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
- Firemen responded to two different blazes in Yelm on Oct. 1, 1979. Two hunters near the Nisqually River indicated they smelled gasoline when driving to the location, and when they opened the hood, flames exploded in their faces. Firemen were also notified of a fire burning behind Yelm High School in a refuse collection area.
- The Yelm Stokers youth soccer team picked up its ninth win in a row when the Stokers defeated Yenney’s, 2-0, on Sept. 29, 1979.
- Riders winning high point awards for the eight playdays held in the summer of 1979 were announced, including Duane DeChaux with the buckaroos title. Patty Dunning won the junior title, and Larona Erickson took the intermediate trophy.
- Volunteers from the Yelm Booster Club started a running path around the perimeter of Yelm High School. Using a small dozer plus tractors and trucks, the club stripped the grass from the course laid out for the track.
A Look Back at This Week,
35 Years Ago
- What started as a simple “drive away without paying” case ended in the shooting death of Ryan Young, 16, of Lacey. Lacey DeliMart contacted Yelm Chief Glenn Dunnam by telephone stating a customer, driving an Oldsmobile, had left without paying for about $10 worth of gasoline and was involved in a hit-and-run when leaving the station. Dunnam followed the suspect on a high-speed chase into Pierce County, and when he eventually crashed and police surrounded him, he raised up holding a .357 magnum handgun and police shot him in the chest.
- Basic excavation of Yelm’s new elementary school started Labor Day 1989. The 35,000-square-foot facility was located on a 29-acre site on the south side of Middle Street.
- Shari Dudley of Rainier was named the EMT of the year at the state-wide EMT conference in Yakima due to her volunteer service for the Rainier Fire Department.
- Yelm’s new stadium was officially used for the first time Sept. 29, 1989, when the Tornados hosted the Tahoma Bears. In the first quarter, the lights suddenly went out, and the game was postponed until the next day, where the Tornados were dominated by the Bears.
A Look Back at This Week,
25 Years Ago
- Potential environmental problems caused by the construction of a new highway to relieve gridlock on Yelm Avenue was set to be the subject of discussion and debate at an open house and public hearing on Oct. 20. An environmental assessment was completed on the proposed Y2/Y3 corridor that would have encircled Yelm’s north boundaries in a wide sweep from state Route 510 in the west to state Route 507 in the east then back to meet 507 again in the south.
- A poorly executed offense kept Yelm football’s defense on the field too long, and a 21-point second quarter for White River eventually snowballed into a 54-0 stomping of the Tornados.
- The bill came due for a $2 million portion of a $9.6 million package of improvements to the Yelm water and waste treatment center. The council approved a plan to have 90 owners of property on the outskirts of Yelm pay the bill through the city’s first ever local improvement district.
- Students at each Yelm middle school drilled for a mock-up hazardous chemical fire. Eight volunteers, students and administrators were chosen as “victims” of the disaster. Only those eight and the top school administrators knew that the drill would be held.
A Look Back at This Week,
15 Years Ago
- A Lacey woman died and a Fort Lewis man was arrested after he crashed his motorcycle in Yelm. James Vassaur, 31, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and vehicular homicide. When officers arrived at the crash scene, Vassaur was attempting CPR on his passenger, Shanna Padley, 22, Lacey, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
- Two Yelm teens were airlifted with critical injuries after their car crashed on the way to school. Skye Calhoun, 16, of Yelm, was driving a 1985 Oldsmobile Cutlass northbound on Morris Road when she went around a corner, crossed the center line and hit a 2003 GMC box truck head on. The driver of the truck, Matthew Benson, 43, of McKenna, sustained minor injuries while Calhoun and her passenger, Alexandria Bachmeier, 16, of Yelm, suffered serious injuries.
- Rainier School District geared up for a levy that would support programs formerly funded by state dollars for the Feb. 9, 2010, ballot.
- Rainier High School senior and flutist Grant Johnson was chosen to perform with the National FFA Band of 92 students. The band was set to play several times in front of more than 54,000 people at the nation’s largest annual student convention in Indianapolis.
