Enjoy these snapshots of articles written in past issues of the Nisqually Valley News from 45, 35, 25 and 15 years ago, respectively.
A Look Back at This Week, 45 Years Ago
• District Judge Frank Gregory, Nevada, ruled that producer and former Yelm resident Joseph Agosto could continue to run his Folies Bergere show at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas, even if found unsuitable by state game officials.
• Sugar in the gas tank of a truck owned by Bob Reed of JT Meats in Yelm, used to slaughter farm animals, almost caused an accident and ruined the truck. The sugar, poured raw into the tank without being dissolved, plugged the fuel line of the truck, but not before it ruined the engine.
• A new three-quarter program to train computer operators was slated to begin at Olympia Technical Community College for the winter quarter. In the first quarter, students learned operation concepts and the operation of an on-campus computer.
• On Nov. 7, 1978, medics were summoned to Lawrence Lake Road where a child received a mouth injury from an ax. The people involved were not present when medics arrived on the scene.
A Look Back at This Week, 35 Years Ago
• Washingtonians gathered around the State Capitol on Nov. 11, 1988, to celebrate the Washington state centennial kickoff. The parade featured horse-drawn carriages, a U.S. Army band from Fort Lewis and the Auburn High School marching band.
• Bruce Hanks, an Abraham Lincoln look-alike, visited Rainier Elementary School to make history “come alive” for his audience. He was even a distant blood relative to Lincoln’s mother, Nancy Hanks. Students often asked him if he really was Abraham Lincoln.
• The Yelm High School volleyball team won district tournament matches against White River and Washington on Nov. 11, 1988, to advance to the state tournament. The team was set to travel to Shorecrest High School in Seattle for the tournament.
• Robert Dwayne Prather of Yelm earned the God and Family award through a program of service and study developed by the religious activities with youth in St. Louis, Missouri. His award was presented in a service of recognition as his Scout leaders and pack attended and joined in the celebration.
A Look Back at This Week, 25 Years Ago
• After serving for 15 years on the Yelm Community Schools Board of Directors, Jerrilee Petersen resigned. She said it was simply time to let someone else step up to the plate.
• Members of several motorcycle organizations joined with the Nisqually Chapter of American Bikers Aiming Towards Education (ABATE) for the first ever Toys for Tots Fun Run on Nov. 14, 1998. Bikers collected hundreds of pounds of food, 14 large cardboard boxes of toys and over $800 in cash to donate to several charities in and around Yelm.
• An eighth-grade boy at Yelm Middle School was found with a gunshot wound to the head. The child was found by his father, who alerted authorities. Thurston County Sheriff’s Captain Dan Kimball said that the wound appeared to be self-inflicted.
• Sixteen-year-old Roy resident Channon Thorpe, a sophomore at Bethel High School, left for New York City to participate with cheerleaders from around the nation in the 100th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. She attended cheerleading camp at the University of Puget Sound, where she competed against hundreds of cheerleaders for the right to attend.
A Look Back at This Week, 15 Years Ago
• As the Nov. 4 ballot count wound down, one local race remained neck-and-neck. Incumbent state Rep. Marilyn Rasmussen and her challenger, Randi Becker, were just 1,800 votes apart with Becker in the lead. Nearly 40,000 votes were left to be counted.
• The Nisqually Tribe broke ground on a 34,000-square foot Youth, Community and Emergency Services Center. Officials from neighboring cities, partners in the project, tribal elders and others attended the ceremony kicking off the long-awaited project.
• A truck carrying tons of chicken feed tipped as it went around the corner in front of the Wilcox feed mill, spilling 24 tons of organic chicken feed. Mill manager Joel Derefield believed a hole in the road could have caused the truck to become unbalanced. It took them most of the day to clean up and salvage the grain.
• The Yelm Area Chamber of Commerce announced the winners of the 2008 Youth of the Year Award and the City of Yelm’s Youth Good Citizenship Award. Five students earned the honors, including Grete Cass, RJ Harding, Mattie Cave, Christina Miller and Heaven Snow.
