4
T he C olumbia P ress
May 11, 2018
Friends: Warrenton women sustain friendship for decades
Continued from Page 1
bought whistles and had whis-
tle signals that meant “meet
me at the Tarzan tree” and
other codes.
“I lived there a couple of
years a long time ago,” Char-
lotte said. “It was a nice time.”
In July, local developer An-
Courtesy Diane Collier
toine Simmons unveiled a
The row of houses that burned, with Diane Collier’s house in the
plan to build a 37-unit apart-
foreground. Trina and Ron’s Place is at far left and the motel Col-
ment complex on the site lier’s mother built is at far right.
where the two women grew up
“It was fun going down homes in the 1960s. After
just north of Trina and Ron’s
Place. That meant removing memory lane, but sad also,” marrying Sonny Collier in
1958, the couple lived in an
their homes and two others. Diane said.
Her parents owned the apartment building across the
Simmons offered them to the
Warrenton Fire Department tavern that’s now Trina and street, where the storage units
Ron’s Place and, for a while, are.
as training opportunities.
Charlotte moved from the
In February, Fire Capt. ran a charter business in ad-
neighborhood
when her moth-
dition
to
a
restaurant
there.
John Shepherd allowed the
er
married
a
man
in the Air
Diane’s
mother,
Ethyl,
built
women to tour the old homes
Force.
They
moved
to
Naselle,
the
small
motel
behind
the
one last time.
where there was a small base
at the site of the Naselle Youth
Camp. She returned to War-
renton as a high school fresh-
man.
Both women graduated from
Warrenton High School. Both
became Warrenton historians,
Charlotte through articles and
her book and Diane as coor-
dinator of the local historical
society and museum and chair
of the Clatsop Indian Tribe.
The four houses that were
removed through four sepa-
rate training burns were taken
out in February, March and
April.
When the women lived
there, the other homes were
occupied by Bill Knoll and
Cora and Elmer Downing.
Shepherd, the fire depart-
ment’s training officer, was
given praise at Tuesday night’s
City Commission meeting.
“I give him much credit just
for the communication and
coordination,” City Manager
Linda Engbretson said. “We
had no complaints and there
were four separate burns. He
coordinated with the mill,
the restaurant, and there was
a road closure. To do all that
with no complaints is an ex-
cellent job.”