Coulee City News, Friday, December 6, 1946, part 1

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DEC 06      Part 2

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Coulee City News
JOE and VIRGINIA PIERCE, Publishers.
Volume 1, Number 1


p. 1, col. 1; p. 7, col. 2

Not Quite News

      Thanksgiving was a busy day for most of Coulee City.  Among the visitors here was Raymond brewer who came from Seattle to spend the weekend with his wife.  With the threat of being sent back to his boarding house in Seattle if he wasn't 'good', he was awfully busy washing dishes, running errands and trying to please.  He'll be back to live here about Jan. 1.

      They were all Montana-ens at the Leonard Johnson home Thanksgiving.  All originally from Miles City, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson and the ed Shueffeles have lived here since 1944, and the other guests, Mr. and Mrs. Floyd LePoidevin and Mr. and Mrs. Walter Cox, came last April.

      'Now, the best time to unload coal is just any time it is delivered,' Rev. H. M. Course was saying as he busily shoveled at the Presbyterian Church on one of our coldest, snowy days.

      Also out in the snow and slush was Mrs. Elbert Wagoner who waded over twice to bring us information we wanted.

      Dan Robinson was gazing wistfully after Mac McCulla who left last week to take his father, Dr. F. D. McCulla back to his home at Hermiston, Ore.  Hermiston is only a few miles from Stanfield where Dan's mother lives and he hasn't seen her in four years.

      Evidently the presence of the big Monighan dragline near Coulee City has captured the imagination of the younger set.  Local stores report that the supply of toy cranes was sold almost as fast as it was unpacked.
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p. 1, col. 2

VFW Memorial Hall Planned

      Plans for a Joplin-Gilden Memorial Hall were announced at the last meeting of the VFW.
      To be a living memorial to the two Coulee City men killed in World War II, the hall will serve as a recreation and social building.
      Frederick Harold Joplin, USNR, son of Mr. and Mrs. W. L. Joplin, lost his life when the USS Helena was sunk in the battle of Kula Gulf in July, 1943.
      He graduated from Coulee City High School in 1935, and received his naval training at San Diego.
      Pvt. Don M. Gilden, husband of Mrs. Beulah Larson Gilden and son of John Gilden, Spokane, was killed in action in Germany in February, 1945.  He is the father of two sons, Jackie Mac and Donnie Wayne.
      He was trained in the mechanized cavalry at Fort Riley, Kan.
      Don Wilson was named chairman of the publicity committee, and is assisted by Mrs. Wilson, Henry Ewell and Frank Borst.
      Other committee chairmen are: Tom Twining, subscription committee; Leo Lavin, building committee.  Mr. Lavin will be assisted by Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Mitchell.
      Elbert Wagoner, Jr., commander of the local post, will appoint a collection committee at a later date.
      At the conclusion of the publicity campaign Dec. 16, the post will meet to plan the subscription campaign.  Auxiliary members are assisting with the work.

[see p. 3, below]
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Personals

      Mr. and Mrs. Howard Foster of Ellensburg were guests last weekend of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. C. J. Weller.  Mr. and Mrs. Elvin Salters took them back to their home Sunday.
      William Austin spent last weekend here with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. T. E. Austin.  He is a senior student in architectural engineering at university of Washington.
      More personals on Pages 4, 7.
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p. 1, col. 3-5

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p. 2, col. 2

NO Coal Here Now

      There is NO coal in Coulee City, and a prolonged coal strike will almost certainly bring severe hardship to many residents.
      Neither Wagoners nor Potlatch had any coal in stock Monday.
      Mayor George C. Hartman reported that state officials have requested all cities to appoint committees to supervise the distribution of coal for emergency needs, but said he will not appoint such a committee here, because there is no coal to distribute.
      Hartman said that the local schools have enough coal on hand to last through the winter.
      Elbert Wagoner, Sr., reported he had in a carload of coal last wee, but that it was all sold out within two days.  He reported he had no wood, but that he hopes to be able to get some this week.  He said the main difficulty in getting wood was in getting it loaded, and said if necessary he would get a conveyor from Spokane to do the lading.
      Wagoner suggested that green wood would burn if stove oil is poured on it.
      He said he had heard of no one going cold yet because of lack of coal, but that if the strike lasted much longer, there would be many people suffering.
      Wagoner reported that there might be some coal of a poor grade available at the Ephrata air base.
      Mrs. T. E. Austin at Potlatch reported no coal in stock, several carloads on order, but no idea when they would arrive, if at all.
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p. 2, col. 3-5

Proposed Access Road Plan To Go To Banks

      [There is picture of a map with this article, but in such poor condition that I have not copied it. - C. S..]

      Six members of the Coulee City chamber of commerce met Monday with the board of commissioners at Ephrata in an effort to bring about satisfactory routing of the highway from Dry Falls junction into Coulee City.
      Guy Stafford, Oscar Larsen, Jack Lakoduk, Virgil Smith and Mike Radak were the local men at the meeting.  Representatives of the Bureau of Reclamation also attended.
      As the board of commissioners stated they had no authority to make a decision at the meeting, the next course of action will be a meeting between local representatives and Frank A. Banks, supervising engineer of the Columbia Basin project.
      Paul Hamilton and Steve Ayne, district officials of the state department of highways, will be asked to attend the meeting, which will be arranged at the convenience of Mr. Banks.
      The local chamber of commerce has been striving for several months to get action on the routing of the highway from Dry Falls junction to the town.  When the former road was closed because of construction work on the South dam, the detour was routed to the north of the dam, forcing Coulee City visitors from the west and south to go some distance out of the way to get into the town.
      The chamber proposes that a permanent road be constructed directly from Dry Falls junction to the town.  This routing would mean a round trip saving of four miles for people coming into town from that direction, and would eliminate the present unsatisfactory detour.
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WILL LOSE BUSINESS

      Coulee City faces the loss of a hundred to two hundred thousand bushels of wheat elevator business if a satisfactory access road to the town from the west is not provided before the harvest season, guy Stafford, manager of the Centennial elevator at Coulee City, estimated at a meeting of the Chamber of Commerce last month.
      The present detour is not satisfactory because it adds four miles to the distance farmers from the west must drive to market their wheat here, and because of the many curves and soft shoulders and the through-town routing.
      "About 90 percent of our business comes off the west hill," Stafford said.  "In a good year that means a million bushels of wheat come over that road.  A good part of that business, I'd guess a hundred to two hundred thousand bushels is on the margin between Coulee City and other trading centers, and that business will be likely to go elsewhere if Coulee City doesn't have good access roads."
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p. 3, col. 1

IMPROVEMENT CLUB FORMED AT FORDAIR

      H. J. Tipton was elected president of the Village Improvement Club when it was organized recently at Fordair.
      Mrs. Smith was elected secretary.  The Club will meet every Thursday night.  Approximately 50 people attended the first meeting.
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p. 3, col. 1-2























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p. 3, col. 2-3

She Shows Women Can Build Houses

      Nobody knows the woes of housebuilding better than Mrs. Svea Petterson.
      The small woman hard at work on the house she is building across the street from Robinson-Johnson has become a familiar sight in Coulee City.
      Need of the income from renting the building when completed, and high costs of labor have caused her to do a major part of the building herself.
      Mrs. Petterson made the forms for the foundations which were laid last April, and since then has worked on the building daily in every kind of weather.

Outside Finished

      Now with the outside construction largely completed, Mrs. Petterson is worried about the damage to her new building caused by the blasting being done in the construction work near town.
      Pointing to the concrete blocks she has laid with much painstaking labor, and to the foundation, she counts numerous cracks and places where the mortar has been shattered from between the blocks.
      This is just one of many problems she has encountered since beginning the building.
      "Does anybody know where I can get 12 feet of green roofing?"  has been her constant question for the past week.  She lacks only that much of having her roof completed.
      Plaster to finish the interior will be the next shortage Mrs. Petterson will face.  Enough scarce building material to build a four-room house and garage takes an awful lot of hunting, she has found.
      Mrs. Petterson points with pride to the good workmanship she has put into laying the blocks for her walls, and the many other jobs which she has proved a woman can do well.

Lived Here 10 Years

      She has hired a small amount of labor done, she explains, but jobs from laying foundation to putting up roofing she has done herself, climbing busily around the scaffolding which she also put up.
      Mrs. Petterson has lived in Coulee City for about ten years since coming here from the East to care for her father, Carl Petterson, until he died a few years ago.
      As to when the building will be finished, Mrs. Petterson doesn't know, but one thing she is certain of: It WILL be finished.
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p. 3, col. 4-5

RED AND WHITE STORE NOW OPEN IN CITY

[some words in the last part of this article are unreadable in the archive]

      Coulee City's newest grocery store, Radak & Warren's Red and White, opened for business Nov. 23.  The store is located one block north of the railroad station in a new stucco and plaster building.
      Mr. and Mrs. Michael Radak of Coulee City and Mr. and Mrs. leon Warren of Panama are owners.  The store is being operated by the Radaks.  Mr. Warren is a government engineer, now employed by the Panama Canal.  He expects to be transferred to the Bureau of Reclamation and assigned to this ... soon.
      The Warrens for... lived in Coulee City ... and Mrs. Radak moved ... from Vancouver last ...  Radak has been active ... civic affairs since ... here.  Just now ... serving on a Chamber of Commerce committee ... striving to obtain access routing into Coulee City for the highway ... west and south.
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p. 3, col. 3-5

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p. 4, col. 1-2

CAROL WILSON TO WED IN FALL

      Rev. and Mrs. B. P. Wilson announce the engagement of their daughter, Carol Delight, to Harry E. Dormaier, son of Mr. and Mrs. Chris Dormaier, of Hartline.
      The wedding will take place next fall. miss Wilson, who has received all of her education in the Coulee City and Hartline schools, is a sophomore student at Hartline.  Both she and Mr. Dormaier have been active workers in Grace Full Gospel Church.
      Mr. Dormaier graduated from Hartline High School and spent three years in the army medical corps, including foreign service in the South Pacific and Japan.  He is now engaged in farming near Hartline.
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p. 4, col. 1-5

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p. 4, col. 3

Society

WOMAN'S CLUB LEARNS DETAILS ABOUT FRENCH CHILD TO BE HELPED

      Details have been received by the Woman's Club concerning the French child members voted to adopt at a recent meeting at the home of Mrs. Mary Jeffers.
      The child is named Marc Javelot and is aged ten.  He is described as exceptionally bright and is in need of school books which woman's Club members may include in the regular boxes of supplies to be sent to the child.
      Other details received by club secretary, Mrs. Jess Boyd, was the following;
      ' Father in Resistance in formation service, paraschuted arms landings.  Arrested Sept. '43 deported, died at Gross Rosen Nov. 28, '44. '
      Arrangements to send boxes to the child were to be made at the meeting Tuesday at the home of Mrs. Mary Pitts.
      Four new members of the club are Mrs. Opal Gray, mrs. Howard kiehlbauch, mrs. Leo ferris, and Mrs. Annette Tucker.  Notice was posted to change the bylaws to admit an unlimited number of members.
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p. 4, col. 4-5

Guests, Trips Reported

      Mrs. W. L. Joplin and Mrs. J. Ed Tucker have returned from California where they visited with relatives in San Francisco and other cities.

      Mr. and Mrs. R. Fl. Berstrand and children, Patsy, Jimmy and Margie, of Edmonds, and Mr. and Mrs. George Berstrand and children, Virginia and Maurine, of Wenatchee spent Thanksgiving here with Mrs. William Thiry.  Mr. and Mrs. Ed Thiry were also Thanksgiving guests of his mother.

      Mr. and Mrs. Herman Dochel, Mr. and Mrs. Geo. A. Nilles, and Bennie Nilles spent Thanksgiving with Mr. and Mrs. Russell Hunt ant Sims Corner.

      Mrs. Bud Hebble and daughter, Claudia Anne, who was born Nov. 23 at Columbia Basin Hospital at Ephrata, have returned home.

      Mr. and Mrs. Perry Brown and son, Duane Lee, have returned home from Ephrata where Duane Lee was born Nov. 22.

      Mr. and Mrs. Jess Boyd have as visitors her father, Dan Coons, and uncle, Amol Dresher, both of Tacoma.

      M. E. Scheibner and daughters, Nancy and June, of St. Andrews, were in Coulee City last Friday.

      Alberta Stocker and her father and brother, harry Arter and Ned Arter, spent Thanksgiving with their family at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Loren Stocker at Chelan.

      Miss Teresa Kiehlbauch spent the weekend in Spokane visiting her aunt, Miss Katherine Herrmann.

      Mrs. Selma Johnson, and son, Sid, visited recently with their son and brother, Jack, at Spokane.

      Mr. and Mrs. Jim Jess and family spent Thanksgiving with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Val Jess.
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MRS. PITTS IS HOSTESS TO PRESBYTERIAN GROUP

      Members of the Westminister Women's Association of the Presbyterian Church were to meet at 2:30 p. m. Thursday at the home of Mrs. Mary Pitts.
      Mrs. Christine Olsen was hostess at the last meeting held at the church.
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HOLD TURKEY SHOOT

      Members of the Sportsman's Club will hold a turkey shoot Dec. 8 at their new clubhouse one mile east of town.
      Turkeys, nylons, geese, hams and bacon will be given as prizes for shooting and games.  J. L. Tucker is in charge of arrangements.
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