125 years ago

Sept. 30, 1892

From the Elma Chronicle:

The Elma Cornet Band reorganized Tuesday night, with Prof. Iftiger, late of Missouri, as musical director and business manager.

Two car loads of lumber from the J. M. Weatherwax Lumber Co., of Aberdeen, for the Washington World’s Fair building, passed through town Tuesday.

Jehiel Church, who resides on Workman creek, is compelled to pass through four election precincts before arriving at his voting place. He comes to Elma, thence to Montesano, via Satsop, and votes at Wynooche.

The celebrated Clydesdale stallion, Leading Chief, will be auctioned off at the fair. This is one of the finest draft stallions in the state. He is being sold for the reason that too many owners are interested in him.

100 years ago

Sept. 28, 1917

Wooden sidewalks of Montesano must be repaired and put in shape at once so they will be safe, either by the property owners or by the city. Notices to this effect are being sent out to property owners where the walks have been condemned, by order of the council.

Not all of the city officials were present at the Tuesday night’s meeting and there was not a great deal of business transacted. This matter of unsafe walks had been taken up last spring. Engineer Gauntlett, then here, inspected all of the walks of the city and made a report on which many walks were condemned and ordered rebuilt. About that time Mr. Gauntlett went away, and while owners had verbal notice official notices were not served. It is decided that official notices will now be served and if the walks are not rebuilt within the required time the city will rebuild them and charge the expense against the property. Some of the walks, it is said are actually dangerous.

75 years ago

Oct. 1, 1942

There are lines of war endeavor Mrs. A. D. Ressler and Mrs. W. E. Whitt can’t engage in; they do not have a free conscience if they spend time doing fancy work or playing cards; and being neighbors, they got their heads together over the back fence and worked out an original idea to help our overseas boys, and incidentally “bring home the bacon” – or should we say “bring home the bacon fat” to our local Red Cross chapter.

Every two weeks they call on neighbors within a four block radius, collect fat – for the sake of our story we hope it’s bacon fat –, sell same, turn the money over to the Red Cross chapter; and what do they do with it?

They buy contents for the comfort kits, one of which goes to each service man just before he embarks.

The Montesano chapter has been asked to make and fill 200 kits and it takes $1.00 for each, so the women are really helping a lot, as Mrs. Harry Latimer, work room chairman, is wondering just where the $200.00 is coming from. Incidentally, they’re helping to advertise the town, since each kit bears the name of the town in which it was made.

“Wouldn’t it be a thrill if Pvts. Culver or Powell, or anyone of scores of Monte boys who are now overseas, were presented a kit made in the old home town.

50 years ago

Sept. 28, 1967

Admitting that it will be “good not to have bumper-to-bumper traffic” through Montesano, once the freeway has been completed, Chet Whitner nonetheless has come up with an original idea to help keep a healthy percentage of visitors coming our way.

Whitner, addressing the Chamber of Commerce a week ago at its luncheon meeting in the Prime Broiler, said he envisions “a boulevard of trees that would entice people to leave the freeway to see it…a boulevard that would divert families with kids for an educational drive.”

The longtime CofC member suggested that the unused stretch of land between the present highway and the railroad tracks, eastward from Monte to Brady, could be planted to trees of different species. He proposed quarter-mile sections of different kinds, with appropriate signs erected to identify each area.

Of significance, Whitner stressed, the entire project could be accomplished for “well under $100 in cash outlay.” He said other organizations probably would help the Chamber – and the trees themselves would take care of all necessary landscaping while growing.

25 years ago

Sept. 24, 1992

After nearly one year in operation of Montesano’s STEP sewer system, it would appear that it is operating quite well, according to a report by Bob Manley, Public Works director. He told the council Tuesday evening, “We have made quite a few tests on tanks in various residential neighborhoods of the city and have found that the tanks are operating quite efficiently, as least at this point.”

“However,” he continued. “we are also finding that there are some problems in the downtown area where grease is being dumped into the system. Apparently it is coming from the restaurants, but we can’t seem to pinpoint where the problem actually lies.”

Councilman Doug George, who is also an employee of the County Health Department, told his colleague council members, “At the county level we are also getting the same questions from the city of Ocean Shores. Too much grease in their system is also creating problems for them.”

10 years ago

Sept. 28, 2007

Building activity in the City of Montesano has cooled slightly but is still going strong. So far this year, the city has issued 21 permits for new single-family homes. That compares to 38 in each of the past two years, and to 17 new homes in 2004.

“It’s definitely slowed down a little bit,” Public Works Director Mike Wincewicz said, “but I’m not certain we’re seeing the same trend as nationally. Those permits the last two years were record years for us and I never did think we would sustain that. Thirty-eight new homes is exceptional and to do it two years in a row was amazing…Twenty-one is still a great number for a city like Montesano.”

Wincewicz said the new-home construction the previous two years was driven in large part by the developments on the east and west ends of the city – the Woods at Sylvia Creek and Swiss Meadows.

He expects to see both of those developments continue to fill in, but at a slower pace than the initial burst of activity.

Regardless, the past five years have far exceeded the trend in the early 90s when he first came to work for the city.

“We were averaging one or two permits a year when I first went to work full-time in 1994,” he said.