Harrington news

The Harrington Opera House Society met for its monthly and annual meetings Monday, November 2, with Mark and Sheryl Stedman, Gordon and Billie Herron, Carol, Ed Haugan, Linda Wagner, Bonnie and Mike Hardy, Dillon Haas, Stephen and Becky Hardy, Shelly Quigley, Karen Robertson and Marge Womach present. They reviewed the highlights of the Community Organizations Meeting, Harrington Happenings, with many positive comments about how well the sharing of project information is working. It was reported that the Peter Davenport UFO event netted $900 as a Public Development Authority fundraiser. The next opera house event will be the November 21 reading of Our Town by the Davenport Theatrical group at 4 p.m. On December 5, Santa is expected for Christmas pictures from 10 a.m. to noon with a rummage sale to occur from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Billie Herron asked that all “in-kind” hours be turned in as soon as possible.

The annual meeting consisted of the election of officers and reports from committees. Mark Stedman declined to remain as President and the nominating committee offered Billie Herron’s name for that position. All other officers were willing to retain their positions. By unanimous vote, the results were President: Billie Herron; VP: Carol; Secretary: Linda Wagner; Co-Treasurers: Ed Haugan and Sheryl Stedman; Historian: Bunny Haugan.

A summary of events from the previous year were listed in a report by Linda Wagner. Grants income for 2015 was presented by Billie Herron which included $15,810.23 from the Building for the Arts from the Washington State Department of Commerce and $1,000 from USBank for the art and music room. The organization has not yet heard from the Northwest Farm Credit Services regarding the application there for $5,000. The piano committee report showed good progress toward the goal of $45,400 for the Steinway 7’1” Boston designed by Steinway grand piano. The piano bank account today is $27,985.58, leaving $17,414.42 to raise in the next seven weeks. Gordon Herron reported for the Building Committee with an itemized sheet of the completed projects. The list included the new, still incomplete ADA-compliant restroom on the second floor and the plumbing and electrical equipment that has been brought into the snack area, both awaiting inspections prior to completion. Carol wrote the music/art room review which included piano lessons and recitals, uses of the room, and the installation of black-out blinds.

The Chamber of Commerce met briefly at noon on November 4. Those present included Bunny Haugan, Kathy Hoob, Cassandra Paffle-Dick, Paula Pike, Tim Tipton, Margie Hall, Heather Slack, Becca Downing, Cindy Haase, Summer Clark, Marge Womach and Sharon Nighswonger. A re-cap of the Community Forum meeting, Harrington Happenings, was encouraging in that it appears to be meeting the expectations of its original purpose, i.e., creating a cohesive atmosphere between the organizations to prevent duplication of activities and projects. Margie Hall announced a free class for November 16 from 9 a.m. to noon, “How to use E-Commerce Platforms” by Josh Wade of Nectar Media. The class will be held at the Lincoln County Public Works Building, 27234 State Route 25 North, Davenport, WA. Please RSVP by November 22 by calling 509-368-7085.

With the holiday season quickly approaching, Santa’s Workshop is tentatively set for November 17. For the Santa picture day, there will be a need for 40-50 bags and their contents. Poinsettias will be sold by the FFA at the Memorial Hall on Dec 5. The meeting was at a fast pace to allow members to attend a retirement party for Mike and Kathy Hoob. The next Chamber meeting is December 2.

On November 4, many local and rural citizens came to the Studebaker Shop to wish the Hoobs well in their retirement and greet the new owners, Austin and Jenna Fries. Hot soup, cookies and a gorgeous cake made by Carolyn Mattozzi were offered to all. Kathy Sewall Hoob was raised in Harrington and with her husband owned and operated the Harrington Food Market for 33 years.

Austin Fries was also born and raised in Harrington and in 2006 married Jenna and moved to Davenport. Austin worked at Les Schwabs Tire Shop for 10 years. Jenna Buck Fries was raised in Davenport, the daughter of Brian and Penny Buck. Austin and Jenna have three children, Shawn, 7; Laila, 5; and Devin, 3. They are homeschooling their children and are presently commuting to Harrington while they remodel the south half of the Fallert Hotel building as their future home. They have no intention in the near future of working with the actual hotel rooms. As will be recalled, the Fallert Hotel was built in 1916 by contractor J.O. Kerrick. Through the years, the Fallert was called the Grand Hotel and later the Inland Empire Hotel. It has held a variety of grocery stores including Moore’s Grocery, Banner Meat Market, Frame’s Food, and Harrington Food Market, under several owners: M.R. Fallis, Herman Stolp, Jack and Fran Williams and most recently, Mike and Kathy Hoob. The store remained open during the reception with the old and new owners trading places to enjoy the festivities.

On Saturday, November 7, the Harrington Opera House rummage sale had a nice turnover of patrons as well as goods. The weather was very nice for this time of year, and items were displayed on the sidewalk to allow more space within the rummage room. As it was, there were so many items available for sale that rummaging through boxes truly occurred. All donations, totaling nearly $500, go into the elevator fund.

Friday, November 6, Heather Safe met her piano students at the Davenport Retirement Home where each performed two numbers for a recital to an audience of about 35. These students were Bella Mattozzi, Zach Bruce, Elaine Van Belle, Justin Vaughn, Austin Vaughn and Steven Lutes. Heather played several numbers including a Thanksgiving Medley. Lydia Mattozzi was unable to attend due to illness.

A chance encounter with Peter Davenport, local Ufologist, created great curiosity in hearsay information on a March 17, 1969 sighting of UFOs hovering over several houses in Odessa. According to the official National UFO Reporting Center the description was as follows: “Brilliant metallic, glowing disc-shaped craft with red and blue lights in circle at bottom seen in Odessa, WA, at 8 p.m. for about a 10 minute duration.” The witnesses concurred that the disc hovered over three homes. “It was near silent, just a hum almost like electrical lines make. It was seamless and at the bottom was a circle of lights.” A portion of the group that observed the disc decided to go by car and follow the disc. “We followed from our home on 2nd Ave., went right, south, toward the hospital and followed that road through the parking lot then going right again and facing west and taking a left turn at the end of that block. This took us up a slight hill which came to the next street which we took a right on. We parked on the road there. Directly south of where we parked in a then vacant lot we actually saw the craft land or appear to land. It may have just been hovering very low. Dad turned off the car and we all ran out toward the craft. Right before our very eyes, it disappeared. It did not fly off with great speed as so many reports speak of, it was just plain gone. Within this same week we learned that another family in town saw the same craft. I don’t know if it was the same night but they claim it did land in an alfalfa field just outside their family home which I believe was west of Odessa near the cemetery. The woman was an artist who painted what they saw. They also claimed that there were burn marks in a circular shape left in the alfalfa field. She is still living in Odessa. Gone now from the folks who witnessed the craft hovering over the homes in our neighborhood are my dad, the young man who called that night and his parents, and the German lady. All the rest are still living and could easily witness this account for me. I don’t know how many others in the neighborhood were called that night.” The family who gave this account was a family of five, with four friends of the children, another family of three, and a German mother-in-law, the neighbor of the family that phoned them to cause them to go out and view the disc. The entire report may be read at http://www.ufocenter.com and search for the date. Davenport would be pleased to hear more versions of this report at director@ufocenter.com if others viewed this sight.