From the first year of The Centralia (Weekly) Chronicle, in 1889 - PRETTY HOP PICKERS: A Centralia man saw beauty in the fields of one of Lewis County's major cash crops, The Chronicle reported. "Mr. J.R. Rowell has been down in the hop fields this week. There are many pretty girls down there."
100 years ago, in 1906 - RUNAWAYS CAUGHT: After two days on the road, two 14-year-old runaways were back in Centralia after an ill-fated trip for Portland. Tom McDaniels and Lawrence Wall had taken it into their heads on a Sunday to run away. They "hit the pike" on bicycles which they abandoned in Napavine before hopping a southbound train. Older brother Orval Wall went off to look for them on a Monday, finding them in the custody of the sheriff in Kalama. He brought them back home that Tuesday night.
75 years ago, in 1931 - SUDDEN DELUGE: One of the heaviest rains on record fell briefly on Chehalis this afternoon, while in Centralia, four miles to the north, the sun shone brightly. Rain fell so heavily on the Chehalis hillside that the soil was washed out of flower beds. Storm sewers in the lower parts of the city were flooded, but no serious damage was reported. A total of about a half inch of rain fell in a few hours of the early afternoon.
50 years ago, in 1956 - DRIFTWOOD THREAT: A driftwood jam on the Cowlitz River near Toledo was threatening to destroy land along the riverbanks. The jam had existed all year along the river, but the county engineer wanted federal Army Corps of Engineers help to prevent a problem from the upcoming winter flows. The driftwood was jammed around some pillars of an old railroad bridge that had been removed many years before.
25 years ago, in 1981 - KLEIN'S FAMOUS BICYCLES: Gary Klein, 29, was building custom bicycles in a barn he had recently bought near Mary's Corner. His high-end, low-weight aluminum bicycles sold for from $2,600 to $6,000, and the wait could be as long as a year. Klein said he was the only aluminum bike-maker in the country, and one of only two in the world. His family had moved from San Jose, Calif. to Winlock in 1980 to escape strict zoning laws.
10 years ago, in 1996 - PREPARING FOR CLINTON: Centralia, with just 26 officers of its own, was asking for volunteer officers from surrounding areas to help provide the 170 officers the Secret Service requested for President Bill Clinton's upcoming visit to town. The city also had to buy 12 miles of yellow police tape to mark the motorcade route into town. Meanwhile, the Uncle Sam sign south of Chehalis offered a subdued "Lewis County welcomes the president of the United States" on the north-facing side of its sign, but stayed feisty on the south side with "Clinton's 2 for 1 special will trade lies and promises for votes."
Five years ago, in 2001 - NEW JAIL TAX: By a 59 percent to 41 percent margin, Lewis County voters approved a 0.1 percentage point sales tax increase to pay for an expansion of the county jail in Chehalis. The sales tax rate throughout the county increased to 7.7 percent - 7.8 percent in the Twin Cities - to pay for $12 million of the estimated $17 million expansion of the county's 1985 jail.
One year ago, in 2005 - CHURCH GROWTH: Just two years after it was founded in a meeting room at the Yard Birds Mall in Chehalis, Calvary Baptist Church in Ethel broke ground on a new 225-seat sanctuary after it outgrew its first building on U.S. Highway 12 and Oyler Road in Ethel. The old building would be used for children's ministry, Pastor Jason Rigby said.
From the Files of The Chronicle is compiled by Brian Mittge, who can be reached at brianmittge@hotmail.com or by calling 266-0568.
