Rhs Newsletter 03 2005

History is Happening in Redmond!

The Redmond Recorder March 2005 Vol. 7, No. 3 Redmond Historical Society

Our mission: To discover, recover, preserve, share and celebrate Redmond’s history 16600 NE 80th St, Room 106, Redmond, WA 98052 425-885-2919 www.redmondhistory.org [email protected] Office hours: Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday, 1-4pm, or by appointment

President’s Corner 2005 is off to a great start, with more to come. At our first meeting, we heard from the Carlson siblings of coming to Redmond and starting one of the first grocery stores. I missed the February presentation by the Sammamish Heritage Society, but know that Miguel Llanos videotaped it. We have many of our meetings on tape, so if you have missed one you can give us call and we will make the tape available. Heidi Bohan is scheduled for the March meeting. She will talk about our Native American heritage and her life as an artist living at the Slough House Park on Leary Way. In April Norman Blye, who was born in Bellevue in 1916, will tell his “Ferry Tales”. He claims to be the oldest living man born in Bellevue. His father worked the ferries on Lake Washington and he’ll have a special guest with him, Bernadette Horiuchi. Some of us remember riding the ferries from the eastside to Seattle and have some ferry tales of our own. I’m still working on lining up programs for the May meeting and the rest of the year. Suggestions are welcome. Some other great plans for 2005 are in the making. Our book “Redmond Reflections,” edited by Naomi Hardy, will be published and available.

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Heritage Art Contest We’re proud to sponsor, along with the Redmond Arts Commission and the Eastside Association of Fine Arts, the first ever (as far as we know!) Redmond Heritage Art Contest. Whether you’re new to the art world or established, we encourage you to enter ($8 fee for up to 10 pieces). First ($300), second ($200) and third ($100) place prizes will be awarded and selected entries will be displayed in the Old Schoolhouse lobby from June to July as part of Derby Days. The Society hopes to acquire one or more pieces and its aim for the event is to promote our mission – in this case via artwork! E-mail [email protected] or phone Miguel Llanos at (425) 869-9806 for an entry form. Deadline to enter is May 28.

Our next speaker: Heidi Bohan The local artist, educator and expert on Native American uses of plants and herbs will talk about Native culture and the need to protect Slough House Park -- a property on Leary Way and the Sammamish River that’s tied to Native salmon harvests as well as to contemporary artists Dudley Carter and Ralph Bennett. Heidi lived at Slough House when King County had an artist-in-residence program. The county is transferring the property to the City, but obstacles remain. Join us March 12, 10.30-noon, at the Old Redmond Schoolhouse Community Center. 1

History is Happening in Redmond!

2005 Meetings All @ 10:30 am

Old Redmond Schoolhouse Community Center 16600 NE 80th St. Second Saturday of the month: March 12, April 9, May 14, June 11, Sept. 10, Oct. 8, Nov. 12 _________________________

2005 Executive Board Judy Lang, President Naomi Hardy, VP Miguel Llanos, VP 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

90 or Better? Are you at least 90 years young? Or do you know someone with links to Redmond who is? If so, the Society would like to send birthday cards to these very special people. Please phone Amo Marr at 425-868-4094 to get added to the list.

Old Redmond Walking Tours Return Want to impress friends/family with Redmond trivia like which building was both an undertaker’s premises as well as a bordello? Or just want to enjoy some really entertaining stories? Then sign up for the walking tours along Leary Way led by Society board member Tom Hitzroth. This year’s dates are: April 17, May 15, June 19 and Sept. 18. Tours run from 1-2:30 p.m. and walkers meet on the front steps of the Justice White House. Walks won’t be held in the rain! Pre-registration is required. To do so, e-mail Tom at [email protected] or phone our office at (425) 885-2919. ----------------------------------------------

A Library is Born

The President’s Corner

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Brad Solomon, one of our newest members, is working on a Ken Burns style video on early Redmond. This is another great project and we are thankful to have his talents. Tom Hitzroth will continue offering walking tours of Redmond. Let’s not forget the Redmond Saturday Market. Joanne Westlund has asked that we participate again this summer season. It is another fun way to visit with folks and to show off what we are all about. We take two hour shifts starting at 9 a.m. Call us if you would like to booth sit. Amo Marr and her committee continue with plans for improvements to the Old Redmond Cemetery. We are also thinking about a picnic in June. We plan to take part in the Bike Derby parade again this July and are organizing a Heritage Art Show around Derby Days. We will be asking for more oral histories. If you know of someone we should interview, be sure to tell us. So get involved, join us. We have lots of fun and we are always learning something new about “old Redmond.”

This item ran in the East Side Journal on Sept. 23, 1926 and in 1927 Redmond’s first library was operating on Leary Way between today’s Half Price Books and Western store!

Judy Aries Lang

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History is Happening in Redmond!

Mystery of the Month

Sammamish Valley News editor Bob Bailie is seen at far left. Fred Springsteel wrote to identify Vern Nelson next to Bob, and then Ralph James in the center and “likely” Arch Nelson to the right of Ralph. The men in suits haven’t been identified (Fred thinks they might be agriculture department officials), but Fred’s ready “to bet a Bike Derby dollar” that the occasion was when Ralph leased his land on Willows Road to the Nelson brothers for York Farm. Ralph bought the property in 1946 and, as Fred notes, “sold the farm” to Rocket Research in 1967. The rest is history, with Rocket Research becoming Redmond’s first high-tech company -- two decades before Microsoft! So, any confirmation of the occasion and who the two suits are? If so, e-mail [email protected] or call the office at (425) 885-2919. And if you have mystery photos of the Redmond area, contact [email protected] or mail a copy(ies) to our office, care of Miguel Llanos. We’ll try to get some answers via the newsletter!

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History is Happening in Redmond!

Be a historian workshop! Learn the basics of conducting oral histories, and help us to record the memories of Redmond-linked folks. You may already have in mind a family member or acquaintance whom you’d enjoy interviewing. Or perhaps you’re willing to interview some of the folks we have prioritized for recording in the next year. Either way, we’ll give you enough information and tips to get you started. No prior experience needed! Attend our informal workshop on Saturday March 19 at 10:30 a.m. in our Society’s office in the Old Redmond Schoolhouse. Questions? Contact Margaret Wiese at (425) 746-0472 or [email protected]; or Nao Hardy at (425) 883-3866 or [email protected].

Can you help? We need to transfer: • Old 8mm film to DVDs. • Audio cassettes to CDs. If you have the means to do so, contact Judy Lang at (425) 8233551 or [email protected]

Help Us Redmondisce We’re always looking for anecdotes and stories of Redmond to share in the newsletter. Send them along to [email protected] or via US Mail to the office, care of Miguel Llanos.

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Remembering the James Gang Last month’s article on the York Property and Ralph James (see Page 3 for a photo) triggered vivid Redmond memories from Fred Springsteel, retired professor emeritus at Missouri State University. Some excerpts of his e-mail: The Recorder mentions York Farm owner Ralph James selling property to Rocket Research Corp., about 1967. I think that is when the family, including wife Aurelia (DeeDee) James and their five daughters, moved to Yarrow Point. I knew Ralph James, and the whole family. I attended Holy Family Church in Kirkland at the time they did. I attended Redmond public schools with members of "the James gang" from the 1950' s; later the girls went on to high school at Forest Ridge Convent School. Often the oldest three and I would be the only ones left on the school bus as it went down Willows Road to their house and I recall Linda -- whom I almost engaged -- asking me to stop with them. However, I did not date Linda until after my college years at Notre Dame, when we were both on the University of Washington campus. In the 1970' s Ralph was active in Overlake real estate ... Then I moved to Europe and lost close touch with the family. Each daughter was very pretty, perky & quite intelligent! Ralph died in the late ' 70s, I heard, but I am unsure what became of Aurelia James. I found Linda' s 7th grade picture in my Redmond Junior High 1955 annual, but other than Linda' s Warrior picture (she was on annual staff with me and I' d forgotten that!) I have no James pictures. I do have some of my elementary school class pictures ... and all three 1953-55 Warrior yearbooks! ---I worked for (Sammamish Valley News editor) Bob Bailie all through high school writing up the King Co champ LWHS football team' s wins; 10-0? Bellevue was then our greatest rival. ... our "Kangaroo" team only lost the "Turkey Day" game, Nov ' 57, to Garfield on an old arena near the future world fair site, in the rain on hard packed sand! Lee Johnson Jr. was quarterback. Tito "Junior" Morelli, the best runner, became a dentist and is now dead. Mick Sarver, the Kirkland realtor, played in that game as did lots of class of ' 58 & ' 59ers. Another halfback, Jim Actor, lives in Seattle now and we get together fairly often. Bob paid me 10 cents per column inch so I became a rather verbose sportswriter ... My name should be on every sports page of SVN fall of 1957. ---Chuck Diesen, now the longest practicing attorney in Redmond, was my coaltar boy at Holy Family, in 2nd grade through high school, starting at the wooden church on Kirkland hill that is gone. (c. 1948) ---I am at your disposal because I LOVE history: family & community, & want to give back to my home town … I have volunteered to sort through the 520 weekly SVNs from the 1950s for this Society, which is the commitment I can make now, consistent with a fast-escalating second career as creative non-fiction writer. Fred can be reached at: P.O. Box 65033, Port Ludlow, WA, 98365, or [email protected] Locating surviving members of the James family would help fill some holes in their history. If you have information please contact Fred.

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History is Happening in Redmond!

Thank Yous!

A heap of historical thanks to these great people for donating treasures, expertise, time and energy! Henry Radtke for the two Douglass Pharmacy fountain chairs (one at right) and trophy. Stop by the office for a look-see! Barbara Dickson for the metal milk bottle tops from Marymoor Dairy. Dale Potter for the photos of the Isackson Mill, fall 2004. Those Lampaert boys, Roy and Glenn, who donated four books that were originally in the library at Willowmoor, three volumes having belonged to the J.W. Clises and one to John E. Bratnober Jr. Fay Littlefield for conducting a financial review of our accounts. Donna Younger, interior decorator for Oakmont Senior Living, which is building a senior care home in Shoreline. Donna contacted the Society for photos to display in the home’s activity room, and we provided 9, for which Oakmont donated $450.

Were You at our Feb. 12 Meeting? These folks were: Anderson, Betty Buckley Ballisty, Sharon Baxter, Helen* Becker, Teresa Lang Campbell, Sally Couch, John Coward, Liz Carlson DeBlauw, Karen Emmanuel, Betty Emmanuel, Tony Frey, Stanley Garland, Lillian Goetschius, Millie Goetschius, Russ Gorlick, Audrey R. Hahnlen, Charlotte Everson Hammersberg, Clara McSparran Hammersberg, Jerry

Himes, Chris Hitzroth, Tom Ingersoll, Jo Ann Isackson, Diana Isackson, Lloyd Kuhn, Virginia Leicester, Norma Llanos, Miguel Lyons, George Lyons, Jackie Magnuson, Cheryl Martin, Daryl McCormick, Elma Mellquest, Gerry Mercer, Betty Miller, Larry Montgomery, Mary Murphy, Ed

Olson, LeRoy* Peterson, Dean Pickett, Virginia Porter Rosenbach, Patsy Cook Solomon, Brad Springsteel, Fred Stoneback, Phyllis Standley, Beryl Sween, Faye Tollfeldt, Anne Tollfeldt, Harvey Torell, Jerry Watkins, JoAnn Weber, Lynette * Wiese, Margaret Evers *First-time attendees

Correction to Jan. 8 list: Maury Carlson, one of our speakers, was inadvertently left off! Our apologies!

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History is Happening in Redmond!

Help us reduce newsletter costs! If you receive the newsletter via US Mail and have access to e-mail we ask that you please try subscribing via e-mail instead. The City, which sends out US Mail copies for us, has noted that our mailing list just keeps growing. While that’s great for us, it’s expensive for the City. Our goal is to get 100 of the 400 readers getting US Mail copies to switch to e-mail. Even if you tried it before and had trouble getting the file, please try again. We can also send the e-mail as a Word document if the PDF file doesn’t open. Not only will you help reduce costs, but the photo quality is much better in e-mail! To sign up, e-mail [email protected]. If it doesn’t work out you can always go back to US Mail.

Feeling ill? In 1927, Sunset Drug advertised this remedy in the East Side Journal:

Pharmacist Pete Douglass bought Sunset in 1940, renaming it Douglass Drug. Long-timers will remember the soda fountain (see Page 5 for a stool donated to the Society!). The art deco building still exists and is occupied by Ashleigh’s Attic in the same retail block as Victor’s Coffee.

Join the Redmond Historical Society 2005 dues

And help discover, recover, preserve, share and celebrate Redmond’s history! Levels of Membership (Check 1 only)

Trailblazer (Student) ............... $ 5.00 Pioneer (Individual) ............. $ 20.00 Homesteader (Family) ......... $ 35.00 Entrepreneur (Supporter) ... $ 200.00 Corporate (Business).......... $ 250.00 History Maker (Lifetime) $ 1,000.00

All Contributions are Tax Deductible

Please make checks payable to: Redmond Historical Society Mail To: Redmond Historical Society Attn: Membership ORSCC, Room 106 16600 NE 80th Street Redmond, WA 98052

Name__________________________________________________ Phone ______________________ (Please print your name exactly as you would like it to appear on your name tag for general meetings.)

Address _____________________________________________ City _______________________ St ________ Zip _________________ E-Mail Address ________________________________________ Birth Date (MM/DD/YYYY) __________________________________ If Family Membership, other names to be included: _______________________________________________________________________ If you would like a short, one-liner on your name tag (e.g. Charter Member, or Pioneers Since 1903), enter it below:

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