Out of the Past: Wind tears roof off building; First snowmobile rescue in Washington

Published 1:30 am Friday, March 31, 2017

The following stories happened this week, 25 and 50 years ago, as reported in the Snoqualmie Valley Record. From the Record’s archives:

Thursday, April 2, 1992:

• Coming home with trophies from the recent Washington State Elementary Chess Championships were students Brad Stensland Terry Crane and Stephan Jones. The annual event saw participation by 27 schools and included two dozen kids from the Snoqualmie Valley. The all-day championships were held in Moses Lake March 21.

• Jim Westerman, D.C., opened his North Bend Chiropractic Center out at Truck Town March 19. At that location, the doctor and his wife, Kim, expect to see a fair amount of truckers with sore backs. But they emphasize that the business is open to everyone in the North Bend area, as it’s only a few miles from downtown.

Thursday, March 30, 1967

• A gusty day last Thursday rattled some windows and caused minor damage elsewhere in the Valley, but seemed to concentrate on the Si View Golf Course, where the wind tore the planks loose on a $1,200 roof, smashed 4×10 beams and flung the wood some 800 feet away. Owner Les Haines said water had caused some interior damage, but not much, and the clubhouse would be in good repair again by press time.

• Jim Griffin of Seattle may be the first man in Washington State to be rescued by snowmobile. He will not be the last, in the opinion of three Valley men who participated in the Skagit County rescue. George Swenson and Clarence Dickenson of Snoqualmie and Howard Simpson of North Bend got a call Sunday night from mountain rescue workers in Everett. One of a group of climbers eight miles into the mountains north of Darrington had been injured and had to be brought out. Could the snowmobiles help? “We weren’t sure, but we certainly wanted to try,” said Swenson.