Odessa turns 120 years old

ODESSA – Last Saturday, April 30, the town celebrated its 120th year of existence in conjunction with other activities held as part of the town's annual Spring Fling events.

Visitors and residents were also drawn to the quilt show in the high school gym put on by the Odessa Quilt Club, to yard sales taking place all over the town, to vendors of antiques and handcrafted items selling their wares on Division Street, which was closed to through traffic and also held displays of antique farm equipment.

Although the weather pelted the vendors and their customers at the outdoor event with light rain showers throughout the day, it never rained hard enough to send folks running for cover. And farmers in the crowd were (figuratively) dancing in the streets and thanking the heavens for sending the much-needed moisture for their crops.

In addition to the yard sales, the Odessa Historical Society held its huge annual rummage sale at the Old Town Hall, accepting donations amounting to $3,500, as reported by Faye King, in exchange for the donated items it had gathered.

The items remaining after the event filled a single cargo trailer that Society members Paul Scheller and Norman Ott took to various area thrift stores for further distribution. Many volunteers helped out the Society members both with displaying the items and with loading up the remaining items after the event.

Food was provided by the newly formed non-profit Crab Creek Alliance at 1902 prices. Offered at $1.50 a plate were barbecued chicken quarters, cowboy beans and homemade biscuits or chicken and dumplings with homemade biscuits, while hotdogs could be had for just a nickel apiece. Volunteers manned the service tables, and the line for food was long. The Alliance reports that 531 meals were sold.

Area businessman Jeff Melcher, along with family members and friends, provided the use of a custom barbecue outfit to cook the chicken and hotdogs and keep the chicken and dumplings heated. Dessert was a sheet cake made by Stephanie Umali of Panda's Pastries in Ritzville for the occasion. Panda's Pastries was also a vendor at the event.

Since Odessa did not hold a pageant to select a Miss Odessa to represent the town, Miss Harrington Alaina Parker was invited to help out with Odessa's event, especially since her family members were attending as vendors.

The Parker Family Farm at Mohler was selling chicken feed and handing out information on raising chickens. Their eldest child, Alaina, was scheduled to help out with her parents' booth but ended up doing double duty as Miss Harrington.

She assisted the Crab Creek Alliance by helping to sell Odessa souvenirs and raffle tickets. A junior at Harrington High School, she handled her duties with maturity and good humor.

The Alliance held two raffles, one to guess how many root beer-flavored candies were in a large glass jar and one to guess the combined weight of two items, a brick and a chunk of local basalt rock. Those coming closest to the actual numbers were Odessa resident Kerry Scheller, who won the jar of root beer barrel candies and Greg Kornish of Warden, who won a separate jar of miscellaneous candies by guessing the combined weight of the brick and rock.

Members of the Odessa Quilt Club have promised a full report on their event for next week's edition of The Record-Times.