75 years ago
November 30, 1944
■ Residents of the Fords Prairie and South Elma districts were detouring today following collapse of the condemned 235-foot Porter bridge yesterday morning.
Only the approaches to the wooden span remained standing today, while the center lay a mass of wreckage in the swollen Chehalis river.
Frank Erickson, Porter Creek resident, noticed the structure sagging badly. Aware that traffic would soon be passing over the bridge, he immediately borrowed a lantern and flagged traffic until dawn.
■ Acting Mayor C.E. DuGay of Hoquiam was temporarily behind bars in Aberdeen’s city jail last night following his mock arrest for “gambling” on the outcome of the Aberdeen-Hoquiam Thanksgiving football game.
December 1, 1944
Aberdeen’s curfew ordinance to prevent children under 17 from being in public places without a guardian after 9:30 o’clock at night is to be strictly enforced in the future, Police Chief W. Brice Shaw, announced today.
Violators of the curfew will, on their first offense, be returned to their parents or guardians. Second offenders, however, will be remanded to juvenile officers, Chief Shaw warned.
Parents who knowingly permit their children to violate the curfew are guilty of a misdemeanor, subject to $100 fine or 30 days in jail.
50 years ago
November 30, 1969
Fun and funds come in Christmas wrapping every December as the Starlight Ball opens the holiday season on Grays Harbor.
Saturday, Dec. 6 will be the date. This year’s ball will be called “Winter Wonderland” and the large Hoquiam Eagles ballroom has been selected as the location to accommodate the many couples who have arranged reservations.
Funds from the fun will go to the Grays Harbor College Foundation for scholarships to Grays Harbor College, for student loans at GHC and to build up the Foundation’s endowment fund.
The social hour will begin at 7:30 o’clock, dinner will be served at 8:30 o’clock, and dancing to the Wally Tubbs Quartet from Olympia will continue from 9:30 to 2 o’clock.
December 1, 1969
Seventy two bottles of liquor, valued at $377.95, were stolen from the South Bend outlet of the state liquor control board sometime in the early morning hours Saturday. The agency is operated by Mr. and Mrs. Claire Blackman.
Police Chief Gerald Ashley said entry was made by crashing the back door to the store located on Robert Bush Drive.
25 years ago
November 30, 1994
A howler of a storm that screamed through Grays Harbor last night lost some of its ferocity today, but here was no letup in the pelting rain and some flooding was inevitable.
In Aberdeen, officials reported 4.17 inches of rain in 24 hours and the Chehalis River slopped over about 10:15 this morning.
At Lake Quinault, seven inches of rain has fallen in the past two days, bringing the total for the year to almost 111 inches.
Water over the roadway was causing erosion at Taholah, logjams on the Moclips River were threatening the highway bridge. and state crews were trying to keep a culvert from washing out.
December 1, 1994
Assistant Superintendent Karen Koschak, who came to the Harbor from Edmonds in 1993, likely will be named interim superintendent when the Aberdeen School Board meets Monday.
Koschak faces a bumpy road, trying to restore confidence in a district rocked by the recent dismissal of Superintendent Sonja Martin. Moreover, the School Board may be preparing to postpone a $27 million construction bond election that tentatively had been set for February.
Compiled from the archives of The Daily World by Karen Barkstrom
