Year in Review

August

Two incoming Odessa High School sophomores, Brad Johnston and Chance Messer got a chance to play in Italy with the Northwest Elite baseball organization. Players were chosen for the opportunity based on the ability on the baseball field and their dedication to their schoolwork.

A broadband planning grant was pursued after NoaNet installed $5 million worth of ARRA-funded, high-speed broadband fiber in Lincoln County but shared no plans to do anything with it. The county decided to begin planning themselves and applied for a planning grant through the Washington State Broadband Office. The intent of the planning grant, which took two years to secure, was to assess current and future broadband use by businesses, anchor institutions and residents; to inventory telecommunication infrastructure and services; and to evaluate the Lincoln County Public Utility District (PUD) as a middle mile service provider. The report was finalized in June and is available online.

Harvest is over in the Odessa region, and according to market experts at both the Odessa Trading Company and the Odessa Union Warehouse, the crop this year is said to have been reduced by about one third compared to what farmers have been receiving for the past several good years. The reasons vary and include winter kill, late frosts in the spring and drought. The lack of moisture, at least prior to the bit of rain that accompanied some of the recent thunderstorms to strike the area, has farmers worried now about their fall planting efforts. Some believe they will have to go quite deep in order to put the seed into moist ground.

September

Voise Sausage, Odessa’s venerable supplier of the Biergarten during Deutsches Fest and of other loyal customers throughout the rest of the year, now has new owners. Darren and Kendrain Summers have purchased the business from Jason and Chandra Schumacher.

With the purchase of the business, Darren Summers said, the meat processing plant of the Livestock Producers Cooperative Association, where he is the manager, will have a retail outlet for products from the plant.

Summers’ son, Ryland Summers will take over the management of Voise Sausage. With the two operations “all in the family,” so to speak, Darren Summers says he hopes to meet the growing demand for locally produced food.

Passersby will notice a beautiful finish on the steps of the Old Town Hall, the removal of a trip hazard between the steps and the sidewalk, and the repair of some very unsightly cracks in both the sides of the steps and the face of the building itself.

The 44th Fest has come and gone, by most accounts another successful event for Odessa and its businesses, churches and other non-profit organizations.

The initial estimate of gross revenues from the Biergarten was approximately $70,000 compared to about $67,000 last year when rainy skies, especially on Sunday, prompted many visitors to head home early. That gross revenue figure will drop, of course, when all of the Fest expenses start flowing out of the treasury, including about $18,000 to the beverage distributors and several thousand dollars in payment for entertainment on the Biergarten stage.

October

Harrington alumni began arriving in the week prior to the Harrington Fall Festival, and the town had a flurry of activity preceding Saturday’s festival events.

The basement of Heritage Church was full nearly to bursting with women who came to hear advice on healthy living and to enjoy a meal catered by the Odessa High School chapter of the Future Business Leaders of America. Members of the health care community were out in force to provide information and hand out free literature and gifts to those who attended. As in the past, blood pressure checks were provided in a separate room.

After a busy weekend for the public works crew, members of the Odessa Town Council heard from homeowners affected by basements flooded with sewage in the southwest corner of the town. The same homes have been affected by the same problem three times in the past, and homeowners were in no mood to put up with any more.

After the third flooding event only a couple of years ago, the town had spent about $12,000 on what was supposed to be a fully redundant alarm system that would notify public works employees of any imminent problems. During this weekend’s event, however, no alarms of any kind were received, according to public works director Rod Webster.