1916 — 100 years ago
Union High School District No. 2, which compromises Odell and Willow Flat, will this summer erect a modern and commodious high school building at Odell, near the telephone building. Plans and specifications have been prepared by Lawrence & Holsford of Portland. They call for a one-story building of the bungalow type. It will include a study room to accommodate 75 scholars, two recitation rooms, a domestic science room and an auditorium for school and community purposes, which will accommodate about 300 persons. There will be a hot air heating plant with a fan system of ventilation.
Many local residents were awaked from their sound slumbers about 12:30 o’clock Sunday night, when the fire siren started a wailful warning of 10 or more minutes. It seemed like half an hour. The fire boys, and a large number of curious people, gathered downtown, thinking the whole district must be in flames, only to find that through a short circuit, the fire siren had started itself, and refused to be stopped. There wasn’t even a rehearsal, and fortunately many curious spectators were deprived of a show.
On Saturday night, the department was called to a brush fire, in the east section of town, which they quickly extinguished. There was no damage done. The only excitement was ignition trouble causing the big fire truck to be stalled for a few minutes.
— Hood River News, July 23, 1926
1926 — 90 years ago
Excavating and basement work for a new, modern, up-to-date in every respect, vinegar plant was started for the Hood River Apple Vinegar Company on Railroad Street, the fore part of this month by L.M. Bentley, local contractor and builder. The new structure will occupy the site of the old plant that was destroyed by fire a couple of years ago. The building will rise to a height of three and a half stories, facing the O.W.R.R.&N. tracks, and will be of concrete and tile composition. While the loss of the old plant was keenly felt, and entailed heavy losses. The building of a new, more modern, compact and up-to-date plant will, in the long run, be a benefit to everybody.
1936 — 80 years ago
Despite this being a busy season in orchards, an excellent attendance was recorded at the fortnightly meeting of the Hood River Growers Club, held at the Hood River Drug dining hall Tuesday evening, under the leadership of Al Reed, president. Of interest to apple growers was the talk given by Clayton L. Long, production manager of the Apple Growers Association, on calyx injury in Newtown orchards, probably caused by two combinations, of lead spray and wet weather. The rapid growth exhibited by the Growers Club, even at this busy season of the year, makes it evident that it may become one of the leading organizations for fruit men in Hood River Valley.
1946 — 70 years ago
Six Oregon residents, among them Mrs. C.E. Hounsell, of Hood River, active in aiding Britain during the war, have just received the King medal, Lord Inverchaple, British ambassador, announced at Washington, D.C., last Sunday. Mrs. Hounsell was in charge of the Hood River unit of Bundles for Britain until Pearl Harbor, and continued actively to direct other British aid movements during the war. Lord Inverchaple announced a total of 1277 awards to Americans, including 69 of various ranks of the Order of the British Empire.
1956 — 60 years ago
Bids submitted on the Memorial Hospital proposed addition July 3 were rejected by trustees last Wednesday and certain deletions to building plans were authorized. The board reports that the revised plans will be advertised in about a month for bids which are expected to be “more realistic” than the two rejected. The July 3 bids were almost double the estimate.
1966 — 50 years ago
The Hood River County Fair Board announced this week that a number of changes will be made in both the physical arrangement and program of the 1966 fair, held at Wy’east High School Aug. 4-6. The most significant change will be the use of the newly acquired fairground property for all local and out-of-town concessions. An engineering firm has been engaged to begin work on the new development, with drainage of the area already completed, and it is anticipated that the leveling phase will be completed by fall. Although only part of the work will be done in time for this year’s fair, a master building plan is in the hands of the fair board, which hopes to have buildings erected in time for the 1967 event.
1976 — 40 years ago
“Grounds are in exceptionally good shape, and our floral building is ready,” reviewed County Fair Manger Percy Jensen in the last week of preparation before the 55th year of the annual celebration. It all starts on Wednesday next week when the entries start filing through the doors early in the morning. They’ll be in place when judges start their job at 1 p.m. Format for previous fairs will be followed this year, with the fairgrounds being headquarters for flower, 4-H, FFA exhibits, carnival rides and concessions. The Wy’east building will house open classes and commercial exhibits, the programs and presentations will center in the Wy’east grandstand area, and livestock completion will be focused in the stock area at the southwest corner of the fairgrounds.
1986 — 30 years ago
The plight of Hood River’s swimming pool will be the concern of a public meeting July 25 at the Community Education building. There had been plans for improving bathhouse and swimming pool installations at 17th and May in Hood River, and funds have been collected over a period of time for the project. But the amount gathered has been far less than needed to complete the job. This year a city government strapped for funds told pool boosters there are no immediate plans for investing city funds in the massive pool improvement project. And there are none in the near future. As a result, funds collected for improvements were returned to donors by the pool committee, which had organized the project.
1996 — 20 years ago
Hood River County planners have been given the fast task of absorbing the inch-thick Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Area Master Plan draft, open for public comment until late August. The draft, released early this month, outlines five potential development options for Mount Hood’s largest ski resort. The resort hopes to expand to allow use by 16,000 skiers at a single time. It would include the addition of three new lifts in the Iron Creek area, just south of the existing resort and near the White River drainage. Parking would be added.
2006 — 10 years ago
Michael McElwee has begun work as the new executive director of the Port of Hood River. He said his first week had been full of learning a lot of information about the port and its operations. “I became immediately aware of how the Port operates what is, in effect, a regional park,” he said. McElwee noted the summer season’s large recreational usage of the waterfront area but also the port’s diverse holdings, including the airport and Wasco Business Park.
— Compiled by Trisha Walker, news staff writer
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