75 YEARS AGO:

Friday, April 30-May 7, 1937

Saturday and Sunday G. M. Scott moved his garage from the building on the west side of Main Street, which he has occupied for the past 18 years, to its new home on the east side of the street next to his service station. This is the same location of his first business in Oroville in July, 1919. Twenty five workmen started immediately remodeling the building vacated by Mr. Scott, which he is having made over into two splendid store fronts. The room on the south side of the building will be occupied by Mrs. Hilda Clark, who is now operating the Peerless Confectionary. Unless growers resort to hand pollination this year for Delicious, Stayman and Winesap apples, yields are likely to be low, warns Dr. J. C. Snyder, extension horticulturist, State College. Weaver & Vandergriff, Oroville contractors, with a crew of men are completely remodeling the Crescent Café into one of the most pleasant and up-to-date restaurants to be found in any town of much larger population than Oroville. (Note: This was located between what is now the Pastime Tavern and the Home Town Pizza) Joe Hein, owner and proprietor of the building and business, has owned the café for the past 25 years and has remodeled and redecorated the place several times. Workmen at the Ben Prince Store are gradually eliminating all trace of the recent destructive fire which almost completely destroyed building and stock. Mr. Prince is also replacing his stock with fresh new merchandise as fast as it arrives and shelves are made ready for it. The grocery side of the store is back to normal operation again with all new stock. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Hulsey left on Sunday for Wenatchee where they will make their home. Mr. Hulsey has been with the Oroville Pharmacy for the past several years as pharmacist, while Mrs. Hulsey has also worked at the pharmacy and Peerless Confectionary. Barbara Jean Norelius was chosen by a great majority to rule over the third annual May Day celebration, which is to be held this Thursday at the Fair Grounds, under the auspices of the Oroville High School. The Royal party will include the queen and her princesses, Grace Edgerton, Frances Cossett, Lois Corporon, Evelyn Schmidt and their attendants. Ripley’s “Believe it or Not” column might well benefit from some of the unusual facts unearthed by the WPA Federal Historical Records project in operation throughout the state. The only town in the United States, so far as available records are concerned, named after a Chinese is Chesaw in Stevens County. Attracted by placer gold mining operations, many Chinese settled in this district in the early days.

50 Years Ago

May 3- 10, 1962:

For the first time in several years, the Oroville High School band will make their presentation, along with the float, in the Wenatchee Apple Blossom parade. Many Oroville residents have put in many hours making this appearance possible and they are to be congratulated for their efforts. Five music students presented a short program last Monday evening for the county superintendents and directors at their annual meeting in Okanogan. The group included seniors, Marie Kirkwood, Kathy Eshom, Byron Gjerde, Dennis Harlan and sophomore Pat Hemry. The May Day Committee reported that everything is in readiness for the big day. John Lawson, chairman of the parade, is issuing a call to all organizations who plan to enter a float in the parade to contact him as soon as possible. The committee approved a motion to hold the dance at the Zippy Building. (Note; Now the Les Schwab tire center). The Hornet baseball team again divided a pair of games on wind swept Ben Prince Field last Friday night. This time, the Chelan Goats provided the opposition. Oroville collected their hits behind the four hit pitching of Ted Landreth in the first game to win it 6-3. Chelan closed the door in the second game whenever a rally was started as they copped the second game, 4-1. At the April re-organization of the Oroville School of Education, Hans Bergh was elected Chairman of the Board for the coming year. Mr. Bergh succeeds Mr. Kem Smith, Jr. The board also re-elected H. Ben Holden to serve as Clerk for another year. Groceries: Tuna, 5 for $1.00; Avocados, $.05 each; Rump Roast, $.69 per lb.; Coffee, $.55 per lb.; Cottage Cheese, Pint cartons, $.23; Stewing hens, pan ready, $.25 lb. Real Estate; Large house with 253 feet of lake front, with full basement. Full price $16,000. Will consider trade for town property. Welcoming Molson students and explaining some of the activities that Oroville Schools will offer them and given a tour escorted by Oroville students. Among them were, Paul Zosel, Tracy Scott and Dennis Short, Oroville and Joe Morris, Keith Turner, Jim Bartroff, Molson; also visiting were, Georgia Leslie, 7^th grade, Faye Trull, 7^th grade, Laverna Moore, 11^th grade, Darlene McKinney, 11^th grade, Annabelle Zesiger, 10^th grade and Sandra Hill, all from Molson and Karen Haskell, 8^th grade and Maureen Harden, 8^th grade both of Oroville.

25 Years Ago

May 1- 8, 1986:

May Festival Queen, Jeanne Tibbs and her court, Princesses Lynda Ward and Lisa Blackler, have been hard at work helping with the preparations that will make the week-end of May 9 and 10 a success. Canadian and U.S. Sierra Club members are opposed to the Enloe Dam proposals because it wants to see the re-establishment of the ocean going fish runs. Where proposals would put the dam on the Similkameen is a very narrow canyon, and 240-foot fish ladders aren’t included in those proposals. A fire that started in a stack of paper fiber trays in back of the southeast corner of Chief Tonasket Grower’s, spread into that end of the building and caused considerable damage to expensive equipment and different parts of the structure as a whole. North Valley Hospital Commissioners approved the use of funds gifted by the A. Z. Wells Foundation for the purchase of a $28,450 mammography system. Mammography is the most effective diagnostic means for the early detection of breast cancer. As of today, May 1, 1986, Max’s Chevron and Mini Mart in Oroville is under a new ownership, with a name change tossed in. The business, purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Paul Eisen, of Seattle, will open under the new name of Eisen’s Chevron & Mini Mart. The Oroville School District selected Jo Mathews and Bill Grunst as their 195-86 Excellance in Education staff representatives. Jo is the Elementary Secretary and has worked for the school for 11 years. Bill and worked for the Oroville Schools as an industrial arts teacher for 24 years. Last Wednesday, April 23, a Tonasket School teacher and a school employee receive awards at the Educational School District 171 banquet. Rita Kensmoe, special education teacher, and Julia Fitzhume, a school employee, were given awards for exemplifying and promoting excellence in education. Posters around town listing the schedule of events have it simply stated as Gateway Dedication. It’s really more than the statement implies. It should read, “Welcome Gates” dedication as it’s the newest thing in town. After a lot of hard work, countless volunteer hours and a community backed effort, Oroville has a set of Welcome Gates. The original idea came from Oroville businessmen, Mack Richards and Mark Donoghue. The gates are located next to the recently spruced up Mini-Park and the refurbished Civic League Building. The dedication ribbon will be cut by Harry Sherling, area pioneer and benefactor. Each year, the Hats and Halters 4-H Club of Loomis holds, among many other functions, what they call a community pride project. Last year, their project was to clean up their town. This year, the group’s project was to
put a large trash can at each end of town. One trash can was placed by the Loomis Grocery and the other by the Stage Stop at Sully’s. The owners of the two establishments have agreed to maintain them.