Glance Back

(From The Washington Evening Journal, Friday, Aug. 13, 2004)

10 YEARS AGO

The Washington County Board of Supervisors agreed to go ahead with the use of Surface Transportation Program (STP) funds issued through the Department of Transportation at its regular weekly meeting, Tuesday.

Three community members addressed the Washington school board, last night, to demand that the board take action to clean up a portable classroom at Stewart Elementary School, which they say poses serious health risks.

The Washington Public Library Foundation is ready to make a move.

The foundation, a non-profit organization, has raised over $600,000 to purchase the World of Fitness and Seifert?s buildings located on the square in Washington for the proposed library relocation, which will happen within the month if the town supports the relocation, said Patrick Finney, director of Washington library, at this morning?s Chamber of Commerce meeting held at Winga?s restaurant.

20 YEARS AGO

They kind of taste like mushrooms, according to Verle Gallagher, but, ?they?re even better.? Gallagher, who lives at Halcyon House in Washington, has been delighting visitors, friends and neighbors with his pumpkin blossom hors d?oeuvres since he first discovered them in the 1950s. ?The first time I was offered pumpkin blossoms, I started eating them and never quit,? said the 92-year-old Gallagher.

MOUNT PLEASANT ? Some quick-thinking Mount Pleasant residents joined law enforcement officers in recapturing a Washington man who escaped custody, Wednesday night. Curtis Cortez Jones, 18, of Washington escaped from Henry County jail about 10:15 p.m., as he was being returned to the jail after receiving medical treatment at the Henry County Health Center.

30 YEARS AGO

What a difference a ?u? makes! Eleanor Creswel, Washington County?s representative in Saturday?s Elderfest Spelldown in Cedar Rapids, found that a properly placed ?u? was necessary to nab top honors at the spelling bee sponsored by Area X of the Heritage Agency on Aging. The 92-year-old stumbled on the word ?guttural.?

Ray Carter, a lifelong resident of the Washington community, was appointed Tuesday night to fill the First Ward vacancy on the Washington City Council. Carter, 52, fills the void left by the resignation of Richard Horak.

Its 30-foot steeple still stood majestically today against the backdrop of a clear, blue sky, but inside the Church of the Nazarene in Washington is a drenched, smoke-blackened mess.

40 YEARS AGO

Plans for a 34-bed addition to Washington Care Center have been approved by the Health Facilities Construction Review Committee, according to Juckette Management Services, owners of the facility. Estimated cost of the project has been set at $272,000 with a proposed completion date of February 1975.

A few freight cars, and the caboose, on a Rock Island train left the tracks east of the junction of highways 92 and 218 near Ainsworth, Saturday morning. Work crews responded quickly to repair the track and clear the debris which included two ?piggyback? trucks. Two men riding in the caboose suffered minor injuries.

Theodore and Mabel Calhoon, formerly of West Branch, have purchased the StateSide Café in Washington and are now engaged in operation of the business. The business was purchased from the Bill Hodges.

50 YEARS AGO

Sharon Lowry, daughter of the Werner Lowrys, is serving as a counselor this week at Forest Lake Baptist Camp near Ottumwa.

Mrs. Charles Berdo and daughter Jane will arrive by plane in Chicago, Sunday from a summer visit with relatives in England.