Rhs Newsletter April 2009

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Website ~ redmondhistoricalsociety.org Email ~ info @redmondhistoricalsociety.org Hours: Monday, Wednesday and Thursday: 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and by appointment

HISTORY IS HAPPENING IN REDMOND!

istoric Buildings Online



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

VOLUME 11, NUMBER 4 Our PURPOSE: To Discover, Recover, Preserve, Share and Celebrate Redmond’s History

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Reco er rd

APRIL 2009 NEWSLETTER

Red

THE

O

ur Saturday Market ~ 3 Decades On

Downtown Redmond has been rebuilt

~ online! Volunteers Richard Morris and David and Julianne Rossiter, with help from President Chris Himes and Office Manager Monica Park, have placed the 40-page walking tour guide (originally researched by Nao Hardy) on our web site. The guide is available as a single, searchable PDF file on our home page (under upcoming walking tours). You’ll also find a “Read More” button that explains the first walking tour guide by Chris and Dorothy White Hanscom. The history of each building is also on

Georgia Erskine, founder of the Redmond Saturday Market, attended the first meeting of the Redmond Historical Society on May 22, 1999, where she contributed to our history with artifacts like the article she's holding here. (Photo courtesy of Nao Hardy.)

It’s been a long row to hoe, but the Redmond Saturday Market

its own web page, under the menu item



“Places.”

is now a fixture rooted in our spring, summer and fall. It dates back



to 1976 and the late Georgia Erskine, who started it.

“Now you can search for individual

buildings,” Richard says. “For example, you

Dale Miller, who’s in his eighth season at the market making

can search for ‘Anderson Park’ or ‘Nokomis

and selling chains for Berds ‘n Beads, will

Club.’ You can also search for more hidden

look back at its history. “Most of

gems, like ‘Klondike Man’ ~ which should

the available information is from

lead you to Youngerman's General Store,

the mid-nineties to present with

RHS APRIL MEETING

Lampaert's Redmond Meat Market and a

some very early information

character named Champagne Bill Knight.”

as well,” says Miller, a recent

The introduction to the guide notes

market vice president as well

that “Much of Redmond's history can be

as a trustee. “I would welcome

gleaned from the stories known about our

contributions from anyone who

town’s oldest buildings.”

has information from 1986-1995.”

Richard concurs: “The tour brochure was

So feel free to bring in your market

a treasure trove of those stories.” l

artifacts to share with the group!

The Redmond Recorder ~ April 2009

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SATURDAY, APRIL 11 10:30 A.M. TO 12:00 NOON at the

OLD REDMOND SCHOOLHOUSE 16600 NE 80th Street

l History is Happening in Redmond!

N

NEXT GENERAL MEETING

okomis “Women of Vision” Reflected in Glass

SATURDAY, APRIL 11 10:30 to Noon AT THE

OLD REDMOND SCHOOLHOUSE COMMUNITY CENTER

2009 Executive Board Chris Himes President Judy Lang Vice-President Miguel Llanos Vice-President Joanne Westlund Treasurer Mary Hanson Corresponding Secretary Beryl Standley Recording Secretary Board of Directors

Photo courtesy of Debra Westwood

Nao Hardy Jon Magnussen John Phillips Doris Schaible Joe Townsend Patti Simpson Ward Margaret Wiese

library in 1927.

Office Manager





home to this glass artwork commemorating some of the first members of the Nokomis Club, whose accomplishments include founding the town’s first

Monica Park

Charles Diesen

of the club, which met for the first time on June 3, 1909. Society members

Birthday Card Coordinator

Amo Marr and Helen Ottini Usibelli were among the speakers at the

Amo Marr

unveiling on March 7th.

Library Liaison

The art is based on a 1920s photo. Some of the women have been

Andy McClung ...................................................

identified (from left: Irene Brown, Selma Tinglestead, unknown, unknown,

Our finances are public record and may be viewed at the office. ...................................................

unknown, unknown, unknown, Katherine Gwerder, Julie Bartow, Lena Ottini, Margaret Buckley and Grace Thomas). If you can identify the “unknowns” please contact us at 425.885.2919 or [email protected]. l

FREE Newsletter

The Redmond Recorder Published nine times annually Miguel Llanos Editor Patti Simpson Ward Society/Newsletter Graphic Designer

Major Sponsors

The fused-glass piece, by Duvall artist John Tapert, includes gold leaf

flakes that bring the images to life. This year also marks the 100th anniversary

Attorney

If you don't already subscribe, please sign up. Call the office at 425.885.2919 or email info@redmondhistoricalsociety. org. State your preference of email or U.S. Mail. (We prefer email as it's inexpensive and the photos show up better online.)

The Redmond Library lobby (the side opposite the parking lot) is now

G

et Ready for Walking Tours



If you live in Redmond, you probably drive along Leary Way frequently.

But do you know the histories of the buildings there? Like, which one was both an undertaker's premises and a bordello and City Hall? Tom Hitzroth educates and entertains folks with walking tours that explore those histories. An $8.00 per person fee goes to fund Society research. Email Tom at [email protected] or phone us at 425.885.2919 to reserve a spot or to learn more about the tours. l

2009 Walking Tour Dates:

April 19, May 10, June 21, September 20

The Redmond Recorder ~ April 2009

2

History is Happening in Redmond!

W

A

ere You at Our March 14th General Meeting?



Heap of Historical Thanks to:

These folks were! First time attendees are noted in

BOLD CAPITAL LETTERS!

Dave Bartley

Robert Nelson

Elsie Bartley

Mike Patterson

Sally Campbell

John Phillips

Charles R. Carl

Roxana Phillips

Phillip Conway

Virginia (Ginger) Pickett

Yvonne Johnson Conway

Patsy Rosenbach

Tony Emmanuel

David Rossiter

Joyce Fowler

Juliann Rossiter

Lillian Garland

Anne Salmi

Evelyn Gilbert

Claudia Martin Scott

Frank Gwerder

Brad Solomon

Charlotte Everson Hahnlen

Beryl Standley

Kenneth Hahnlen

Fran Stray

Marge Hanson

Fred Stray

Mary Hanson

Faye Sween

Roy Hanson

Anne Tollfeldt

Chris Himes

Harvey Tollfeldt

Jo Ann Ingersoll

Jerry Torell

Bruce Kenyon

Carol Trapp

Gloria Kraft

Judy Turner

and Miguel Llanos for putting together the

Carol Kubby

Arlyn Bjerke Vallene

Redmond Saturday Market exhibit at the Redmond

Judy Lang

Leonard Vallene

Library (photo above). Thanks also to market

Brian Lutz

Rose Weiss

George Lyons

Joanne Westlund

Jackie Lyons

Bob White

Eric Anderson for donating a notebook of his

Cheryl Magnuson

Margaret Evers Wiese

time spent with the late artist Dudley Carter

Judy Lang, Tess Becker, Carol Kubby

vendor Duniel Murillo for lending us some market artifacts.

Bob Martin

Phil PalmeR and George Lyons for auditing

Daryl Martin

our financial records

Dorothy Matsui

Faye Sween for donating a 1965 newspaper

Larry Miller Mary Montgomery

Julianne and David Rossiter for helping

Richard Morris

publish the Walking Tour on our Web site

Alexa Munoz

Carol Kubby for cataloging biographies and

Ed Murphy

other office tasks

The Redmond Recorder ~ April 2009

3

History is Happening in Redmond!

H

appy Valley Barn Dance ~ and Cow Pies

Bob Martin has written “The Way I Remember It,” a look back at his life

that includes nuggets about Redmond. “Most of the names I've used are fictional,” he says, “but all the events happened as described with just a pinch of embellishment tossed in here and there.” We’ll be running excerpts from the book over time.



One Friday night in late September, I got a

Bob Martin, author of "The Way I Remember it."

were going to a barn dance?”

phone call from Swede asking me if I would be

. . .We were just getting out of the car when I heard

interested in double dating on Saturday night. He

Alvina say, “Oh yuck!”

said that there was going to be a humdinger of a

We turned and noticed that she had just stepped in the

barn dance at Otto Kringle’s dairy farm in Happy

freshest, greenest cow pie that a Holstein milk cow munching

Valley. . .

white clover could produce. Swede and I quickly discovered

A shoehorn would have come in handy to help

that laughing was precisely the wrong thing to do, because

us squeeze into Swede’s tiny Nash Rambler. Right

at that moment Alvina bellowed, “Take us home!”

away we could tell that the girls were less than

. . .While delivering his sales pitch about how much fun

impressed with the interior. “Something’s gouging

the barn dance would be, he tried to clean up her tainted

me in the back,” my date complained.

dancing slipper with his white handkerchief. Alvina finally

“What on earth is that terrible smell, for God’s

calmed down to a low simmer, and she agreed to go to the

sake?” Alvina (Swede’s gal) exclaimed while holding

dance. “Okay, maybe for just a while.” she added with a look

her nose.

of uncertainty.

Swede tried to make things more comfortable by

. . .The dance had been going on for three or four

shuffling around a couple fishing rods and cramming

hours before we arrived, and several of the guests were

a half-empty bottle of salmon eggs and pair of damp

already feeling a wee bit tiddly, and a couple were just plain

wool socks into the glove compartment.

plastered.

I noticed that the girls were dressed in frilly

There was one large table next to the dance floor that

dresses and dancing slippers, a bit too formal, I

held all the liquor and mixer bottles. Just as we were looking

thought, to be going to a barn dance.

around for a spare bale of hay to sit on, one over exuberant

. . .The girls insisted on rolling down the windows

dancer swung his partner wildly, kicking a leg out from

because, as Alvina so delicately put it, “This car still

under the table. Bottles crashed to the floor. The sound of

reeks!”

shattering glass caused the fiddlers to stop the “Orange

Swede muttered something about the heater

Blossom Special” right in her tracks.

and the fish eggs and the wet socks perhaps being



the cause, but I don’t think the girls heard him

later and only after her strict conditions were met. He

because their heads were partly out the windows

earnestly promised not to forget the little details about any

gasping for fresh air.

future dates. He agreed to take the overripe fish eggs and

Half frozen, we arrived at the farm. A tipsy

the mildewed socks out of his glove compartment. Rods,

fellow, waving a bottle of Old Guzzler in each hand,

reels, hiking boots and other assorted outdoor gear had to

directed us to park in the cow pasture next to the

be stashed in the trunk. She even demanded he buy one

barn. . .

of those pine tree air fresheners to hang on the rear view

The girls began to give us inquiring looks. “Are

mirror.

you lost or something?” Alvina demanded.

There’s simply no explaining what extreme measures

Swede tapped his forehead with the heel of his

a man will go to when he’s in love. I never saw my date

hand, “Oh dang it, did I forget to tell you that we

again. l

The Redmond Recorder ~ April 2009

. . . Swede dated Alvina again, but it was several months

4

History is Happening in Redmond!

C

S

urrent Lifetime ociety Planning and Bylaws RHS Members



Our list of lifetime members continues to grow. If

The Society’s Long Range Plan (LRP) is now on the

you’d like to become a lifetimer yourself, please see the

Society Web site at www.redmondhistoricalsociety.org.

membership form on the back page.

One of the first major steps called for in the new LRP is revising the RHS bylaws. The Bylaws Committee

ERIC ANDERSON

Miguel Llanos

completed its work last month and the Board approved

John Anderson

Jon Magnussen

the bylaws revision at its March meeting. As required

Barbara Neal Beeson

Charles Reed

in the bylaws, this revision is now being presented to

Brad Best

Clare ‘Amo’ Marr

the membership for a vote at the April membership

Daryl Martin

meeting.

Marjorie Stensland

The bylaws revision can be reviewed at our

Allison Reed Morris

Costello Liz Carlson Coward Edward L. Hagen

office, and on our web site. All voting members are

Frances Spray Reed

encouraged to attend the April meeting to participate in

Vivian Robinson

this vote.

Laurie Rockenbeck

The bylaws reflect the current organization,

Margy Rockenbeck

establish a succession of officers, set up a committee

William Rockenbeck

structure to carry out the work of the Society, and

Barbara Weiss Joyce

Doris Bauer Schaible

identify specific roles for officers, directors, and

Glenn Lampaert

Don Watts

committees. Some of the key features are creation of a

Roy Lampaert

Rose Weiss

Judy Aries Lang

Margaret Evers Wiese

Naomi Hardy Patricia Weiss Jovag

senior vice president and a vice president for collections management. The revision also creates a collections management committee.

✂

l ~ By Joe Townsend



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Redmond Historical Society

16600 NE 80th, Room 106, Redmond, WA 98052 The Redmond Recorder ~ April 2009

5

History is Happening in Redmond!

R

edmond Area and “Destination Heritage”

Ever driven through King County’s history? 4Culture has put together

histories, maps and even audio, including several sites in the Redmond area. Check it out at destinationheritage.org, where three categories have local links: agriculture (Marymoor, Sammamish Valley farms, Hollywood Farm); maritime (Lake Washington Shipyard); and industry (Microsoft, Peter Kirk Building). The audio histories, which can also be heard over one’s cell phone, are at 4culture.org/listen. Marymoor is among those (Click “#6” on the map, then click “play”) and begins with this welcome: “Imagine this place at the turn of the 19th century, when the landscape around here was nothing but farmland and tangled woods. Seattle businessman James W. Clise and his philanthropist wife Anna Clise first made this their weekend getaway. . . miles from the hustle and bustle of Seattle. . .”

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J

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

Renewing members, please send in your 2009 dues! LEVELS OF MEMBERSHIP (✓ Check one only.) $5.00 $20.00 $35.00 $200.00 $250.00 $1,000.00

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All Contributions are tax deductible.

✂

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

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