Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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WAITSBURG - Retired Waitsburg School District teachers Jim Davison, Liv Leid, Roseann Groom, and retired Prescott teacher Susan DeRuwe attended the 2026 Washington State School Retirees' Association State Convention on June 8-10. At the convention, Davison was honored with the Ester Wilfong Award. He was nominated by the Walla Walla-Columbia School and the Benton Franklin School Retirees' Associations. The Ester Wilfong Legislative Advocacy Award is presented to a WSSRA member who has...
WAITSBURG - Fall is closing in, and the Cardinal sports program is getting ready for the new school year. On August 3, Waitsburg Middle School and High School coaches participated in an orientation led by the district's new athletic director, Gabe Kiefel. Kiefel joined the Waitsburg School District as a middle school math and science teacher in 2014. He is now the science teacher at the high school. As AD, he will bring his experience from coaching high school football, middle school...
Adventures await. Two Saturdays – two adventures. One to the west – one to the east. Luckily, the weather was ideal for both outings. The first Saturday destination was about four hours to the west, to Ainsworth State Park in Oregon. The park is the only overnight campground along the waterfall corridor on the Historic Columbia River Highway, where we planned to board the Waterfall Trolley. The Waterfall Trolley hop-on-hop-off tour includes up to six waterfalls and a stop at Vista House. We pur...
WAITSBURG – The Waitsburg Commercial Club has moved to quarterly general membership meetings. The meetings are the second Tuesdays of July, October, and January at noon. The meeting in April will be on the third Tuesday and is the annual meeting and Community Service Awards. The first quarterly meeting was held on Tuesday, July 14, at Waitsburg’s Town Hall. The Commercial Club President Brittany Crane, 1st Vice-President Karen Huwe, 2nd Vice-President Paul Mantz-Powers, Secretary Tiffany Baxter, Treasurer Joy Smith, and a dozen members were in...
WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg School's athletic field is getting some upgrades in time for the Cardinals' first home football game. With generous donations and volunteer time, the facility will have a new walkway and ticket and merchandise booth. The Booster Club received funds from the Waitsburg Alumni Association and donated concrete and finish work for the building's foundation by John Gleason, owner of Affordable Concrete. Volunteers will have the booth ready to use at the first home football...
WALLA WALLA - Rhonda and Charles Nosler of Waitsburg have been members of the Walla Walla Iris Society since 2019 and currently have over 150 iris varieties. The WWIS will hold its annual sale at the Milton-Freewater Community Building on August 1 and 2 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Irises will be presented by name, with variety information and a photo. For newcomers to growing irises, planting and care instructions will be available. The sale will include tall, intermediate, border, miniature tall,...
IILWACO, Wash. - Chris Andrews has replaced Westin Wallace as Waitsburg High School's head basketball coach. Wallace resigned after taking a teaching position in Reardan, Washington. Andrews previously coached the Waitsburg middle school boys. He worked with Wallace to ensure the high school boys could attend a summer basketball camp in Ilwaco. Using funds raised through various fundraising efforts and a generous donation from the Waitsburg Lions Club, the team was set. Eight of the team's...
WAITSBURG - Waitsburg voters had an opportunity to hear from 14 Walla Walla County candidates at the Waitsburg Town Hall on Wednesday, July 8, 2026. The candidate forum was sponsored by the Waitsburg Commercial Club and moderated by Joy Smith and Virginia Romine. Approximately 70 people attended the two-hour event. The candidates gave opening statements and answered questions from the moderators and audience. The candidates who attended are running in state and county races, including...
Waitsburg — The Waitsburg Friends of the Pool, Rural Youth Enrichment Services (RYES) and Waitsburg Park and Recreation members continue to make a community survey’s top priority a reality. The results of the 2022 survey put building a new city pool as the number one priority. The previous pool was constructed in 1925, a period when small towns built public swimming pools for safe summer recreation and swimming lessons. The Waitsburg pool was a centerpiece of summer life, built to teach residents how to swim in a community surrounded by riv...
WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg Commercial Club organized a free watch party at the Waitsburg Farigrounds to cheer the U.S. team as it beat Australia, 2 -0, in a World Cup soccer game on Friday, June 19. The game was the US team's second match and its first played in Seattle for the 2026 World Cup. The USMNT opened the tournement with a 4-1 victory over Paraguay l advancing the team to Round 32. It marks the team's first group‑stage topping since 2010. The commercial club hosted over thirty people f...
DAYTON - Waitsburg's music teacher Elizabeth Arebalos-Jagelski walked into the Dayton Liberty Theater's annex with plans to practice lines for the upcoming play but instead found the room packed with well-wishers at a surprise retirement party on Tuesday, June 9. Party organizers, including Waitsburg teacher Brenda Henderson, managed to keep the event a secret, leaving Jagelski completely jaw-droppingly surprised. Henderson had a few secret guests hidden in the back room, so Jagelski could play...
TOUCHET VALLEY - Waitsburg, Dayton, Prescott, and Dixie softball players and coaches were grateful for the opportunity to be able to host softball games in Waitsburg and Dayton this season. In the past, all games were played in Walla Walla. With the leadership of Dave Meliah at Walla Walla Parks & Rec and Waitsburg coach Chelsie Abel, family and friends were able to enjoy watching our girls play on their local fields. The number of Touchet Valley teams in the Blue Mountain Girls Softball League...
Another school year has ended, and another Waitsburg class has left a lasting contribution. The Class of 2026 commissioned a Cardinal Country mural on the high school entrance. The Class of 2021 gifted new backboards on the outdoor basketball courts at the high school and at the elementary school. The class repainted the lines on the tennis courts and painted "Cardinals" on the tennis court net poles and basketball posts. The Class of 2014 had a water fountain/bottle filler installed in the...
WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg Lions Club held its end-of-the-year celebration on Tuesday, June 2. It was a time to thank the Lions' family members and the community volunteers who help the club successfully serve the Waitsburg community. Following the meal, Dale Roberts, the club president, delivered his speech, and Secretary Ross Hamann made club announcements. Tail Twister John Alleman entertained the guests, drawing the winning tickets to give beautiful plants to the ladies present. President...
WAITSBURG - Waitsburg High School's one hundred and thirtieth annual commencement took place on Friday, June 5, in the WHS gymnasium. The Class of 2026 chose "The only impossible journey is the one you never begin," by Tony Robbins, as their motto. Class marshals Cody Coulston and Ellie Teal opened the ceremony by presenting flags. Music Director Elizabeth Jagelski led band members Rozalynn Harvey, Ellie Teal, Andrew Gillum, Cheri Mathews, Olivia Duncan, and Yaneli Flores in the processional...
The Waitsburg School's preschool class graduated at 2 p.m. on June 5 in the Waitsburg Elementary multi-purpose room. Fifteen boys and girls are now kindergarteners, starting in the fall of 2026. The lively students sang "It's a Happy Day," "We Are Graduating," "Follow the Rainbow," and closed with "Moving up to Kindergarten." Their teacher, Eleanora Montgomery, asked the students to introduce themselves and share what they wanted to be when they grew up. It seems we may have a lot of policemen...
Twenty-two Waitsburg Middle School eighth graders were promoted to high school freshmen in a ceremony on Monday, June 8, in the high school auditorium. Class President Kaitlyn Paul led the guests in the Pledge of Allegiance. Waitsburg Principal Joe Wirtzberger welcomed the friends, family, and teachers gathered to celebrate the students' promotion. Middle School Teacher Jessica Griffith gave an inspiring speech, followed by speeches from students Laila Long, Ollivyr Dahlby, and Kaitlynn Paul....
WAITSBURG - Waitsburg Elementary's K-6 Spring Program, "A Blast From The Past," opened with the "National Anthem-Star Spangled Banner," sung by Kestrel DeFord, Kaidence Wilcox, Alyssa Cole, Olivia Long, Brooklyn Board, Azaliah Flores, and Foster Richardson, with Lencio Flores and Mitchell Hays on guitar. Music director Elizabeth Arebalos-Jagelski directed the program, held on June 3, 2026, at 1 pm in the Secondary School Gym. This event marks her last production as she begins a new chapter in...
COEUR D' ALENE - On May 30, a combined band from the Waitsburg and Dayton school bands participated at a regional "Music in the Park" event at Lake City High School in Coeur d' Alene on May 30. After the performance, the band directors, Jagelski and Gillick, took the students to the Silverwood Theme Park for fun and an awards ceremony. Music in the Parks is a nationwide festival program where school bands and choirs perform, and are critiqued, before visiting local amusement parks, where they...
WAITSBURG — The annual Waitsburg FFA awards banquet was held on Thursday, May 28, in the Waitsburg Elementary Multi-purpose room. Advisor Nicole Abel was joined by officers President Sarah Daves, Vice-president Makayla Mikesell, Secretary Sara Wilson, Treasurer Olivia Duncan, Reporter Emerson Underwood, and Sentinel Makaelyn Mikesell. Following introductions, the 2025/26 officers conducted the opening ceremony, which was followed by the FFA President’s speech. Then the FFA Vice President expressed appreciation to the parents, community, and...
Blake Benevides Blake Benevides is the son of Valerie and Shawn and has siblings Quinn and Claudia, both WHS alumni. Benevides came to Waitsburg School as an eighth grader and attends WHS full-time. He has been a member of FFA for four years and was on the homecoming court his freshman year. As a basketball standout in his junior and senior years, Benevides received the Most Improved Award and All-League Honorable Mention his junior year and made the All-League First Team and was voted Most...
Benevides at State Golf Waitsburg High School senior Blake Benevides shot a 110 in the first round at the WIAA 1B/2B Boys High School State Golf Championships at MeadowWood Golf Course in Liberty Lake May 20-21. Coach Caris Lynch said that Benevides missed the cut-off at 95 to proceed to the second round. Kenney to State Track Senior Teegan Kenney from Waitsburg High School will compete in all four of his track events at the WIAA 1b/2b/1A State Championships at Eisenhower High School, May 28-30. Kenny qualified for State at the 1B District 6...
Tyler Coulston Tyler Coulston's parents are Deanna and Cullen. His sister, Grace, is a Waitsurg High School alumna, and his younger brother, Cody, is a freshman. Coulston has attended Waitsburg Schools since preschool. An honor student, he is Vice-President of his senior class and was named the Walla Walla Exchange Club Student of the Month in December of his senior year. He has been an FFA member since his sophomore year and participated on the FFA Ag Mechanics team in his junior and senior...
Kenney Qualifies for State Track Waitsburg Track Team athlete, Teegan Kenney, earned a place at the 1B District 6 Championships after qualifying in all four of his events at the district qualifier on Tuesday, May 12, in Pomeroy. In Pomeroy, Kenney set personal best jumps in two of his events. Three Waitsburg girls set personal best records to also advance to the district championships, which will be held at Valley Christian School on May 20-22. Twelve teams competed, and eight advanced to compet...
