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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
September 10, 2020     Shelton Mason County Journal
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September 10, 2020
 
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Page A—1 Shelton-Mason Journal - ThurSday, Sept. 10, 2020 By Theresa Mun'ay theresa@masonoounty. Com s the Class of 2021 begins the Azchool year, it will be an inter- sting year, because faculty and students will be challenged with a new system of mostly online education. Teachers, students and parents will be adjusting all because a pandemic in- terrupted life as we know it. 2020 is a year no one saw com- ing. Everything shut down from retail, restaurants and fitness clubs, to schools, day cares and churches — even casinos and golf courses. As for the schools, sports were canceled at a time when many soon-to-be graduates were eyeing'college scholarships. Aca— demic competitions and events also were canceled, and our graduates did not get to have traditional graduation ceremonies and after-parties. They finished up school online. Fifty years ago, life was differ- ent. There were no computers or cellphones, no email, no Wikipedia, no online classes, and no YouTube, Facebook or Twitter. Homes and busi- nesses had telephones, but modular telephone cords and jacks were just being introduced in 1970. Telephone booths were. common, and had phone- books. Y0u could deposit your coins to make a call. There were also call boxes on freeways, in case‘you broke down. The only catch was you had to walk until you found one. The Class of 1970 had to cancel its 50-year reunion this year. It has been rescheduled for July 31 at the Little Creek Casino. Invitations and reserva— tions will be sent out in spring. Class speakers that year were Jim Connolly, Sue Morris, Jim Rotz and Art Nicklaus. There were concerns about government and world issues, same as today, and many students had hopes and dreams they were pur- suing. Their main focus on being kind to each other sounds like the theme our students today promote. They were encouraging others to vote, and make a difference. The legal voting age was lowered .to 18 that year. Some got married right out of high school. Sandy Stratton worked at , Capital Restaurant (now Sisters) with Scott Busack, and A&W (now Rive- ra’s) was a hot spot where many teens found work. Many young men went to work at Simpson and, in fact, OCCU used to be Simpson Employees Federal Credit Union you might remember that. Others, like Randy Lewis, went into finance. Randy studied at the Univer- sity of Washington to work in financial planning as an actuary. He has since retired here a few years ago. Teresa Nutt was featured in the Shelton-Mason County Journal’s “High School Spotlight” June 11, 1970. She was a member of the drill team, both junior and senior years, and pres- ident of the drill team for one year. She worked at A&W and was eager to start a career as an airline steward- ess. Vickie Pierce, featured theweek before on June 4, loved drama and was voted best supporting actress in the statewide WATA Drama Festival, and was planning to attend Cirque Theater, a drama school that of- fered a few weeks of classes in Port Townsend. Forest Festival was celebrating its 25th anniversary in 1970, and Teresa Trimble was the queen that year as a senior from Mary M. Knight. The prin~ cesses were Mary Tabor, Chris Sytsma and Linda Kriebs, from Shelton, and Crystal Lamb from North Mason. The Paul Bunyan was represented by Har- vey Farrimond. _ There is not enough room to men- tion all of the names, achievements and milestones of the graduating class in one article but, as I looked at some ’ of the popular news, music and cost-of- living information of their graduating year, the minimum wage they made was $1.45 per hour, as of February that year. That is only $11.60 for an eight-hour day, so it makes senSe that gas was only 36 cents a gallon. The majority of families, at that time, were single income. $9,400.00 was the aver- age annual income, and the average ’ cost of a new house was $23,450. The average monthly rent was $140. A postage stamp cost 6 cents and an issue of Sports Illustrated was 15 . cents. Four pounds of apples cost 59 cents. A back-to-college typewriter was $28.88, and a 25-inch Cinema Screen Color TV was $739.95. Mu- sic in your car could be heard on an eight-track stereo player for $38.99. You bought eight-track tapes you could pop in, of your favorite artists. 1970 was the year The Beatles broke up, and the year Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix died of drug overdoses. The top four songs on the Bill- board chart that year were .“Bridge . Over Troubled Water” (Simon and Garfunkel), “(They Long to Be) Close» to You” (The Carpenters), “American Woman” (The Guess Who), and “Rain- drops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” (B.J. ‘ Thomas). . The top four television shows were “Marcus Welby, MD.” on ABC, “The Flip Wilson Show” on NBC, “Here’s . Lucy” on CBS and “Ironside” on NBC. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup was an instant hit, becoming the No. 1 favorite candy, and it’s still a favorite today. Current world events placed 1970 in the middle of the Vietnam War. President Richard Nixon ordered the invasion of Cambodia that widened the war in Vietnam, and the US. Sen- ate repealed the Gulf of Tonkin resolu- tion that had given Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Nixon sweeping powers in the Vietnam War. The first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970 and the Boeing 747 made its first commercial passenger trip to London that year. In Mason County, 1970 was the year Lake Cushman Golf Course an- nounced its grand opening in the June 11 issue of the Shelton-Mason Cou'nty Journal. Shelton Home Center, by Taylor Towne, announced its grand opening that year, as Well. . Miller’s or J .C. Penney is where people did most of their back-to-school shopping, or the Sears or Montgomery Ward catalogs. Prescriptions and drug store items were purchased at Ever- green Drug or the still-popular Neil’s Pharmacy. Hamlin’s Hobby Shop was a favorite for crafts, and Olsen Fur-' niture was the place to buy furniture, and provided little cedar boxes for graduating classes. If you were look- ing to buy a car, Mell Chevrolet would have probably sold you a 1970 Chev- rolet Blazer or Chevelle. The Dodge Charger, the Ford Mustang Boss 2, the Datsun 240Z and the Pontiac Fire- bird Trans Am were also popular cars. And, of course, LUmbermen’slwas the place to go for your homebuilding/ home improvement needs. The Class of 1970 should have a fine time reminiscing, but they are having a hard time finding some class members. If you have any information or are a class member yourself, you can communicate with them at facebook.com/HighC1imbers1970.