News Files
COMPILED BY CAROL SCHMIDT
EARLY HISTORY
Swedish Baptist Church of Cedarhome welcomed into charter membership Olaf and Cherstin Jonson, who homesteaded here in 1887. John Hanson of Camano noted the changes from Indian Encampments to small cities after he arrived here in 1888. The first proclaimed U.S. holiday in 1789 was Thanksgiving.
100 YEARS AGO (1909)
Trains were once more running on schedule even though the tracks were still being repaired after the damage done by recent floods. Nellie B. Ware was born on Halloween this year, and later married Arthur Thompson, living and working their entire lives along the Stilly Valley.
90 YEARS AGO (1919)
Elmer Ramberget served with the AEF in France during World War I.
80 YEARS AGO (1929)
Stanwood Union High School gave the Marysville Tomahawks a set down Saturday afternoon 14-0. The Stanwood-East Stanwood community was on the air with KJR for an hour.
70 YEARS AGO (1939)
Mrs. Cleora Rieske bought Juniper Beach property and began remodeling the old Chas’s Store. Wenberg Park and the Lake Goodwin bowl were dedicated. A work crew cleaned out the debris and congestion in Irvine Slough.
60 YEARS AGO (1949)
South Camano Grange was one of the top seven in the United States in competition for community service. Ole Svend of Silvana sold his Happy Valley farm and returned to Norway. Twin City rested alone on top of the Dist. league heap, with a 19-0 victory over Concrete. A new slate roof was laid on top of Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church.
50 YEARS AGO (1959)
Sen. Henry Jackson, recently returned from the South Pole, was guest speaker at the South Camano Grange. Road equipment was busy on the new route that will bypass Warm Beach.
40 YEARS AGO (1969)
A Community Water and Sewage Pollution Study and Action Committee was formed under the auspices of the Stanwood Chamber of Commerce.
30 YEARS AGO (1979)
Camano Island had new emergency phone numbers. Eleanor Monson, Silvana postmaster, retired after 24 years service.
20 YEARS AGO (1989)
Four city employees were honored for their service to the city: Barb MacLaurin, Leroy Moses, Rick Nauman and Bill Bachand. An open house was held at the old Camano City schoolhouse. The idea of not spraying vs. mowing in Island County was mowed down by the cost at the commissioners meeting. Marijuana plants were discovered near Kayak Point where Stanwood police assisted in arrests. Gail Hacker, M.D. became the newest member of the medical profession in Stanwood.
10 YEARS AGO (1999)
The school district’s new name is the Stanwood-Camano School District. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers detonated explosives in Deepwater Slough near Conway, causing repercussions to rattle windows and shake houses on north Camano. Stanwood swept all the cross-country races at the Western Conference 3A, with the Lady Harriers getting their second straight conference championship. A fierce storm swept over the Stilly Valley right after the last corn harvest of the century.
