Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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DAYTON – Defense Attorney Michael De Grasse petitioned Judge Scott D. Galina to dismiss all charges against archeologist Richard Lee Lyman in Columbia County Superior Court on Sept. 16. Columbia County Prosecuting Attorney Rea Culwell requested that the case proceed to trial but said charges against Lyman’s associates, Dave Schmitt and Matthew Boulanger, would be dropped. The three out-of-state professional archeologists were charged in July with theft of prehistoric artifacts from the Uma...
WAITSBURG – Karen Gleason has been happily serving up breakfasts and sandwiches at her cheery mobile unit next to the Ag Link building here since she opened shop last Mother's Day. But she was getting a bit worried about not having indoor dining facilities with cooler weather just around the corner. On Tuesday, Gleason's Galley moved to Main Street, occupying the former home of Carmen's Deli, located between the Plaza Theater and Waitsburg Grocery. Gleason is not only happy to provide her r...
WAITSBURG – The Lady Cards had a busy week last week, taking on Spangle on Wed., Walla Walla Valley Academy on Thursday and attending the Yakima Sundome Volleyball Festival on Friday. The Lady Cards lost an away non-conference match to Spangle on Sept. 16 in three sets: 21-25, 16-25, 7-25. "We started out well but played flat in the last set. Part of the goal was to use this non-league match as a warm-up for league and finish looking at combinations on the floor," said Coach Angie Potts. Stat l...
DAYTON – The Dayton Bulldogs scored a big win Saturday in a home court match against the Davenport Gorillas. The Lady Dogs played a tough five sets to take the win: 18-25, 25-21, 25-17, 21-25, 15-6. “The Lady Dogs went in ready to play. They worked well together and put it all on the court,” said Coach Shannon Turner. She credited the win to the girls’ great teamwork, solid defense and “very scrappy” play. “The last time we beat Davenport was in 2005. This is a big win for the Bulldogs!” sh...
WAITSBURG – In honor of the City of Waitsburg's sesquicentennial, the Waitsburg Historical Society found it fitting to commemorate its own history by recognizing the two surviving members of the society's founding group as Pioneers of the Year. Bob Patton and Dona Jean Smith hold that honor. The Waitsburg Historical Society was founded in 1971 and the original board included Roberta Broom, Jan Zuger, Joe Abbey, Dorothy Kison, Bettie Chase, Dona Jean Smith and Bob Patton. Carolee Jantz joined t...
WAITSBURG – If asked, Waitsburg High senior Trey Potts would have no trouble writing a typical "How I Spent my Summer Vacation" essay. His summer was anything but dull, though it may not qualify as a vacation. The 18-year-old spent his entire summer fighting fires for the Clearwater-Potlatch Timber Protective Association (C-PTPA). That was aside from the one week he attended the Kiwanis Youth Law Enforcement Career Camp in Shelton, Wash. Both experiences had a significant impact on his plans f...
WAITSBURG – Waitsburg harriers competed, and fared well, against runners from Mac-Hi and Pomeroy at the Asotin Island Run at Chief Timothy Park in Clarkston on Saturday. Junior Emily Adams placed fourth in the girl's race and junior Landon Callas placed 9th in the boys'. First-year Cardinal X-C Coach Ann Adams said the day was beautiful, warm, and sunny, and that the 2.6 mile course was fast. "Emily ran a strong race, passing on the big hill for an 18.14 minute 4th place finish (out of 51 r...
WAITSBURG – "When I thought of all the things that could possibly go wrong with growing a giant pumpkin, this is the last thing I would have expected," said Gayle Broom. Her group's pumpkin was the largest at the Walla Walla fair, weighing in at 195 ½ pounds, but failed to bring home a ribbon because of a (disputed) late entry. Broom grew her first giant pumpkin, weighing 114 pounds, in 2013 and took first place in the weight class at the Walla Walla County fair. In 2014, Rebecca W...
DAYTON – In an effort to encourage visitors and residents to spend time, and hopefully money, in downtown Dayton, three entities have joined forces on a two-phase project to enhance Dayton's downtown historic district. Phase one of that project, the construction of year-round, ADA-compliant public restrooms, broke ground this month. The Dayton Development Task Force, the Dayton Historic Depot Society and the City of Dayton have partnered together to continue improvements to the Commercial S...
WAITSBURG – First-time 4-Her Lash LaRue admits that showing an animal at the Walla Walla fair is hard work, but says it's well worth it. "I had fun with it and I'll definitely do it again next year. I'm saving some of my money to buy just the kind of lamb I want and saving some for feed for next year," Lash said. Eleven-year-old Lash, along with his older brother Joseph, joined the Crafty Farmers R Us 4-H group this year, after his parents asked if he'd be interested in raising a 4-H animal. "...
PRESCOTT – It may look a bit like a game of musical chairs – library style – but returning library branch manager Amy Rosenberg feels like she's found a perfect fit. Rosenberg is pleased to be back in Prescott and is looking forward to facing new challenges. Rosenberg served as branch manager in Prescott for a year before assuming the same position in Dayton in early 2013, where she stayed for about two years. Now Rosenberg is back in Prescott as district manager for both the Prescott and Plaza...
WAITSBURG – The Waitsburg Lady Cardinals were full of spunk and sass when The Times joined them for a team dinner following their Sept. 3 practice. When asked what they planned to focus on this year, the answer was simple and optimistic. "Win everything!" If their performance at Saturday's jamboree in Kahlotus is a season indicator, they may not win "everything," but they're off to a good start. The Cardinals scrimmaged against five teams and walked away with four wins. With only seven girls sui...
PRESCOTT – "With the return of varsity volleyball to Prescott, I look forward to building a program here for which the student body and community can be proud of," said first-time Lady Tiger coach Bob Young. And while Young is new to Prescott, he's not new to coaching. Most recently, Young coached 7th grade volleyball at Sager Middle School in College Place, from 2011 to 2013. He also coached at Republic High School in Republic, Wash. from 1977-79 and was head volleyball coach at Central W...
WAITSBURG – Waitsburg’s annual Pioneer Fall Festival, a community celebration honoring local history, is just around the corner. On Sunday, Sept. 20, visitors to the Bruce House Museum complex will step back in time as they enjoy food, music, games, historical demonstrations, a vintage fashion show and museum displays. The festival kicks off with a nondenominational church service on the Bruce House lawn at 11 a.m., followed by the introduction of the Pioneers of the Year. Visitors are rem...
I've known Gabe Kiefel (now referred to as "Mr. Kiefel," by my two youngest sons, which continues to throw me for a loop) since he was in elementary school. He graduated from WHS, along with my oldest son, as a member of the Class of 2005. These days, he is a busy husband, dad, Waitsburg middle school teacher and coach. When my youngest son returned home from football practice one night, saying that coach Kiefel, wasn't at practice because he was donating bone marrow, I was surprised, but...
DAYTON – Christina Betts said she's always adhered to the advice of her father, who subscribed to the adage, "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." Still, she didn't deter husband Jon from responding to a Craigslist ad promoting a "wonderful career opportunity" with the ability to take over ownership of an existing, successful restaurant. Columbia County Economic Development Coordinator Brad McMasters placed the ad in an effort to help former Manila Bay Café owners, Justin Jaech an...
WAITSBURG – When The Times arrived to interview Waitsburg's new social studies teacher, Matt Elder, he was seated at his classroom desk, flanked by presidential candidate buttons and political comics, drinking coffee from a Roswell, New Mexico mug, and preparing to download text- to- speech software to his computer; all examples of his teaching philosophy. Elder is confident his love of 20th century history, appreciation for travel and heavy utilization of technology will make history classes f...
This year's rotating display in the Wilson-Phillips house pays tribute to the Native American, showcasing Indian blankets, beaded items, tools, arrowheads, and more. Glass display cases are filled with beautifully beaded Indian artifacts, handmade by members of the Cayuse tribe. The items were gifted to the Lloyd family of Waitsburg over their 80 years of friendship with the Indians. The late Bettie (Lloyd) Chase recalled that the Indians would often show up at their home at dinnertime, causing...
WAITSBURG – At their Aug. 19 meeting, Waitsburg's City Council approved a pre-annexation agreement, subject to minor revisions, with Walla Walla County Fire Protection District No. 2 and passed a resolution to surplus the Waitsburg fire station and equipment, allowing for its eventual transfer to the District. Both the agreement and resolution are contingent on city and county voters passing the proposed annexation which will appear on November's special election ballot. A top concern of council...
Emma is saying farewell this week. Our Student Life columnist, Emma Philbrook, plans to keep in touch with us, perhaps submitting a column on a monthly basis, but it just won't be the same. While we're pleased to see her set forth on her college adventure, it's hard to say good-bye to someone who has become such a familiar face on the pages of The Times. As a matter of fact, Emma has been here longer than the rest of us. Her first published column, featuring gift-giving tips, was printed on...
DAYTON – They say that 'absence makes the heart grow fonder,' and that truism turned out to be a career-changer for Dayton's new library director, Dusty Waltner. While pursuing a doctorate degree in geography, Waltner found herself, for first time since her teens, not employed by a library. The realization of how much she missed that work eventually resulted in Waltner earning a library degree and landing her role as the current director of the Columbia County Rural Library District (CCRLD). W...
WAITSBURG – Due to the dwindling number of middle school players at both schools, Waitsburg and Dayton school boards have agreed to form an athletic combine for middle school football for the 2015-16 school year. "This will benefit our kids big time," said Waitsburg middle school football coach Jeff Bartlow, who spearheaded the idea. "We want to continue playing 11-man football at the high school and it allows us not to slip down to 8-man. Dayton is playing 8-man right now, but over time, w...
WAITSBURG – About a half dozen people turned out for the organizational meeting of Friends of the Waitsburg Pool, which they hope will become part of the Rural Youth Enrichment Services 501c3, earlier this month. The group nailed down their priorities and immediately began work on their first fundraiser, a pie baking contest, to be judged at Waitsburg's Fall Festival on Sun., Sept. 20. The Friends agreed that their first priority is meeting the needs of children, followed by providing funding a...
WAITSBURG – Jim German and Claire Johnston plan to continue living in Waitsburg while striking out on new, not yet fully determined, adventures. But the owners of Waitsburg's jimgermanbar will close that establishment at the end of August. German is in the process of having a "monolithic" pizza oven built on the patio behind jimgermanbar but is not sure that he'll be the one operating it. He is also actively involved with an exciting restaurant transformation in Walla Walla. While he's not f...
SEASIDE, Ore. – The kids and I spent much of last week lapping up the sunshine (yes, there was sunshine!) and playing on the beach during a much-needed getaway to Seaside, Ore. Since I was on vacation, I wasn't required to submit much writing for this week's issue of The Times, but I did promise to return with a travel piece. Let me start out by being honest – I have avoided Seaside for years. In fact, the last time I visited, my son, who turned 16 during this trip, was in utero. I enjoy the...
