Reiker Motor Co.; bakery adds equipment; Talgo streaks through

100 years ago

The Odessa Record

November 9, 1919

News updates: The Odessa high school debating team will meet Chelan high school tonight on the question, “Resolved, that the Immigration of Foreign Laborers to the United States should be prohibited for a period of eight years.”

Odessa will observe Armistice day with the Odessa Concert band, which has furnished 10 men to the armed forces from its membership of 22, donating all music for the day. A patriotic talk will be given to commemorate the ending of the war just a year ago.

Laney brothers sold a half section of wheat land to Jacob Lenhart and will devote their time entirely to the cattle business.

Conrad Lenhart purchased the R. M. Kelly home on the south side Tuesday.

The Rieker Motor company opened for business with a completely remodeled building.

Fords are hard to get and L. A. Guth has 11 orders and six cars, so it means filling orders according to the time they were placed.

W. L. Michaelsen and R. M. Kelly have started work raising the $200 foreign mission quota assigned the English Congregational church.

C. L. McCoy sold his three quarter section ranch to G. W. Finney.

Rev. H. P. Christensen started a confirmation class this week, with eight boys and two girls, including Louis Frederick, Oscar Kuest, August Heimbigner, Leo Grimm, Daniel Heimbigner, Edwin Kuest, Henry Bastrom, Christ Horn and the Misses Mary Frederick and Oneida Kruse.

Marcus Rieke is temporarily laid up with a broken toe, sustained when his father backed the family car over his foot.

The Rev. E. Huber has returned from the Baptist convention at Startup, and while away visited the College of Another Chance, officially known as the Monroe reformatory.

75 years ago

The Odessa Record

November 9, 1944

Talkington sells business block: The Talkington building was sold on Monday to W.C. Raugust by Wayne Talkington, who was here from Pomeroy to close the deal. The building originally consisted of three store rooms, one of which was used as a warehouse by the Odessa Trading company, and the other as OPA headquarters. The portion of the building housing the Roxy theatre had been purchased earlier by William Voise, who operates the theatre.

In a recent deal Jacob Jeske sold his carpenter shop and the lot it occupies to the Odessa Trading company, who are disposing of the building and will use the lots for implement storage and assemblage. The land involved is along the new survey and right of way purchase made by the state for a highway revision.

It is reported that Mr. and Mrs. Harold Lesser have purchased the former Jacob Schlimmer home from Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Wagner, Marlin, who had just recently purchased the place.

Bakery adds new speed equipment: The Odessa Bakery has been adding new equipment during the week, including a new reel type oven and a high speed mixer.

The new oven permits reversing the order in which bread is placed inside, so that loaves are given equal time in the oven. This is accomplished by a large reel which carries the bread pans.

Installing the oven attracted much attention as it was necessary to remove a front window from the bakery and a portion of the interior partition.

Fred E. Smith is killed in action: Pvt. Fred E. Smith, 19, infantryman, was killed in action October 10 in Germany, stated a telegram received during the weekend from the war department by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. W. P. Smith of Odessa.

He was one of three sons in service, Lawrence in the navy and Wilfred in the army. Fred had left for overseas service on August 19 and apparently had been in action for about a week.

A memorial Requiem Mass was held in his honor at the St. Joseph’s Catholic church on Tuesday morning, the Rev. Fr. Brennan officiating.

He is survived by his parents, one sister, Mrs. Gottlieb Giese, Wilson Creek, and five brothers, Wilfred, of the army; Lawrence, of the navy, and Francis, James and Benny, at the home.

50 years ago

The Odessa Record

November 6, 1969

Veterans Day dinner is announced for Tuesday evening: The annual Veterans Day dinner will be held on November 11 at the VFW hall at 6:30 p.m. Rev. B.M. Schafer will be the guest speaker.

All veterans and their families are invited to attend the annual event.

Invited guests will be the Gold Star mothers. They are Mrs. Dan Haase, Mrs. Henry Derr, Mrs. Fred Deife, Mrs. Henry Hein, Mrs. Christine Schell, Mrs. Andrew Jeske and Mrs. W. L. Smith.

Boys’ State and Girls’ State delegates will be on the program. They are Bill Schlimmer, son of Mr. and Mrs. Laddie Schlimmer; Doug Meek, son of Mr. and Mrs. C.E. Meek; Dave Keller, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Keller; Randy Schorzman, son of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Schorzman; Janet Traylor, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Merlin Traylor.

Winston Weber will be the emcee of the dinner meeting. The function is a sponsored event by the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion.

Community calendar drive is announced: Odessa high school music department has started its annual community band calendar drive. Profits this year will go toward the purchase of acoustical shells for the choir.

People new to the community who would like their names, birthdays and anniversaries listed on the calendar should either contact a high school music student or George Roper at the grade school, 982-2603.

The band and choir are currently working on music for the Bi-county Music Festival, which will be held in Lind November 15. There will be a concert that evening in the Lind high school. Tickets may be purchased from Mr. Roper.

Tigers win half of season games: Although defeated Friday night at Ritzville by a 35-0 score, the Odessa Tiger football team ended season play with a 4-4 record, finishing fifth in the Bi-County.

After winning the first two games of the season––Lind 8-18 and Freeman 0-8, the Tigers dropped three in a row to Grand Coulee 14-0, Reardan 18-0 and Wilbur 24-12. Two wins followed against Liberty 6-8 and Davenport 0-6.

Ritzville scored six points in the first quarter. This score stood at half time. The Broncos picked up eight points in the third quarter then put the frosting on the cake with 21 tallied in the final period.

“Our kids did a good job,” Coach Myron Kramer stated. “They stayed with them for three quarters.”

The coach cites senior linebacker and fullback Dave Keller as outstanding both offensively and defensively, but especially in the latter category. “He makes tackles all over the field,” Kramer says. Jim Weber, junior quarterback and linebacker, also got special praise.

Kramer is a new football coach for Odessa this year. He is on the elementary school staff. His assistant has been Jack Hester, wrestling coach and physical education instructor.

25 years ago

The Odessa Record

November 10, 1994

Talgo streaks through town unnoticed: There was the familiar wail of the Amtrak whistle as the 10-car train streaked by Odessa’s two grade crossings of the Burlington Northern Railroad.

Only a handful of spectators were near the tracks, where Odessa’s depot once stood, to see the Talgo, the high-speed train from Spain, making its way from Spokane to Ephrata on Monday.

The train is in Washington under sponsorship of the state Department of Transportation, which is testing it for possible high-speed rail service on the Coast and eventually between Spokane and Seattle.

The low-slung train, with its blue and gray cars, uses the sports car principle of a low center of gravity to attain speed. Its high velocity can’t be demonstrated on cross-state tracks, however, because by law speeds of trains are limited to 65 miles an hour.

The Talgo has been around since 1935, when it was developed for high-speed service between Madrid and Barcelona. Its design has been greatly advanced and perfected since then, and today Talgos operate throughout Spain, just as fast trains ply most European countries, where high-speed rail transportation is considered essential.

The visiting Talgo had been on display Monday morning in Spokane at the Intermodal Transportation Center, formerly the Amtrak station. When it passed through Odessa at 3:12 p.m., pulled by an Amtrak locomotive, it was en route to the new intermodal center in Ephrata, which was about to be dedicated.

Cruisers may need new turn point: In London they’re known as roundabouts and in Paris they’re called rond points. Odessa has one, too, and it’s commonly referred to as the Y.

The Y is the eastern terminus of Odessa’s teenage cruising set. It’s a traffic island at the junction of East First Avenue and Dobson Road. The cruisers turn around the island, then head west again on First Avenue. The turn-around place at the other end of the street is in front of the Tiger Inn.

Cruising is lawful, and no one objects to teenage fun. But at night, residents living near the Y have complained that as vehicles make the U-turn the headlights shine into their windows. It is also said that the lights could be an inconvenience to guests at the Odessa Motel.

Harold Dean Costlow appeared at the meeting of the Odessa Town Council Monday night to propose that one of the Y’s roadways be closed and that the traffic island be revised to form a single, two-way junction at First Avenue and Dobson Road.

Council members questioned where teenagers would then find a place to turn around while cruising. Police Chief Randy Carlson said plans for any revision would have to be well researched, as a single roadway in place of the Y might pose safety hazards. He said changes would have to meet the code of the state Department of Transportation, as First Avenue is the route of State Highway 28.

EPA hearing on sole source set for Nov. 15: The second round of public hearings on the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to designate the Eastern Washington Columbia Plateau aquifer system as a “sole source” aquifer will begin next Tuesday in Ritzville.

The EPA is holding the hearings to receive testimony for those opposing or supporting the Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute’s petition for the sole source designation.

In Ritzville a public meeting will begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday, November 15, in the American Legion Hall, followed by a public hearing at 8 p.m.