Out of the Past 7/1/26

100 Years Ago—

Gathered at Arden dam, on the historic site of the old Arden mill and shad- ed by apple trees over 60 years old, over 200 pioneers of Stevens County met Wednesday, opening their merry-making by the singing of “America,” led by H.J. Plumb. A.H. Raynor of Chewelah, who conducts a poultry farm, reports a three legged chicken a week old. It has two distinct bones in the third leg and 15 toes. No fewer than six Indian tribes will be represented at the Inchelium Fourth of July celebration July 2-5. These are the Colvilles, Coeur d’Alenes, Spokanes, Nespelems, Okanogans, and Flatheads. There will be an Indian war dance, Indian stick games, and dancing in the big pavilion every night.

75 Years Ago—

Merritt A. Benson, assistant to the governor, scissors in hand, cut the ribbon and the new $2,000,000 Northport bridge was opened. “Flippers” were blamed for a majority of fires in the state forest district here last week, officials announced. Out of nine fires reported since July 3, six were caused by motorists who flipped burning cigarettes from cars. Dr. Eugene T. Darling announced this week the opening of his office in the Cagle building on South Main Street in Colville. Final plans for the new Colville grade school (Hofstetter) were expected to be approved at a meeting of the school board Wednesday night.

50 Years Ago—

To what extent has Stevens County been sharing in the billions of dollars of federal funds that are distributed annually by the government through grantsin-aid? An estimated $4,329,000 was earmarked for local purposes for a variety of aid programs. The second annual reunion of the pioneer Dashiell family is scheduled for Sunday at the Cedonia Community Center. The Dashiell family dates back to the year 1025 in France where their name was spelled de Chiel. 25 Years Ago— The Colville Rendezvous Committee recently announced an open invitation to area owners of vintage automobiles to take part in the upcoming Rendezvous Community Celebration, which runs Aug. 3-5. The late Frank Eslick, former school bus driver for the Orient School, is hon- ored on a portrait as part of the “visual chronology” recently created at the school. The portrait of Eslick serves as a memorial to the local man who was shot and killed in an act of random violence while delivering school children to their homes on Nov. 25, 1997.

10 Years Ago—

The good news is that gasoline is significantly less expensive at the pump in early July 2016 compared to 2015. The bad news is that you live in a West Coast state, where gasoline is costing you significantly more. While the price of a gallon of gasoline at the pump was at $2.31 as of this writing nationally, the average price in Washington was $2.65 a gallon last week. After last year’s fast-moving fire in the Street Department Shop, the city of Colville’s Street Department new and improved Shop is under construction.