75 years ago

August 31, 1944

Optimism concerning the future of Grays Harbor Junior College was expressed yesterday by Dean Lewis C. Tidball and due to a large pre-school enrollment of young women it has been decided that Greenwood hall will be reopened as a dormitory for women.

Greenwood hall, built by the Charles Greenes, prominent pioneer family, has been owned by the college for the past five years and is located across from the college. The name is a combination of the Greenes and Mrs. Greene’s parents, the late Mr. and Mrs. A.D. Wood, who contributed much to the cultural background of the city in the early days.

September 1, 1944

Three months before the traditionally scrappy Aberdeen-Hoquiam Thanksgiving Day football game, and in fact even before commencement of the school year, the basis for a good scrap has arisen.

Aberdeen and Hoquiam schools differ in opinion as to the legal date of Thanksgiving Day this year.

“All printed calendars this year show Thanksgiving Day to be November 30 and we had scheduled (the football) game accordingly,” said Aberdeen Superintendent Bloom.

Hoquiam SuperintendentCrumpacker said: “I am sure congress has definitely established Thanksgiving to be the fourth Thursday of November, although in years past it was considered the final week of that month. The fact that there are five weeks in November this year has resulted in the question arising.”

50 years ago

August 31, 1969

Bright sunshine, orderly crowds, an occasional bottle of wine and here and there a puff of marijuana marked Saturday’s much-heralded opening of the Sky River Rock Festival and Lighter Than Air Fair at Tenino.

John Chambers, president of the sponsoring New American Community Inc., predicted 6,000 to 8,000 patrons would pass under a railroad trestle into the fenced performance area during the first day. He estimated the crowd would reach 25,000 by Monday.

September 1, 1969

A brown blanket of all-American farm dirt covered all festival participants at the Sky River Rock Festival and Lighter Than Air Fair near Tenino Sunday including the wine drinkers, the pot smokers, the performers and the frolicking nudes.

The triple intoxicants of rock music, drugs and wine in every shape and size of bottle, created an atmosphere where smiling at your 10,000 neighbors was the thing to do.

No police came under the railroad tracks that separated the parking area from the festival grounds.

25 years ago

August 31, 1994

No one said filling Harry Carthum’s shoes was going to be easy, but now at least administrators at the Grays Harbor Pupil Services Cooperative can attach a name to those feet.

Gary Cruzan, a Hoquiam native, who has been working in the Aberdeen school district the last four years, was selected Tuesday as a one-year interim director of the cooperative.

Cruzan, 58, was born and raised in Hoquiam, and has spent the last four years at AHS teaching English and reading to deaf students. He also taught English and health to students with behavioral and developmental disabilities.

September 1, 1994

A Hollywood movie production company spent four days earlier this week filming on the beach at Point Grenville on the Quinault Indian Reservation.

The film, called “Katie” is planned for release in late spring or early summer next year.

It’s a story about a young boy and a gorilla named Katie. They communicate with sign language and the boy protects the gorilla from its owner during a roadtrip from California to the Canadian border.

Compiled from the archives of The Daily World by Karen Barkstrom