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
- Ed Pickett, owner and operator of Pickett Drug Store in Yelm, hung up his pestle and mortar for a life of leisure and boating following the sale of his store. Tim Larsen became the new owner, replacing Pickett, who spent 30 years in Yelm.
- Loren Crimmins, an employee of Western Farmers Association in Yelm for the past 29 years, was honored when presented with a special engraved watch. The watch was presented to employees with over 20 years of service.
- The old Thurston County courthouse, located across Capitol Way from the state Capitol in Olympia, was marked for demolition. The sandstone building, purchased from the county by the state, was set to be leveled and the area used for a parking lot and later a state office building.
- The Rainier sports arena was the scene of the annual draft horse pulling contest, July 8, 1979. Horses from all over Washington and Oregon were present for the competition with a pony chariot race as an added attraction.
A Look Back at This Week,
35 Years Ago
- Local businesses were invited to sponsor employee teams to compete in a celebration of the 1950s and 1960s with the Prairie Days princess lip sync contest. Acts were to be assessed on use of ’50s and ’60s themes, best sync ability, best originality, best choreography and funniest.
- An 80 mph chase ended in a car crash in McKenna, July 9, 1989. Juan Fernandez, 17, Tacoma, was traveling west on Yelm Avenue at 45 mph in a 30 mph zone. Yelm Police Officer Keith Mercer attempted to cite Fernandez for speeding when Fernandez made a U-turn and headed toward McKenna before colliding with a pickup truck.
- Mike Fosdick, 19, Yelm, refused medical treatment following a single auto accident on Morris Road near 133rd Avenue. His auto left Morris Road rounding a curve, swung to the left and jumped a high ditch before becoming lodged between trees off the ground.
- The Yelm Telephone Cardinals 14- and 15-year-old Babe Ruth baseball team came close but were victims of their own miscues in losing, 8-6, to the Giants of Tumwater. The Cardinals finished with a record of 17-10.
A Look Back at This Week,
25 Years Ago
- A 15-year-old boy was found guilty of threatening to bomb Yelm High School earlier in 1999. The boy, who had been a freshman at the school, was found guilty on July 9 in Thurston County Juvenile Court and sentenced to 30 days of detention, one year of probation and 40 hours of community service.
- Yelm’s population sat at 2,750 people, more than double the number reported in the 1990 U.S. Census, per an estimate released by the state Office of Financial Management.
- A Yelm-area man was arrested after barricading himself inside a shed that apparently housed a methamphetamine lab. The stand-off with Thurston County Sheriff deputies and a county SWAT team lasted 12 hours and ended only after Yelm firefighters stuck a fire hose into the shed and flushed the man out.
- Dogs were able to lie down in a two-block section of Yelm Avenue and go to sleep for several hours. Although it must have been nice for the dogs, motorists passing through Yelm on July 9, 1999, faced delays after traffic was redirected to make room for a road-patching project at the intersection of Yelm Avenue and Edwards Street.
A Look Back at This Week,
15 Years Ago
- Though rumors that Rainier High School Principal Jeff Weeks was under pressure to quit remained rampant, his contract was renewed by the district. School district officials said reports that Weeks was given an ultimatum to resign or be fired were simply rumors.
- Five businesses in the Nisqually Valley were cited for selling tobacco products to minors during a compliance check.
- Jerianne Jacobs, the former fire district secretary accused of stealing more than $1 million from the Roy Fire Department, was set to begin her trial on July 15, 2009. She faced one count of first-degree theft and two counts of money laundering.
- The former home to Arnold’s Country Inn in Yelm was not going to be vacant for much longer. New owner Ruben Rodriguez planned to open a Mexican-style restaurant, Mariachi Alegre, by early September 2009.
