Coulee Recollections

10 years ago

The Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce said this year’s giant fireworks show, sponsored by the Coulee Dam Casino will be about twice as large as last year’s with some special effects at the end. This year’s musical groups, sponsored by the Coulee Dam Federal Credit Union, include Grand Coulee Dam’s own, Street Legal, in a four-hour show July 2, featuring local musicians, Sean Reed, Will Weatherby and Bob Acklehy. The headliner 3-hour show on the 4th: “An Dochas,” a returning Colville-based, five-person band that specializes in Irish music, with the Haran Irish Dancers.

Grandma Helen Hudnall will celebrate her 75th birthday at a party in her home at Elmer City on Saturday, July 9.

20 years ago

A 25-person crew for Weaver Flower Company, a Yakima-based flower company, had picked 400 boxes of the weed called “Baby Breath” last Wednesday on local school district property in Coulee Dam and along the Lower River Road when Carleen Anderson, a Colville, notified tribal authorities about the crew. Tribal police responded, shutting the crew down. Tribal police chief Jay Goss said picking without a permit from the Tribes’ Natural Resource Department was illegal, and after a two-hour emergency discussion, the tribal council let Sam Weaver of Weaver Flower Company take the boxes with him. Chief Goss said the foreman and several crew members that picked on reservation lands last year were verbally warned to get a permit before picking. The pickers said no one said they needed permission from the land owners, in this case, the Colville Tribes.

Clay Antioquia, CTEC chief executive, told the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce, the new tribal Coulee Dam Casino will open in mid-July with coin slot machines and Keno games.

WSU announced its President’s Honor Roll for the spring semester for students with a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or a 3.75 for the semester and nine graded classes, including locals Amy Lynn Alling, Holly Ann Johnson, Belen Avey, and William E. Nicholson. Wenatchee Valley College’s spring president’s list includes Glenna Whitelaw, Coulee Dam and Jessie Benton, Grand Coulee, with a perfect 4.0 grade point in 12 or more graded credits.

30 years ago

Reg Morgan, a resident of Coulee Dam, has opened the All Seasons Guide Service, offering to guide fishing parties on Banks Lake, Lake Roosevelt, the Columbia River and on the Colville Reservation. His service furnishes a 16’ boat, gear, bait and flotation equipment. Fees start at $30 for one, or $50 for four fishermen on a four-hour trip. Morgan, retired from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said he has over 28 years in fisheries, having managed a fishing resort, written a fishing program and brochure, and also selling fishing tackle.