Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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WAITSBURG — The Waitsburg City Council voted unanimously to accept a new offer for the former Waitsburg City Hall building at its regular meeting on January 15. Todd and Carrie Alexander’s offer included a letter introducing the couple and their interest in the building. The Alexanders have many interests, including food, wine, travel, design, art, and music. They recently bought and renovated the JL Elam bank building in Milton-Freewater, built in 1906. It sat empty for over ten years before the couple purchased it. The couple created Ate...
WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg Parks and Recreation District(WPRD) board has received the feasibility study it commissioned from PBS Engineering and Environmental in 2024. The purpose of the study was to determine if a pool could be rebuilt at its current location or on one of two alternative sites. The completed study shows a new municipal pool could be built on the alternative site on the north side of the Touchet River. On January 2, the WPRD board voted unanimously to pursue building the new...
WAITSBURG - Nicole Abel and her Waitsburg Ariculture Education students offer fresh cut trees to local businesses and clubs to decorate for the Festival of Trees. The students put up the trees before Hometown Christmas and pick them up again after New Year's Day. The trees are decorated with battery powered lights and unbreakable but creative ornaments to bring color and cheer to the downtown streets. Trees also compete for recognition as the Hometown Christmas fan favorite. The trees were cover...
WAITSBURG - Tom and Judy Bennett brought wood-fired pizzas to Waitsburg in 2022. After buying the former American Legion Post 35 from winemaker Charles Smith, the pair has remodeled, added outdoor seating, and hosted trivia, axe-throwing, burlesque, and live bands. The couple is now adding international travel to the fun. Partnering with The Table Less Traveled, the couple is offering a one-of-a-kind trip to southern Italy to explore Neapolitan pizza's roots. The trip is open to six to 14...
Waitsburg Students brighten the holiday season with music WAITSBURG - Waitsburg Elementary School held its winter program at the high school auditorium on Thursday, December 18. Students from preschool through fifth grade performed to the delight of a house packed with family and friends. The preschool students were directed by their teacher, Eleanora Montgomery. Music Director Elizabeth Jagelski directed the kindergarten through grade five students. Preschool's morning class sang – "We All H...
WAITSBURG – Elizabeth Jaegeski, Waitsburg's K-12 Music Specialist, took on the challenge of bringing back a high school performance art class. "We started the year discussing our bodies, movement, and being comfortable taking on a character. Rule one was to respect each person's journey in developing their character," said Jaegeski. Using puppets and a stage first purchased by Nancy Bickelhaupt for her classroom and now used by school counselor Rosy Nechodom, the class is producing a show on bul...
WAITSBURG - On Friday, December 6, the Friends of the Waitsburg Pool and Waitsburg Parks and Recreation hosted a fundraiser, successfully raising over $16,000. The evening began with a concert, by The Frog Hollow Band at The Plaza Theater. The band generously donated their performance, raising funds from general admission and VIP tickets. After the concert, The Plaza opened its doors to kids for a free movie, including adult supervision, allowing parents to attend the after-concert events at...
WAITSBURG - Waitsburg fourth through eighth-grade students competed in an Amazing Shake gauntlet on Monday, November 25, at Preston Hall. The students were challenged at six different stations. Each student had one minute per station to impress the judges. They were judged on appearance, Je Ne Sais Quoi (i.e., an appeasing quality), handshake, confidence, verbal poise, nonverbal behavior, adaptability, and task completion. The five stations were: Current Events – Participants introduced t...
WAITSBURG - Waitsburg senior Cedar Stegall loves being part of Future Farmers of American, FFA. Recently, she filled out the application, sent her resume, and was interviewed before being selected to be a Sentinel – an FFA District Officer. Stegall looks forward to the program's opportunities to travel and meet new people. She completed her district officer training in Sequim, Washington, where she went on industry tours and learned more about her role as an officer. Stegall attended a m...
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...
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...
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...
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:...
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...
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...
