The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON – Dayton School District and the Columbia County Health District each received $77,000 this month from the William W. and Jessie B. Day Charitable Trust. Representatives from the U.S. Trust Bank of America presented the checks, along with an update on the status of the Day Estate farming operation and the trust’s investment portfolio, to school and hospital directors at an annual luncheon on March 10.

“It’s a little higher than we budgeted for,” Dayton Superintendent Doug Johnson said at the district board meeting last week. He also expressed appreciation for the funding and the foresight of the Day family. “Not very many school districts or hospitals receive money from one of the founding families of their community. We have talked about it, and in the next few years we hope to make an effort to connect the students more with the Day family and the history of the community.”

The trust is valued at approximately $3.2 million, including $1.96 million in real estate. The Day Trust Farm, which is located off Upper Whetstone Road, had a net income of $127,849 this past year with its harvest of wheat, peas and barley. And the farm itself is appreciating in value, up from $1.3 million in 2006 to $1.9 million in 2013. It was previously managed by Steve and Phyllis Schreck, who have recently retired; the new tenants are Clay and Rachel Hutchens.

Johnson said the board has spoken with Clay Hutchens, who is a Dayton High alumnus, about also connecting the students more with the estate by having him speak in science classes about agriculture and managing a farm.