It feels good to win an award. At the annual Awards Assembly in high school, I always sat in anticipation hoping my name would be called. Whenever I did win an award, the acknowledgment of my skill and hard work triggered a puff of feel-good endorphins in my brain.
One such award was for fastest shorthand speed. I doubt that anyone after the boomer generation even knows what shorthand was. It has dropped into the annals of history like the rotary telephone. I learned Gregg’s Shorthand, a relic of the late 1800s. It consisted of cursive-like shapes and loops based on the phonetic sound of a word.
Some words that are used frequently (such as the, and, about, either etc.) were abbreviated further into what were called “brief forms.” Shorthand was essential for an office job where the boss would call his (yes, mostly male) secretary (yes, mostly female) over to his desk to “take a letter.” As the boss dictated, a skilled secretary could keep up with the spoken language in shorthand, which was then translated by her into words on a typewritten page.
One of the ways I practiced was by listening to records and writing the lyrics in shorthand. Perhaps that helped increase my shorthand speed. There was also an element of competition as Iris, my nearest competitor for speed, was always nipping at my heels.
Knowing shorthand was a pre-requisite for any secretarial job back in the day. It wasn’t until new-fangled dictating machines arrived that shorthand began its decline. That’s history for you. Imagine now how a letter gets written — tell “Claude” to do it for you.
I began this column about the euphoria of winning an award because I just won one — first place in the Better Newspaper Contest 2026 award for a History Feature Story. Knowing that the competition in such a contest are seasoned journalists, I felt a boost of confidence with the external validation of my work.
On another note: Shafer Museum will once again bring its Mazama history presentation to the Mazama Community Club on Saturday (Oct. 17) from 4-6 p.m. for those who missed it in July. After the program, a question-and-answer period will be held where three mining experts will answer questions from the audience.
The experts are Greg Christensen, past officer of the Slate Creek Mining District, Greg Knott, retired U.S. Forest Service who managed mining and national park permits, and Bob Tonseth, retired Forest Service employee with early homesteading and mining family roots in the Methow. The Mazama Community Club is located at 512 Goat Creek Road.
