By Jacob Dimond
jake@yelmonline.com
Editor’s Note: This year, Yelm celebrated the 100th anniversary of the city’s official incorporation, which took place on Dec. 8, 1924. Every month this year, the Nisqually Valley News presented an aspect of the city’s history. This last month’s topic is what Yelm may look like in another 100 years.
Throughout 2024, the City of Yelm, local organizations, groups and teams celebrated Yelm’s 100th official year as an incorporated city. With the new year quickly approaching, local leaders revisited their favorite memories throughout their time in Yelm and predicted what the next 100 years might entail.
Joshua Crossman
Yelm city councilor
Joshua Crossman, current Yelm city councilor, said he was raised in the Yelm community. He graduated from Yelm High School in 1996 and said he believes that the city has had many positive things happen in the last couple of decades. He believes the city is on a good trajectory going forward, as well.
“Seeing Yelm grow a lot over the last 40 years, I think we’ve seen a lot of good, positive growth. A lot of things I hear from people is that we’re not like other cities. We’re not like Lacey, Olympia or Seattle. We have more of a family atmosphere,” Crossman said. “Growing up here and looking for the future, I hope we don’t lose that. I hope we can keep Yelm unique. We have a unique atmosphere here, and I hope we can sustain that.”
Crossman said though he was always drawn to local government and politics, after graduating from YHS, he never imagined he’d be serving on the Yelm City Council.
“I’ve always loved government and politics. I took every class that Mr. [Ed] Bergh offered. He taught a lot of political classes, and I loved his viewpoint, and he was a great teacher at the high school,” Crossman said. “I’ve always had a passion for it, and it’s cool to be involved in the government at the 100-year point.”
Serving on the Yelm City Council while the city turned 100 years old was a humbling experience, Crossman said. The feeling comes from knowing that so many people have come to Yelm from outside areas, yet had the same rich and fulfilling experiences he grew up with.
“We have our challenges with growth, traffic, infrastructure and the challenges that come with it, but we’re going to overcome it and work through it. I hope it’s a place that my kids can enjoy and my grandkids will stay here, and I can watch them grow up in the town I grew up in and love,” Crossman said. “I think we’re going to keep growing. I would like to see more smaller businesses take off. I don’t want Yelm to be another Lacey or South Hill, with all of the same businesses and chains. People can move to those places if that’s what they want. I’m hoping to see some unique entrepreneurs move here because they see it’s unique and they like what we’re doing, and want to invest locally.”
Line Roy
City of Yelm communications and recreation coordinator
Line Roy became the City of Yelm’s communications and recreation coordinator in October of 2022 after serving on the Yelm City Council and with Yelm’s Chamber of Commerce. While reflecting on the city’s 100th birthday and her time here, Roy said she’s thankful to live in the community and have the opportunity to give back.
“Yelm has definitely grown since I’ve been here. It’s improved in events, recreation and family friendly activities. It has maintained its small-town vibe while continuing to grow into the city that it is now,” Roy said. “Looking into the future, when Yelm is celebrating its 200th birthday in 100 years, I won’t be doing the planning as I’ve probably retired by then.”
Roy, who helped plan Yelm’s centennial celebration concert in the summer along with numerous events throughout the year, hopes to see community residents planning and celebrating the bicentennial anniversary in 2124.
“I think that it’ll be fun for the people who are celebrating the 200th birthday because they have so many things to look back on now from the 100th birthday. They’ll be able to watch the documentary, read the articles that the Nisqually Valley News has been writing and really get a good look into today. They’re going to make fun of our hair and what we’re wearing, and the technology that we’ve used,” Roy said. “I think Yelm will maintain the fun aspect that everybody loves about it. They’ll be planning the drone show, fun concerts, but maybe just a little differently.”
Roy added that it was special to be part of planning Yelm’s 100th birthday celebration, as she’s felt an instant connection with the city since moving here.
“I think it was super cool to be part of planning the 100th birthday. Yelm has been such a special place to me from day one,” Roy said. “To get to celebrate it and share it with so many people has been such a gift to me, and I hope everybody had such a great time celebrating and is looking forward to what the 101st year will bring.”
Rob Hill
Yelm High School athletic director
Yelm High School (YHS) Athletic Director Rob Hill has had roots in the Yelm community for the last 20 years. Hill, a former YHS football coach, and his wife, Shelli, a longtime Yelm Community Schools employee, saw all three of their children graduate from the high school.
“We’ve lived in the area and called Yelm our hometown for the last 20 years. We were really drawn by the small town, the community piece, which wasn’t there when we lived in Spanaway prior to moving here,” Hill said. “I never really thought of my position as a leadership piece. I saw it as more of serving the community and kids in the area that I’ve grown up in and known my whole life. Athletics and kids have been my calling for a long time, and it was a natural fit when I was able to come out here and work with athletics to try to put a positive spin on Yelm as far as how outsiders look at us. I tried to change the culture as much as possible.”
In a more joking manner, the AD spoke about infrastructure throughout the city.
“I predict in 100 years that they’ll still be talking about the bypass, maybe another way in and out of town,” Hill said. “I hope that Yelm can somehow reclaim the small-town feel that’s diminished with such rapid growth.”
Cody Colt
City of Yelm public works director
Cody Colt, the City of Yelm’s public works director, said 2024 was filled with fun events to celebrate and highlight the town’s centennial anniversary. He mentioned the Yelm Historical Museum pop-up, the Party on the Prairie concert, the centennial drone show, celebrations like Christmas in the Park and Prairie Days as events that encompassed the true spirit of Yelm and its centennial celebration.
“I think the city’s 100th anniversary year went really well. It was packed with great events, great community, and everyone rallied around all of the different aspects of it,” Colt said. “I thought it was extremely awesome. Capping it with that documentary, I don’t think you could’ve asked for a better finish to Yelm’s 100 years.”
Colt highlighted some of the city’s bigger projects, including roundabouts currently being designed to help move traffic fluidly through Yelm and a sewer treatment plan upgrade to handle growth over the next 20 years.
“Some of the bigger projects included the stage, which we finished, capped off and opened this year. We worked with Nisqually Construction on it, and it was really cool. The Yelm Bypass project we’ve all been looking forward to, which feels like it’s 100 years old, is finally starting. They’re moving utilities, which has never happened before, and that’s something positive to look forward to,” Colt said. “We’re preemptively getting these things done ahead of schedule to make these next 100 years even that much better and more available to everyone. We want to get that traffic issue solved. We’re finally trying to fix those things and it’s looking like they’re coming to fruition.”
Over the next 100 years in Yelm, Colt believes the city’s biggest problem will continue to be traffic and congestion.
“I think the biggest issue will always be traffic, unless there’s some future technology that prevents us from driving on roadways,” Colt said. “I do think we’ll continue to keep that small-town feeling as we continue to grow. People are going to move here, and they’re going to move here because they want to be here and they love to be here. We’ll grow in a way that always makes us feel like a small town.”
