Enjoy these snapshots of articles written in past issues of the Nisqually Valley News from 45, 35, 25 and 15 years ago, respectively.
A Look Back at This Week,
45 Years Ago
• Cub Scouts of Pack 268 and friends gathered in the Southworth Elementary School cafeteria for the annual blue-gold dinner. Following dinner, the Cubs were presented awards with the final event of the evening: the cake auction. The special evening observed the 49th birthday of Cub Scouting.
• The Yelm School Board agreed to purchase 300 yards of fine red cinders for the high school track from Jensen and Harrison Company. The cinders were to be used to enlarge the track from four to six lanes, with preliminary work already completed.
• The Yelm Fire Department was called to stop a grass fire in Nisqually Pines on Feb. 27, 1979. Not only was the grass burning during the rain, but it was caused by a burn barrel.
• Production leaders for Pierce County herds, as determined by the Dairy Herd Improvement Association, showed Wilcox Farms led the herd category of 120 cows or over. The Wilcox herd surpassed leaders in other herds in the county by 51.5 pounds of milk and 1.89 pounds of butterfat per cow per day.
A Look Back at This Week,
35 Years Ago
• The Yelm Lions Club was slated to celebrate its golden anniversary with a dinner on March 16, 1989. The special guest speaker was Donald E. Banker, third vice president of the International Association of Lions Club.
• A fire believed started by a fireplace extensively damaged the home of Ron and Debbie Portz, Dynamite Drive, in Cougar Mountain Camp. District 17 fire personnel contained the blaze to the upper story and roof, with water damage to the lower level.
• Yelm area residents and meteorologists were caught by surprise by the snowstorm that began to fall on March 8, 1989, and kept up at a steady pace until March 9. Several inches of snow kept schools closed for a day, and slick roads resulted in a number of traffic crashes.
• On March 4, 1989, $4,000 worth of cattle were killed, butchered and taken from the Horst Registered Polled Hereford Ranch, three miles east of Yelm. Sheryl and Julie Horst found the remains of two mature polled Herefords near a landfill; one had the right rear quarter removed, and the other had all four quarters removed.
A Look Back at This Week,
25 Years Ago
• Construction was scheduled to begin on Yelm’s Cochrane Park, an integral part of the city’s new water reuse system. The 8-acre park, located south of the city off Mill Road, featured three wetland cells, a catch-and-release fish pond, picnic areas and pedestrian pathways.
• The FBI and U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division investigated the shooting death of a Roy-area cab driver at Fort Lewis. Donald Ray Barker, 45, picked up someone who identified as “Dave” outside the Strap Tavern, and Barker was shot three times in the back of the head.
• A Yelm man pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide for a fatal hit-and-run accident in McKenna in December 1988. Prosecutors believed Shawn Klontz, 23, was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash that claimed the life of 44-year-old James Carrillo.
• The Dollars for Scholars auction at Yelm High School raised more than $20,000 for education. The amount raised was 33% higher from the previous year’s total of approximately $15,000. The funds were given to graduating YHS students who pursued post-secondary education.
A Look Back at This Week,
15 Years Ago
• Yelm police investigated a rash of vehicle prowls that all occurred in the same area. Twenty vehicle prowls were reported, all from neighborhoods surrounding Ridgeline Middle School.
• The Nisqually Valley News launched a new, more interactive website. New features to the site included online subscriptions, news tip submissions and a feature that allowed readers to comment directly on a story.
• Yelm resident Cynthia Bruner, 14, served as a legislative page for State Rep. Jim McCune the week of Feb. 9, 2009. Her responsibilities included delivering messages and documents to legislators and legislative assistants, committee meetings and House chambers.
• Yelm resident Marcy Deutsch, 26, who was diagnosed with moderate and functioning autism at age 5, became a public speaker and professional artist. She sent a drawing of a corgi and a letter with her story to England’s Queen Elizabeth II, and in about a month, her family received a letter from a lady-in-waiting on behalf of the queen.
