"Bomber Memories"
October 18, 19 & 20, 1998
October 18, 1998
Tony Tellier (57)
To Gary Horton (59) who wrote: "one of the best looking cars driven by a Bomber was a beautiful candy apple red ford owned by a guy named Ray."
This was owned by a Kennewick character named Ray Quinlen ... or Quillen.
Doris Van Reenen Dollarhide (61)
I remember the old water towers and all the neighborhood kids climbing up even though we were not supposed to. Also remember the one in our neighborhood getting a leak and water everywhere for a couple of days.
Remember going over to Roni O'Donnell's (61) when they lived across from Lewis and Clark and after school watching Bandstand seems like they were one of the first ones with a TV. Roni's dad used to make the best Ice tea -- don't know what he did special but remember it was the best.
Remember someone's mom, I think it was Bill Craddock's (61) made the best white and chocolate cookies, seems like all the mothers were really good cooks. With Halloween coming up who remembers the big brown grocery bags we used to fill up with trick or treat and lots of home made goodies that we never had to worry about back then. Nice to see a lot of Lewis and Clark people on with memories of all our teachers. Always looked forward to the Carnivals they were such fun.
Sandy Carpenter McDermott (61)
To Doris Van Reenan Dollarhide (61): I remember our outdoor graduation well. It rained and we did get wet. I was one of those who graduated outdoors, and close friends of mine graduated indoors when we moved the whole graduation up the hill to the gym. It was a lot of fun, though, and we were all proud of the fact that we were the first Bomber Bowl graduation.
Paula Beardsley Glenn (62)
Rick Maddy (67): Original Richland Streets weren't named for Hanford engineers. I copy in part from a memo dated Feb. 24, 1945 from N. Paul Nissan to Col. F.T. Matthias - Subject: Biographies of Army Engineers for whom Richland Streets Were Named.
Brief examples are:
John James Abert - 1788-1863 - army engineer, graduated West Point 1811... became chief of corps of topographical engineers and was instrumental in founding national institute of science, later known as the Smithsonian Institute.
George Washington Goethals - 1858-1928 Army Engineer, graduated West Point 1880, chief of engineers of US volunteers during Spanish American War, chief engineer of Panama Canal succeeding John F. Stevens. First civil governor of Panama Canal Zone, 1914-16.
Robert E. Lee 1807-1870 graduated West Point 1829, served under Scott in Mexican War, superintendent of West Point 1852-55, frontier duty in Texas, commanded troops which put down John Brown's raid, General in chief of All Confederate armies, Surrendered to Grant at Appomatox Courthouse. After war, president of Washington College, later renamed Washington and Lee University in his honor.
Sylvanus Thayer 1785-1872 graduated Dartmouth College 1807, West Point 1808. Served in War of 1812 on Niagra frontier in Wade Hampton's division. As superintendent of U. S. Military Academy 1817-1835 reorganized that institution, being styled "Father of West Point".
I particularly liked this bio - George Washington (See any history book) Father of his country. An engineer and General of the Continental Army - First President of the United States.
As you can see, these guys were really dead by the time Hanford came into being. All the streets were named for engineers from the U.S. Army, primarily graduates of West point.
Ralph Koontz (62)
Re: Erin Owens Hyder (66) question concerning Rex Davis. He also taught PE at Lewis and Clark for a few years. His wife (I have forgotten her name) taught music at Lewis and Clark until she left to begin raising children.
Ralph Koontz
Jim Hamilton (63)
RE: Rex Davis (49): Rex was the scoutmaster of Troop 38, no small feat when you consider that his "charges" included Pook, the Hyatt's, Plows, Chico Taylor, Francis Kendall and those were the good ones. We couldn't tie knots but we could sure climb trees, build rafts and jump off cliffs. Rex is very proud of all his gymnasts and stayed informed and concerned with the health and welfare of the Bob and Bill Hyatt.
I was in the first class that he taught at Lewis and Clark, after he got out of the army. His wife, Alice, was the music teacher.
Semper Bomberus,
jimbeaux
Karen Kleinpeter (63)
As I remember, the grocery store next to Thrifty Drug in the Uptown was C&H. I also remember the Thrifty next door having a fire, and a fire sale. It must have been about 1954. I recall buying a bottle of black ink for my fountain pen. ( In 4th grade we wrote our cursive in ink.)
Kathy Rathvon (63), Connie Foster (63) and Mary Lou Watkins (63) have been recalling Jefferson teachers. We moved to Richland in 1952 when I was in 2nd grade. That year's teacher was Mrs. Clarkson. She read us the Bobbsey Twins books, and I remember going to the Columbia bookstore in the Uptown to buy more. They were way up on the top shelf near the ceiling, and a clerk had to get them down. For 3rd grade I had Miss Roberts. In 4th it was Mr. Ashbaugh. He was a real sweetie. I remember him as being a very kind and understanding person. For 5th I had Mr. Vitulli. What a great year that was! We all loved him. I was terrified to have him, though, because the year before we heard him out in the hall giving spats regularly. We also heard that he broke the end off of his paddle (named Junior) while he was swatting Bobby Bergdahl (62). In 6th I had Mr. Wright. I also remember Mrs. Hahn. And yes, she did teach us little name tricks to help us remember the authors. Mr. Coehlo was a wonderful art teacher. He also had a wooden paddle hanging on his tool board. ( I was terrified of those paddles!) I think in 6th grade we got a new art teacher named Mr. Kovotchevich, and Mr. Coehlo went to Col-Hi. When I was in High School his wife, Ruth Freeman Coehlo, was my violin teacher. I remember Mrs. Ingersoll for music, and later Mrs. Haliburton. And all along we had Miss Jones for P.E. I remember that she wore culottes and I was a little afraid of her, but then I was pretty timid in those days. The Principal was Robt. J. Wilson. Before he came we had Mr. Lind.
We are, we are, we are the best!
Who are? We are! R H S!
Karen Kleinpeter
Gary Behymer (64)
http://members.tripod.com/~krookmcsmile/RichlandWashingtonFloodof1948
Gary
Mary Sullivan (64)
Re: Mr. Davis -- Boy, I was REALLY confused until today when I read Rick Maddy's (67) entry and he mentioned that Mr. Davis was a "roaming PE teacher at the different grade schools"! I remember him being at Lewis and Clark and several of us girls were SO "In love with him"! And if I remember correctly I believe that he married our Music Teacher!! (Except for the life of me I can't recall her maiden name)!! AH YOUNG LOVE -- It can be SO cruel!!! I just remembered that one summer I DID get to take a few tennis lessons from him as well!!
Mary
Micky Hemphill (66)
Jim Hunter (66): I have a photo of our little league team (Thrifty Drugs - 1960), and can't remember all the names and faces.
Rick Maddy (67): The ball field was the National Little League field, can't remember it being called anything else??
The south-enders: we did rule the town back then, I am sure the "other-enders" were jealous.
Remembering Mr. Rex Davis... I think we all respected him a lot.
Micky Hemphill
Dave Miller (67)
The Miller family moved to Richland about 1957 from Longview (a little difference), first on Jadwin then to Riche Court and then to Johnson.
Dave Miller
Vickie Andersen Simmons (67)
I have read about the milk delivery man and the bread delivery man, but does anyone else remember the "potato man"? I remember him coming down Thayer (where we lived in an "A" House until I was 5), in a truck with wooden sides on the bed, yelling he had potatoes for sale. As a young child I was "tongue-tied". So was the potato man. I just loved him because he talked like me.
Vickie (Andersen) Simmons
Mina Jo Gerry Payson (68)
The mention of PE teacher, Violet Jones, at Jefferson jogged another memory for me. A number of years ago, I ran across a cute book in the library called Hooray, PE Today, by Violet Jones. It is her memoir of teaching PE at Jefferson. The book was published in 1959, so some of you who remembered her on line might be mentioned.
Carol Boyd Breckenfeld (72)
Eva Clark Perry (49) wrote about the car that is also a boat. I remember an aqua colored one in the 1960's that would enter the river by the Hunt Street entrance. I would watch, in absolute awe, as it just would drive right in the Mighty Columbia, and "swim" to work. Does anybody know who owned this miracle vehicle?
October 19, 1998
Al Parker (53)
Gary Horton (59) wrote: "one of the best looking cars driven by a Bomber was a beautiful candy apple red ford owned by a guy named Ray. "
Tony Tellier (57) wrote: "This was owned by a Kennewick character named Ray Quinlen ... or Quillen.
Al Parker (53) now adds: The "Kennewick character named Ray Quillen" is the ex husband of my sister, Penny Parker Quillen!
Judy Parker (60)
My family lived in the "F" House on the corner of Van Giesen and Stevens Drive for 50 years (l946 to l996). Jane [54], Bill [57], Judy [60], Beth [63] and Laura [65] all Columbia High School Alums.
Richland holds lots of good memories for us all, from Sacajawea, to Jason Lee, and Chief Joseph, and all the years since then.
Judy Parker
Sandy Carpenter McDermott (61)
To: Millie Finch Gregg (54): Yes, I certainly remember Col Hi Band teacher, Gordon Pappas. He was an awesome teacher who did a lot to raise the self esteem of his students, as well as teach them music. I was in his class all three years of high school; made it my personal goal to beat Dick Holmquist out of First Chair position fluitist, which I finally did in my Junior year. Of course to do that I had to get past 3 others, because there were 5 of us. Most of them were much more advanced than I, but I guess I was just more determined. We did have lots of fun in band, though, and I remember fondly the trips for competition to Ellensburg and Pullman. It was either in '60 or '61 that our group of 5 won 1st place in the state competition in Ellensburg. We were all pretty proud of that.
Rich Henderson (62)
The third indoor theater was aptly named the "Richland Theater"; was located just off the Parkway adjacent to G.W. Way. Memory is correct it was in business until the mid sixties.
Rich Henderson
Tom Hemphill (62)
To Denny Damschen (62): I also recall (a little bit) the pre-school that we went to that was a couple of blocks from Lewis and Clark. What I remember most is that it took me until I was 35 years old before I would eat squash. I don't know what they put in that stuff, but it was the only food that I just could not eat, and they made me eat it. Hey, does anyone recall why we called Denny Damschen (62) "HANDS" in 6th grade?
Rex Davis (PE Teacher and Coach) made a positive impact on a lot of us. I remember him well. His specialty was the trampoline and he looked like Superman flying. I recall one summer, perhaps 1958 or 59, when Mr. Davis set up a summer gymnastics training program in Rex Henderson's (61) back yard. I participated a little with the gymnastics program, but I didn't do real well, so I focused on baseball instead.
Then there's brother Mick Hemphill (66) and his first duck. Now Mick, you knew this was coming after you told about my first pheasant. Well, Mick got his first mallard near the mouth of the Yakima river. No, he didn't shoot it out of the air, because it could not fly. He did have to chase it through the swamp and blast it out of the water to get it out of it's misery. He was proud and he wanted me to clean it for him so mom could cook it. You guessed it, there was NO meat, just feathers and bone.
Bob Mattson (64)
I think I was in the fifth grade at CTK when the Scheffer cartridge pens came out on the market. The Sisters of the Holy Names weren't too impressed and the clothes I stained with that pen had me using those black ball-points that had US Government on them in no time flat.
Gary Behymer (64)
Mina Jo Geery Payson (66) wrote: " The mention of PE teacher, Violet Jones, at Jefferson jogged another memory for me. A number of years ago, I ran across a cute book in the library called Hooray, PE Today, by Violet Jones. It is her memoir of teaching PE at Jefferson. The book was published in 1959, so some of you who remembered her on line might be mentioned."
Behymer answers: I was in her book... as the kid who couldn't jump... She taught PE at Sacajawea for sometime also... mid 50s or so... She at 'raw liver' for lunch... I remember that the other teachers couldn't stand sitting at the same table with her.
Paula Mulvey Noakes (79)
I remember now that the drugstore on Thayer/Williams was Pennywise. We always walked up to that store and the Mayfair next door to do our shopping. I don't remember ever visiting the Mayfair/C&H in Uptown. I'm sure I must have, but can't recall it right now. I do remember the old Bon Marche on the Parkade (Diane worked there), before the mall opened up, and Newberry's in uptown of course.
Somebody asked about the little league field at Lewis and Clark ... my husband says it was called the National Little League Field (at least in the 60s when he was growing up there ... he lived on Delafield and went to Lewis & Clark).
I remember there was a fellow who worked at Hanford in the late 70s/80s who drove a car that turned into a boat. I think it was one of the senior managers but for the life of me I can't remember his name. Started with a "D" I think. That was around the time I graduated high school and started my Hanford career of 17 years. I remember there was an article in the Tri-City Herald about him, and seems like recently there was one of those follow-ups; you know, 10 years later, 15 years later, etc. etc.
Paula Mulvey Noakes
Susy Rathjen Whitney (71)
Re: Paula Mulvey Noakes (79), Alan's memory has slipped a wee tad, just like the rest of us! The other side to Albertson's was Thrifty Drug, not Payless. My brother-in-law, Bob Loper, worked there in sporting goods and the camera counter until Thrifty closed. Art Meyers was the pharmacist there. Before that, they had both worked in the Uptown Thrifty Drug. Now, if MY memory hasn't slipped some more, I recall Payless being on the corner of Lee and Jadwin -- now it is Dicount Video.
Susy Rathjen Whitney
Teresa Cook Morgan (73)
While I worked in the federal building most of the 70's, I met a man named Bernie Pigg who owned one of those cars that did, indeed, swim the Columbia River every morning. Course, you had to allow for the current. You didn't drive straight across the river, but came out quite a ways down stream. I don't think I ever knew if it was red or how long he'd had it. I think he'd spent years out in the outer areas and couldn't stand the long trip from Pasco. As I recall, for a while he cross the river in his amphibious car, drove to the federal building parking lot, picked up either his other car or his car pool and went the rest of the way out to the area.
Teresa
October 20, 1998
Betty Johnson Bennett (46)
I remember the car that drove across the river. It was quite a shock the first time I saw it, going right past me and onto the water. My neighbor used to work with a woman who's husband drove one from Pasco to the Richland side of the river. She thinks the name of the man who owned it was Don Cornell. Probably would have been in the 50's.
I have been wracking my brain about Albertsons. I live not far from there and have since '52 and cannot remember what used to be there before Albertsons.
Betty
Art "Tom" Hughes (56)
Subject: goose hunting
There have been several hunting stories but the one I remember most is when several of my friends, (I won't name them to protect the guilty) were taken up to the Horse Heaven Hills by a friend of one of us. He showed us how to "Ditch Geese". You would dig a long narrow trench tapering from ground level down to about 3 feet deep at the deep end. The ditch was about 15 feet long. We would dig the ditch in a wheat field where there were a lot of geese. We would sprinkle corn on the ground leading into the ditch and then move away. A while later the geese would follow the trail of corn into the ditch. When they got to the deep end of the ditch they could not jump out and were not smart enough to back out of the ditch so we could just walk up and grab them by the neck. We had several good meals over a couple of years and, luckily never got caught. this was when I was about 11 or 12 years old and I thought it was great sport.
Tom Hughes
Carol Converse Maurer (64)
RE: Mike Franco (70): I remember the chili and cinnamon rolls that we had for hot lunch. I always had hot lunch that day. I still talk about those cinnamon rolls. Have never had any better and surely wish that I knew how to make them like those we had!
RE: Bob DeGraw (66): I also met my father each day when he got off the bus. It was such fun. My cat would follow me too. Those sure were good years. You mentioned having the bomb on the floor during basketball warm-up. I seem to remember the bomb being there.
RE: Mary Sullivan (64): I well remember all that dirt in the basements. I remember my father digging it all out when we moved to Benham. I don't remember the actual dig. I do remember there had been dogs living in the house before we moved in and having to put lime down to kill the odor. Ugh! They only needed room for the furnace and sink.
RE: Larry Bowls (64): The south end of town was great! We had some neat people living there, right? I don't remember exactly where you lived, but I did then. Wasn't that far from me.
RE: Donna Fisher (80): You're right about the stores on the corner of Stevens and Lee. They were Rosauers and Payless.
Seems there are a lot of people who went to Southside United Protestant Church that I don't remember going. Funny how one can forget things like that. I remember Rev. Ledbetter quite well. He and his family were so nice. I also remember Rev. Best. He came after Rev. Ledbetter left.
Do any of you remember the old canoe that was out by Southside? We all thought it was Sacajawea. We were very proud of it and to think it was left there by her.
Carol M
Erin Owens Hyer (66)
The grocery story at Williams and Thayer was Campbells - then Mayfair. The head butcher was a really nice man named Scotty Crawford. He was married to Cully and they were so nice. Albertson's was paired up with a Thrifty Drug, run by Art Myers. He and my dad got along really well. Somebody mentioned that Pennywise was the only place they ever took anything from - that brought back my memory of shopping at Newberry's. I picked up a package of underwear and was carrying it around the store and forgot I had it. I walked at least half way home when I discovered it. I was so embarrassed. I walked back, paid for it, and then headed for home again. I do remember walking everywhere. I especially remember walking home from the senior graduation party. Didn't have anyone from our class to attend the party with so asked Bruce Wells from the class of 67' to go with me. He loved to dance and so did I. I had a great time. He lived close to where the dancing was and I lived clear across town. So when the party was over (6:30?) we said good bye and I walked home alone, stopping at CUP to take a little nap in the sanctuary. Those were the days!
Jim Hunter (66)
Richland was a great place to grow up... from Atomic Frontier Days to the hydroplane races to church basketball on winter nights. It seemed there was always something to do.. without tv and video games.
CHRISTMAS SEASON was great, Walking to Uptown in a blizzard. Not many lightweights in those days... How about the free matinees at the Richland Theater. Just bring candy money. Remember the weekend winter hockey games at the Y.. with sticks and tin cans? this usually turned in to a good old fashioned brawl. I remember jumping off the train bridge into the Yakima. Like some sort of passage to manhood, that was pretty stupid, when our out board motor on the boat would not go down off the sand bars and junk..
JIM HUNTER
Vickie Andersen Simmons
(67)
Does anyone remember the short lived (I wonder why?) restaurant named "Tim's". It was just down the hill and across the street from the cemetery, near uptown. It moved into the building vacated by Einan's when they moved out across the highway from the "shelter belt". Location truly is everything.
