A Tribute to Edsel Vincent Colvin June. 2014 | Page 4

Early Life
In Edsel’s early life, he was raised by his dad and multiple
housekeepers. His mom had died shortly after his birth. His oldest
sister Juanita started to take care of him and take care of housework
when she turned 13. Edsel’s dad was the owner of a sporting goods
store that was big on fishing equipment and used to be a
confectionery. Edsel would spend most of his time in the back of the
store with the old timers. He would hear stories from them and play
pool with a cue that was cut in half. He learned things that couldn’t
be taught in school from many of these older men. The men were
considered old timers to Edsel, who was only eight, but the men
were only in their 30’s and 40’s.
When prohibition hit the U.S.A, the old timers would buy
bootleg whiskey and hide it so local officers wouldn’t catch them
with it. Edsel and one of his friend’s found where one of the men hid
their bottles. They would hide the bottles in different places. A
couple weeks later they would go to the back room and sell the same
bottle of whiskey to another man and sometimes to the same people
they stole it from. This was how Edsel got most of his spending
money.
The Rogue River Bridge was under construction when Edsel
was nine years old. This brought a lot of construction workers to
Gold Beach. Some of the workers made his dad’s store their home.
His dad started to stock more fishing bait and tackle. This is how the
confectionery became “F.D Colvin’s Sporting Goods.”