The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

It's been a while since many of us have heard from the Frog Hollow Band, a local music group composed of five men from Walla Walla and Waitsburg who are friends to many of us. Knowing how frustrating...

If you had asked me about shed hunting a few weeks ago, I would have assumed we were talking about rotting pieces of pioneer carpentry that folks love to photograph or scrap out for projects. I was...

Perusing a resume of Susan Matley's entire work history would be a kick. She has been an actress, an accountant, a family historian, a life-long journalist, and a musician. Her "right" and "left"...

If you've had the pleasure to walk into Locally Nourished, the coffee shop and eatery at 217 East Main Street in Dayton, you've had the opportunity to enjoy some of Danielle Barnes' kitchen...

Liberty Theater in Dayton will be streaming a live production of this year's community variety show. The free show is scheduled for Saturday, March 26, and will be available on YouTube. This year's...

In February 17, I was at the local YMCA listening to Rodney Outlaw, the Executive Director of Walla Walla Music Organization (WWMO), give a lecture to his students. What started out as a flow of...

Over the last four years, former Waitsburg Schools Superintendent Carol Clarke has spent significant time in Panama City, Panama. She began working with Crossroads Christian Academy (CCA) after close...

Let me tell you about my most recent tech acquisition: the ReMarkable pad. I ordered it in April 2020 and received it seven months later. Due to Covid-related restrictions, the Norway-based company...

When she was in the fourth grade, Kennie Lamming's grandmother's cow was going to have twins. Kennie wanted to watch. However, it was her bedtime, and she wasn't allowed to participate. She was angry...

This past week we have received more information about the subject of last week’s column: Maude (Baim) Brown. Her little autograph book, discovered in Dayton in 2019, holds a series of handwritten...

My column this week is different since my chat is with a young lady from 1912. Heather Kaas, a friend in Dayton, shared the story of how a 109-year-old autograph book from Waitsburg came into her life...

I've known Roz Edwards for almost thirty years. I've also known how fun storytelling can be for kids and what she began to do when the world shut down with COVID-19 is a story I needed to hear. Edward...

Patti Jo Amerein lives a relatively quiet life in rural Columbia County. She rides dressage, keeps chickens, and teaches Pilates. But in the 1980s and 90s she lived another life as a Las Vegas show da...

Before visiting Greg Petersen at his Dayton home, I'd not heard the term "Antiquarian Horologist." But that's what's on his calling card. Horology - from the Greek "hora," meaning time - is the study... Full story

Twelve miles up and out of the Touchet Valley, I sat down with friends Robert and Janet Phinney to discover we have more in common than I might have thought. I'm a musician; the Phinney's are...

Jon Rampey: Wand Maker 2020 has taught us how to make lemonade out of lemons. Jon Rampey, a newcomer to Dayton, makes art using this philosophy of resourcefulness. "Creating something is better than...

Like many Christmas trees, ours is a time-measuring tree. We have so many ornaments now, there are too many for one tree to hold! We have a couple of small table trees that help out, but when you...

I've known Waitsburgian Erin Murphy and her husband Nathanial for many years. It occurred to me recently: these people are always in school, always taking classes, always working toward another...

When Juniper Kerr was in middle school, her basketball coach kept saying, "Every shot not taken is a shot missed." It stuck with her. But it's not just about basketball now; it's about life and her...

DAYTON-You can easily estimate the time it takes to machine quilt a piece of functional art, but who counts the hours of piecing it together? Or the love stitched into it? On a recent chat with Wendy...

My recent visit with Starbuck's new Mayor, Zonia Dedloff, was a revelation for me. First thing I learned: she has lived there for 50 years. She and her late husband, Jerry, parked a trailer here in...

Those of us who may be familiar with one Becky Wilson in Waitsburg will be tickled to learn that there is now a second Becky Wilson in town. Recently, this Becky Wilson purchased the old Hofer farm...

Jeromy Phinney, Chief of Columbia County Fire District 3, is a good man to have a conversation with right now. He's cool as a cucumber, with a large framed photo of John Wayne on the wall beside his d...

Recently the Liberty Theater in Dayton received a message from a woman in Walla Walla: "My friend told me she was getting rid of some old puppets that belonged to her parents. She said she was going...

A conversation with Julia Mead When Julia Mead graduated from high school at the age of 17 and started college, she decided her motto would be, "I don't know where I'm going, but I'm on my way." She...