Newspaper subscription leads to finding family nearby

By Tommi Halvorsen Gatlin
Vidette Reporter

ELMA — Memorial Day is a time for remembering. But for some, last Memorial Day was also a time for the present, as well as the future.
Though no one knew it at the time, when Alice Knight of Elma gave a subscription of The Vidette to her next-door neighbor last April, she was giving him more than just the newspaper.
The neighbor, John Tiland, “did a favor for me and he wouldn’t let me pay him,” said Knight, who had shared copies of the paper with him at times. “And he said, ‘tell you what, you can give me a subscription to The Vidette.’ ”

John Tiland of Elma, left, and his new-found cousin, Terry Harper, a funeral director for Whiteside Family Mortuary in Elma, point Monday to their respective ancestors, who were sisters. Through a newspaper story, Tiland found Harper, who lives in Olympia but works in Elma. (Photo by Tommi Halvorsen Gatlin)

To say, ‘the rest is history,’ would be an understatement. Through the newspaper, Tiland, 73, found information on a cousin from Shawnee, Okla., he’d been searching for and was also connected with the cousin’s son, whom he’d never met but who, though he lives in Olympia, works just a mile from Tiland’s home.

Robbery, rodeo, parade and good, family fun July 3

By The Vidette Staff

OAKVILLE — The town of Oakville in East Grays Harbor County might not be real big, but its traditions last real long — especially when it comes to Independence Day.
The 2010 Independence Day Parade and celebration, however, will take place a day early, Saturday, July 3.

Area residents re-enact the last horseback bank robbery in the state at last year’s celebration in Oakville. (Photo by Marisa Chatt)

But though it’s early, it will still feature a lot of what the “Fourth of July” in America is all about. It will also include something else that’s a real tradition — in Oakville, anyway.

Cosi's Sweatman out-duels Simpson in Hobby Stocks

By The Vidette Staff

ELMA — Montesano’s Josh Muller had a less than desirable starting position but rallied through traffic and multiple caution flags to secure the Modified feature win Saturday, June 26, at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma.