November 8, 2007

No one injured when train derails at entrance to Monte
Freeway on and off ramps closed for several hours By Tommi Halvorsen Gatlin Vidette Reporter Most of the cleanup appears to have been completed at the site where several railroad freight cars derailed just after midnight Sunday under the Highway 12 overpass at the west entrance to Montesano. Immediate cleanup in the area of the bent and broken tracks and leaning freight cars was reportedly performed by Hulcher Professional Services, a contractor whose Washington office is located in Pasco.		Police and first-responders from the railroad company survey the damage the de-railed train caused and discuss removal strategy on Sunday afternoon. (Photo by Jerrad Kellogg) The State Patrol assisted with traffic problems after the incident was reported about 12:35, said the Patrol’s Lt. Steve Smeland. Ramps to and from Main Street were closed for almost five hours after the derailment of the cars, which were carrying soybeans, according to Smeland, who gave The Vidette a contact number for the Puget Sound & Pacific Railway in Elma.
Elma vet to 'star' in parade
By Tommi Halvorsen Gatlin Vidette Reporter Hundreds of thousands of Americans who served during World War II never made it back home again. Those were dark and perilous times. “Thank God I lived through them,” says 83-year-old Dick Hermsen of Elma, who retired in 1980 as assistant principal of Elma High School after a long career in education. The Tacoma native and Army veteran not only survived the war, but his actions helped ensure that another soldier, Ray Arnold, would come home again, too, for which Hermsen was awarded America’s third highest military medal, the Bronze Star. The fact it took 57 years for the medal to reach him makes Hermsen no less a hero, especially to the family of the man whose life he saved. Hermsen unexpectedly received the Bronze Star and a number of other medals in the mail several years ago and still has no idea how and why it came about that way.		Dick Hermsen of Elma shows the medals he earned during the war. He’s just as proud of the fact that it was his children who gathered the medals, newspaper article and his service picture together and had this display made for his home. (Photo by Dee Anne Shaw) Seniors re-tell stories of WWII era sacrifices From sugar shortages to tales of relatives captured overseas, the stories riveted listeners. By Tommi Halvorsen Gatlin Vidette Reporter Do you remember when President Roosevelt’s voice broke into radio broadcasts announcing Pearl Harbor had been bombed? Do you remember victory gardens, rationing, sacrificing anything necessary for the war effort and “the boys” overseas? How about scrap drives, plane spotters and blackout curtains? Almost three dozen people with still vivid memories of World War II packed the Activities Room Oct. 25 at McCleary’s Beehive Assisted Living Community. They’d been invited by the Beehive, McCleary Timberland Library and McCleary Historical Society to begin sharing those memories in a program, “Remembering the Home Front.” After viewing a DVD on the war years, one by one, the stories began.
Monte rallies, holds-off Kalama
Southwest Washington District IV Crossover Game By Jerrad Kellogg Vidette Reporter After trailing 6-0 at halftime, Montesano regrouped in the locker room, came out for the second half energized and employed a ball-control offense that produced two touchdowns, ate chunks of time off the clock, kept the Kalama offense on the sidelines and allowed the Bulldogs to nab the District IV Class 1A football championship, 14-6, on Friday, Nov.2, at Rottle Field.		Junior linebacker Zach Fenn wrestles Kalama quarterback, Carson Williquette to the ground for a sack in the first quarter. (Photo by Jerrad Kellogg) The win for the eighth-ranked Bulldogs (8-2) — who were already in the state tournament —means that Montesano will not have to travel east of the mountains for their first playoff game. Their opening task in the tournament will be Lynden Christian, Cedar Park Christian, Orting or Coupeville this Friday at Tumwater.