Gossip in the Grain

Even before a light­ing storm roared through the Touchet Valley Monday night, setting at least one wheatfield on fire, our local population of wild animals must have sensed some­thing was in the offing.

According to the Co­lumbiaCounty Sheriff's report, a horse got loose and wandered off to the City Shop Storage con­tainers

on South Willow Street; a yearling moose was spotted near N. 4th St and Patit Avenue, and two deer were trapped inside a fenced Columbia REA substation. All in the span of several hours. The moose, which was first seen very early in the morning on Sunday, was sighted again around 10 p.m. on same night. The report put it quit succinctly: "Moose is back, 400 block W. Main Street."

Monday's rain briefly halted harvest activities on Tuesday. Recent Waitsburg High School graduate and bas­ketball ace Wyatt Withers leaves for the Navy on Aug. 4. He will first attend boot camp for nine weeks at Great Lakes, Illinois, then head to Charleston, South Carolina, for "A" School, Nuclear Power School and Prototype School well into next year, though he may be in Waitsburg for a visit after several months. "I have a little bit of butterflies but nothing too bad," Withers said. Withers is the son of Ian and Lau­rieWithers, and brother of Megan, who is still in high school and also making a name for herself in various sports. Withers' Navy career goal is to become a nuclear engineer on a submarine with an average popula­tion of 150 - 200. He said he found aircraft carriers, which generally have twice the number of people as all of Waitsburg, too large.

But before he'll sub­merge, he'll be in school hours a day. "Studying will be my life."

The Rev. Stan Jack­son and his wife Carol were in town this weekend. Jackson is a former pas­tor at the First Presbyte­rianChurch in Waitsburg who now lives in Medford, Oregon. He grew up in Wenatchee in a family of seven siblings, three of whom became pastors.

A pastor at First Presby­terian from 1974 to 1979, Jackson retired last year and returned for a visit to Waitsburg to be part of last Sunday's service dur­ing which he delivered the sermon. "It's a strange feeling to see Waitsburg again," he said. "It's very much like coming home. We were welcomed like it was yesterday. I'm getting all choked up."

Stan and Carol recently celebrated their 45th wed­ding anniversary. Speaking of pastors, Jackson helped fill in for Rev. Bret Moser who is on sabbatical with Rev. Mike Ferrians May 16 - Aug. 31. They're at a retreat cen­ter in Nanaimo, Vancou­ver Island. You can catch "Bret's Sabbatical Blog" at http://mosersabbatical.wordpress.com.

The Lindseys - parents John and Dinah, and sons Clay and Cole - were all in Puerto Rico recently to attend Cole's wedding to Brittany Linh Tran. The Lindseys will host a recep­tion locally on Aug. 14. Waitsburg City Clerk Randy Hinchliffe was recently recognized as a Professional Finance Of­ficer by the Washington Fi­nance Officers Association for the third year in a row. It means he successfully completed a number of educational and hands-on requirements. It could be somewhat compared to a CPA classificationbut for city clerks.

At the last city council meeting on July 21, Mayor Walt Gobel commended Hinchliffe, the previous council and mayor for their outstanding fiscal manage­ment, saying Waitsburg is in very good shape com­pared to other towns its size. Last year, Hinchliffe received the title of Certi­fied Municipal Clerk by the International Institute for Municpal Clerks and be­came

only the city's second clerk to get the distinction. Joan Hays was the first one to get it. She retired in 1994.