125 years ago
September 29, 1893
North river settlers are again working for the removal of the jam in that river. A mammoth petition has been circulated asking congress for a $10,000 appropriation. A Montesano man is reported to have offered to take out the jam and take big pay in logs, of which the settlers have an abundance. The jam referred to is 3 miles long and is the accumulation of years, large trees growing upon it.
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A chicken boarded the “cowcatcher” of the passenger train at Ocosta, Monday, and rode up to Montesano, where, being pleased with the looks of the town, it decided to stay.
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Photographer Merwin has finished some very fine photos of the Montesano baseball club — considering the material he had to work on. Parties desiring copies for their curio cabinets can obtain them from Manager Starr.
100 years ago
September 27, 1918
Trophies from the battlefields of Chateau, Thierry and Soissons — cannons, mortars, rifles, bombs and helmets captured from the Germans by American and French armies — will be displayed on a special trophy train due to arrive here Sunday at 4 p.m.
The train will be parked near the N.P. depot and everybody is invited to be there. It is made up of four cars. Two are flat cars on which are cannons, mortars, machine guns and other heavy equipment. One is a big box car which is fitted up for display purposes. The fourth is a passenger car fitted up for the accommodation of the staff of speakers and returned soldiers who accompany the train.
Everyone in Montesano and vicinity should be at the depot to see what the Germans use in warfare.
75 years ago
September 30, 1943
A brand new weekly newspaper, “The McCleary Builder,” appeared on the street of McCleary this Wednesday. It is a four-page standard size newspaper carrying several constructive editorial messages and a considerable amount of local McCleary news. The first edition, which was printed by the Vidette Printing Company, Montesano, carried a full page war-bond message, and a number of supporting advertisements of the merchants and business institutions of McCleary.
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After a slow and almost disastrous first half the Montesano Bulldogs defeated the Elma Eagles Friday, Sept. 24, in a 7-0 game. This was the first time in at least ten years that the Elma team has lost to Montesano on their home field.
Montesano rooked up 6 first downs to Elma’s 4 and gained a total of 172 yards to the Eagles’ 85. Montesano also had a slight edge in the punting, averaging just under 37 yards for their 5 punts. Elma kicked 7 times for 34 yards.
50 years ago
September 26, 1968
Reuben Fleet, native of Montesano, returned to his hometown this week, and, in an impressive ceremony at the city hall Monday night, was presented an oil painting by Julie Daniels to hang in that edifice, the building of which he was in a large part responsible.
Fleet, a real estate and insurance man in Montesano before World War I, founded the Consolidated Aircraft Company in San Diego shortly after that conflict, and the company went on to become a major producer of aircraft during World War II.
After Monday’s presentation by Gaston Moch, Fleet took the floor and reminisced about the many memories he has in Montesano, particularly citing the background of the construction of the present City Hall back in 1914. Money was difficult to come by back in those days, just as it is in many instances today, and the only approach Fleet, Moch, O.M. Nelson and others had was to canvas the area, home by home, for donations. This they did and gradually the money was raised to start the project. The building was finally completed at a total cost of $16,000 but had a mortgage of $10,000 hanging over its head. Fortunately the local Eagles Lodge decided to lease the upstairs of the building and through contract the city managed to pay off the mortgage.
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A shut out of 26-0 was the final tally in a game played by a very much improved Monte Bulldog team over the Charles Wright Terriers last Friday.
Monte had a tremendous defense holding the Terriers to a 62 net yards gain. The offense, which was sticky at times the week before, really clicked this last week. This credit should be given to the offensive linemen (Gregg Schmitz, Glen Vance, Steve Walker, Greg Dixon and Steve Bowen) for they opened up the holes and did great pass blocking.
25 years ago
September 30, 1993
On Thursday, Ron Roberts arranged for Satsop School students to visit a logging site and see first-hand a logging operation. For many of the students and staff, it was a new experience.
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On Friday, the third through sixth graders went to Puyallup to attend the fair. A special thanks to Mr. Goeres, Mrs. Valentine, Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Flink and Mrs. Anderson for chaperoning.
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Montesano’s Bulldogs had an easy time of it last Friday when they entertained the Tenino Beavers and rolled over them 50-28 in a South Central League game. Most of the first string players sat on the sidelines during the second half, but the Bulldogs continued to roll and finally racked up their 50 points for the evening.
This Friday, the Bulldogs take on the Forks Spartans in an important league encounter on Rottle Field.
10 years ago
September 25, 2008
Who gets in, getting out, going to voters and accommodating current labor contracts were among the topics explored by the Regional Fire Authority Planning Committee as members shared more information Sept. 19 at the Cosmopolis Fire hall.
It was the third time representatives of various Grays Harbor cities, fire districts and others had gathered to consider forming an organization of combined forces to meet fire and emergency medical needs of a number of areas of the county together, including Aberdeen, Cosmopolis, Montesano, Elma and outlying portions including Central Park, Artic, the Wynooche Valley, Brady, Satsop and rural Elma.
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Behind a hard-hitting front row, Montesano only needed three games to dispatch Forks, 25-9, 25-18, 26-16, in a 1A Evergreen volleyball match on Tuesday at Bo Griffith Memorial Gym.
In all three games, the Bulldogs made good passes that led to solid spikes, helping themselves to good-size leads in each contest and leaving some room for error.
“Our offense let us take control of the match,” Montesano head coach Debbie Gibson said. “Our passing gave us an opportunity to run our offense.”
Senior Tori Erickson and junior Mackenzie McEvoy were perfect from the service line, with Erickson also picking up eight digs to go with her 25 assists.
Compiled from the archives of The Vidette by Karen Barkstrom. She can be reached at kbarkstrom@thedailyworld.com or 360-537-3925
