PIONEER PORTRAITS

Ten Years Ago

December 31, 2009

Couple loses home to fire: Longtime Waitsburg residents John and Kate Reeve did not have insurance. Fire crews from several districts battled for nine hours Tuesday in an attempt to save John and Kate Reeve’s home on DeWitt Road just outside Waitsburg.

Photo caption: Bulldog Dain Henderson lays one up on the basket.

The high-pitched radio tones went off at 3 a.m. The dispatcher’s voice followed. A serious rollover accident. Gabe Kiefel knew this would be his big test on the Waitsburg Ambulance crew.

Twenty-Five Years Ago

December 22, 1994

Photo caption: The Lindsey Family of Waitsburg lights traditional Advent wreath in sanctuary of First Presbyterian Church of Waitsburg. On Page 3, Presbyterian Pastor Skip Baker-Smith explains in a special essay the tradition and meaning of the Christmas Advent Wreath.

Army pilot killed in Korea has local ties. An army helicopter pilot killed Dec. 16 in North Korea, David Hilemon-whose wife graduated from Waitsburg High School-was a good-hearted man who worked tirelessly to become a helicopter pilot and had recently decided to become a father.

Waitsburg school bands perform winter concert. There was a modest turnout last week, Dec. 14, at the winter band concert in the auditorium at the high school in Waitsburg.

Fifty Years Ago

December 25, 1969

Photo caption: The Christmas-card view of the Touchet Valley Grain Growers buildings and elevators, a glimpse of Preston park, and the Gentry orchard was taken shortly after Christmas, 1968. It was taken from the Preston Avenue bridge over the Touchet River and is one of the more pleasant views of last winter.

Jeff Peterson goes up to block a shot being made by a Pilot Rock player while another teammate behind shows only a pair of hands and a pair of feet in a defensive posture. The Rockets downed the Cards in a third-quarter scoring flurry by a 64-47 margin.

Walla Walla District Engineers today announced Feb. 16 as the date to begin raising the pool behind the Little Goose Lock and Dam on the lower Snake River.

Seventy-Five Years Ago

December 29, 1944

Ration points will be required for six canned vegetables-peas, corn, green and wax beans, asparagus and spinach- in addition to tomatoes, under new office of price administration regulations effective Tuesday.

Touchet now has several street lights, thanks to the Grange, and others who donated.

Bert O. Webb, superintendent of the state penitentiary, resigned his position and asked to be relieved of his duties there January 10.

The progress of the war has changed the waste paper picture materially. We thought the situation was well in hand but since the last report, the waste paper situation has grown so much worse that an urgent appeal for a renewwed all-out campaign for vital war material has ben issued.

One Hundred Years Ago

January 2, 1920

The ladies of the Progressive Club kept open house on New Year's Day from 3 to 5 at the home of Mr. And Mrs. Marcus Zuger.

Mr. And Mrs. James Stonecipher are the parents of a daughter born Dec. 27 while Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Lloyd welcomed a daughter on Dec. 31st.

Owing to the damage being done by the large number of jackrabbits in the western end of Walla Walla County, it is planned to hold two rabbit drives. The first one at Attalia beginning at 9:30 Jan. 4 and the second at Burbank on the following Sunday.

One Hundred Twenty-Five Years Ago

December 28, 1894

Mrs. C. S. Vincent and daughter Edith entertained in a charming manner a number of guests at their pleasant home on Main Street on Wednesday evening. There was no formality, the evening being spent in a purely social way, interspersed with music and recitations, and last but by no means least, the serving of an exceptionally fine lunch.

A cobweb social will be held at the residence of A. L. Storie next Thursday evening, Jan. 3. Admission 20 cents. All who attend are entitled to a string and a souvenir. Come and have a good time.

They had a fine time at a dance at George Phelps’ on Christmas night. Our informant says they sold near 50 numbers and danced all night-four “sets” at a time-two upstairs and two down. A fine midnight supper was served.