Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg School District held its Veterans' Day program led by Music Director Elizabeth Arebalos-Jagelski on November 7, 2024. Interim Superintendent Dr. Carol Clarke opened the program, followed by students singing the Star-Spangled Banner during the Presentation of Flags. Student Body President Cedar Stegall gave a reading of the history of Veterans Day. Veterans, family, and community members enjoyed music performed by students under Jagelski's direction and a guest speaker...
WAITSBURG - Preston Hall Middle School held its Fall Sports, PRIDE, and Attendance Awards assembly on Thursday, October 24. The 2024 Cardinal Volleyball and football teams were introduced at the assembly and received recognition certificates. Many students received certificates for great attendance of 90% and excellence in attendance with 99% in September. and Alex Zuniga. PRIDE Awards for September: Preparedness Sixth Grade-Wyatt Parish, Seventh Grade-Flynn Richardson, Eighth grade-Sasha...
WAITSBURG - Waitsburg High School held homecoming activities during Spirt Week from October 14 – through 18. The 2025 seniors added some new class competition events for this year. The week started with America Day on Monday, and students and staff wore red, white, and blue. At the afternoon assembly, one student from each grade (9-12) donned a blowup costume and competed in a dance. Sophomore Trace Nesje was the winner, performing as an oversized alien. Junior Blake Benavides was a chicken, f...
WAITSBURG — At its meeting on October 16, the Waitsburg City Council voted unanimously to tear down the grandstands, announcer booth, and timing towers at the Waitsburg Fairgrounds. The council found the structures to be surplus and a safety hazard with no value to the city. Weller Public Library Supervisor Sarah Roberts presented an update to the council on the library. She said the interior has been repainted, material checkouts and foot traffic are up from past years, and money has been raised for programs, including the summer reading p...
WAITSBURG - The Plaza Theater, originally named The Neace Theater, was built in 1929. "The plaza is an especially fun place to hold our bluegrass concert event," said Touchet Valley Acoustic Music Project founder Kate Hockersmith. "It has great charm, acoustics and the history of the building is close to the history of bluegrass music which became popular with "Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys" in the early 1930s." This year, TVAMP brings BooGrass to the Plaza Theater on Sunday, October 27 at... Full story
WAITSBURG - The Weller Public Library has received an exhibit box from the Burke Museum at the University of Washington in Seattle. The museum loans Burke Boxes to libraries, classrooms, and families and contains museum-quality items highlighting the natural world and Washington's cultural heritage. The Waitsburg library has received the Burke Box on fish from the museum's life sciences collection. The box contains 15 specimen jars with fish, fish models, skeletons, scales, bones, and other...
WAITSBURG - The late Jim Hansen and his wife, Geraine, custom-harvested wheat and raised Black Angus on their family farm on the South Fork Coppei Creek from 1947 until the sale of the cropland in 2009. They harvested over 14,000 acres a summer for themselves and others in the area. Their enterprise employed 20 to 25 crew members each summer. Daughter Cheryl returned to the family home in 2017 to take care of Geraine. Honoring her family's history, Hansen renovated the property to create...
WAITSBURG — The Waitsburg School Board met at the elementary school library on September 19, 2024. Board Chair Stephanie Cole, directors Christy House, Charlie Barron, Abby Grende, and Interim Superintendent Carol Clarke were present. After Carol Clarke was sworn in as Interim Superintendent, Cole introduced Cedar Stengal as the student school board representative. Clarke gave the athletic director’s report, reporting on participation numbers for fall sports. HS football has 20 students, MS football has 12, and cheer has 14. High school vol...
WAITSBURG - Four teachers have joined the Waitsburg School District for the 2024-25 school year. Westin Wallace and Kim Hamann teach in the high school, Kimberly McNarland teaches physical education K-12, and Donovan Romero is a teacher at Preston Hall. Wallace graduated high school in the farming town of Toledo, Washington. He said he was proud that his father and grandfather still work on the family farm, like many families in Waitsburg. After high school, Wallace attended South Puget Sound Co... Full story
WAITSBURG-Scouting is about kids, family, and community. Waitsburg and its surrounding area, including Dayton and Prescott, are fortunate to be the home of Scout Troop 337. Scoutmaster Justin Stegall, Assistant Scoutmaster Tim Hollingsworth, and Troop 337's committee members Jon Roberts, Sarah Roberts, Paul Mantz-Powers, and Brandi Hollingsworth have run the troop since restarting it in the spring of 2023. On Monday, September 30, 2024, the troop will host a Court of Honor ceremony and an Open... Full story
WAITSBURG-The Waitsburg Commercial Club and Waitsburg Town Hall will host a Candidate Forum on Wednesday, September 25. The club invited all state and Walla Walla County candidates in the November 2024 election to participate. Before the forum begins, attendees will have the opportunity to meet and mingle with the candidates from 6:45 to 7:15 p.m. Virginia Romine and Joy Marie Smith will moderate this year's forum. At the time of publication, the following candidates have agreed to participate:... Full story
WAITSBURG - An essential part of Waitsburg's history will be reintroduced to the community at the Pioneer Fall Festival this Sunday by the Waitsburg Historical Society. The Miehle No. 3 flatbed press, used by the "The Times" for decades, has found a permanent home at the Wilson-Philips House in Waitsburg. The press was first assembled in 1912 and later bought by Emerson Wheeler, who published "The Times" until he died in 1942. The paper used the flatbed press until December 1975, when... Full story
WAITSBURG - A Waitsburg couple is pleased with the community's response to their efforts to bridge the divide during these fraught political times. At his wife's suggestion, Tom Elstrom searched online for a tee shirt that combined the "Let's talk!" imperative with the symbols representing the two major political parties. Finding nothing, he bought some digital art and had a tee shirt shop add the type and create a single shirt. The response was phenomenal as he wore the shirt around town and...
WAITSBURG - Waitsburg Friends of the Pool, Parks and Recreation, and Rural Youth Enrichment Services held a Rhythm and Fun Festival at the fairgrounds on Saturday, August 24. Over 100 people came to hear the live music, have dinner, play carnival games, and watch young banjo and fiddle contestants. The fundraiser for the pool raised $3,600. Kate Hockersmith brought her community of bluegrass musicians to the Don Thomas Building with the first Jasper Mountain Opry Youth Festival. A large circle...
WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg FFA Chapter was recognized as a Superior Chapter and a State Gold National Chapter after meeting goals set forth by the National Chapter Award Program. The chapter qualified in the top ten percent in the State of Washington as a Gold Chapter and competed for National FFA 3-star, 2-star, or 1-star rating. Waitsburg's chapter was highlighted for its activities in its best nine categories, including growing leaders, building communities, and strengthening agriculture. The...
WAITSBURG - Following a special school board meeting on Aug. 16, the Waitsburg School Board voted to select Dr. Carol Clarke as interim superintendent for the 2024-25 school year. This decision comes a little more than two weeks after the board accepted the resignation of former superintendent David Woods, who told staff he was leaving the position due to health issues. Clarke is a retired Waitsburg School District Superintendent who retired in June 2017. She has more than 40 years of...
WAITSBURG-This summer, ten student-athletes from Waitsburg and Dayton participated in the NFL Flag Football program sponsored by Walla Walla Parks & Recreation. The non-contact sport helps youth become familiar with sportsmanship, dedication, and discipline. Participants received an official NFL reversible jersey with registration. The kids played for the Rams in the grades 2 and 3 age group. The six-week program ran from July 1 through August 8. The players practiced on Mondays and Wednesdays...
Superintendent David Woods resigned On Thursday, Aug. 1, the Waitsburg School Board held a special meeting to address the immediate resignation of Superintendent David Woods, who had served in the role since July 1, 2023. The board appointed Waitsburg School Board Chair Dr. Carol Clarke as acting superintendent. The board decided to begin the search for an Interim superintendent. Clarke retired as the district's superintendent in 2017 and has served on the school board since December 2021. She...
WAITSBURG - At its June meeting, the Waitsburg City Council discussed the condition and future options for the grandstands at the city's fairgrounds. The council was to vote on a a resolution to raze several structures at the city propery, including the grandstands. During public comment on the resolution, Friends of the Fairgrounds, Waitsburg Parks and Recreation District, and community members asked the council not to approve the action until a full fairgrounds plan has been completed by Parks... Full story
WASHINGTON DC - Waitsburg students Alyssa Hollingsworth and Cedar Stegall attended the Washington Leadership Conference (WLC) in Washington, DC, from July 9 to 13. Tracy Barron traveled with the girls as chaperone. The National FFA Association-sponsored event provides members with a premier leadership experience while exposing them to the rich history of Washington, DC. The WLC inspires FFA members to become changemakers in their communities. Each day of the conference focuses on a different...
WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg Presbyterian membership has made it official; Heidi Lum has been named Pastor of the church. She takes over from Pastor Stan Hughes, who has been serving in a transitional role since April 2019. Lum, her husband Ellery, and son Matthew moved to Waitsburg last year after Hughes invited her to intern at the church. She met Hughes at the Presbytery of the Northwest after the Lums moved to Kettle Falls, Washington from Honolulu, Hawaii. Lum said she chose Washington to...
WAITSBURG - Wendy, Brian, and Coe Richards are inviting the Waitsburg community to join in celebrating the 25th anniversary of the surgery that saved their family. In July 1999, two-year-old Coe had already endured months of chemotherapy and hospitalization at Seattle's Children's Hospital before undergoing a liver transplant. A softball-sized tumor was found on his liver the prior December. Though the seven rounds of chemo managed to reduce its size by half, the tumor's position on the liver... Full story
Six members of the Waitsburg Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star (OES) attended the annual Grand Chapter meeting in Wenatchee from June 23 – June 26. Those attending were Karen Palmer, Diane Rice, Sam Poulson, Susie Payne, Barbara Danforth, and Patricia Wilson. They reunited with many friends while there and everyone had a good time with lots of laughter and memories. However, the annual business meeting also held everyone's attention. The Worthy Grand Matron Judy Turchin's and Worthy G... Full story
OLYMPIA — Councilmember Jillian Henze of Waitsburg was elected to the Association of Washington Cities (AWC) Board of Directors by members representing 281 cities and towns in the state. The election was held at the AWC Annual Conference in Vancouver, Washington, held from June 18-21, 2024. Henze will represent the 34 cities and towns in Asotin, Benton, Columbia, Franklin, Garfield, Walla Walla, and Whitman counties. “I’m honored, humbled and so excited to serve Waitsburg and its neighboring cities and towns in southeast Washington on the AWC b...
WAITSBURG-Summer youth programs kicked into gear this weekend for kids in Waitsburg, Dayton, and Prescott. The Waitsburg Christian and Waitsburg Presbyterian churches offered Vacation Bible School to preschool through sixth-grade students from June 26 through 28. This year's "Breaker Rock Beach" theme was a hit with more than 40 kids who enjoyed the beach decorations, crafts, songs, games, and other activities. On Saturday, June 29, from 9 to 11 a.m., the two churches and Waitsburg's Firemen's...
