"Bomber Memories"
August 11, 1998
Rob Williams (67)
I ran into an old friend last spring, thanks to your great site. I saw Jamie Worley's (Hills) name on the Bomber site and contacted her concerning her brother Larry, we all grew up together in Jack-Ass flats, West Richland. I met with Jamie, she's still a fox, Larry and his great family out in Benton City last May, we all had a wonderful visit. What a great family.
He also has an older son Silas, both great boys. Larry and I played baseball together, his father, Ralph and my dad Richard started a lot of the ground work organizing teams and got the land to build the baseball park by the golf course. Just to let you know this site is working to bring old friends back together... thanks again.
Rob Williams
Teresa Divine Knirck
(64)
Once again, it is great to read all the memories of early Richland. It was fun to see Sonny Davis' name. For those who went to Chief Jo, I think it was Sonny Davis and Ronnie Hoglen who were sort of folk heroes when I was in seventh grade. I am sure it was they who somehow added their names to those signing the copy of the Declaration of Independence hanging in the foyer by the auditorium entrance at CJ. Anyone else remember that--like Sonny? :)
Teresa DeVine Knirck
Mina Jo Gerry Payson
(68)
The camp: I agree, a POW camp during the war. My brothers' Scout troop camped there often.
By's Burgers: My dad told a story about By's Burgers and the painters. He sent use kids and mom to grandma's in Seattle while our house was being painted. One evening he went down to By's, on the corner of Gillespie and Duane (Goethals, now). Of course, the inevitable dust storm blew up. He rushed home to close windows, but was too late. We had some of the earliest textured walls in Richland.
"Muscles": I remember a guy who rode his bike around town. As little kids, we would see him and yell "Hey, hey, Muscles" and wave and he would yell "Hey, Hey" back and wave. He was a fixture for years. I guess he was retarded or just slow. The rumors by the time I was 11 or so were that he had gotten run over trying to ride his bike on the freeway in CA. Who knows?
Atomic Frontier Days: A good excuse for the men not to shave for a week.
Ida Meachem: Was she the Dr. Meacham who taught some of the science courses at CBC in the late 60's & early 70's? She was quite a character on campus and seemed to be older than dirt.
PasPost Plunge: Never got to go there. I was under the impression that it was reserved for the military families in Pasco. I think there were some naval air guys stationed there. It was at the old airport. I remember going by there often as a late teen and seeing the remains. No building, just a big, empty cement pool.
Wild Bills Market: Used to be on the corner of Lee and Jadwin. I think there was one at McMurray and G. Way, too. I can remember that we always shopped at C & H Market on Wright, next to Densows, because it was close to home. But sometimes mom or dad would go down to Wild Bills because they had good prices on dry goods.
Mosquito trucks: We used to chase them on foot and on our bikes as they came down Cottonwood. It is amazing we aren't all dead from inhaling that stuff!!
Tony Tellier (57)
Fission Chips
BB&M
McGuire's Shoe Repair
Skip's Drive-In
Q: was the Chinese place in Uptown the "Ming Room" or was that in Pullman??
Hi-Spot (!!)
"Atomic Harvest" a book about releases of radioactivity into the Walukee (sp) Slope to the east
Mina Jo Gerry
Payson(68)
My last name at graduation was Gerry. I remember the pink [paint] because mom had a bad habit of moving bedroom furniture and I came home from Marcus Whitman one day to find that I had been moved into my brother's room, which was blue and he got my pink one. That really frosted my cookies, but I guess I lived.
Bill Byrd (59)
Here is another slant on the Horn Rapids Camp. I remember my Father telling the story, .... following Pearl Harbor, the US government decided to move all of the Japanese living and working on the west coast of the US to inland camps until the war was over. While at graduate school, I met a Japanese who collaborated this story saying that his father had a store in Tacoma and was threatened with being turned in to the authorities if he didn't sell his store (and for a fraction of its worth). It happened anyway and his family was moved to the Horn Rapids Camp. I have no documentation and my Father is no longer living, so take it for what it is worth.
Richard Baker (58)
By's Burgers: The original was located on the old Columbia Park highway. I used to love it when my folks took me there. Still today, I think those were the best hamburgers I have ever eaten.
Later, he opened a By's below Lee Hill. Then, he open Tim's near Uptown, named after his son. It was at Tim's that I first remember hearing Elvis.
Ray's Market out at the Y: When I was growing up at 216 Cullum Avenue, a neighbor, Bill James (who has long since passed away) used to take me fishing on the dike that connects Bateman island with the road. Of course, Ray's is just across the street. We got our fishing supplies and bait there plus a treat after fishing.
Highland Ranch Market in Kennewick: I remember it but don't have any memories associated with it.
The Flume: It was always neat to spend Friday or Saturday night "shooting" the Flume and then walking back across the ties to do it again. Another night time activity we enjoyed was sitting on the fenders and shooting jackrabbits with 22's while driving all of the dirt roads above the flume. Couldn't do that now, could you.
The Men's Room At The Standard Station: I don't think I remember the Standard Station. But, I do remember Pott's Rainbow at the corner of Casey and Douglas. I think this was the only filling station in town when we moved there in '43. Safeway was across the street. I think Potts eventually opened the first station on the corner just south of the Community House.
Lucky 7: I remember what I thought was the Lucky 5 just across the street from the Gaslight and, of course, the Frontier Tavern in the next block.
Atomic Frontier Days: I remember these days vividly. It was a fun time. And then came the Unlimited Hydroplane races. The night before the races, we used to go down to the barricade they set up in Columbia Park and spend the night having a few bruskies and playing poker. Then the next morning they would remove the barricade and we drove (hurriedly) down to get our favorite spot to watch the races. Chrysler Crew, Miss Spokane, Miss Tri-Cities, Atlas Van Lines, and many more. Those are fond memories! The Chrysler Crew actually had two Chrysler engines.
Arlo: Yes, I remember Arlo. His last name was Beedles. His sister is Irma who graduated with me and one of the folks I hope to see at the reunion next month. Arlo used to hang out at the Carmichael shop. When he got on a wood lathe, he settled down and performed excellent work.
"Muscles": I had forgot all about Muscles. Yes, I remember seeing him all the time around town. It seems like he was always smiling. Boy, a real long lost memory!
Paul Schlagle: I need a memory jogger here. I remember the name but can't put a face or story with it.
Officer Worrell: I remember him. I think we spent a few times together over the years…if you know what I mean.
Warren Scott: No memory.
Ida Me(a)chem: For sure I remember Ida. I had her for biology at Columbia High in '57 or '58. Then I had her again at CBC in '65 or '66. As I look back, we kind of gave her a hard time, but she was a very sincere, dedicated person.
PasPort Plunge: I used to swim at the PasPort Plunge. It was the old military training pool. I think it was Olympic size, but can't really remember. Every time I fly back to the Tri Cities and land in Pasco, I look over at the few remaining buildings and think of swimming there.
Drift Inn: I kind of remember the Drift Inn. For sure I remember the name and associate it with a bar. But I can't place the location.
Wild Bill's: I want to add the word "Market" on the end of this one. Am I right?? Was it located in West Richland??
Thanks for giving me the chance to re-live some great memories.
Here are a few more:
The Richland and Village theaters where I used to see Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, etc., etc. for a dime and then 12 cents. The Stile family ran the theaters. They had two sons. One older than me and one younger. They originally lived above the Village theater. And, how about the original Richland swimming pool that was in the park below the Community Center. It was so small, that they rotated kids on an hourly basis. And, last but not least, Ganzels Barber Shop where from 3 years old to probably 18 years old, I got my hair cut. There used to be a black gentleman, Otis, who shined shoes. He was a nice old gent and was there a long, long time.
Maren Smyth (64)
I remember Otis!!!!! Must have been on a trip to the barber shop to watch older brother, Tim, get his hair cut. And now the last name of Azure pops into my head.
I remember "Muscles", too. I always thought that he had been dropped on his head by his mother when he was just a baby.
Kathie Roe Traux (64)
What a great letter (from Frank Hamilton)!!!! As I read Frank's recollections, I chuckled at our shared experiences.
Misguided as it may be, I still feel a sense of pride to be part of a generation who grew up riding bikes behind DDT jeeps, skating at the roller rink, going to movies at the Uppy, savoring a hot & greasy Spudnut, knowing where Zeb's Radiator Shop is located, sneaking into drive-in movies, parking in North Richland, swimming to The Island, living under the "mushroom cloud", and knowing there is nothing more exciting than chanting "On to State".
You guys are the coolest.
Semper Bomberus......
Kathie (Roe) Truax
Sandi Cherrington (66)
Hi Everyone,
Good to hear about and remember the "people and local hangouts" of the years gone by!
I do remember:
By's Burger
Ray's Market out at the Y
Highland Ranch Market in Kennewick
Atomic Frontier Days
"Muscles"
Wild Bill's
Flumes
Does anyone remember going to the dances at Howard Amon Park during the "Frontier Days" celebrations?
How about going to the "Indoor Swimming Pool" over in Pasco by the Old Airport? Our family used to enjoy going there.
Sandi Cherrington
John Coons (63)
Today is August 9, a day of historical significance for Richland bombers. At 11:02 a.m. on this day in 1945, "Fat Man", an atomic bomb made from plutonium artificially manufactured at Hanford, was dropped on the Mitsubishi Steel & Arms Works outside of Nagasaki Japan. The Hanford bomb was the second nuclear device used in W.W.II. Three days earlier, Col. Paul Tibbits piloted his Boeing B-52 Superfortress, the "Enola Gay", into history by dropping the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The first one, code name "Little Boy", was made of enriched uranium from Oakridge, Tennessee. Five days after the second bomb, Hirohito ended the war.
The Hanford bomb was intended for the Kokura Arsenal, but fog, flak, and lack of fuel caused "Block’s Car", the B-52 piloted by Charles Sweeney, to be diverted to Nagasaki, the only secondary target in range. One kilo of plutonium produced the explosive equivalent of 21 kilotons on TNT. Heat, wind, and radiation from the bomb killed 73,884 people and injured 74,909. Warning leaflets had been dropped on Kokura but not Nagasaki. To conform with U.S. policy, an order was given to drop leaflets to Nagasaki residents on August 10, the day after the bombing.
There was no separate order to drop the second bomb and no instructions to wait for a Japanese response to the first attack. Following five months of firebombing raids on 66 cities Japan seemed determined to fight on even though it had lost more than 60% of its military production capability. U.S. military and political leaders believed a second bomb was needed to prove to Japan and the world that the U.S. could produce and deliver bombs of mass destruction on an on-going basis. Also, after spending over $2 billion on the Manhattan Project, there had to be a second bomb.
We are the bombers, the mighty, mighty bombers. Weapons of death and destruction are part of our heritage. Today is a good day to take a minute to reflect on it. Maybe tell your kids about it. Maybe even visit the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum web site.
John Coons
In Response to the Letter from John Coons
Larry Bowls (64)
An interesting note you have written regarding the significance of the August 9, 1945 date. By your concluding comments, I am not sure, however, if you are an apologist for Hanford war contributions or condemning them. I'd rather think the former.
As we know now, after two dropped bombs, the war came to an abrupt end saving many American and Allied lives that would undoubtedly have been lost in an extended conflict in the Pacific. I think it is fair to say none of us individually take any pride in the destruction of life and property caused by these bombs, but can be proud of all collective efforts to effect the earliest end to the war.
It is a given that history was made on those days, but what other history would have been written if had we not dropped those bombs. Let's reflect on that too.
Larry Bowls
Jim Hamilton (63)
Received this letter from Frank Osgard today, thought you might enjoy.
Dear Jimbeaux,
Sorry I missed the reunion. I would love to attend, but still have trouble dealing with the clothes I wore to our 10th reunion. I don't know why I thought a pair of white patent leather loafers and a matching belt would get folks to sit back and say, "Hey, Old Frfand is doing OK". I devoted a lot of time to make sure that I would be looking "so sharp", that people would forget about my Graduation Night indiscretion on the Columbia Queen, but I was wrong. That initial reunion was the inaugural trip to Richland for my first wife. I had bought that paisley shirt with the John Travolta long point collar to wear with my sky blue Glen Campbell leisure suit. Then as we were all crowded in the bar out at the "K of C Smoker Drinker (fromerly known as the post office where we used to go to see if Stanley Middelton was on the wanted posters, yet)", someone yelled "FIRE". I'm not sure if it was really spontaneous combustion from all of that polyester and hair spray, but I lost about 4" off my left "huck'a huck'a burnin' love" Elvis sideburn. That was when wife number one bolted and ran, never to be seen again.
On second thought, I think that was probably wife number two. I don't remember much else about her, but I do know that number one would have probably gone up in smoke as she is currently in a 12 step program for polyester, big hair and cheap jewelry abuse. Number one was from Kennewick, but spent her formative years in North Richland in the trailer courts and went to John Ball. When she was six, they moved to one of those houses up by Sanders Field and Zeb's Radiator Shop, that only had a basement. We first met crawling under the fence at that Drive-in down by the Y. Me thinks it was a "buck nite", which should have clued me to the fact that she wouldn't be real quick with numbers. Her brother worked at the roller rink down by Tastee Freeze and always wore black. He could smoke real cool, and skate backwards with his hands in his pockets. He still can and he still does.
Did you ever wonder why our folks always said the Roller Rink was such a horrible place? It was Ok to go there if it was a church deal, but no other time. My sister went there on a birthday party and with the Blue Birds a couple of times. If memory serves me right, I think it was over Chicken ala'King that she asked what has come to be known at "The Hickey Question". No way I can recreate the logic, but to Mom, Hickey = Roller Rink. We never went there again.
We had experienced similar drama over the pool hall at the "Rec Hall". I guess that is where "Uncle Sugar's Finest" from Camp Hanford went to eyeball High School girls. I can close my eyes and still smell it. I remember it with the same exhileration that you reserved for the first day of school, or maybe the ski bus. Pinball machines, Pools Tables and Bowling Alleys. Probably the place which God himself would have chosen to put peanuts in his Pepsi, and learn to smoke.
Gotta rip, the wife is stranded down at Costco. She locked herself out of the Volarie and that case of Kid Bars is starting to melt. I'll run down with a coat hanger and grab her a couple of those Hebrew National Polish Sausages for a buck. And she says we never go anywhere.
More later,
Frank
SEMPER BOMBERUS
Al Parker (53)
By's Burgers -- Sure-- round and round we went, sesame seed buns, "souvenierable" menu signs on the side of the building, best Col-Hi hangout spot for class of '53 and others.
Ray's Market out at the Y -- Probably passed by it a number of times.
Highland Ranch Market in Kennewick -- Sounds familiar ... specialized in meat and custom cutting later on? Trying to remember name of proprieter, last name started with a T?
The Flume -- Uh uh.
The Men's Room At The Standard Station -- Was it clean?
Lucky 7 -- Was that a tav at the Y?
Atomic Frontier Days -- Oh yeah!
Arlo -- Yes, I remember Arlo and his monkey.
"Muscles" -- Yes... I remember him well... Quite a nick name for that guy, but he didn't mind. Always a smile. And a "hey, hey!"
Paul Schlagle -- Nope.
Officer Worrell -- Sounds familiar, no specific recall. Did he catch you going through a red light?
Warren Scott -- Taught crafts, graduated from Central WA College of Ed. b.a., m.ed.
Ida Me(a)chem -- Ida Mecum taught science, had a B.A. and B.S. from U of Iowa. According to year book, but while attending Col Hi, (graduating in '53), I was under the impression that she also had a doctorate.
PasPort Plunge -- Yeah. Big indoor pool in El Pasco, near the airport, had been built by military for training and recreation, later operated as a civilian facility. Good sized place to take a bath.
Drift Inn -- Another tav? Downtown? There was one tavern, perhaps a different one, with doors that opened both on G.W. Way and the Greenway. One Col Hi graduate drove straight through the tavern in one door and out the other on his Harley(?), in celebration perhaps, of his 21st birthday.
Wild Bill's -- Don't recall.
But do you remember the Mad Turk?
And how about Ganzel's Barber Shop? Dozens of barbers. Hardly any waiting.
And the Richland and Village Theaters. How much did it cost to see the movies then, 35 cents for a Saturday matinee? You could see the continuing serials and newsreels to boot!
We enjoyed the outdoor skating rink before an indoor one was built near by, by the Bakers, I believe, and the Brinkerhoffs had an amusement ride enterprise just below Col Hi.
Jay Jacky (64)
This is draggin' deep in the muck of my memory but I think the "POW" camp was actually a Japanese-American Internment Camp constructed in Pearl Harbor hysteria. Incidentally a friend who grew up in the camps loved it. "One long summer camp" he said, "Mom and Dad weren't thrilled with it though." Also, I can not remember a single Oriental family in Richland, oops... forgot the "mysterious" Golden Lion crew...told ya it was muck...gj
Terrance K. Liechty
(64)
OK....how about this one. Does anyone remember Mary's Doghouse?
It was a little hole in the wall at the "Y" and run by a little old man who made the biggest hamburgers I've ever seen. There where, as I remember not tables or chairs but shelves along the wall and you stood there and ate some of the best and biggest hamburgers around.
Terry
Joe Largé (68)
Yes, I remember Atomic Frontier Days very much. They had them at Riverside (Amon) Park. I remember the parades. When I was a Junior Fire Marshall, I remember walking in the Kiddies parade.
I can still hear the band playing "Stars & Stripes Forever". We would have the fireworks display in the Bomber Bowl. I remember as a kid, sitting on the lawn in the bowl watching the stationary displays, the waterfalls, etc.
Remember at Sacajawea park when they would sell snow cones and cotton candy? You would get SICK on the stuff. There was (is?) an old Indian artifact museum there, made out of round rocks. You would go through and see the arrow heads, the rock hewn bowls and utensil's, and the Indian skeleton.
There was a little drive-in right across the old Pasco-Kennewick bridge (can't remember the name of the place) that used to sell "Chicken-in-a-basket". Dad and mom would take us there once in a while. Delicious Chicken!
Dad played the banjo and alto saxophone for a Mexican Group lead by Tony Sandoval from West Richland. They would play for dances all over the place, usually at a dance hall at the "Y", or the Kennewick Highlands, or Prosser, Mabton, Toppenish, Yakima, Grandview, etc.
One of my first recollections of a basket ball game was when we went to (I think) Prosser, where we watched Richland play Prosser. The family that we went to was named Szendre (don't know if Sue Szendre is a relative or not), but there was this darlingly cute little blond girl about my age (I was only about 3 or 4) that I played with. She and I fell asleep in the back of the car on the way home, huddled against one another. I can still remember the smell of her hair. The little girl's name I believe was Marion Szendre.
I guess that's where I learned to love blonds. (My wife is a blond - she's definitely more intelligent than I am. Her only mistake was in marrying me. I think I got the better end of the deal, though!).
Marianne Matthews Wood
(63)
Funny reading about the versions of the "camp" out at Horn Rapids. I, too, used to go out their with my folks and I remember being told it was an internment camp but for Japanese, I also remember the tall trees and the foundations but nothing else. We used to watch the Native Americans fish on platforms at Horn Rapids too, but darned if I remember ever seeing anything caught! Also, someone mentioned the Passport Plunge out in Pasco, the giant pool that had a great rope swing out somewhere in the middle that was so much fun. I really enjoyed swimming in that pool because it was indoor but also because it seemed so huge and rather mysterious.
Tony Tellier (57)
Warren Scott was the Physics teacher .. always touted steam power or some such thing. "Paper-thin titanium heat exchangers" He cleaned his Kaiser (or Frazer!!) with gasoline. Nice paint job! NOT!!! Kind of a "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" guy. And NOT Spicoli, either.
"Lucky 7" WAS the "5" Frontier was a block north ... the Tremmels owned it.
Arlo was Irma Beedle's brother. Massively strong. Like "Chalmers".
Wild Bill's Market: next to the Buck Private . "No meal is a meal without spuds."
Paul Schlage was a juvenile officer. Worrell was a cruiser cop. Al Ryles (sic) was a bug sprayer AND a cop.
"We" used to buy beer underage at Ray's. He was busted and "we" (i.e., me) had to testify .. Bummer.
Almost ditto for the Highland Ranch Market. Those pesky "21" states. WSU was close to Idaho (20 age state) so ...
Mosquito trucks: We used to chase them on foot and on our bikes as they came down Cottonwood. It is amazing we aren't all dead from inhaling that stuff!!
Pretty a-mazing, huh. Cough, wheeze.. Now where is that DAMNED O2 bottle fer my emphazema. And light me up a Camel, Ma!
The Stile family ran the theaters. They had two sons. One older than me and one younger. Jim's the one I wet to HS with.
And now the last name of Azure pops into my head. not Larry Azure ... class o' '57?
Walt Bailey (60)
I too recall chasing the DDT foggers in the evenings hours. One of my fondest memories is the water slide on the hill at the south end of Richland. There was an irrigation ditch on top of the hill that went south from Carmichael JH. Just before it reached the outer loop, there was a gated spillway that controlled overflow and as the water spilled over, it would form a slick mossy surface. It was great fun sliding down the spillway and into the catch basin below. However, sometimes you would hit a dry spot and the skin on the lower extremities would suffer. It was a normal hot summer weekend gathering place for young boys with bicycles and beebee guns.
Does anyone remember Neal Gray that accidentally shot himself about 1955? Does anyone know who was lost in NAM?
Walt Bailey
Maren Smyth (64)
Anybody else remember Jet Jackson and his trusty sidekick, Ikabod Mudd ("with 2 d's", Ikabod would say). Maury Amsterdam played the part of Ikabod --- I thought it was a weekly series -- maybe it was a movie?
Sharon Panther Taff (57)
The memories are great. Thank you all for your hard work and dedication.
I haven't seen anyone mention "The Mart". I remember the day we moved to Richland and our 3 bedroom prefab was just finished and the electricity wasn't on. My dad took mother, my baby brother, and I to "The Mart" for dinner. This was my first experience with cafeteria style - I was truly amazed that I could push my tray along and point and they would put it on the tray. The Mart was like a great a big convenience store - as I remember it was the only place to shop in town at that time and it was located in the building just south of the current post office. Clothes, drugs, etc. It was a carnivorous building like an airplane hangar. Then there was CC Anderson's - a department store that was in the building where Ariel's s now located. Later became "The Bon". I remember the hardware store on the corner where Jennifers used to be with its sawdust floors. I also remember the swimming pool in Howard Amon park. When the Columbia River would flood the park and the waters receded ! the pool would be full of all these fish. No one has mentioned the Old Dutch Tavern before you got to the Richland Y. I remember it on the right just across the Yakima River - the foundation was there for years after they built the raised road. The Drift Inn was a tavern in uptown - mother used to take care of some children whose family frequented that place. Used to say "Drift Inn and stagger out." My dad and I also got our bait from Ray's to fish the backwater for bass - it was the only place you could get those black salamanders. I remember a huge ball of string they had on the floor that was almost as tall as I was. Doug Stiles was the older son of the Stiles who owned the theater. He later owned it. I believe he also started "Bassett Transit". The only place my dad would shop was Safeway and it was located just west of Las Margaritas. The Richland Dry Cleaners has always been here.
How many of us girls had to wear the old brown oxford safety shoes our dads could get at the company store for $3 a pair. I hated them. They had steel toes. But with 5 children, dad did the best he could. Oh how I longed for the fancy "Joyce" shoes with the gillie tie that the "popular" girls bought at CC Anderson's. I survived that too. ><{{{'> ><{{{'> ><{{{'> ><{{{'> ><{{{'> ><{{{'> ><{{{'> ><{{{'>
Sharon A. Taff
Gloria Falls Evans (58)
I was wondering if anyone here ever lived in N Richland later called Hanford. We went to school in the quansit huts rather known as John Ball Grade School and the later rode the bus to school to Chief Joseph Jr Hi and then on to COL HI. The good old days were fabulous don't you think?
Gloria (Falls) Evans
Carol Converse Maurer (64)
I remember going to Pasco and swimming in that pool. It was great fun. It was a few years after it closed before it was taken out. I remember each time that my parents and I went by, I would look over at it with fond memories. I've been to the POW camp quite a few times. When I was in Girl Scouts, we went camping there once or twice. I had always thought that the American Japanese were taken out there for the duration of the war.
Carol Converse Maurer
Sue Henderson Semler (68)
I was born and raised in Richland. My maiden name is Henderson. My folks always said I was born in a blizzard (January, 1950) At that time we lived in a prefab on Thayer just off Lee. In 1951 we moved to 803 Wright and rented one side of a "C" house until 1958 when my folks bought the duplex for $10,500. My mom still lives there. I went to Marcus Whitman, Christ the King, Chief Jo (I think it was Chief Jo, the one on Lee? I only went there one year), Col Hi and Columbia Basin College, then to Spokane to Gonzaga, graduated, met my husband, got married and moved to Colton, WA, 15 miles south of Pullman. I'm a farmer's wife, raised 3 kids and work at WSU's Environmental Health and Safety, "out where the bears are!"
My dad work at Hanford from 1948 until he retired in 1988. My mom stayed at home and raised my younger sister and I. I remember going to Zip's and cruising Uptown which was really fun in my white polka-dotted red Corvair that needed shocks! I also remember a few skating parties at the Roller Rink and root beer freezes from Taste Freeze. I remember the mosquito trucks, but mom wouldn't let me chase them! and also the ice cream wagon playing its tune. I could always hear that tune a mile off and would run and ask mom for a dime!
Was there a landfill at the Horn Rapids Camp? I remember going with my dad and there were tall poplar trees and concrete slabs. I was the "boy" of the family so accompanied my dad a lot. I helped him out in the garage which was actually a shop. He built trailer hitches, trailers, lead shot machines and various other items out of metal in his spare time. I remember water skiing on the Columbia River off Bateman Island. Boy, you didn't want to fall down 'cause you would be frozen in about 2 minutes even in August's 100+ weather!
Kathie Roe, do you have a sister named Virginia? I believe she was in my class.
Joe Large, I remember you.
Robert Kennedy (60)
Muscles - a friendly guy on a nice Schwinn bike - balloon tires, chrome fenders, mud flaps and a rear view mirror. My first memory of him was in front of the Community House in about 1952 when he would regale us pre-teens with stories of boxing and beating Joe Louis - hence the name Muscles. The story that I heard was that Sonny (his other name) was at one time a brilliant man and that at some point his brain just snapped (whatever that means).
When we talk about Col-Hi faculty, Fran Rish is a must. I remember, while still attending Marcus Whitman, walking down to the Bomber Bowl with A. W. Harness and other neighborhood friends to watch the football team practice and to hear Mr. Rish cuss. By the time we were part of his team, he must have mellowed, because I remember him as a caring and demanding coach, with a sense of humor, but without an excessive amount of bad language.
Marianne Matthews Wood (63)
Muscles, wow, the guy that did smile all the time when riding his bike - you "had" to respond to him, couldn't help it. Man, did that come from the recesses. Anybody remember the trucks building the dike? I was really little but I remember the noise and the dirt. We lived right on Geo. Wash. Way across from the Uptown. My mom said enormous rocks would sometimes fall off those trucks so that she was concerned about us kids running around. I remember before the uptown went in, all desert except for the ditch running through it that had lots of tadpoles - we were sorry to see it built up except for the nickel movies at the Uptown and Spudnuts for a nickel too. My brother Tom, class of '57, had a paper route and delivered to the theater, so got to sit up with the projectors and watch the movies - so, when I delivered for him, I got to watch, through a very small window (not very satisfying, however). Fun memories, hot tar on bare feet in the summer, the bug-ma-spray-ma-man, daily swims at the "big pool" with guys doing jack-knives practically on top of you, dreams of war planes flying overhead (I think from all the air-raid drills we had in grade school (Jefferson), sneaking into La Dolce Vita (we were bored!), seeing South Pacific for the first time and falling in love with love, submarine races on flat top, those were the days. Marianne Matthews Wood, again!
Anna Dempsy Dixon (75)
Mosquito trucks: We used to chase them on foot and on our bikes as they came down Cottonwood. It is amazing we aren't all dead from inhaling that stuff!!
LOL... I lived on Cottonwood too... right where Boulder was....
Anna Dixon
Eva Clark Perry (49)
Don't usually write, just enjoy all the jokes and now all the Bomber News, I Don't know if I should write to you or to the Club Forty but don't know if they have a site or not. Anyway, being so much older than all that are writing, don't know as any would know about what I would like to find out. Much to my surprise on this last move, I started polishing my folks bedroom set, as we now have a place to settle in, and lo and behold on the back, it is an issue of furniture for an F house clear back to the lst days. I saw the site about all the houses and the prices and now am wondering how many people still have the furniture issued for the houses. This furniture has been to India, Spain, and California and still is holding up real well, so even for issue , it is made better than most today. I thought that amazing. anyway, if anyone out there knows I'll be reading and watching.
As a youngster, we heard too that they put the consciences objectors out at the camp.
Eva (Clark) Perry
Rick Maddy (67)
I grew up at 707 Downing (54 - 67) across the street from Lewis & Clark Elementary. My parents shopped at Wild Bills. I believe the Carnation (distributors) milk trucks were behind the store. Saw The Old Man and the Sea at the old Richland Theatre. Was officer Worrel aka Tom? Wasn't it Mario's in Pasco that was a supposed hot place to go? I knew of Muscles. He had some really cool stuff on that bike. i.e., a squeeze horn, a thumb ringer warning bell. Arlo, if it be the same Arlo, was developmentally disabled and changed the sprinklers on the L&C school grounds. He scared me, but was a harmless, somewhat non-verbal, man. My ole man caught me in the DDT one evening, and that was my last ride.
Anyway - this is fun. Thanks
