Plenty of work for boy on early Glendale farm

The Arizona Republic — by Gerry Niskern — Sun Cities-Surprise Section — May 2, 2003 — Page 4
Fred Treguboff, 64, grew up in Glendale. His mother died when he was 5, and he went to live with his Russian grandparents on their farm on Lateral 20 (75th Avenue) and West Glendale Avenue.

"My grandparents raised various crops, had about 500 chickens, 20 milk cows. The milk went to Webster's Dairy. There was plenty of work for a little boy to do." 

Treguboff went on to explain a little of the history of his family and other Russian farmers in the Glendale area: "My grandparents came to America in l907 with a group of other Russians. They were young married teenagers. They went to California first, then the group moved to the Glendale area. They all bought land from the Griffin Land Company. The close-knit Russian community owned about a 15- to 20-square-mile area around Glendale in those days."

 When Treguboff was 10, his father remarried. His dad leased 40-acre plots and raised cantaloupes, cotton and alfalfa in the summer and wheat in the winter. One parcel was on the southeastern corner of 67th Avenue and Bethany Home Road. A Checker Auto Store, a strip mall and the Bethany Village Apartments are there now. Another plot was on 51st Avenue between Camelback and Indian School roads, site of Bret Tarver Elementary School. 

He recalled that Glendale High had a great football team.

"The Glendale Cardinals always beat Phoenix Union, Tucson and Mesa," he said.

A lot of the Russian guys made up the line, Treguboff said.

"I got to play my freshman year," he said. "After that, I had to give it up because my dad needed me to work on the farms."
Reach Gerry Niskern at niskern@extremezone.com or (602) 943-3550. 
She is the author of "Don't Throw the Bread," a memoir of a young girl's journey during World War II.