Yesteryears: Cascade Locks adding ‘374’ to phone numbers in 1965

(Advertisement) Learn Esperanto — The International Help Language. A class in this simple, flexible and euphonious language will be started in the Library Hall, Thursday Evening, October 14th, 7:30 o’clock. Come. We will have some interesting work and a good time.

1925 — 90 years ago

An elevator for fish, to ease their journey to the spawning grounds on the Columbia and other streams on which great dams obstruct the flow, is proposed by the experts of the United States bureau of fisheries, which has been making a study of the need for more modern conveniences in the lives of salmon and other submarine visitors. The proposal, in brief, is a water-filled shaft or elevator, located at one side of the spillway of the dam, with gates at top and bottom and so operated as automatically to “shoo” the fish to the upper story, where they will be released once more in the stream above the dam.

The Board of Directors of School District No. 3, City schools, at a special meeting, adopted a new schedule for teachers’ salaries to be effective in September 1926. The new schedule provides for a general increase in teachers’ salaries, with an annual increase based on length of service.

1935 — 80 years ago

Like a feature from a detective story magazine reads the news of a dramatic and successful raid of G men from the Department of Justice, which was made with surprising swiftness in the Pine Grove district Friday night of last week and which, when the raid was over, found three G men in possession of an alleged notorious criminal and a young woman whom, it is stated, he had kidnapped from Phoenix, Ariz., and forced, by constantly-repeating threats, to accompany him.

An unusually heavy response on the part of property owners of this city who would like to participate in the PWA loan and grant for street paving has been recorded in the past few days. Less than two weeks ago, several of the projects had failed to arouse much interest, but as soon as property owners realized that, in view of the PWA loan and grant, they could secure paving at a cost to themselves of about 60 percent of the usual cost, they began to investigate.

1945 — 70 years ago

Free chest x-rays will be made available to you and other people of the community on Oct. 22-25. This free, voluntary and confidential offer is made possible by the County Public Health Association with the use of the Oregon Tuberculosis Association’s Chest X-ray Survey Unit. This is one of the benefits made possible through your purchase of Christmas Seals each year.

Trail-marking Day, Oct. 10, was observed in several schools of the county at Cascade Locks, Frankton and at Junior High in Hood River. At Cascade Locks, there was a general assembly at 9 a.m., when the Rev. Mr. Reynolds, of Stevenson, talked on Lewis and Clark and their travels. At Frankton School, Superintendent Wilbur C. Anderson gave an address, and a program was held at Hood River Junior High at 2 p.m.

Voters approved the $44,000 bond issue for rebuilding May Street School by an 11-1 margin last Thursday during a special city district election. The vote was 384 in favor of the project and 33 opposed. The turnout of voters was comparatively large, according to school officials.

Construction on the new structure is contemplated to start this spring with the cafetorium and north wing of classrooms to be built first. The present building, dedicated in 1908 as a high school, will be torn down next summer after school is dismissed, report school officials.

The present gymnasium will be integrated into the new building and ramps will connect the two new wings of classrooms, the gym and cafetorium. In addition to improvement of classroom facilities, the project is expected to include improvement to the May Street playground area.

— Hood River News, October 14, 1955

1955 — 60 years ago

An expense-paid day in Hollywood is being offered the winner of a local contest sponsored by the Rialto Theater and the Hood River News. The contest is being sponsored in connection with the November showing of the film, “To Hell and Back,” at the Rialto. The trip will include a flying trip to Hollywood, appearance as a guest on a network television show, dinner at a world-famous restaurant, tour of the city and tour of a Hollywood studio. Details will be announced next week.

“Mount Hood, Million-Acre Playground” is the name of a proposed vacation brochure for the Portland-Mount Hood area being promoted by the Portland Chamber of Commerce, and directors of the Hood River County Chamber of Commerce plan to meet with Portland representatives Tuesday to discuss the proposal.

1965 — 50 years ago

Cascade Locks and Bonneville will switch to new telephone numbers at 12:01 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 17, according to J.B. Mason, manager for Pacific Northwest Bell. On that date, the two telephone offices will be combined into one office in Cascade Locks and long distance calls between the two towns will be eliminated. Existing three-digit customers at Bonneville will be replaced by new seven-digit numbers, all beginning with the prefix “374.” Cascade Locks will add “374” to the present four numbers.

Lowest unemployment in Oregon! That was the report received by Boyd Jackson, Hood River employment office manager, for the week ending in Oct. 2. The exclamation comes because Hood River County in on the Federal books as an area of “chronic unemployment.” This wasn’t the case early this month — as is usually true at harvest time.

1975 — 40 years ago

A supermarket business on Tucker Road closed since last Christmas will soon open again under new, local ownership and management. Lloyd Knight has announced he purchased the former Town and Country — more recently Mark-It — food store and will operate it as a family business. He said the name of the store will be “Mark and Pak.”

A parent group appealed to the county school board last week not to adopt an institutional lunch program for the district, and won a delay in the decision because the full board was not there to discuss the issue. A board cafeteria committee, along with the school administration, had recommended the district adopt the proposal of Saga Food Service to take over the district’s lunch program.

1985 — 30 years ago

One controversial city ordinance was adopted and one planning commission proposal failed at the meeting of Hood River’s city council Monday. The ordnance receiving council approval gives the mayor of Hood River the power to suspend the city administrator without approval of the full city council. In another council decision, the council failed to pass amendments to the Wells Island proposal because of a 3-3 vote. A majority was needed for passage.

The former Martin Marietta workers who have started a campaign to keep the aluminum plant in The Dalles have now expanded their campaign to Hood River. They’re urging not only the former Martin Marietta workers here, but the whole community, to write letters to the Martin Marietta president to sell the plant to someone who will restore operations in Wasco County.

1995 — 20 years ago

Local skateboarders got together for a fundraising party at Jackson Park last Friday. The event raised $542 to help the Hood River Parks and Recreation department with a potential skateboard park project, said Chris Carlson, who organized the fundraiser. “I was tired of getting kicked off of places, so I decided to throw a benefit,” said Carlson.

Hood River City Council Tuesday was updated on progress of a new cable television franchise contract, with possible completion near. City Manager Lynn Guenther told counselors that current discussions with Falcon Cable Manager Larry Johnson may lead to a system upgrade and public access cable television channel.

2005 — 10 years ago

Marion McNew of Mount Hood Gardens Inc. was honored with two national design awards this summer for her work in the Stratton Gardens Rose Garden in Hood River. McNew traveled to Salt Lake City and Knoxville, Tenn., to receive her awards.

Hood River County has doubled its fees for processing development applications brought by a successful Measure 37 claim. Two weeks ago, the Hood River County Commissioners raised the subdivision processing fee for Measure 37 landowners from $850 to $1,700. “The changes are based on the recognition that there’s going to be substantial work involved in most cases to reapply standards that are no longer in effect,” said Dave Meriwether, county administrator. “It’s going to be difficult to come up with a uniform approval. We’re pretty much going to have to recreate the analysis each time.”

— Compiled by Trisha Walker, news staff writer