Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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WAITSBURG- The third weekend in May is historically an exciting one in Waitsburg. Waitsburg Celebration Days was one of many area events cancelled amid the coronavirus pandemic, but a small group of classic car enthusiasts and a handful of equestrians weren't willing to let the weekend slip away completely. Fred Gonzalez, the president of the Waitsburg Classic Car Show and Swap Meet, rounded up more than 50 local car enthusiasts from Waitsburg and Walla Walla for a (Non)Celebration Days car...
East Coast born and raised, Liz Fraser of Walla Walla is known for her candor. Two weeks ago, she openly let her Facebook friends know that she had tested positive for the Coronavirus. In the post, she joked that she'd "never had a cavity until I needed a root canal...and never had the flu until I got covid (sic)..." Since then, she's kept her Facebook friends updated with the progress of the virus and was even willing to take some time to talk with me on the phone. Her journey from becoming...
DAYTON-Quality time together, learning from each other, the need for flexibility, and the importance of staying positive are common themes for parents and children as they navigate the new normal of virtual school instruction. Allicia Stapleton normally has her hands full during the school year as a full time cook in the Dayton School District cafeteria. Since schools closed on March 16, she finds her hands are still full helping run the District's food pick-up and delivery program, serving...
DAYTON-A hundred years ago it was a common practice to quarantine soldiers returning from war zones against diseases like yellow fever Private Wesley Dodge, 1st Regiment of Washington Infantry Volunteers, Company F, was quarantined in this 13 x 13 cabin when he returned home to Dayton from the Spanish American War in 1898. The cabin, built in the Dodge family backyard, met basic recommended quarantine practices. It was "discovered" behind a two-story home on West Richmond Street and donated to...
CAMP MURRAY, WA—A new statewide report shows COVID-19 transmission is persisting in western Washington and slowly increasing in eastern Washington. The measure of how many new infections a single COVID-19 case will produce – known as the effective reproductive number – has not changed significantly in either region since the last statewide report and continues to be higher than ideal. “Washington State remains on a knife’s edge. Our estimates suggest that transmission is persisting in Western WA and slowly increasing in Eastern WA. Moreover, th...
TUMWATER, Wash.—New emergency rules adopted today regarding temporary farmworker housing will help increase worker safety and reduce the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). The rules detail specific steps required at farms where temporary workers live in licensed temporary housing facilities. The emergency rules, a joint effort between the state departments of Labor & Industries (L&I) and Health, take effect on May 18. They spell out several required steps to increase physical distancing, improve cleaning and sanitizing, and reduce the chance o...
DAYTON— In her report to the Dayton City Council, City Administrator Trina Cole said the Army Corps of Engineers has been in touch with the city about the levee system rehabilitation. Because it is a federally classified levee system, costs are covered at 100 percent. However, there are caveats for the city to provide easement information, along with some other legal requirements, Cole said. Approximately, 2,000 lineal feet, in multiple locations, on both the right and left banks of the levee a...
Since moving to Waitsburg about 18 months ago, I've noticed the noun "gift" has morphed into use as a verb. The "gifting" started my first morning here. I clumsily made it through the obstacle course in my rented cottage, strewn with 40 boxes previously shipped here and the eight suitcases that I brought with me on the plane, to answer the front door. There stood Karen, with a smile, two bottles of wine, and invitations to a New Years' Day Brunch and a birthday party. Invitations to parties and...
Slightly less than a year ago, a past version of me was asleep in my bedroom. A blue graduation gown was hanging in the shower in the hope that the wrinkles would disappear before I had to wear it in public. A matching cap, having been passed between a dozen or so relatives kind enough to feign admiration for the crocheted decorations on the top, perched atop an arm of the living-room sofa. There was cake in the fridge. Chocolate. Well, I'd tried to do chocolate, but I put too much coffee in...
(On The Road Part Four) Dawn came awfully early the day after Mr. B went tumbling down the ravine adjacent to our motel room. And I was kidding about rounding up crampons, carabiners and quickdraws for the rescue mission. My actual “gear” consisted of a worn out pair of tennis shoes. Not so much as a rope to tie off of our deck and hold on to. Cookie herself took an immediate interest in the task, but was securely prohibited from participating by Mrs. G, who kindly reminded me that she’d spott...
Is your dog looking rough these days? For many breeds, a regular grooming schedule is a must. My dog Rocco is a miniature schnauzer, which is a double-coated breed that has a wiry topcoat and a soft undercoat. If he were being groomed as a show dog, his soft undercoat would be stripped by hand or with a special stripping knife, leaving his wiry topcoat in place. A pet grooming style using clippers removes the wiry topcoat, leaving the dog with a soft fur coat that resembles hair. This hair is...
This week, a little extra Cardinal Pride was on display....
This past week, Washington Future Farmers of America recognized FFA members who received their State FFA degrees. Five members from Dayton received the certification. The State FFA Degree is the highest degree awarded at the state level, and award recipients must fill out an application that details their SAE (Supervised Agriculture Experience Project), describes their active involvement in the FFA, and demonstrates their committment to community service. Achieving this award are Kira Boggs,...
The secret garden is teeming with life!...
DAYTON—Columbia County is one of five counties in Washington that has been approved to move from Phase I to Phase II of Governor Jay Inslee’s Phased Approach for Reopening Washington Plan. Eligible businesses on the list for Phase II may open only after the state publishes its guidelines for that specific sector. The state is working to complete the guidelines and will publish each of them as they are finalized. Individual businesses are allowed to reopen when they have the ability to imp...
WAITSBURG—Waitsburg residents’ participation rate in the 2020 census is in the lower half for all of Washington state. So far only 40 percent of town residents have completed the survey. If you haven’t filled out a census form yet, go online and let’s get Waitsburg’s participation up to 100 percent! The Census Bureau resumed field operations in the state on Monday, May 11. Census workers will resume delivering invitations and questionnaires to households that did not receive them before field operations were suspended in March. Census wo...
WAITSBURG-Twelve hundred is a big number, especially when it is the 'projects completed and donated' tally. That is the number of cloth face masks that Skip and Lois Winchester, of Waitsburg, have sewn with the help of a few family members. Now, they are asking for the community's help finding elastic for the last 200 or so masks. "It's been a lot of fun," said Lois. "The family time has been very nice, especially during these times." Lois, who is a sewer by trade, said that the roughly 1,400 ma...
CAMP MURRAY, Wash.-On Monday, May 12, Washington State Secretary of Health John Wiesman approved applications from Wahkiakum, Skamania, and Stevens counties to move into Phase 2 of Gov. Jay Inslee's Safe Start plan. This brings the total to eight counties. Last week, Secretary Wiesman approved variances for Columbia, Garfield, Lincoln, Ferry and Pend Oreille counties. Businesses in the counties approved to move into Phase 2 must wait to reopen until guidance has been released for their industry...
I know that we cannot remain a "sheltered at home" state forever; so I need to start facing reality. I am not usually a procrastinator, but since sheltering, I have seen a definite change in my behavior. Since I know I will be home all day again tomorrow, what's the rush? The dirty laundry will still be dirty, the dust will only have grown (like my grey hair) and my windows will still be foggy. Today is Monday, and the start of a new week; thoughts of my mother came flashing into my head. She...
Finals are over. I'm done. I'd say I'm "finally" done, but that just feels like a bad pun even though I didn't intend it as one and-ugh. Forget it. Finals are over. If you can't tell from that car crash of an opening paragraph, I'm still a bit burnt out from last week's academic shenanigans. To be sure, my mental acuity is improving-I can more or less carry on a conversation now and I've stopped drooling on my shirt-but it's going to take me a bit to get back to normal. And with my luck, by the...
(On The Road Part Three) We all travel for many different reasons, but one defining feature for any type of travel, whether for business, pleasure or pure adventure, is that it breaks you out of your day-to-day routines. If you work at home, and your family basically consists of your spouse and a dog, as ours does, then travel will throw a monkey wrench into just about everything. One big reason for Cookie’s initial displeasure upon embarking (pun intended) on her first big road trip was this t...
When the Times last wrote about the Liberty Theater in Dayton, we described the efforts and planning that went into the staging of their celebratory 20th anniversary variety show. Set to open on Friday, March 20, 2020, the event was sadly derailed by the coronavirus. The program was to feature favorite musical numbers from the Touchet Valley Arts Center's live theater productions over the past 20 years and was being directed by Peggy and Cara James. Since that time, theater staff and board have...
DAYTON—Most of us are acquainted with the five stages of grief, which are; denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance, and most of us have experienced grief, firsthand, through the loss of a job, the loss of financial security, the end of an important relationship, or through the death of a loved one. Can the feelings we are experiencing about the reality of COVID-19 be thought of as a grief reaction? Chrisann Christensen, the Clinical Director at Blue Mountain Counseling thinks so, a...
IN THE WEEDS-Here it is, just after Mother's Day weekend, planting time. We Washingtonians are pretty much guaranteed a frost-free growth season from here on in. (Not so much for friends at higher elevations and/or in Colorado.) It seems as though the garden goes from an idea to a plan to behind schedule practically overnight. Those plants started indoors can finally spread their roots in the garden beds or pots previously prepared for them. Working with plant starts is incredibly satisfying bec...
In Celebration of Waitsburg, a social-distancing parade of antique and classic cars, trucks, and motorized vehicles will cruise from the North end of downtown Waitsburg down Main Street to 7th Street and Orchard, another right on 4th brings us back to Main Street and back to downtown on Saturday, May 16 at 10 a.m. Enjoy the cruise while maintaining six feet distancing from the comfort of your vehicle or home....
