100 years ago (1916 — Oak Harbor News)
The Oak Harbor Fruit Growers’ Association in 1915 received about 28 tons of beets and eight tons of beans. It paid about $7 a pound for beets and 1 cent per pound for beans.
A front-page story reported that Alfred and Joe Maylor received a telephone message that their sister was ill at Providence Hospital in Seattle, and they left the next morning to be with her.
Gasoline selling for 20 cents a gallon was “working a hardship” on the newspaper.
The Rinktum Ditty Club held “a very pleasant and profitable meeting at the home of Mr. and Mrs. J. Ely.”
Diking District No. 3 met at the Hotel Byrne in Oak Harbor to consider nine bids to construct a dike that would reclaim “much valuable land” at Dugualla Bay. The bids averaged roughly $18,000.
Three pounds of coffee cost 80 cents at Famers’ Trading Company.
75 years ago (1941—Farm Bureau News)
A total of 1,609 1941 license plates had been issued in Island County,
Three-inch anti-aircraft guns were installed at Fort Casey. Similar guns were installed at Fort Flager and Fort Worden. Several hundred men were expected to be stationed at Fort Casey by the end of January.
Whidbey Island had 6,098 residents, up from 5,369 in 1930. Island County held the world’s record wheat yield: 117.5 bushels per acre, averaged over 18 acres. It was raising 60,000 turkeys for slaughter in 1940, up from 7,000 in 1930.
Oak Harbor officials discussed putting a hydroplane-landing float in the city’s bay.
The Lions Club auctioned off a 49-pound squash for $7.10, which the club said would be used to buy a new basketball.
A 10-inch pipe wrench cost 69 cents at Maylors.
50 years ago (1966—Whidbey News Times)
The Coupeville Lions Club voted unanimously to protest proposed ferry fare hikes, according to a lead story.
The first local 1966 baby, Dauna Eileen, was born Jan. 5 to Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Darby at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island’s hospital.
The Washington State Census Board predicted that Island County’s population would grow by 36 percent between 1960 and 1970, and by another 32.6 percent between 1970 and 1980.
With only one week left, just one contestant, Lynn Pearson, had entered the Miss Navy Whidbey Island competition.
The North Whidbey Chamber of Commerce’s fund drive had raised $7,000 toward hiring a full-time manager and building a permanent home for itself.
The girls at Oak Harbor Junior High School surprised shop instructor Joe Siers when, during an experiment, they “all got pretty high scores” recognizing hand tools. The girls were taking a two-week course in home repair, while the boys studied home economics. “The girls had become confused with all the new terminology in the shop class,” the story reported.
A five-point pail of honey cost 99 cents at Prairie Center Mercantile Co.
25 years ago (1991—Whidbey News Times)
30 gallons of oily water from the Oak Harbor school district’s bus barn poured into the bay but were broken up quickly by brisk winds and choppy waves.
Oak Harbor’s First United Methodist Church held a 14-hour prayer vigil as Iraqi troops prepared to pull out of Kuwait. The next week saw a rally at the Pioneer Way YMCA to support the troops as the Gulf war began. Anti-war protestors complained that Skagit Valley College denied it the right to demonstrate there.
Homelessness emerged as a growing problem in Oak Harbor, with more people found to be living in buses and tents at the RV park. A lack of affordable housing was said to contribute to the problem.
The 7.6-square-mile city of Oak Harbor grew by 10 acres when it annexed property worth $54,326 located off the west side of State Route 20 south of the Dawncrest subdivision.
A seven-ounce sirloin steak dinner cost $4.49 at Golden Corral in Oak Harbor.
