Yesteryears: Camp Yallani lodge collapses in 1969

That work will start on that section of the Mount Hood Loop Road within the forest reserve as soon as possible, and that the road will be completed within two years, was definitely announced last Thursday, following a conference between the state highway commission and Dr. L.I. Hewes and George H. Cecil, representing the federal government. Just over 37 miles of the projected road lie within the forest reserve, and when completed under the present program, it will be of dirt, 16 feet wide, and will have cost $514,000. This amount will be defrayed equally by the federal government and the state.

 

 

The city council on Monday read for the first time a new water ordinance, based on the use of Cold Springs water, both in and out of town, drawn by R.E. Koon, of Stevens & Koon, the engineers in charge of the project. The rules outlined for service outside the city provide that water will be sold to individual users, groups of users, industrial plants and water districts at the discretion of the city council. The water may be used for domestic purposes, including lawn sprinkling, manufacturing purposes and firefighting.

 

 

Twigs of Anjou pears and Hyde’s King apples, brought to the News office Wednesday by Ralph Davies, of Parkdale, disclose that buds of both are now so far advanced as to be beyond the dormant spray period and nearly ready for application of pink spray. If these twigs mean anything, it is that the present will be another year in which apple trees will blossom very shortly after pears are in bloom. Also, they indicate that the blossom period will be about general in lower, middle and upper valleys, a phenomenon which as been witnessed already a number of times in the past 20 years.

 

 

Ed Steele, manager of the Hood River Chamber of Commerce, has received an interesting letter and tomato label from Mrs. Dan S. Nelson, formerly Julia Benedict, a resident of the Parkdale area for 16 years who now resides at Yellowstone National Park. The label shows a big, ripe Ben Lomond brand tomato superimposed on a background of Hood River Valley and Mount Hood. While the label does not state this is Hood River Valley, it does intimate that this is the locale where Ben Lomond tomatoes are “mountain grown on the slopes of Mt. Lomond, Utah.” “Having climbed the Skyline trail with the Legion to the summit of grand old Mount Hood twice, I know this shot ‘shore ain’t no Mt. Lomond, Utah!’” writes Mrs. Nelson.

 

 

Members of the State Highway Commission spent an hour in Hood River last week, discussing with citizens the network of highway changes due to take effect in the coming years. Most immediate of these will be the new four-lane express way to replace the present Highway 30 running past the north edge of the city.

 

With their drive to create a fine camping, fishing, boating and swimming facility beside the old Locks going well, Cascade Locks port commissioners called for volunteers this week to help on a special park “clean up week.” Karl Rosenback, vice president of the  commission, reports they have spent approximately $800 on park improvements and have removed the old wooden fences along the canal. The east end is being bulldozed and will be made available for trailer house parking.

 

 

For years, vandals have taken a heavy toll at Camp Fire Girls’ Camp Yallani. Last week the organization learned nature has become the cruelest vandal of all. Snow surveyors taking measurements in the area last week reported that the main lodge has collapsed, apparently under the weight of the heaviest snowfall in years. The lodge lies on the banks of Kingsley Reservoir about six miles west of the Oak Grove community. The main lodge is only one of several buildings at the campsite. The snow surveyors said other buildings have apparently escaped a similar fate.

 

 

The problem in the spotlight for much of the committee discussion at Tuesday’s city council meeting was parking — how to accommodate the demand for parking spaces in the business areas and what, if anything, to do about widespread illegal parking of recreational vehicles and trailers in yards and driveways, where the requirement of the ordinances are not met. The overall problem of having a limited number of parking spaces and an increasing demand for them was cited by Mayor Charles Beardsley as he called for a revival of an off-street parking committee. Council Members Mary Reed and Geri Smith, who are both involved as co-owners of two downtown businesses, volunteered to serve on the committee.

 

 

While Hood River Valley voters turned down a proposed swimming pool construction plan in last week’s election, they’ll have another opportunity later this month to comment on the idea as proponents get ready to redraw their plans and seek another election, possibly as soon as August. “People know what we’re after — an indoor swimming pool,” said Mike Schend, board chairman. “We have to come up with a package that people find acceptable.” The measure lost in every precinct, although opposition was lightest in Pine Grove and Hood River.

 

 

Tolls, alternative transportation, noise, traffic volumes — those and other issues need to be considered in any study of a new interstate bridge between Hood River and White Salmon, a number of citizens said Tuesday. The bridge study was the focus of an open house conducted in Hood River by the Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council, which, along with the transportation departments of Washington and Oregon, is overseeing the federally funded study into the need for a new Columbia River crossing.

 

 

The aroma of barbecued salmon wafted over the long line of people awaiting entrance into the Mosier Grange on Sunday for a fish feed. More than 500 residents and visitors turned out for the 42nd annual Cherry Blossom Buffet. The event was hosted by volunteers from the Mosier Fire Department and Mosier Rural Protection District.

 

The 2009 Blossom Court has been chosen: Audrey Mallon, a Hood River Valley High School junior, serves along with three Wasco County girls, Alexa Boldt and Cathryn Polehn of The Dalles, and Rylee Parke of Dufur.