75 years ago
October 12, 1944
Lieut. Col. Sherman R. Beaty of Hoquiam recently was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for the third time in the form of a bronze oak leaf cluster to the original decoration, the Ninth Air Force announced today. This is the 11th time that Colonel Beaty has been decorated for aerial combat. The new oak leaf cluster was for an attack against the enemy on D-Day. He is commanding officer of “Beaty’s Raiders” a light bomber group, operating in western Europe.
October 13, 1944
Top salary earner in the Nation for the fiscal year 1942-43 was Motion Picture Producer Louis B. Mayer who received $1,138, 992 of which some $900,000 went to the government in taxes. A treasury spokesman noted that incomes over$200,000 are taxed at a rate of 94 percent. Other leading big-money earners were Movie Producer Walter Wanger, $710,372, Film Magnate Nicholas Schenck, $512,391, and Movie Comedians Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, who together earned $789,628.
50 years ago
October 12, 1969
Aberdeen, Hoquiam and Grays Harbor College football players, may be playing on artificial turf within five to 10 years.
Dr. Robert Woodroof, superintendent of Aberdeen Schools, hopes to see a modern, new 15,000-seat combination stadium-convention center built in the Twin City area, complete with an artificial turf and jointly financed by the Aberdeen, Hoquiam school districts, Grays Harbor College, the City of Aberdeen and possibly even the county sharing in the financing.
Virtually all athletic department administrators in the area agree artificial turfs, Astroturf, Tartan or whatever are the athletic fields of the future especially in rainy climes. But the problem comes in financing the $225,000 outdoor carpets.
October 13, 1969
Arrangements for the Grays Harbor College symposium for the Vietnam Moratorium continued today with two debates on the Vietnam questions on Wednesday.
Peter Dufour, political science instructor at the college, said he’ll moderate the morning debate and Richard Lane, speech and drama instructor, has been asked to moderate the noon debate.
Students opposed to the war are expected to wear white armbands to symbolize their sentiments Wednesday.
25 years ago
October 12, 1994
It’s the middle of winter and the only out-of-town visitors in Westport are a couple of chilly seagulls, and even they’re thinking about moving on.
That might be the extent of winter tourism now, but if the City of Westport and the Port of Grays Harbor have their way, people across the state may soon be flocking to this coastal town in winter, summer and every month in between.
The big draw?
A proposed $18 million Westport aquatice park/interpretive center to be located on a 55-acre parcel of land on Firecrackers Point, adjacent to the Family Fun Center.
Currently 688,000 people visit Westport each year said Robert Bignold, president of the Renton-based Orb Organization, an architectural/planning firm that played a major role in conducting a study in the feasibility of building the aquatic/interpretive center. That number would increase by 200,000 a year after the facility was built, he said. Within five years, Bignold said, more than 1 million tourists would come to Westport each year.
October 13, 1994
An Aberdeen man described as an experienced mariner who has sailed around the world is overdue from a solo sailing voyage from California.
The Coast Guard is searching for 51-year-old Stanley Blunt, who set out from Alameda, California Sept 28 and failed to arrive on Grays Harbor as scheduled Oct. 9. Blunt was aboard his 26-foot sloop, Rupi.
Compiled from the archives of The Daily World by Karen Barkstrom
