Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 828 - 852 of 864
WAITSBURG - Though their numbers have declined over the years, the dedi- cation and patriotism of Waitsburg's American Le- gion members has not. Cur- rent club members, mostly World War II vets, are hop- ing younger generations of men and women will join them in their quest to support veterans and families. One of Waitsburg's oldest service clubs, the Samuel W. Southard Post #35 was char- tered in August 1919. The post was named in honor of 23-year-old Samuel W. Southard, the first Waitsburg...
WAITSBURG - On May Day, Waitsburg Elementary students took the first steps in a month-long walk, with the goal of providing water for the needy. Last Friday, students and staff culmi- nated the school year with an assembly where they learned that the school had met its goal and is funding a rainwater catchment and storage system for a school of 398 students in Kenya. In years past, Waitsburg Elementary School has par- ticipated in 'Walk Across America' as a fitness activity. This year, for the...
WAITSBURG - If you've been a spectator at a local football or softball game, taken a swim in the City Pool, or have children who use Waitsburg's track or playground equipment, you've benefitted from the endeavors of the Waits- burg Lion's Club. If you've ordered a locally-smoked turkey for the holidays, at- tended the annual Salmon Bake or Rib Feed, or recall enjoying buffalo burgers at the Fall Festivals of years past, you've supported the fundraisers that have fu- eled an impressive array of...
WAITSBURG - There are few occasions in life more filled with expectation than high school graduation. This ceremony, more than any other in our society, marks the shift from childhood to adulthood. The parents and teachers who have thus far provided care, authority and tutelage, step into a background role and watch as the young adults take the lead. Waitsburg Valedictori- an Samantha Moss (3.972 GPA) spoke to those ex- pectations as she addressed the crowd and the 29 other graduates of the WHS...
DAYTON - "I do have an unwanted visitor that we're hoping to get rid of shortly," is Deb Hays' stan- dard response to the many concerned citizens who visit Dayton's City Hall, where Hays works as Depu- ty Clerk. "People look at me like I'm crazy, but I think it's important to stay posi- tive and upbeat as much as possible." says Hays. "With so many people asking how I'm doing every day, it's not as if I can put it out of my mind." Hays is on a mission to eradicate the tumor that has lodged...
WAITSBURG - In the spring of 1999, Karen Mohney, then president of the Waitsburg American Legion Auxilia- ry #35, presented the group with the idea of erecting a Veteran's Memorial Wall in Waitsburg. "I just had a passion for wanting to see our local veterans hon- ored and remembered," said Mohney. "We thought the idea was fantastic, but it seemed like 'Mission Impos- sible,'" Auxiliary member B.A. Keve re- called. The American Legion jumped on board and the two groups joined forces to bring...
WAITSBURG - " My granddad settled in the area in 1898 and we still farm some of that original land," said lifelong resident, Jack McCaw. Area roots run deep for Jack and his wife Lauretta, parade marshals for this weekend's 100th Anniversary Waitsburg Celebration Days. Jack was born to Jay and Katherine McCaw in March of 1927, on a farm three miles from Prescott. Lauretta, whose parents farmed near Dusty, was born to Martha and Jake Stueckle, in June of 1930. Her family moved to the Prescott-Cly...
WAITSBURG - Volun- teers from the Waitsburg Historical Society have spent recent weeks at the Wilson-Phillips house, bus- ily readying it for the upcoming Waitsburg Celebra- tion Days. The home was purchased in 2008 by Mary Phillips, who made significant im- provements, including new paint, a roof replacement and repairing and re-routing broken sewer lines prior to renting it out for a brief time. In 2011 Phillips donated the home to the Waitsburg His- torical Society. The Society faced con-...
Waitsburg Celebration Days is just around the corner. With a parade, antique car show, cowgirl ranch racing, fair- way games, dances and more, the weekend promises the most excitement our little burg has seen in some time. Yet there's one concern I've heard expressed more than once and it's nothing to take lightly. "What about food?" Good question. It's nigh impossible to have a bona fide celebration without some good food. (Perhaps I should say "grub" and "fixin's", to keep with the western...
May promises to be filled with action at the Liberty Theater. The month starts off with a showing of the sci-fi adventure,"Oblivion", followed by the uplifting biographical sports drama," 42". Later in the month, the Liberty gets your heart racing again with "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" and the political thriller", The Company You Keep". "Oblivion", starring Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman, and Olga Kurylenko takes place on planet Earth after it's been devastated by decades of war. Jack Harper, p...
While I'd wager that most everyone has at least heard of Youtube.com, I wonder how many realize just how useful a tool it can be. Once known mainly as a means of promoting the latest viral frivolity, Youtube.com has morphed into a truly valuable resource. Using Youtube.com for pretty much anything and everything seems to come naturally for the younger generation. My youngest recently prepared for his very first ski trip. When I relayed that a friend suggested he watch a few Youtube.com skiing...
WAITSBURG - "Just Say 'No' to Texting and Driving." That's the name of the campaign Waitsburg High School senior Logan Dozier has created. And he hopes it will have lasting impact on not only Waits- burg teens, but on the larger communities of Waitsburg, Dayton and Prescott as well. Dozier was motivated to create the program because the dangers of distracted driving recently "hit home." While developing the pro- gram has been "a LOT of work" and doesn't count toward any type of school credit or...
WAITSBURG - Deter- mining the best proactive response to the local drug problem received significant attention at last week's City Council Meeting in Waits- burg. Discussion revolved around two main options: instituting a neighborhood watch program and/or re- taining a full-time school resource officer, to be shared between Prescott and Waits- burg. Council member K.C. Kuykendall requested a slot on the council agenda to address the situation fac- ing Waitsburg. "We have a greater than average d...
WAITSBURG - "Little did I realize, 20 years ago, when I walked through an area known as 'The Tracks' in Guatemala City, that I would return some day," said Donnie Henderson, who recently led a team of local women on a ministry mission in Guatemala City. Henderson, Pam Conover, and Debbie Seney, of Waits- burg; Sue Bell of Dayton; and Sherri Sumstine of California visited Guatemala City last month, presenting a women's conference and teaching poverty-stricken women, sewing skills. Henderson and...
DAYTON - Having de- voted 30 years working at the Dayton Memorial Library, Sue Hagfeldt quietly retired as branch manager in March, passing the torch to new manager, Amy Rosen- berg. "Sue insisted on not being honored with a retirement party, but she was so beloved by the community that we still have patrons come to the library and asking where she is," said Columbia County Rural Library Board Chair, Tanya Patton. "Sue has a wonderful way with people, especially children. She will be greatly...
WAITSBURG - April 1 marked the voting deadline for the annual election of Waitsburg's mayor and city council. Walt Gobel ran unop- posed and was re-elected mayor, but the race for the fifth seat on the council is heated. Incumbents Martin Dunn, Kevin House, K.C. Kuykendall, and Karl Newell, all running on the "Truth and Trust" ticket, will be re-elected to their council positions. As of April 9th standings, Debra Callahan, who declared candidacy on March 8, will replace Scott Nettles, by a slim...
"April showers bring May flowers . . ." or, in our case (we hope) grass. You see, we had a bit of a lawn mishap last year. Attempting to ban our grass of clover, hubby inadvertently double-dosed the weed killer, and wiped out the entire lawn. While not pretty, a dead lawn does have some advantages. We saved a bundle on the water bill and mowing was a non- issue. See, every cloud really does have a silver lining. Now, new seed has been sown and we're enjoying the April showers, and, quite...
Fun, frugal family activities that require minimal advance preparation are difficult to come by. Geocaching meets those requirements and more. My son received a GPS for Christmas two years ago and we've been hooked ever since. The Touchet Valley is filled with hundreds of caches requiring nothing more than a GPS to find, though a GPS enabled smart phone will get you by in a pinch. Not only will geocaching get you off the couch and into the great outdoors, it's gratifying and educational as...
I consider myself a reluctant fan of Facebook. I appreciate the way it allows me to keeps friends and fam- ily close at heart. Without it, I wouldn’t be able to view my teenage niece’s photo shoots, admire my baby brother’s lat- est ironwork creations, keep tabs on high school classmates or, most importantly, receive regular updates on the antics of my angelic infant granddaughter. Without Facebook, it’s highly possible I might still be under the impression that “Duck Dynasty” is some kind o...
WAITSBURG - "What highly visible U.S. solar panel corporation that re- ceived a half-billion dollar loan guarantee in the stimulus package went bankrupt in 2011?" " These words were probably derived from what ancient language? Mahatama, stupe, chakra, avatar, kar- ma, banyan, sutra, mantra, musk, nir- vana." Such were the questions faced by six members of the Waitsburg High School Knowledge Bowl team. The team placed ninth in the Washington State Knowledge Bowl Tournament at Ar- lington High Sch...
"At 1:54 p.m. dispatch received the emergency call. At 1:56 p.m. the city fire whistle was sounded. At 1:59 p.m., the City ambu- lance arrived on the scene," read EMS technician Sharon Brooks. Glancing up from the report, she added, "That's when I realized the house fire we were respond- ing to was my own home." By 2:22 p.m. the fire was out and "mop-up" had officially begun. For the Brooks fam- ily, "life as usual" will be some time coming. March 22 started out as a typical Friday afternoon...
DAYTON -- The cozy house on Fourth Street in Dayton is a long way from home for exchange students Barbara Brixoto, of Belo Horizonte, Brazil and Stacy Populo of Nantes, France. The girls have made their school-year home with first- time exchange hosts Carl and Zelm (better known as Z) Hargraves, Texas transplants who moved to Dayton two years ago. The Hargraves were en- couraged to participate in the exchange program by their neighbors who had previ- ously hosted students. "It sounded like fun a...
WAITSBURG - In the band room at Waits- burg High, students pick songs, suggest changes and work together or with music teacher Brad Green to master or adapt the music. In the urban dance ballad Titanium by David Guetta, senior Cheyenne Frohreich works on her Travis picking while senior Matt Hoilman takes a try at bass. In Little Talks by Of Monsters and Men, Green per- forms an accordion solo on an instrument recently donated by Kate Hockersmith, as Alex Leathers plays "the egg." Green pulls up...
The Magill farmstead, nestled among the trees along the South Touchet River, is the current home of foreign exchange students Pedro Barbosa of Patos De Minas, Brazil and Thammanoon (T-Noon) Amorchaiyapitak of Bangkok, Thailand. Valarie and Dan Magill, whose bustling household includes their daughter, son-in-law, three young grandchildren, and a bevy of animals, are vet- eran exchange hosts, having opened their home to 12 students since 2006. Vala- rie, Regional Director for Face the World...
I n last month's review of SketchUp, I credited the discovery to Pinter- est. Truth be known, nearly all displays of astounding creativity and impressive know-how on my part can be attributed to Pinterest. For those unaware, Pin- terest is a visual bookmarking site with a social twist. Users create "boards" in different categories, then "pin" relevant photos and captions. A click on the photo takes you to the original blog or website. Unlike browser bookmarks which often leave me mystified as to...
