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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
January 9, 1969     Shelton Mason County Journal
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January 9, 1969
 
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/ii:i A 40-foot Christmas tree, which began its journey in Mason County, arrived at the NASA space center near Houston, Tex., in a railroad box car. The tree was purchased by Boeing and presented to the NASA facility. Here, the tree is removed from the box car in preparation for installation. v.1, From Here °er ,., NASA 83 Year ...... No. 2 Published in "Christma,town, U.S.A.", Shelton, Washington 10 Cents Copy d T-ursday, ?mtered as second cla.s rnatter at the post office at Shelton, Wshingtou 98584 under act of March 8. 1879. Published at 227 Wet Cots. 18 Pages -- 2 Sections Road Restrictions Are Lifted • To Allow School Buses To Run :t • Students in all Mason County schools were back in their class- r(rms Wednesday morning for the first time since the beginning of Christmas vacation Dec. 20. Sch(×)ls were scheduled to re- sume Jan. 2, but, icy roads and snow kept most schools closed Jan. 2 and 3. The roads had cleared by Mon- day morning, but, c:)unty road weight restrictions kept school buses off the roads Monday an(t Tuesday. Shelton, thd (:;thai, N.'th M.- son, ad Southside sch(xfls oper- ated with limited bus translrta- tion. Pioneer, Mary M. Knight Seattle Symphony To Appear Here • Studen',s from the fifth through the 12th grades in the Shelton, Pioneer, Southside and Kamilche schools will have an opPortunity to hear the Seattle Symphony orchestra today. The orchestra will play in the High School gymnasium, with the first performance at 10:30 a.m" for grades five through eight anti the second at 11:20 a.m. for grades nine through 12. The Seattle Symphony appear- ance here is financed by a Fed- eral Grant Under the Title HI performing arts program. Under this program, the or- chestra Will appear in each :otmty in the state during the cnool year. an(I Gral)eview were closed for the lwt) clays. The county engineer's office said Tuesday afternoon road re- slrictions had been lifted enough to permi! the school buses to run anti for emergency vehiclcs, although the general restrictions would reman in effect for the remainder of the week. Shelton Scbc)! Sui)erintendent luis Grinnell said the operation of the schools with limited bus service xorked ()tit well, and normal for the time of year'. Basses operated on the State Highways, which did not have as heavy of restrictions, but did not operate on county roads. Students either caught the bus at lhe Highway, or their parents provided transptn'tati(m for them. Grinnell said normally, 50 per cent of the district's students walk to school. He said the dis- trict had exrellent cooi)erati(m from parents in providing trans- portation for those who usually ride the buses which travel on county roads. This was the first time in at least 10 years that county road restrictions had kept the school I)uses off the county roads, Gri- nell said. The county engineer's office stated that the restrictions this year were more severe than ill the past because of lessons lear- nod in past years from roads (la- maged by heavy vehicles when they thawed out. During the cold snap in Dec- ember, the engineers exphdned, freezing occured under the black- KYLE THEODORE MORGAN, shown here with his mother, Was the first baby born in Mason County in 1969. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. James Morgan, 1518 Summit Dr., Shelton, and joins a sister, Gerry Lynn, 11, nd brothers, Kevin, 8, and Kelley, 2. The first mTivl at Mason General HOSpital Put in his appearance at 1:45 a.m. January 3' and Weighed in t five pounds, seven ounces. / top on the roads, and, as freezing started in one spot, water from the surrounding soil was attract- ed to that spot, causing a poc- ket of water to form. When the ground thawed, the pocket of water leaves a soft spot under the road surface which would break under heavy traffic. Until the pockets of water drain out sufficiently, there is danger of damage to the roads from heavy vehicles. The restrictions permit vehicles ":;tlch ;S fu('[ de[ivt,ry tracks and grocery and milk trucks to oper- ate with reduced loads but that most heavy traffic, such as load- ed logging trucks, is kept off the roads. The road conditions are be- ing evaluated, and restrictions will l)e relaxed as soon as t)os- .ible, the engineers said. The light snow Tuesday after- noon, followed by freezing dur- ing the night, caused roads to be slick and dangerous, but, by Wed- nesday morning most of the road were fairly clear. $uutIM1911111M Grisdale Wettest Spot In Nation During 1968 Simpson Timber Company's Camp Grisdale was the wettest spot in the continental United States in 1.968. That was the unofficial verdict from the U. S. Weather Bureau in Seattle this week when they received word of the 190.2 inches of precipitation record reported from Gris- dale. Warren Turner, camp clerk, who records rainfall at Grisdale, reported the 190 inch rainfall record after a De- cember total of 32.5 inches. That December total made Grisdale the wettest spot in the country, surpassing Quin- ault, Wash. which logged a 1968 record of 175.55 inches of rain. The 1968 total at Camp Grisdale is the most rain aver recorded at its weather station since measurements have been made there starting in 1947. The 1967 total rainfall was 165.0 inches. Camp Grisdale is located in the foothills of the Olym- pic Mountains south of the Olympic National Park. It is situated along the Wynoochee River near the river's famous Ox Bow which has long been the record holder for rainfall in the continental United States. JI..,--A,----J :7-:17i:ii--J-.-_Jll::::ZZ:ZJJ: I ]. !!!_WILIL...ll  • The 40-foot Christmas tree, purchased from Glenn Crrea here by the Boeing Co. and presented to the National Aeron- autics and Space Administration Manned Spacecraft Center near Houston, Tex., arrived in good shape and was erected outside the space headquarters and de- corated for the Christmas season. The Journal received the photos of the tree being unloaded and set up this week •along with a letter from Harold Carr, a former Shelton resident, now with the Boeing Public Relations Depart- ment assigned to the company's space division in Houston. Also enclosed was a copy of a letter to the NASA center from Stuart and Helen McGee, former Shelton residents now living tn Diboil, Tax. The MeGees had also enclosed a clipping from The Journal with pictures of the tree being cut on Correa's property. Their letter was answered by Paul Haney, a NASA public af- fairs officer. In his letter, Carr commented that the Christmas tree made a big hit at the space center when it arrived and was erected. He also said that some local people here might have heard the tree mentioned on some of the live TV coverage from the space center during the Appolo mission. 1968 Wef Year For Shelfon • The past year was wetter than normal, according to a report from The Rayonier, Inc., the volnteer weather observer for Shelton. The total rainfall for the year was 78.81 inches, which is 14.5 inches above the 35-year average of 64.31 inches. There were some cold spells, but, nothing record breaking. December, 1968 was one of the colder Decembers in the last five years with the week of Christmas being the coldest in the last five years, according to the weather observer. Jail Breaks Top 1968 News • Mason County's first Jail break in 10 years, and then two within a week, was the top news story in the county last year. The first escape came when two prisoners, Donald L. Ma- comber, 41, Castle Rock, an(i John H. Johnson, 20, overpower- ed jailor Ed Hall. Their freedom lasted only about 24 hours before they were caught at a residence in Hoquiam and returned here. A few days after they had been returned to their cells, Albert Wil- liam DeWitt, a 2't-year-old Brem- erton man, who was being held on charges of second degree kid- napping and carnal knowledge, apparently picked the lock to his cell ,and using a cable from a civil defence radio, got to the ground and away from the court house. A four-day man hunt, which centered back and forth across Hammersley Inlet in the Agate and Arcadia areas, followed the escape. DeWitt was caught by Sheriff's deputies under a bridge in the Aliyn area. He subsequently pleaded guil- ty to some of the charges and was sentenced to maximum terms of 50 years in prison, and com- mitted to Western State Hospital for psychiatric examination. As the year entted, DeWttt was loose again after picking locks tO get out of the hospital, and which his mother and a minister later jumping from the car In were taking him back. 3ohnson, after his escape, plead- ed guilty to charges which re- sulted from it, and was sentenced to the custody of the Department of Institutions. Macomber pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, and as the year ended was awaiting trial at the jury term which is scheduled to start in February. The Shelton School District was only partially successful in keeP- ing the building program it start- ed last year moving. Voters at the Nov. 5 general election ap- proved a special levy for the con- struction of four new classrooms at Mr. View elementary school, but, defeated another special levy for the development of a 40-acre site off Shelton Springs Road and the construction of new ath- letic facilities there. Voters defeated the special le- vy package in the primary elec- tion in which the two projects were lumped into one package. The disWict had purchased the 40-acre site from Simpson Tim- ber Co. during the summer with money from a special levy ap- proved the previous year. As the year ended, a 10-room addition to Bordeaux School was almost complete. This, too, had been financed by the special levy a- proved the previous year. The long-awaited Harstine Is- land Bridge was under construo- tion as the year ended after the county commision had awarded a contract for its construction in May. The November election saw long-time State Rep. Charles Sa- vage regain the 24th Legislative District seat he lost two year before. Voters elected the first Republican to serve as county commissioner in many years when William O. HUnter, a Skokomish Valley dairy and tree farmer, defeated Harry Elmlund, retired State Patrol official, in his bid for re-election. Mason General Hospital, a project which began several years ago with the formation of the county hospital district, was com- pleted during the year and the new hospital went into operation in September. A citizen's committee, tagged POP (Plan Of Progress) to study problems in the city of Shelton and recommendations for taking care of them, got Underway dur- ing the year. As the 'ear ended, the grouI) had reports from Its various committees and wa con- tinuing its efforts. Five young men, all in their late teens or early 20s, were ar- rested during the year fox pos- (C_xmtinued on age 2) Up She Goes The Decorations Go On A Thing of Beauty