Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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St. Patrick Church, Colfax, youth and families hosted Homestead Ministries for soup packing last week. Tom Riedner and Greg Nolan came up with the idea of a way to use the plentiful products of the Palouse to feed hungry people in our area, which they named Homestead Ministries. Riedner is a grain marketer for Pacific Northwest Farmers Cooperative with connections to buy well-priced commodities and receive donated commodities. They began giving away 25 pound bags of beans, lentils and split...
Pat Smith with the first Santa she carved from driftwood. The drape of his clothing and the bundle of sticks on his back are unique touches. Pat Smith grew up on a North Dakota farm, learning how to do literally everything there. She was the oldest of six sisters, with one older brother, who had poor health, and one younger brother. Theirs was a diversified farm 20-something miles from Minot. Since she was the eldest girl, she learned to cook and sew at an early age, plus help milk cows in...
A holiday meal would not be complete without dessert, and pies are the traditional choice. This column provides all the info needed to create a delicious finishing course. Several readers have requested this column, and pie bakers have answered the call and shared their recipes. Thanks, pie bakers! Excellent pies start with the pastry, often the most frustrating part of the process. Recipes follow that are recommended by pie bakers. Recipes Rae’s Pie Crust Shannon Buckley 1 1/2 cup Crisco (...
Front row, from left: Gary Moore, Lane Moore, Taylor Peterson, Hannah Baerlocher, Trevor Peterson and Judy Moore. Backrow, from left: Luke Moore, Chase Baerlocher, Tanner Peterson and Cole Baerlocher. Judy Moore has enjoyed living in Whitman County since she was born. After graduating from Colfax High School, she traveled to Pullman and completed her degree at WSU. She and her spouse were in the same first grade class, so they did grow up together. Judy feels that many potential family and...
Mike and Nancy Ross of Diamond with Nancy’s sons Justin, left, and Charles Hoskins. After years away living in Portland and Spokane, moving to Whitman County was coming full circle for Nancy Ross. “Living on the farm was like coming home to me,” she said. Nancy grew up and graduated from Washtucna. Her father was a wheat farmer. About age 10 she started to help her mother cook meals for the harvest crew of around 10 people. “That's where I learned part of my cooking skills.” With that many peopl...
Collin Pittmann of Rosalia. Fans of Colfax High School musicals have been acquainted with Collin Pittmann for several years. Since Rosalia High School does not offer the opportunity, Collin has been involved in several musicals, and this year he is playing Will Parker, a male lead, in “Oklahoma!” Kyle Appel plays Curly, Lauren Claassen is Laurie and Sara Welchel has the role of Ado Annie. The musical will run Nov. 17, 18, 19 and 21 at 7:30 p.m., and Nov. 22 at 9 a.m. with limited seating and Nov... Full story
Diana and Andy King with Sadie. Diana and Andy King are recent arrivals to Colfax from Anaheim Hills, Calif., which is about 20 minutes from Disneyland. Andy grew up in Colfax, while Diana is from Ohio. They bought their home a year before they moved to Colfax. Now Andy is right across the street from his boyhood pal, Mike Hall. Diana was born in Marietta, Ohio, and the family moved to the Columbus area after her grandparents retired from their farm. They grew vegetables and had greenhouses for... Full story
Whitman School Retirees Association officers Penny Bettas, Alice Davis, Linda Marler, Lu Luhring and Kathy Storment. Washington State School Retirees Association has county units throughout the state, with both active and retired members. The Association is commonly called “Retired Teachers,” but includes administrators, paraprofessionals, bus drivers, maintenance workers, support staff, coaches, custodial staff and school clerical workers as well as teachers. Whitman County unit officers inc...
From left: Library instructors Nancy Stanard, Carissa Little, Crystn Guenthner, Suzy McNeilly and Lisa Johnson. For those who are interested, there are a number of exercise facilities and classes all over Whitman County, both in Colfax and in many smaller towns. Whitman County Library has space in both The Center and in the Norma McGregor Room. Classes presently offered include: Fit and Fun Gentle Exercise with Nancy Stanard, which features stretching, limited movement and range of motion focus...
Clockwise from upper left: Chocolate cookie dough cheesecake bars, mint chocolate brownies, celebrity fudge, chocolate marble cookies and chocolate cookies. Missing from the photo: black bowtie brownies. After several years of treating judges to wonderful chocolate treats, the contest has no trouble finding judges. A former judge who now lives in Chicago called to bemoan her inability to judge this year. This is an open class contest, meaning that anyone can enter, and there are youth and adult...
Reuben Mayes enjoying a latte in Colfax. Reuben Mayes is a familiar name on the Palouse, and for long enough that his native Saskatchewan is often forgotten. Born in North Battleford in Canada, he was raised in an agricultural town about the size of Colfax. When Reuben was recruited to play football at Washington State University, the combination of rolling hills covered with familiar crops and a research university with intellectual culture was both culture shock and comfortable. He feels at ea...
Johnson family summer hike up to Colchuck Lake in the Cascades near Leavenworth; if you go, beware of mountain goats! Nicholas missed the hike because of a summer internship. Connor, Aaron and Helena Johnson. Helena Johnson has the perfect credentials to be mentoring a robotics team–she is a chemical engineer, and her mechanical engineer husband, Aaron, works with her. Her father was a petroleum engineer, so the engineering gene seems to exist. Helena’s parents both immigrated from Colombia, Sou...
Gabe, Megan, Etta, Simon and Owen Brannan of Pullman. A Colfax boy with deep roots in the community, Gabe and his family live nearby, a decision made when he and Megan had their first child. Portland was cool, but the Palouse is where the grandparents are. The son of Fred and Tenny Brannan, Gabe graduated from Colfax High School in 1995. He was a champion swimmer in the county league, still holding many of his records. In high school he swam very competitively, with practices in Pullman before...
Val Gregory of Steptoe at her post in the historic Perkins House. Val Gregory, the daughter of Cedric and Diana Hall, was born and raised in Steptoe. Her grandparents came from Tennessee, one family of many which settled in Steptoe, which is still sometimes called Tennessee Flats. Val came to her career indirectly. After graduating from Colfax High School, she graduated from Washington State University in sports medicine. She went to work at a physical therapy office in Wallace, Idaho, planning...
Brenda and Tom Kneeshaw of Colfax enjoy a day at the coast. Brenda Kneeshaw, born and raised in Salem, Ore., graduated from the University of Puget Sound in 1970. She later earned a master’s degree from the University of Idaho. As Brenda explained it, she has two sets of parents. She was very close to her adoptive parents and feels privileged to be raised by them. Her adoptive father died when she was in seventh grade, and her mother died years ago. She left information about Brenda’s birth fam...
Susan Huber McGregor and Dr. Dick Freeman, Colfax High School Class of 1965. Susan McGregor was born and reared in Colfax, the daughter of the late Harold Huber and Janet Hoffman Huber. After graduating from Colfax High School, Susan left Colfax for court reporter school in San Francisco, began working as a court reporter and has lived there since. A frequent visitor to Colfax, she has remained involved with Colfax friends and extended family and worked on her Colfax High School reunions as...
Mary Ann Wigen and Jerine Grey with items Jerine brought home from their trip to Russia. The stacking dolls are traditionally Russian, and the little berry figurines are common. Hundreds, if not thousands, of Whitman County residents are descendants of the Volga Deutsch. While many immigrants came directly from Germany to the United States, the Volga Deutsch made a long trip, with more than a century spent on the Volga River region of Russia. Jerine Grey and Mary Ann Wigen are two such local cit...
Whitman County Library branch managers are pictured following their spring 2016 meeting. Top, left to right: Petra Klander, Uniontown; Clancy Pool, St. John; Holly Meyer, Colton; Bev Pearce, Palouse; Rita Ackerman, Farmington; Diane Harp, Tekoa; Marcy Campbell, Rosalia/Malden; Tia Langston, Endicott. Bottom, left to right: Tami Schwartz, LaCrosse; Catalina Flores, Colfax; Sarah Anderson, Garfield; Lynn Flaharty, Albion; Shanna Jackman, Oakesdale; Kristie Kirkpatrick, library director. In 1944,...
Elsa Aspenwall with ingredients for fresh lumpier (Philippine spring rolls) and egg rolls. Elsa Aspenwall and her family have lived in Colfax six years and owned the Hilltop Trailer Park for 10. Elsa (Malabanan) grew up in the southern part of the Philippines in Luzon, Laguna Province, near Manila. After high school, she studied nursing in Manila and earned her bachelor of science in nursing. She returns regularly to the Philippines to visit her family there. After working as an emergency room n... Full story
Gene and Queenie Leinweber, still smiling after 68 years together. Queenie Hulse was born in Tennessee, and her mother wanted to name her for Queen Elizabeth II, who was born about the same time. After thinking about a little girl learning how to write the long name Elizabeth, her mom decided to name her Queenie instead. Her father had a sister in Colfax, and when his asthma became severe, she suggested moving from humid Tennessee and his tobacco farm to drier Colfax to find relief of his...
The beautifully landscaped area around the keep of Windsor Castle, Windsor, England. There are castles that are fairly humble or which have fallen down over the centuries, primarily crude forts and places of safety. However, England has some of the grand ones open for visitors to see, preserved for posterity by the National Historic Trust. Private families have found operating and maintaining castles as private homes to be financially impossible, especially as taxes on wealth have increased in t...
Georgia and David Wells with their Sheltie Madison and German Shepherd Daniel. Georgia and David Wells moved to Endicott recently after many years away. The daughter of Richard and Laverne Despain, she grew up on a ranch out of Winona with two sisters, Barbara and Charmaine. After graduating from Endicott High School, she attended Kinman Business School in Spokane. Meanwhile back in Endicott, David Wells was teaching her sisters in school. They met, and the rest is history. After the two...
The Associated Student Body leadership class at Colfax High School. Front row: Olivia Mellor, Sarah Kraut, Ashtyn Aune, Lauren Claassen and Taylor Garcia. Back row: Reggie Jones, Tobie Warwick, Christopher Koenig and Danny Robinson. Colfax High School leadership class is taught by Heidi Lowe, and members of the class are either student body officers or students committed to helping plan and carry out student activities. Their current project is a huge one – hosting the St. Baldrick’s Fou...
Sharon Helmick of Colfax. Sharon Helmick grew up in Colfax, the daughter of Boyd and Marie Harlow, with sisters Glenice and Bonnie. When Mr. Harlow was ill during his last years, Sharon and husband Ken brought him back to their home in Colfax to care for him. Her heart was always on the farm. She received the most ribbons at the Palouse Empire Fair one year with a variety of chickens and a calf. Since she loved chickens, her dad bought a variety of exotic ones for her. Sharon, Glenice and... Full story
The Aune family in Switzerland after Greg’s talk at the World Health Organization. Front row: Emma, Noah, Sophia and Eli. Back row: Jane, Christy, Greg and John Aune. Dr. Greg Aune, who grew up in Colfax, and his group held their fifth St. Baldrick’s Foundation event Saturday in San Antonio, Texas. Placed in an outdoor venue, it ran from noon to 5 p.m. with 100 people shaving heads. Food trucks, head shaving and a goal of $175,000 this year made this a Texas-size event. Dr. Aune’s handsome head...