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
• A large delegation of Prairie Wrangler 4-H Club members attended the community pride conference held Nov. 17-19, 1978, in Centralia. The Prairie Wranglers Horse Club was presented the community pride award for Thurston County.
• An accident on Reservation Road sent Dorothy M. Sonier, 38, Yelm, to Madigan Hospital for treatment. Her vehicle was traveling north when it left the road, struck a tree and came to rest on its top. She suffered two severed fingertips on one hand plus numerous bumps and bruises.
• The McKenna Community Church welcomed Rev. Gil Doebler and his family as pastor of the church. The Doebler family came from Santa Margarita, California, where they served the Santa Margarita Community Church for six years.
• At the Yelm High School football team’s awards banquet, Steve Kreitel earned most inspirational, Dave Lazelle took home most valuable honors, and Conrad Schuman won most improved. Tim Lewis was voted team captain.
A Look Back at This Week, 35 Years Ago
• Yelm Middle School earned over $60 for the needy in the Yelm area during a “Turkeys of the Week” project. It involved a competition between teams for coin donations. Each team at the school nominated their team “turkeys,” whose pictures were placed on a donation jar. The money was donated to the UCBO.
• The Yelm school board was informed the preschool center on Yelm Avenue was open and operating. An invitation was extended to the board to visit the school and view the program in operation. Using the building were two handicapped classes, a deaf program and occupational therapy.
• The Yelm High School boys basketball team dropped its season opener to Spanaway Lake by a score of 51-47, while the girls team defeated Bethel, 36-30, in its first game of the year.
• Three Yelm High School volleyball players were named to the Pierce County League all-league team: Chelle Dalager, Caren Herron and Tara Landon. The Tornados placed third in the league and entered state play for the first time.
A Look Back at This Week, 25 Years Ago
• Deborah Carlson and Jeremy Olson were named 1998 Youth of the Year by the Yelm Parks and Advisory Committee. Other Youth Citizenship Award winners were Jennifer Peach, Ruth Anna Hawkinson, Tina Richardson, Sirena Gentry and Cory Kolilis.
• Area residents were on alert as high wind warnings flooded the airwaves. On Nov. 24, 1998, the wind started picking up in the afternoon, and by early evening, branches and trees were falling across power lines, causing many localized outages. Trees fell across homes, tore down fences and blocked roads.
• Yelm City Council members unanimously approved Resolution 379 to establish a Rail Advisory Committee to offer advice on the use, operation and development of the Burlington Northern/Santa Fe (BNSF) short line between Yelm and Lakewood.
• Roy resident Carolina Saint Germain turned her home into a gallery to display the works of visiting Mexican artist Alfredo Hinojosa. The show was entitled “La Casa De Los Espejos — The House of Mirrors.”
A Look Back at This Week, 15 Years Ago
• Former Roy Mayor Kim Eldridge pleaded guilty to embezzlement in Pierce County Superior Court. She was sentenced to two months in jail with the option of electronic home monitoring. She also had to pay $800 in legal fees and restitution. She embezzled more than $11,000 from the McKenna Meadows homeowners association over a four-year period.
• A Yelm man was arrested on suspicion of pulling a gun on someone during an alleged road rage incident. Petru Hoadrea, 41, was booked into Thurston County Jail on a charge of second-degree assault after he was driving behind a woman he said was going 15 mph under the speed limit. He said the woman swerved toward him when he attempted to pass.
• Three men were arrested after police found them with large quantities of ecstasy and methamphetamine. The arrests were the result of a joint effort between the Yelm and Tenino police departments and included months of undercover work.
• Ryan Sizemore, a 5-year-old homeschooled student in Yelm, received a first-place trophy at a chess tournament on Nov. 15, 2008, at Chinook Middle School in Lacey.
