"Bomber Memories"
October 29, 30 & 31, 1998
October 29, 1998
Richard "Dick" Coates (52)
My family came to Richland as the result of the flood of 1948. My Dad was working on a maintenance crew for the City of Richland while the family was still living in Vanport, Oregon. Our name was on the housing list, but at that time it took quite a while for names to move to the top of the list. The big flood that year took out the dike around Vanport, and as a result our family lost our home and all our belongings. Dad was allowed emergency housing and we moved to a 3 bedroom prefab on Totten. That same year Richland had a big flood and a dike was built to retain flood waters.
My sister Beverly (52) and I began our Freshman year at Col-Hi. I went to work at the old Garmo's Grocery on the corner of Symons and Goethals as a boxboy and was quickly promoted to taking care of the produce department. I was only 15. Garmo fired me because I missed 1 day of work as the result of an on the job injury. Went to Randall and Doyle Grocery on the corner of Williams and Thayer and worked there as a butcher assistant. Anyone remember the old A&A Foods at West Richland?? I quit Randall and Doyle and went out there to work as a checker for the rest of my high school days. Allan Grant (51) worked there, too. Sometimes on Fri. night we would be asked to stay and stock shelves till the wee small hours of the morning to prepare for the big Sat. sales. When we were finished we would just fall asleep on the sugar sacks so we would be there early Sat.AM to open up.
One of my favorite pastimes was hunting jack rabbits in the desert. I drove an old '41 Hudson and my best friend Carl Volmer (53)[54?] and I would ride the fenders while my then girlfriend - now wife - Kay Mitchell would drive the car over the backroads of the desert. Carl and I would take pot shots at the jack rabbits in the car lights up ahead. We just left them lay there for coyote food. This was our big Saturday night out!!!
Richard Coates
Marilyn Peddicord Whitley (53)
Does anyone remember riding the school bus to "away games." You could just go to the H.S. late in the afternoon, get on the bus and go to the games. It was great fun we used to sing all the way there and back, driving the bus driver nuts.
Marilyn
Tom Hemphill (62)
To: Denny Damschen (62): I was a bit afraid that you might come up with some the wrong reason why you were called "hands" in 6th grade. What I recall is, you were always able to catch a football pass regardless of how bad the throw.
Tom Hemphill
Earl Bennett (63)
Rick Maddy (67): I remember Fred Milton only from a basketball game I attended in the big "new" gym, probably Fall '63 or '64 after I had graduated. I heard a rumor that his primary function was hatchet man, but he appeared to have some decent playing skills, too. The one clear memory is of a whistle blowing for a foul and Fred's hand going up in the air instantly, only to notice too late that the ref was calling the foul on the opponent Fred had been guarding. He immediately folded his arms across his chest and headed for the other end of the court to shoot the foul shot, a sheepish grin on his face all the way.
Sherry Nugent (62)/Joy Stanfield (71): I loved Christmas caroling! Both doing and receiving! The Richland Lutheran youth choir did it regularly, and the Crownover family among others usually toured our neighborhood at the corner of Potter and Turner. There are still some who will carol - the church choir I'm part of went out after our Christmas party last year, about seven or eight of us, but it was too bitter cold (below 25 with a damp breeze) to stay out more than a half hour. The recipients do still appreciate it, at least the 20-30% of homes where someone came to the door to listen. The dry Richland climate made it much more enjoyable.
Ronnie Sledge (65): The hide-and-go-seek games around the light pole at the corner of Turner and Potter brought together all those you mentioned plus Glenda Burdsall (her brothers Gerald and Harold were a little to old to join us then), Jimmy Heidelbaugh, occasionally Terry Davis' older sister, Judy, Tomi McKinnon, Marc Leach, Ray's younger brother Gerald later on, Stormy Stillwell, John Coons and younger brother Tony, sometime Kirby and Scott's younger brothers, two attractive girls names forgotten from the white house on the corner of Sanford and Turner where the gutter drains would back up and create a minor swimming pond after a heavy downpour (as much as 10-12" deep, and within an inch or two of flowing in through their front door), Pat Murphy (and later in the same house Pam Crownover), and I'd better credit my sisters by name Diana and Cecilia (Sue, Sally and Beth were a little too young to join us). From my class but not part of our neighborhood identity a block or so West of you was Gary Zweifel - or was it Sheila Zanger, or maybe both?
Further down on Potter - Chuck Stade, Claudia (?Harmon?). All from the age groups graduating 61 - 66. BB gun wars - yeah, makes me marvel at the resilience God created in us to ever survive our childish thoughtlessness, as Marc can attest; that may be why Dad had me join the Junior NRA club, to learn gun safety. We shot at an indoor range in an old WWII - style Army barracks type building out toward Horn Rapids. I also remember practicing throwing a hatchet at the willow tree I was helping Dad take down to make room for a family room addition - Dr. Franco plied his stitchery trade that evening after the hatchet bounced back.
ecb3
Jim Hamilton (63)
Young Folks, old folks everybody come, join our Bible School, we'll have a lot of fun............
I for one have many memories of Church Camp up on the Naches River, though I must admit they are all secular. Sitting around the campfire next to some Chief Jo honey, floating pine cones and singing "We are Climbing Jacob's Ladder" and "Kum Bah Yah", now those are church camp memories.
There were some "Big League " souls to save in Pook, Twedt, Plows, the Hyatts, Jim Stull, Pete Van Wyke, Ken Wright and Shelly (we can use my Zippo if the candles blow out) McCoy. There was also Kool Aid for breakfast from big stainless steel pitchers and all kinds of kitchen chores that rotated by the day and cabin. Back then you could get mail in a day or two for 3 cents, while now your Mom would have to mail the cookies a week before to make sure you got 'em by Thursday.
Kathy Rathvon can still do a pretty mean interpretive dance to "For the Beauty of the Earth" . I recall Cecile Phillips also being a major player in the group, and they wore some white sheet kinda dress.
We were fortunate to have a couple of very dynamic ministers in Jim Ledbetter at Southside and Dave Seamon (sp) at Central. Way ahead of their time.
Jim Hamilton
Karen Kleinpeter Kroger (63)
To Vernon Blanchette (64): The church you remember is Central United Protestant Church. It is still there, on Stevens, but the old building has been replaced with a new one... probably in the mid 1960s. The minister you remember was David Seaman. We called him "Reverend Dave". He died in March 1958 while playing golf with Cecile Phillips' brother, Cap. His wife, Gloria, had the lead in the Richland Light Opera's production of "South Pacific" shortly after his death.
I attended two Church Camps near Yakima. The first one, in Jr. High was up toward Chinook Pass. We walked to and climbed up Edgar Rock. We also walked to a little store on the highway called Pine Cone Inn. The other was Camp Ghormley... up White Pass highway. ( It has come to be called Ghormley Meadow recently). It is east of the road that goes around the south side of Rimrock Lake. It is owned by the Presbyterian Church. I know more about it, because my boys have also gone to camp there. When I went to Ghormley, it was with the kids from Westside United Protestant Church. The minister there was Homer Goddard. A while ago someone asked his wife's name.. it was Isabel. There was another minister there named Don Rayment. His wife was Ginny, and son was Peter. They moved to Calif. in about 1961. Peter would have graduated in 64 from Col-Hi.
The liturgical dance in the white robes was called Rhythmic Choir. My mom, Nita Kleinpeter was the director.
Karen (Kleinpeter) Kroger
Kathy Rathvon (63)
The liturgical dance in white robes was done at Central United Protestant Church. Margaret Weeks [64] participated along with Karen Kleinpeter [63], Mary Jane Stoakes [63], Diane Hill [63], Sue Tomlinson, Sue Knox [64] and others whose names I don't remember. I also participated. Karen Kleinpeter's mother, Nita, organized the group. The minister was Robert Seaman ( I think). I think after he died Melvin Finkbeiner became the minister.
Kathy Rathvon '
Carol Converse Maurer (64)
To Peg Sheeran Finch (63): I was a candy striper when I was a senior. I don't know how many more years they had that program after that though. Seems there were a lot of volunteers while I was one, so perhaps it was continued on for a few more years.
I remember going to Girl Scout Camp, but I don't remember where. Okay, there are a lot of us from the old troop out there, so let me hear from you as to where the camp was. I remember going while I was in grade school and being sooo homesick. I would write my folks every day. Then, in 7th grade, I went again and had the time of my life. I remember that we weren't suppose to feed the chipmunks. We would buy those little bags of peanuts and line them up into the tents so that they would come in. I remember once that I hand fed one of the squirrels and it bit my finger and wouldn't let go. That really scared me. I went to ask one of the counselors what would happen if you got bit. She told me that I would have to go get a tetanus shot. I said thank you and walked off. There was NO WAY that I was going to tell her I got bit.
CCM
Patty de la Bretonne (65)
To Paula Beardsley (62): Yes, I remember the "leggings" we had to wear in grade school, along with boots over your shoes. I think I inherited all past leggings from Irene and Ernie since I was the youngest. dark brown and dark green I remember. Remember when kids clothes were those dull colors?
Patty de la Bretonne
Cheryl Moran Fleming (66)
When my sister Jane (64) and I were young, we would get orange and black construction paper from Densow's Drugs and sit in the living room at the card table and make Halloween decorations to put up in our window. My Mom bought full size Hershey Bars that we wrapped in a Halloween Napkin and gave out to the Neighbor Kids who came to our door. Just regular stuff for everyone else. I was always a witch in those early days, and Mom would buy a new mop head for the hair, then she would use it to clean with the rest of the year.
Erin Owens (66): I was a Bluebird, then a Campfire Girl and we were in the same troop. Wish I had saved the Bluebird pen. Don't think we ever went to camp, but remember WOHELO. Work, Health, Love.
Cheryl Moran Fleming (66)
Rich Conley (66)
I went Spalding and Carmichael, worked in the school store and was president of the Band in 9th grade. Our family lived at 1201 Cedar until the Summer of 1963 when we moved to Daytona Beach after my Father, who worked for GE, went with the space program. We lived there for 18 months and then moved to Huntsville, AL. Looking back, I would have loved to have stayed in Richland, while Daytona was great, Alabama in 1965 was nothing like Richland. I would echo Bob De Graw's words about growing up in Richland, especially after getting two other perspectives before graduating in 66. Richland seems to have been somewhat sheltered and in that 20-20 hindsight, seems almost idyllic.
The Halloween Carnival, it certainly was the highlight of my years at Spalding. What great prizes, cupies on sticks, little whips on a cane, tons of great stuff. My Mother ordered the prizes one year and that catalog was like a Christmas "wish book" that I wore out reading. The games, the costume contest on the stage in the gym, the cake walk, the cartoons down in the kindergarten or first grade rooms, and bingo for the adults. And, you could walk home by yourself at night without fear! One of my absolute favorite things was the sloppy joes that they used to serve every year, I even have a recipe that is so close to what they served those many years ago that you swear it was the very same.
Rich Conley
Joe Largé (68)
To Marilyn Peddicord Whitley (53): You know, it really never occurred to me to think of Richland as a town that existed prior to Hanford, 1944. (DUH!)
I didn't even realize that there WERE graduates from prior to that period (1934?).
Anyway, I do know that Richland was a town that was moved from "North" to it's present location when the AEC came in. Anybody out there in a position to fill in a few more of the details concerning "Old Richland"?
To Shirley Segrest Telford (52): I remember those concerts as well, mainly because I played in so many of them. In my junior and senior years of High School, I was first chair trumpet, so I got to do the horse whinney. Now that I'm 49, I still play trumpet.
Joe Largé
Michael Figg (70)
I also remember the interpretive dancers at Central United Protestant. The gowns were ankle length white with sleeves that came to about halfway between the elbow and wrist. Somebody mentioned that they danced in bare feet and how cold they must have been. I have a vivid image of the feet of one dancer and how cold they looked. And another minister at Central was Melvin Finkbeiner. Who could forget a name like that?
Joy Stanfield talked about the band Isle of PHYVE. I remember them playing in a battle of the bands down in the park. Could another of the bands been the Pastels? I also saw Paul Koop play with Factory in the old Library behind the Police station about '71 or '72. It seems like they did a lot of Led Zep stuff.
Michael Figg
Susy Rathjen Whitney (71)
Speaking of Halloween..... I remember at Lewis and Clark, being able, and even expected, to wear our costumes to school on Halloween. Then, every class would would parade around all the other classes to show them off. I still remember seeing Linda Adrian walk by in her "bride dress". I thought it was just beautiful! Trick or Treating.... the streets were just filled with kids! Nothing could stop us... there was no such thing as getting tired.. you just pressed onward. The sound of crunchy leaves beneath your feet, especially the big sycamore leaves. Night seemed to last forever. And then, to go home with your siblings and dump out all your candy and see what a treasure you each had.... it was one of the best days.
Susy Rathjen Whitney
Lois Clayton Colton (72)
I was one of those girls in bare feet that "danced" at CUP. I don't remember my feet ever being cold, but maybe I was too scared to notice. I did enjoy performing, though. I don't know how I got involved. Most of the girls also took ballet, but I did not. (It probably showed) It was called Interpretive Dancing, but I don't remember if we had a name or not. I guess those brain cells are dead.
I also did Synchronized swimming for years and got my picture in the paper telling about the up and coming show at the YMCA. They also did Synchronized Swimming shows at the Big Pool. I wasn't good enough for those, or at least I only remember watching them. I remember we had to do laps in the YMCA pool with one leg in the air. It wasn't any big deal then, but I about drown myself trying to do one now for a minute. My biggest evidence that I did swimming most of my life is that I can't put my eyes in a pool now or I have a reaction for the rest of the day. I guess I overdosed from being upside down and under the water so much. I have discovered that I can swim in the local pool here in Hawaii, though. It tastes like salt. :-)
I was also a Candy Striper in High School. You had to be a certain age. It seems like I did it for four years, but I'm not sure how that works with being in High School only three. So it was still going in '72 at least.
Lois Clayton Colton
Patty Stordahl (72)
Gosh yes the little water car. Man that was really amazing watching it drive right off the boat launch at the end of Howard Amon park into the water. Christ the King, catechism, any other bad catholics out there? The Pasco armory dances were really off limits to me so I only got to sneak out to a couple but they were fun. The battle of the bands, street dances, Mac hill. PE class swimming at the pool? Man I hated that class. I still hate swimming. I like water but not over my head. Zips salad burgers I think I ate at least one every week day, Tooling Lee Blvd. & Pay less parking lot on the week ends. It is amazing what we thought was exciting back then. Any one remember Val Flanigan, Karlyn Jerrish, Keith Brown, Bill Church, Dion Ware, Edie Jenkins, Chris Bolken (sp) Cindy, ?,, so many more that I can not list them all. Avon Anderson in his long fringed leather coat and his '57 Chevy? Randy Woodby and his dad's Riviera. Gosh I remember pulling his distributor wires to keep him from driving anywhere. I can't for the love of me remember why. I think it was a joke. I sure learned what not to do to cars after that. I am amazed he still spoke to me. Any one remember hot pants or the sizzle dresses? How about the felt flag on Mr. Nashes door knob to his office. Red for he was chewing someone out, yellow for knock he may be in a bad mood and green which meant come on in. I hope his life is well any one know what he is up to these days or if he as e mail? I would love to chat with him, or Mr.Vandenberg, and Mr.Stevens. I thought Mr. Stevens had the cutest dimples. Strange hair cut but the dimples made up for it. If any one knows where these misplaced leaders are please let me know. Did any one else have Mr. Carroll for Driver's ed out there? I think he barely passed me. It is amazing to me to know I really do have my CDL [Commercial Driver's License] now. I think that is the only class I really learned any thing in that I still use today.
Patty Stordahl
October 30, 1998
Mary Collins Burbage (63)
To Erin Owens Hyer [66] - I still remember the Indian call from Camp Roganunda.
Bob Mattson (64)
Happy Halloween everyone. It is and shall remain the greatest day to have a birthday on. Attending CTK, the day after was All Saints Day, so we didn't have school. We could run all night long, and did! The word would be passed like pony express mailbags, giving information on the houses that gave out the best candy bars. Tried a rubber mask once -- the facial sauna. Gad, running in the dark with one of those on, well, try it now huh? Made the mistake of stopping by home to drop off the bulk of my plunder and found out that the folks were running low and actually wanted to use some of my stuff to hand out - that was petty scary! Apples, HA! What were these people thinking? One bite and then the ol heave ho. Counted up the haul and it came to $8.00 or more -- and back then that was a lot of candy!!! So, it's payback time, my dears. I still remember the houses that gave out the good candy, it's only been about 45 birthdays or so, and that's spooky!!!
Bombed Bob
Cathy Weihermiller Fyall (66)
So many memories and friends from my childhood in Richland. Did anyone else buy the small bags of peanuts from the Newberry's candy counter, digging for the "mystery" coin at the bottom? Nobody else has ever heard of an "Uptown". There must be grooves from our foot paths around that famous block. We could see it from our backyard on Taylor if we stood on a chair. Scrambling under the school desks for air raid drills and once in awhile making the evacuation drive out to where ever, maybe Benton City? Stocking our bomb shelter in the basement. Swim lessons at the city pool with at least 30 kids per class. Roller skating around Chief Jo. The Seaman kids, Mike, Mark and Claudia, and yes, the church camps. Square dancing at the commumity center. Dances at the Mormon church. The year of the rash of bomb threats at Chief Jo giving us release from school day after day. Alright, who was the caller, anyway? Mr. Yonce's perfectly timed hot spudnuts when the Friday night movie ended. Playing half court GAA basketball. The shocking murder of Mrs. White. Roaming the city from the dike to all other places undecided all through the night and meeting other groups doing the same. Riding the dryers at the laundromat on Thayer. Having to WALK to your best friend's house when it was 118 degrees outside. Floating from Knox's dock to the island on innertubes. Learning to water ski and that unforgettable Columbia River water/ gasoline smell. Ice skating in our front yard and driveway. My big sisters' boyfriends. Going to ALL of the Col Hi basketball games from as far back as I can remember. Fireworks at the Bomber Bowl. Tetherball competitions and the thrill of being on the end for "Crack the Whip" on the Sacajawea hill. More later, and don't forget "look out, here come the tumbleweeds!!!!!!!"
Cathy Weihermiller Fyall
Teresa LaMear Edie (80)
I'm hoping some of you "older" (no disrespect) southenders could help me verify an old family story. We lived in an "E" (I believe) house on the corner of Delafield and Benham from 63 till the late 70's. Our front door faced both corners of both streets. I think we were the third or fourth owners. The swimming pool was made of concrete and in the shape of a foot, the shallow end being the heel. We were told as kids that the government didn't put it in for some big wig - as we thought we were living in "someone important" house but that a police chief or someone in the department had used inmates for labor and put it in. Maybe one of you had the chance to swim there in the earlier years.
There were six of us kids and with friends there we had a lot of fun! The year they drained Wellsian pond we used plywood and skimmed the water and the perch and crappy were jumping on it. Dad left some water in the pool when he was emptying it and we carried the fish home in buckets and made our own fishing pond!! What a mess that was to clean up!!! Thanks again to all.
Teresa LaMear Edie
October 31, 1998
Marilyn Peddicord Whitley (53)
Richland wasn't moved "North". The cinder block building at the corner of Lee Blvd and Geo Wash Way was the center of town - it was a pool hall and the space in the back where the Italian restaurant is now was the Post Office - My father, Ed Peddicord, was appointed postmaster in 1940 - I was five then - I remember holding his hand and walking from our house on Lee Blvd (where some drive in is now just behind the old safeway store) to receive the appointment from President Roosevelt.
More for Joe Largé On Lee Blvd. there were several older homes, one was ours and one John Dam's - remember he was a town leader Rite Largé who owned the grocery store. Rite Large - extra big - maybe I spelled it incorrectly - he was a town leader instrumental in "making things happen". Our family and his and 3 others remained in our homes and stayed in Richland after the take over. The next time you drive down Geo Wash Way look carefully. There are several original buildings still in place. Mother and Dad were married in 1934 on the lawn of Mother's parent's home - the old block house on Barth in the south end. Grandpa's 40 acres of asparagus and small apple orchard abutted the old high school property and took up much of what is now the south end residential area. Mother tells of cutting asparagus and then racing through the orchard to be the last one in the school house before being counted truant. The Uptown area was built after the project was well underway - but Richland was not moved.
Grandma and Grandpa Rose's house is on Barth and I can't remember the cross street - it is made of cinder blocks and looks poorly now, it was at the time, a very nice house their property extended from the house to Comstock street and then over to the high school property - there are only one or two other track houses left in the south end. It might be Barth and Davenport - it is not far from the downtown area or from Lewis and Clark school. I also remember their barn near the orchard and the cow Grandma milked each day.
Here's another story - My grandfather, besides the asparagus farm, had a produce route from Richland to Spokane. He would buy produce from the local farmers and from those "up the valley" Yakima, that is and sell the produce to the small towns on the way to Spokane, like Steptoe and Sprague etc. In Spokane he bought items like oranges and grapefruit and other things not produced in the area, sold them on the way back and brought them to Richland also. Anyway, Grandpa was up early the morning Mother went into labor with my sister - Kathryn - Daddy was having a terrible time getting Mother into the model A to take her to the hospital in Pasco. Grandpa could see the light at our house from across the way and rushed over. He made a quick assessment brought a mattress from the house and - Kassie was born under the tree in the side yard - they never made it out of town - Aug. 30 1937. It was always a point of contention with my sister that her birth was under a tree - but then she was truly born in Richland. (Kassie died of cancer in 1986).
Marilyn
Ralph Myrick (51)
I wonder, do any of you remember fishing for whitefish at the horse pasture. This is behind the cemetery. I can remember cutting holes in the ice and well as standing on the edge of the frozen river, fishing with cane poles and white salmon eggs. There was always a bunch fishing there. Or can you remember stealing cherries for the cherry orchard that was in place before Carmichael? Some friends and I had to escape through the irrigation ditch to get away from the police who almost caught us. POW's kept the orchard. Remember there was a POW camp near Horn Rapids Dam during the war. They took care of all the orchards in the Richland-Hanford area. Those were the "good ole days, huh?"
Ralph.
Lee Johnson (woulda been '54)
I went to John Ball grade school in North Richland and for junior high I went to Carmichael. When it came time to attend high school my parents moved to Grandview. I graduated in 1954. As you know John Ball was a unique school; it went from Kindergarten to the 8th grade and was only in existence for 7 years. We had a reunion a few years back and was able to gather about 300 people and a 3rd of the teachers.
We originally came here in 1948 from Seattle. It was going to be just a 6 month to a year stay and then we would return to the Coast. Here it is fifty years later and we are still here. It is really funny, I hear similar stories all the time.
This is good place to live and I think everyone will agree the quality of life here in the Tri-Cities is hard to beat.
Lee Johnson
Carol Converse Maurer (64)
Happy Halloween all you Bombers out there in Bomber land! I haven't heard anybody say anything about taking the UNISEF can around to collect money for UNISEF. We, in Girl Scouts, got the cans and went trick or treating for UNISEF along with trick or treating for candy. Those were the good old days of being able to go where ever we wanted to. It didn't matter that you didn't know the people that lived in the houses. You didn't have to worry about razor blades or anything else. We didn't even know of anything like that existed back then. It wasn't until the end of my trick or treating days that there were some problems creeping into the fun of the night.
CCM
Mary Sullivan (64)
AH!!! HALLOWEEN!!! It's not what it used to be! But then we could say THAT about almost everything couldn't we??
Living on "Craighill" during those very years, Halloween was much anticipated. As someone else mentioned, none of those "store bought" costumes came through our front door!! As a matter of fact did THEY EVEN sell them?? At any rate, I am going to need a little help from my older brother, Denis (62), here -- Just EXACTLY WHAT OR WHO were you the year I think I remember that you left the house WEARING a box????
I think the most popular girl's costume was being a "gypsy"! At least for me it was the easiest one to "get together"!!
We had the "Wrights", the Fitzpatricks, the Pierces, the Vasseurs the Wilox's, the Lambs, the Groffs and a few more that I can't quite recall at the moment!!
Now "ALL YOU GUYS", I KNOW SOME of you are out there, and I have a Question - WHO WAS THAT GUY who lived next door to the Groffs ?? You know, the one that we used to "dare" one another to approach his doorstep??? And then discovered that HE ended up giving THE BEST CANDY of ALL!!!
Happy Halloween Bomber Cheers!
Mary
David Odom (69)
TO Mark DeVoss (67): I was also a member of that BB&M team. Stan Maguffee [69] and a pitcher with the last name of Lyons are the only other guys I remember that you didn't mention. Stan and I didn't get a lot of playing time that year. We were a year or two younger than the rest of the team. As a back up catcher to Dave Cleppe I spent most of my time warming up pitchers and catching batting practice.
Paula Vinther Case (69)
Re: Central United Protestant Church. I've been a member of CUP all of my life and it is a great church. I used to love to watch the Rhythmic Choir perform. I remember when Dave Seaman died and what a shock it was. He was a really neat minister.
Paula Vinther Case
Judy Stein Mitchell (71)
Had a great time reading all the "Bomber Memories".
Some of my own.... When I was little I remember hiking all the way up to FlatTop Mountain (yes, it was called a "mountain) eating a can of beanie weenies at the top and hiking down - a thrill of a lifetime back then!
....I remember selling my brother's autograph off his school papers on the rooter bus for 50 cents when I was a little kicker. Got enough money to make many stops at Pennywise Store for candy!
...The Island Parties were such a great time in high school. We skied in the dark with a flashlight or just tried not to fall.
... We also skied in the irrigation ditch behind a car - for feeling I was pretty straight in high school, we did some wild things. Also went down the "flume" - dropped off 20 feet into the river - it was so fun. But I guess it got pretty dangerous.
...Tooling Zips and driving around all night on 60 cents of gas occupied most our weekends.
...If you didn't get to Regionals your Senior Year in basketball, it shot your whole year.
...I can't believe I now have a son who plays football for the Walla Walla Blue Devils - we hated them in high school. It certainly has taken some adjustment!! What happened to our green and gold bomb we used to haul out at games? We spent many hours protecting it from "rival predators".
...Swimming at the docks all summer is a big time memory. We always hoped Ron Brunke [71] would bring his Dad's boat!
Oh, if only we could go back to the old days...life was so easy then!
Judy Stein Mitchell
Yvonne (Kathy Jones) Taylor (84)
The memories are fantastic. The Halloweens, making our own decorations, I too went to Spalding and couldn't wait for their carnival every year. Lived on Birch street, one block from the school in a Ranch house.
It was so great as a kid being able to walk into anyone's home and know exactly where the bathroom was!
Thank God for Zips, earned enough there in my two years of High school employment to get me the heck out of the town and into College. And I will never give out the recipe for the worlds greatest Tartar sauce known to man!
Remember dancing in PE? It is the most valuable thing I have ever learned! Believe it or not, I have actually used those fox trot steps and a few cha cha's. Schools don't teach culture anymore.
Summers spent floating down the river. Nothing better to do, except drink slurpees, and play monopoly under the air conditioner in the wall. We were so bored.... Killed me when I went to college in Bellingham. Here were kids who were only one hour away from Seattle, one hour away from Vancouver Canada, and they'd dare to tell me they had nothing to do!! They never spent an evening driving around the desert in an old bug looking for the only entertainment in town, a kegger about to be busted at any moment by some big fat cop who took his job way too seriously.
Had some great teachers, who honestly cared. Mrs. Clements, Mr. Qualheim (I will never tell what happened on that summer science trip to Hawaii. But I will say that the school we stayed at gave us an award for being the funnest group they ever had!) gee, I can't remember the name of the Algebra teacher who said that if you came in for help he wouldn't flunk you. True to his word, he always gave me the C- when I really deserved the F.
I was raised on Bomber Basketball. Who can forget U-R-I-N-you're in Bomber Country!
Thanks for the memories. Thanks for reminding me what being a Bomber is all about.
Yvonne (Kathy Jones) Taylor
