Pomeroy Pioneer Portraits

Ten Years Ago

November 16, 2011

The Board of Directors of the Garfield County Fair Association selected the theme of the 2012 Fair at their meeting Nov. 10. “Sow it, Grow it, and Show it” will be the slogan for the event on Sept. 14, 15, and 16, 2012, according to board president Linda McKeirnan.

Blue Mountain Artisan Guild’s Christmas Art Show and Sale will be held at the Holiday Bazaar, sponsored by Pomeroy Chamber of Commerce. The event will be held at the old Odd Fellows Hall, currently Pomeroy Baptist Church, in the basement at 6th Street and Columbia.

Twenty-Five Years Ago

November 20, 1996

If the success of a volleyball team at a state tournament is measured by the quality of the girls’ play, the fun they had and the experience they gained, and the manner in which they represented their school and community, then the Pomeroy Pirates’ trip to the Class B event was the pinnacle of victory. And if you want to measure success in terms of hardware, a fourth-place trophy is a definite indication that your program is headed in a very positive direction.

Pomeroy Service Club has selected the Rev. James Bean to direct the assembling and distribution of the Christmas Baskets this year. In 1995, the Service Club distributed 85 baskets.

Fifty Years Ago

November 18, 1971

A new boat launching ramp has been constructed at the Boyer Park construction site, two miles downstream from Lower Granite Lock and Dam on the North bank of Lake Bryan, the Little Goose pool. Capt. Ronald J. Taksar of the Army Corps of Engineers said the new ramp is 650 feet downstream from the old ramp in the vicinity of the WSU boat house. The new ramp is away from construction activity at the Boyer Park job and the old ramp is being closed.

Pomeroy High School faculty members will face the Harlem Clowns in an unconventional basketball contest Wednesday, Nov. 24 at 7:30 p.m. according to a spokesman for the sponsoring Orange P Club at the high school.

A series of telephone bomb threats disrupted classes at the Pomeroy schools in the past week. Law enforcement officials have no suspects in the case, but believe it to be youthful pranksters.

Seventy-Five Years Ago

November 21, 1946

Mr. and Mrs. W.F. Pitt, accompanied by their two children, daughter, 9, and son 2½ years of age, of Long Beach, Calif., traveling in a new $6,000 airplane, lost their way in dense clouds last Thursday while flying from Ellensburg to Spokane, and were compelled to make a forced landing on the Pete J. Olson farm 18 miles east of Pomeroy, on the brink of Snake River, to find their bearings.

Peola returned to normalcy after a week’s rule of the “Red Hats.” Hunters using the usually used homes of the Rucherts, Polumskys, Flerchingers, Dicks and Weatherlys bristled with red hats and guns. Satisfactory results, except for the deer, were reported. Land owners were obliged to patrol their land due to gates being left open, fencing being cut, equipment taken from some springs, wheat being driven over, all due to the acts of a minority of the hunters.

Twelve seniors were their orange and black football suits for the last time in the Orofino game, winding up the most successful season in several years. Playing for the last time were: Tommy Becker, Gordon Fitzgerald, Rodney Kimble, Claude Morgan, Alvin Landkammer, Wesley Birge, Roberty Webb, Bob Power, Neil Williams, Howard Stanfill, Wayne Bingman, and Charles McNeil.

One Hundred Years Ago

November 19, 1921

The so-called “Waterman” schoolhouse, on the Tucannon, in district 52, Columbia County, burned with all its contents Sunday night. The origin of the fire is not known, according to the teacher, Miss Ethel Crump, who left Tuesday to spend a week with her relatives at Prosser. The residence on the McKey place is being fitted with seats and otherwise prepared for temporary school use and will be ready for occupancy within a few days. Six children now attend this school.

Ed Moore, who died of cancer in a Portland hospital on Oct. 18, left his two daughters $3,000 Woodman insurance. Mr. Moore was a charter member of Fairview camp of Pomeroy, and was the first advisory lieutenant, according to the present clerk, N.O. Baldwin.

The third annual bazaar of the Catholic ladies will be held Friday and Saturday at the Seeley hall. The room, under the management of Mrs. Palmer, will open every day at 5 p.m. There will be service a la carte and 50-cent plate lunch as well. There will be a fishpond for the kiddies, a parcel post office, and other attractions: Fancy and plain sewing, dolls, home-made candies, ice cream, pop-corn and peanuts, as well as a liberal supply of sweet cider. Everybody welcome.

One Hundred Twenty-Five Years Ago

November 21, 1896

The terrible Russian thistle can, it appears, be made useful. Only last session Congress was asked to appropriate $1,500,000 for the suppression of the Russian thistle in the Northwest. Now a South Dakota mill owner has offered $1.50 a ton for all the thistle which may be delivered at his factory. He says it is nearly as good as coal for fuel.

The boys have it that the other night our marshal got into an argument with a large blond cow who was disposed to dispute the right of the public domain with him and was not in the least “cowed” when he displayed his official badge. It is claimed that Fred aged at least ten years in as many minutes.