PIONEER PORTRAITS

Ten Years Ago

July 14, 2011

When you hear Bobbi and Barney Chambers talk about Sophie, Cleo, Denny, Lone Star and Superdude, you'd think they're talking about a circus family of seven that's not getting enough quality time together. "We don't see them enough," Bobbi Jo Chambers says about her loved ones. "We're putting on too many of these shows." But the couple from Cottonwood, Idaho, a town about two and half hours from Dayton, is actually pining after more time with their show mules, some of which they've had for almost a decade.

Twenty-Five Years Ago

July 18, 1996

[Photo caption] The summer reading Program at Weller Public Library is a popular place for many of the town's youngsters this summer. The group listens attentively as Roberta Broom, one of the program's guest readers, reads out loud. Kids are treated to cookies and punch, then get to pick something interesting from "The Crypt," which groans menacingly as it is opened each week.

Fifty Years Ago

July 15, 1971

Responses to the membership call for the Waitsburg Historical Society continue to be received by the recording secretary of the group, Mrs. Ken Zuger. The roll as of Monday night when the group met, numbered some 150 people with total receipts from memberships, donations, memorials and book sales amounting to $4300. A pest exterminator firm from Pendleton were contacted and made the first attempt on Monday to dislodge the swarms of bees which have infested the Bruce House for many years. Work at painting the structure cannot be started until the bees have been eliminated.

Orin Walker, prominent Waitsburg farmer and former County Commissioner, has been selected as Parade Marshal for the 1971 Southeastern Washington Fair to be held in Walla Walla on September 2, 3, 4 and 5. The traditional western parade will be held on Saturday morning. Orin was born on the land which he now farms. His farther, Marion C. Walker, was born west of Prescott on the Mullan Trail. His mother, Elizabeth Wisdom, was from Missouri and the couple were married in Waitsburg in 1898. Coppei School near the present Walker home provided the early education for Walker, who graduated from Waitsburg High School and received a B. A. in Agriculture from Washington State College in Pullman.

Seventy-Five Years Ago

July 19, 1946

Saturday night a temporary inmate at the local jail stirred up considerable excitement when he set fire to the blanket of his jail cot. Some damage was caused, with the loss of a few blankets and mattresses.

An unusually heavy flood of green peas has kept Pict Sweet Foods cannery operating at capacity for the past ten days. On July 14 a total of 30,000 cases of canned peas and 30 tons of frozen peas were processed in 24 hours.

Miss Helen Lloyd became the bride of Donald Kurtz Shaffner of Dillon, Mont. Sunday, June 14 at the Presbyterian Church with the Rev. Paul Koper reading the nuptials.

One Hundred Years Ago

July 15, 1921

The new steel bridge over the Touchet River at Bolles is completed, and the grading is well under way. Cars are able to cross and traffic to and from Prescott is again back to normal.

Little Jean, the 4-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Sweazy, has a badly bruised hand and arm as the result of getting it caught in a clothes wringer Tuesday morning, at the farm.

Harvey Stonecipher has recently completed his new and modern barn at a cost of $3000 on his farm in Spring Valley, the dimension being 43x60 feet.

One Hundred Twenty-Five Years Ago

July 17, 1896

Otto Smith, J. E. Mullinix and A. W. Strickland left on Wednesday afternoon for the mountains to spend a few days hunting and fishing.

It is reported that several header crews were compelled to stop work on Wednesday on account of the extreme heat.

James Fudge and H. C. Wade arrived home from their prospecting trip on Saturday evening. They report considerable excitement at Florence, but very hard to get a foothold there – say they charge a man a thousand dollars for even looking at a hold the ground.

Work on the electric light plant progresses steadily.