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WILLAMINA TIMES, Willamina, Oregon, Wednesday, December
1972
o f W illam ina
VOLUMNE 64 NUMBER 21
IOC
Record lows freeze W illa m in a
“ Well, are you all frozen up?”
is the usual greeting these cold
and snowy days in and around
Willamina. With the temperature
dropping to record lows and more
snow around than we have seen
for several winters, the weather
is indeed uncommon. And just
about all conversations are
heavily weighted by comments
about the weather and the prob
lems it is causing.
The nighttime temperatures
have regularly dropped to about
zero or below for the last two
weeks.
Jim Boyer, of Nice
Electric, lives near Grand Ronde
and he claims the mercury drop
ped to minus 20 there. That is
cold! While in Willamina most
of those people we talked with
said they thought the lowest tem
perature at Willamina was about
minus 12. The daytime tem per
atures have not been exactly
high either.
At this writing the daytime tem
peratures have not risen above
the twenties for nearly two weeks.
And the snow we got on Decem
ber 5 and 6 has not melted
any.
Now the weatherman is
predicting more snow, but hope
fully the temperature will rise
and we will get back to the good
ole rain.
Until then, however, the prob
lems that the cold weather is
causing is effecting us all. F ro
zen water pipes, Head car bat
teries, and slick roads are a
daily concern.
Classes were resumed at the
Willamina schools on Monday,
December 11 after a three-day
vacation due to . the snow and
cold. However, the Grand Ronde
elementary school was not able
to reopen due to a heating prob
lem. Difficulties with the heat
ing system’s water supply had
made it impossible to reopen.
Mr. Mitchell, Superintendent of
the Willamina schools indicated
that he did not know when the
problem would be corrected so
the school could be reopened.
But at the Willamina elementary
and high school all was pretty
much back to normal on Monday.
Mr. Mitchell said that the buses
had made their complete runs on
Monday morning with little diffi
culty, and that many problems
that the school might have faced
were ably handled by the main
tenance man.
Mrs. Dorothy Paul, Principle at
Willamina elementary school
said that of 523 total students,
only 88 were absent. And she
commented that ‘ ‘the youngsters
came back to school ready to go
to work, surprisingly enough.”
At the Willamina Police Depart
ment we talked with
Oscar
Freeman who indicated that
traffic movement had been pretty
normal. There had been a few
minor accidents of the “ fender
bender” type but most people
seemed to be driving with consid
erable caution.? 1
able effect on the lumber mills
in the area. At U.S. Plywood,
Mr. Phil Harris, Production
Superintendent, indicated that as
of Monday the plant was running
at about 70 percent of production
capacity due to the cold weather.
They were also running much of
their machinery on a 24-hour
a day schedule to keep them
operational and avoid freezing.
He said that “ if the weather
doesn’t improve we may have to
cut back some more, however,
we are very hopeful that the
weather will improve.”
At Willamina Lumber Company
all their production operations
were shut down on Monday and
had been at a stand still since
the Tuesday before when the bad
weather
first set-in. Glenn
Moore, night shift superin
tendent, commented that they
were trying to keep their mach
inery from freezing and that their
log pond was completely frozen
over making it impossible to use.
For them a moderation in the
weather is absolutely necessary,
and the sooner the better.
Hopefully a change toward
warmer weather is not far in
the future.
Garage , workshop
destroyed by Blaze
It w a s shades o f S e rg e a n t P reston o f th e Y u k o n . B la ke Sam pson m ushs his h u sky th ro u g h th e
sn o w y s tre e ts by th e ir h o m e .
School Board
teachers hit
stalemate
The Willamina school board and
teachers have decided to go into
mediation after failing to reach
agreement in contract consulta
tions.
The board offers a 5.3 plus p er
centage flat salary increase, with
a base of $7,075 and a high of
$10,940. It also proposes add
ing a 17th salary step. Fixed
charges, such as insurance and
social
security,
would be
additional.
The teachers ask for an 8 p er
cent plus increase, with a
$7,332 base and a high of $11,320.
Fixed charges would also be ad
ditional.
No date has been set for a meet
ing to select a mediator. Se
lection must be within five days,
but due to weather conditions
the time has been postponed. If
the board and teachers cannot
select a mediator in the required
time, the state superintendent of
public instruction will be asked
to do so.
Civic Club to
sponser contest
Christmas Lighting Contest
sponsored by the Willamina Civic
club is being held again this year.
There are three categories: Re
ligious - Humorous - and Gen
eral.
A ten dollar prize will be given
in each category.
Winners of last year are not
eligible.
Judging will be Monday evening,
Dec. 16th. Have your lights on.
If you have any questions con
cerning this, please call 876-
3643.
i
Soflto f©otur©cl o t
Commerce draw ing
The Willamina Chamber of
Commerce is sponsering a Draw
ing on Saturday, December 16,
at 2 p.m. The Drawing will feature
special $25, $15, and $10 prizes
with many other prizes to be given
away during the afternoon.
The street in front of the hard
ware will be blocked off so that
all that attended will be able to
walk freely in the street.
The Drawing will be opened with
the arrival of Santa Claus riding
the city fire truck. And all the
children attending will receive
free candy.
All in all, the afternoon should
be very enjoyable for all who
take the time to attend. And you
just might win a prize.
O rganizations set
Christmas program s
Various area organizations,
school and church Christmas
programs will begin on Wednes
day the 13th when the Extension
Unit will meet at the Harvey
Jahn home for their regular
meeting and Christmas party.
The lesson, “ Herbs and Spices,”
will be given by Mrs. Janice
Galleto and Mrs. Shirleyjean
Abel.
The Nazaren church is planning
two programs to celebrate the
Christmas season on Sunday the
seventeenth. There will be a
combined morning service which
will feature a program by the
children of the Sunday School
classes directed by Mrs. Mabel
Risseeuw. Rev. Darwin Grimm
will give a sermonette at the
end of the program. Sandra
Schuerch and Sandra Sims will
present the 7 p.m. evening pro
gram which will include an old
fashioned sing-a-long and a
candlelight pageant.
The Gifts of Christmas, will
be presented by the Sunday School
department of the Methodist
church Sunday night, December
17 at 7:30 p.m.
The Seventh Day Adventist
church program will be during
regular Sabbath services of the
23rd, 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.,
when offerings will be hung on
the tree as the only decoration.
Each Sabbath Day class will par
ticipate in the program.
A Christmas party for patients
of the Maplewood Home for the
Aged that will feature entertain
ment, gifts, and refreshments
will be sponsored by the Grand
Ronde Womens club, Monday
night, December 18, at 7 p.m.
Entertainment will include re
ligious and holiday selections by
various groups from the areas
churches.
Refreshments and
gifts will be furnished by mem
bers of the Womens club and the
Extension unit. The public is
invited to attend. Anyone wishing,
may bring a man’s gift.
A fire, apparently started by a
heating unit,
completely de
stroyed a garage and woodwork
ing shop at the William L. Rob
ertson home four miles west of
Grand Ronde about 9p.m. Thurs
day night. The 40x86 building
contained wood working tools,
metal lathe, a small printing
press, and many antique tools.
Also destroyed in the fire was
a tractor belonging to Robert
son and a back hoe belonging to
Francis Arnold of The Hide Out.
The Grand Ronde firemen had
to receive authorization from
Willamina Fire Chief Bill Felton
to answer the call as they live
beyond the Willamina Fire Dis-
trict boundries. They were fur
ther delayed (only about 3
minutes) by a frozen lock on the
fire hall and none of the first
six to arrived smoked, so no
matches.
The Robertsons are grateful to
Jim Reid and his cigar as the
truck arrived in time to save
their home which was near the
shop. Eight years ago the Rob
ertsons suffered a sim ilar ac-
cient which also destroyed their
house near Selma in Southern
Oregon.
The thermometer registered an
unofficial 10 degrees below zero
when the firemen returned at
11p.m.
a t W.L . R obertsons
A fte rm a th of fire