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
• Youngsters had a ball on frozen Lake Lawrence as the continued cold spell covered the lake with ice 3 to 4 inches deep. Old residents along the banks of the lake, as well as police, warned them about the frozen surface to no avail.
• Pleasant DeSpain, a children’s favorite on television, visited Southworth and McKenna Elementary schools on Jan. 10, 1979. The storyteller of folklore and children’s literature devoted recent years to promotion of storytelling as an entertaining art form.
• The Yelm Police Department sponsored a retirement dinner for Marshal Rex Purdy who hung up his badge at the end of 1978. Mayor Lora B. Coates assisted in the presentation of awards to Yelm’s top police officer for the past six years. The Yelm Lions Club presented Marshal Purdy with a plaque for his service.
• Four members of the same family received injuries when their pickup hit a power pole and flipped on Highway 510 about two miles west of Yelm. All were taken to an Olympia hospital for treatment and released. Damage to the pickup was estimated at $3,500.
A Look Back at This Week, 35 Years Ago
• A $10 million profit from the sale of liquor in Washington state was split on Dec. 31, 1989.
Funds for incorporated cities were based on population. Yelm, with 1,395 residents, received $2,498.24. Rainier, population 985, received $1,763.99, and Roy, nose count at 335, received $599.94.
• Milt Johnson, official keeper of the rain gauge in Yelm, issued his annual report of how much rain fell in 1988. His figures indicated 45.61 inches hit the rain gauge, compared with 40.19 the previous year.
• The National Endowment for Humanities awarded the Washington State Newspaper Project a $155,762 grant. The funds were used for microfilming 450 of the state’s oldest and most fragile newspapers. The project was still searching for 500 missing Washington issues.
• The Yelm High School girls basketball team squeaked out a 25-23 victory over the White River Hornets to stretch their record to 9-0. The win marked the Tornados’ first Pierce County League victory of the season.
A Look Back at This Week, 25 Years Ago
• In its first increase in four years, the U.S. Postal Service raised the price of a first-class stamp to 33 cents. The change, the first since the price went up from 29 to 32 cents, was effective as of Jan. 10, 1999.
• In looking at poverty statistics, the annual Thurston County “Profile” found Thurston County fared slightly better than the state for overall population living below the poverty level, with less than 10% of its people in the category. Yelm had the lowest median household income in the county at only $19,053 and the second-highest rate of poverty at 20.2% of the population.
• Puget Sound Energy released a Y2K preparation report in January 1999. Its primary goal was to reliably deliver electricity and natural gas service throughout 1999 and into the new millennium.
• The Rainier wrestling team pulled off an unexpected tournament victory at the Tumwater Invitational. Rainier, the smallest school out of the seven attending the tournament, had four first-place finishes and scored 158.5 total points to edge host Tumwater.
A Look Back at This Week, 15 Years Ago
• Yelm’s Miss Washington Janet Harding participated in the month-long filming of the TLC show “Countdown to the Crown,” which brought all 52 Miss America competitors together and placed them aboard the Queen Mary luxury ocean liner in Long Beach, California, for one month to face individual and group competitions.
• Yelm citizens were able to check local criminal activity with the new website crimereports.com. The Yelm Police Department was one of four Thurston County agencies participating in the program.
• South Pierce Fire and Rescue received a grant to help extinguish a potentially hazardous gas problem. The $309,000 grant was used to replace the exhaust system in all four stations and to update the department’s communication system.
• A Nisqually Tribe court found three of its tribal council members guilty of attempting to obstruct justice and official misconduct. The defendants — Carmen Kalama, William Wells Jr. and Leslee Youkton — were each fined $5,000 by the court.
