1960 - 1961 - 1962 - 1963 - 1964 - 1965 - 1966 - 1967 - 1968 - 1969

1960

  • During year 10 new businesses open, 3 old businesses close - total 7 new - 4 new buildings proposed

January -

  • Vashon Theatre remodeled to bring back live shows
  • Two homes destroyed by fire at Summerhurst
  • Brunswick Plastics complete last BOMARC nose cone - to close at Burton School Feb 1
  • Teachers oppose School Board budget as “false economies”
  • Bruce Blevins former Burton HS football coach and 1st Vashon Union HS football coach returns to island to see son Bruce Jr. coach Vashon HS football
  • Lt. Roger Brown, Commander at NIKE site speaks at Chamber of Commerce
  • Joy Sherman named to Who’s Who in American Colleges - student at Western Washington College
  • Klinker Sand and Gravel purchased by Bosie Cascade

February -

  • Island NIKE site wins 1959 performance award
  • Boys and Girls Junior deputy Program in 4th year
  • Fire District 13 seeks first levy in 30-year history to expand Vashon station and purchase pumper truck
  • Cross Sound Turnpike/Bridge hearing on island - 300 attend - 2 hours of presentations - “Committee assumes bridge will be built” - Vashon Chamber of Commerce endorses bridge -
    Defeat of bridge blamed on delaying tactics of the Muncipal league of Seattle, Automobile Club, Seattle Chamber of Commerce, Seattle Cemtral Association, Inland Boatman’s Union, tug companies,shipyards.
    Alternative proposed suspension bridge at Colvos only 500 feet longer than Tacoma Narrows Bridge, then ferries to Fauntleroy
  • Vashon Island Fruit Growers - inactive for 25 years, gifts property to Cemetery District
  • Mink Farm - Jim Boulch and Ray Johnson - J & B Mink Farm west of Vashon Town - diet of whale meat packing house byproducts - 324 breeding females, 90 males
  • King County property taxes increase
  • Old Burton School for sale for $25,000
  • Fire destroys garage and 2 cars at Tahlequah
  • March of Dimes Drive raises $1,328.14
  • 80 phones out in Cove and South End because of storm
  • Dr. Robert Jones closes optometry office - Dr. W.K. Ober opens dentistry office
  • Father Clouquet installed at St. Patrick’s Church Dockton

Ferry count -


Dock

Tahlequah

Southworth

Fauntleroy

Total

Cars

66

17

396

481

Passengers

50

17

402

496

 

 

 

 

 

Total

116

34

798

977

 

March -

  • March 3 -- Vashon Island Beachcomber article “Chamber to Vote on -
    Proposal for Boat Channel at Portage” A resolution was prepared by George Hopkins of the Army Engineers, requesting Congress to reconsider an engineer’s recommendation first made in 1926. The goals of opening the channel were to reduce pollution in inner Quartermaster Harbor and to benefit small boat owners. Cleve Bard commented that several years previous the Chamber had looked into opening the channel.
    March 10 - Vashon Island Beachcomber article “The proposal was tabled by the Chamber. It was learned that the Engineers could fund the survey of the situation but not the digging. The estimated $400,000 cost would have to be appropriated by Congress.
  • Seattle Times features Vashon Island artists active in the 80’s - Norman Edson, Edmund Sawyer, C.L. Garner
  • Ken Johnson opens Island Appliance Center
  • Episcopal Church buys land to expand
  • Anna Zorn Orthopedic Guild celebrates 20 years on Island
  • Record vote of 1,211 votes fro school board, school and fire levies
  • Workday to beautify Ober Park
  • Sprouse-Reitz Grand Opening - variety store
  • Dr. Grant Lindskog opens optometry
  • Tugboat fouls cable at South End - $6,000 repairs

April -

  • Millstone intended for Czar used as tabletop a Inspiration Point scenic attraction
  • A.T/ Van Dereck of Vashon candidate for State Superintendent of Schools
  • Rare clam found in QM Harbor
  • High school Key Club receives charter
  • Agnes Law finds prehistoric mammoth tooth on beach

May -

June -

  • Nike Ajax battery converted to Nike Hercules - Nike-Hercules in US were equipped with nuclear warheads - Sites at (S-13) Redmond, (S-61) Vashon Island, and (S-92) Kingston were upgraded to launch Nike Hercules missiles
  • King County dismantles three island docks - Biloxi, Manzanita and Dockton
  • Blacktop at People’s Bank parking lot completed
  • Seattle Times Sunday - rotogravure section on Norman Edson’s “Sun’s Last Glow”
  • Little League plans 8 teams on island
  • Bids to demolish Burton School
  • Mud slide at Tahlequah - Teed house damaged, will be demolished
  • Two island dogs win at Seattle KC Show - Jack Tabor’s Doberman, Paul Billingsly’s English Setter
  • List of Island Clubs -
    Service Clubs - ------
    Vashon Garden Club, organized 1942, 80 members
    Pioneer Association, organized 1923 (residents before 1910)
    Masons
    Knights Templar
    Royal Arch Masons
    Eastern Star
    Amarath
    Rebekahs
    Odd Fellows
    Eagles

July -

  • Seattle Post Intelligence publishes special section on Vashon Island July 31
    Sandy Shores lots from $1.195 - features Larsen Marina, Dixson Products, Olympic Instruments, Kirschner Manufacturing Co.,

August -

  • Fire Station One in Vashon remodeled to house a tanker, brush-fire truck, pumper, and ambulance; with hose tower

September -

October -

November -

December -

1961

  • Bill Kirschner invents fiberglass ski
  • Former Burton High School/Grammar School demolished,

January -

  • Peoples National Bank moves safety deposit boxes and safe door to new building
  • Garbage service on Island split into two services
  • Bill Hewitt proposes tourism facility on Blake Island
  • Vashon Motors sold to Alex Kusulos, automotive building sold to Bud Smith
  • Ralph mace killed in sinking of Coast Guard rescue craft Triumph
  • Dwight Hopper to manage Sprouse Reitz
  • DAR chooses Gale Svoboda as Citizen of the Year

February -

  • Post Office moves to new building
  • Old Vashon bank building torn down
  • Jim Hamilton replaces Ray Campbell as Fire Chief
  • Mental fugitive linked to 20 burglaries
  • Chamber of Commerce record crowd hears Century 21 sales pitch
  • Hal Barton resigns as School Superintendent
  • Mudslide destroys home at Sunset beach - Jim Sakis
  • Chamber of Commerce asks for full-time state patrolman - request denied

March -

  • Puget Sound Power and Light acquires new truck and brush eater
  • Slide damages house - $7,000 - Percy Teed
  • PLU students complete religious census of Island
  • Ground breaking for new Thriftway Supermarket

April -

  • Ground dedicated for new Dockton Sunday School
  • Boyd Jackson - new Depurt Sheriff for Island
  • Airport District starts work on hangers
  • Wally Mikel new School Superintendent
  • Post Office move 159 patrons from Route 1 to Route 2 to balance routes
  • FAA invites comments on proposed Wax Orchard Airport
  • Clyde Smith killed in Hong Kong air disaster
  • Burton School demolition contract signed

May -

  • Bill Hewitt starts Blake Island project
  • High School students receive $16,000 in scholarships
  • Record voter turnout - Fire District bonds approved - School operations, special levy, and construction bonds approved
  • Marcia Bickel represents Island at Girls State

June -

  • The “gambit Coffee House” (Chess Theme) opens at Center
  • Former Burton High School/Grammar School demolished
  • Direct distance dialing across the US for Island
  • Cougar-like cat seen and heard on Island
  • Maury Island Scouts build camp at Manzanita
  • Dedication held for change over at Nike installation for new Nike Hercules missile
  • Camp Sealth hold open house
  • Brian Crecelius killed on Mt Rainier
  • Fire destroys $8,000 boat in QM Harbor - Martin Larsen owner
  • 1960 census shows Vashon has half again as many over 65 as state average

July -

  • Grange buys old Burton School gym
  • Foreign imports and bad weather hurt Island fruit growers
  • Fire destroys Robinswood Beach home
  • Fire destroys shed and barn on Maury
  • Vikings win Babe Ruth League crown
  • Thirftway supermarket opens
  • National tests rank class of 1961 in top 1%
  • Jim Schaefer, Lewis Jones, and Leonard Wesson place in round the Island boat race
  • Auto crash hurts Mr. & Mrs. Tom Trotter
  • Rock Club sponsors biggest show in its history
  • Bud Smith buys old Co-op Building for new garage

August -

  • Joan Schaffer rescues daughter from fire.
  • Vashon Motors garage demolished
  • Coffee And purchased by Mario Holloway
  • Explorer Post hosts 200 at Sandy Shores splashoree
  • Fire damages home - $3,000 - Bill Shaffer
  • John Cunningham injures spine in diving accident
  • Pony Club wins top honors at Redmond
  • Grange Fair hosts 2,200
  • Leonard Peterson purchases two Island garbage runs
  • Kiwanis Little League wins crown
  • Ramquists to close store after 26 years
  • Merle Fredericks opens City Center Realty
  • School lunch prices reduced

September -

  • Dairy Queen resumes operation under Red and Vina Moffitt
  • Fifth First Grade class needed to accommodate students
  • Regular commuter boat begins on West Side
  • Thomas Murphy chosen as pastor of Burton Community Church
  • Joe Findlay wins Sportsman’s fishing derby with 9-pound fish
  • W.E. Mitchell chosen acting postmaster

October -

  • Storm lashes Island - $4,000 damage to house at Heights
  • Soroptimists announce lecture series, buy new curtain for Island Club
  • Grange offers flu shots at costs - 1,000 respond
  • Kiwanis Club celebrates 15 years
  • Doctors and parents critical of grade school football program - curtailed

November -

  • Carol Teslow homecoming queen at PLU
  • Supporters of Island Club meet to discuss fate of clubhouse
  • Librarian Marjorie Stanley announces retirement
  • 44,000 silver salmon fingerlings pumped into Raab’s Lagoon
  • Lutheran Church braks ground for new church
  • 24-hour fire watch started at fire hall
  • Bob Brenno takes over Shell Station

December -

  • Oscar Carlson retires as Burton mail carrier - 27 years
  • Telephone all-number dialing and new emergency numbers
  • Vashon Nursing Home holds open house for new unit
  • Heights Caf- purchased by “King Beef” owner
  • Rustlers slay register bull in Frank Ernst field
  • UGN reaches 85% of goal

1962

  • April - October - Seattle World’s Fair - Century 21 Exposition

January -

  • Kimmel’s 500 pound safe with $1,500 stolen - recovered in Oregon
  • Four Islanders arrested in slaughter of Ernst’s bull
  • Bid for new high school gym opened - $389.516 - 20% above estimate
  • New librarians - Margaret Lowery and Harriet Clayton
  • New minister at Methodist Church - Fred Rarden
  • Nike base improvements planned - $300,000

February -

  • 36-pound river otter caught at Raab’s lagoon
  • Bob Albright nominated for West Point
  • Mrs. Julia Keane Pattie drowns after falling from ferry dock
  • Island Juvenile Grange named State Grange of the Year
  • Teacher pay raised $110
  • Norman Edson sells studio to Janice Kennett
  • Blake Island Village developed -- Lloyd’s Bakery, Wax Nursery, the Baxters (Indian artifacts), Jeanne Adams (souvenirs)
  • Home building boom - 20 homes constructed in past 6 months

March -

  • Snow Storm - schools closed
  • Gary Hull family home burns
  • Veterans Memorial Foundation to maintain Island Club until alternative is found
  • Dennis Hineman - All-State basketball team
  • Taxi service resumes after three-year break
  • Episcopal Church Sunday School wing burns

April -

  • No all-night ferry service planned
  • West Side Water Company plans to become a district
  • Dairy Queen opens - Louis and Mary landers
  • Wax Orchards Nursery opens garden store
  • Harry Norstrom becomes new manager of Island Bank
  • Puget Power lays 4 cables across West Passage

May -

  • Captain Casper Vashon Baker and wife visit Vashon - descendent of Admiral James Vashon after whom island was named by George Vancouver - presented a key to Vashon History
  • Fire destroys home at Glen Acres
  • Tahlequah Store sold to Russ Halls by Martha Williams
  • Island Transit offers extra evening run during World’s Fair
  • Vashon High School basketball team wins Cross-Sound championship
  • New cement driveway poured at cemetery - ready for Memorial Day
  • Burton class of 1912 holds reunion
  • Gravel slide buries worker on Maury Island

June -

  • Drug store moves into Ramquist Building
  • Coffee And closes
  • 78 graduate form Vashon High School
  • Starkey Market sold
  • Blake Island Tillicum Village opens
  • Dock and Dine opens at North End
  • National Bio-X Convention at Vashon High School - Julie Philbrick national vice presidentVashon-Maury Grange sponsor information booth for summer visitors - dispense Island maps and information

July -

  • According to WSFs more than 100,000 passengers, more than 58,000 vehicle during month-
  • Puget Sound Power - 50 year old
  • Head-on crash at Tahlequah - Indian killed, doctor injured
  • Steel strike halts gym construction
  • Island voting precincts changed - four new added
  • Cecil Perkins wins Round-the-Island boat race

August -

  • School Superintendent office to move to “The gambit” building to create more space at the high school.
  • Vashon-Maury Grange purchases former Vashon Heights Community Club building
  • Terry Allman becomes third deputy sheriff on Island
  • Four women hurt when brakes fail in Heights Hill
  • Plaza Way Shoes opens
  • Triangle Service purchased by Al Filigno
  • South End Clun and Fire District plan building
  • W. Blekkink retires as Water District Superintendent
  • Burton Garage - Carley retires Dick Beymer takes over
  • Grange Fair - 3,000 attend

September -

  • Lutheran Church dedicate new church
  • Burton Pharmacy closes
  • Island school attendance 1,500 students
  • Two-year-old Wanda Chesser saved by artificial respiration
  • Catholic Church begins campaign to build new parish building
  • Island Grange wins state service award
  • Island Aqua Divers hold get-acquainted dive
  • Five-hour power outage - longest since WW II
  • 55,000 silver salmon planted by State Fisheries

October -

  • Oct 12 - Columbus Day Storm - most powerful extratropical cyclone to hit the US in the 20th Century
  • Dick Harmeling and Jimmie Bard win Sportsman’s Club fishing derby
  • Vashon Grange 5th in nation service award
  • Dock and Dine - $110,000 expansion
  • Stoltz barn destroyed by fire
  • High School Homecoming - Donna Purves and George Leighton queen and king
  • New Sewage Treatment Plant - Ken Gablin order to leave home
  • Vashon-Maury Grange wins Community Service Contest - $10,000 to complete Grange Hall (former Heights Community Club)

November -

  • Door-to-door laundry service opens
  • George McCormick honored for 20-years service to Fire District
  • Presbyterian Church dedicate new manse
  • Dugan’s reopen Island Feed Store at Center
  • Signal gas station and Rambler dealership opens at Center
  • Methodist Church re-dedicates remodeled church
  • Dockton Store purchased by Don and Mary Johnson

December -

  • Sporting goods store opened by Berkley Lewis
  • Auto overturns at Heights - 5 commuters shaken
  • Chamber of Commerce elects Dwight Hopper as president
  • Peak hour ferry service increases
  • UGN collects $5,031
  • Roy Bailey honored by VFW

back to top

1963

January -

  • New Island-wide justice court opens
  • Groundbreaking for new Episcopal Church
  • Volunteer Fireman purchase new ambulance $1,350
  • Fire guts home of C.M. Kohler north of Vashon
  • Julie Phillbrick named DAR “Good Citizen”
  • Lutheran Church dedicates carillons
  • Island Reserve Sheriff Unit disbanded for contributing to Gamrath campaign fund
  • 29 candidates file for school board posts

February -

  • Vashon-Maury Island Community Council is named picked by Chamber of Commerce - vote to be held May 4
  • Mothers’ March of Dimes collects $659
  • Sheriff appoints 8 Reserves to aid deputies
  • Thaw and rain cause slides, road closures, school buses rerouted
  • American Legion sponsors barbershop harmony show
  • Rerouting of Main Highway north of town at Carrier’s Corner brings lawsuit from landowners affected
  • Vashon Island Airport leased to 5 pilots in exchange for maintaining the landing strip and lighting it for pubic use - $`1 per year lease
  • Alibi Caf- purchased by Don Cunningham from Bud Bath
  • B&B Motors closes - George Blair
  • Russell Nelson receives Shell merit fellowship

March -

  • Wilbur Spencer elected fire chief by Volunteer Firemen
  • Don Holke promoted to Sargent by King County Sheriff
  • Incumbent school board re-elected - issue over school discipline
  • Fire destroyes county gravel ruck
  • Boeing tests hydrofoil - fuel base at Ellisport
  • Captain William Bland takes command at Nike Base
  • Island Feed opens garden store
  • Fire District purchases two new fire trucks
  • Robinson Furniture adds addition
  • Wes Pollock named to Basketball 1st team all-star Cross Sound league
  • Marine Commuter takes businessmen on ride to Seattle

April -

  • “Plectron” alert system and 34 receivers purchased by fire district
    Leighton’s dress shop opens
    James Caraher and Earl VanBuskirk win top award at Puget Sound Science fair
    Bruc Kirschner, Jim Soland, Irene Ibsen and Karen Albright named to Boy’s and Girl’s State
    School board raises levy by 2-mils to aid in district financial crisis

May -

  • South Ed Community Club and Tahlequah Fire Station dedicated
  • Don Cadman opens electrical firm
  • Coffee And under new management - Chuck Todd and Gary Gebhart
  • Telephone company to build new switching station
  • Roy Bailey named “Veteran of the Year”
  • Fire damages Charlie Law home - $4,500 in damages
  • 550 Boy Scouts on Island for camporee
  • Construction of hangers at Vashon Airport halted until pubic hearing
  • Cephus Ramquist opens insurance agency

June -

  • Landers family killed in house fire -- father and 5 children die in the fire, mother dies 5 days later.-
  • Vashon Nursing Home to add 5,000 sq ft addition
  • New postal “zip” codes go into effect July 1 -
  • Sate abandons Rabb’s Lagoon fish rearing effort
  • Migrant worker’s health clinic opens
  • Robinson Furniture open house to celebrate expansion
  • Residential construction up 30% over last year
  • County announces plan to double size of Heights parking lot
  • Burton Community Church open house for new parsonage at Newport
  • Vashon and Burton grade school principals to trade posts in fall - Bob Childs and Henry DeHope
  • Gerald Ransom - solo exhibition in Tacoma
  • Grange rezone at Center for recreation area
  • Zero Lockers closes in Vashon
  • 250 Kiwanians visit for strawberry feed

July -

  • Island Club food service facilities cited to be closed unless improved
  • March of Domes raises $1,242
  • Islanders contribute $400 to Quartermaster harbor fireworks display
  • 1,800 islanders view Rock Club arts and crafts show at new gym
  • Al Thordarson and Craig Conant walk around the Island
  • $7,695 of theft and vandalism at Sound Sand and Gravel on Maury
  • Fire at Dick Schwartzman home - $3,500 in damages
  • St. John Vianny Catholic Church ground breaking
  • Eagles win Little League title over Kiwanis
  • Danny Beaumont wins round the Island boat race
  • Tahlequah precinct to be divided into two precincts

August -

  • Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit dedicated
  • First underground installation of power and telephone on island - at Quartermaster Heights -
  • New High School stadium - 1,200 seats
  • Milk price at schools doubles
  • Island Club holds Hootennany
  • Jack Beeson wins Vashon Golf Club championship
  • Fire destroys unoccupied home -$6,000 loss
  • National Guard takes over Nike Base
  • Grange returns Center land to owner - unable to develop recreation site
  • Quartermaster Bookshop opens
  • Youth Center named “Pirates’ Place”

September -

  • Operation Jigsaw- with slogan “Let’s Pull Together”- set to develop a massive community study examining zoning, tax, water, recreation, and other problems.
  • Standard Oil sells to Mike Parks by J. Koski
  • Ed Nichols wins Vashon Golf Club championship
  • 1,518 students enrolled in Island schools
  • House fire - $20,000 loss - Jack Loves
  • Iron Works Shop opned by William Lowney
  • Morgan Hill automobile accident
  • Sportsman’s Club Fish Derby win by Dick Shride - 7 pound silver
  • Vashon-Point Defiance ferry runs aground on the Tacoma Smelter slag pile - no damage to hull or propellers

October -

  • Methodist Church plans $25,000 educational building
  • Sheriff Deputy Bob Olsen resigns, moves to Alaska
  • National Merit finalists - Alison Bucklin and Allan Vogel
  • Community Census trains 200 enumerators
  • Jack’s Market sold to Ralph and Benelda Wilkison
  • Nursing Home patient goes missing - 100 searchers
  • New Island Deputy Sheriff appointed - Larry Ziminsky
  • Fire Station open house - display new fire trucks
  • High winds, rain, power outage - most of the Island loses power
  • City Centre realty sold to Bruce Smith
  • 200 attend meeting to continue Operation Jigsaw community study

November -

  • Sorptimist Club present holiday fashion show
  • 8 Vashon HS football players named to Olympic League All Stars
  • Book Fair features NW authors
  • VHS Pirates lose to Port Townsend 7-0 in league championship
  • David Carlson injured in shotgun blast
  • UGN fund drive raises $5,127
  • Memorial services held for JFK assassination - 200 Islanders attend memorial service for President Kennedy
  • Holiday House at Bill Garvin’s sponsored by Vashon Orthopedic

December -

  • O.I. Putman elected Chamber of Commerce President
  • Toy and craft shop opened by Audre Lester
  • “Ah, Love a Plumber” presented at Island Club
  • Soroptimist hold holiday style show
  • Nancy Bebow wins national English award
  • Cephus Ramquist purchases Waterman Realty
  • New gym holds first VHS basketball game
  • Pool hall opens in Vashon

back to top

1964

  • Natural Gas Pipeline to Island - Beall Greenhouses switch from oil to gas

January -

  • January 19 - Storm - one man killed, radio tower blew down, trees uprooted, power out - 70 mph winds -
  • Operation Jigsaw sets up in Coffee And location - Community Survey finds improving Island water supply is number one issue for islanders
  • Wrestling fastest growing sport at high school
  • Commissioner Ed Munro will visit island to determine boat launch ramp location
  • Mrs. Dick Shride elected Girl Scout neighborhood chairman replacing Mrs. James Hill
  • South End home destroyed by fire - Kenneth James
  • Physically Limited Club formed
  • Retail sales Club plans billboard advertising

February -

  • Junior Chamber of Commerce organized
  • Vashon Lumber and Supply has new partner - Jim Ogilvy joins Carl Holert
  • 109 National Guard increase island population
  • Al Spencer receives Shell Oil Co. 30-year award
  • Kathleen Mikel receives highest rating ever issued by Western Washington solo and ensemble contest
  • Irene Ibsen named DAR “Good Citizen”

March -

  • Harland Gilliland new Presbyterian Church minster
  • Bill Brown opens realty office at Center
  • Dock and Dine reopened by Charlie Tibbs
  • Auto shop opened by Dick Schooley
  • karate classes offered
  • Methodist Church groundbreaking for new parish hall
  • Two school levies pass - kitchen-lunchroom rejected
  • Leonard Moore Chorale concert
  • Key West realty opens - Don Wiltse and Dom Spano
  • Paradise Valley plans 6,000 gallon per hour water system
  • Chuck Moffitt wins state math contest

April -

  • Bamboo Partridge planted by State Game officials
    Ewe has quintuplets - Leo Montegue
    Alaska Earthquake - Vashon man missing
    County to build boat launch ramp at Jensen Point
    Vashon Nursing Home opens 6,000 sq foot wing
    Fabric shop opened by Dee Mosley
    Bethel Park Church names Kieth Lundberg as pastor
    Chief Seattle Council of Boy Scouts honors Kenneth Brossel and Steven Sanford for rescuing two boys last summer

May -

  • “567” telephone exchange begins at Heights - telephones now on 5-party lines
  • First Mass at St. John Vianney
  • School board drops hot lunches at high school
  • County Commissioners delay hearing on location of new road to Cove
  • Polly Dow moves realty office
  • Ron Millette reaches high school state track finals
  • Quartermaster Yacht Club forms corporation to build clubhouse
  • 91 seniors graduate from VHS

June -

  • VFW opens second hand store
  • Bids open to straighten Island Highway
  • 75 at school board to urge upgrading music program - Don Weaver music director resigned
  • March of Dimes raises $1,369.24
  • Resusci-Anne purchased by Fire District with funds raised from Lander’s fire

July -

  • Fire destroys home - George Davis
  • Lloyd’s Bakers wins Little League championship
  • King County high school plan would eliminate Vashon High School
  • Lutheran pastor R.C. Teslow retires
  • “Precious Prunella’s Perilous Plight” presented by Methodist Church
  • Dan Beaumont wins Around-the-Island boat race - 2nd time in a row
  • Dog kennel opens at Glen Acres - Richard Hamner
  • 61% of Islanders not church goers - Operation Jigsaw survey
  • Vashon Pharmacy wins Babe Ruth League crown
  • Vacationing girl swims West Passage
  • Lutheran pastor installed - Christian Oswood

August -

  • Civil Defense gives island a fully equipped 8-man rescue vehicle
  • Jaycees build school bus shelters
  • All-Island Grange Fair
  • Revelle Realty changes name to J. Brownell & Associates
  • Slumber Shoppe opened by Harold Turner

September -

  • Island bowling alley planned by Ed Babcock
  • Jensen Point boat launch ramp completed
  • School enrollments down by 55 from last year
  • Burton Church dedicates new sanctuary
  • 1,859 vote in primary - sets Island record
  • Auto accident injures Bill Browning

October -

  • National Guard takes control of Nike site
  • Monty Bickel wins Sportsman’s Club fishing derby
  • Lois Vallance semi-finalist for national Merit Scholarship
  • Beachcomber editor John VanDeventer wins Washington Newspaper Publishers award for best original column
  • Linda Stockcamp represents King County at Girl Scout roundup
  • King County budget funds more sheriff deputies for Vashon
  • Mike Spano finishes 2nd in Old Ozzie finals in Seattle

November -

  • Earthquake - leads to stronger County building codes
  • King County first Comprehensive Plan
  • Jigsaw Study - Plan for Vashon’s future - first community planning effort
  • Vashon Sand and Gravel site given Quarry-Mining (Q-M) zoning by KingCounty
  • 2,463 votes in general election - sets record
  • Jaycess and Key Club clean up election signs
  • VHS Pirates win Olympic A League football championship
  • Fire destroys home - Rex Rowland
  • UNG fund drive ends with only 90% of goal
  • Operation Jigsaw proposes a community council of representatives from Island organizations
  • Paving starts for re-routed and straightened north end highway
  • Jaycess host national Guardsmen and wives to dinner dance
  • Proposed country club features “social” memberships
  • 22 Islanders enroll in liberal arts seminar
  • Broken sections of old concrete highway taken to Burton beach as rip-rap

December -

  • December 15 - record cold
  • Island Businessmen’s Club formed form disbanding Vashon Retail Sales Club
  • Plumbing service opened at Cove by Charles Couldry
  • Dockton man killed by car while riding bicycle
  • Don Wiltse elected Chamber of Commerce President
  • Jaycees decorate business district
  • Bob Burns, high school counselor dies suddenly
  • Burton Church Christmas concert with three churches
  • Harry Wegner moves custom instrument business to Island

back to top

1965

  • “The Holiday” first production K2 fiberglass ski introduced

January -

  • Chamber of Commerce seeks reapportionment to 34th legislative district
  • Switch to 5-party phone lines completed
  • Gummie Jonson named chairman of state GOP - resigns school board post
  • Vashon loses traffic light - only red blinker 4-way stop
  • 12-sided plan for school kitchen/lunchroom/classrooms
  • 8-foot sea creature seen off Reddings Beach
  • Tom Garretson appointed to school board to replace Gummie Johnson
  • Operation Jigsaw encouraged to call organizational meeting for Island Council

February -

  • Vashon Island Gold and Country Club purchases golf course - $100,000 - 189 members
  • Esther McEwen named Sprouse-Ritzt manager
  • Jaycette Auxilary formed - wives of Jaycees
  • All-Island Choir plans Good Friday concert
  • Island Council not formed at meeting
  • Chamber of Commerce refuses to join Island Council
  • Tom Airhart named fourth deputy sheriff
  • O.I. Putnam named Kent office manager for Puget Power

March -

  • Island placed in 30th legislative district in redistricting bill
  • John VanDeventer sells interest in beachcomber
  • Bob VanGeystel named to Olympic A League basketball team
  • Bernie Croane named Jaycees 1st distinguished service award
  • Controversy over new island council - one group files for name Community Council - the newly formed organizations chooses name Civic Assembly - Civic Assembly continues to meet dispite controversy
  • Polly Dow realty sold to Florence and Palmer Hughes

April -

  • April 29 - 6.5 earthquake hits Vashon - centered between Seattle and Tacoma - 4th largest since 1850
  • Vashon Road District comes under King County Roads and Engineering Division.
  • Baptist begin construction of $80,000 retreat center at Camp Burton
  • Community Choir presents “The Crucifixion”
  • John Mladinov speask on Puget Sound transportation at mass meeting
  • High school drama class presents “Spiral Staircase”
  • 200 attend Soroptimist Easter Egg Hunt
  • Puget Sound Regional Transportation Study recommends Vashon bridge site

May -

  • USS Spinax submarine toured by 902 islanders in Quartermaster harbor
  • Superintendent Mikel resigns school post
  • Gummie Johnson honored at testimonial dinner
  • Vashon Jaycees chosen best club at state - Jerome Farris of maury island chosen state Jaycee president
  • Gerald Hester chosen as new school superintendent - from Bellevue
  • Mel Woods appointed deputy sheriff
  • Bill Beymer named Veteran of the Year by VFW
  • Fire destroys Neville home at Cove

June -

  • Health Department rules Vashon Grade School water quality must be improved
  • School PTAs plan combined meetings
  • Elmer Leonard chosen as high school principal
  • Mary Beall breaks swim record
  • Community support sought for migrant worker program
  • Creative Arts summer sessions at Lisabeula (first VAA classes)

July -

  • July 26 - Jaycees Tin Cup Rowboat race - Maury Island to Des Moines - Jaycees from Vashon win Perry Arena, Bob Chance, Bob Lang - Des Moines Jaycees 2nd, White Center Jaycees 3rd
  • H.R. Barton retires from teaching - P.E.. Building named for him
  • Job Corp teen-agers doubles staff at Dockton Park
  • Kelly Wheat injured when firework explodes in his hand during 4th of July
  • Girl Scout troops attend Idaho Roundup
  • Ric Hjorten killed in auto accident
  • Jack Brockway wins 4-year ROTC scholarship
  • Plymouth Rockers, Vashon teenage rock-n-roll band wins 2nd at battle of the bands at Orpheum Theater in Seattle
  • Harold Fisk appointed fire commissioner
  • Comptons wins Little League crown, K-Setts win girls soft-ball crown
  • Al West named Puget Power manager

August -

  • Five Island churches (Burton Community, Episcopal. Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian) sponsor Migrant Worker Program - to teach children of workers, provide day care and programs, and free Medical Clinic care. Rummage sales raised funds to purchase refrigerators for all camps and a washing machine for one (Larson, Otsuka, Takatsuka, and Wax)
  • August 15 - Jaycees Island festival - Martha Ernst crowned Vashon Queen - Princesses Tannis Cruver and Pam Arvine - Governor Roseliini parade judge -
  • Fire District No 13 purchases $3,00 of new equipment
  • Seattle Repertory performs “Taming of the Shrew”
  • Burton and Vashon grade school divisions will change - Burton K-3, Vashon 4-6
  • Vashon Nike unit awarded honor as nations best
  • Norm Matthews purchases Thriftway from Marshall McKinney
  • Public Pool favored in Civic Assembly poll
  • Gordy Steen - 13 year old - circles island in 19 hours 54 minutes
  • Golf and Country Club makes down payment of golf course to Howard Williams
  • New Around the Island Hike record set at 19 hours 25 minutes by Carl Svoboda, Bobby Lewis, and Bill Norin
  • Northgate Lunch opens at Heights by Frank Seldon

September -

  • School enrollments at 1,515
  • Vashon-Maury water systems named “worst in state “ by State Health Department
  • Tri-Marine Inc. opens at new industrial park
  • School bond wins with 1,434 votes cast
  • Island homes do not qualify for FHA loans that require pure water certificates
  • West Side Water claims their water system is the best in the west
  • DeMolay chapter formed
  • King County survey lists deficiencies of island’s 44 water systems
  • Chamber of Commerce meets with experts to discuss water problems

October -

  • Vashon does not get any of four new state ferries
  • Jim Laughlin, Wende Brown, king and queen at homecoming
  • Dick Beymer moves into Burton Shell station
  • School board approves chlorinator for Vashon Grade School water system
  • Governor recommends Vashon-Southworth bridge “Best for State”
  • VWF Post 2825=6 and Marjorie Stanley reach agreement to preserve historic Burton Road

November -

  • State Department of Transportation recommends $132.2
    million project - freeway from 1st Ave South Bridge, to Fauntleroy,
    floating bridge to Vashon, 4-lane highway across Vashon, then 4-
    lane suspension bridge across Colvos.- Bridge across Sinclair Inlet
    to Bremerton.- Bridges would eliminate Bainbridge-Seattle and
    Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth ferries.
  • Mike Kimmel elected fire commissioner
  • Port Townsend defeats Vashon for league football championship
  • Vashon legislators Warnke, Stender, and Valle oppose Governors bridge proposal at Chamber of Commerce
  • Governor scolds Chamber of Commerce
  • State Highway Department selects Vashon Bridge in Highway Commission report
  • St Patrick’s Dockton contribute to GI’s Vietnamese Chapel for Thanksgiving services
  • High school drama class presents “Our Miss Brooks”
  • Leighton’s expands and moves to new location
  • Youth Activities Board announces expansion plans for Youth Center

December -

  • Merchants hold successful Moonlight sale - free bus service and hourly specials
  • Christen Craven wins VFW essay contest
  • 22 enter Jaycees home decorating contest
  • Ray Smith opens Center Signal gas station
  • Civic Assembly recommends rush hour ferry schedule changes - state agrees
  • Village Laundry and Cleaning opened by Frank Redhead
  • Associated Arts shows first foreign film
  • Jaycees sponsor Holiday handshake dance for newcomers and old timers
  • Fire destroys Dilworth home - Leon Bolles

back to top

1966

  • All Vashon Roads come under newly formed King County Transportation Department.

January -

  • Consulting forms for state recommend Vashon Bridge site
  • Capt. Frank Ernst retires from Northwest Airlines - honored at reception
  • Puget Power activates $175,000 substation at Center
  • $15,000 Federal grant to Vashon schools for equipment
  • School Board plans election looks for site for intermediate school (will be McMurray)
  • Dolphin Point home destroyed by slide - Irwin Caplan
  • School Board member Tom Dawson dies suddenly, replaced by Harry Norstrom
  • Elizabeth Thompson killed by auto while walking
  • Civic Assembly recommends change in commuter schedules to alleviate congestion - lauded by Ferry manager Hogan

February -

  • State asks for 8% ferry rate increase
  • New pastor at Burton Church - Keith Brininstool
  • Vashon Chevron sold to John Gregg by Alex Kusulos
  • Seattle Symphony Family Concert - 1st on the Island - capacity crowd - Judi Parrish and Diane Pierson gust musicians
  • Flu epidemic - 28% absent at schools
  • Christine Craven wins 3rd place in VFW Second District Voice of Democracy
  • Chamber of Commerce hold mass meeting to discuss cross-Sound transportation

March -

  • Toll Bridge Authority hold hearings on ferry fare increases
  • 1,600 acres of property not paying Fire District taxes
  • Associated Arts receives PONCHO funds
  • Alibi Restaurant begins remodeling
  • School levies for maintenance and operations pass with 70% approval
  • Construction of Country Club pool begins
  • Weldon’s Young Fashions opens
  • Chamber poll of 1,305 islander - 80.7% support Vashon Bridge over increased fares

April-

  • Drive for kidney machine for Randi Kellogg to raise $15,000
  • Andy Taggart named principal at Burton Elementary
  • County docks at Biloxi, Manzanita and Dockton to be dismantled
  • Thespians present “Check Your Worries”
  • John Pearson named Distinguished Citizen by jaycees, Bob Spurrier named Jaycee Keyman of the Year
  • Combined Choir presents “The Seven last Word of Christ” on Good Friday
  • Janice Atkinson named to Girls State, Mike Shride, Paul Fitzpatrick, Bill Katieam
  • and Paul Robinson named to Boys State

May -

  • VHS Pirates golf team wins championship
  • State to provide $4,000 for support of migrant children
  • Rebekah Lodge celebrates 50th anniversary
  • Highway Commission and Toll Bridge Authroity approve Vashon as site for cross-Sound bridge - financial feasibility studies on three routs ordered by Governor Evans
  • Jaycees win state honors for bus shelter program and Christmas activities
  • Donations for Randi Kellogg reach $18,000 in 5 weeks
  • Motorcyclist killed in collision with Vashon school bus near Southworth
  • Funeral Home sold to Frank and Julie Harris by Bill Garvin
  • Seniros present “The Night of January 16”
  • Baptists dedicate $125,000 lodge at Camp Burton Assembly Grounds

June -

  • Berry picking crisis - 250 berry pickers at Fauntleroy - after announcement 670 show up - need 1,800
  • Civic Assembly gives results of 37 community meetings with 507 residents to King County Planning Commission - seeks zoning to limit high-density residential structures, develop recreation facilities, open passage at Portage, cancel Vashon parkway proposal, not build Vashon Bridge - protect Vashon from the “blight and sprawl” of mainland suburbs
  • Pony Club and 4H Horse Club plan horse show in conjunction with Island Festival
  • Vashon Associated Arts presents Creative Activities classes
  • Tanis Cruver represents Vashon at Miss Washington Pageant
  • Montgomery Wards catalog sales office opened by Brauns and Stairs
  • Wayne Cornett opens body shop
  • No FHA loans on Vashon for 8 months because of conditions of water systems
  • Heights Water Corporation installs chlorinator
  • Civic Assembly plans series of Vashon Artists concerts to benefit Randi Fund
  • High School graduates 94

July -

  • Janice Lee Benham from Dilworth is Festival Queen -
  • Burglars take $1,400 at Kimmels and Vashon hardware
  • Red tide hits Island shores
  • Around-the-Island Hike record broken - 18 hours, 23 minutes - Charles Brough, Wayne and Warren Sandvig
  • Victors win Girls Softball and Kiwanis wins Little League
  • Vashon-Maury Garbage Service purchased by Stan and Bob Hite

August -

  • National Guard Nike Battery wins performance award

  • Frank Seldon killed in Vietnam

  • Boob Cooper wins championship at Enumclaw Fair
  • School Board condemns land for intermediate school campus
  • Fire destroy home - George Suddeth - Dockton Fire truck does not make it to the blaze
  • Two National Guardsmen hurt in cycle crash
  • Toll Bridge Authority lowers ferry fairs for school busses to $1.00
  • Around-the-Island Hike record broken - 16 hours, 49 minutes - Svoboda, Norin, and Billen
  • Bob Harmeling appointed Fire Chief after Wilbur Spencer resignation
  • Around-the-Island Hike record broken - 15 hours, 52 minutes - Charles Brough,

September -

  • 1,650 students enrolled in Island schools - 5.7% increase
  • Mary Jane Greenrich wins bareback championship at Enumclaw Fair
  • John Quall injured in two-car wreck
  • Mrs. Donald Mercer gives birth to son on Saksonia
  • Dockton residents demand a better fire truck - commissioners promise new truck
  • Civic Assembly discusses illegal trailer houses on Island
  • School Board revels sketches of new intermediate school
  • Vashon-Maury Grange celebrates 25th anniversary

October -

  • Chamber of Commerce calls water districts unreasonable and uncooperative towards suggested improvements
  • Dees Fabrics moves to new building
  • Tony Raab opens self-serve car wash
  • Wayne Cornett opens Western Auto Agency
  • Bea Ryan opens B’s Boutique
  • Dennis Dugan awarded Bronze Star for heroism in Vietnam
  • Marcia Egness and Terry Knapton reign has homecoming king and queen
  • Maggie Walgren opens Yarn Shop

November -

  • Senior class present “Harvey”

  • Three Fire Department officers resign when commissioners purchase two old fire trucks

  • Toll Bridge Authority lowers ambulance/hearse rates on ferries
  • UGN Drive raises $5,283 - 132% of goal
  • Lloyd’s Bakery founder Lloyd Staudenrap dies at age 52
  • Voters approve levy to build intermediate school
  • VHS Pirates win football championship
  • Associated Arts announces foreign film series
  • New funeral home opens
  • Heights Water System approved by State Health Department
  • Alvin Camupp opens Barber Shop
  • Pilot makes emergency landing at Vashon Airport - 5 on board

December -

  • School Board approves Superintendent Hester to study mission in Germany
  • Deputy breaks glue sniffing ring among juveniles
  • Terry Hake killed in Vietnam
  • Bob DeVore killed in Vietnam
  • VHS pirates win sportsmanship award for football season
  • Burton Church scene for annual Christmas candlelight service
  • County officials to meet with Island committee to discuss comprehensive zoning map
  • Fire destroys beach home - Dr. Frederick Thieme
  • Jaycees welcome newcomers with Holiday Dance

back to top

1967

  • Voters approve expansion of King County Library System - new buildings
  • Charles Green and Allan Forsyth begin Vashon Rockets

January -

  • Cross Sound bridge defeated in legislature
  • Danny Barnes killed in Vietnam
  • Marjorie Stanley begins “Search for Laughter” series in Beachcomber
  • Heavy snow - 12 hour power outages in many areas
  • Beachcomber printing moved off island - 1st time Vashon newspapers not printed on the island
  • Chamber of Commerce meeting discusses zoning restrictions
  • Merit Dorberger wins Pony Club rating
  • Preysbyterian Church dedicates remodeled sanctuary
  • Philip DeKoster charged with manslaughter in wife’s fatal stabbing
  • Heavy rains - record 2 inches reported
  • High School Spanish Club plans Mexico trip

February -

  • -February 24, 1967, the ferry Hiyu is launched in Portland, Oregon. The 162-foot vessel is meant to replace the 38-year-old Skansonia on the Tacoma-Vashon run. The Hiyu spent the next few months completing sea trials, and was put into service in July 1967.
  • Hootenanny to aid book project for Mississippi Freedom Schools
  • 50th Anniversary of Camulos Club
  • Vashon Associated Arts changes name to Vashon Allied Arts - located in Scout Cabin at what is now Ober Park
  • Pameler Stevens, Island poet, reads at Oregon Poetry Association
  • March of Dines collects $702
  • Jim’s Island Raceway opens
  • Vashon road crew honored for 500 days without time lost accident
  • Kenneth Brossel wins Scout award

March -

  • Early morning ferries at Heights dock begin service
  • 10th anniversary of Beachcomber newspaper
  • Seattle Symphony plays at VHS
  • DeKoster found guilty of manslaughter in death of his wife
  • Bill Jones opens Bill’s Marine and Fix-It
  • 12,500-volt feeder blows causing fire and 7-hour blackout
  • McMurray chosen as name for new intermediate school - honors Dr. Fred McMurray - name suggested by Kathy Sestrap
  • Warren Ostrom and Greg Burton represent VHS at state debate tournament
  • Feeder bridge bill introduced in legislature
  • Seattle Symphony concert at VHS
  • Island Mutual Water System to poll members to form their own water district or join Water District 19
  • Gordon Snaza named assistant principal at VHS
  • Vashon Community Players present “Separate Tables”
  • Glen Acres Boating Clun formed - 4-H sponsored first of its kind in the state
  • 7 Puget Sound Transportation bills introduced in Olympia
  • Kenn Johnson painting of Dockton wins Pacific Gallery artists exhibit

April -

  • Harvey Nordstrom honored as 1966 Distinguished Citizen by Jaycees
  • Vashon Bridge Bill final defeat in state legislature - referred back to rules committee
  • Island Mutual Water (Ellisport) to join with District 19
  • Everett Powers killed in small plane crash
  • High school presents “Winnie the Pooh”
  • All American Red Heads defeated by local men’s team
  • Island Mutual Water System to join Water District 19
  • Everett Powers killed, 11-year-old son injured in crash of small plane
  • Allied Arts presents liberal arts seminar
  • Dr. Gerald Hester attends American Association of School Administrators study in Germany
  • Nancy Nelson, Beachcomber editor, wins five state awards at Press Women contest
  • Beachcomber wins Washington Educators award for service to schools
  • David Benseler wins Fulbright to study in Germany - 1958 VHS graduate
  • Chamber of Commerce sends night telegrams to state senators to squelch feeder bridge plan
  • High school presents “Death Takes a Holiday”
  • Linda Dawson chosen as first woman editor of Gonzaga Law Review

May -

  • High School sit-in to protest disciplinary policy - 120 students involved
  • Gold Beach officially opens
  • Food column begins in Beachcomber - Hazel Sealy food editor
  • Bowling alley remodeled into auto shop by Herman Schnack (next to Ober Park)
  • Ellen Harness purchases Lloyds bakery
  • Dixie China Nursery opened by Gentilis
  • Island Funeral Service holds open house in new facility
  • Bellevue school bus’s brakes fail on Heights Hill - no injuries
  • Bill Palmer opens Quartermaster Marine
  • Episcopal organist Ruby Morford retires
  • Linda Tuohy and Terry Knapton win Olympic League tennis championship

June -

  • Capt. James Keir retires as skipper of ferry Skansonia (Tahlequah)
  • 1st Island jury trial - teacher Mary Smith acquitted of 3rd degree assault charges
  • John Skirving appoint King County Parks and Recreation Department Director for Vashon
  • Sea Explorer Ship # 776 receives charter for Vashon
  • Beta Sigma Phi Chapter organized
  • Carol’s House of Beauty opens in Burton
  • Catholic Church of the East holds first service
  • Kevin Patterson, 8-years old, wins sweepstakes award at State Grange competition
  • George Walls’ celebrate golden wedding anniversary
  • UFO reports over the Island increase
  • Dr. Charles Nagel’s sculpture “Birds” wins prize at Burien Arts Festival
  • Miss Vashon attends Miss Washington Pageant
  • Nancy Nelson. Beachcomber news editor wins first place in national writing contest
  • Lorraine Kimmel addresses retail grocers convention in Las Vegas

July -

  • Hiyu begins service at Tahlequah - retires Jan. 2012
  • Island Mart grand opening
  • Vashon Festival - Noel Hake crowned Queen
  • Pat Kimmel killed in accident on fire truck following Festival parade
  • Head Start Program begins on Vashon
  • Island Mart grand opening - Ken Johnson and Tom Garretson
  • Pharmacy team wins Little League
  • Champs opens at Burton
  • Fire destroys home - Dick Williams
  • Keith Putnam moves architecture office to Puyallup
  • Vashon Island Festival - Queen Noel Hake
  • Victors win softball pennant
  • Dr. Leonard Hendrickson opens dental Office
  • Pat Kimmel killed in fire truck accident after Festival Parade
  • Youth Center - remodled
  • 18-year old Indian killed fleeing in stolen truck
  • Mrs. Tim Vogel and family escape death in freeway crach

August -

  • Hal Burton becomes building inspector for King County on Vashon
  • Dockton Park expands by 2 acres
  • Emergency phones installed on docks to aid in holding ferries
  • County officials ignore Vashon zoning requests in zone map presented to County Commissioners- Chamber of Commerce requests delay but denied
  • Dogwoods and evergreens planted in front of People’s National Bank
  • Steve Stockcamp is Jaycee guest at Camp Easter Seal
  • Greater Burton Day - fundraiser for Burton Library
  • M.P.- Bickel national sales champion for Montgomery Wards
  • W.J. Cary celebrates 100th birthday
  • 100 residents attend planning map hearing
  • Vicki Perkins named DeMolay Chevalier Queen at Bellingham

September -

  • Church of the Holy Spirit (Episcopal) celebrate debt-free church
  • Businessman refuses to buy pawn brokers license at order of King County - faces court action
  • 1,707 students in Vashon schools
  • High School presents activity passes to senior citizens
  • 57 new homes under construction
  • Mrs. Barbara Douglas receives freeholder nomination
  • County Commissioners tour Island to see areas of controversy in zoning map
  • Basil Moon has rare male calico cat
  • Dr. Carl Jestrup opens chiropractic office
  • Colleen Roger’s ewe wins grand championship a Puyallup fair
  • Unlocked Kimmel’s safe found minus $3,000
  • Decreased property evaluations means sSchool Board needs special levy to finance intermediate school
  • Terry Allman resigns as teen dance director - blames parents for conduct of children
  • Chamber of Commerce asks for accelerated service at Tahlequah
  • September 30 - The Puget Sound Regional Transportation Study (PSRTS)
    releases a final Summary Report. Proposes Vashon Bridge.- The report is the culmination of a six-year, $1.6 million effort undertaken by the Puget Sound Governmental Conference, representing King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish counties and their major cities, the Washington State Highway Department, and other state and federal agencies. The PSRTS is among the nation's first large-scale attempts at comprehensive regional planning for transportation and land use.

October -

  • Glen McCormick leaves for round-the-world cruise - going away party held
  • Fire District will ask for .10 mill levy for new trucks
  • County Commissioners grant many zoning changes requested by Islanders after tour
  • Schools honor Walt Steen after 50 years service
  • Civic Assembly transportation committee offers suggestions to economize on ferries to Ferry System
  • Tommy Truxten Craven, 13-years-old tours USS Truxtun at Bremerton - named for his great x 5 grandfather
  • Afternoon teen center opens
  • Sharon Lau and Steve pond Homecoming queen and king
  • Robert Dohm opposes Tom Beall for school board

November -

  • Special levy to purchase two fire trucks passes
  • Extra peak hour ferry run added to Tahlequah service
  • Don Holke killed in Vietnam
  • Page 1 Bookshop opens
  • WSFS adds extra peak hour runs at Tahlwquah
  • Rev. David Gaenicke assumes pastorate at Vashon Lutheran Church
  • Deputies find two stolen cars in brush
  • Bill Palmer opens ski shop at Burton Marine
  • Intermediate school levy rejected by voters - School Baord asks Civic Assembly for information
  • Governor Dan Evans tours K2 factory
  • Fire destroys mail in post box at Vashon
  • Vashon senior citizens recreation program begins
  • Bob Harmeling killed in county truck accident
  • Auto parts man found guilty of operating without a pawn brokers license - no fine imposed - Judge say guilt is “technical”
  • High School present “Hay Fever”
  • VHS Pirates tie for first place in Olympic A football

December -

  • Telephone Utilities of Ilwaco purchases Vashon Telephone Corp.
  • George Endlich purchases Vashon Lumber from Carl Holert
  • Randi Kellogg goes on kidney machine
  • Sgt, Don Holke resigns from King County Sheriff’s Department
  • High tides and winds cause flooding of bulkheads around the Island
  • Teen dance smoking leads to board member resignation
  • Gallant Lady to be Quartermaster Yacht Cub Christmas Ship

back to top

1968

January -

  • Craig Harmeling (age 27) appointed fire chief
  • January 20, Kristel Dyan Kishen is born aboard the ferry Quinault on its way from Vashon Island to Seattle.
  • Vashon endorses Forward Thrust Bonds - parks and pools - $1,863,000 for Vashon
  • Portage Post Office closed.
  • Marilyn Cochran wins the 1968 World Cup gold medal on a pair of competition K2s designed by Bill Kirschner.
  • Mining operations on Maury expanded and new dock built to load barges - called “Pioneer Pit”
  • Jaycees sponsor “Ghetto-area” club on Capitol Hill
  • Two deputies assigned to Vashon History
  • School Board rejects union as bargaining agent for janitors and cooks
  • Phyllis Fordyce painting wins recognition in Hartford Insurance calendar competition
  • Mysterious icy pond and bright lights spark UFO rumors

February -

  • Vashon Presbyterian Church sends packages to Vietnam soldiers
  • Dixie Lee Ray, Director of Pacific Science Center speaks to PTA
  • Vashon Ministerial Association sponsors drug seminars - “Hippie Priest” speaks at drug seminar (Rev Lyle Grosjean Episcopal priest to Haight-Ashbury) -
  • Park Department offers volleyball for adults
  • Evergreen Club organized - Senior Citizen’s social activities- through Park Department
  • School Board and Ad Hoc Citizens Council call public hearing to discuss school levy failure
  • 9 Island skiers represent Vashon a Washington State Junior Ski Tournament - sponsored by Jaycees
  • Speed zone changed near business district - causes irritation
  • Judy Nakashima wins National Baton Twirlers Association championship in Seattle -
  • UFO incident - icy pond, bright lights,
  • Don Holke posthumously awarded Silver Star for gallantry in Vietnam

March -

  • Seattle Symphony family concert with Milton Katims - Joe Titland and Lee Ann Fordyce play with orchestra
  • Mark White and Alfred Stuckey honored at retirement party on the Hiyu
  • Febdall Yerxa speaks at Allied Arts Friday Forum
  • Vashon’s Head Start Program, incorporated into existing nursery school, receives national attention
  • Vashon Sand and Gravel sold to Persinger and son by Schmidt
  • Tom Beall named outstanding citizen, Ray Johnson named outstanding teacher by Jaycees
  • Randi Kellogg has artificial kidney machine installed at homes - uses it three nights per week
  • Vashon School needs new heating system
  • Renie Moorman, 24, killed in motorcycle accident on Heights Hill
  • Vashon students appear on Hi-Q television program
  • Ad Hoc Citizens Council recommends building new high school and using existing facilities for intermediate program
  • Angelo Pelligrini speaks at Allied Arts Friday Forum
  • Landscaping of Island Club begins - removed large evergreen in front
  • 6-year old girl killed in gravel pit cave-in
  • Sgt. J. Athan Theodore, a Green Beret, killed in Vietnam
  • Human Society explains policies after criticism of services
  • VFW pours foundation for new post building

April -

  • Vashon Jaycees named outstanding Jaycee Club of District Four
  • Dave VanHorn runs for presidency of State Jaycees
  • Ester McEwen awarded 20-year service pin by Sprouse-Ritz
  • Ryther plans tour of 8 Island homes
  • Nancy Nelson of Beachcomber awarded first place for editions regularly edited by a woman at Washington Press Women awards
  • Sheriff Bill Stanley praises parents from lack of juvenile problems on Vashon
  • Gertie Gammel honored for teaching on Vashon since 1931 - 37 years
  • Lutherans celebrate 65 years on Island
  • Bill Jack pitches perfect baseball opener
  • Emergency lights installed at Heights Fire Station
  • VHS debaters sweep debate against Olympia

May -

  • Students responsible for marijuana on music department excursion to Goldendale quit school
  • Harry Norstrom leaves Vashon People’s Bank for Ballard branch
  • Greg Burton wins second place at State Forensic Tournament
  • Fire destroy home at Tahlequah - shortage of trained firefighters leads to call for women fire fighters day-time hours
  • Girls State - Terry Coles, Polly Porro - Boys State - Tom Caraher, Bob Phaneuf, Tom Dawson, Ralph Garrison
  • Jaycees bring barbershop quartet to island
  • School Board rents Methodist classrooms for primary school children
  • P.O. Haugland, Spanish-American War vet given life membership in VFW
  • Hig School Drama Club presents “Skin of Our Teeth”
  • Public swimming pool committee organizes
  • Vandalism of machines by players ends high school baseball season
  • Dean Gullikson named manager of People’s National Bank
  • Judy Nakashima wins first place at Washington State Open Baton Competition
  • Sandra Alg’s State Grange entry goes to Nationals
  • Dell Schooley receives H.S. Bacchus Trophy
  • Grange artists from Vashon dominate state art contest

June -

  • Seattle Rep presents “Imaginary Invalid” at High School
  • Legislators Beck, Barden, and Stender discuss ferry-bridge problems at Chamber of Commerce
  • Linda Dawson graduates cum laude from Gonzaga Law School
  • “Mod” music at high school baccalaureate service stirs up parent
  • Witch’s Hut opened by Barbara Jansen and Frances Wright
  • Fire destroys home on Cove Road - Morrie Wright
  • Vashon Sheep and cattle Club win honors at Marysville show
  • Glass map of Vashon wins first prize at State Grange Convention
  • Dr. Daryle Russell named principal at high school replacing Elmer Leonard
  • Champion Mortgage and Escrow opens branch office at Vashon
  • Miss Vashon, Gigi Hake, competes in Miss Washington Pageant
  • Takatsuka to lose half of crop after King County refuses to grant migrant worker permit
  • Kathy Rogers’ lamb awarded Reserve Championship at Ellensburg Lamb Carcass Show

July -

  • First women volunteer firepersons
  • Robo-Wash opens in Vashon
  • Burglars hit safe at Kimmel’s, take $25,000
  • Victors win girls softball tournament
  • Hamilton Academy Choir from Scotland visits Island
  • Kimmels wins Little League Championship
  • Jayne Rosberg Island Festival Queen
  • Sears Store opened by Linehans
  • Western farmers Association branch store purchased by Merlin Williams
  • Pony Club hosts regional rally
  • Raymond Johnson elected Department Chaplin for State of Washington American Legion
  • Trojans win Pony league pennant

August -

  • Marijuana crop found growing near heights
  • Western Auto opened by Lemons
  • Wilber Spencer named Snohomish County Fire Chief
  • Nursing Home sold to Convalescent Home Industries, Inc.
  • Water annexation passes special election
  • Leighton’s opens shoe department
  • Vashon Lumber and Al’s Service burglarized
  • Milt Walls awarded highest Scout award in Colorado
  • Funds for Head Start pilot program triple
  • New gravel pit on Maury developed by Morrison-Knudsen
  • Enumclaw Fair - Seahawks win herdsmanship award, Shelly Ross wins Grand Championship, Sheep and Cattle Club win herdsmanship trophy
  • Twelve rowers complete 22-hour circuit of Vashon-Maury Island
  • Volunteers install high school track
  • Marijuana crop seized
  • Merchants consider steps to stop thefts
  • Commercial air service offered between Island, Bremerton, Seattle

September -

  • Second graders move into Methodist classroom
  • Don VanGilder named Puget Power manager, replaces Al West
  • High School Band wins awards at summer Vashon and Seattle parades
  • Island churches support grape ban
  • Ernie Wilkowski named Kimmel manager
  • High School students enroll in pilot program at Edison Tech
  • Gilnetter sinks off Maury Island
  • Tom Herbert leaves for Nigeria and UNICEF work for Biafra
  • Linda Dawson, Barbara Durham, and Tom Foulds pass bar exam
  • Bid awarded for building new school
  • Athan Theodore posthumously awarded Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart
  • Jane Montague named semi-finalist for national Merit Scholarship
  • Vashon Sand and Gravel installs new bulk cement plant and batcher
  • Helene Kolesar one-woman show benefits Burton Church

October -

  • Wax Airport opens
  • Vashon Athletic Club sweeps bantam and midget divisions at Invitational
  • Survey polls residents on swimming pool
  • Dave Mace drowns in Vietnam
  • People’s National Bank drive-thru window opens
  • Grace Winningham named outstanding King County Granger
  • Linda Touhy and Mac Browne Homecoming Queen and King
  • Benny Wilson, Vashon’s Medal of Honor winner, greets friends at banquet
  • County Commissioners promise to remove car junk-yard
  • Hunter rescued from 50-foot cistern
  • Fire destroys two chicken houses and 5,300 laying hens
  • 87% of Islanders favor public swimming pool
  • Alibi Trixie takes honors at BC Championship Dog Show - Alice Turnbull owner

November -

  • Ground breaking from McMurray Intermediate School
  • 76% of Island voters go to polls in General Election
  • American legion celebrates 50th anniversary for Veterans Day
  • Burton Elementary students hold mock political convention
  • E.J. Sawyer to give one-man show
  • Nisqually offers coffee service
  • Post Office honored for beautification program
  • 11890 slides given to Phillipine Government by Ed Olsons
  • Home destroyed by fire - Dave Bacon
  • K2 develops new racing ski
  • Ed Joslin and Jaycees send 30 Christmas packages to servicemen in Vietnam
  • Mike Shigley awarded Dave Mace 100-plus Trophy at VHS Sports Banquet

December -

  • Players present “Baby Banana Bush”
  • Food machines placed in high school
  • Vashon Athletic Club presents heroism award to Kings Garden youth
  • Cove Beach Motel sold by Laverne Stohr
  • Merchants hold midnight sale
  • Attorney general rules that selling round trip tickets on mainland and allowing “free passage” off the Island is legal
  • West Side Water Co and two property owners await judges decision in contamination case
  • Sp/4 Michael Curtin awarded Bronze Star and Cross of Gallantry
  • Tires deflated on 11 school buses
  • Christmas ship sails around the Island
  • Hoong Kong Flu - 10% school absenteeism
  • Servicemen write thanks for Jaycee Christmas packages
  • Re-vote necessary due to legal technicality
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1969

January -

  • Chamber of Commerce studies feasibility of locating Sentinel missiles on Vashon - protests mount
  • Vashon Hardware celebrates 40 years on same corner
  • Heavy snowfall - schools closed for a week - Randy Bacchus “Big snow of 69, we were out of school for a whole week! Good times building snow fort by dairy queen and big snow ball fights, wild week off from school!”
  • Ron May named principal at high school
  • Voters OK annexation of Mutual Water to District 19 (Ellisport)
  • 25 miles of Island roads scheduled to be improved this year
  • Vashon Industries growing success with rocket toys
  • County Parks to assume management of Island Club complex
  • Vashon mother assist teachers as aides in new program
  • PTA proposes unique playground at Vashon Elementary
  • Randi completes one year of kidney machine
  • Quartermaster Harbor frozen in hard freeze
  • VFW raises fund to build Morgan Hill building
  • Russ Brammer retires after 42 years with Puget Power
  • Billy Browning of Burton wins hoops shoot championship

February -

  • Walter Ferrell, Warrant Officer Army Air Force killed in Vietnam
  • Fire Chief Craig Harmeling begins effort form island-wide fire district
  • Vashon not selected as Sentinel missile site
  • Walter Farrell, Warrant Officer First Class killed in Vietnam
  • School Board raises basic teacher’s salaries by 10%
  • Five school make-up days because of snow closures
  • Vancouver. BC band and chorus welcomed at VHS
  • Natural gas pipeline to com to Vashon
  • Tom Terreau named Vashon Recreation Director
  • West Side Water wins stay to keep livestock out of watershed
  • Vashon Athletic Club coaches young boxers

March -

  • Feeder Bridge across Rich Passage approved to link into Vashon Bridge
  • King County moves to Council-Executive form of government
  • Bill Kirschner sells K2 ski company to Cummings Diesel
  • Trader Dick opens used furniture store
  • Al’s Service expands parts department
  • Seattle Symphony family concert - Linda Tuohy and Mike Stocks perform with orchestra
  • Larry Wallace in critical condition at Camp Pendleton after eye surgery - receives telegram from203 well wishers
  • High School work day benefits Peace Corp partnership program
  • Burning at dump to end April 15
  • County Planning Dept. denied re-zone asked by Vashon Industries
  • Addition to Burton Fire Station

April -

  • Beachcomber article “The Straight Scoop on Vashon’s ‘Hippie Movement’”
  • County approves Vashon Industries re-zone appeal
  • Marine Corporal Ronald Playford killed in Vietnam
  • Dr. Gerald Hester resigns as School Superintendent - goes to Auburn
  • World Cup winner tours K2 plant
  • Vashon Debate Team fills 13 of 20 individual spots at State Tournament
  • High School Peace Corp money to build school in Botswana
  • Fires destroys beach home - Dr. R.F. Robbins
  • Greg Vernoy and Sandie Heindmann finalists in State Speech Tournament

May -

  • Mr. and Mrs. Walter Williams placed on probation in death of 17-month old son
  • Ross Garde awarded Bronze Star in Vietnam
  • Avant Garde places first in battle of the bands in Bremerton
  • Deputies investigate gun thefts
  • Clam diggers get citation for over-limit
  • Seattle Argus criticizes food on ferries
  • New Fire District 13 pumper arrives
  • All cross-sound transportation plans fail in final moments of 41st legislature
  • Eugene Peters new School Superintendent
  • God and Country Awards go to Tom Watsabaugh and Patrick Neilson
  • Killarney Secondary School, Vancouver, BC concert hosted by High School Music Program
  • Madigan Hospital features volunteer April Aldridge
  • Grange artists Bill Jones and Marjorie Kirkland winners in State Grange competition

June -

  • 115 graduates at VHS
  • Ray Kolling teaches summer marine biology course
  • Work begins on new Sears store
  • Rev. Lawrence Row replaces Father Cloquet at Catholic Church
  • Top NW archers attend Island Archer’s target shoot
  • Braves win Pony League crown
  • Capt. David Winecoff awarded Silver Star in Vietnam
  • Donald Shouse new pastor at Bethel Park Church
  • No migrant workers can be used to pick crops - dependent on local and mainland pickers
  • S.C. bard awarded contract for High School disposal system
  • Corporation formed to benefit youth with summer jobs, vocational training

July -

  • 12 young women nominated to be Miss Vashon - Roberta Duntley, Kathy Seachrist, Paula Ann Porro, Elizabeth Linden, Mary Watsabaugh, Sheryle Smith, Catherine Craven, Zoe Anne Humphreys, Linda Touhy, Barbara Champion, Carol VasBuskirk, Michelle Lewis
  • Vashon Eagles Little League team finished 2nd in state
  • Bronze Star awarded to Mr. and Mrs. Enoch Ferrell for their son killed in Vietnam
  • Dr Lawrence Groh and family to spend year in New Guinea - 12 year practice on Vashon - Dr. C. Byron Landis will take over practice for the year
  • James Griswold opens James’ Hair design
  • Vashon Eagles team finishes second in State Little League
  • Sonics win girls softball crown
  • Sp/4 Don Smith awarded Bronze Star in Vietnam
  • Cable cut severs communications with mainland fort 5 hours
  • Three island lams win at State carcass show at Ellensburg
  • Judy Nakashima wins twirling completion in Canada
  • Island Mart - Ken Johnson sell interest to Tom Garretson
  • Kathy Sechrist named Miss Vashon
  • Vashon Industries rockets to be featured in commercials of Apollo 11 flight
  • King County buys Wingehaven for waterfront park
  • Underwater gas lines laid to Vashon - believed to be deepest in Western Hemisphere
  • Karl Hartmann awarded Navy Achievement Medal
  • Capt. Timothy Hayes awarded Bronze Star
  • Lt. Larry Hicks injured in Vietnam
  • Two fatalities - 11-year old boy killed when truck overturns, 16-year old summer resident killed in skiing accident
  • Janis Parks top NW discus thrower
  • Nike Site wins nations top award for readiness and ability

August -

  • Double shifts necessary at VHS until McMurray opens - construction delays - 6th grade to Burton school, 7th and 8th grades to Vashon school
  • Bethel Evangelical Free Church burns mortgage
  • Water District seeks to build new reservoir
  • Bill Reuters rescued when boat hits deadhead of Nanaimo
  • State raises ferry rates - 5 cents for passengers, 20 cents for cars
  • Ray Pond and Son open R&M Home center
  • Double shifting necessary until McMurray School is completed
  • Dick Warren from Dockton markets aquascope invention
  • Kennetts sell Holly Tree Studio to Dick Phillips
  • Ken Johnson opens car lot

September -

  • New playground at Vashon Elementary
  • Holiday ferry traffic down from last year because of fare increase
  • Vashon Auto Rebuild opens - George Fuller and Chris Kerber
  • High School PE teacher suspended, resigns over summer time job incident
  • Warning shot fired over head of fleeing suspect in business district
  • Vashon Telephone Co begins changing phone numbers
  • Dairy Queen closes when students damage structure throwing eggs
  • Youth Corporation pays $3,000 for summer work - awards scholarships
  • Sportsman’s Club teaches firearm safety course
  • Spray gun installed in fire truck - donated by Bernie Coane
  • Junior Achievement program organized at High School
  • Colleen Rogers wins senior grand championship for third year at Puyallup Fair
  • Cancer Branch organized on Island
  • Natural gas line from Des Moines, across Vashon-Maury to Gig Harbor -

October -

  • Vashon Athletic Club brings Champion Bob Richards to speak here
  • Trans Sound Commuters Union plans to fight ferry fare increases - urge letter writing campaign to protest increases
  • Construction worker killed at McMurray school construction project
  • Bob Olsen appointed US Marshall for Alaska
  • Seven candidates file for 2 school board posts
  • VHS Pirates beat Bainbridge Traffic remains down on Island ferry routes
  • Mari Hofmeister and Bill Cummings Homecoming Queen and King
  • B&F Auto Wrecking opens - Bob Bull and Fred Miles

November -

  • Ticket booth at Vashon dock closes - ferries move to double rate structure (only pay coming onto island)
  • Vashon defeats Sequim to become Olympic A League Football Champions
  • School levy defeated 861 yes, 667 no - not 60% needed,
  • Fire levy passes 1,252 yes to 245 no
  • Governor Dan Evans visits K2 plant
  • David Mace awarded Vietnamese Medal
  • Barbara Field - first woman elected to Vashon School Board
  • School levy passes
  • VHS Pirates win Olympic A football championship = sorts banquet honors retiring coach Bud Snaza
  • Work begins on Water District 19 new tank
  • Ferry group changes name to Water Highways Association - solicits funds, plan to file suit against the state
  • “Double tolling” at mainland terminals works “beautifully”
  • Episcopal youth group searches for radios to repair for patients
  • “Up With People” Program presented at High School

December -

  • Jaycees send 34 Christmas Packages to Vashon servicemen overseas
  • McMurry Middle School opens - 3-month delay
  • Jaycees send 34 packages to Vashon servicemen serving overseas
  • Ivan and Lillian Lester celebrate 50th anniversary
  • Saddle Club organizes
  • New concept in music program at high school allows improvisation by students
  • Lawsuit filed against state on ferry issue
  • School Board approves use of school buses for ski school
  • School Board asks for study of High School building
  • District 19 lays water pipes
  • Arrest made in car thefts
  • Electrical storm damages two homes
  • Ferry patrons buying fewer com tickets, regular auto and passenger traffic up 11%

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