85 YEARS AGO
August 26, 1940
The Aberdeen Lions club today installed Robert Warner, blind resident of Aberdeen, in a vending booth at the federal building and set Thursday noon for the formal dedication of the new enterprise.
Warner, formerly of Hoquiam, is a familiar figure in Aberdeen having sold papers for some time and accompanied by his seeing eye dog.
The booth will be supervised by the state department of social security division for the blind.
This is the 19th vending booth sponsored by the Lions club in this state as part of its aid to the blind program.
August 27, 1940
Aberdeen aliens flocked to the post office today to be registered and fingerprinted as provided by the new alien registration act which went into effect today.
Postmaster George D. Magee found response today so great that he decided to keep the registration quarters in the basement of the federal building open until 9 o’clock tonight if the rush continues.
Non-citizens have four months to conform with the registration.
September 2, 1940
Expansion of the 248th coast artillery to full regimental strength and promotion of four Aberdeen officers were announced today by Lieutenant Colonel Robert Forbes, commanding officer, as the entire enlisted and commissioned personnel prepared to answer yesterday’s call to active service, set by the president for Sept. 16.
Promotion of Robert Stone from captain to major and of Melvin Erickson from second to first lieutenant was announced today by Forbes. In addition, Roy Dunn and Don Spoon, master sergeants, have been promoted to first lieutenants.
Three hundred twenty children rescued from Britain’s first torpedoed refugee liner were brought back to London today to boast to their parents that it took only three and a half minutes to jump out of bed and get to their lifeboat stations. The ministry of information did not name the liner nor did it say where the torpedoing occurred.
German spokesmen said it was “noteworthy” the British named neither the ship nor the place of the reported torpedoing and added that “Germany … isn’t in the business of sinking child refugee ships.” They said no U-boat commander reported an attack and suggested the liner might have run into a mine.
60 YEARS AGO
August 26, 1965
Football season officially arrived in the Harbor yesterday as Aberdeen and Hoquiam gridders began preparations for a pair of rugged 10-game schedules which will see both clubs facing all six rivals in the SWW Conference’s large school division.
Hoquiam mentor Dave Gross greeted 9 lettermen among 62 hopefuls for yesterday’s workouts at Olympic Stadium. Returning Grizzly monogram wearers include linemen Steve Ford, John Davis, Bob Knudsen, Jay Fry, Mike Dougherty, Don Powers and Milt McGuire. Larry Paulsen and Len Watson are the lone returning backs.
Al Eklund numbered 10 lettermen among opening day candidates including Walt Failor, who had not been expected for several weeks due to a recent knee operation. Other ‘Cat veterans on hand included linemen Ron Dominoski, Ron Hongell, Lloyd Perrine and Mike White. Backs Tom Morgan, Larry Pearson, Stan Targus, Robin Turley and John Wilson provide Eklund good depth among the ball-totters.
August 27, 1965
Grays Harbor has its own UFO (unidentified flying object). The sighting was made by several persons at 10:20 p.m. yesterday and is verified by separate sightings by police in Aberdeen and Cosmopolis.
Mostly red, shading to green and several other colors, the object moved up and down like a helicopter and sped around too fast for an airplane, according to one officer’s radio comments.
Four telephone calls on the UFO were received at the Aberdeen police station and three police cars carried on a discussion of the object on the police radio. Police in cars 5, 10 and 15 reported sighting the object and observing it for more than 15 minutes.
August 28, 1965
Aberdonian Pete Reid, serving with the Peace Corps in Africa, recently scaled 19,321-foot Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak, which was the setting of one of Ernest Hemingway’s best-known novels.
August 31, 1965
Eight lettermen plus a solid nucleus of outstanding prospects greeted head coach Jack Elway Saturday as the Grays Harbor College Chokers opened its football practice.
Elway and assistants Eldon Odle, Dick Fraser and Jack Estes will be putting the Chokers through two-a-day sessions this week in preparation for their first game in Wenatchee.
Casey Stengel, 75, announced Monday that he will step down as manager of the New York Mets at the end of the current baseball season. He started his managerial career with the then Brooklyn Dodgers in 1934. Highlight of his many years as a major league baseball pilot was his 12 years with the Yankees during which he won 10 pennants and seven World Series.
35 YEARS
August 26, 1990
As Xon Nichols’ little biplane sputters to the crest of a long vertical climb into the sky, the spectator experiences the surge of excitement that only fear provides.
As the Pitts Special flips around and speeds nose first toward the earth, there is a sudden realization that the plane could plummet to the ground anywhere among the crowd at Bowerman Field. But after a few seconds of suspense, Nichols pulls ups sharply, in complete control, leaving the audience’s fears behind with his smoke trail.
Nichols and several other stunt pilots twisted and turned through Hoquiam’s sunny skies Saturday to wow hundreds of people at Grays Harbor Aviation Day. Equally impressive were parachutists from the Fort Lewis Jump Club who landed with precision on a red X mark next to the runway.
The Grays Harbor show may not compare with the Blue Angels performances in Seattle, but it is “a great event for the community,” said Alan Olsen of Hoquiam, who keeps his plane at Bowerman Field.
August 27, 1990
Dozens of striking union members stood at the entrance to ITT Rayonier’s pulp mill in Hoquiam this morning with picket signs in hand. Local 169 of the Association of Western Pulp and Paperworkers officially went on strike at 10 p.m. Sunday for the first time in 12 years.
August 28, 1990
A nearly two-year probe into the discovery of a slain woman’s remains north of Elma is at a critical juncture but detectives are hoping a newly established reward fund will give the case a needed jump start.
The reward of up to $5,000 for information leaving to the identity of the victim was approved last month by Grays Harbor County Commissioners.
“I’m going to continue working this one,” said sheriff’s Detective Lane Youmans. “I’ve got 17 years before I retire.”
August 31, 1990
Accused of beating vehicles with wooden clubs and metal objects as non-union workers and suppliers passed through picket lines,striking ITT Rayonier pulp mill workers in Hoquiam now face a temporary restraining order.
Charging obstruction of business with widespread vandalism, including the tossing of tacks under tires and scraping cars with keys, ITT Rayonier officials took the union to court Thursday.
Terms of the restraining order issued by Superior Court Judge Stephen E. Brown were to be worked out late this morning. Members of Local 169 of the Association of Western Pulp and Paperworkers likely will be prohibited from carrying wooden and metal objects on the picket lines. The union, which has also stopped two trains from entering the mill, likely will be forced to allow suppliers to freely enter the mill property.
September 1, 1990
Skipper’s, one of Westport’s more popular gathering places, was destroyed by fire in less than an hour Friday afternoon.
Owner Sylvia Wincure estimated the loss at about $500,000 and says it was insured. But she couldn’t watch as the business and home into which she had invested 20 years went up in smoke.
As hundreds gathered to see thick black and blue smoke surge through the restaurant-motel’s roof and windows, she wept behind a warehouse across the street. Friends consoled her.
Firefighters were called at about 1:15 p.m. and despite the efforts of the Westport, Grayland and Ocosta volunteer fire departments and a Coast Guard crew, the blaze had destroyed most of the building within an hour.
Skipper’s will be missed by commercial fishermen who swapped stories over drinks there and the tourists who enjoyed the view of the marina from the dining room.
The establishment was like a home away from home for the city’s die-hard trawlers and shrimpers, said Bob Charles, a fisherman who frequented the establishment.
Charles recalled coming to Westport in 1982 and being among the first of about 10 skippers to ply the waters off Westport during the winter.
Wincure let boat crewmen short of cash stay at Skipper’s free for two or three winter months each year, Charles said. “She kind of tookus all in.”
September 2, 1990
Police logged a string of complaints about strikers at the ITT Rayonier pulp mill in Hoquiam over the past two days, but both company and union representatives say things were under control as of Saturday.
Tom James, president of Local 169 AWPPW, said he was unaware of any violations to the restraining order which became effective Friday.
ITT Rayonier spokeswoman Wendy Pugnetti said, “There have been a few problems, but none on the scale we had before.”
Compiled from the archives of The Daily World by Karen Barkstrom, Editorial Assistant at The Daily World. You can contact her at karen.barkstrom@thedailyworld.com or call her at 360-537-3925.
