Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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Carolyn Henderson: Talk about Art There is a tendency within a culture saturated with pop art imagery to go for shock value – the gritty – to extol a painting because it is edgy, disturbing, and unsettling. Such has been the "norm" for so long that people associate fine art with depression and anxiety. But if art is anything, it's versatile, and many talented painters opt to use their skills to promote the other side of the spectrum: happiness, hope, joy, and beauty. This aptly describes the wat...
DAYTON--Last week, the Columbia County Friends of the Fairgrounds came before the Columbia County Commissioners with their vision for facilities improvements at the fairgrounds. “This is nuts and bolts. It is a work in progress,” CCFF President Julia Mead told the commissioners. She said around 200-260 hours of research has gone into the document, and 18-20 subcommittees have contributed to it. The CCFF has as its goal to make the fairgrounds self-supporting and generate revenue to the Parks and Recreation Fund, specifically to be used for fai...
DAYTON - Coming off a successful winter season with the fall musical The King and I and the murder mystery Murder on the Rerun, the productions team at Dayton's Liberty Theater is going off script as we move into spring. Every year, TVAC Productions hosts a spring show featuring our favorite Liberty Theater cast members showcasing their talents the way they want. TVAC Productions is the team responsible for the Liberty's successful musicals and plays; these variety shows help that committee...
WAITSBURG – Waitsburg FFA and 4-H members, and their parents, spent last week's sunny Saturday taking the first steps in transforming the FFA pig barn and the nearby unused horse stalls into well-functioning pens for pigs, goats and sheep. "We're hoping that by making a space for kids to raise different species, more kids will be interested in joining 4-H and FFA," said Corral Wranglers 4-H leader Lisa Morrow. Morrow and Waitsburg High School FFA Advisor Nicole Abel will serve as the barn superi...
DAYTON – A group, including farmers, wildlife officials and local planning officials, has been meeting for two years to develop a new plan to meet state requirements for a Voluntary Stewardship Program in Columbia County. The program would supplant the current requirements for agricultural land in the county to follow the Washington State Growth Management Act. Don Brigham, a consultant in Clarkston, is the project coordinator and facilitator for the program. He said the new VSP will allow farmers and agricultural landowners to continue the p...
WAITSBURG – At their February regular meeting, the Waitsburg School Board made it official: the new Waitsburg Field House will be named for lifelong Waitsburg resident and WHS star football player Kenneth Marcus Zuger. Several years ago, an anonymous donor made $40,000 available toward building a new much-needed field house at the Waitsburg Athletic Field. The one stipulation was that the building must be named for Kenneth M. Zuger, better known as Kenny. The donor has since passed away, but his...
DAYTON - Rep. Terry Nealey, R-Dayton, announced Tuesday he will not seek another term to the Washington State House of Representatives. Nealey, a former Columbia County prosecuting attorney and coroner, has served the 16th District as state representative since he was first elected in 2009. An attorney with an office in Dayton, Nealey retired from his private practice in 2015. "It has been an honor and a great adventure to serve the citizens of the 16th District and the state of Washington....
DAYTON-The world of virtual medicine was on CEO Shane McGuire's mind during the regular meeting of the Columbia County Health System Commissioners last week. As reported earlier, CCHS already has three tele-health units on site: one in the Emergency Department and one in each of the two outpatient clinics, assisting clinicians in patient care. Now plans are in the works to add tele-psychiatry and tele-hospitalist services to the list. McGuire said he has been working in conjunction with the...
DAYTON-The Dayton Historical Depot Society is currently showing a collection of 10 paintings and drawings that were owned by late Darlene Broughton. They are on display on the first floor at the Dayton Historic Depot until the end of the month. The watercolor, oil, and pen and ink drawings depict a few of the many historic buildings in Dayton. Works created by local and regional artists Vivian Eslick, Richard Hashagen, Mary Ann Nyborg, Gerald Snapp, Patti Eaton, John Remington and Lucy Jones...
During Kenny’s funeral, in 1998, former Waitsburg resident Michael Keifel read a poem he wrote: We would not be afraid to see his spirit, whether he should suddenly be standing at the edge of his driveway. Watching a youngster squint through the twilight at the basket for just one more shot before hustling home for dinner. Or appear on the bleachers, a cup of coffee in his yet strong grasp. Slapping his knee with the other hand and laughing at a Cardinal shooting past the defense for the goal. We would be glad to see him once again, shirt o...
DAYTON-Terry Bartlett is planning an April 1st opening for his new Italian "Trattoria-style" restaurant on Dayton's Main Street, to be called My Dad's Place. Bartlett and his wife Lu Ann have recently moved to Dayton from Corvallis Ore. and are bringing with them some special sauce recipes Terry developed for the pasta, pizza and sandwiches he is planning to serve at the restaurant. Bartlett said he will source local products for use in the restaurant, including the wheat flour for the pasta....
OLYMPIA, Wash. – Waitsburg teens Tom and Seamus House, and Tim Daves, got a firsthand taste of the legislative process as they represented Walla Walla County in the 4-H Know Your Government (KYG) program in Olympia on Feb. 17-21. The teens participated in a mock legislative process, but their results are often considered by the "real" Washington State Legislature. Know Your Government is a civic education program that rotates annually between learning about the legislative system, the j...
WAITSBURG—The Waitsburg School Board voted unanimously Monday night to reverse their previous action not to proceed with the full athletic combine with Dayton. The special board meeting was held after the Dayton School Board last week urged Waitsburg to reconsider its earlier decision. On Feb. 14, the Waitsburg board backed away from the combine, after members and administrators had attended a contentious Feb. 12 advisory committee meeting in Dayton in which several members of the public angrily said they opposed the combine. On behalf of t...
Bryan has been the Chamber's Events Co-ordinator for a year DAYTON-Melissa Bryan, who has served as assistant director and events Coordinator at the Dayton Chamber of Commerce for the past year, has been hired as the new Chamber director. Chamber Board President Kathy Berg said that the board has been impressed with Bryan's work during the past year. "She is so bright, and she is a willing learner. We just felt she is the one," Berg said. The Board has decided to have Bryan retain the primary...
DAYTON-Since moving to Dayton last July, the Port of Columbia's new Economic Development Coordinator, Kathryn Witherington, has not wasted time getting involved in the local community. Witherington is currently serving on the City of Dayton Planning Commission. And she played the role of Janet in the recent production of Two Across at the Liberty Theater. "I'm excited to jump in and take the challenge," Witherington said about her new job at the Port, which will begin on March 1. Witherington...
WAITSBURG – The annual Waitsburg city government election process is underway. The caucus window to file a full slate of candidates opened Feb. 26 and runs through March 8. Individuals can file Declarations of Candidacy from March 1 through March 10. The top five council candidate vote-getters will receive council positions. If there is a full slate of candidates, ballots will go out in the mail on March 17. If not, the filing period will be reopened for two weeks. Completed ballots must be received by 8 p.m. on April 3 at City Hall, or must b...
WAITSURG – While team members change from year to year, the Waitsburg High School Knowledge Bowl has been a familiar presence at the State Knowledge Bowl meet in Arlington, Wash. each year in March. This year's Team 1 took first place at the Southeast Washington Regional Knowledge Bowl Tournament held in Waitsburg on Feb. 21 to once again qualify for the State tournament. This year's Team 1 members include: Kevin Murphy, Chris Philbrook, Leena Baker, Cade Branson, Seamus House and Bradley S...
Glass art is one of those things that are difficult to accept as being created. I mean, isn't glass like eggs or milk – it just sort of appears all neatly packaged and ready for sale? Before I proceed, allow me to mention that we keep chickens and goats, so happily I'm well aware of where eggs and milk come from. And now, thanks to a chat with Pasco glass artist Gregory Jones, I have a firmer idea of how glass bowls – especially the wavy vintage receptacles and lacy, coral glass bowls that Jon...
I’ll be honest here: I paid no attention to the first Paddington movie that came out a few years ago. In fact, I don’t remember hearing anything of Paddington until we decided to bring Paddington 2 to the Liberty. I’ve been out of that loop. If I heard anything about it I probably passed it off as a kid’s movie, some toy tie-in from a popular teddy bear or something. Well, I’m chastened (again). I discover Paddington 2 stars some of my favorite players: Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey); Ben Whishaw (that smart young “Q” agent in 007’s Skyfall);...
WAITSBURG – At their Feb. 22 regular meeting, the Waitsburg City Council agreed to look at reinstating the position of Assistant Public Works Director. The council will set up a workshop to hammer out the logistics. Currently, the City has a public works director, Jim Lynch, and two laborers, Jake Adams and John Langford, with no one having authority to supervise when Lynch is away from his duties. “We are finally at a stable working relationship among the public works employees that we could bring this position back and relieve some of the...
Snapdragon owner Vicky Beckmeyer is creating piggy banks for a Dayton pool fundraiser DAYTON-Business owners and citizens in Dayton are invited to have some fun with old-time piggy banks and help out the Dayton city pool at the same time. Vicky Beckmeyer, owner of Dayton's Snapdragon Floral and Gifts, is working with the Dayton Chamber of Commerce on a fundraiser to help with the operation of the pool. She has made a variety of ceramic piggy banks for the project. Twenty of the pigs will be...
Library and Lions Community Building get much-needed makeovers PRESCOTT – In a true joint effort, the Prescott Library has been transformed from a dark, cramped, cavelike space into a light and airy environment ideal for welcoming a crowd. Not only that, but the adjoining Lions Club Community Building got a kitchen facelift and new bathrooms as well. The Walla Walla County Rural Library District Board, the Prescott Lions, and General Contractor Matt Tunell worked together on the massive r...
