From the Dayton Chronicle archives

Ten Years Ago

December 28, 2011

The Annual Dayton Chronicle Shopping Spree winners this year are Byron Kaczmarski, Angela Smith, Susan Dunlap, Jolene Field and Zonia Dedloff.

Columbia County Sheriff’s Office alerted Dayton home owners to the presence of a tall white male, 25 to 50 years of age, suspected of targeting vacant homes. Sheriff Walt Hessler advised people to check vacant properties frequently.

Jeremy Cox, Michelle Shoun, Dave Molesh and Charlie Barron were selected to fill vacant Fair Board positions, joining Debbie Bailey, Barbara Fullerton, Merle Myrick, Charles Amerein and Neil Stephens.

Twenty-Five Years Ago

December 25, 1996

Citing a pressing need for the proposed improvements, the Dayton School District’s Board of Directors passed a resolution which will put a $2.36 million bond in front of voters next February. The bond at the recommendation of Superintendent Steve Chestnut, is to finance three principle capital improvement projects: a new gym, four new middle school classrooms and air conditioning for the Elementary School building.

Fifty Years Ago

December 30, 1971

A mini-grant for $600 under the Title III program has been received by Glen Mitchell, music director of Dayton Public Schools, to institute a music project dealing with guitar instruction in Grades 7-12. The new program for the use of guitars in the six grades has been entitled “Operation Guitar” and will be used primarily for two class type situations, Mitchell reported.

Tragedy struck three Dayton families early Monday morning December 27, as they were notified that their sons, James S. Cunningham, 20, Kim Brent Bond, 18, and Phillip Craig Heintz, 19, had been killed in a one-car accident on Highway 12, west of Dayton in a field near the Bertle Patrick home.

Miss Polly Cowen, a junior at Dayton High School, has just received word that she will be able to participate in the Washington Music Teachers’ Convention March 15-18 in Vancouver. Music Director Glen Mitchell said Miss Cowen was chosen by taped audition. Of the 1,500 students applying, 450 are accepted to participate in the band, choir and orchestra.

Coast Guard Seaman Apprentice Carl A. Richter, a 1971 Dayton graduate and son of Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Richter, is receiving special training in port security in Yorktown, Va.

Seventy-Five Years Ago

December 26, 1946

The Columbia National Bank of Dayton, started by the late Levi Ankeny, chartered in 1882 and opened for business in January, 1883, became extinct December 14. The old pioneer institution became a branch of the metropolitan Seattle-First National bank. The last remaining touch of those romantic banking days when Gold was king, left the bank with George W. Jackson, who was with the old Columbia National as janitor, clerk, cashier vice president and director from 1900 until last Saturday. Another old timer was George Price, who was a director from 1908 until the recent transfer.

For the first time since early in the war, outdoor Christmas trees are blossoming again, and by the end of the week there will be many doorway porch and lawn decorations in colored lights.

One Hundred Years Ago

December 28, 1921

ORDERS CENTRAL FERRY SPAN. Authority was given the state of Washington by both the Senate and House to construct a bridge across the Snake River at Central Ferry between Colfax and Dayton on the Inland Empire highway.

Eight hundred gallons of mash, which is considered to be somewhat of a record in local seizure circles, were taken when Sheriff Charles J. Springer and his deputies made a little informal call at the ranch of L. F. Starr, one-fourth mile south of the Walla Walla county farm. The 800 gallons are only a part of it. In the barn where the cows were bedded down, a trap door was located leading to a tunnel where a still, with the capacity to produce approximately 10 gallons per 24 hours, was located. One Hundred Twenty-Five Years Ago

December 26, 1896

Entertainment given by the pupils of the Dayton Public Schools on Wednesday evening, drew a tremendous crowd. The program consisted of music by the band, tableaux, recitations, songs, wand and flag drills, and a farce entitled “Hans Von Smash.”