This Week in Odessa History

100 years ago

Sept. 10, 1920

Odessa public schools opened Monday for the 1920-1921 school year. High school enrollment is 51, the largest in the history of the school. The curriculum will be the same as the previous year, with the only change being the addition of the French language. Debate and athletics will continue to be offered. Last year the debate team won the district championship competing against such schools as Wenatchee and North Central and Lewis & Clark of Spokane.

Reports of three mountain lions at the Fred Schneider place north of town, prompting an SOS call via telephone, wrought up Odessa sportsmen to go on a wild lion hunt Saturday morning. Most thought it strange that cougars would come out of the timber to throw a scare into the farming folk. Several farmers came to town to report that Dan Haase, on horseback and armed with a rifle, had driven the beasts from the Schneider ranch. So four carloads of men headed out to the head of Pacific lake to join the hunt. Several hours of searching and beating the sagebrush proved fruitless, and the men began to doubt the presence of any big game whatsoever. The following day it was learned that Fred Torrey’s dog returned home with a bullet hole in him, evidently from Haase’s rifle.

75 years ago

Sept. 13, 1945

Ray Suko of Ray’s Tractor and Welding placed a contract for construction of a modern garage building on the lot east of the Moore store on First Avenue. The site in which Suko has been operating has been rented to William Wenz, until recently an employee of the Odessa Trading Company’s machine shop. Wenz will operate a repair shop there in the near future.

Weddings announced in this issue of The Record were those of Colleen Oliver and Leslie Schrag, Dorothy Wagner and Arthur Grening, Garnita Foster and Harvey Schell, Alice Bischoff and Walter Spies, Aloma Kappel and Norman Bischoff.

Enrollment in the Odessa schools was 216 in the grades and 91 in the high school for a total of 307.

Three Odessa area youths left for the army this week, Gerald Schafer and Ivan Walter of Odessa and Herbert Spies of Marlin.

50 years ago

Sept. 10, 1970

Hydrologists of the U.S. Geological Survey Water Resources Division will arrive Sept. 14 to measure pumping levels and line pressures in as many irrigation wells in the Odessa area as possible. Results will be used to determine the overall ground pumpage from this area, which increased from about 16,000 acre-feet in 1963 to 74,000 acre-feet in 1968.

The Lincoln County Fair was underway in Davenport. Beverly Johnson of Odessa participated in the 4-H dress revue wearing garments they had completed as part of their 4-H project.

With the largest football turnout in history, 50 young men and 11 returning lettermen, the Odessa Tiger football team will open their season Friday night, under the lights if all goes well. After a four-win, four-loss season last year for then first-year coach Myron Kramer, the mentor is looking forward to a good 1970 season.

25 years ago

Sept. 14, 1995

Odessa’s 25th Deutschesfest was in full swing, with Odessa folks optimistic about having a record year in terms of visitors.

The Odessa Lions Club members completed work on a concrete pad and shelter in the southeast corner of Reiman Park as their most recent civic improvement project.