Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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WAITSBURG - Touchet Valley parents and caregivers needing help obtaining diapers face significant barriers, including long drives to distribution centers and the need to provide personal information and proof of income. To help meet community needs, the Waitsburg Christian Church has started a small-scale diaper bank to complement its clothing ministry which has served hundreds of families facing emergencies and meeting everyday needs. The church is asking the community for donations of diapers...
WAITSBURG — The Waitsburg School Board met at the elementary school library on September 19, 2024. Board Chair Stephanie Cole, directors Christy House, Charlie Barron, Abby Grende, and Interim Superintendent Carol Clarke were present. After Carol Clarke was sworn in as Interim Superintendent, Cole introduced Cedar Stengal as the student school board representative. Clarke gave the athletic director’s report, reporting on participation numbers for fall sports. HS football has 20 students, MS football has 12, and cheer has 14. High school vol...
WAITSBURG - Four teachers have joined the Waitsburg School District for the 2024-25 school year. Westin Wallace and Kim Hamann teach in the high school, Kimberly McNarland teaches physical education K-12, and Donovan Romero is a teacher at Preston Hall. Wallace graduated high school in the farming town of Toledo, Washington. He said he was proud that his father and grandfather still work on the family farm, like many families in Waitsburg. After high school, Wallace attended South Puget Sound Co...
WAITSBURG-Scouting is about kids, family, and community. Waitsburg and its surrounding area, including Dayton and Prescott, are fortunate to be the home of Scout Troop 337. Scoutmaster Justin Stegall, Assistant Scoutmaster Tim Hollingsworth, and Troop 337's committee members Jon Roberts, Sarah Roberts, Paul Mantz-Powers, and Brandi Hollingsworth have run the troop since restarting it in the spring of 2023. On Monday, September 30, 2024, the troop will host a Court of Honor ceremony and an Open...
WAITSBURG-The Waitsburg Commercial Club and Waitsburg Town Hall will host a Candidate Forum on Wednesday, September 25. The club invited all state and Walla Walla County candidates in the November 2024 election to participate. Before the forum begins, attendees will have the opportunity to meet and mingle with the candidates from 6:45 to 7:15 p.m. Virginia Romine and Joy Marie Smith will moderate this year's forum. At the time of publication, the following candidates have agreed to participate:...
WAITSBURG - An essential part of Waitsburg's history will be reintroduced to the community at the Pioneer Fall Festival this Sunday by the Waitsburg Historical Society. The Miehle No. 3 flatbed press, used by the "The Times" for decades, has found a permanent home at the Wilson-Philips House in Waitsburg. The press was first assembled in 1912 and later bought by Emerson Wheeler, who published "The Times" until he died in 1942. The paper used the flatbed press until December 1975, when...
WAITSBURG - Waitsburg Friends of the Pool, Parks and Recreation, and Rural Youth Enrichment Services held a Rhythm and Fun Festival at the fairgrounds on Saturday, August 24. Over 100 people came to hear the live music, have dinner, play carnival games, and watch young banjo and fiddle contestants. The fundraiser for the pool raised $3,600. Kate Hockersmith brought her community of bluegrass musicians to the Don Thomas Building with the first Jasper Mountain Opry Youth Festival. A large circle...
The Cruizin Prescott Car Show was held Saturday, August 17. The well attended show brings out car and truck lovers and thier rides. Waitsburg resident, Karl Newell, took home the Best Old Truck award for his 1951 Chevy Panel truck. He appreciated the Walla Walla Electric sponsored award. At Cheer Camp this week, Waitsburg City Council member Jillian Henze offered kids 4 to 17 the chance to jump, climb, dance, cheer, and make new friends. Waitsburg Cheerleader Cedar Stegall helped these young...
Superintendent David Woods resigned On Thursday, Aug. 1, the Waitsburg School Board held a special meeting to address the immediate resignation of Superintendent David Woods, who had served in the role since July 1, 2023. The board appointed Waitsburg School Board Chair Dr. Carol Clarke as acting superintendent. The board decided to begin the search for an Interim superintendent. Clarke retired as the district's superintendent in 2017 and has served on the school board since December 2021. She...
WALLA WALLA - Walla Walla Community College is celebrating the launch of its new Audio Engineering program with a fun-filled, two-day Open House and Jam Session later this month. On Aug. 7 and 14, from 1 to 5 p.m., students and visitors are invited to WWCC's Walla Walla campus to check out the new audio lab in the Professional Technical J Building, where WWCC students will be able to learn about audio engineering, audio recording, digital audio, and live sound. WWCC submitted the new Audio...
DAYTON— The Economic Development Steering Committee met for its monthly meeting on July 2, 2024. Port of Columbia Executive Director Jennie Dickinson presented updates on port business retention, recruitment, and development. Lyons Ferry Marina is transitioning new concessioners with the help of the prior operators, who will stay on through the summer as mentors. The Jasper Mountain Reserve is open and offers outdoor recreation on the privately owned 330-acre nature reserve. It is open to the public for hiking and camping with day or annual p...
WALLA WALLA—Walla Walla Fire Department crews responded to four fire incidents in the same general area of the city over 24 hours from August 4 to 5, 2024. At 10:32 p.m. on Sunday, August 4, 2024, crews from Walla Walla Fire Station 1 and Station 2 were dispatched to the area of W. Pine Street and Cayuse Street, adjacent to the eastbound lane of Highway 12, for a natural cover fire. Crews from Walla Walla County Fire District 4 also responded as part of a mutual-aid agreement. The first unit arrived to find an estimated quarter-mile fire l...
DAYTON - The Missoula Children's Theater will present an adaption of the classic "Treasure Island" at The Liberty Theatre at 7 p.m. on August 9 and 3 p.m. on August 10. Talented youth from the community have been working with MCT director Zoey Paulson and Leila Abou-Jaoude, who will play the role of Long John Silver. Rehearsals and workshops were held daily this week in preparation for the two performances. For many Touchet Valley kids, participation in an MCT production is the first step...
WAITSBURG - Local artist Twila Tate welcomed students to Tate Art in Waitsburg on Saturday, August 3, as part of ArtWalla's First Weekend Art Tours. Jennifer Hammer and Brittney Croft spent three hours learning how to make collagraphs, monoprints, and block prints in Tate's Main Street studio. "I had a great time! Twila was a terrific instructor, explaining things well and letting us experiment," said Hammer. The students said they would recommend the printmaking class to others. All the...
WAITSBURG - At its June meeting, the Waitsburg City Council discussed the condition and future options for the grandstands at the city's fairgrounds. The council was to vote on a a resolution to raze several structures at the city propery, including the grandstands. During public comment on the resolution, Friends of the Fairgrounds, Waitsburg Parks and Recreation District, and community members asked the council not to approve the action until a full fairgrounds plan has been completed by Parks...
WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg Presbyterian membership has made it official; Heidi Lum has been named Pastor of the church. She takes over from Pastor Stan Hughes, who has been serving in a transitional role since April 2019. Lum, her husband Ellery, and son Matthew moved to Waitsburg last year after Hughes invited her to intern at the church. She met Hughes at the Presbytery of the Northwest after the Lums moved to Kettle Falls, Washington from Honolulu, Hawaii. Lum said she chose Washington to...
In 2010, Laurette dared her husband Jack McCaw and the late Tom Baker to march down Waitsburg’s Main Street with an American flag on the 4th - wearing shorts. Now an annual event, McCaw was joined by Rose Englebright and other community members for the Veterans’ March. After their first appearance, the shorts have not been part of the tradition....
WAITSBURG - Wendy, Brian, and Coe Richards are inviting the Waitsburg community to join in celebrating the 25th anniversary of the surgery that saved their family. In July 1999, two-year-old Coe had already endured months of chemotherapy and hospitalization at Seattle's Children's Hospital before undergoing a liver transplant. A softball-sized tumor was found on his liver the prior December. Though the seven rounds of chemo managed to reduce its size by half, the tumor's position on the liver...
OLYMPIA — Councilmember Jillian Henze of Waitsburg was elected to the Association of Washington Cities (AWC) Board of Directors by members representing 281 cities and towns in the state. The election was held at the AWC Annual Conference in Vancouver, Washington, held from June 18-21, 2024. Henze will represent the 34 cities and towns in Asotin, Benton, Columbia, Franklin, Garfield, Walla Walla, and Whitman counties. “I’m honored, humbled and so excited to serve Waitsburg and its neighboring cities and towns in southeast Washington on the AWC b...
WAITSBURG — The Walla Walla Sheriff’s Office, Washington State Police, Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, and SWAT responded to a reported domestic assault at 19391 E. Hwy 12 in Waitsburg on Sunday, June 30. An assault was reported at 7 p.m.; deputies arrived on the scene around 7:15 p.m. According to the WWSO, a father reported his adult son hit his other adult son with a wooden rod. Units arrived and set up a perimeter. Deputies on the scene attempted to contact the suspect by hailing and calling, but there was no response. The SWAT team...
WAITSBURG-Summer youth programs kicked into gear this weekend for kids in Waitsburg, Dayton, and Prescott. The Waitsburg Christian and Waitsburg Presbyterian churches offered Vacation Bible School to preschool through sixth-grade students from June 26 through 28. This year's "Breaker Rock Beach" theme was a hit with more than 40 kids who enjoyed the beach decorations, crafts, songs, games, and other activities. On Saturday, June 29, from 9 to 11 a.m., the two churches and Waitsburg's Firemen's...
Bar Bacetto and Gaudy Gals on Main are closing, and former city hall sale is moving forward. WAITSBURG -The last few years have seen significant changes on Waitsburg's Main Street. This June, the city lost two popular businesses, and several empty buildings are finding new owners. Mike and Erin Easton announced they would not reopen Bar Bacetto in July. The James Beard 2024 nominee for Best New Restaurant opened in October 2022 and offered Easton's signature pasta, cocktails, and excellent servi...
WAITSBURG—At a special meeting on June 13, the Waitsburg City Council voted to accept Patraic Slattery’s offer for the former city hall building. The offer included a project description: an organic wine bar on the ground floor and eight hotel rooms upstairs. Slattery is completing his remodel and rebranding of the former Weinhard Hotel, which will reopen as the Hotel Hardware this summer. His plans for the city hall building were similar to the Dayton project On Thursday, Council member Jillian Henze announced the agreement on her public pag...
WAITSBURG/AN TIR KINGDOM-Waitsburg's Preston Park will be the weekend base for members of the Society for Creative Anachronism from June 7 to 9. The society is an international community in which members choose a pre-seventeenth-century period to research through immersive reenactment. Dame Katherine of Akornebir, once Baroness of Wastekeep, and known in present-day as Kathy Carpenter, encouraged anyone interested in history to come to the park, ask questions, borrow a tunic, and join the...
DAYTON - Area non-profits and charities, including Project Timothy, Blue Mountain Action Council, and the Walla Walla YWCA, appreciate the generosity of retired computer tech Gordon Gerlitz. After owning and operating GWhiz Computing for twenty years, Gerlitz now offers his considerable skills to help his community. Gerlitz has collected, refurbished, and donated over ninety laptops, tablets, and phones since he started this project in January 2022. He is now within five devices of 100, a goal...
