PIONEER PORTRAITS

Ten Years Ago

August 1, 2013

[Photo Caption] Firefighters mop up a harvest fire that began Saturday afternoon south of Dixie and spread quickly across the hills off Spring Road east of Highway 12. The three-alarm was the fourth mutual aid call in six days to which Waitsburg firefighters responded.

Twenty-Five Years Ago

August 6, 1998

Thanks to a lot of pantomime and extensive employment of an English-Japanese dictionary, communications between two Sasayama, Japan high school students and Waitsburg’s Bruce Abbey family, their hosts while visiting Walla Walla County the past two weeks, made the experience memorable. Juri Uemura, 16 and Kaori Oonishi, 17, departed Walla Walla to return to Sasayama last Monday. They were part of a 14-person group that had been in the area since July 22. The visit is part of the Sister City Program Walla Walla maintains with Sasayama. Prescott’s Billie Jo Curtis, who with Abbey’s daughter Beth, was one of a group of area high school students that visited Sasayama last spring, also hosted two Japanese girls. Juri and Kaori attend Shinonome Branch School, from which they are taking a one-month summer break.

Fifty Years Ago

August 2, 1973

Albert Land and George Downing, while preparing the Allen building for occupancy by the Waitsburg Pharmacy, have uncovered a very interesting letter. It was mailed for one cent, so that may give you some indication of its approximate age. It was posted from Portland and sent to “Allen Bros., Waitsburg.” The zip code on the envelope was not discernible. Cohen, Davis and Co. of Portland sent the letter in 1893. It announced some excellent buys on dolls, toys of all kinds, plush goods, albums, perfumery, stationery, cutlery and notions of all descriptions, baskets, brackets, doll carriages, wagons, velocipedes – all fresh, desirable goods. George said the letter had slipped down in behind some lath and had been plastered up inside the wall.

Seventy-Five Years Ago

August 6, 1948

Mayor Bill Vollmer pulled his outfit out of his wheat fields to complete his harvesting for 1948 on Thursday moring. He is the first farmer to finish operations to date in the Waitsburg vicinity.

Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Mays announce the engagement of their daughter Dorothy Jo to Allen Polumsky, son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Polumsky

Miss Joan Collingwood entertained at a slumber party and “corn on the cob” feed Saturday evening. Special guests were Shirley Otterson, Lassie Smith, Barbara Lovelace, Carlee Herring, and Sereta Patton.

One Hundred Years Ago

August 10, 1923

Owing to the fact that the city fire bell is cracked, the city council has decided to use the fire siren for grain fires during the rest of this season.

Waitsburg business houses will close from 12:30 to 2:30 o’clock Friday afternoon in deference to our departed President Harding whose funeral occurs on that day.

The Tom Groom grain separator was destroyed by fire Wednesday evening about 6:30 o’clock shortly before the outfit laid off for the day.

One Hundred Twenty-Five Years Ago

August 12, 1898

Ora Babcock and Jap Harsh left on Tuesday evening for the head of Burnt Fork in the Blue Mountains for a week’s hunting and fishing.

The County Commissioners have appropriated $300 towards the fruit fair at Walla Walla this fall.

Roy Gray was the victim of an attempted hold up last Sunday night by two men of the hobo genus, while coming to town from the country. He was on his wheel however and spurted past them.