Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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Ten Years Ago June 13, 2013 Graduation ceremonies are typically solemn occasions steeped in tradition and pomp, so the audience was at first startled, then delighted when the entire Dayton High School class of 2013 started singing “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” during salutatorian Samantha Harting’s commencement speech. Harting was describing various shared memories of the class that, for the most part, has been together since kindergarten. “I had asked a couple of classmates to start sin...
Ten Years Ago June 6, 2013 There are few occasions in life more filled with expectation than high school graduation. This ceremony, more than any other in our society, marks the shift from childhood to adulthood. The parents and teachers who have thus far provided care, authority and tutelage, step into a background role and watch as the young adults take the lead. Waitsburg Valedictorian Samantha Moss (3.972 GPA) spoke to those expectations as she addressed the crowd and the 29 other graduates...
Ten Years Ago May 30, 2013 The Dayton school district will say farewell to three very special ladies at the close of this school year. Elementary school principal Katie Leid, first grade school teacher Julie Howard, and school secretary Dallas Dickinson are all set to retire. Combined, these women have well over fifty years experience in education, and for them the decision to begin a new chapter in their lives is bittersweet. Leid, who was born in Walla Walla and raised in Waitsburg, has...
Ten Years Ago May 23, 2013 [Photo Caption] GIRLS’ DAY OUT: Stephanie, Helen, Fran and Barbie (a.k.a Steve Martin, Doug Hinds, Chuck Amerein, and Ken Graham) hang out at Thresher’s after the Men’s Drag Races during All Wheel’s Weekend 2012. Twenty-Five Years Ago May 28, 1998 A good crowd was in attendance Saturday night for the 95th reunion and banquet of the Waitsburg High School Alumni Association. Ball games and other commitments cut into the size of the crowd. About 160 folks partook of the p...
Ten Years Ago May 16, 2013 "My granddad settled in the area in 1898 and we still farm some of that original land," said lifelong resident, Jack McCaw. Area roots run deep for Jack and his wife Lauretta, parade marshals for this weekend's 100th Anniversary Waitsburg Celebration Days. Jack was born to Jay and Katherine McCaw in March of 1927, on a farm three miles from Prescott. Lauretta, whose parents farmed near Dusty, was born to Martha and Jake Stueckle, in June of 1930. Her family moved to...
Ten Years Ago May 9, 2013 Volunteers from the Waitsburg Historical Society have spent recent weeks at the Wilson-Phillips house, busily readying it for the upcoming Waitsburg Celebration Days. The home was purchased in 2008 by Mary Phillips, who made significant improvements, including new paint, a roof replacement and repairing and re-routing broken sewer lines prior to renting it out for a brief time. In 2011 Phillips donated the home to the Waitsburg Historical Society. The Society faced...
Ten Years Ago May 2, 2013 In a special meeting last week, the Port of Columbia commissioners agreed to issue bonds through Banner Bank of up to $300,000 to complete construction of the first building at Blue Mountain Station. The vote was 2-1, with Commissioner Earle Marvin dissenting. The move will allow the Port to proceed with construction of the first phase of the artisan food center planned for the site at Dayton's west end. Five firms have signed letters of commitment to rent the eight...
Ten Years Ago April 25, 2013 [Photo Caption] Members of the Waitsburg FFA Trap Team competed in the state championship in Wenatchee last weekend. L to R: Mark Montgomery, Jennifer Nichols, Cheyenne Frohreich, Tristan Newman, Kelcey Scott and Megan Morrison. Twenty-Five Years Ago April 30, 1998 Life-long Waitsburg resident Bettie Chase will lead the 1998 Waitsburg Days of Real Sprot Parade. The annual two-day horse racing and community celebration will be May 16 and 17. The parade will commence...
Ten Years Ago April 18, 2013 A 1948 dance program indicating that Mr. Dean Low, a Dayton High School senior should dance with Miss Beverly Roberts, a Waitsburg High School sophomore, was the instrument responsible for introducing the couple, who recently celebrated their 60th anniversary. This first dance initiated a 5-year courtship, the last three years mostly by mail while Dean was drafted into the army and Beverly attended Cottey Jr. College in Missouri, spent eight months recovering from...
Ten Years Ago April 11, 2013 Columbia County Public Safety Communications is recognizing Barbara Phinney as the 2012 dispatcher of the year. Barbara has shown extraordinary devotion to the ideals and goals of public safety dispatching, a consistent spirit of teamwork and cooperation, being a model of personal integrity and honesty, and for serving as a role-model for others. Barbara was awarded this honor during the Columbia County Board of Commissioners meeting on April 3rd. Twenty-Five Years...
Ten Years Ago April 4, 2013 At the launch of Paul Gregutt's Waitsburg Cellars, tasters were offered a small ribbon-bound booklet describing the elements of the new wine label's logo. The image contains many symbols – all elements of what inspires winemaker and critic Gregutt and his wife, filmmaker Karen Stanton Gregutt, about being artists in Waitsburg. "Our sense of time both slowed and expanded," Gregutt wrote about the couple's transition to life in Waitsburg, which started about eight years...
Ten Years Ago March 28, 2013 [Photo Caption] The Waitsburg High School Knowledge Bowl Team pretends to pose in front of the real Space Needle in Seattle. L to R: Thibault Martinelle, Alex Leathers, Hannah Grant, Emma Philbrook, Cherry Dai, Meara Baker, EJ Meserve and Coach Brad Green. Twenty-Five Years Ago April 2, 1998 Turning a hobby into a business is the impetus for Joe Jr. and Jean McCown’s new rock, mineral and mining-related business, which is starting operation at 232 Main Street, in t...
Ten Years Ago March 21, 2013 Long-time Waitsburg resident, activist and tireless historian Jeff Broom received the prestigious Commercial Club Community Service award on Tuesday, a recognition some said was long overdue. “Jeff has done more than his share to see that Waitsburg is on the map and deserves our thanks for all his volunteer work to support our wonderful community,” club members Larry and Deanne Johnson wrote in their nomination letter. Broom, who received a standing ovation from Com...
Ten Years Ago March 14, 2013 A group of teachers in the Prescott School District has created a scholarship fund in honor of former athletic director Jack Smiley, with the first recipient expected to be a 2013 graduate. The initiators of the Jack Smiley Memorial Scholarship, the Prescott Education Association teachers’ union, hope the popular sports figure’s reputation and his aspirations for young student-athletes will inspire Prescott alumni and residents of the Touchet Valley to help sup...
Ten Years Ago March 7, 2013 [Photo Caption] Brad Grende and Abby Schrader of Adrian North Dakota announce the birth of their baby boy Jace Scott Grende, born February 20th, 2013, 9lbs .5 oz at 12:23 a.m. Grandparents are Erica and Stacey Grende of Waitsburg WA, and Donna and Scott Schrader of Adrian ND. Great Grandparents are Karen and Jerry Tonne of Prescott WA, Rae and Gene Walker of Dayton WA, and Bobbi and Ted Grende of Lakeside MT. Great Great Grandparents are Marge and Ivan Thompson of...
Ten Years Ago February 28, 2013 Lisa Caldwell’s job is to expect the unexpected. What happens when the next flood arrives? Or the next big wildfire? The next disaster might be something new and different, like a plane crash or an emergency at a local school. Caldwell is the new Emergency Management Director for Columbia County. She replaces Bill Peters, who left that position at the end of November. “My job comes in four parts,” she said. “Preparedness, mitigation, response and recover...
Ten Years Ago February 14, 2013 Assuring people that they are loved, cared for and most of all not alone, is what the Waitsburg Prayer Shawl Ministry is all about. Initiated by Joan Helm and sponsored by the First Christian Church, the Prayer Shawl Ministry began in the fall of 2009. Helm, a retired teacher, had spent time each year instructing fifth graders in Pam Conover’s Waitsburg classroom in the fine art of knitting. After Conover’s retirement, Helm found her interest piqued by the Deb...
Ten Years Ago February 21, 2013 When Mike Spring was learning to brew beer a few years ago, he took a class for home brewers at Ice Harbor Brewing Company in Kennewick. Now that he and his wife, Ann, own a brew pub in Dayton, they hope to help and encourage local home brewers by offering classes and other services, like Ice Harbor does. The Springs, as The Times went to press, were planning to open Wednesday, with new wood floors and a new bar configuration. "We'll still have some remodeling wor...
Ten Years Ago February 7, 2013 [Photo Caption] Justin Jaech and Roger Tumbocon, owners of Dayton's Manila Bay Café, enjoy a beverage at Coppei Coffee in Waitsburg, surrounded by the artwork of Martha Mason. Twenty-Five Years Ago February 12, 1998 Two Waitsburg High School football standouts who go together like fall and football have been selected to play in the A-B All State Football game June 20 in Yakima. Former Cardinal runningback Ryan Leid, who rushed for 1,104 yards (avg. 6.1 yards per...
Ten Years Ago January 31, 2013 Kate Hockersmith, the instigator and, some might say "mother," of Waitsburg's bluegrass scene, remembers the first local jam night. It was some time in December at the old Carmen's Deli on Main Street. She put the youthful Troublemakers, fresh from their musical exchange in Japan, in the same room with several veteran bluegrass musicians from Walla Walla and created a Touchet Valley tradition marking its fifth anniversary this winter. Together with bluegrass...
Ten Years Ago January 24, 2013 For Waitsburg High School senior Seth Deal, shoes are essential; so hearing that a billion children live in poverty and many don’t have shoes was a shock. Deal is a runner, and his passion for running drove him to focus on running shoes for the research portion of his senior project. When he thought about a charity to work with for his project, he thought a shoe drive would be a good cause to dedicate his time to. Deal said when he learned about Soles4Souls, it s...
Ten Years Ago January 17, 2013 Several years ago, Waitsburg resident Leroy Cunningham had a vision for helping kids learn about business and have fun at the same time. He established Rural Youth Enrichment Services as a non-profit organization, and its board went through the lengthy process of obtaining 501c3 tax-exempt status. Current board president Anne Walsh of Waitsburg said that the group has gone through some ups and downs in the past few months, and Cunningham has left the group. But...
Ten Years Ago January 10, 2013 The Waitsburg-Prescott football team fell one game short of a return trip to the state championship game this fall, but a trio of its members still earned best-in-state individual honors. Dalton Estes, Ben Shafer, and Danny Stansell garnered selections to the Associated Press all-state 2B squad. Estes earned the honor at two different positions. Estes, last year’s championship game MVP, and this year’s all-league all-purpose player of the year won first team hon...
Ten Years Ago January 3, 2013 Bill and Linda Stonecipher will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on January 6, 2013. William D. Stonecipher and Linda A. Harris were married on January 6th, 1963 at St. Ignatius Catholic Church in Portland, OR. Bill is the son of the late Chet & Loretta Stonecipher of Waitsburg/Walla Walla and Linda is the daughter of the late Gus & Evelyn Harris of Waitsburg. At the time of their wedding, Linda was employed by American Steel and Warehouse Company in...
Ten Years Ago December 27, 2012 In all our community news coverage this year, we’ve overlooked an important landmark – a birthday. Waitsburg’s venerable Commercial club is more than a century old. Its current stationary lists its origin as 1912 and Waitsburg’s “One Of A Kind” history indicates it dates back to 1911. According to the book compiled by Vance Orchard and published by the Waitsburg Historical Society, a special meeting of the Improvement Club on March 18, 1911, brought an end to t...
