Pomeroy Pioneer Portraits

Ten years ago

August 15, 2012

Though Bill Chandler retired as postmaster of the Pomeroy Post Office after 21 years at the end of July, he and his wife Sheli plan on remaining Garfield County residents, at least on a part-time basis. This good news-bad news scenario reflected Bill’s forecast of future U.S. Postal Service plans in general and for Pomeroy specifically. “People don’t have to worry about losing the post office here,” he said, because USPS officials last month raised the Pomeroy office to the next level in terms of size, essentially ensuring that the office will not make future closure lists. Because of its isolated situation, more than 30 miles from other post offices, Pomeroy was “never on the close list,” Bill said, but now patrons of the smaller offices that survived closure will feel the squeeze.

Blue Mountain Artisan Guild will hold classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays in August at the guild’s recently opened art center on Main St., next door to Victorian Rose. Guild president Mary Flerchinger said the opening class Thursday, Aug. 2, drew 17 students to learn watercolor painting from Cindy Johnson. The watercolor classes will continue on Thursdays through the month. The class on Tuesday, Aug. 7, was a joint effort between Friends of the Library and BMAG, with Mary teaching ceramic painting to 17 children. The artists painted ceramic squares that the guild will use for the utility sink backsplash in the art center. Students also took home a square.

Twenty-five years ago

August 20, 1997

Pomeroy’s community spirit is being recognized beyond Eastern Washington. An organization of residents has sold about 270 tickets to Saturday’s Mariner game with the New York Yankees in Seattle, as part of an effort to obtain a $75,000 grant from the ball club and Boeing to build three ballfields. The Mariners’ organization was so impressed by the showing that it has asked the local group to select someone to throw out the first ball of Saturday’s game. Merri Lee Keatts, one of the committee members in charge of ticket sales in Pomeroy, said they decided to select a player from the 1997 Pirate baseball team who had a ticket to the game. In a drawing with five entrants, Bill Fruh’s name was picked and the 1997 PHS graduate will take to the mound in the Kingdome. Fruh, who pitched for the Pirates during his senior season, said he just wants to get the ball to the plate.

At last week Wednesday’s meeting of the Washington State Board of Health at Pomeroy High School, Garfield County Public Health District nursing director Patty Appel told board that thought the district has limited manpower resources and funds, it is still required to provide “the same diversity of services” as larger districts. Appel said the state’s administrative standards were “overwhelming” for small districts, which needed grants and support funding for state-mandated programs.

Fifty years ago

August 17, 1972

Numerous Garfield County residents were among thousands of people across the northwestern United States and Canada who saw a strange “ball of fire” streak across the skies Thursday afternoon, Aug. 10. Local residents, such as Ed Francisco, called the object which headed from south to north a burning dish orange or blue ball of fire with a long vapor trail and it traveled faster than an airplane. But Buzz Livingstone and Stuart Murphy, traveling on the Gould City-Mayview Road, at 12:47 a.m. Friday morning, or just about 11 hours after the 1:30 p.m. Thursday sighting, reported observing a similar phenomenon. They said it looked like something had exploded and was burning…It had bright flame and a shower of sparks, and the vapor trail looked like a welding arc.

“Race horses live better than we do”, states Kathy Kaushe who has returned from a trip to Lexington, Kentucky. Kathy received the trip to Kentucky by being chosen one of the top two showmen in the Washington State Junior Angus Showmanship contest. State Representative Jeff Hall of Renton and Kathy were accompanied by Chet Moon of Moonacres Angus Ranch, Connell. The contest was held at the Angus Futurity Show which was at Keeneland Race Track in Lexington. There were 76 showmen at the 6th Nation Junior Showmanship contest. Kathy placed third in a class of fifteen showmen.

Seventy-five years ago

August 21, 1947

Films of the x-ray pictures taken at the time the mobile unit visited Pomeroy, April 21 and 22, have been returned to county health officer, Dr. J.W. Sherfey, with the following results: There were 729 w-rays taken, 710 of these being negative. Sixteen films were not negative; calcification 4; pleurisy 2; cardiac 1; questionable TB 7; minimal TB 1; requests for larger film 2; missing films 3. Films of persons who did not have a negative report have been turned over the their family physician and a request has been sent, either by the physician or the executive secretary of the tuberculosis league to report at the doctor’s office. Persons whose films were missing have been notified. Any person x-rayed who has not received a request to report to his doctor had a negative film.

“The state attorney general has ruled that the policy governing the granting of relief and medical care to the residents of Garfield County is to be set by the state department of public welfare in Olympia, and not by the Garfield County commissioners,” H.M. Light, chairman of Garfield county’s board of commissioners, said today. “When the 1947 legislature had ended, commissioners throughout the state, relying on the obvious intent of the legislators to return this entirely local problem to local hands for administration, shouldered the new burden of policy-making and fund distribution willingly,” Light added. “Working through our Washington State Association of County Commissioners, counties of the state drafted and put into operation a basic uniform policy to govern the granting of aid to those in need, and medical care. The attorney general’s opinion, however, discharges us completely.”

One hundred years ago

August 19, 1922

J.M. McKeirnan says Louis Waldher is the purchaser of the first combined harvester that will be turned out the J.I. Case manufacturing company. This company has made arrangements to add what they call a harvester-thresher line of products, Mr. McKeirnan states, and will put 500 of the new harvesters on the market for sale next year. The Case company is said to be the second largest concern manufacturing farm implements and machinery in the world. During their stay in Pomeroy the company president and vice-president were shown about town by Mr. McKeirnan and declared it to be one of the finest little cities they had seen on their trip through the northwest.

Willie Kuhnan, who broke jail last winter, was located at Genesee and returned here by Deputy Sheriff Ellis Powell. Kuhnan, it will be remembered, was wanted for the larceny of an automobile tire and other articles from the Sleeman garage west of town. His brother, who was arrested with him in January, was convicted of petit larceny.