The Liberty Theater

The Daily Record has recently reported that the Liberty Theater has closed. Here is a link to the story:

No doubt members of the EHS Class of 1962 have some wonderful Liberty Theater stories to tell. If so, please share them with us and we will post those most appropriate for a PG-13 audience.

Website Changes

The EHS62.org Website will be updated to include new functionality and improved security on Saturday, September 5, 2009. I invite you to visit the Website and check out the changes. There’s a lot of new programming behind the scenes, but you will notice the following:

1. In the banner at the top of each page, there is a new “Login” button. You may specifically log into the system using the “Login” button or wait until you access a page requiring that you be logged in. Once you’ve logged into the Website, the button will appear as a “Logout” button. Your user name and initial password are the same as before. However, there’s new functionality to change your password – see item 3 below.

2. The “Send Information” facility has been modified. If you are logged into the system, the fields on the form will be populated with your data from the class database. This should make sending changes easier, and eliminate any problems some of you may have had due to configuration problems on your PC. Pressing the “Submit” button generates an electronic mail message to me on the server. The “Submitted By”, “Your Internet Mail Address”, and “Updating Instructions” fields at the top of the form are new. The first 2 fields are required. To send information for another classmate, merely press the “Reset” button at the bottom of the form to clear all optional fields. If you are not logged into the system, you will be presented with a blank form.

3. There is a new “My Information” button on the home page. The “My Information” page contains a “Review Information” button for you to review your information in the class database, an “Update Information” button to send changes to me, and a “Change Password” button for you to change your password. The “Review Information” button displays your data in the class database. It takes the place of the review form that was displayed before accessing the Class Directory on the old Website. The “Update Information” button currently takes you to the “Send Information” page. Before too many months, I’m hoping to be able to allow you to directly update your information in the class database – but this will take time to develop. However, with this version of the Website, you are able to change your password online. For security reasons, I recommend that you change your password. If you forget your password, please contact me so that I can reset it for you.

4. There is a new “Photos From Classmates” button on the “Photos” page. Pictures are randomly displayed each time the form is loaded. We’re beginning to accumulate recent photos from classmates. As the number grows, we’ll expand the number of pictures displayed.

I hope you like the changes. Please contact me directly at ChuckKosy@Kosykowski.com or by telephone on 480-981-8316 if you’re having problems or errors are occurring. By the way, do you know where any of the “missing” classmates are?

Lowering the bark, er bar

My distinguished co-bloggers clearly have high standards for this site. But they are letting me contribute anyway. So here's something for those of you who, like me, never got around to going to the Ellensburg Rodeo and have a little hollow spot in your hometown history.

No, I'm not talking about dressing up like a dude and heading for the fairgrounds on Labor Day. (I'm lowering the bar, remember?) Yee Haw, Wiener Wranglers. It's the new 21st Century E-burg E-vent: Dachshunds on Parade. Check it out.

Okay, you missed it this year. That means you have plenty of time to plan ahead. Picture this, if you can. You pull up to a free parking space on Main Street on a warm weekend morning in June. Not much happening yet. No traffic. Bit of a breeze greets you when you step out of the car, and what's that sound? "Yip, yip, yip." Huh? "Yip, yip." Put your ear to the ground and follow the sound. You'll see long-haired dachshunds and dachshunds with spots. Dachshunds on leashes, in backpacks, in strollers and carried in arms. You'll see wiener dogs wearing buns and mustard and doggies in tutus. In addition to the canine costume competition and races there's a parade, of course.

Eat your heart out, Thomas Wolfe. You can go home again.

Margaret MacLennan Turns 100

This past weekend I made the trip to Ellensburg and stopped by to pay my respects to Margaret MacLennan who recently turned 100. She remains at her home at 808 East Capital Street. She would love to hear from those who remember her 7th and 8th grade classes in English at Morgan Junior High School. The Daily Record has had two articles on her birthday.

History of the Kittitas Valley

There are three histories of the Kittitas Valley that were published many years ago that include short write-ups of many homestead and early families in the valley. The Kittitas Valley portion is included in a larger history including more of Central Washington. Many of our classmates trace their roots back to that pioneer era and may find these resources interesting. The first link takes you to a history from around 1906. The other two are from around 1919 or so. They are:

http://www.archive.org/details/illustratedhistorkykc00inte
http://www.archive.org/details/historyofyakimav01lyma
http://www.archive.org/details/historyofyakimav02lyma

Enjoy!

Other Archival Sources

Central Washington University has a Living History Project which has placed on the Internet the transcripts of their interviews with people associated with the University. Included is a fascinating interview with Margaret MacLennan, who taught many of us in the 7th and 8th grade at Morgan Junior High. Margaret turns 100 this year and is still living in her home on East Capitol. She is a marvel. Here is the link to that site: http://www.lib.cwu.edu/archive/finding/fa039-05-78.htm

Ellensburg Daily Record Archives

Google has digitized and archived the Ellensburg Daily Record. They have done the same for the Ellensburgh Capital (an earlier newspaper in Eburg that used the h from Pittsburgh). You can locate the archive at the link by following the instructions below:


Go to www.google.com
Click on "News"
Click on "News Archive Search"
Click on "Advanced Archive Search" which is just to the right of the button "Show Timeline"
This takes you to this page:
http://news.google.com/archivesearch/advanced_search?hl=en
In the source field put Ellensburg Daily Record
Put a name in the search field


Have fun!