This Week in Odessa History

100 years ago

The Odessa Record

June 7, 1918

Swamp fever kills horses: Henry and George Gettman, well known farmers residing south of Odessa, lost seven good work horses last week while in pasture north of Krupp. The dead horses were discovered Friday and a number of others were sick at the time. Dr. Fred Balmer, the local veterinarian called on Dr. MaWhinney of Harrington and the State Veterinarian, Otto Menig of Spokane, for assistance and in consultation later it was decided that the animals had died of swamp fever caused by their drinking place becoming contaminated by low water conditions. All the sick horses recovered. The Gettman’s had some of the best horses in the country so that their loss is a heavy one.

Banko nabs bootleggers: E. E. Vogelson, who for the last year has been principal of the Adrian high school, and proprietor of the Adrian hotel, was arrested Saturday by Sheriff Banko of Grant county on a charge of bootlegging. Bogelson was taken before Judge Hauser of Ephrata for trial. He entered a plea of guilty and was fined $100 and costs.

L. M. Pierce of 911 Sprague avenue Spokane, was arrested the same day on a warrant issued at Ephrata, charging him with unlawfully transporting whiskey in Grant county. An automobile containing several cases of whiskey was seized by the sheriff recently. The car bore a Washington license number and this was the means by which Mr. Pierce was traced.

75 years ago

The Odessa Record

June 3, 1943

Florence Dobson weds Lieutenant Woolson: News has been received from San Francisco of the marriage of Miss Florence Dobson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. C. Dobson of Odessa, and Lieutenant Herbert N. Woolson, son of Dr. and Mrs. A. H. Woolson, Spokane, at the presidio chapel in San Francisco, the army chaplain officiating.

Lieutenant Woolson finished high school and college at Gonzaga and he has his law degree from Gonzaga. Entering service last July he had his basic training at Camp Roberts, and received his officer’s training and commission at Fort Custer, Mich.

Perfect attendance record: Alvin Birge, member of the present graduating class from the Odessa high school, has the unusual record of having been neither absent nor tardy during his entire 12 years of school, the only member of the class achieving the honor.

50 years ago

The Odessa Record

June 6, 1968

Thirty-seven graduate from OHS Sunday: The Odessa high school band presented three selections while friends and relatives gathered to witness Commencement exercises for 37 1968 OHS graduating seniors here Sunday afternoon at the school gymnasium. Rev. Daniel Cronrath of Christ Lutheran church gave the invocation following “Pomp and Circumstance” played by the band as a processional for the class.

Tom Schafer, class president, presented the class followed by two honor students giving Salutatorian and Valedictorian addresses. Terrie Schmidt discussed a history of the class while Harold Wiest viewed progress of the nation and world and world and attitudes graduates need.

Commencement speaker was Ludlow Kramer, secretary of state. He reviewed the world, nation and state outlook and the problems that the ever-increasing population will incur -- problems that will have to be faced and mastered by coming generations.

Awards were presented to the class by Prin. Al Latimer, Dale Shetler, music instructor, Mrs. Harold Keller, Mr. Robert Engle, and Dr. Kenneth Gudgel. Harold Wiest will be entering Seattle Pacific University on a scholarship. He also was awarded a subscription to Readers Digest. Leadership Boy and Girl were named as Tom Schafer and Myrna Heimbigner. Citizenship Boy and Girl are Harold Wiest and Carol Anderson.

Jim Frick was given the Arion music award and was also named Best Musician.

Terry Kissler was designated a winner of the Krupp Union Grain Co-op scholarship.

Barbara Gudgel and Barbara Gilbert were recipients of scholarships in the amount of $200 from the Lincoln County TB Association. Both will study nursing. Miss Gudgel at the University of Washington, and Miss Gilbert at Deaconess hospital, Spokane.

The Memorial Hospital Auxiliary awarded three scholarships in nursing to Miss Gilbert, Patricia Derr and Cheryl Hardt. They are for $100 each. Cheryl Hardt will train at Sacred Heart hospital, Spokane; Patricia Derr and Miss Gilbert at Deaconess hospital school of nursing.

The Lincoln County Medical Society, represented by Dr. Kenneth Gudgel, presented awards to five seniors: Jim Evavold, Patricia Stephens, Misses Gudgel, Hardt and Gilbert. The Society has set up a scholarship program in recognition of scholastic achievement and interest in the study of medicine, nursing and related paramedical fields.

Diplomas were presented to the seniors by Ivan Walter, president of the school directors.

The afternoon program was concluded with a benediction by Reverend Cronrath and “Fanfare and Recessional” by the band.

Junior class monitors were Tom Frick and Jack Sackmann. Ushers included Kathy Dashiell, Vicki Giese, Patsy Hoefel, Linda Miller, Debbie Schmidt and Jane Zagelow.

Cook retires, teacher hired: Mrs. Maude Giese is retiring as head cook of the Odessa school lunch program after having served in that capacity for 17 years. The school faculty, in recognition of this service, honored her with a farewell reception on Tuesday evening featuring a money tree. Mrs. Coral Seibel has been appointed to take her place

The Odessa school system has filled a vacancy in the third grade with the addition of Mrs. Mary Ann Hayes, Prin. C. P. Holm reports. Vacancies in the third and seventh grades with coaching of basketball for the seventh grade are still unfilled.

The finance for a special education class for disadvantaged children in Odessa and Wilson Creek has been appropriated by the State Department of Education. A teacher is being sought for the position, Holm states.

25 years ago

The Odessa Record

June 3, 1993

Car stolen at Jay Scrupps’ farm home: By Linda Gustafson

It looks like it’s time for the residents of Odessa, even those living on farms, to start locking their cars.

Ever since the automobile first appeared, few in Odessa have found it necessary to take the keys out of their vehicle at night or any other time. It’s been the habit to even leave motors running while the car’s occupant runs into a store for a moment.

Doors to garages, homes and shops can’t be left unlocked anymore, if the event which happened last week is any indication of a trend. The fear is that crime is spreading to small towns, and that criminals see small communities as prime areas in which to operate

This week’s trouble started when a car stolen over the weekend traveled to Wilbur, then was driven south on Highway 21. About 3 1/2 miles north of Odessa, the driver of the stolen vehicle missed one of the S curves, rolling the vehicle.

Not to be put off by this, he walked to Jay Scrupps’ home and helped himself to a Suburban parked in a quonset hut and drove away undetected.

The state patrol and Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department were called to investigate the rolled vehicle. They discovered the car had been stolen in Spokane. Police contacted Scrupps at 5:30 a.m. Saturday, as his home was closest to the accident scene. They asked if anything was missing, and Jay said everything was okay.

Shortly after the conversation with the police, Jay discovered his vehicle had been stolen.

As of yesterday, sheriff’s deputies said, the Suburban had not been located.

The car theft at the Scrupps home is not the first report recently of stolen property. On Memorial Day, another farm was burglarized. Police say thieves are hitting what they consider to be abandoned farms and haul off what they can. It is said the stolen property is taken to California, where there is a ready market for it.

Rattle snakes on the prowl; they’re even right downtown: Odessans should beware of rattlesnakes.

They’re out in force now, having been spotted on the highways throughout the region and even right downtown.

For some reason, there are more baby rattlers than are seen in a normal season. The latest find was one at Mike’s Chevron station during the past week. It was curled up enjoying the shade. Harvey Delzer captured it. It was put in a jar and brought into The Odessa Record office for a photo. Then Julie Jantz took it to P.C. Jantz Elementary School to show to the children.

Another rattler was reported to have been seen near the post office. A resident two blocks southwest of the post office said she found one in her backyard.

Tradition has it that rattlesnakes never venture south of Crab Creek. It is believed that they are so numerous on the north bank of the creek this year because of the creek’s unusually late flow this year.

A reminder of what to do from Larry Sayrs of the Odessa Clinic is to get to the hospital immediately if bitten by a rattlesnake. He also suggested that children stay out of the creek bed, because that is where rattlers go to get water. They usually hide out in the tall grass, as that is where they find shade.

Hospital board going ahead with ‘copter pad plan:

The board of commissioners of Lincoln County Hospital District #1 last Thursday decided to submit plans to the state for a grant to install a helicopter pad on the roof of Odessa Memorial Hospital.

The hospital district has jurisdiction over the hospital, the Odessa Clinic and Odessa Convalescent Center.

The board had studied the feasibility of a rooftop helicopter landing and had asked citizens to come to its meeting last week to offer opinions and other input on the proposed facility. Only two persons came to the meeting, and they were in favor of the new heliport.

Lifebird and Heartflight medical evacuation helicopters transporting emergency cases from Odessa to Spokane hospitals now must land in a crowded area beside the hospital, between power lines, utility poles and trees. The site is considered hazardous.

The new landing pad would be on the roof of the northeast wing of the hospital building, with the hospital’s elevator being extended to the roof for easy access to helicopters.

When wind conditions are not favorable, the helicopters have had to land at Finney Field, requiring transport of patients by ambulance from the hospital. The rooftop pad will permit landing in all weather conditions, saving a half hour in turn-around time during the evacuation flights.

“There is a ‘golden hour,’ as physicians call it, in which a critical patient has time to be transported to an acute care center, and much of that time can be lost in ground transportation,” hospital district administrator Carol Schott said.

The facility is expected to cost approximately $73,000, she said. Ten percent of this cost is provided for in the district’s budget, and another $8,000 of the construction expense would be requested in the form of labor and equipment donated by the community, she said.

The balance would come from state funds derived from aviation fuel taxes. This revenue once was used strictly for airport improvements, but now is available for facilities such as helicopter landing pads.

Odessa Memorial has first priority on the eligibility list of hospitals slated to receive state grants for helicopter landing sites. The board submitted plans for the pad and an application for funding on last Friday.

If the district is successful in obtaining a grant, funding would be available after July 1, Schott said.

David Ketchum, an aviation facilities consultant from Bellevue, has designed a heliport for the hospital roof, Schott said. Heliports for hospitals which he has designed are now in use at hospitals in Colfax, Grand Coulee and Quincy.

The hospital building is structurally compatible for a rooftop landing pad. A reinforcement structure will be placed on the northeast wing so that helicopters will not be touching down directly on the roof.

Last month tests were conducted with a Lifebird helicopter hovering over the hospital roof while hospital officials and staff members were inside determining noise levels. They said the noise factor was minimal.