85 YEARS AGO
January 26, 1941
The army has abandoned search of the Grays Harbor area for the bomber missing since January 16, McChord field officials said today. Planes from the field today were concentrating their search in southern Oregon.
The Union Gospel Mission at 500 E. Heron street, last night observed its three-year anniversary with services attended by a large audience. The mission serves homeless men and provides food and shelter as well as spiritual guidance.
The mission was opened Jan. 24, 1938 with Rev. W.R. Caldwell, now pastor of McCleary Gospel center, taking the initiative.
January 28, 1941
Following last year’s mysterious appearance of smelt in the Naselle river, a huge run is under way again this year, giving rise to a belief that the runs will repeat winter after winter.
Observers said the roads near the river are jammed with cars, while the Naselle river bank is equally crowded with fishermen using all kinds of gear from smelt nets to old sweaters and buckets. Amateur fishermen without licenses are permitted to take 20 pounds of fish.
Observers say a lively squabble developed between Naselle and Kelso fishermen unions as to which will have jurisdiction over the Naselle fishermen with the result that fishermen are “dipping fish as fast as they can and paying no attention to the unions.”
January 29, 1941
Approximately 500 Hoquiam Elks and prospective members and visitors from Aberdeen, Raymond, Centralia and Chehalis last night were entertained at a stag party.
Feature attraction was a personal appearance by Edith Rogers Dahl, whose appeal to Generalissimo Franco saved her aviator husband from the firing squad in Spain. She sang, played the violin and spoke of her experiences in Europe.
January 30, 1941
Close to 2,700 pounds of salmon were landed at Westport yesterday by a fleet of 32 fishing vessels, making it the best day of fishing so far this year. Highest boat for the day landed 250 pounds. Chinook salmon are bringing fishermen an average of 25 cents a pound, making the fleet’s catch for the day close to $750.
Three thousand skilled workers will be signed up in the Pacific Northwest the next few months for employment on the $24,000,000 air base construction jobs at Anchorage and Fairbanks, Alaska. The men will be employed for one year under contract. Free transportation north will be provided but families will not be permitted to accompany employees, at least not at first.
January 31, 1941
Approximately 1,000,000 cubic yards of material will be pumped into the Moon Island area of Hoquiam for a landing field 5,300 feet long and 500 feet wide, Hugh McKay, WPA engineer, in charge, said today.
The stretch will be raised to a height of 18 feet. Long dikes will be built on each side and a bulkhead will be placed at the Moon Island end to retain the material.
60 YEARS AGO
January 26, 1966
Lynn Miller of Aberdeen was recently elected Associated Women Students 2nd vice president for 1966 at the University of Washington. Miss Miller, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gene Miller of Aberdeen. She is a member of Alpha Lambda Delta, national scholastic honorary, W-Key, activities honorary and Chi Omega sorority.
The Washington Redskins hired Otto Graham , former Cleveland Browns star, today as head coach, replacing Bill McPeak, who was fired last month after five years with the organization.
Graham, 44, currently is coach at the Coast Guard Academy and annually coaches the College All-Stars in their August game against the National Football League champions.
January 28, 1966
The gate receipts from football games carry the load for the remainder of the athletic programs in public schools according to a recent edition of “Keeping Tabs,” a monthly publication put out by the Hoquiam School District.
Hoquiam’s athletic budget for the 1964-65 school year amounted to $14,568.43 spent on equipment, uniforms, travel, meals and insurance.
Football receipts brought in $11,530.23 and basketball $3,915.75. Student body tickets provided $1,233. The Thanksgiving Day contest with Aberdeen netted Hoquiam $6,434 after giving Aberdeen its $750 share.
January 29, 1966
Edward Stelzig had been watching the big tree that leaned dangerously toward the Hoquiam-Ocean Beach highway, ever since he had purchased his Ocean Shores home and started making weekend trips from his home in Seattle.
“One of these days, that tree is going to fall across the highway,” he confidently predicted to his wife.
Late yesterday afternoon, just as Stelzig and his wife drove over the top of the hill about two miles west of Grays Harbor City, there was a huff and a puff and down came the tree with a loud crackling snap.
Stelzig avoided crashing into the tree only by slamming on the brakes and swerving his vehicle off the highway and onto the shoulder.
But is was only nature’s prank intended to inconvenience the man who knew too much. As if planned, a county truck, equipped with a chain saw, drove up from the other direction moments later, and the tree was cleared in a matter of minutes.
January 31, 1966
Edwin Anthony Hobi, well-known Aberdeen lumberman, died this morning at his home on West Ninth Street in Aberdeen after an illness of several months.
The 68-year-old was an executive of the Hobi Timber Co., the Aberdeen Lumber Co. and the North River Logging company.
35 YEARS AGO
January 26, 1991
A nationally-recognized “cult-buster” is under investigation for allegedly abducting a teenager and bringing him to Ocean Shores for a days-long dose of “de-programming” therapy.
Rick A. Ross, 38, of Phoenix, Ariz., a self-proclaimed consultant who handles cases involving “destructive religious groups,” was allegedly hired by a Kirkland woman to “de-program” her 18-year-old son so he would break his tie with the Life Tabernacle church in Bellevue.
Ross’s controversial tactics have gained him media attention nationwide with appearances on CBS’ “48 Hours,” and the syndicated talk show circuit. He’s been interviewed by Phil Donahue, Oprah Winfrey, Gerald Rivera and Sally Jesse Raphael.
But Thursday he and two alleged accomplices appeared in a different forum, before Judge Stephen Brown in Grays Harbor District Court No. 1.
January 28, 1991
Some patriotic daredevil climbed to the top of KXRO’s 200-foot-tall radio tower in South Aberdeen early this morning to show the colors.
When station employees came to work this morning they found a note on the door saying, “The flag at the top of the radio tower is in honor of the men and women in the Middle East!!!”
January 29, 1991
Faced with tough economic times, Northwest forest-products companies are having to choose between selling at low prices, not operating at all or allowing inventories of unsold products to build.
“Certain markets are holding up and others are non-existent,” said Tom Mayr of Mayr Bros. Logging Co. in Hoquiam, which cuts dozens of different lumber products for domestic and export sale. “It’s a delicate balance in determining what product to manufacture.”
Lumber prices are down about $30 per 1,000 board feet from a year ago, Mayr added.
At Pacific Veneer in South Aberdeen, a joint venture of the Weyerhaeuser Co. and the Bank of Tokyo, about a dozen people have been laid off, said mill manager Art Mahlum. That meant the loss of one lathe shift, but it puts the mill’s production about on par with market demand, Mahlum said.
January 30, 1991
Al Isaak, the minister who moonlighted as a Hoquiam school bus driver, will carry a capacity load of memories into retirement this week.
He’ll particularly treasure a note he received recently from one young rider. “Please don’t retire,” the youngster wrote, signing off with hearts. “We love you. A secret. o.k.?”
When Isaak runs his final route Thursday afternoon, it will mark 30 years to the day since the minister from Eastern Washington carried his first load of students to supplement the family income. The Isaaks had come to Hoquiam to serve at the former Bethel Temple Assembly of God, now the Harbor Assembly of God. He retired as pastor in 1983 but kept on driving. His wife, Helen, now plays the organ for the Whiteside Funeral Chapel.
Al and Margaret Funk have a pretty sweet business going, but long hours and health concerns are beginning to sour its future prospects.
Despite the success they’ve enjoyed at the Busy Bee Candy & Gift Shop, the Ocean Shores couple is trying to sell their business of seven years.
“We’re trying to sell it as a unit,” Mrs. Funk stressed. “I’d hate to leave Ocean Shores without a candy store because we’ve done so well here.”
Her doctor has advised her that a previously-injured leg will never heal unless she switches to a job that will keep her off her feet. Her husband, who worked for Mayr Bros. Logging Co. at Hoquiam, injured his leg in a logging accident. He also underwent open heart surgery.
January 31, 1991
While the Persian Gulf War is being waged a half a world away, three Harborites are serving together on another mission, aboard the U.S. Coast Guard’s Polar Sea in Antarctica.
Lt. David Hoard of Tokeland is a 21-year Coast Guard veteran and is an assistant engineer officer.
1st Lt. Robert Garman, an 18 1/2 year Coast Guard veteran, is in charge of the Deck Department tasked with maintaining the interior and exterior of the ship.
Twenty-year-old Michael Todd Kilmer is a Yeoman Third Class who performs personnel and administrative duties aboard the ship.
The Polar Sea, the world’s most powerful non-nuclear ice-breaker, is deployed on her seventh Operation Deep Freeze, the annual U.S. station resupply effort and scientific research support at McMurdo, Antarctica.
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.
