Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
100 years ago
The Odessa Record
August 3, 1919
News updates: That fellow started something when he suggested Nemo as a good banishing point for Kaiser Bill. Now comes Guy Harvey with the suggestion that he be sent to Waukesha, and if there is objection to this, either South Waukensha or Kankakee.
The Rev. J.C. Evans family leaves this week for Loon lake where they plan to spend a vacation.
Large crowds turned out for the picture, “Mickey,” brought here by the alumni. Expenses were so heavy that the alumni and theater barely broke even.
Otto McMinney, who has been grading two miles of the road south from Marlin toward Ruff is ready to start graveling. Gravel will be hauled in a big Velie truck which carries three yards of gravel to a load.
Lt. Lloyd Kelso and his Curtis government type airplane have been hired by the business men to fly and do stunts here on Sunday. The plane will land on a strip west of the cemetery.
The Rev. R.P.O. Schuetze is leaving Ruff for a new church at Tillamook, Oregon.
Deposits in Lincoln county banks total over five million dollars.
Lincoln county was presented two large Nash trucks by the war department, the only expense being payment of the freight.
Dominie Tolouse, 9, was injured when thrown from a saddle pony north of town.
Gus Weber has returned to his job at the Finney Lumber company, which he left to enlist in the army over a year ago.
Reinhold Gans has accepted a position as manager of the Odessa Union warehouse station at Irby.
Owing to harvest the crowd at the Davies dance Saturday night was smaller than usual.
Mrs. M. McMillen received serious burns while rescuing her two children from a burning barn at their home north of Odessa. The children were in the loft, playing with matches they had found in a hired man’s pocket.
After checking results in the past war it is conceded that the automobile helped win the war, but the greatest factor was still the horse, who drew the guns forward, brought up rations and ammunition over terrain the motors could not traverse.
75 years ago
The Odessa Record
August 3, 1944
Weary travelers while away time: Four times daily a crowd of motor bus patrons descend upon the town, one of the station points where a lunch period is provided. Restless after their long ride, they wander about the town until time for leaving is called.
At the breakfast stop the routine is invariable. Civilians and service men start down the street, looking for a business house that is open, wander across to the city hall and examine the honor roll of service men. Finding an open door, the first request is for a scenic postcard that will show some correspondent the region they are traversing.
Cooler weather relieves area: The excessive heat wave of last week was broken this week. Last Thursday saw the thermometer register 99, and Friday 98. By Saturday the heat was breaking, the reading dropping to 92, and then to 80 on Sunday and Monday, rising to 84 on Tuesday and to 88 on Wednesday.
No rainfall was recorded in town, although scattered rains were reported from around the farm area.
Wins fellowship at state university: Lucille E. Reiman has been awarded the Smith-Hughes fellowship at the University of Washington school of home economics. She has resigned her position at Ellensburg high school where she has been teaching this past year, to begin work at the university in November under Dr. Day Monroe.
Evaluation of home economics films will be the theme of her research and thesis used toward a master of arts degree in home economics education.
Wheat rolling to warehouses: Harvest has passed its peak in the Odessa area, a number of machines having pulled in. Some of the larger operators will be going for an additional two weeks.
Wheat receipts at warehouses have been lighter this year than last, when a bumper crop was taken off. The present crop is in excess of the normal yield for the district and the wheat price of over one dollar assures good financial returns.
Harvesting weather has been ideal, the only pause coming on Monday, when scattered rainfall delayed the morning start. At the John Hopp place harvest could not get underway before noon. The surrounding places had varying amounts of moisture and delays were shorter.
Machine damage has been kept under control to a great extent this year with few long delays. Trucks have been taken a beating in the loose wheat soil and at one garage there were 10 trucks waiting for minor repairs at one time recently.
50 years ago
The Odessa Record
July 31, 1969
New doctor to start practice here; Anderson returning; Technologist to assist: John E. Gahringer, Jr., M.D., will begin a medical practice here next week, according to an announcement being made by the doctor this week. He has purchased the practice and Odessa clinic building from Dr. Kenneth E. Gudgel who has recently moved to Spokane.
Dr. Gahringer has practiced in the Wenatchee and Waterville areas for many years. The business office will be opened here in the clinic on Tuesday, August 5, for scheduling of appointments. Office hours for the doctor will begin next Thursday, it is stated.
Past x-ray and many business records are being kept on file at the clinic for the convenience of area patients, it is reported.
Dr. Gahringer, his wife, Marilyn, and daughter, Michelle, will be residing at the Hill Villa apartments in south Odessa, Michelle will be a senior at Odessa high school this fall. Mrs. Gahringer, a teacher of piano, is musically talented.
Dr. Gudgel is currently in Alaska, according to a newspaper received by the Record editor from Nome, Alaska. Dr. Gudgel and his son, Ken, were on the plane which W. C. Raugust took to Alaska recently. The doctor is working temporarily at the Maynard McDougall Memorial hospital in Nome.
Another doctor, familiar to most Odessa area residents, is expected to return to practice here again soon. That is Dr. James L. Anderson. He has been in Seattle for over a year, but the big-city life has lost its appeal. Household goods have arrived for the Andersons. They will be living in the former Ben Smith home on the south hill. The doctor will re-open his practice in Odessa in September, at the earliest, it is reported. Location of his office facility has not been announced.
Al Kent, who recently received his discharge from the U.S. Air Force at Fairchild AFB, is expected to be arriving in Odessa in September to work with Dr. Jesse Q. Sewell in his capacity of Medical Technologist. The family household goods have already been moved from the Base in Spokane to Odessa.
Burglary at local Richfield station: The Richfield service station in Odessa was burglarized sometime late Saturday night or early Sunday morning. A back window at the station had been broken, through which the burglar or burglars gained entry.
Reported missing is $13 in coins taken from the cash register, according to investigating officers Bob Nolan of the sheriff’s office and Ray Buxton, police chief.
A total of $30 was stolen in a burglary of a service station in Wilbur the same night, according to Sheriff Coley, which would indicate that the two break-ins may have been by the same party.
Chief investigating officer Nolan of the sheriff’s office is continuing the investigation.
Dry pea harvest brings good yields under Odessa area irrigation: The dry pea harvest in the Odessa area is bringing in some good yields. Peas being hauled to Irby for shipment to the Crites-Moscow Growers, Inc. at Moscow, Idaho, indicate yields of as much as 4,000 pounds per acre. A 3,000-lb. yield is considered to be a good crop.
Robert Schell was hauling peas from a 90-acre irrigated field last week which were running 4,000 lbs. per acre. Others in that area were reporting similar production.
Tom Druffel, contractor for the Crites-Moscow Growers, is working with Walter Ott at Irby where the dry peas are being hauled, weighed and loaded aboard railway flatcars. A new spur was run by the Great Northern for the Odessa Union Warehouse. Concrete aprons along the track and a concrete ramp has been poured for the loading operation.
Raising peas for the Idaho firm are Maurice Weishaar, Daryl Schroeder, Louis Wraspir, Alvin Fink, Earl (Bill) Iverson, Harvey and Robert Schell. They will be shipped to Moscow for processing.
Most of the peas are sold in Wisconsin and Canada, high humidity areas, where seed peas can’t be raised, Druffel explains. Seventy-five to eighty flatcars are expected to be shipped from the new facilities at Irby. The peas are brought from the farms in large crates on flatbed trucks. The crates are transferred to railway cars for out-of-state shipment. The crates, stored at Irby, are brought in from Idaho on semi-trucks and trailers.
Farmers can expect a good return on their peas––much better than that from wheat. The average price paid is $5.50 per pound.
Less fertilizer is used than for wheat, Mr. Druffel reports, however a more intense watering program is required. Five to seven coverings of a crop are necessary. Twelve-hour sets are used. Moving of pipe become a bit difficult when the vines reach waist high with their many tentacles.
Harvesting hasn’t created any major problem for the farmers in that their regular wheat combines are used. A two-to-three-hour conversion is necessary on a harvester before it can be utilized for dry peas, Druffel said.
Wheat? There’d been very little of it brought into the Irby station as of last week, Walt Ott reports.
25 years ago
The Odessa Record
August 4, 1994
Plans for 24th Deutschesfest set in motion: With only six weeks until the 24th annual Deutschesfest, the organizers of Odessa’s annual festival in celebration of its German Russian heritage, next week will shift into gear to get their plans into motion.
Already the aroma of freshly baked cabbage rolls and kraut ranza are issuing from Odessa kitchens as church and civic organizations prepare German food specialties, not by the dozen but sometimes by the thousand, for sale at the Fest from September 15 to 18. Odessa commercial sausage makers have begun full production to supply the need.
All committee chairpersons of Deutschesfest events have been called to a meeting next Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. by Odessa Chamber of Commerce president Dale Hunt. They will discuss a variety of topics concerning Fest strategy and plans.
The painting of light poles along three blocks of downtown First Avenue should be completed by next Saturday, Hunt said. Volunteer crews have turned out for four Saturdays to do the work. They missed the Saturday before last because of extreme heat. It was found that paint on some of the poles has blistered and run. Some of these may have to be repainted. Twelve poles are involved in the refurbishment program, which also includes rewiring and the attachment of brackets for new banners the Chamber has ordered.
The poles are being painted a canary yellow to blend with blue backgrounds and sunset colors of the banners. These will be in place in time for the fest, Hunt said.
The FFA Alumni crew has stepped up its program to keep the year-old flowering cherry trees on First Avenue alive and well during the heat wave which has gripped Odessa for the past two weeks.
The Chamber hired the FFA Alumni to water the trees at least twice a month during the summer for a fee of $300. Even with this watering, merchants and business and professional people have been expected to keep the trees moist during the extreme heat with additional watering.
At least one tree was badly wilted and a few others has occasional branches with withered leaves early this week. Hunt said expanded effort on the part of downtown business operators and the watering crew probably would restore all of the trees so that they will look their best in time for the Fest.
The Chamber will resume regular meeting on August 16, following a summer recess. Its principal business for the month to follow, of course, will be preparation for the Fest.
Area hit by smoke, heat wave: Smoke from the massive wildfires in the foothills of the Cascades continued to cast a purple haze over the Odessa area this week.
Although a temperature inversion calmed winds and halted the spread of fires near Leavenworth and Entiat, fires continued to burn at a slower pace. They had consumed more than 200 square miles of forest as of Monday.
The pall was so heavy over Odessa last Friday morning, one could not get a clear view of the full length of First Avenue. Persons wearing contact lenses complained of burning eyes. There were no reports of residents suffering from respiratory disorders due to the smoke-infested atmosphere.
“It looks just like Beverly Hills during a smog alert,” one observer was heard to say on Saturday. The intense smoke cover subsided Friday afternoon, only to return again on Saturday and Sunday to a somewhat lesser degree.
Travelers to Spokane noted that the smoke began to dissipate just east of Mohler. A line between Lamona and Mohler, where altitude rises above 2,000 feet, usually represents climate differences between eastern and western Lincoln County. To the east, it may snow or rain, while to the west it will remain dry. Dust storms from the southwest usually have spent their force by the time they reach that point.
The sight and smell of smoke persisted over Odessa this week, although it had lessened considerably by late Tuesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, there was no respite in the heat wave. Temperatures have reached at least 90 degrees in Odessa every day for the past two weeks. Except on two or three occasions, and last Saturday was one of them, nights have been pleasantly cool.
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