PIONEER PORTRAITS

Ten Years Ago September 12, 2002

The 29th annual Pioneer Fall Festival sponsored by the Waitsburg Historical Society, will be held Sunday, Sept. 15, at the Bruce Memorial Museum, located on Main Street in Waitsburg. The event will get under way with non-denominational church services at 11 a.m., followed by the introduction of the 2002 Pioneers of the Year, Ed and Gloria Lawrence, long-time Waitsburg wheat produc- ers. The Bruce House will open at noon, and at that time the Waitsburg Lions Club will start serving the pioneer dinner of barbecued buffalo, baked beans, corn bread and corn on the cob. Other foods will also be available on the grounds including cookies, ice cream, root beer, coffee and pop. The Walla Walla Historic Auto club will have vintage autos on display, and will present a style-show of period clothing during the afternoon. Music is always a big part of the festival, as well as a wide display of arts and crafts of all kinds. There is no admission charge for the festival goers, but donations to the society are always welcome.

Twenty-Five Years Ago September 10, 1987

An exploding transformer was the apparent cause of a Sept. 9 blaze in Waitsburg, which destroyed a pickup camper parked in a garage, and threatened several homes and outbuildings. Ken Cole said that the power for Brea Ag went out a little after 1 p.m., and he went to the window to see the blaze under the feeder pole near the Pacific Power & Light substation on Preston Avenue. Cole said that the wind was blowing very hard, and he saw the fire jump toward the houses in leaps of 25 to 50 feet at a time. The fire trucks had just arrived back in town from a call on an out-of-control controlled burn that morning.

Fifty Years Ago September 14, 1962

A big bonfire near the Waitsburg football field set off the annual fall rally Wednesday night to spur the Cardinals to victory against Dayton in the opening game Friday night. Members of the freshman class piled timbers high for the bonfire rally which was followed by a parade downtown in honor of the football team and to arouse enthusiasm for the coming athletic season for Wait-Hi.

Seventy-Five Years Ago September 17, 1937

A large gathering of churchmen is anticipated for next Monday and Tuesday when the local Presbyterian Church will be host to the fall meeting of the Presbytery of Walla Walla.

The planer in the new planning mill at the Hirsh Feed 7 Lumber Co. is now satisfactorily installed. The first boards went through Saturday.

The Cardinal football squad this season is light and inexperienced with 20 boys out for practice. The opening game with Wa-Hi should see the entire squad in action. Lettermen back are Joe Buroker, Lowell Houtchens, Virgil Bode, Gerry Vollmer, John Buroker and Elmer Burland.

Miss Maudie Mays, Mary and Margaret Heinen of Huntsville left Tuesday morning for a visit to Spokane and Coulee Dam, Soap Lake and several other points of interest.

Mr. and Mrs. Frank Danielson and daughter Phyllis and Mr. and Mrs. Chester Keiser and daughter Virginia and Mrs. Virginia Lee McKinney spent Sunday at Bingham Springs.

One Hundred Years Ago September 13, 1912

Damage to wheat yields in the Pacific Northwest as a result of early rains this season is estimated at from 10 to 15 percent by those who received reports from all districts. Walla Walla County was hit the lightest.

Will Vollmer and family moved last week onto the Hungate place near this city where they will make their home. Mr. Vollmer, who is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Gustav Vollmer, has been farming his father's place near Helix, Ore.

Misses Emily Meinberg and Lillie Mabry have returned to the Cheney Normal for their second year. Miss Loete McKinney, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W.E. McKinney, has also entered the Normal this year. Miss Loette completed the high school course last year.

Ada Sweazy, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Sweazy, is ill this week with what is feared as typhoid fever.

Oscar Porter of the Post Office store is a business visitor in Seattle this week.

One Hundred Twenty-Five Years Ago September 16, 1887

Dame rumor sayeth that next week Waitsburg will have three saloons.

Walla Walla sportsmen have arranged for a Peoria Blackbird shoot at the race track on Tuesday next.

The weather has at last settled down and farmers are busy night and day and Sunday taking care of their wheat. The loss will not be near as great as was at first supposed.

Again we call attention to the deplorable condition of our sidewalks. Within the last week two ladies have fallen through holes and barely escaped broken limbs. Better fix those walks right away.

Abe White this week sold his entire band of sheep, about 1300, to Taylor Green of Union, Oregon. He got $5 a head for 60 bucks and for the remainder of the herd, $2 a head. Mr. White had about the best band of sheep in the country yet he got a good price for them.

Dayton has been considerably agitated the past weeks over a prospective diphtheria scourge. The primary cause is thought to be bad water and all kinds of filth. Three families are afflicted. It will not be necessary to close the schools as was the first considered.