100 years ago (1916 — Oak Harbor News)
Corporal Clare Heinz of Fort Casey and two children were arrested for stealing strawberries and trespassing on the property of Tom Schock. Heinz pleaded not guilty but was declared guilty after witnesses were examined. The two minors were turned over to the juvenile officer. Heinz was charged with perjury the next day and was confined to jail to await trial, unable to meet the $2,000 bail.
The board of directors of Oak Harbor schools elected Herbert V. Hills as superintendent of schools and principal of the high school. Miss Ethel Daniels was elected as assistant at the high school.
An ad for The Maylor Store advised readers to “buy shoes now!” The ad stated that the Great War has caused a tremendous shortage in leather and shoes, forcing prices to increase substantially. The store had purchased a large stock of shoes before the latest price hike, and boasted its ability to supply customers with a “splendid shoe for men” for $2.25. Shoes for women cost between $2.50 and $3.75.
75 years ago (1941 — Farm Bureau News)
An airplane piloted by a female pilot and her two “lady friends,” none of whom were named, collided with a 60,000-volt power line at the Skagit County airport. None of the women was injured, though Charles McGreevy, a manager at the P.S.P. & L. power company, said had any other wires been stricken, they surely would have died of electrocution.
C.L. Wright attended a national shoe-dealer convention in Seattle. He reported back that the price of shoes had increased by as much as 35 percent over the past three months, in part due to government contracts for shoes.
A “goof parade” was touted as one of the main highlights to be expected at the upcoming Holland Days festivities. “An aggregation of the goofiest of goofs” had been assembled for the event.
50 years ago (1966 — News-Times)
Civil defense personnel carried out an earthquake simulation exercise in which a quake with an intensity reading of 7.0 on the Richter scale rocked Whidbey. In the simulation, several homes had been demolished at West Beach, there was a break in the water main at Deception Pass Bridge and two old buildings had collapsed, in addition to several other smaller-scale damages.
VAH-4 flyers were set to return to Whidbey. The 75 men and officers had sailed aboard the USS Enterprise, the Navy’s only nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, sailing from the East Coast of the U.S. around Africa and through the Indian Ocean to the Philippines before going into combat in Vietnam.
At Payless, sirloin steak was advertised at 98 cents a pound. At Bill’s Jiff-E-Mart, 24 12-ounce tins of Sunny Jim canned pop cost $1.89, and cantaloupe cost 20 cents each.
25 years ago (1991 — News-Times)
Seven U.S. Navy transport planes flew approximately 700 sailors back home to Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. An estimated 2,000 family members and friends gathered at the hangar for what was said to be the largest homecoming to date. The sailors had been serving in the Persian Gulf.
Less than half way into the calendar year, the Help House had nearly emptied its shelves and was in need of donations in order to continue serving families in need. Requests for assistance were up 45 percent compared to 1989, and 28 percent compared to 1990, according to Director Fran Hughes. The organization had begun the year in January with more than 18,000 cans of food but was down to fewer than 500 at the time of publication.
Over $45,000 was raised by Whidbey Islanders during the 24-Hour Challenge Against Cancer, an annual fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.
An ad for Island Paint and Glass advertised framed and unframed Desert Storm prints as an ideal Father’s Day gift.
