Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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Ten Years Ago May 2, 2013 In a special meeting last week, the Port of Columbia commissioners agreed to issue bonds through Banner Bank of up to $300,000 to complete construction of the first building at Blue Mountain Station. The vote was 2-1, with Commissioner Earle Marvin dissenting. The move will allow the Port to proceed with construction of the first phase of the artisan food center planned for the site at Dayton's west end. Five firms have signed letters of commitment to rent the eight...
Ten Years Ago April 25, 2013 [Photo Caption] Members of the Waitsburg FFA Trap Team competed in the state championship in Wenatchee last weekend. L to R: Mark Montgomery, Jennifer Nichols, Cheyenne Frohreich, Tristan Newman, Kelcey Scott and Megan Morrison. Twenty-Five Years Ago April 30, 1998 Life-long Waitsburg resident Bettie Chase will lead the 1998 Waitsburg Days of Real Sprot Parade. The annual two-day horse racing and community celebration will be May 16 and 17. The parade will commence...
Ten Years Ago April 18, 2013 A 1948 dance program indicating that Mr. Dean Low, a Dayton High School senior should dance with Miss Beverly Roberts, a Waitsburg High School sophomore, was the instrument responsible for introducing the couple, who recently celebrated their 60th anniversary. This first dance initiated a 5-year courtship, the last three years mostly by mail while Dean was drafted into the army and Beverly attended Cottey Jr. College in Missouri, spent eight months recovering from...
Ten Years Ago April 11, 2013 Columbia County Public Safety Communications is recognizing Barbara Phinney as the 2012 dispatcher of the year. Barbara has shown extraordinary devotion to the ideals and goals of public safety dispatching, a consistent spirit of teamwork and cooperation, being a model of personal integrity and honesty, and for serving as a role-model for others. Barbara was awarded this honor during the Columbia County Board of Commissioners meeting on April 3rd. Twenty-Five Years...
Ten Years Ago April 4, 2013 At the launch of Paul Gregutt's Waitsburg Cellars, tasters were offered a small ribbon-bound booklet describing the elements of the new wine label's logo. The image contains many symbols – all elements of what inspires winemaker and critic Gregutt and his wife, filmmaker Karen Stanton Gregutt, about being artists in Waitsburg. "Our sense of time both slowed and expanded," Gregutt wrote about the couple's transition to life in Waitsburg, which started about eight years...
Ten Years Ago March 28, 2013 [Photo Caption] The Waitsburg High School Knowledge Bowl Team pretends to pose in front of the real Space Needle in Seattle. L to R: Thibault Martinelle, Alex Leathers, Hannah Grant, Emma Philbrook, Cherry Dai, Meara Baker, EJ Meserve and Coach Brad Green. Twenty-Five Years Ago April 2, 1998 Turning a hobby into a business is the impetus for Joe Jr. and Jean McCown’s new rock, mineral and mining-related business, which is starting operation at 232 Main Street, in t...
Ten Years Ago March 21, 2013 Long-time Waitsburg resident, activist and tireless historian Jeff Broom received the prestigious Commercial Club Community Service award on Tuesday, a recognition some said was long overdue. “Jeff has done more than his share to see that Waitsburg is on the map and deserves our thanks for all his volunteer work to support our wonderful community,” club members Larry and Deanne Johnson wrote in their nomination letter. Broom, who received a standing ovation from Com...
Ten Years Ago March 14, 2013 A group of teachers in the Prescott School District has created a scholarship fund in honor of former athletic director Jack Smiley, with the first recipient expected to be a 2013 graduate. The initiators of the Jack Smiley Memorial Scholarship, the Prescott Education Association teachers’ union, hope the popular sports figure’s reputation and his aspirations for young student-athletes will inspire Prescott alumni and residents of the Touchet Valley to help sup...
Ten Years Ago March 7, 2013 [Photo Caption] Brad Grende and Abby Schrader of Adrian North Dakota announce the birth of their baby boy Jace Scott Grende, born February 20th, 2013, 9lbs .5 oz at 12:23 a.m. Grandparents are Erica and Stacey Grende of Waitsburg WA, and Donna and Scott Schrader of Adrian ND. Great Grandparents are Karen and Jerry Tonne of Prescott WA, Rae and Gene Walker of Dayton WA, and Bobbi and Ted Grende of Lakeside MT. Great Great Grandparents are Marge and Ivan Thompson of...
Ten Years Ago February 28, 2013 Lisa Caldwell’s job is to expect the unexpected. What happens when the next flood arrives? Or the next big wildfire? The next disaster might be something new and different, like a plane crash or an emergency at a local school. Caldwell is the new Emergency Management Director for Columbia County. She replaces Bill Peters, who left that position at the end of November. “My job comes in four parts,” she said. “Preparedness, mitigation, response and recover...
Ten Years Ago February 14, 2013 Assuring people that they are loved, cared for and most of all not alone, is what the Waitsburg Prayer Shawl Ministry is all about. Initiated by Joan Helm and sponsored by the First Christian Church, the Prayer Shawl Ministry began in the fall of 2009. Helm, a retired teacher, had spent time each year instructing fifth graders in Pam Conover’s Waitsburg classroom in the fine art of knitting. After Conover’s retirement, Helm found her interest piqued by the Deb...
Ten Years Ago February 21, 2013 When Mike Spring was learning to brew beer a few years ago, he took a class for home brewers at Ice Harbor Brewing Company in Kennewick. Now that he and his wife, Ann, own a brew pub in Dayton, they hope to help and encourage local home brewers by offering classes and other services, like Ice Harbor does. The Springs, as The Times went to press, were planning to open Wednesday, with new wood floors and a new bar configuration. "We'll still have some remodeling wor...
Ten Years Ago February 7, 2013 [Photo Caption] Justin Jaech and Roger Tumbocon, owners of Dayton's Manila Bay Café, enjoy a beverage at Coppei Coffee in Waitsburg, surrounded by the artwork of Martha Mason. Twenty-Five Years Ago February 12, 1998 Two Waitsburg High School football standouts who go together like fall and football have been selected to play in the A-B All State Football game June 20 in Yakima. Former Cardinal runningback Ryan Leid, who rushed for 1,104 yards (avg. 6.1 yards per...
Ten Years Ago January 31, 2013 Kate Hockersmith, the instigator and, some might say "mother," of Waitsburg's bluegrass scene, remembers the first local jam night. It was some time in December at the old Carmen's Deli on Main Street. She put the youthful Troublemakers, fresh from their musical exchange in Japan, in the same room with several veteran bluegrass musicians from Walla Walla and created a Touchet Valley tradition marking its fifth anniversary this winter. Together with bluegrass...
Ten Years Ago January 24, 2013 For Waitsburg High School senior Seth Deal, shoes are essential; so hearing that a billion children live in poverty and many don’t have shoes was a shock. Deal is a runner, and his passion for running drove him to focus on running shoes for the research portion of his senior project. When he thought about a charity to work with for his project, he thought a shoe drive would be a good cause to dedicate his time to. Deal said when he learned about Soles4Souls, it s...
Ten Years Ago January 17, 2013 Several years ago, Waitsburg resident Leroy Cunningham had a vision for helping kids learn about business and have fun at the same time. He established Rural Youth Enrichment Services as a non-profit organization, and its board went through the lengthy process of obtaining 501c3 tax-exempt status. Current board president Anne Walsh of Waitsburg said that the group has gone through some ups and downs in the past few months, and Cunningham has left the group. But...
Ten Years Ago January 10, 2013 The Waitsburg-Prescott football team fell one game short of a return trip to the state championship game this fall, but a trio of its members still earned best-in-state individual honors. Dalton Estes, Ben Shafer, and Danny Stansell garnered selections to the Associated Press all-state 2B squad. Estes earned the honor at two different positions. Estes, last year’s championship game MVP, and this year’s all-league all-purpose player of the year won first team hon...
Ten Years Ago January 3, 2013 Bill and Linda Stonecipher will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on January 6, 2013. William D. Stonecipher and Linda A. Harris were married on January 6th, 1963 at St. Ignatius Catholic Church in Portland, OR. Bill is the son of the late Chet & Loretta Stonecipher of Waitsburg/Walla Walla and Linda is the daughter of the late Gus & Evelyn Harris of Waitsburg. At the time of their wedding, Linda was employed by American Steel and Warehouse Company in...
Ten Years Ago December 27, 2012 In all our community news coverage this year, we’ve overlooked an important landmark – a birthday. Waitsburg’s venerable Commercial club is more than a century old. Its current stationary lists its origin as 1912 and Waitsburg’s “One Of A Kind” history indicates it dates back to 1911. According to the book compiled by Vance Orchard and published by the Waitsburg Historical Society, a special meeting of the Improvement Club on March 18, 1911, brought an end to t...
Ten Years Ago December 20, 2012 [Photo Caption] (Left) Sledding – I go in the ditch. I ride on a blue sled. It is very fun. By Baily Standring (Right) Hot Chocolate – It is good and sweet. We make hot chocolate at night. It fills up my tummy. By Peyton Struckmeier Twenty-Five Years Ago December 25, 1997 Cindy Daves of Waitsburg who plays alto saxophone in the WSU Cougar Marching Band; Jonathan Counts, trumpet and Timothy Counts, trombone, both of Prescott, will be participating in the Tournament...
Ten Years Ago December 13, 2012 A standing room crowd packed the aisles of Waitsburg Hardware & Mercantile to listen to cowboy and western music, chat with neighbors and celebrate the Christmas season. The annual potluck and party put on by owners John and Marilyn Stelwagon drew around 200 community members this year between the hours of 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Saturday. It all started five years ago when customers asked the Stelwagons if they were going to have a Christmas party. "What...
Ten Years Ago December 6, 2012 [Photo Caption] Kindergartner Jessika Lambert chooses just the right spot for her gingerbread man ornament last Thursday. The Waitsburg Elementary School students got to hang their handmade ornaments on the large tree on Main Street in front of the Plaza Theatre. Twenty-Five Years Ago December 11, 1997 Waitsburg City Council voted to begin the process with the Highway Department to make the intersection of Coppei and Preston Avenues a right turn only for vehicles...
Ten Years Ago November 29, 2012 Kathy Carpenter and her team at the Cardinal’s Nest in Waitsburg make sure kids have a place to go after school where they can get homework help and do fun projects. Carpenter, the director, said the Cardinal’s Nest was funded by a No Child Left Behind 21st Century Community Centers grant through the federal government. Educational Services District 123 helped facilitate the grant money and the funding allowed the Cardinal’s Nest, located at Waitsburg Elementary,...
Ten Years Ago November 22, 2012 [Photo Caption] Pictured above are the Preston Hall Middle School ASB officers and representatives. So far this school year the group has attended a leadership conference in Dayton, sponsored a Halloween dance and are currently conducting a food drive for the local food bank. (Left to right) Adviser Mrs. Karen Huwe, Vice-President – Chloe Pearson, 7th Grade Class Rep. – Clarissa Espana, Secretary – Emily Adams, 7th Grade Class Rep. – Tyler Wood, President – Jacob...
Ten Years Ago November 15, 2012 A lifelong dream has come true for Waitsburg High School student Beka Adams. Ever since she was a little girl, Adams said she dreamed of being part of the Walla Walla Fair and Frontier Days royalty Court and now, at age 16, she beat out the competition for a spot. Adams, the daughter of Ann and Lanny Adams, said her biggest influence in being on fair courts was her older cousin who was Miss Pro West in the 1990s. “She was my inspiration,” Adams said. Twe...
