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Becky Savo

Becky Savo

Becky Savo grew up in Blaine, Washington and first came to Alaska in 1974 to work at the cannery in Chigink, Alaska. She continued to do cannery work in Chiginik and Naknek, Alaska to help pay for college, and spent nine summers doing a variety of jobs in the cannery, including patching table, machinist's helper, Egg House, and cooking and serving in the mess hall. She earned a degree in landscape architecture from the University of Washington, and moved back to Naknek, Alaska after meeting her husband who had a job there. She currently works for the Bristol Bay Borough's Planning and Community Development Department.
Becky Savo appears in the following new Jukebox projects:
Interview Title Abstract Archive #: Oral History Project Date of Interview
Becky Savo

Becky Savo was interviewed on April 22, 2019 by LaRece Egli at the Bristol Bay Historical Society in Naknek, Alaska. In this interview, Becky talks about working at canneries in Chignik and Naknek, Alaska in the 1970s and 1980s. She describes the process of fish processing and canning, working at the patching table and being a machinist's helper, and serving and cooking in the mess hall. Her stories of the hard work and physical labor involved with cannery work paint a picture of life at the cannery during the summer fishing and processing season, as well as work done before and after the season to open up and close down the cannery, most particularly the bunkhouses. She also talks about the cross-cultural experience cannery work provided, how everyone had to learn to get along, the importance of listening to music, and the development of long-term friendships.

 2018-13-13 NN Cannery History Apr 22, 2019