Harrington news

Harrington City Council met Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. at city Hall with Mayor Dillon Haas, Council members Rick Becker, Mike Cronrath, Peter Davenport, Levi Schenk and Justin Slack; Clerk Loretta Haugan; Maintenance supervisor Scott McGowan and visitors Pam Denton, Tonilu McCaffrey, Cherie MacClellan and Brent Wilday. McGowan spoke at length on the maintenance report which covered all the preparatory work for Memorial Day and Cruizin' Harrington, fixing of many water leaks and working per Avista's request on locating lines. Councilman Davenport complimented the city crew for their hard work.

Work on projects has continued with few complaints by citizens. Belsby Engineering has submitted an invoice for work through May 31. A payment was also made to William Winkler Company for work completed to June 9. Mayor Haas reported on the Justin Clouse Memorial Event, stating that "it was a calm event with no concerns."

The Council again discussed the proposed cemetery building. Cronrath presented copies of documents that provided the legal descriptions for the cemeteries. McGowan commented on stakes used as markers in measuring locations prior to digging graves. Cronrath intends to walk and measure the area with documents in hand. The Council is interested in working with the Lions Club in having a building in which the flags could be safely stored. Previously, the main proposal was to build or erect a building on cemetery property where a shed now stands, which contains electrical connections for the sprinkler system. The Council is waiting for definite estimates from the Lions Club, while the Lions are waiting for concrete estimates from the City for expenses to transfer the sprinkler connections from the old building to a new structure. Cronrath suggested the possibility of the Lions using the old state shed at the corner of Linden and Third as an alternative site to store the flags for the cemetery. No decisions were made.

The mayor said that persons in violation of unpaid/overdue dog licenses, as well as those having overgrown yards will be sent notices of infractions. The agreement with Lincoln County District Court regarding enforcement of the City ordinances will be put into effect as soon as a list of ordinances that qualify for enforcement can be sent to the court and the purchase of a citation book by the City is done. There was a citizen complaint about a property on Second, which was already one of the overgrown/nuisance properties on the mayor's list to contact.

The city has received one notice from the county transfer station of violation of dumping green waste that was co-mingled with the municipal haulers load. No lawn clippings or green waste are permitted or can be co-mingled with municipal waste. The City has provided a container for green waste located on the corner of Third and Linden for citizens to use. A reminder of "green waste" requirements will be included on the June and July utility bills.

Mayor Haas and Councilman Slack have been working on a list of physical/mailing addresses of Harrington residents for the up-coming community income survey. The City hopes to have the information ready in August for Margie Hall from the county Economic Development Council to conduct the survey. The City will need to inform the citizens as to the reasons for and use of this survey information and how it will benefit the city. The importance of their participation will be vital to the city in applying for infrastructure grant dollars.

It was with saddened hearts that the community received word of Allen Barth's death on June 12. He operated from the Studebaker Garage and was a valuable asset to our community. He was vice president of the Chamber of Commerce and president of the Public Development Authority. He will be missed by our community.

In the June 8 issue of The Record, we ran a portion of the histories of the men for whom the war memorial was dedicated. The 1917 War Memorial was erected on the lawn near the original city hall in Harrington. Eight years went by between the loss of the lives of George A. Armstrong, Floyd K. Hinshaw, Wesley W. Miller, Charles S. Scott and George D. Witt and the purchase of the memorial.

Harrington's first war-time casualty during World War I occurred on a Sunday night, June 24, 1918 with the death of George Albert Armstrong, Jr. Pneumonia struck at Camp Lewis and George succumbed to the disease. George was born February 28, 1892, in Oklahoma, one of the eight children of George Albert 'Doc' Armstrong and his wife, Mary Eliza Goodwin. Young George, a barber, had married Elvira Buchanan in July 1917 in Spokane before joining the U.S. Army. He was in the 166th Dept. Brig. 35th Company. Last rites for George were held at the Baptist Church and the IOOF lodge, and the Home Guard unit had parts in his service. In addition to his wife and parents, George was survived by his two brothers, W.B. Armstrong and Edgar Armstrong and his sisters, Fannie Armstrong, Mrs. Earl Defabaugh (Florence), Mrs. F.E. Smith (Stella) and Mrs. C.F. Richards (Leoda).

Harrington's second loss in World War I was the death of Floyd K. Hinshaw, who was killed in France on October 8, 1918. He was a private in the 126 Infantry 32 Division. Floyd was born October 13, 1893 to Wilbur and May (Lacey) Hinshaw. This family saw more tragedy than most. It might be recalled that Luke Hinshaw and family came with the "Overlanders of 1845" and after a time in Oregon settled near Downs, Wash. Floyd's father, Wilbur, died in 1911, killed by a train, leaving a wife with five children. The body of Floyd Hinshaw was returned to the U.S. after the war. The stone for his grave was shipped from the east by army transport through the Panama Canal to San Francisco and from there by rail to Harrington. The marble marker was delivered by E.W. Huber, service officer for the Harrington Post of American Legion, in April 1940.

Another Harrington death of a service man was that of Sgt. Charles Scott, who also died of influenza, while in Detroit, Mich. Charles was born in 1892 in Harrington, the son of Rev. Edwin C. and Lettie A. (Smith) Scott. Charles had three brothers, Clarence, William and David. In spite of the epidemic, brief services were held at the cemetery. "As the deceased was a soldier he was paid due military honors by the Harrington Home Guard. It was not deemed advisable to have the whole guard turn out, but a firing squad represented the company. The squad was composed of Corporal Fred Johnston and Privates Reid, Reading, H.O. Jones, W.F. Taylor, Depre Morgan and Dubert and Clyde Partridge. Three volleys were fired over the casket which was draped in the folds of the American flag." (Citizen-Nov. 1, 1918)