Coulee Recollections

Ten Years Ago

The town of Coulee Dam has all of the money it needs now to begin building a water filtration plant by the end of this year.

While most people in their 70s might spend time with their children and grandchildren in the comfort of their homes, an Elmer City woman spends her reunion time with her children hunting moose in the wilds of Alaska. Every year for the past six or seven years, Jean Nelson has gone up to a shack made of tar paper, a couple of boards and a plastic tarp located approximately 70 miles north of Fairbanks, Alaska.

A trip to St. Louis and back in a classic car came to an abrupt end several weeks ago when an accident severely damaged a Coulee Dam man’s Model-T. Jack Everett and his son Dave Everett were driving in a 1923 Model-T on a Kansas highway Sept. 22 when a pickup truck ran into the back of the Model-T. The accident knocked the car off the road, breaking Jack’s collarbone and giving Dave some bumps and bruises.

Twenty Years Ago

The Federal Environmental Protection Agency is investigating a gas leak at the Coulee Express Mini Mart on Roosevelt Drive in Coulee Dam. Approximately 1,000 gallons of gas reportedly leaked into the ground.

Questions raised by the governor’s office on the proposed state-tribal gambling pact with the Colville Confederated Tribes may have effectively killed the agreement - nearly four years in the making. The governor is not likely to budge, and the Tribes will negotiate no further.

A class project last spring produced some big results for a couple of Sue Bjorklund’s former students. Jeff Ricks and Amanda Poch planted pumpkin seeds as part of a science lesson. The students did daily observations of the seed in their science journal before taking them home for the summer. Then Ricks and Poch added lots of water and some Miracle Grow to produce a couple of huge pumpkins. Ricks’ weighed 183 pounds with a circumference of 7 feed 3 inches. Poch raised two pumpkins of 172 and 153 pounds. The bigger one had a circumference of 6 feet 10 inches.

In sports, the Raider football team was defeated by Cashmere Bulldogs 48-6. The Lady Raider volleyball team was defeated twice in the week dropping it from the top of the CTL League to the middle.

Thirty Years Ago

During the past few weeks burglars have been busy in the Grand Coulee Dam area and added two more victims to their list over the past weekend. Burglarized Saturday and early Sunday morning were The Sage Inn and Sears Order Office in Grand Coulee. They join a list that included Tri City Auto Parts. In Coulee Dam, Terry Everts of the Good Deal Food Store reported that someone had broken the glass from the front door of the store and had entered and taken several cases of beer and other items.

It was an exciting hunting season for the Shaars last Saturday when a three point buck deer and a black bear were bagged right next to their orchard.

John and Carolyn McNeil are happy to announce the birth of their daughter Molly Christine. She was born Sept. 30, in the Deaconess Hospital in Spokane.

Forty Years Ago

The biggest jack’o lantern in the Grand Coulee Dam area may well come from the seeds that young Kenny Neddo, Coulee Dam, planted in the garden of his parents Dan and Patty Neddo. One of his biggest pumpkins weighed in at over 90 pounds.

Mr. and Mrs. Richard Behrens, Grand Coulee, announce the engagement and forthcoming marriage of their daughter, Cathy, to Mr. William M. Evans, son of Mr. and Mrs. Emmett Evans Sr. of Mobile Ala. The wedding is planned for Dec. 30.

Craig Nelson son of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Nelson of Elmer City was elected again the Raider of the Week by the football team at Lake Roosevelt High School.

Displaying ribbons and handiwork were members of the Groovy Group 4-H Club. They included Kristen Jones, Tresa Stanley, Christa Schultes, Cecelia Griffin, Becky Spangelo, John-Tom Konzal, Jim Konzal, Tim Tucker, Stoney Davis, Tim Benhardt, Rita Konzal and Fess Schultes.

Fifty Years Ago

The door will open wide next Monday on a new phase of service and convenience for the Grand Coulee area that being the door of the new Grand Coulee branch of Security State Bank. Manage will be Bill Brashears who moved here recently with his wife Betty, two daughters, Lynne and Lorene and son Dale. Assisting in the bank will be two Grand Coulee women, Mrs. Gordon (Kathy) Larson and Mrs. Carl (Lavina) Leith.

It was announced today by Julian S. Agranoff, Grant County Planning Director, that those being observed building and remodeling in the county without a building permit will be in direct violation of the state law and the Grant County Zoning Ordinance and will be charged with a misdemeanor and a fine of not more then $300 or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding 90 days. An intensive crackdown on offenders is being conducted and will continue county wide until unauthorized building ceases.

Sixty Years Ago

As a consequence of a survey made in Coulee Dam several months ago, three new sirens are being installed to supplement the ones already in place. The largest of the three is being placed atop the community building. The other two will be placed on top of the hose drying tower of the fire station and on a pole at 11th and Camas.

Defeat marred an otherwise beautiful evening for the Coulee Dam Beavers when they played Oroville Hornets last Friday. The final score was 18-12.

Foreign visitors at Grand Coulee Dam recently were Mijalko Todorovic, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry at Belgrade, Yugoslavia, Gasta Nilsson, deputy director of the royal board of waterfalls in Sweden and Tore Nilsson, chief engineer of the same board.

Showing at the Coulee Dam Theater will be the official fight film with Jersey Joe Walcott and Rocky Marciano.