125 years ago

May 6, 1892

The Mary and Ida is tied up at the mill wharf where she loads with a special order for Rodondo Beach, southern California. The webfoot, Capt. Green, also arrived in Sunday evening, and will load at the Hoquiam Mills, which will make five vessels all loading at that mill, with the North Bend, Capt. Wallace, on the way here from the city.

Alex Polson received through the Hoquiam Mills on the Volunteer, a Marshutz & Contrell steam skidder to be used in his logging camp on the Hoquiam. W. D. Mack has given up the one built by Miner for him at Aberdeen, and sent for one of the same, as he was notified by a manufacturing company that if he used the one built by Miner he would be prosecuted for infringement of patent rights.

100 years ago

May 4, 1917

Committees named at a meeting of the Montesano Chamber of Commerce Monday evening have been actively at work this week pushing the food preparedness campaign, the club’s chief activities being directed toward organizing and determining the labor possibilities of the community and ascertaining the need for help of the farmers in Montesano’s territory. Contrary to expectation, there is but little help needed just at present during the planting season, but more assistance will likely be required in cultivating the crops and at harvest time.

The committees named to interview the farmers relative to their labor requirements composed of W. H. Abel, Gaston Moch and J. C. Winters. This committee on Wednesday visited every farmer in the Wynooche valley and practically all of the ranchers up the Satsop as far as Elma. They found everywhere a record acreage being planted, but the farmers were all supplied with all of the help they needed, with the exception of milkers on some of the dairy farms. Some of these farmers will need extra help at harvest time and this will be furnished them on application to the local Chamber. The committee visited all of the schools in the territory covered and made talks to the children on the vital subject of food preparedness.

75 years ago

May 7, 1942

By Wednesday night, 2,736 residents of this area had registered for sugar rationing at the Montesano school, it was reported this Thursday by E. H. Quigley, school superintendent.

With registration closing this Thursday evening at 9 o’clock, it is expected that the number of registrants will exceed the 3,000 previously estimated by the rationing board.

By Wednesday night, Brady had registered 385, and Melbourne 115. Approximately 75 per cent of registrants are receiving their first war ration books, the other 25 per cent reporting sugar on hand sufficient to prevent issuance of books at this time.

“Almost everyone has been taking this registration with a smile,” said Quigley. “They seem to understand the procedure and the reasons for it. Very few, indeed, have expressed any degree of objection.”

Registration has been conducted by members of the faculty of the Montesano schools.

50 years ago

May 4, 1967

A reportedly critical sanitation problem in the Central Park area – one which could necessitate a sewage system costing “several hundred thousand dollars” – was dramatized for the county commissioners this week by a representative of the Grays Harbor Health Department.

Appearing at the commissioners’ request at their bimonthly meeting, Tom Barton stated, “The entire Central Park area is desperately in need of a sanitary sewage system.” He charged that the community has “poor or borderline soil,” adding that the septic tanks should not be installed in most places.

“We’re faced with the inevitable failure of septic tanks in a large portion of Central Park,” the health officer said. “The area near the school is especially critical. Central Park is a growing residential district, and it deserves the facilities of any modern city, including a good sewer system.”

Whereupon Commissioner John Pearsall observed, “You’re talking about an expenditure of several hundred thousand dollars.”

Barton countered by saying, “It wouldn’t matter how much it would cost. It absolutely has to be done. It’s a very sad situation.”

The visitor recommended that the commissioners consider formation of a sewer district for Central Park, pointing out that the State Legislature has passed a bill permitting counties to construct and operate sewer water and drainage systems.

25 years ago

April 30, 1992

With the average daily jail population ever on the rise, the need to adopt a set of jail operation guidelines for the county has come along at a auspicious time, according to county sheriff Dennis Morrisette.

The need arose after the state did away with its jail inspection agency. The Sheriff has been working to formulate standards for the county, and will adopt essentially those the state was using.

A plus in the bargain is the new rules will increase the present authorization of 82 bunks to 102. Since the daily population “will probably go up” in line with trends over the past five years, the extra space will be needed, said the sheriff.

Morrisette noted that on Monday morning, there were 112 inmates at the county, but he said that was a fairly high count subject to daily fluctuation. “Hopefully, these numbers will decrease again,” he said.

But the need for more bunks over the long haul will not evaporate. The county has contracts with a number of cities in the county to hold their prisoners, and the required one day in jail term for DWI and marijuana convicts also puts pressure on the system.

10 years ago

May 3, 2007

It all started with a casual conversation between Jeff Bowers, Bowers Construction president and Pate Pace, the Montesano High School fastpitch coach, at the team’s annual fundraising golf tournament in March of 2006. Bowers inquired about what the high school could use, when one of Pace’s layers caddying for the group chimed in with—an indoor facility—and the ball got rolling from there.

“I can do this,” Bowers thought to himself. “Get some donations and put it together.”

Bowers and his company early on were set to ante up $10,000 for the facility; he also got Willis Enterprises to donate $5,000 towards construction. However upon researching construction costs he found that a pole-building shell alone would cost around $35,000. Bowers then decided that if his crews donated the labor and they went with a traditional double-wall wood construction method, the costs would be drastically cut and it would result in a better product.

“Double-wall wood construction is a better product all the way around,” Bowers said. “The building should be here for a long time.”

Match that with weekend work parties and volunteer labor from parents, and a year later the softball and baseball teams at Montesano have an indoor facility—a place where teams can come in from the rain to practice.