Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 86
WAITSBURG – 2013 has already delivered an early heat wave, a late hard freeze, a mostly dry spring and a week long deluge to start the summer. For most residents of Columbia and Walla Walla Counties, these weather anomalies are at best a pleasant change, and at worst a minor annoyance. For area dry-land farmers, these weather events can mean the difference between a wind- fall year and a zero-profit annum. Walla Walla and Colum- bia County climates vary dramatically depending on location. S...
WAITSBURG – A childhood’s worth of memo- ries floods back for Kay Baker as she peruses the photos and memorabilia that she and friend Mary Phillips set up two weeks ago as part of the Huntsville history exhibit now showing at the Wilson-Phillips house on the grounds of the Bruce Mansion. “When most people drive from (Waitsburg) to Dayton they don’t even know Huntsville is there,” said Baker. “They don’t know it exists. And I want them to know there was actually a town there. It was a nice li...
WAITSBURG - Thirty local teenagers will be heading off to Young Life and Wyldlife camps starting this week, and long-time Young Life volunteer leaders Jeff and Lori Bartlow will be along for what should be a Wyld and fulfilling ride. Young Life, a non-denominational Christian high school youth ministry founded in the 1950s, has been operating in Waitsburg since 1999. Wyldlife, the middle school version of Young Life, began operating in the community not long after. Prescott Community Ch...
WAITSBURG - At five minutes 'til noon here this July 4, a small cadre of servicemen advanced with Old Glory and service flags to an agreed upon rendezvous point- the intersection of Main Street and Third. Once assembled, the eight men spread the width of the street-six hoisting the colors, the other two bookending the group as riflebearers. At the sounding of the noon siren, the unit advanced in patriotic reverence two blocks toward the hardware store to the sound of the applause of a few dozen...
I had just filled up the tires on the used mountain bike I bought at auction, and climbed aboard for my maiden voyage on its frame. Visions of zipping along my country road with the wind sweeping across my face pleasantly played through my mind. The voyage lasted just fifty yards of my long driveway at Lamar. Thinking nothing of cutting the corner by the tree, I spun across some low spreading weeds, after which I began to hear a clickety-click sound as if I was driving with studded tires....
DAYTON - Sixty- plus aspiring golfers aged 7- 17 took to the links last Wednesday through Tuesday at Touchet Valley Golf Course to learn golf basics from a professional- club pro Max Reinland of Veteran's Memorial Golf Course in Walla Walla. The 60 young people learned grip, swing mechanics, and etiquette in groups of about 20 in three morning sessions. Lessons took place on a make-shift driving range at TVGC-the fairway of the seventh hole inside the race track at the Columbia Country fairgroun...
DAYTON - Dayton turned a one-match lead over Waitsburg on Friday into a rout by the end of Saturday and cruised to a 28 ½ to 23 ½ victory Sunday in claiming its third straight Ryder Cup championship. The competition, in its third year of existence, mimics the format of the bi-annual competition between professional golfers from Europe and the United States. On Friday, the two valley rivals competed in two-person alternating shot matches. The two sides were knotted at four match wins apiece aft...
DAYTON - The Ryder Cup. A golf tradition unlike any other. Who could forget the Battle at Brookline in 1999, where the Americans rallied from four matches down on the final day to win? Or the equally impressive Miracle at Medinah in 2012, where Europe overcame a 10-4 deficit at the halfway point to win by a full match? And Dayton's amazing Take- down at Touchet Valley in 2011? Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the Ryder Cup is back-the local version. And instead of pitting teams of professional golfers from the United States and Europe, this Ryder Cup...
DAYTON - Kids up and down the Touchet Valley will have the chance to improve their golf swings for free next week, as Touchet Valley Golf Club in Dayton holds its annual free junior golf lessons June 24-28. Golf pro Max Reinland from Veteran's Memorial Golf Course in Walla Walla will be this year's teacher. The class is open to kids aged 7-17. The lessons consist of 50-minute instructional sessions to groups of about 20 similarly aged and skilled players on Monday through Thursday. On Friday,...
WAITSBURG - Two massive miscues cost Waitsburg Elite a shot at the Washington Football League finals, and ended their season here Saturday versus Spokane, 37-31. Second-seeded Waitsburg dominated the game on paper, racking up more yards, fewer turnovers, fewer penalties, almost twice as many first downs and greater time of possession than the visiting third seed Wolfpack. But games aren't decided on paper. A fumbled lateral before halftime that Spokane ran back for a touchdown, and a b...
CAMP WOOTEN - The snow is gone, and eastern Washington's closest designated Environmental Learning Center in the state parks system is open for business for the 2013 season. Camp Wooten, located about 31 road miles from Dayton, deep in the upper Tucannon River valley, kicked off its season in mid- March and will remain open through October. The 200-person occupancy camp has already hosted three groups from across the region this year, and park ranger Jennifer Bristol says many local gro...
PRESCOTT - The Waitsburg-Prescott Tigers dropped a solo affair Tuesday afternoon-the Tigers first game in over two weeks-11-1 to Mac-Hi of Milton-Freewater, Ore. The Tiger loss was only its third of the season, and first by a 10-run margin. WP starter Dalton Estes set the Pioneers down in order in the first inning, but gave up two runs in the second on a 2-RBI single by Mac-Hi second baseman Blake Yensen. WP narrowed the gap to one run in the third. Centerfielder Nolen Allen and second baseman Kyle Dozier led off the inning with b...
DAYTON - Chalk up another accolade for one of Dayton's most decorated denizen of the hardwoods. All-league-every-sport star McKayla Bickelhaupt capped her senior basketball season by being selected to play in the Washington State Girls Basketball Coaches Association (WSGBCA) all-state game in SeaTac on March 23. The game, held at Seattle Christian High School, pitted the best of the 1B girls against the best distaff B-ballers from the 2B ranks. Bickelhaupt made the most of the opportunity,...
PRESCOTT - The Waitsburg Prescott hardballers earned a split with Tri-Cities Prep here Saturday on the springiest day of the spring sports season. The 70-degree sunlight didn't help WP in its first game as the Tigers tumbled to a disappointing 6-2 loss. WP rebounded in the afternoon affair, taking the high-scoring second half of the twinbill, 14-9. Prep starter Isaac Nelson held the WP offense in check for most of game one. Nelson fanned five through the first three innings while allowing just one hit. Nelson finished with eight Ks and seven...
WAITSBURG - Waitsburg Prescott track and field head coach Jeff Bartlow might want to apply for the position of UPS driver, because with this year's large turnout of about 40 male and female athletes, logistics will be one of his primary focuses for the 2013 edition of WP track. "It's a great honor to be out again with the kids this year," said the fourth-year head coach and 13-year track and field veteran. "Our boys return enough talent to compete for the district title again. We've won it s...
PRESCOTT - Waitsburg Prescott didn't cap the season the way it wished to last year, earning an early exit with losses to Adna and Warden on the opening day of the 2B state softball tournament in Yakima. Thankfully the Tigers will have nearly every starter back, along with fifth-year head coach Angie Potts, for another try at the title trophy. "We didn't have the best showing (at state)," said Potts. "We probably didn't go into it with the best-I don't want to say the attitudes were ba...
PRESCOTT - Waitsburg Prescott coach Dustin Snedigar sails into his fourth season at the helm of the Tiger baseball program with plentiful pitching but little varsity experience on his 2013 roster. Lost from last season's state quarterfinal team are pitcher and shortstop Zach Bartlow, and the entire outfield of Justin Zuger, Chris Manzano, David Herzog, and sub Eric Rosenfeld. Returning, however, are senior starters from last year, Dalton Estes at shortstop and pitching, Tucker Alleman at cat...
WAITSBURG - Waitsburg Prescott's year-long Achilles' heel has been free throw shooting. Blessed with depth at forward, and experience, quickness, and shooting ability at guard, the Cards expected more out of their season thus far. But performances like last week's 4-point loss to fourth place Tri-Cities, where WP missed on 29 of 41 free throw attempts, put the Cards in a precarious perch three games behind first place DeSales and two behind second place Dayton coming into this weekend. Tha...
My last two columns certainly g e n e r ated some feedback. I was hoping to hear more from students during a substitute teaching assignment I had scheduled in Dayton last Thursday. Alas, I was unable to go, because I got a full-time teaching job! In the Tri-Cities! As you may have guessed, that's going to put a damper on my ability to cover sports for the Times. In all likelihood my coverage of the Dayton at WP game from last Friday will be my last for a while. Well, enough about me. You want...
WAITSBURG - Dayton kept its play-off hopes alive with a sound beating of Waitsburg-Prescott Friday on the Cardinals home court. The Bulldogs bolted to a 9-point lead in the first stanza and never looked back in defeating their Touchet Valley rivals, 53-33. The loss all but dashed WP's slim play- off hopes. In the game Friday on the Cardinals home court, the Bulldog boys bolted to a 9-point lead in the first stanza and never looked back in defeating their Touchet Valley rivals, 53-33. The lo...
PASCO - Waitsburg- Prescott nearly overcame a 16-point third quarter deficit to pull off a road win against league foe Tri-Cities Prep here Saturday. Sadly, the Cardinals run ran out of gas late, and the Jaguars escaped with a 60-50 victory. The two sides appeared evenly matched through the first four minutes. Owen Lanning's basket-and-free- throw at 4:02 gave the Cards the lead 8-6. It was the last lead the Cardinals would hold. Tri-Cities Prep reeled off 20 of the game's next 25 points to...
PASCO - Waitsburg- Prescott's girls dominated the Tri-Cities Prep Jaguars in nearly all aspects of their game Saturday in Pasco-steals, rebounds, field goal attempts, and free throw tries. The one place it didn't-made free throws- proved costly, and proved the margin of defeat in the Cardinals 51-47 loss. In all, WP shot an astounding 41 times from the charity stripe, connecting on just 12. "Twenty-nine percent from the free throw line- that's just ridiculous," said a wryly amused WP coach J...
Last week I wrote about how Dayton’s kids— especially boys— aren’t turning out in numbers for sports compared to years past. I also noted that the lack of turnout had nothing to do with school size, which has remained fairly consistent over the years. Today I stop reminiscing and kvetching and get down to the big question: ‘Why?’ As I put together my original article on Dayton’s school board voting to let eighth- graders play up on the high school team four weeks ago, I asked several int...
DAYTON - Dayton's girls claimed victory over Walla Walla Valley Acade- my, Saturday-the sandwich game between crushing defeats to DeSales, Friday, and Lewiston JV, Tuesday. The Lady Bulldogs beat WWVA by eight, 41-33, after first being trounced by first place DeSales, 57- 32. The Dogs took another beating Tuesday, 52-15, in a mostly meaningless nonleaguer, by Lewiston. Dayton coach Clayton Strong opted to play his second string a significant amount of time Tuesday, while experimenting with...
DAYTON - It took an extra four minutes to finish, but the Dayton boys claimed some consolation after a disastrous road weekend by beating the Lewiston JV in overtime Tuesday, 39-34, in their final non-league game of the season. The Bulldogs dropped a pair of contests to DeSales and Walla Walla Valley Academy Friday and Saturday after being up double figures (versus DeSales) and tied (versus WWVA) at half. Dayton fell to the Irish 47-35, and to the first place Knights, 46-34. Bulldog coach Roy...
