Alumni Sandstorm ~ 01/25/15
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8 Bombers sent stuff: 
Shannon CRAIG ('50), Betty BELL ('51)
Mike CLOWES ('54), Laura Dean KIRBY ('55)
Duane LEE ('63), Earl BENNETT ('63)
Peg SHEERAN ('63), Carol CONVERSE ('64)
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BOMBER BIRTHDAY Today: Sue FARLEY ('54)
BOMBER BIRTHDAY Today: Jack ARMSTRONG ('60)
BOMBER BIRTHDAY Today: Scott FULCHER ('81)

BOMBER CALENDAR: Richland Bombers Calendar
    Click the event you want to know more about.
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>>From: Shannon CRAIG (Watkins-Gross) Hightower ('50) 

Yes, during the '48 flood to get to Kennewick we went up the hill
at Benton City, thru the wheat fields and exited at Kennewick. My
family always went to the Baker, Oregon area (my dad was born in
Richland, Oregon - on the Snake River... Northeastern Oregon) for
vacation as soon as school was out. We were the last car to get
over the Kennewick bridge over the Columbia before it was closed.
We drove down Ave C which was water up to State Patrol men's
armpits. The men were lined up at the sides to mark the street.
Other policemen were cruising the street in boats and my brother,
Bud, told one of them not to race his motorboat on main street.
The Kennewick ramp of the bridge slipped downstream 2 feet so
needed lots of repair and then was replaced.

-Shannon CRAIG (Watkins-Gross) Hightower ('50)
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>>From: Betty BELL Norton ('51)

Re: Korten's

Guess I will weigh in on the Korten's question.

I went to work there as a bookkeeper just after I graduated (I
think) in '51. Since I knew music, Korten's asked me to take over
the music department when the lady working there quit. 

Noel Lowman and I were working there on a cold, snowy, nasty day
when Bill Norton and his brother Marvin (Shorty) came in. I had
been skiing for the first and only time, sprained my ankle, and
was on crutches. Bill was just home from two years in the Army,
and as no one else was in the upstairs the four of us visited for
a couple of hours. Noel lived behind Marvin on Wright so they had
a lot to catch up on. Bill asked me out last days of 1952 and we
got married January 17, 1954. We were married 56 and a half years,
until he died July 21, 2010.

-Betty BELL Norton ('51) ~ Richland   
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>>From: Bob Carlson, aka Mike CLOWES ('54)

Now for something completely different...

Hey! It is the birthday of a Bomber Babe. To say I knew her, or
remembered her from back in the day might be stretching things 
a bit. Her name is familiar to me, but I can't quite place her
amongst my peers. Be that as it may, we did graduate together. On
that note, a tip of the ol' propeller beanie is in order; along
with the latest rendition of the "Happy Birthday" song for 
Sue FARLEY ('54). And I wish her many more.

and now, back to memory lane:

First off, I don't think "Shane" was a 3-D movie, although it
might have been filmed as one. "Kiss Me Kate" was also filmed as 
a 3-D flick but never shown that way. The only western I remember
in 3-D was "Charge at Feather River". The only notable 3-D movie
was "House of Wax" starring Vincent Price. These were shown at 
the Richland Theater [on Biddle], except for "Shane" which went 
to the Uptown.

The North Star in North Richland was sort of a catch all when it
came to movies. Most of their programs seemed to be double
features with the "A" movie getting the later showings. Which
meant you might get "Francis, the Talking Mule" paired with an
Oscar contender. Those were the days. Two movies for the price of
one, and you could set through as many shows as you could stand,
no emptying of the house when the lights went up.

My recollections of the Richland Light Opera are sort of vague. 
I do recall seeing their production of "Die Fledermaus" in the 
Chief Joseph auditorium. I think their forte was doing Gilbert 
and Sullivan. And, if memory serve, Jack Quinn was one of the 
leading lights of this group in the '50s.

Ah. Korten's. Spent many an hour in one of the audition booths
along with Kenny BRANDT ('53-RIP) and a few others picking up on
the latest Stan Kenton riffs. The record department was on the
mezzanine at the back of the store. The main floor held pianos and
other musical instruments. I think there were practice rooms at
the back (under the mezzanine) along with the instrument repair
shop.

I will not mention the Spudnut Shop or the Fission Chips joint
next door for fear of adding additional poundage.
 
-Bob Carlson, aka Mike CLOWES ('54) ~ Mount Angel, OR  where 
      weather guessers are calling for unseasonably warm weather 
      for the next few days.
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>>From: Laura Dean KIRBY Armstrong ('55)

It has been fun reading all the entries about the "old" days in
Richland. I think most of us have memories about the times and
places when we were young. Not all of those memories match those
of others, but they are to cherish none the less.

I was having birthday lunch with two lady Bomber friends yesterday
at the Hanford house, or as we call it, the Desert Inn. The
waitress was remarking that it was nice to have old friends to
lunch with, but she was astonished when we told her we had been
friends since sixth grade in 1948!

She started us reminiscing about those times and I said how much I
had been enjoying the recent entries in the Sandstorm about things
and places in the past. Here is my recollection of a few of the
things that have been mentioned lately.

Movie theaters: Saturday excursions to the Village theater [on
GWWay] to see many hours of news shorts, cartoons and westerns
cost 12 cents, so a quarter would get you admitted, a box of
popcorn and a drink and leave a few pennies for candy. At the
Richland theater [on Biddle] we usually stopped for warm peanuts
at Thrifty drug first, and then maybe a cherry or chocolate coke
at the fountain later. 

The scariest movie I saw was "House Of Wax" with Vincent Price and
Charles Bronson. It may have been 3-D. I was in the very first
production of the Richland Light Opera company when they put on
The Mikado. I believe it was at the Richland Theater. My first
date eve, was at the North Star theater in North Richland. Larry
Wiggs bought me an Almond Joy and I really didn't like them, but
ate it anyway. We saw "Buttons and Bows". I think it was with Bob
Hope and Lucille Ball.

My parents and I arrived June 18, 1948, during the flood. We
traveled across the old bridge from Pasco to Kennewick over huge
boulders that were in place to keep the bridge available. National
Guard troops were standing by with guns and bayonets affixed,
hurrying us along. We had to go into the Kennewick Highlands and
enter Richland via Bombing Range road. It was shift change and all
the cars were exiting Richland so the dust and dirt filled our
car. I buried my head in a pillow and begged to go back to
Illinois where we had trees! Now, 67 years later I think this is
the best place in the world to live.

-Laura Dean KIRBY Armstrong ('55)
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>>From: Duane LEE ('63)

Proud of the Cloud has finally been erected. 
  http://AlumniSandstorm.com/Xtra/Lee/150125-R-Cloud.3gp

Richland beat Walla Walla last night [1/23] to stay on top at 8-1.
Steven BEO ('16) scored 37 points and made it look easy. The UW
coach was at their last game sitting right behind the Bomber
bench. BACK OFF Coach, Beo is only a junior.

-Duane LEE ('63)
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>>From: Earl BENNETT ('63)

To: Curt DONAHUE ('53)

By my time, fishing Wellsian in the mid-to-late '50s, we were
calling it pond, not lake.

To: Helen CROSS Kirk ('62)

Koinonians - there is an excellent article on the Roman Catholic
use of the Greek word koinonia????????? which means
community/fellowship, I'll send you the PDF.

To: Bob MATTSON ('63/'64)

My first attempt to make money was two years of newspaper
deliveries during my Chief Jo days in the late '50s: I had 50-70
Seattle PI customers, a couple dozen Oregon Journal, covering 
from Van Giesen to Swift and Elm/Cottonwood to Thayer, or maybe a
couple of blocks further east (I think the PI customer spread was
smaller). I loved the cool summer mornings biking the route; every
time I hear mourning doves to this day I recall their soft song on
the wires near the shelter belt. My first "job" was "bagboy" at
Campbell's next to Densow's Drugstore, age 15 (I believe Mom had
to get some sort of special permission prior to my turning 16).

The biking exercise was perfect preparation for all the dancing I
did from ninth grade on: First, international folk dance with Dan
DAUGHERTY ('62) and his parents, Merle and Theda, who lived across
Potter from us, along with my sisters Diney ('64) and Cecilia
('65); then two years of ballet lessons from Sandy FREEMAN ('61-RIP));
followed by a year of jazz from her as well. My folk dancing
continued for the next 15 years, including three years with
Koleda, a semi-professional performing troupe in Seattle focused
on Balkan/South Slavic folk lore (director Dennis Boxell earned
money, we didn't). I watched some Serbian, Bulgarian and
Macedonian folk dances on Youtube last week and wondered if I
could still last through even one dance like I was able to do for
four to six hours at festivals in those years. Cecilia and I did a
Swedish Hambo several years ago; we were breathing heavily by the
time it was over, and that one's not even all that strenuous.

      Regards, ecb3 - from icy conditions in central
      Virginia, but no noticeable snow accumulation.  

-Earl BENNETT ('63)
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>>From: Peg SHEERAN Finch ('63)

To: Curt DONAHUE ('53)

Re: the 1948 flood

I have a memory of going with my dad and / or mom, to the "Y" to
gather free cinder blocks left from the foundations of buildings
(I'm assuming) - because Dad used them to shore up the sides of
our basement, after digging out tons of dirt at our "L" house on
Long Avenue. There must have only been a half a basement in those
homes, where the coal furnace and coal bin were located, and Dad
made us a nice family den on the other side, which we used a lot.
It must have been a year or two AFTER the flood, because I would
have been only 3 in 1948, but it IS one of my earliest memories.
Walt Smyth (RIP) helped Dad with that project.

      [Our "L" house basement was "dug out" in '57 -- I
      remember brother Ed ('77wb) was in a bassinet. I also
      remember listening to the coal drop (noisily) into the
      coal bin when they filled it up. The coal bin/furnace
      area turned into brother Tim's ('62) bedroom when my
      folks converted to electric heat. -Maren]

-Peg SHEERAN Finch ('63)
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>>From: Carol CONVERSE Maurer (Magic Class of '64)

To: Peg SHEERAN Finch ('63)

It was the radio station in Pasco (Kord?) that we would call in to
dedicate a song on Friday nights. I used to listen to them all. It
was fun trying to guess the people calling in and receiving the
dedication. 

I do remember spending lots of time in Korten's picking out a 45
record and listening to it in one of the small sound proof rooms
set up just for listening.

All this talk about the 2 movie theaters on Biddle and GWWay.....
I can't remember the one of GWWay [Village] at all. I can't see 
my folks being very happy for me crossing that street when I was
little to see a movie there. I remember going to the other one.
Never did go to the Uptown one till later on. All us girls, (Gail
PLEE ('64), Anna Margaret BELL ('64) and Louise WELLS ('64) and I)
would always go over to the Spudnut Shop afterwards to call which
ever parent was scheduled that night to pick us up.

Love all these memories going around of early Richland!
 
-Carol CONVERSE Maurer (Magic Class of '64) ~ Kennewick   Suppose 
      to be sunny this afternoon.  We'll see about that
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That's it for today. Please send more.
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