Rhs Newsletter 01 2006

THE

JANUARY 2006 NEWSLETTER

REDMOND HISTORICAL SOCIETY

VOLUME 8, NUMBER 1

16600 NE 80th Street, Room 106 Redmond, WA 98052 ~ Tel 425.885.2919

OUR MISSION: To Discover, Recover, Share and Celebrate Redmond’s History

website ~www.redmondhistory.org e-mail ~ [email protected]

HISTORY IS HAPPENING IN REDMOND!

HOURS: Mon.-Thurs., 1-4 p.m., or by Appointment

P

N

orth Education Hill: Then and Now

resident’s Corner

Hunting season has ended and now all those “hunting widows” will probably be “fishing widows,” for it is time to dust off the steelhead fishing rod and head for the Sammamish River. Years ago, this was a part of life for many folks in Redmond and might be today. I don’t even know if the river is open for fishing any more. No matter the weather, the banks of the Sammamish River would be lined with fishermen and some women to fish for steelhead. Part of this sport was sharing the fresh catch and home smoked fish with the neighbors. What a treat! I know my family had never eaten this delicacy until Art and Nancy Lang and sons Allen and Vernon moved into my Willow’s Road neighborhood.

The hillside at Redmond-Woodinville Road and 124th Ave NE would become a shopping area and church campus under a proposal before the City.

From the hundreds of homes going in on 116th to the shopping/cultural/religious campus proposed for the corner of Red-Wood Road and 124th, North Education Hill is going through major changes. At our next general meeting, we’ll bring together folks who have lived there and seen the shift from farms and ranches to dense housing developments and commercial use. We’ll also survey our NEXT members on where they MEETING stand with the proSaturday, January 14 posed campus, and 10:30 a.m. to noon pass that feedback OLD REDMOND SCHOOLHOUSE COMMUNITY CENTER along to the City

(Continued on page 3.)

As did most local men, Bob Martin’s grandfather, Henry Johnson, supplied meat for his family table during the Great Depression by hunting and fishing. He writes, “This photo was taken about 1930 ~ on the front porch of the Redmond home about one block north of the Redmond School.”

Council and Planning Commission. ●

THE REDMOND RECORDER ~ JANUARY 2006

1

16600 NE 80th St

HISTORY IS HAPPENING IN REDMOND!

GENERAL MEETINGS 2nd Saturday of the Month 10:30 a.m. to noon OLD REDMOND SCHOOLHOUSE COMMUNITY CENTER 16600 NE 80th St

2006 JANUARY 14 FEBRUARY 11 MARCH 11 APRIL 8 MAY 13 JUNE 10 SEPTEMBER 9 OCTOBER 14 NOVEMBER 11 ...................................................

2005 EXECUTIVE BOARD Judy Lang President Naomi Hardy Vice-President Miguel Llanos Vice-President Teresa Becker Treasurer Margaret Wiese Corresponding Secretary Beryl Standley Recording Secretary

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Terri Gordon Tom Hitzroth Jon Magnussen Amo Marr Daryl Martin Doris Schaible Patti Simpson Ward ...................................................

THE REDMOND REPORTER Published nine times annually Miguel Llanos Editor Patti Simpson Ward Newsletter Graphic Designer ©2005 Redmond Historical Society

THE REDMOND RECORDER ~ JANUARY 2006

I

n Memoriam: Robert A. Sollitto, Jr. JULY 23, 1924 TO NOVEMBER 21, 2005

One of Redmond’s great personalities passed away last November. Bob Sollitto served as Redmond’s police chief for 17 years from 4/1/1963 to 4/1/1980. He was also a member of the Redmond Lions Club, Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion and Redmond Historical Society. His Society talk on Redmond’s early police days left the audience in stitches. Writer Dan Aznoff captured that humor in a 2003 interview for our upcoming Redmond Reflections book. Below is Dan’s profile of Bob:

Born in Brooklyn, Bob Sollitto had always wanted to be a policeman, just like his father and his grandfather before him. His hometown turned down the eager young man because he wore glasses, so he headed to the Northwest where requirements weren’t as stringent. When Bob became Chief of Redmond’s three-man Police Department in 1963, he brought with him all the tools of his trade. He had two generations of police service, the knowledge of advanced police techniques, and one more asset: his own gun. Redmond provided him with a uniform and a badge. And that was about it. “I had my father’s snub-nosed .38, but I had to go out and buy a pair of handcuffs before I started my patrols in Redmond,” he recalled. “I also had to take the City’s physical exam. I was breathing, so I passed.” With only three officers, the police force Bob inherited couldn’t offer Redmond 24-hour protection. So, every morning Chief Sollitto closed up shop, and handed the protection of the City over to a King County sheriff. Six months after being hired, Bob demanded and received funding to hire four additional officers. In less than a year, the Redmond Police Department had grown by 300 percent. Forty years ago, Redmond was known for the number of taverns serving alcohol late into the night. Bob made a habit of paying a visit to the bars just before closing time, giving safe rides home to anyone in need. Bob raised eyebrows when he told of being the new chief, and immediately squashing his officers’ routine of having “a snort” before going out on patrol. The chief’s biggest case of his career came 18 months into the job, when the FBI informed him that an anti-Communist group dubbed the Minutemen had plans to bomb Redmond City Hall as a diversion while they attempted to rob all three banks in town. Bob was told the Minutemen intended to toss a pipe bomb into City Hall just after it opened for business in the morning. The Minutemen thought the confusion created by the bomb would enable them to loot all the cash in Redmond’s banks before noon, after which they planned to continue their crime spree in Des Moines with a similar scenario that same afternoon. In the end, FBI agents arrested the Minutemen in a parking in the Overlake area, as they were attempting to steal getaway cars for their scheme. ●

2

HISTORY IS HAPPENING IN REDMOND!

H

istory Mystery Solved

November’s mystery was solved by Patsy Cook Rosenbach, who used the scrapbook of her mother, Violet Green Elduen, to identify the photo as the Redmond School, 1911-1912 term. The school was at what today is Anderson Park and student names listed are: Genevieve Reed, Clemence Martin, William Anderson, Todd Olson, Myrtle Olsen, Hazel Huffman, John Huffman, George Keller, Clarence Stitham, Howard Wallace, Oliver Perrigo, Arthur Connery, Dorothy Brown, Cordelia Wallace, Mildred Shanks, Manny “Ed” Tardy, Lyle Forrester. ●

Historic Street Signs Map If you haven’t spotted all ten sets of street signs named after pioneer families and installed in the last year, the City has published a map of where each one is. To see the map, log on to: www.redmond.gov/cityservices/citmaps.asp

(Continued from page 1.)

Redmond was home to many great and avid hunters and fishermen. Two who stand out in my memory, and who are no longer with us, were Leonard Carlson and Art Lang. They always bagged the game and caught the fish. I put these two guys at the top of the list. They are a legend among the outdoor sportsman. I know there are others because Bob Martin provided us with some old hunting photos of his family for our collection. We still have some hunters and fishermen who are around today ~ A l l e n, Vernon and Mike Lang and old time friends Cory DeJong and Walt Cooper. Not only has hunting season ended, but now Sportee’s is closing. The first real exclusive sporting goods store in Redmond has been around since the ‘70s. This place has been a haven for the many outdoorsmen and sportsmen and ladies too. Some of you reading this newsletter probably know Brian Howe, the owner. He grew up on Union Hill on the Mel Howe Fur Farm. Larry Miller, one of our members, worked at the store and retired a few years ago. When I married into the Lang family, I didn’t have a clue what “hunting widow” really meant, but it didn’t take long to find out. My thought would have been that someone actually lost his or her life to the sport and in a way I guess that’s right. It didn’t take long to learn that as long as there is a game tag or a punch left on the fishing record card, the hunter/fisherman was out of the house. Good luck Brian. Thanks for being part of Redmond’s history. ●

QUOTABLE

“Q”

“The 1950s plateau had changed little since settlers first came here in the 1890s. The big chicken farms were still here, the dairy farms were still here, as well as the orchards, the trees and the resorts. People living here then say that the 1950s were the last decade that was so much more like the old than the new. In the 1960s, the farms and resorts began to gradually disappear; by the late 1970s significant development was underway here, transforming Sammamish into the bustling 21st century Seattle suburb we know today.” From Phil Dougherty “Sammamish in the ‘70s” ~ The Sammamish Review ~

~ Judy Aries Lang

THE REDMOND RECORDER ~ JANUARY 2006

3

HISTORY IS HAPPENING IN REDMOND!

W

ere you at our November 12th meeting?

These folks enjoyed our “Horsing Around the Eastside” presentation. First time attendees are noted in BEIGE BOLD TYPE and a silver ★!

Becker, Teresa Campbell, Sally Cisneros, Nancy Chambers, Coeta COFFIN, FLORENCE ★ COFFIN, WILLIAM R. ★ CONWAY, PHIL ★ CONWAY, YVONNE ★ Dudley, Irene Elduen, Violet Cook Garbarino, Frank Garbarino, Peggy Garland, Lillian Garrity, Yvonne Lampaert Goetschius, Millie Goetschius, Russ Gordon, Terri Goshorn, Jean Etta Dudley Gwerder, Frank Hahnlen, Charlotte Haines, Steve Hall, Tom Hammersberg, Clara Hammersberg, Jerry Hanson, Marge Hanson, Roy Hardy, Jerry Hardy, Naomi Himes, Chris Hitzroth, Tom Ingersoll, Jo Ann Isackson, Duane Isackson, Joanne Jordon, Margaret Jovag, Pat Weiss KIM, MIA★ Kraft, Gloria Kraft, Jim Lampaert, Roy

Lang, Angela Aries Lang, Judy Aries Llanos, Miguel Magnussen, Jon Magruder, Joan Marr, Amo Martin, Bob Martin, Daryl McCormick, Elma McFarland, Doris MCNAE, ROD ★ Miller, Larry Montgomery, Mary Morris, Allison Reed Murphy, Ed Neal, Marion Little Peterson, Dean PETESCH, KIERSTEN ★ PHILLIPS, JOHN ★ PHILLIPS, ROXANA ★ Rogers, Russ Rogers, Ursie Rosenbach, Patsy Schaible, Doris Solomon, Brad Stoneback, Phyllis Standley, Beryl Stensland, Don Sween, Faye Thayer, Boyka Dincov Tollfeldt, Anne Tollfeldt, Harvey Trapp, Carol Ward, Patti Simpson Weiss, Rose WIEDER, SCOTT ★ Wiese, Margaret Evers Williams, Audrey Williams, Larry

THE REDMOND RECORDER ~ JANUARY 2006

4

Our November speakers: Former Redmond Mayor Chris Himes, Rod McNae and Scott Wieder.

Our presentations are now on the big screen ~ the City’s projection system in Cotterill Auditorium is ideal for slideshows!

Phil and Yvonne Conway (she’s a Perrigo) came all the way from Olympia to attend the meeting.

Doris Schaible, Society President Judy Lang and Boyka Dincov Thayer were also among those attending.

HISTORY IS HAPPENING IN REDMOND!

A

Heap of Historical Thanks . . . TO THESE GREAT PEOPLE FOR DONATING TREASURES, EXPERTISE, TIME & ENERGY!

4Culture, the King County agency that funds heritage and art projects, for a second $1,000 sustained support grant to help the Society continue functioning, as well as a $2,500 grant to help publish the upcoming “Redmond Reflections.” Amo Marr for the IOOF chairs, vintage clothes, Redmond School cafeteria food trays, floor model radio, tool box of old tools ~ and much, much more. Dianna Broadie for a photograph of the City’s new fire truck and firefighters, c.1948. Roy Lampaert for papers and memorabilia of the Lampaert family and ranch. Clara and Jerry Hammersberg for the egg scale, medical kit and copies of 1995 Sammamish Valley News. Yvonne Johnson Conway for additional photographs of her mother, Perky Johnson. Lillian Garland for a copy of a 1911 issue of the Redmond Press. Tom Hitzroth for facilitating a copy of the local 1925 phonebook from the Kirkland Historical Society. Former Councilman Russell Rogers and his wife, Ursie, for loaning us two scrapbooks about Redmond for scanning. Brenda Mouw for her photos of the all-women’s football team, the Redmond Sexkillers. The unidentified donor who left us a Kiwanis Club banner, bell, gavel and striking blocks. Please let Naomi Hardy (425.883.3866) know who you are. Bob Martin for the 1930s family hunting photos. Former Mayor Chris Himes for brochures of Farrel-McWhirter Park when it opened and of the 1976 walking tour of historic downtown buildings. Frances Reed for a copy of Redmond High School’s first annual, printed in 1925. Ed Weiss for donating a tournament sign from the 1998 PGA event at the Sahalee Golf Course. Bear Creek Students Mia Kim and Kirsten Petesch for helping with our November meeting.

Office volunteer Ward Martin was interviewed last November by Sabrina Ranellucci, an International Community School student, for a class project.

M

eet a Member: Margaret Wiese

Every respectable historical society needs someone who’ll dig into old newspaper archives and we’ve got that in Margaret “Mew” Wiese, a Society co-founder, board member and connoisseur of the Bellevue Library’s newspaper microfiche archive. Margaret has scanned 854 Redmond obituaries over the last four years, and they are all on file in our office. She’s also scanned wonderful news clippings and ads, many of which we’ve run in this newsletter. “Obits are primarily from the old East Side Journal, the newer Eastside Journal, Seattle Times, Redmond Reporter, Seattle P-I, Lake Washington Reflector, and Journal American,” she says. “Most are 1918 to 1932 and 1999 to 2004, covering Redmond and Rose Hill areas. They are mainly for people who died in Redmond. Burial could have been anywhere in the area.” ●

THE REDMOND RECORDER ~ JANUARY 2006

5

HISTORY IS HAPPENING IN REDMOND!

Proud Sponsor of the

Redmond Derby Days Kids Parade and the Redmond Historical Society Specialty Services Include: Suite 102 Proliance Surgeons / Evergreen Orthopedic & Fracture / Sport Medicine and Family Practice Suite 103 HEALTHSOUTH of Redmond Suite 104 Evergreen Health Care Redmond Imaging Center Evergreen/Paclab Patient Service Center Suite 105 Redmond Urgent Care Suite 200 Eastside Ear, Nose and Throat Suite 201 Lake Washington Massage Therapy / Redmond Nutritional Therapy

Suite 202 Suite 203 Suite 204 Suite 208 Suite 300 Suite 301 Suite 302 Suite 303 Suite 305 Suite 308

8301 161st Ave NE Redmond, WA 98052 www.RedmondMedicalCenter.com

Pediatric Associates of Redmond Evergreen Speech & Hearing Clinic Redmond Pediatrics NW Asthma & Allergy Center Psychiatry & Psychology Dentistry ~ Drs. Broughton and Parrish Evergreen Cardiology Care Center Family and Cosmetic Dentistry ~ Dr. Nohr Family Dentistry ~ Dr. Dillon Evergreen Medical Group Redmond • YEARS •

20

J

oin the Redmond Historical Society AND HELP DISCOVER, RECOVER, PRESERVE AND SHARE REDMOND’S HISTORY!

LEVELS OF MEMBERSHIP (✓ Check one only.) $5.00 $20.00 $35.00 $200.00 $250.00 $1,000.00

❍ TRAILBLAZER (Student) ❍ PIONEER (Individual) ❍ HOMESTEADER (Family) ❍ ENTREPRENEUR (Supporter) ❍ CORPORATE (Business) ❍ HISTORY MAKER (Lifetime) All Contributions are tax deductable.

Please make checks payable to: REDMOND HISTORICAL SOCIETY

✉ Fill out the form below and mail it with your check to: Redmond Historical Society Attn: Membership ORSCC, Room 106 16600 NE 80th Street Redmond, WA 98052

(PLEASE CLIP AND MAIL THIS INFORMATION WITH YOUR CHECK.)

✂- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Name:______________________________________________________________ Telephone: ______________________________________________________ (PLEASE PRINT YOUR NAME EXACTY AS YOU WOULD LIKE IT TO APPEAR ON YOUR NAME TAG FOR GENERAL MEETINGS.)

Address: ____________________________________________________________ City: _____________________________ State: ______ Zip: _____________

‘E-Mail Address: ______________________________________________________ Birth Date (Month / Day / Year): ____________________________________

If Family Membership, other names to be included: __________________________________________________________________________________________