The Chronicle featured a picture of W.F. West High School’s 1963 graduating class in its Monday, May 13, 1963 edition. The picture showed the seniors gathered outside, with girls in the front and boys in the back.
According to the picture’s caption, the graduating seniors consisted of 50 girls and 49 boys. Commencement would be on June 7, according to W.F. West principal Roscoe Mitten. Baccalaureate services were to be held on June 2 in the R.E. Bennett School auditorium.
The senior girls were Martha Allender, Agnes Anderson, Arlene Anderson, Marlene Anderson, Ellen Atterton, Virginia Bailey, Katherine Baxter, Nancy Bradshaw, Gerry Briem, Elaine Brown, Kathryn Clifford, Linda Cook, Karen Eriksen, Sally Evans, Lois Evers, Sandra Falls, Karen Fischer, Jeane Folkner, Jean Furrer, Inger Gaden, Sandra Glover, Sandra Hampson, Susan Harms, Mary Haunreiter, Geraldine Hull, Rebecca Hunt, Margaret Irish, Lorene Livingstone, Carla Lofberg, Sandra McIntire, Mary Marshall, Dorothy Miller, JOan Miller, Claudia Newman, Susan Newsted, Judith Olson, Romalia Schneider, Carole Schwedler, Patricia Sexton, Peggie Sherrill, Mary Spears, Regenia Stanfield, Diane Stolp, Arlene Teitzel, Sharon Thormahlen, Angelica Travlos, Martha Trupp, Claire Wilcox, Kay Wood and Linda Cole.
The senior boys were Richard Baginski, Steven Baxter, Johnny Blair, Douglas Cottet, Robert Davis, John Dugaw Jr., Delbert Estep, James Fechtner, James Foulke, Eric Fuller, James Gillard, John Graham, Ronald Hansen, Daniel Hemenway, John Henricksen, Kenneth Hutchison, Stanley Jendryka, Frank Johnson, Robert Lintott, John Mallonee Jr., William Meier, Robert Miller, Reginald Myhr, James Noel, Roger Norberg, Larry Oleson, William Pemerl, Douglas Pemerl, Gary Rasmussen, John Rhodes, Federick Richardson, Donald Riddle Darwin Rider, Thomas Roof, Robert Scott, Norman Semanski, Donald Roberts, Edward Snellgrove, Thomas Sommer, Gerald Spady, James Spahr, Richard Stratton, Samuel Teitzel, David Thummel, Brian Tornow, Willard Ulry, Bryan Voss, Johnny Welch and Jeff White.
Saturday, May 13, 1933
• A meeting of the Centralia-Chehalis Poultrymen’s Local was held at the Fords Prairie Grange Hall on the night of Friday, May 12, The Chronicle reported. The meeting was “so successful that the members voted to continue monthly meetings throughout the summer.” The entertainment President Dell Lantz had arranged for the meeting was the “best the poultrymen have had in months,” The Chronicle reported.
• Rochester schools would not be following daylight saving time after it was voted down by “union high school directors” on Friday, May 12. “Rochester schools operate long bus lines to outlying communities and the board felt it would work a hardship on children and parents to prepare them for school an hour earlier than at present,” The Chronicle said. Walter Tripp, who The Chronicle referred to as being a “mayor” with quotation marks, said the country can “save the whole day” as far as he was concerned. “Why not work all night and have the whole day to golf and fish in,” Tripp said.
• Elum Collins, a 65-year-old “pioneer farmer and storekeeper” near Tenino, died in a Centralia hospital on Friday, May 12. Collins was survived by her brother and two sisters.
• Centralia was reportedly preparing to go on daylight saving time. Schools were expected to go on daylight saving time on Monday, May 15 while churches would make the transition on Sunday, May 14. The transition in Centralia would take place earlier than the transition in Chehalis, with Centralia changing the clocks at 12 a.m. on May 14 while Chehalis would wait until noon. “Centralia pastors today said their churches would open on daylight saving schedules tomorrow. This will be one Sunday that Centralia sermons will be herald ahead of those in Chehalis. The neighboring town goes on the new time at noon tomorrow,” The Chronicle reported.
• Several Chehalis churches were preparing to honor mothers for Mother’s Day, The Chronicle reported. A Mother’s Day service was expected to be held at 11 a.m. at Chehalis’ Westminster Presbyterian Church. A Mother’s Day message was also expected to be delivered at the First Methodist Church at 11 a.m. by Rev. Norman McCay.
• The boys of the graduating class at Chehalis High School were expected to be honored at a banquet at the Methodist Church in Chehalis on Monday, May 15. The event was to be put on by the Methodist Ladies Aid and was scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Speeches from Rev. Norman McCay and high school principal J.D. Glenn were expected, as was an address by the senior class president. The senior girls were expected to be entertained on the same evening at an annual banquet hosted by the Business and Professional Women’s Club. The banquet was scheduled for 6:45 p.m. at the St. Helens Hotel.
• A Rhubarb leaf measuring nearly three feet across and four and a half feet from the bottom of the stalk to the tip was found by William West at his Prindle Street home in Chehalis, The Chronicle reported. The leaf was found by West on Thursday, May 11 and was reportedly on display at a real estate office on Chehalis Avenue, next door to The Chronicle’s Chehalis office. Chehalis’ modern W.F. West High School is named in honor of West.
Thursday, May 13, 1943
• York Rite Masons had gathered in Chehalis on Wednesday, May 12 to hold leadership elections. Albert Ryan of Vancouver was elected grand master of the grand council of Royal and Select Masters of Washington and the group was scheduled to elevate Everett Jones of Everett to the position of grand commander of the grand commandery of Knights Templar.
• Ellis Kirtley, a 65-year-old former Chehalis businessman, reportedly passed away in a Tacoma hospital after a lingering illness on Tuesday, May 11. Born in Lowry City, Missouri, Kirtley came to Chehalis 23 years before his death. He was a member of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church and the Catholic Men’s Club. He was survived by his wife, a daughter, two sons and two sisters.
• The importance of saving tin cans for use in America’s ongoing involvement in World War II was stressed by leaders of a salvage drive in Chehalis and Centralia. “It is easy for housewives of the Twin Cities to participate in this vital program,” said Louis de Moise, the chair of the Chehalis tin can salvage committee, and J.A. Winchell, the head of Centralia’s committee. “All they have to do is deliver their cans to their nearest grocery store, and we will do the rest.” It was asked that cans be washed and smashed flat before being delivered to a grocer. The cans were reportedly being picked up from neighborhood grocers and were to be sent to a tin reclamation plant in San Francisco.
• The first meeting of the Chehalis Council of United Church Women was expected to be held at the First Christian Church in Chehalis on the afternoon of May 13. The meeting was part of a nationwide event in which women throughout the country were to cooperate “in uniting women of common interests in Christian work.”
• The Chehalis Fire Department made two runs during the night of May 12 and 13, with neither fire causing serious damage. One fire was a chimney fire at Al and Bill’s Tavern while the other was a fire in a car at the corner of Pacific and James streets.
• Plans for collecting furnishings and equipment were underway in Lewis County. The items were being gathered to be sent to soldiers at camps, hospitals and other sites who were deployed as part of America’s involvement in World War II. Plans were outlined during a meeting at the St. Helens Hotel in Chehalis on Wednesday, May 12. Among the items sought were “good stout kitchen chairs,” rugs, mirrors, couches, radios, playing cards, phonographs, records, washing machines and flat irons.
• The 13th annual Parent Son Banquet of the Chehalis chapter of the Future Farmers of America was held at the First Methodist Church, with nearly 100 boys, parents and friends participating. The event featured short speeches by chapter members, including Bob Rose, Fred Young, Jim Miller, Kenneth Knight, Albert Schindler, Clair Hamilton, Pat O’Connor and Roy Hamilton.
Wednesday, May 13, 1953
• The 27th annual commencement for Centralia Junior College was to feature 39 graduates, according to registrar Arthur Ehret, up slightly from 37 graduates a year earlier. According to The Chronicle, for the first time honor students were listed. Mary Jane Harmon of Centralia had “No. 1 honors,” The Chronicle reported, followed by Barbara Marianne Mellish, also of Centralia.
• Lewis County Sheriff’s officers were still searching for the body of Robert Rowe, a 26-year-old Centralian who was believed to have drowned in the Centralia River the previous weekend. A battered tin hat was found about 100 yards below where a canoe had reportedly overturned, officers said. The Sheriff’s office was reportedly looking into whether Rowe owned the canoe.
• A condemnation lawsuit between the City of Chehalis and The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Company began in Lewis County Superior Court on the morning of May 13, The Chronicle reported. The lawsuit was brought by Chehalis to obtain necessary property for road purposes between the two railroad lines north of West Street. An ordinance condemning the property and establishing the street was passed by the city commissioners the previous December.
• A five hour and forty minute power outage was suffered in the Mossyrock, Morton, Randle and Packwood areas on Tuesday, May 12, The Chronicle reported. Merle Johnston, the manager of the Lewis County Public Utility District, said the outage was caused for the same reason as a similar outage in Centralia. “A conductor on the Chehalis-Mossyrock line near Democrat Hill broke for some unknown reason,” Johnston said.
• An ad for Coca-Cola was featured in The Chronicle’s May 13 edition. “Famous go-togethers boy… girl… Coke,” the ad read. The ad said Coke was the most asked for soft drink in the world. “And no wonder-it’s so wholesome, so delicious and pure as sunlight,” said the ad. According to the ad, Coca-Cola was bottled in Centralia by the Coca-Cola Bottling Company.
• Citizens of Vader turned out on Sunday, May 10 for the groundbreaking of a new scout lodge. The scout lodge was constructed through the donation of labor and gifts of material and money. The Chronicle reported the area had 31 Boy Scouts and 36 Girl Scouts, none of whom had a recreation center. A picture in The Chronicle showed a group of scouts and “Mrs. Maude Laughlin,” an 80-year-old who was reportedly the first white child in the Cougar Flat district. Laughlin had the honor of moving the first shovelful of dirt.
• A three bedroom “modern” home in Centralia was listed for $4,200 in The Chronicle. The house featured an electric tank, a half acre of land, fruit trees and a garden.
Monday, May 13, 1963
• The Boistfort School District had found success again in mixing recreation with a school levy vote. “Mixing May festivities with school elections continued to pay off here Saturday, Boistfort School District residents approving for the third straight year a special building fund levy,” The Chronicle reported. The events on Saturday, May 11 saw 600 people, including most of the district’s students enjoying a morning school program with a picnic lunch, and an afternoon sports program and baseball game. Superintendent Elvis McCoy said the levy vote resulted in 85 in favor and 30 opposed. The levy was expected to raise $14,500.
• A crowd of hundreds visited the Claquato Church on Sunday, May 12. At the time, the church was 105 years old. Roscoe Doane, a Chehalis resident and a member of the Claquato Citizens’ Committee, said 256 people registered in the church, with “scores” of other visitors not registering. The church was described as one of the earliest pioneer churches in the northwest and was built in 1858. The church still stands today.
• Plans for the annual school boy patrol picnics for Lewis and Pacific counties were underway, The Chronicle reported. The Chehalis picnic was to take place at 10 a.m. at the Recreation Center. Participating schools included Raymond and Valley from Pacific County and Chehalis, Vader, Pe Ell, Winlock, Toledo, Mossyrock, Onalaska, Morton, Randle, Packwood and Glenoma from Lewis County. About 390 boys were expected at the outing, which was to include games and swimming.
• Two Associated Press stories on riots in Birmingham, Alabama were featured on the front page of The Chronicle’s May 13 edition. According to the AP stories, President John F. Kennedy had sent federal troops to the city. “The racial situation here, in the words of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy was extremely sensitive and tense, but he said he expects the agreement reached last week between white and Negro leaders to endure,” The AP reported. Robert F. Kenney was also the brother of President Kennedy. Bombings and rioting had resulted in injuries to about 50 people over the preceding weekend of May 11 and 12. The AP also reported President Kennedy would fly to the Birmingham area amidst disagreements with Alabama’s governor Goerge Wallace, a famous supporter of segregation. “Normally, when a President visits a state, the governor is on hand to greet him. But (White House Press Secretary Pierre) Salinger said he did not know whether Wallace would be present for ceremonies on Kennedy’s visit,” The AP reported. The primary reason for Kennedy’s visit to Alabama was for celebrations related to the 30th anniversary of the Tennessee Valley Authority, an electricity provider created during the Great Depression as part of the New Deal.
• Delmar Mason, a Maple Lane school counselor and a former Adna High School principal, had learned he had been chosen for a National Defense Education Act scholarship of $7,000 on May 13. Masson would use the scholarship to earn a master’s degree in guidance and counseling from Washington State University.
• George Hagan, a 77-year-old resident of Centralia, had reportedly died on Sunday, May 12. Born on Oct. 9, 1885 in Baird, Iowa, he moved to Centralia from North Dakota and worked as a custodian for the Centralia School District for 10 years before retiring. He was survived by his wife, three daughters, two sons, two brothers, five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
• Ernest Schwartz, a 74-year-old Winlock resident, had reportedly died on Friday, May 10. Schwartz was born on Feb. 20, 1889 in Germany. He was survived by his wife, two sons, one sister, and four grandchildren.
