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Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
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I need help. Not the kind of help most of you think I need, though. I need help. As in hired help. I know, it just doesn’t seem right. I’ve been telling myself for years that I can do everything myself, or at least that I should do everything myself. It’s time to let go of that dream. The first thing I’m going to do is hire someone to clean. Someone to come to my house and dust, clean the bathrooms, vacuum and sweep the floors, and possibly do more. Of course, they’ll...
This is my favorite time of the year. It’s the time of year that is somehow linked with my memories of it finally being cool enough to wear those new school clothes. There’s something really satisfying about going out to the now-finished garden, cleaning up the beds, digging the spuds, preparing for the winter and, in so doing, the spring. There’s a sense of relief that I will have a few months off from moving sprinklers, remembering to water the flowerpots, and weeding. I lov...
When asked how he heard about Honor Flight, Lloyd Tebow replied, “Well, we were over at Barb’s ( Tebow’s daughter, Barb Greenwalt), and she asked if I’d like to go. I said ‘well, I can’t do that.’ Tyler (Tebow’s grandson) was over messing around with some game on the TV and he found the form on the website and filled it out for me.” When his application was received, he was 139th on the waiting list. After about 7 months, Tebow was notified that he would be a part of the Inl...
Well. I got carried away. Miss Smarty-Pants, having so much fun and getting lots of positive feedback from her friends, has put her foot in it. You all know how it feels when you are attacked. A rush of adrenaline hits your system, causing your heart and respiration rates to increase. You may even feel a flutter in your digestive tract. It’s all a part of the “fight or flight” response. You can stand your ground and bare your teeth and take the chance of getting hurt. You c...
Friday night was a great opportunity for a nostalgia trip to the 1960s. At a fundraising concert for the Harrington Opera House Society (HOHS), the Soda Creek 3 folk trio played to a good-sized, appreciative audience. Paul Deuber, Jack Harroun and Stan Timperley provided a program of folk standards, as well as other songs, a couple of jokes and some good-natured bantering. Most numbers were performed by the trio to two guitars and upright bass, although there were a few...
I was pretty sure that I’d be writing about Deutschesfest this week. You know, about how it couldn’t happen without me. But aside from not being over-committed for a change and gaining 8 pounds in four days, I have nothing to say. It’s done. The party’s over. I leave it to wiser heads than mine to debate the outcome. No, I’m going to talk about something else this week. Because while I was downtown in my dirndl, my dogs vanished. I saw them early Sunday morning when I let the...
I know it’s hard to believe, but I don’t have much to say this week. Maybe six months of venting is enough. Even though I’ve strayed from my original topic (does anyone remember what it was?), I haven’t forgotten it. The clock is ticking down and I’m not a whole lot closer to my goal of being healthier by my 60th birthday. I have managed to lose 20 pounds since the middle of May, when I first began commuting to Weight Watchers meetings in Moses Lake. I haven’t been as dil...
The pace of activity in Odessa has been picking up in preparation for Deutschesfest, just one week away. The former Haagen-Daas freezer trailer has been permanently situated behind the Festplatz and is fully operational, stocked with cabbage rolls from Heritage Church. Strudels were being assembled at Christ Lutheran Church, transported to Das Kraut Haus for baking, then taken to the walk-in cooler at the Community Center for rapid cooling. From there they will travel to...
Pedestrians may want to avoid the southwest corner at the intersection of First Avenue and Division Street for the next week or two, as phase one of a restoration project is underway. The corner building, owned by John and Michelle Melgren, is home to Any Occasion Banquet Hall and The Odessa Record offices. The Melgrens have contracted with Peter Cooper of Coeur d’Alene, a specialist in brick walls and masonry, to remove layers of paint, replace decayed bricks, tuckpoint a...
I have way more ideas than I have energy or know-how to bring to fruition. I have ideas for quilts. I have ideas for redecorating the house. I have ideas for how to gain control of the garden. And I have lots of ideas for the “betterment” of Odessa. Not that Odessa needs “betterment” – it’s a lovely community. Odessa has held up to the decline of rural America much better than many other communities. But I don’t think we can afford to rest on our laurels, and I think about i...
I have officially arrived at that part of the summer when I question my ability to make good decisions. Actually, I question it more than once every day, but August is special. Sunday morning, after picking two sinks full of gorgeous, delicious beans, I realized that getting them into the freezer this week was just not going to happen. Sunday afternoon was my book group discussion meeting. Then I needed to collect items and organize a plan for the Canniwai Grange booth at the...
Our little town is a wonderful place to live. That said, it could be better. Last week we listened in astonishment to the scanner in our office as a domestic assault grew into an assault on a police officer. We’ve all read about the recent rash of burglaries. We’ve seen and heard about drug use among our young residents, and a couple of weeks ago a pregnant young woman was so drunk she was face down in the street. What to do? Yesterday in a casual conversation, a friend and I...
My older sister read some of my columns on The Record’s website yesterday. We were at my father’s house celebrating his 87th birthday, along with my brother-in-law’s 61st and my niece’s 19th. It was a nice gathering, with few of the little family fissures that seem to be part of our lives these days. Well, forever, if you must know. I have noticed that we’re a much less contentious lot than we were when my mother was alive, but that observation requires more study. At any ra...
Larry Condon of the Barr-Tech regional waste-management facility on the eastern edge of Lincoln County gives much of the credit for the success of the startup business to the Odessa Public Development Authority (OPDA). “It was a great team effort – everybody worked together,” said Condon, referring to not only the OPDA but the Lincoln County Economic Development Council (EDC), Lincoln County in general and the communities of Sprague, Davenport, Reardan and Odessa. “Linc...
I have an unhealthy relationship with cheese. It all began years ago when my mother handed me a slice of Velveeta (probably to get me to shut up.) It was love at first taste, even though the thought makes me feel a little ill today. Since then, my attraction to cheese has narrowed itself to one and one alone: The Tillamook Cheddar Baby Loaf. I can hear it calling me as soon as I walk in the door of the grocery. A magnetic force seems to pull me toward the dairy section. Skim...
I’ve been thinking about my “bucket list” lately. Of course, I don’t actually have a written list, just a sort of idea in my head of the things I’d like to do before I kick it. The bucket, that is. The first item on the list is to go to the Grand Canyon. Don’t know exactly what I’ll do when I get there, but I need to GET THERE. I tried to get there years and years ago, when my older brother and sister and I decided we’d all like to go. We piled our camping gear into my br...
It’s really hard to let things go when you’re a control freak. I have a hard time with poor grammar. I struggle with disorganized organizations. I want the rows of vegetables in my garden to be straight and at least sort of the same distance apart. On the other hand, my flower gardens are jungles, with no rhyme nor reason to the placement of plants. I see it, I like it, I buy it and occasionally I manage to plant it before it expires. It appears that what I really want is to...
I am given to making sweeping general statements about myself, which upon examination turn out to be less than true. For example, I frequently tell others that I am not a “people person.” While it’s true that I usually prefer the company of animals to that of people, I hardly think I can be classified as a misanthrope. I’m not comfortable in crowds. I don’t go to concerts. I prefer to wait to see a movie until I don’t have to sit next to strangers. I actually like it when we c...
Several weeks ago, when The Editor suggested that my column should have a name, we discussed several options. “Advice from a small town girl” seemed about the best possible choice from among several, some of which were downright weird, and most of which were boring. But now I see the perfect title. “It’s all about me.” Because it is. I can’t crawl into your heads and talk about the issues you have with yourself and the world. I’m way too busy in my own head. It’s not always pr...
Editor’s note: Lise’s column was inadvertently omitted from last week’s issue. We are running two columns this week to catch up. This would be a really good week to say something that will make everybody mad, ‘cause I’m not here. I’m on a cruise to Alaska. The part of me that has watched too many reruns of “The Poseidon Adventure” is a little concerned. The part of me that has always wanted to see our biggest state (and maybe Russia - I just have to get access to the Palin’s...
I’m back! Mind you, I’ll feel more like I’m back once the deck stops heaving. I’ve never noticed before just how much dry land can move. Our cruise to Alaska was quite an experience. In order to fully understand why I say this, you need to know that I can remember vacationing at a motel only once in my life before I was 15. We were campers. We camped on the coast, where we dug clams and I lost my brand-new plaid tennis shoes to the tide. We camped in the Olympic rain forest,...
As of last Thursday, I’ve made a 10-pound dent in my 100-pound weight loss goal. Not without obstacles, however. I managed to deal with the Memorial Day weekend family potluck pretty well – as long as you don’t count offending my brother. But that’s another story. Potlucks are problematic for dieters. Well, for this one anyway. I don’t care how beautiful the green salad or fruit trays are, I want potato salad, beans and lots of tender, juicy meat. If there’s room I might hav...
Odessa native Scott Kramer, son of Myron and Marlene Kramer, has been inducted into the Community Colleges of Spokane (CCS) Hall of Fame as a member of the CCS 2001-2002 Men’s Golf Team. The award was presented at the CCS Hall of Fame Banquet Saturday, June 4. Coached by Paul Tikker, the team won the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC) Eastern Region and the NWAACC Tournament, in addition to league tournaments at Green River, Treasure Valley and S...
Council members Lois (Fisher) Hubbard and Lynn Schmidt, along with Mayor Doug Plinski and Public Works Director Roger Sebesta met recently with Avista representatives about replacing any natural-gas lines installed prior to 1987. Odessa reportedly will serve as a prototype community for the replacement, which will involve private contractors as well as Avista crews using different techniques to replace lines which may be deteriorating due to age. Hubbard noted that this...
Okay, people. I’m already in trouble so I might as well keep going. Last week was my advice to new residents. Now it’s the locals’ turn. This could be the shortest column ever, with my advice condensed into two short words: Be nice. But, as you all no doubt know, I like to talk. Especially like this, when no one can talk back. First, when you are introduced to the new wife of a native son, please don’t say, “Oh, my God,” no matter how stunning the news. That’s not really #1...
