THE YEAR IN REVIEW

March

The Odessa High School boys basketball team took fourth place at the state 1B tournament in Spokane last week after a grueling post-season of play. Two Odessa boys earned medals for sportsmanship along the way, Jayd Jennings and Marcus King.

RDO Equipment Co. announced the acquisition of equipment dealership Evergreen Implement at the end of February. This adds stores in Coulee City, Moses Lake, Othello, Pasco and Ritzville to RDO Equipment Co.’s existing network, which includes Pasco and Sunnyside in the state of Washington.

Fifth-grader Holden Iverson, son of Brenik and Kamie Iverson of Odessa, found the first buttercup of 2018 in the Odessa area.

Brian Clavel, Tom Clavel and Nick Stewart were named Persons of the Year at the Chamber of Commerce annual banquet and business meeting. Zach Schafer and his wife Katie received the Chamber’s Business of the Year award on behalf of Rocky Coulee Brewing Co.

Monday, March 19, Fronen Steppdecker, the Odessa Quilt Club, hosted their 23rd Annual Quilt Til You Wilt, one-day retreat at the Odessa Community Center. The 90 participants came from around the state, some from as far way as Walla Walla, Seattle, Omak and Spokane, for the day of quilting demonstrations and project show and tell.

Improving the lives of Odessa senior citizens has been the focus of FBLA’s community service project. Thanks to a $2,500 prize from Spokane Teacher’s Credit Union, the Odessa FBLA chapter has been able to assist in many ways. Kelly Weber from Odessa’s Physical Therapy Department leads SAIL (Stay Active and Independent for Life) classes twice a week at the Old Town Hall for all seniors age 65 and older.

April

On April 2, 2018, 10 students spent the first day of spring break in the basement of the Odessa Memorial Healthcare Center becoming certificated babysitters. This brings the total to 103 students who have participated in a Babysitting Basics class. Beginning in 2010, the Odessa Healthcare Foundation, as part of their goal to provide health education to our community, began sponsoring this class for youth interested in improving their skills as babysitters.

Garrett Marvin, an officer with the Liquor and Cannabis Control Board of Washington state, was in Odessa to present a tutorial on the rights and obligations of servers of alcohol. The two main issues of concern in terms of compliance with state laws are checking identification to ensure that alcohol is not sold to minors (anyone under the age of 21) and determining when a customer might be over-served (sold or given more alcohol while already obviously inebriated).

For competitors and spectators at the 48th annual Desert 100 endurance race put on by the Stumpjumpers Motorcycle Club based in Mountlake Terrace, Wash., it was an exciting weekend. Race organizers opened the campsite at noon on Thursday, April 5, a day earlier than in previous years. Once again, the line to get in formed prior to the opening time as early birds vied for the prime camping spots. Recreational vehicles and tents of all types and sizes converged at the corner of State Route 28 and Irby Road to establish a small, temporary city of approximately 5,000 inhabitants.

Spring is finally here and it is also time for Odessa’s annual Spring Fling, with garage sales all over town, the crowd-pleasing quilt show and car show, the horseshoes tournament at Finney Field and many other activities.

May

The Odessa Community Center was filled almost to capacity last Friday evening for the 27th Annual Wine Tasting, Microbrew Sampling & Auctions. Chuck Yarbro was the auctioneer for the evening and kept the action moving right along with assistance from Todd King, Brenik Iverson, Bill Bell and others who served as his spotters.

Larry Weber was named the 2018 District 7 baseball coach of the year at the District Tournament at Northwest Christian High School last Saturday. On Saturday, the Tigers took second place in the District following a 2-0 loss to ACH.

Odessa High School has been awarded $10,000 for their school’s nonprofit of choice and $2,000 in technology grants as one of the winners of the Lead2Feed Challenge. Through the Lead2Feed program, Odessa High School students identified the greatest needs of Odessa senior citizens—loneliness, exercise, assistance and nutrition—and addressed these issues by cooking meals, planning social events and hosting exercise classes.

Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05) and Peter DeFazio (OR-4), co-chairs of the bipartisan Northwest Energy Caucus, applauded the start of formal re-negotiations between the United States and Canada on the Columbia River Treaty, May 29 and 30 in Washington, D.C.