75 years ago
September 21, 1944
Rev. R.A. Anderson appeared before Aberdeen city council last night with the following petition: “In view of the alarming increase in the number of pin ball machines in our city, which we feel are a definite moral hazard to young and old, and desiring to see our city promote a leadership against the avalanche of delinquency which is sweeping the country in this hour of crisis, we, the members of the Aberdeen Ministerial association respectfully petition the honorable mayor and members of the council of Aberdeen to take the steps necessary to change this situation.”
September 22, 1944
Ralph A. Hatch, navy radarman third class, won’t be worrying about a vocation when demobilization begins.
He has plans all laid for a return to civilian life. He’ll merely exchange uniforms and continue to follow the sea.
Home on his first leave since January, 1943, Hatch today praised navy life and declared he would “rather be a sea-faring man than anything else in the world.”
“I don’t think I’ll have a hard time finding a place in the merchant marine,” he added.
Hatch, who graduated from Weatherwax high school in 1942, is a veteran of the Makin and Gilbert campaigns, Kwajalein and Kaveling, Guam, Saipan, Tinian and Rota. He said the bombardment of Guam was the most terrific. The shelling there lasted for about 20 days and when the navy had the island sufficiently “softened,” the Marines went in.
50 years ago
September 21, 1969
Once there was the time when Grays Harbor’s “junior” college was shuttling in and out of abandoned grade schools with a handful of students, operating as a step-child of the local school district.
Today, sprawling along 80-acres of evergreen hillside, Grays Harbor College is a diversified educational complex, contemplating its 40th anniversary with plans for even more growth.
Richard Scroggs, chamber of commerce president described GHC president Dr. Edward Smith as “one of the main reasons for this outstanding growth.”
Nearly 100 Harbor businessmen and community leaders backed up Scroggs’ accolade with a warm ovation Friday noon as the chamber honored Dr. Smith and his faculty — 61 strong — at a special Nordic luncheon.
September 22, 1969
A 15-year-old Hoquiam boy burned to death Saturday night and the old Emerson Field grandstand was reduced to a charred wooden skeleton by a savage wind-whipped blaze. Clues strongly indicate arson.
A stainless steel bracelet, two keys and a fragment of a jacket led to a “virtually certain” identification of the body as that of Richard Standley of Cherry Street.
Two friends of the youth told investigators he had decided to run away from home, and it’s believed he was sleeping in the stadium when the fire broke out.
25 years ago
September 21, 1994
Prison backers hope their decisive victory on Tuesday’s advisory ballot will lock up Grays Harbor’s chances for the next state correctional facility.
Voters approved siting a 1,936-bed prison in Grays Harbor by nearly 60 percent — 8,994 to 6,126.
“This shows that this county wants it and came to the polls to say it,” said Dorothy Voege, a former Aberdeen Councilwoman who is co-chairman of the Yes! Stafford Creek Correctional Facility committee. “I think we’ve made a good move for our county.”
September 22, 1994
Adorned with majestic sailing vessels, ivy-entwined columns and other terra cotta artistry, the exterior of the Morck Apartments offers a glimpse into Aberdeen’s more opulent past.
But venture to the building’s south side facing Heron Street and you’ll be treated to a view of the Morck’s more uncertain future.
For some years now, the bricks have gradually come loose from their concrete backing, as the wire mesh holding them in place has slowly rusted away.
Last Thursday, city officials ordered the building’s owner, Bill Lipscomb of Seattle, to remove a large section of the facade that was deemed unsafe.
