A Look Back in Time: Pastor proposes constructing swimming pool in Morton; Borst Park area vandalized; Centralian set to show haiku class

By Owen Sexton  / [email protected]

In this installment of A Look Back in Time, the Wednesday, May 9, 1956, version of The Chronicle featured a narrative about native Lutheran Rev. Jack Larson proposing to construct a swimming pool in Morton throughout a Morton City Council assembly.

The athletic area at Fort Borst Park had been vandalized by unknown people suspected to be youngsters who have been seen on the park over the weekend in response to the Monday, May 9, 1966, version of The Chronicle. 

And within the Saturday, May 8, 1976, version of The Chronicle, it was reported that Centralia resident Don Caldwell, a self-employed counselor, was set to show a haiku poetry workshop on the Sunny Side Folk Arts Center in Chehalis.

The Sunday, May 9, 1976, version of The Chronicle was not within the archives, so tales from the Saturday, May 8, 1976, version have been featured as an alternative.

A Look Back in Time is compiled utilizing Chronicle archives saved on the Lewis County Historical Museum — positioned at 599 NW Front St. in Chehalis — together with digital archives on newspapers.com.  

Saturday, May 9, 1936

• A complete of 152 seniors have been set to graduate in the course of the upcoming Centralia High School graduation ceremony scheduled for May 28 in response to principal Paul Furgeson, The Chronicle reported. “Bob Kerstetter will be valedictorian and Josephine Charlet has been chosen salutatorian. They had the two highest scholastic averages for four years of high school work. There will be no other commencement speakers, the program again to be devoted to a demonstration by the graduation of various school activities.”

• St. Louis, Missouri resident Lindley Crowder, normal supervisor of the National Retail Credit Association, gave an handle to Lewis County enterprise house owners throughout a dinner on the Lewis-Clark Hotel the earlier night time, The Chronicle reported. During his speech, Crowder “predicted the nation’s business in 1936 will be from 10 to 12% higher than last year, with farm income showing an increase of one billion dollars. Crowder declared the Federal Housing Act (FHA) was a mistake, because it (brought) down the country’s credit structure, making it difficult for merchants to get back on a sane basis … and asserted taxes, which threaten to absorb all profits, and political uncertainty are the biggest problems facing business men today.” He added 60% of the nation’s retail enterprise was being achieved on credit score. “‘I do not favor advertising credit terms instead of merchandise, as has been done in some cities,’ he went on. ‘The FHA, by extending payments for as long as three years, has broken down the credit structure of the nation.’”     

• A “beautiful, used, upright piano in good shape” was listed on the market in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $60. Loose oat hay was listed on the market for $12 per ton.

Thursday, May 9, 1946

• U.S. Navy Aviation Machinist’s Mate First Class James Thompson, a Centralia resident listed as lacking in motion for over a yr after a transport he was on disappeared over the South Pacific, was now presumed lifeless in response to Navy officers, The Chronicle reported. “James Thompson, AMM1/C, who had been listed as missing in action since March 19, 1945, now is presumed to be dead, the Secretary of the Navy has informed his mother, Mrs. Margery Lee Drake of Centralia, in a personal letter. Circumstances leading to his death indicate he was a passenger on a C-47 transport plane which left Morotai, in the Moluccas Islands, on a flight to Samar, in the Philippines. The youth was born in Portland August 10, 1924, and received his high schooling in Salem. He left high school on August 11, 1941, in his sophomore year, to enlist in the Navy. He received his boot training at San Diego, followed by a course at the Chicago Navy pier, and then received advance training at Lakehurst, New Jersey, in the lighter-than-air branch of the Navy. He served at Santa Ana, and for 18 months at the Tillamook Navy Base. Thompson left the states for overseas duty on June 17, 1944. He was a lifetime member of the Methodist church. Surviving, in addition to his mother, are his grandmother, Harriet Lee; three brothers, Carl and Dale, Centralia, and Melvin, Stayton, Oregon, and two sisters, Darlene, Centralia, and Mrs. Tilliee Everson, Salem.”

• A six-room “modern home” on a “good corner lot” two blocks from Tower Avenue in Centralia was listed on the market in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $4,750. A two-bedroom house on “30 acres near city limits” with a “fine mixed variety orchard” was listed on the market for $6,000.

Wednesday, May 9, 1956

• Lutheran Rev. Jack Larson unveiled a proposal for a metropolis swimming pool throughout a Morton City Council assembly, The Chronicle reported. “A proposal to construct a swimming pool at a cost of $7,000 was aired at the regular session of the Morton City Council Monday evening. The Rev. Jack Larson, pastor of the Lutheran church, outlined the proposal to the council and asked its support in locating the pool and a water source. He said his construction figure was based on a large amount of donated labor.”

• Spring flooding worries in East Lewis County have been being eased because the winter’s snowpack, regardless of being massive, appeared to have already principally melted and run down into valley streams and rivers in response to U.S. Forest Service Packwood District Ranger Fritz Morrison, The Chronicle reported. “Morrison stated he bases his outlook on the heavy, and fully profitable, spring soften and runoff in the course of the previous month of sunny climate. ‘Because of the favorable weather, there is less snow on the mountain ranges up to 2,800 feet elevation than last year, or in past years, at this time.’ A climate sample wherein sunny climate melts snow in the course of the day with freezing blocking additional runoff at night time to permit streams to hold the day’s soften away was Morrison’s prediction.

• Emmet Anderson, the state’s lieutenant governor on the time and a gubernatorial candidate, introduced his help for Tacoma City Light’s Cowlitz River dam undertaking, The Chronicle reported. “The Republican candidate for governor, in an interview, said he always had been an active proponent of Tacoma City Light and that his candidacy had not changed his opinions. ‘You can’t stop the march of civilization,’ he said. ‘This is strictly a Tacoma project, and based upon the point that we need more kilowatts. Tacoma is enjoying a splendid industrial growth, and we have to provide for that growth.’ The lieutenant governor emphasized that it is Tacoma’s money which is going into the projects. He said, ‘Tacoma has completed the engineering on the dams. In the engineering seven million dollars was provided for the preservation of fish in the Cowlitz. I think we can have power and fish, too.’”

• A “spacious” nine-room house with a basement, two-car storage, an orchard and a landscaped yard on 1⅓ acres of land in “south Chehalis” was listed on the market in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $8,200. “Newly decorated” one- and two-room residences on the Centralia Apartment Hotel on Main and Iron streets have been listed for lease beginning at $20 a month.

Monday, May 9, 1966

• The Fort Borst Park athletic area had been vandalized over the weekend in response to park employees, The Chronicle reported. “Vern Fowler, park superintendent, told police that restroom light fixtures were broken, a back-up pad slashed from end to end, a dugout water fountain broken, holes punched in screens and paper from a dispenser scattered the length and breadth of the field. Centralia High School was scheduled to play Mark Morris High School of Longview in a baseball game Monday afternoon despite the vandalism. Worker Noel Tatum said Monday morning that damaged equipment had been removed. Tatum was preparing the field for the game. Police were told that two or three boys about 18 years of age stayed Saturday night in the area without registering with the custodian. Several other boys were questioned, police said, but it was determined they had no part in the destruction.”

• Local Lions Club volunteers have been finishing up enchancment work on the airfield in Packwood, The Chronicle reported. “The Lions Club’s recent airport improvement project achieved through donations of money, material and manpower what a private firm would have done for not less than $3,000, club officials estimated. The airport now has 2,200 feet of gravel runway, and the next project is to oil the strip. Local Boy Scouts will paint the field’s markers, and a new air sock and fire extinguishers are part of the field. Lions taking part in the project were Scotty Mullins, Virgil Ray, Les Guthrie, Dave Randal, Harold Averill, Elvin Scott, Bub Perry, Sherman Combs, Hoy Baker, Doug Scott, Markel Cain, Warren Perry, Walter Ridler, Bill Austin, Orville Sales, Hugh Kotojo and Harold Blanton.”

• A two-bedroom house positioned at 1217 Ward St. in Centralia was listed on the market in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $4,500. A two-bedroom house “near schools” in Chehalis was listed for lease for $80 a month.

Saturday, May 8, 1976

• Centralia resident Don Caldwell was set to show a haiku poetry workshop on the Sunny Side Folk Arts Center in Chehalis, The Chronicle reported. “The workshop is free. Persons attending should take paper, pen and favorite haikus. (The) teacher will be Don Caldwell, Centralia, a self-employed counselor who came to Lewis County several months ago to set up a group home for troubled adolescents. Caldwell took up haiku writing in 1969 while he was in graduate school. He had been working in the field of science and biology for a number of years and felt trapped in scientific writing and found it impossible to write for general consumption. In haiku the goal is to isolate an emotion and then express it in 17 symbols. Caldwell says, ‘It is really fun.’ He added, ‘Haiku developed out of the Tonka game played in Japan. People link verses but in really good haiku you can’t add another line.’”

• Lewis County Fire District 8 officers in Salkum have been making ready to obtain a brand new ambulance within the upcoming summer time, The Chronicle reported. “Another planned improvement in the district is a new substation which it is hoped can be constructed this year, according to (District 8) Fire Chief Van McDaniel. The district serves about 70 square miles in the Salkum, Mayfield, Silver Creek and Cinebar areas and is one of the largest districts in the county. Presently, it takes as long as an hour to transport a patient via private ambulance services based in Chehalis, Centralia and Morton to hospitals in those towns, McDaniel said. The new ambulance van, purchased at a cost of about $15,000, should reduce that time by 20 to 30 minutes because it will be centrally located among the hospitals it will serve … The district officials expect to take delivery of the fully equipped unit in 60 days. The ambulance meets all county, state and federal regulations and specifications for ambulance service, according to McDaniel. The ambulance will provide 24-hour service and will transport to medical facilities only in Lewis County. The unit will transport to the nearest hospital unless a preference is given, McDaniel said. Since the unit is to be stationed at the main Salkum station of the district, St. Helen Hospital and Morton General Hospital will be about equal distance … The new substation will be at Silver Creek and will cost about $6,000 from district tax funds for materials purchases. Most or all of the labor for the structure will be donated, McDaniel said. Without the donated labor, cost of the substation will be an estimated $15,000, he said. Property for the substation has been donated to the district. It will be located on Gershick Road, about two miles east of Salkum and just north of the White Pass Highway … ‘The main reason for the substation is to provide better service to the area,’ he said. ‘We hope to have units moved in by midsummer.’ … The fire department is ‘100% volunteer,’ McDaniel said, with a total enrollment of 32. The addition of the Silver Creek substation will provide a need for another four or five volunteers.”

• A “beautifully landscaped” four-bedroom house “in one of Lewis County’s finest neighborhoods” positioned at 112 Brook Dr. in Adna was listed on the market in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $45,500. A one-bedroom, partly furnished house on one acre of land in Mary’s Corner was listed for lease for $125 a month.

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