Pomeroy Pioneer Portraits

Ten Years Ago

April 3, 2013

Hundreds of kids and parents heeded Spinners Club president Larry Ledgerwood's command to "find some eggs" at Saturday's annual Easter Egg Hunt at the City Park, happily scooping them up by the handfuls. A couple thousand eggs, with prizes ranging from candy to cash to new bicycles, and a beautiful Easter weekend afternoon, the well-mannered crowd swept through the park and harvested the eggs in minutes.

Garfield County's annual salute to its horse-and-mule-powered farming history takes is set forSaturday and Sunday at the county Fairgrounds. The event is sponsored by Eastern Washington Agricultural Museum, and the Garfield County Fair and will feature an exhibit of John Deere memorabilia. The museum is also expecting a "tumble bug" or somersault-type 2-bottom, 2-way plow from Yakima.

Twenty Five Years Ago

April 1, 1998

The Pomeroy Ranger District snow grooming crew of Rich Martin, Steve Carlson, Bill Bowles and Ken Bott has received the Washington State Snowmobile Association's Groomer of the Year award for the 1996-97 season. The crew was nominated by the Mt. Misery Drifters snowmobile club and the club brought back the award from the WSSA annual convention in Winthrop.

Five Pomeroy High School music students performed with the Southeast Washington Music Educators' Association Honor Band and Choir in concert at Colfax High School. Tracy Wren (second soprano), Jessica Warren (first alto), Liz Phelps (second soprano) and Brandi Mulrony (first alto) performed with the choir and Aaron Walker (first alto sax) performed with the band.

Fifty Years Ago

March 29, 1973

Buzz Ruchert escaped injury Saturday when he set his plane down after scraping power lines on the old Polumsky place while spraying in the western part of the county. The entanglement damaged struts at the end of one wing, making it difficult to land, but he got the plane under control after a short time and got it down. A strut was obtained out of Walla Walla for a temporary repair, then the plane was ferried to Lewiston for permanent repairs. Ruchert brought the plane home Sunday night-so he was back spraying this week.

A major project-cleaning out the Tenth Street storm drains was completed two weeks ago, according to City Superintendent Max Rich. The system was plugged from Baldwin to the high school, and required several holes dug to reach the pipe and auger out mud, rocks and other materials plugging the system. Also cleaned out were the catch basins around town, and earlier a First Street sewer was cleaned. Plans from now on are to clean them out on a regular basis, barring emergencies.

Seventy Five Years Ago

April 1, 1948

Laura Matlock, superintendent of the Garfield County Memorial hospital, reports that during March, the first month the hospital has been in operation, 39 patients have been admitted. Of this number 35 were resident patients and four non-residents. Thirteen patients submitted to surgical operations.

With six candidates already selected, interest is running high in the queen contest to determine who will reign over the race meet on Pomeroy Downs, May 8-9. The sponsoring group and the name of each candidate is as follows: Mayview Grange, Helen Jean Koller; Jaycees, Evonne Pederson; Knights of Columbus, Violet Wernecke; Walter Rigsby Grange, Doreen Dixon; V.F.W., Carolyn McGreevy, and Phyla Nova, Carol Whitmore. Since other groups have signified their willingness to sponsor a queen candidate, the committee has decided to set up the deadline to Monday night.

One Hundred Years Ago

March 31, 1923

A horse-back riding club has been organized among members of the sophomore class. The initial trip of 20 miles was taken last Sunday. All the riders except one, Kenneth Obenland, who was thrown from his mount twice, had a "wonderful" time. The members in the class are Doris Crumpacker, Helen Meyers, Mary Thornton, Nellie Barron, Eleanor Sherfey, Obenland, Harry Ruark, Charles Bowne and Thomas Becker.

Garfield County farmers, as well as wheat growers in the state, are going to be slow about buying grain bags this season, unless there should be a big slump in prices. Bags are quoted at 12 cents and more. The question of purchasing bags was brought before the meeting of the Pomeroy Farmers' Union local last Saturday, and passed without action. To the contrary, there was some discussion of the possibility of binning wheat after threshing for a few months, with the hope that such action would have the result of lowering the price of bags.

One Hundred Twenty Five Years Ago

April 2, 1898

A fat steer is worth almost its weight in gold in the Klondike country. If some of our Garfield County feeders had a few of their monsters there, they would have a surer source of profit than if they owned a Klondike gold mine. We notice the statement that a Mr. Nicholson has just returned to Vancouver, B.C., with $110,000, the net proceeds of a herd of cattle, sold at Dawson City. He sold the cattle at a dollar a pound live weight. It is said that when the mail arrives there, the line is a mile long and a place on it half way up is worth $10. What an agreeable place to live in, and what a blessing those golden opportunities must be to the penniless prospector!

The old McBrearty house, on the corner of 1st and Columbia streets, is being re-papered, painted and renovated in good shape, and dame rumor has it that two of our well-known and worthy people will soon join their hearts and fortunes and go to housekeeping therein.