85 YEARS AGO
November 16, 1940
Grays Harbor Olympians hikes committee last night in the chamber of commerce office arranged a winter hikes schedule. Besides all the hikes, the committee has planned a Dec. 12 skating party at Harm’s rink; the Jan. 11 oyster dinner at Hoquiam AOUW hall; the Jan. 29 ice skating party; the Feb 11. swimming event and skiing on Mt. Rainier from Feb. 15-18.
November 20, 1940
A student who graduates No. 3 in a class of 60 has something to be proud of and that’s the situation with Robert F. Kallam, Hoquiam boy, now with Uncle Sam’s naval forces.
Kallam, former star halfback for the Hoquiam Grizzlies, came out of the naval aviation ordnance school at San Diego with a mark of 3.885 in a possible 4, after a four-months course of instruction.
An ordnanceman’s work concerns proper functioning of machine guns, bombs, torpedoes and all other armaments used in navy fighting planes and bombers.
November 21, 1940
In a hard fought revival of an old rivalry, Hoquiam high school today conquered Aberdeen, 20 to 19, in a football battle at Hoquiam’s Olympic Stadium.
A record crowd of between 8,000 and 9,000 fans cheered themselves hoarse as the game changed from a tight struggle in the first half to a free-for-all scoring spree in the second.
A glue-fingered, rifle-toed end, Walt Clayton, gave Hoquiam its winning margin by booting a try-for-point late in the game after he had snatched two touchdown passes.
60 YEARS AGO
November 16, 1965
The state Highway Commission has approved $185,000 for construction of a pair of one-way streets in Grays Harbor.
Westbound traffic would start at Alder Street in Aberdeen and follow Sumner Avenue to Riverside where it would cross the Hoquiam River on the new bridge.
Eastbound traffic would begin in Hoquiam on the existing Simpson Bridge and follow Simpson to Park Street and the existing route in Aberdeen.
No one can say that the sons of Mr. and Mrs. Buster Davenport of Pacific Avenue in Aberdeen aren’t doing their part for their country.
Corporal Buster Davenport Jr. is presently in Viet Nam serving with the 148th Quartermaster. Seaman Storekeeper Dan Davenport is in San Diego with the U.S. Navy. He is attending the training center and will graduate Nov. 18. And Private Dave Davenport is undergoing basic training at Fort Ord, Calif., and will be home on leave Nov. 28. After that he will be stationed in Fort Benning, Ga., for airborne training.
Reserved seat tickets for the Aberdeen-Hoquiam Thanksgiving Day Football Game will be on sale from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday at the Morck Hotel in Aberdeen and the Emerson Hotel in Hoquiam for $2 each.
November 17, 1965
With delivery yesterday of envelopes containing gaily illustrated Christmas Seals and the traditional accompanying appeal to more than 17,000 homes in the Grays Harbor-Pacific area, the Washington Tuberculosis Association will officially launch the 59th annual Christmas Seal Campaign.
November 18, 1965
Captain’s Corner restaurant at 701 W. Curtis in South Aberdeen is advertising steamed butter clams, served with melted butter, clam nectar, salad and toast for $1.50.
Over 200 high school students are expected to participate in the fifth all-member conference of the Hi-Y and Tri-Hi-Y clubs of Hoquiam, Aberdeen and Port Angeles being held this weekend on the Harbor.
Following the buffet dinner Saturday, entertainment will be provided by “The Dreamers” from the Hoquiam Junior High School and a folk singing group from Aberdeen. The remainder of the evening delegates will have a choice of activities including a “hootenanny” conducted by Rick Seibert, group games or a dance to the music of a Tacoma group, the “Bootmen.”
November 19, 1965
Construction projects totaling $5.2 million at Weyerhaeuser Company’s Grays Harbor pulp mill are now in the final phase.
The 15 per cent expansion of the pulp production capacity of the mill which was announced earlier this year has continued throughout the summer, according to E.N. Wennberg, Grays Harbor branch manager.
“A sizable addition to our pulping group, which included the installation of a new digester and bleach cells, had already been completed,” Wennberg said. “Construction of the new power and recovery boiler is now under way. We have completed most of the water protection system and the building and equipment additions to the pulp machine room are under way.”
November 20, 1965
They have finally produced the perfect television show, a “Lassie” segment without a human actor in sight.
Lassie visits the woods, finds a skunk caught in a trap and frees it, making them best friends. The other animals in the woods scatter at the sight of the dog and skunk. Later, Lassie wanders off and finds herself in the midst of rabbits, squirrels and other Disney-like creatures when along comes a menacing wolf, ready to gobble them all up. Lassie fights with the wolf and is eventually knocked out. Just as it looks like the end for the collie and the woodsy creatures, into the ring steps the skunk, pulls out his secret weapon and the wolf catches it right in the kisser. The animals realize they’ve been heartless in the past and welcome the skunk to the brotherhood of the wild.
November 22, 1965
Bars, taverns, lodges and motels expect to do a booming business tonight as hundreds of fight fans from Olympia, Tacoma, Seattle, Centralia, Chehalis, Longview and even Portland come to town to view the free closed-circuit television version of the heavyweight championship fight between Floyd Patterson and Cassius Clay.
Through the courtesy of the community antenna system provided by Harbor Television, some 10,000 cable customers on the Harbor will see the fight free in their homes or at the nearby tavern or cocktail lounge. Norm Jamtaas, manager of the Aberdeen Elks, said “we’re expecting several hundred visitors for the fight. We’ll have dinner, dancing and six large TV sets set up for the show.”
35 YEARS AGO
November 16, 1990
Dr. Bruce Worth will preside as king with Paula Stouffer as his queen, during the traditional Madrigal Feast at Grays Harbor College Dec. 4-9. Tickets will go on sale at 9 a.m. Saturday at the SouthShore Mall. Tickets are $20. Admission for the dress rehearsal on Monday, Dec. 3, is $5. Numbers will be given out at 7 a.m. to help prevent the traditional long line at the ticket booth. Purchasers are limited to six tickets per person. The magic of the evening is that the audience becomes part of the entertainment during a medieval-style English feast.
November 17, 1990
Don Bell took the title of Mr. Seattle last weekend while fellow Hoquiamite Jan Roy Benner finished third in the light heavyweight division of the Mr. Washington competition conducted concurrently at Seattle’s Moore Theater.
The wiry, intense Bell, 24, is a relative newcomer to bodybuilding, although not to weight training. He attained power lifting prominence while still a teenager, capturing three state championships, establishing seven state records and winning a national title in 1985. He essentially has been out of competition for four years, concentrating on the operation of Timber Gym, the facility he owns in Hoquiam.
Benner, 33, has been lifting weights for 12 years and has been a regular bodybuilding competitor for the past five years. He works at Anderson & Middleton’s Grays Harbor Veneer Division in Hoquiam and handles security for the Mr. V’s teen dance club in Aberdeen.
November 18, 1990
Jim Abbott, a 59-year-old former Bremerton resident, has completed nine murals in East County in the past three months and four more are on the drawing board.
“I see no limit (to the number of murals I can paint),” Abbot said. “Plenty of walls are left.”
Residents have local merchants to thank for the new-found explosion of art, since they finance the murals.
Abbott charges about $750 plus materials for an 8-foot by 16-foot mural — a bargain compared to fees by many other artists. His first job was to depict the area’s logging history in a trio of huge murals on the side of Morrow’s Elma Variety Store.
After completing that, Abbot moved across the street to the Elma Clothing store. Those paintings are even more overwhelming. The two panels – — each estimated at 29-feet by 28-feet — feature more logging scenes.
He has done two murals at Adventure Inn, one at Valley Cleaners, one at the Post Office and one at Murphy’s Tavern.
Another four are scheduled: one each at Elma Pharmacy, the VFW hall, a gospel music building and the fire station.
The gospel music building mural is the one that most excites Abbott. “I’ve always wanted to do the Last Supper,” he said. “I’ve done lots of religious murals, but not that one.”
November 19, 1990
It was a love of locomotives that propelled Jeremy Korst into civic affairs three years ago. Now that he’s older — all of 15 — it’s an unrelenting urge to keep busy that has the Hoquiam High School sophomore trying to keep track of a long list of activities.
Besides being president of the non-profit “Save The Train Station” group, Korst serves on the board of directors for the Hoquiam YMCA and the Daily World Reader Advisory Board. He has a 4.0 gpa and in his spare time — and there’s not much of it — he likes sports and outdoor activities and tinkering with cars.
Korst, the son of Gerald and Gay Korst of Hoquiam was one of about 20 individuals, organizations and businesses honored by the Hoquiam Centennial Committee last night for civic activities throughout the year.
November 20, 1990
The largest vessel ever to call here docked Monday morning at the Port of Grays Harbor to pick up 2.4 million board feet of lumber bound for Japan.
At 696 feet the Hual Transporter is almost three times as long as the vaunted Vigilant, the five-masted lumber schooner launched on Grays Harbor in 1920.
When the huge vessel drops a loading ramp off the stern, it’s about half a football field longer than the average log ship.
November 21, 1990
Singing jazz with Cheryl Bentyne is like playing basketball with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Michael Jordan.
The reality of performing live last weekend with Grammy-award winner Cheryl Bentye of the Manhattan Transfer and accompanist Corey Allen is still hitting Aberdeen High School musicians.
“She wrote on her poster that it was a real pleasure working with real pros,” said AHS choir director Pat Wilhelms.
“She taught us about phrasing, how to make it sound like you’re speaking, not just singing note by note,” said Brian Atkinson.
Michelle Wild, junior, sang a soprano solo in Ray’s Rockhouse during the evening concert with Bentyne. Michelle said she was probably “the most nervous I’ve even been in my whole life.”
Mark Bruener, the Bobcats’ stellar tight end and outside linebacker, was chosen as the BHL’s Player of the Year. Rob Lonborg, who guided the Cats to a 7-2 record and a tie for second in the League earned the vote of his peers as Coach of the Year.
Bruener heads a seven-man Grays Harbor contingent on the all-league first team. Others were Aberdeen’s Kylle Bernethy, Jason McEndoo and John Doll, Elma’s Aaron Newell and Jay Spears and Hoquiam’s Rick Manwell.
November 22, 1990
The bus driver was probably stunned at the transformation.
On the way to the Grays Harbor Convalescent Center in Aberdeen this week, she threatened to stop the bus until the 26 rambunctious Miller Junior High School 8th-grade students settled down.
On the way back from the hour-long visit, the teens were thoughtful and silent. Some were even wiping away tears.
In that hour, Ronda Richardson’s energetic English class met with the residents and read them Thanksgiving stories written for a class assignment. They also shared tentative handshakes and a few hugs.
“They’re getting a better understanding of the world around them outside of the ivory halls of Miller Junior High and the mall,” Mrs. Richardson said. “They really made someone happy and it didn’t take much.” She plans to bring the class back to the center every five to six weeks.
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.
