By Bob S
piwak
Monday morning and sunny, and the sun is very warm, continuing the melt that becomes ice overnight. Still lots of snow on the land, and crowds of skiers to take advantage of it. The major ski areas south of here are suffering from lack of snow.
Up at Harts Pass the snow level has dropped 10 inches in a week to 78 inches, while the water equivalent has remained the same at 33.8 percent of average. Could be a dry summer for runoff.
We were going to expand last week’s mention of the Disabled Veterans National Foundation, but in reading postings on Google and the Better Business Bureau and others, it would be more convenient if you’re interested to go to Google and scroll down to read the comments and condemnations about the organization.
Ms. Gloria, in a spate of spring cleaning, has come up on a treasure trove of old issues of Methow Valley News, some going back to 1972 when the North Cascades highway opened. I remember Winthrop when it had concrete sidewalks and the conversion to a “real Western town” with boardwalks gave it authenticity. At that time there was a boom in anything western and it seemed everyone was wearing a big hat. As the old Texican comment goes, “big hat, no cattle.”
Most of the copy in this collection is from 1980, although there is a supplement to the September 1972 paper commemorating the opening of the North Cascades Highway titled “The Awakening — Winthrop Turns Back the Clock.” Fun stuff and a lot of memories therein.
But back to the “modern” times of 1980, there is an ad in the short-lived Methow Valley Life magazine for the Winthrop Palace. The restaurant, which we referred to as “The Dodge House,” (if you remember the TV series “Gunsmoke”) had its own “Miss Kitty” who would serve your meal, then go to the organ and play music.
Here are some of the prices for various Palace meals on coupon specials:
Breaded veal cutlet dinner, $3.49. Pepsi, 20 cents. Special sirloin steak dinner, $3.99. Clear springs trout dinner, $3.99. Hamburger, 69 cents. And, M&K’s great coffee, 10 cents. There were no baristas in those days.
Most notable in this small collection was the ubiquitous appearance of our beloved Jeanne Hardy. Long a writer/columnist for this newspaper, she published books, originated Countryside magazine, and could be found in almost any printed matter, culminating with her formation of “The Spotted Chicken Society,” which included a monthly magazine about rural living. Many of us still mourn her death, many years later.
Moving on to the current modern times — wherein the snow slides off the roof of the Mazama Store, it frequently dumps a load where SLIME convenes, not only that area but also the entire porch area of the store. Somehow, Jay Lucas is always on hand to clear the decking and benches, to deal with glitches in our pedestal heater, and take care of many other things including being a volunteer at the community club building and its periphery. Personal thanks not only from us, but from other SLIMErs and customers as well.
