On July 16, 1949, a crowd of 3,000 spectators watched 12-year-old David Weedin win the first All-American Soap Box Derby here. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles J. Weedin of East Wenatchee.

Weedin drove his sleek orange racer across the finish line three times during the day to win the North Central Washington Championship. His fastest time was 38.1 seconds for the 1,100-foot course.

Weedin, Class B champion, defeated Donald Holman, Class A champion, for the right to compete in the national finals in Akron, Ohio. Holman won the Class A title by defeating Duane Dodson of Wenatchee and Ronald  McMahon of Ephrata. McMahon had previously defeated Dwight Squibb of Wenatchee in the first round of heats.

Weedin also won the Shell Oil Co. award for the best constructed vehicle. His prize was a tool kit.

In this photograph, Weedin is congratulated by Don Miller, a sponsor of the event

I could not determine where this Derby was held. Does anyone know?

Based on the attendance figure, this must have been a popular pasttime back then.

Did you participate or attend Soap Box Derby competitions? How long were they held here?

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The year was 1963 and one of three garden clubhouses in Washington state was owned by the 75-member East Wenatchee Garden Club, organized in 1927.

One of the charter members was Mrs. Karl Gussman, who convinced her husband to let the club meet in a packing shed owned by the family. The women moved in, built a fireplace and later bought the building. Over the years, they added landscaping and other improvements.

Members shown in this photograph are, from left, Mrs. Hugh Van Doren, Mrs. Merlin Fitch and Mrs. R.L. Piersol.

I checked through our archives and old Polk directories and could not determine where this clubhouse was actually located. Does anyone know ?

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Alcoa unveils its new display in the exhibition area of the Rocky Reach Dam powerhouse on July 1, 1963.

Wenatchee Works Manager W. Neil Farquhar explains it to Kirby Billingsley, left, manager of the Chelan County PUD, and William Steward, president of Wenatchee Valley College.

Details of this display weren’t provided and I’m not sure what it is.  Still, I thought it was an interesting photograph.

Does anyone know any details about this display?

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It was July of 1947 and time for wheat harvesting in the Waterville country.

Contrary to reports that the year’s harvest would be much lighter because of light rainfall in May and June, growers reported fair to good crops averaging 25 to 27 bushels an acre.

Ben and Oliver Nelson were owners of  a 4,000-acre Lamoine wheat ranch about 14 miles northeast of  Waterville.  (They were also cattle ranchers.)

“There have been many changes in the wheat harvesting picture,” Ben said at that time. “In the old days, the crews were larger, we used stationary outfits and even put the wheat up in sacks. But all that is gone and today the huge combines move through the wheat threshing as much as 160 acres a day… when we have no breakdowns.”

Wheat sacks disappeared and the threshed wheat would be stored in 72-bushel tanks on the combine from where it was drawn into a box body truck for transport to the grain elevator.

There was plenty of work around the Nelson ranch. Ben’s wife, Dorothy, did housework, cooking and cared for their son, Neil, 2. She also tended the cattle ranch and kept the wheat records during and after harvest.

In this photograph, Oscar Nollmeyer and his children, Keith, 5, and Joy, 2, stand in the midst of 2,000 acres of Baart and Turkey Red. Nollmeyer had been the Nelson brothers’ foreman for several years.

What early memories do you have of wheat harvesting?

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On June 7, 1949, the swimming season officially opened in Wenatchee at Hughes Memorial Pool, located at the foot of Fifth Street. Many of the 700 first-day swimmers are shown visiting with friends between dips.

According to an article accompanying this photograph, many swimmers arrived early that day “for the opening hour found a long, happy line waiting for the first dip.”

“We used every basket and bag on hand for the kids,” said Bob Church, pool manager. “I have never seen such a crowd down here at one time.”

Traffic was said to be especially heavy around the slide, which appears to be in the upper left corner. There were also low and high diving boards.

Hughes Memorial Pool was built in 1935 and opened in 1936. The pool was 150 feet long and 60 feet wide with underwater lighting and a continuous filtering system. There were also bleachers for spectators and a parking lot  to accommodate 500 cars. The pool was named in honor of Mayor C.B. Hughes, who died in 1935. Jim Burns was the first manager.

Do you remember the Hughes pool? Did you swim there?

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Welcome to Our Pictorial Past, where we will will take a look at the times of our lives in Wenatchee and North Central Washington through photographs that have appeared over the years in The Wenatchee (Daily) World. The people, places and events that defined us!

I’ve always had a special interest in the photographs I’ve seen while researching World microfilm as writer of our daily historical column “Old News.” My vision for this blog is to showcase some of these photographs, representing every decade back to the early 1900s.

Some photographs will be from our vast historical files. Others will be captured directly from microfilm and shown here for the first time since they were originally published in The World.

An important part of this blog will be you, the reader! Share your comments and memories. Is there a notable event that you would like to see here? We may have a photograph of it. Do you have a photograph from the past that you would like to share? We would love to see it. Let me know!

Enjoy our pictorial past…

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(For Thursday through Thursday, May 21-28)

This holiday weekend, you can play cheaply by playing right here at home. Lucky for you, we’ve got it all planned out.

Your 72-hour Memorial Day stay-cation should probably start Saturday morning at the farmers market (8 a.m. to 1 p.m., 25 N. Worthen, Wenatchee) and end Monday evening with a slam-bam movie (”Terminator Salvation,” varying times, Columbia Cinema). The rest of the time, you can exhaust yourself on a full slate of affordable fun:

√ An Early Salute to Our Fallen Police and Soldiers (Thursday) — OK, OK, so this isn’t exactly on the weekend, but it’ll get you in the mood to honor our war heroes. The Chelan Memorial Parade, starting at 7 p.m., makes a downtown loop along Woodin and Johnson avenues and features local bands, floats, a phalanx of local dignitaries and — woof! — adoptable dogs (who have their own way of saluting) from the Humane Society. Free. Info: 1-800-424-3526.

√ Big Birthday Blast, and We Do Mean Blast (Saturday) — Orondo, famous for its fruit and crispy fried chicken (at The Market Place, junction of Highway 2 and 97), holds a huge community bash to celebrate 125 years of being, well, Orondo. Lots of food vendors, games, live music and historical displays will fill the grounds of the Orondo Elementary School, just north of downtown, from 4 to 9 p.m. Fireworks by the wonderfully-named pyrotechnics expert Marty Schmoker, Leavenworth, will cap the evening. Seems like Orondo should also celebrate having a name that so smoothly trips off the tongue, but we can save that for another year. All free, except for the food. Info: 784-1918.

√ Do They Only Sing in French at Vin du Lac? (Saturday and Sunday) — One of Chelan’s big-deal wineries (please, no drinking straws in the tasting room) tunes-up for summer with the start of their free weekend music series. On Saturday, The Bickles perform; on Sunday, The Martini Brothers. You cheapskates can go and just listen, but I recommend hitting the winery’s Bistro for a cup of french onion soup ($4.50) to go with your sipping samples. Music starts at 5 p.m. on the grounds at 105 Highway 150, Chelan. Info: 1-866-455-9463.

√ Parachute Festival Welcomes Drop-Ins (Friday through Monday) — What better place to fly kites and land ‘chutes than a wide-open turf farm? You can watch or participate at the new Kite & Chute Festival at Twin Firs Turf Inc., southeast of Quincy at 7735 Road L.5 NW. The kites will be fancy, of course, and the ‘chutes powered, so look up and look out! Recumbent bikes will also be demonstrated and on display. Live entertainment, games for the kids and food vendors will also be on-hand. Activities start around 8 a.m. each day, although parachuters could start at sunrise if the wind is right. Admission by donation. Info: 787-3795.

√ OK, This Is the Last Time I Mention the … Woo-Woooo! … Mini-Train (Monday) — I can’t help it. I love this thing. And I think the Wenatchee Miniature Railroad at Riverfront Park is one of the best, cheap, hands-on, turn-off-that-gol’darn-Gameboy, get-out-of-the-house activities for kids in the Wenatchee Valley. True, you just go round and round. But it requires no skills and is devoid of pressure to do well. Everybody wins by doing nothing but smile. On Memorial Day, the train chugs  from 1 to 5 p.m. at 155 N. Worthen St. Admission: $3 for adults, $2 for kids. Info: 663-2900 or 888-6245.

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Headed up to Lake Chelan last Friday morning looking for root balls along the beach planted by the Dept. of Wildlife. We knew about one near Campbell Resort and I photographed it from a few different angles, showing how the branches of the apple trees stuck out of the sand, looking very out-of-place. In the second picture you can barely see a boat going by in the background yet I waited a good half hour for something to pass by.

I figured I was done with this and headed to Manson to photograph the golf course that isn’t in operation anymore. That’s actually a green in the foreground.

When I was driving back to Chelan, I noticed a string of the root balls along a stretch of beach and stopped to take a look. This is the one I really liked from the whole shoot, with the limbs stretching up to the sky and the nice beach and rocks in the foreground.

I think the float lying there helps with the composition and the color as does the snow on the mountains in the background.

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Bernice Wells was just out for her daily walk, but it was windy so she donned this elegant head-scarf to protect her hair. It’s so simple, tied just beneath the chin, yet chic in a way my generation has a hard time pulling off.  Check out these style tips on how to tie a head scarf.

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Saturday morning I attended the Apple Blossom Youth Parade. Okay, so I didn’t exactly attend the parade per se, I was more a part of the parade if you want to get technical.

Allow me to explain.

My assignment was to cover the event while riding a float along the parade route. I happened to hop on board a float with the stipulation that I had to ride next to a clown. Snicker, a delightful and extremely happy human being, ended up being my clown companion for the morning.

I’ve covered all sorts of things while working at The World — including carnies, wildfires, plane crashes and strange criminal cases — but riding in a parade with a clown takes the cake as far as interesting assignments is concerned. I had a blast chronicling the parade from a float’s-hand-perspective. In case you missed it Monday, you can read about my clowning around at the Youth Parade here.

I took lots of photos while riding in the parade, some of them are below. You can also see lots more Apple Blossom photos over on The World’s Apple Blossom page.

(more…)

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