laughs] I dated him, and we met, uh—we married later on, uh, after he’d come out of the service. He was a—in the—she had, uh, property in—in, uh, cattle and dairy and a ranch, and he was in the ranch business at that time, after he came out of the service, and we married, had two girls,[5] and that’s been it.
Dossie
So, um, growing up in Oviedo, you knew the, uh, Wheelers and the Evans? Is that correct?
Bunch
The Wheelers were actually kin—uh, my daddy’s sister, Mary Ann, um—Mattie, uh, Wheeler[6] married, uh—he—that’s his sister—married [Robert] Lee Wheeler, who was a brother to Frank Wheeler, uh, that had Nelson and Company and those[?]…
Dossie
Mmhmm.
Bunch
And there was the Law—Lawtons and the, uh, Lees, and the—all those were, uh—they—they were the people in Oviedo, and everybody knew everybody back in those days.
Dossie
Mmhmm.
Bunch
And, uh, I actually—my daddy, uh—the man that, uh—my daddy’s dad[7]—that named Oviedo was born—he was—the house at where he was born is still here,[8] as I understand. It doesn’t look anything like it did…
Dossie
[laughs].
Bunch
Back then. They’ve changed it around, but it’s still there.
Dossie
Mmhmm.
Bunch
But…
Dossie
So you said the Wheelers were kin?
Bunch
Yes, uh, Lee Wheeler—my aunt married—was a brother to Frank Wheeler. That—like I said, they were—and, um—and I think I, uh—we’ve got the background all in—in all these books and things, and[?] the Lawtons—there’s a com—combination of—way back there, with all those—that’s first started. Now, about the Lees, I’m not real sure, but they were here too. They were another family that was—but everybody knew everybody…
Dossie
Mmhmm.
Bunch
Back in those days—and you—for some reason, we never did—did—my sister and I have talked about it since—why the women went to the Methodist church—most of ‘em—of the husband and wife, and the men went to the Baptist church. I, uh—not in our family, but m—most of ‘em—a lot of ‘em, that’s the way it worked, and you—still, you got together, eh, for socials and things like—I mean, you got together with the two churches, but for some reason, the women all seemed to be—want, uh—go to the Methodist church, and we—but I went to the Baptist all my life and still do [laughs].
Dossie
What kind of social events did you guys have at the Baptist church?
Bunch
Well, just, uh—just nothing really that much. Uh, picnic-type things, and, uh, we had, uh, training you, uh—the one thing I did do, which isn’t the thing[?] to try to tell, uh, we had BYPU[9] or BTU, we called it—Baptist Training Union—at night, which is like—Sunday mornin’, you have Sunday school, and at night, and I would have a date. I could go to trainin’ union and not stay for church at[sic] Sunday night, and this was a, uh, typical thing, and it—I wasn’t the only one that did this. It was a—but that was the thing to do Sunday night, and we’d—we’d go to Winter Park. Uh, that was the place to go after—and, uh, go, uh, to a movie, and then go to, uh, get Coke and a sandwich, and come home. That was just a typical Sunday, uh, night. We went to, uh—did that, back in those days, but we didn’t, uh—anything that we had as far as social things, uh—there weren’t that many. I mean, it was something at the church, or, uh, it was eating or something, and I’m, uh—but, uh, other than that, I don’t remember too much, but[?] that’s about it. I [laughs]…
Dossie
So let me ask you about, um, the influence of the military on Oviedo in the 1940s. How did that affect your life here in Oviedo?
Bunch
It—it did. Like I said, we met a lot of them men that were stationed here, and, uh, That’s when we could go to the pool and, uh, could dance, and Met a lot of ‘em that way, and then, uh—but, uh—and some of them even dated other people, because I remember, uh, one going with my sister to church. Uh, I mean, they were close enough friends if they were doing that, back in—they were very good. I—we didn’t—we didn’t mind ‘em being here, by any means. It was something going on. ‘Course, war was just so different, anyhow, back then. I mean—and then when they left here, we went, uh—moved to Orlando, and we still did things with the service people there, uh, at the different things that were for so—the soldiers back then too. Went to dances and things like that. That was mainly what most of the things were. Although, I have some pictures I’ve seen that we were at a lake out there at the—at the, uh, base[10] in our bathing suits and things, with the boys out there. So we did do things out there at the base too.
Dossie
Mmhmm.
Bunch
Uh, but it was just different than things are nowadays [laughs], but an awful lot of boys stayed—married people and, uh—and just like in Sanford, they married, uh—a lot of the Navy people are married to Sanford people too. So other than that, I really don’t know too much to report on that.
Dossie
So we can discuss some of the items you brought today. You brought your yearbook? Um…
Bunch
Yeah.
Dossie
What else did you bring?
Bunch
Well, the, um—my, uh, my sister-in-law wanted a copy of a letter that was written by Steen Nelson, as to how Oviedo was named. Our fa—grandfather, they say named—I mean, and—why he named it Oviedo and that business. So I—that’s in the—one of those copies, and I had an annual, uh, yearbook for the fo—where we got to get together for our 50th, uh—the other class—we didn’t have but two that showed up, but they—for our 50th anniver—graduatin’, we have a book on that. That’s in—in those things that I saved, uh, but we didn’t have but two that showed up for that [laughs]. That was me and, uh, one boy, and he’s still here in Oviedo, I understand.
Dossie
Mmhmm.
Bunch
Auliff[?] [inaudible], and, um, other than that, I don’t know…
Dossie
You brought some…
Bunch
Uh…
Dossie
44s?
Bunch
Uh, my letters for my—I got a—I was, uh—played basketball in high school…
Dossie
Mmhmm.
Bunch
When I was—got a 44 and a[sic] O for, uh, my letter, with my stripes and stars on it for being captain—co-captain, and, uh, they’re in there—the O and the 44, and I also have an [U.S. Army Air Force Aircraft Warning Service] armband that I got from havin’ watched planes go over, uh, during wartime. We—we each had a shift. They had a tower they built over in Downtown Oviedo, and, uh—in front of the [First] Baptist Church [of Oviedo], and, uh, we would report whatever plane was going over and[?] the direction, and I’m pre—I’m thinking we were reporting back to the base, or somethin’, what kind of plane. Now, why I would know, uh—I’m sure they taught us how and all that.
Dossie
Mmhmm.
Bunch
But that was what it was, and they gave us an arm—and I have that in there to give to the His—[Oviedo] Historical Society.
Dossie
What was that like watching the planes overhead?
Bunch
Uh, I don’t know.
Dossie
[laughs].
Bunch
I’m thinkin’ back. I—I don’t know that I was that smart about it, but I guess they were tryin’ to get—and they would get more[?] girl—people they would get…
Dossie
Mmhmm.
Bunch
On, uh—and you had a shift, I’m sure, you know, and, uh, went[?]—went there after school or whenever. Maybe it was a weekend, um—on the weekend. I—I just know we did it same time at—why they chose to do it right[?] there in Oviedo? I don’t know. I guess they did it in all kind of different areas of the—around the bases, but, uh, that was part of it, and—and they gave us a[sic] armband to put on that says that that’s what you were. So I have—I saved that and my letters, and I never did use ‘em for anything. I didn’t put ‘em on a sweater, I don’t think.
Dossie
Hm.
Bunch
But that was about it. It wasn’t very [laughs], uh—not—not like it was nowadays with young people, and things[?] goin’ up, but was good.
Dossie
Mmhmm.
Bunch
I’ve enjoyed it.
Dossie
Mmhmm.
Bunch
I had, uh, two sisters[11] and, uh, two brothers,[12] and, uh, so we had pretty good-sized family to—to deal with, and my daddy—as well as having the pool, he did do a lot with examining fruit, uh, to be sure it was ready to be picked and that, and he did that for quite a few years too—too, and my mother[13] worked at Nelson and Son, but she was a seamstress, and she did a lot of, uh, sewing for people. Uh, you know, the [inaudible].
Dossie
So they both working at the Nelson packing company here?
Bunch
Mmhmm, both ‘em had, mmhmm. matter of fact, my mother was working there when my youngest brother[14] was still too—too young, uh—little to go to school, and she would—would keep him in one of the—the places where they were packin’ the oranges, and I—when school was out, I’d go out do there and get him and go back home with him, and I got a nickel to go by the drugstore, which was in the center of Downtown Oviedo, to get a Coca-Cola, and—and he[?] got ‘em off of a fountain. The man behind the fountain would give[?] them to you. That was one thing I remember—and ordered—that was my payment for…
Dossie
[laughs].
Bunch
Eh, takin’ care of him ‘til she got home.
Dossie [laughs].
Bunch
But, uh, we did—didn’t have a lot of money, but we had—we had plenty to get by with, and that was the way it worked in those days.
Dossie
So tell me about, uh, your siblings. You just—you mentioned that you had brothers and sisters.
Bunch
Well, I had one girl—one sister that was two years older, and, uh, she was smart—very smart, and, uh—and why she—how she got the job in Orlando ahead of time? I don’t know, but anyway, she moved over there, and, uh, as a teller at the bank, and, uh—and I—we did not go to college that much in those days. The girls didn’t then[?], and, uh, [inaudible] we couldn’t have afforded it anyway, I’m sure, but, uh, she liked the bank and was doing alright and had a place in Orlando called the [inaudible] Community Club, which was right down near the center of Downtown Orlando, and, uh, you stayed there and you got your food and that kind of stuff, and she knew that I was graduatin’ and that—she thought I’d get a job there, so I did. I went over and applied and they gave it to me, and I moved in and we stayed there at the [inaudible] Community[?] Club, and that’s when went to a place in Downtown Orlando to dance with the USO.[15] Uh—they had a place for—but, uh, she started making too much money to stay at [inaudible] Community[?] Club, which was part of the deal. I mean, the—and so we all moved to a place down out of there, uh, and then—but stayed there ‘til I get married—met my husband and we got married, and that was it, but then I have a sister that’s here, and she’s giving information today. She’s an artist, and I had a brother,[16] but he went to Texas. He—he was in the service, uh, also, and he’s no longer living, and my older sister isn’t either, but my other sister’s here, and she’s[sic] lives in Lake Mary, and, um, is an artist, and she’s doing a lot of work today for them, and then I’ve got my brother[17] that lives here in Oviedo, and he and his wife[18] live here, and that’s it—that I…
Dossie
Mmhmm.
Bunch
With us—the rest of the family, but all the rest of ‘em are gone, but we’ve got the sister here and the brother here, and that’s—and me—of the family—of the five of us. That’s what’s left. I’m the oldest of the group.
Dossie
[laughs].
Bunch
[laughs].
Dossie
Well, is there anything else you’d like to tell me about Oviedo that we haven’t covered yet?
Bunch
No, it’s, eh—it—it is—nothing the same.
Dossie
[laughs].
Bunch
I don’t know my way around it at all. I—I just cannot—I—how much the church, uh—how big it is, uh—has added and added to, uh, and I came out, went to church [inaudible], and there was no—well, the person that I—only person I knew that I saw—that I knew that day and he’s [inaudible]. He was a Wheeler—Frank Wheeler, Jr., and, um, I didn’t know anybody, and—just like I don’t know anybody out here nowadays, uh, but, uh, my mother is, uh—she’s been dead a pretty good while, and, uh, that—once she was gone, then I didn’t come back out like I did to—did later on, but, uh, it’s grown, and that’s for sure, and I keep seeing it goin’ more too, but other than that—and back in our day, we didn’t have anything but a Methodist and Baptist church. Now, I’m sure they got all of ‘em different ones…
Dossie
[laughs].
Bunch
Now, out here now.
Dossie
Has the growth surprised you?
Bunch
Yes, it really has. It’s—it’s—it is—it’s much—than I would’ve thought when I was growing up, yes, um, ‘cause like I said, you knew everybody, but I think it’s this way with other small towns, but probably the way they do, but this one has grown from what it was back in our day. That’s for sure, but other than that, I don’t know. Eh, I—I really don’t know of any other—and I don’t know if I know anybody that lives out here, except my sister—my brother-in-law—my brother and sister-in-law, and, uh, Bettye [Jean Aulin Reagan] has, um—her child is out here now, but I don’t know any of the past, uh—I—that’s why I said when I was looking in that, uh, yearbook, I don’t know that there’d be anybody anymore, and as old as I am, um, I’m—I guess I’m one of—of, uh, the older ones that would be, uh…
Dossie
Mmhmm.
Bunch
Out here nowadays.Knowing how—I know people go to their 90s and that, but I still—they can’t, uh—back in my day, I don’t—I don’t know if there’s anybody that much more out here that I would’ve known, unless I was kin to ‘em, and I don’t have anybody out here now. So—but things have sure changed, and I do see there are, uh, in the b—block that we called[?] goin’ around Oviedo, uh, some of those houses, when we’ve gone, are still there. That—which is odd. Very—they’ve been there quite a while. Like I said, where my daddy was born,[19] uh, it’s still there these days, but it doesn’t look anything like it—I mean, they changed it all around—backyard and everything.
Dossie
Mmhmm.
Bunch
But I don’t have that much to contribute [laughs] to Oviedo. That’s for sure.
Dossie
Oh, you definitely…
Bunch
And, um…
Dossie
Told us some great…
Bunch
Yeah.
Dossie
Information today.
Bunch
Yeah, so I think that’s enough.
Dossie
Well, we’re going to bring the interview to a close. I wanna thank you so much…
Bunch
Thank you.
Dossie
For being interviewed, and I really appreciate you coming out here and doing [inaudible] did.
Bunch
Okay [laughs].
[1] Andrew Aulin, Jr.
[2] Mary Leonora Aulin Bartlett.
[3] Richard Burdette Bunch.
[4] Mary Bunch.
[5] Mary Kathryn Bunch Hamby and Billy Beatrice Bunch Parrot.
[6] Martha Lenora Aulin Wheeler.
[7] Andrew Aulin, Sr.
[8] Correction: Andew Aulin, Sr. was born in Sweden.
[9] Baptist Young Peoples Union.
[10] Naval Training Center (NTC) Orlando.
[11] Mary Lenora Aulin Bartlett and Bettye Jean Aulin Reagan.
[12] Charles Warren Aulin and Andrew Aulin, Jr.
[13] Mary Alice Powell Aulin.
[14] Andrew Aulin, Jr.
[15] United Service Organizations.
[16] Charles Warren Aulin.
[17] Andrew Aulin, Jr.
[18] Julia Nadine Davis Aulin.
[19] May 20, 1893.