Ten Years Ago

August 10, 2006

John and Marilyn Stellwagen, owners of Waitsburg Hardware and Mercantile, have started the process of fixing up the exterior of the 1882 building originally built by L.L. Powell. The process involves scraping and repainting the exterior brick, and removing some of the façade applied to the building decades ago to “modernize” its appearance.

Prescott Party Line: The fire district made one medical run and a fire run which was located on the McCaw farm east of Prescott. The blaze was in standing grain and stubble. A few of the farmers in the area have finished harvest and others will in a week or so.

Twenty-Five Years Ago

August 8, 1991

Rick Ferguson, reserve officer for the Waitsburg Marshal, has been selected to receive recognition by the Walla Walla Exchange Club as “Officer of the Quarter.” . . . The honor was in part due to Rick’s action when he arrived on the scene to find a tavern patron not breathing. Rick administered CPR until the ambulance crew arrived, and was thought to be instrumental in saving the man’s life.

No one at the Touchet Valley Grain Growers was willing to hazard a guess on when harvest was to be finished there. The closest estimate included something along the lines of “If those cotton-picking thunderstorms would just let up.” Harvest is estimated to be about one-third finished, with yields described as excellent in the Waitsburg area, about average in the Prescott area. Additional reports of some wheat running in excess of 100 bushels to the acre in selected spots.

Fifty Years Ago

August 4, 1966

Jerry Gordon, Vo-ag instructor at Waitsburg High School, attended the state ag. instructors convention held on the Washington State University campus at Pullman last week. The local FFA chapter of which is the advisor was given a “superior” chapter rating, a state award. Only 15 of the more than 120 chapters in the state fulfilled the requirements demanded for the award. Receipt of the award is one the local chapter can be very proud of in that it represents many hours of work for all the boys involved.

Firemen were called out Friday noon to battle a stubborn blaze on the Fred and Kenneth Zuger ranch three miles west of Waitsburg. The fire apparently started from a truck in the field that was once part of the Morris Woods ranch. A considerable number of acres of wheat as yet unharvested was lost and the entire brushy hillside was burned clean. Smoke hanging in the still air and extreme heat caused problems for the firemen who were on the line for over two hours.

Seventy-Five Years Ago

August 8, 1941

A truck backfired while driving out of a field of wheat on the Henry Zuger farm at Bolles Junction Tuesday afternoon. The truck caught fire and was entirely consumed, along with 120 sacks of wheat and several acres of stubble.

Mr. and Mrs. Jack Graham of this city, are the parents of a son and heir, born Tuesday, July 29 in the Brining Hospital. Mr. Graham is chemist at the Preston Shaffer Milling Co here and Mrs. Graham is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Price of Pomeroy, Wash.

Harold Bloor went to a Walla Walla hospital Wednesday night for the treatment of an injured eye. He was “jigging” sacks on the Henry Roberts combine and was struck in the eye by a sack needle in the hands of the sack sower. Just how serious is the injury has not been determined as yet.

One Hundred Years Ago

August 11, 1916

Harvest is in full swing in this locality and as the returns of yields and quality begin to come in and with the price of grain way up, the farmer who does not wear a satisfied smile these days is indeed hard to please.

Tim Conover, Ray Allen and Jack Longstaff started Sunday on a hunting and fishing trip on the Salmon. Conley Henderson accompanied them with two pack mules.

Harry Conover and family returned home Saturday from Cheney where he has been taking manual training for the past two years at the State Normal. Harry has accepted a position with the Lowden School, this County, for the ensuing year.

One Hundred Twenty-Five Years Ago

August 14, 1891

A few nights ago tramps left the gate open at W.J. Brockman’s barn and let his buggy horse out. In playing, the horse got into some barb wire and was so badly cut up as to almost ruin him.

Mrs. W.N. Smith and Master Fred, Mrs. D. C. Rees and baby Rees arrived home from Warm Springs last Sunday.

The camping did them good, but made the heat and dust of this valley only the more intolerable.

Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Neace, Jr. and baby of Endicott are in the city to spend a few weeks.

The J. H. Morrow Mercantile Co. are putting in warehouses at Bolles Junction and Menoken, and will be ready to handle wheat at both places as soon as the grain is ready to move.