Coulee Recollections

Ten Years Ago

A local woman and her family must deal with mixed emotions as the nation prepares for war. She left Sunday to assume her post in the Army for at least the next several months in western Washington. Sara Zlateff, who makes her home on the outskirts of Lincoln County with her husband Pat, reported to Ft. Lewis Monday.

Starting Sept. 1, the sounds of concrete trucks and pile-drivers will replace motor homes and families at the Bureau of Reclamation’s Visitor Arrival Center. Public Affairs Officer Craig Sprankle said the bureau must make some modifications to the building to meet current building codes for fire and earthquakes and to make the building more accessible under the guidelines of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The Bonneville Power Administration officially made the decision last Wednesday to build more powerful transmission lines between Grand Coulee and Spokane.

Twenty Years Ago

A decision made in a Chicago board room last Saturday will affect the people in the Grand Coulee Dam area. The local Sears catalog outlet in Grand Coulee will close along with about 2,000 other such stores by the spring of 1994.

The Grand Coulee Dam School District is hoping for fair weather and a supportive community for next Tuesday’s levy election. If approved, the levy would generate $350,000 of income for the district in 1994 and $380,000 in 1995.

At 8:22 on a frigid Saturday morning, fire caught hold in a pile of rubble on the second story of Mom’s Tavern, a run-down establishment situated mid-block on historical B Street in Grand Coulee.

Lake Roosevelt High School senior Jessica Hall is in Pullman this week competing for the title of Washington’s Young Woman of the Year.

Close games continue for the Lake Roosevelt boys’ basketball team. Finally one of those close games helped the Raiders move up in the standings. They defeated Quincy 100 to 98.

Selected as Pirate of the Week was Adam Sprankle.

Thirty Years Ago

The Grand Coulee Dam Area’s 1983 New Year Baby has finally arrived. Joseph Thomas Wood arrived on Jan. 20 at 2:20 p.m. at Coulee Community Hospital. Just three minutes later, his brother Steven LaVern arrived. That’s right. Joseph weighed 5 lbs., 3 oz. and was 18 1/2 inches long and Steven weighed 5 lbs., 8 oz and was 17 1/2 inches long.

J.S. Saunders has been named Chief of the Engineers and Resources Division for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation at Grand Coulee.

Amateur boxing will be held Jan. 29 at the Nespelem Community Center.

The Wrath of Tonasket was a fitting title for last week’s basketball contest in which both Raider teams fell in the home gym. Varsity lost 59 to 42 and junior varsity 70 to 43.

The new Sears store will open its doors Feb. 1.

Samara Morger who has been serving an internship with Elgin, Kirkland and Syfred Advertising Company in Seattle, is in a McDonald’s restaurant commercial on TV.

Forty Years Ago

Robert Skordas placed first in the annual Genius Kit Contest held at the Coulee Dam City Hall last week. His winning exhibit was a carousel. Other top winners were Kenny Neddo and Denny McFarlin

Ben Myrick of Delano and his son, Wayne, of Electric City, have just finished their invention of a glass cutter which has been almost two years in the making.

Fifty Years Ago

Henry Moritz, deputy tax assessor for Douglas County, is calling on area ranchers in the Rex and Delrio areas this month.

Ronald H. LaCourse, son of Mr. and Mrs. Melvin LaCourse of Nespelem, has been promoted to cadet second lieutenant in the Eastern Washington State College Reserve Officers Training Corp.

Sixty Years Ago

Marie Baines, owner of the DeLuxe Hotel, recently returned from an extensive trip through Europe and the Mediterranean area.

New officers of the Grand Coulee Dam Assembly, Order of Rainbow Girls include Roxanne Bajer, Donna Moore, Sally McNeilly and Juanita Garrison.