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Redmond Historical Society Newsletter March 2001
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March 2001
Vol. III. No. 3
The
Redmond Recorder
In This Issue…
RHS Receives Grant ...... 1
Moments in Time ........... 1
Inquiring Minds ............. 2
Crossroads Root Fair ...... 3
Derby Days .................... 3
Artist Dorisjean Colvin .. 3
Just Before Valentines ... 3
Remembering ................. 4
The Editor’s Corner ....... 5
Meeting Highlights ........ 6
The Redmond Historical Society Old Redmond Schoolhouse Community Center
16600 NE 80th St., Room 106, Redmond, WA. 98052 425-885-2919
The City of Redmond, through its
Tourism Grant Program, has
awarded the Redmond Historical So-
ciety $4,000.00 to purchase comput-
er equipment and a video camera.
This will allow us to maintain and
view our Web site from our office as
well as do more videotaping of local
histories. As part of the grant, tour-
ists and the general public are en-
couraged to come into our office in
the Old Schoolhouse and use the
Newsworthy Notes
computer to find out about our histo-
ry.
The equipment should be hooked up
for our next meeting so stop by the
office afterward to check it out. The
bigger goal is to spread the word
about historic Redmond via the In-
ternet.
The program is funded by a ho-
tel/motel tax and our thanks goes out
to the City for making it happen.
Thank you to the Society members
who helped with the Moments in
Time filming: Larry Hoger, Mar-
garet Wiese, Phil Roe, Margy
Rockenbeck, Pat Jovag, and Jerry
Hardy. These resourceful assistants
enjoyed the seniors’ stories of ―Old
Redmond‖ in which a picture clearly
emerged of a friendly small town
where everyone knew everyone and
neighbors helped neighbors. While
much follow-up work and editing
remain on this worthy project, the
preliminary filming was itself an his-
toric gathering of long-time resi-
dents, among them, two sets of
- Redmond Historical Society Receives Grant -
Submissions
If you have an article,
news item or memory
that you would like to
share with our mem-
bers, please send it to:
Walt Buchman
10323 162nd
Place NE
Redmond, WA 98052
or
wbuchm1@juno.com
- Moments in Time Big Success -
brothers and one of sisters: Daryl
& Ward Martin, Glenn & Roy
Lampaert, Lois Phillips Hudson
& Patricia Phillips Babcock.
Others filmed were Rose Weiss,
Eileen McCoskrie, Bob Sollitto,
Kay Brulé, Liz Carlson Co-
ward, Amo Marr, Jutta A. Rhi-
nehart, Roy Buckley, Evelyn
King Gilbert, Charlotte Ever-
son Hahnlen and Lester Olson.
A few of the subjects shared dur-
ing the two hour taping: hunting
skunks in Happy Valley, girls’
high school basketball in the early
“History is
happening in
Redmond!”
At our newsletter
deadline on February
24th
, we are proud to
announce that 100
Redmond Historical
Society members
have paid their mem-
bership dues for
2001. Thanks for
your support!
Redmond Recorder Page 2
1930’s, the Old Soldiers Land Grant,
annual PTA circuses, the Old Brick
Road, ―batch babies‖, local bands and
community dances, Ladies of the Lake,
Girl Scouting, dairy farms, Prohibition,
the Minute Men, Derby Days, the vo-
lunteer fire department, forest fires,
harvesting cascara bark, and the winter
where we had 10 days of 10 degree
weather and folks skated across Lake
Sammamish.
Credit for the conception, orchestration
and execution of this splendid project
belongs to Rondinne Hills. As the mo-
mentum and scope of ―Moments in
Time‖ grew and broadened, Rondinne
met each organizational challenge with
admirable ingenuity, her energy and
enthusiasm never flagging. As a new
Society member (and a recent immi-
grant to the U.S.) Rondinne sought
community involvement as an outreach
project of the Landmark Education
Program. In an amazingly brief period
of a few weeks, she oversaw this initial
step in producing a memorable history
video, bringing together old-timers,
technicians, and Society support in a
successful cooperative venture. We are
grateful to you, Rondinne, and we’re
very proud to have you in the Redmond
Historical Society.
Rondinne asked that we include the
names of the project’s crew so that they
could be thanked. So here is a list of
people who worked on that project:
Bob Watson – Photographer: Owner of
Slicker Video Productions, a local pro-
ducer of corporate, event and documen-
tary video programs; Devin Cahn –
Grip: Student at the Environmental and
Adventure School;
Steve McDonald – Boom Operator: Do-
cumentary Producer and Director for
Sirius Pictures, located in Seattle; Pa-
trick Hirsch – Cable Access Coordina-
tor for the City of Redmond; Diane
Guthrie – Videographer: Diane specia-
lizes is recording oral histories and is
currently working with the Nordic Her-
itage Museum in Ballard on their ―Va-
nishing Generations‖ project to record
the stories of over 100 long-time Bal-
lard residents; Mark Fisher – Video-
grapher: Student at Bellevue Communi-
ty College, David Christie – Video-
grapher: Student at Bellevue Communi-
ty College; Julie Chytle – Photographer:
Currently studying videography at 911
Media.
And lastly, Rondinne especially wanted
to thank Naomi Hardy and Miguel
Llanos for their enthusiasm and readi-
ness to take on this project.
“I gave mouth-
to-mouth resus-
citation to Tor
one time at the
pool. His wife
was there, and
we were friends
from then on.”
John Couch,
remembering
Tor Magnussen
"Unless all of
us become
aware of the
importance of
our heritage
and take
action to pre-
serve it, our
past won't have
a future."
Richard Moe,
President of the
National Trust
for Historic
Preservation
- Inquiring Minds Want to Know… -
…about the peat factory in Happy Val-
ley. Dee Carrel says the Sammamish
Heritage Society is just beginning to
investigate this interesting business
from the past.
… a Mr. McKay who owned the Cor-
ner Tavern.
…Cleveland Street’s namesake. Was it
named for President Grover Cleveland
or for someone local? We found Harry
Cleveland’s 50th
wedding anniversary
announced in a 1950 East Side Journal,
a 1968 obituary for James Cleveland,
and a 1969 obituary for Robert Cleve-
land, all of Redmond. Any connections
to the street?
The Crossroads Roots Fair is at
Crossroads Mall on Saturday,
March 10th
. (Yes, this is also the
day of our monthly meeting.)
Thanks to Natalie (Hardy) Fish-
er, our display is covered during
our meeting. In the afternoon, we
need folks to man the RHS table
in one hour shifts from 3-5pm.
This is an exciting event featur-
ing many people interested in our
area culture and history. Various
Help Wanted
- Crossroads Roots Fair -
I love a parade – especially the
Redmond Bike Derby parade!
We’ve got two ponies and a wa-
gon thanks to Dave and Diane
Harder of Woodinville. Now we
need the people!
We would like to see the Red-
mond Historical Society have a
presence in the Bike Derby pa-
rade this year. But we need ideas
and manpower. If you have old-
time costumes, toys, etc., or if
- Derby Days -
Redmond Recorder Page 3
People and Places
Her well-known sketches hang
near Mayor Rosemary Ives’ of-
fice door, and many members
like Tom Thomas and former
mayor Chris Himes have her
artwork hanging in their homes.
But for years, no one knew
where to find the artist who cap-
tured so many Redmond scenes
in the 1970’s and 80’s. At last,
Margaret Wiese used the Inter-
net to discover Dorisjean Colvin
now living in Olympia.
At 73, Dorisjean still paints every
day, frequently using her old
photographs of Redmond build-
ings and barns as subjects in her
work. She has always especially
enjoyed drawing buildings, and
sketched many of the old busi-
nesses downtown, like the train
- Lost and Found: Artist Dorisjean Colvin -
- Just Before Valentine’s Day -
Just before Valentine’s Day at
our last meeting, Jennie Chapin
Bryden won two Society T-shirts
for having been married the
longest [to the same person]. In
1928, Jennie married Charles
“Buster” Bryden, owner of
Bryden Trucking in Redmond,
and in the following years, they
had 5 children.
While not married the longest
[only 38 years!], Dale and Jo
Ann Potter have known one
another since kindergarten in
New York. Both are retired and
busier than ever. Jo Ann’s in and
out of our office almost daily or-
ganizing us, clipboard in hand.
Dale’s our indispensable king of
ethnic groups provide dancing
and singing, so it is a festive
time. Sign up to help! We bet
you’ll see ―someone you haven’t
seen in years!‖
you would like to help in any
way, please call Jo Ann Potter
at 425-822-3322 or send her an
e-mail to:
threeoaksloj@juno.com.
You’ll be glad you did!
depot and the Corner Tavern. She
had no idea that the Society’s
been searching for her, but she’s
glad to be found, and will soon
join us at a future meeting to be
announced.
Redmond Recorder Page 4
Remembering
loff wrote, ―It is prophetic that
ultimately the hand of time will
obliterate Redmond’s remaining
blacksmith shop…and that’s one
of the reasons why local artist
Doris Colvin is capturing it on
canvas before that happens.‖
Colvin’s sketch of Askew’s shop
can be seen today in the Socie-
ty’s office, on loan from Gerry
Radtke Mellquest. Thanks to
Carl Jeppesen, we also have a
photograph of Askew’s Black-
smith which Carl took shortly
before it was demolished. Carl’s
photograph will be used in the
walking tour brochure now being
compiled of our historic down-
town.
After pulling down the
building, although Ben was at an
age when most men retire, he
built another shop, this one in his
yard at 7903 170th
Place. Benja-
min Edward Askew continued
his blacksmithing work until he
became ill at age 90.
His daughter Nancy
Askew Wentzel remembers liv-
ing in the house behind the Red-
mond Way blacksmith shop
when her family first came to
town just after WWII. Their
Harold Everson told lo-
cal historian and reporter Oscar
Roloff that the pair of black-
smiths ―had a special stall for the
tough ones and, as one walked by
the shop, they could hear a lot of
hoofs banging off the walls as
well as considerable cussing.‖
Harold was talking about Dur-
koop and Major, and Ed John-
son added that the blacksmiths
―got their share of hoof marks on
various parts of their anatomy.‖
According to Roloff,
when the horse shoeing partners
―tossed in their tongs and let the
embers die down, the Scanlon
brothers took over, cleaned out
the horse end of the business, and
began a car repair shop.‖ The
blacksmiths’ first location across
from the Putnam Building was
later occupied by the Sammamish
Valley News. Their second site
was most recently Gordon
Woolslayer’s Towne Unfinished
Furniture.
Thirty years ago, local
horse rancher Ralph Dodd ex-
plained why most horse shoers
took their tools to the job: ―The
danger is too great for horse
owners to risk taking animals to
town shops or elsewhere for
shoeing.‖ As Redmond grew, it
was inevitable that horse shoers
would abandon the downtown
area.
In the late 1970s, just two
blocks southeast of Durkoop and
Major’s second shop, Benjamin
Askew hooked his old US Army
truck up to his wood-frame shop
on Redmond Way, and with the
help of his son-in-law Alan
Wentzel, pulled down the last
blacksmith shop in town. For
more than 35 years, Askew’s
Blacksmith had stood flush to the
sidewalk where 166th
Avenue
ended, and where today the Ave-
nue has been extended to carry
traffic south toward Redmond
Town Center.
A former dairy farmer,
Ben Askew left his welder’s job
at Houghton’s Lake Washington
Shipyards in 1945, and opened a
blacksmith shop on the same spot
where, in 1939, W.E. Jewett
built and operated a previous
blacksmith’s, the White Front
Shop, just east of the Mond
Theater.
Shortly before the old
shop was demolished, Oscar Ro-
how-to and recently completed
some wonderful remodeling in
our room, throwing out ideas as
he works, like, ―Maybe Redmond
should have a bicycle museum.‖
To this, Jo Ann’s quick to remind
him he already has enough
projects in the works.
Redmond Recorder Page 5
permanent home was a block
north of where the American Le-
gion Hall stood until recently.
Nancy also recalls her father
buying a few acres on the east
side of 148th
, south of the Morelli
chicken ranch, acreage Ben
called ―The Goat Farm.‖ We
neglected to ask if there were any
goats on the farm.
Why would we even ask?
In all his decades as a black-
smith, Ben Askew never shoed a
horse. ―Horses kick,‖ he used to
explain. The shop’s specialty was
welding, and while plenty of
farm equipment was repaired
there over the years, much of
Ben’s work was on residents’
pipes and vehicles. One of Ben’s
smithing jobs did greatly benefit
a horse, however. In 1971, Red-
mond veterinarian Dr. Peter
Dalla Pozza worked with Ben to
create an aluminum peg leg for a
breeding mare whose leg had
been amputated.
In researching the black-
smiths of Redmond, Ben’s
daughter Nancy was a valuable
resource, as was her brother Jer-
ry Askew, a 1957 graduate of
LWHS who worked alongside
his father in the early 1970s—in
the last blacksmith shop in Red-
mond.
The Editor’s Corner
Two weeks ago, the family and I drove to Spo-
kane for a few days to see the sights and visit the
Healing Rooms that are located there. As a city,
Spokane is okay. Nestled in a broad valley, it
neither made me want to stay nor made me want
to flee. All in all, it is a nice town.
We would drive downtown from our motel and
park in a parking garage. Then we would walk to
our destination. And as we walked I noticed
more and more just how many older (and old)
buildings there are in Spokane. In some areas of
town, it was almost like going back into time.
And I thought, ―Wow! What an opportunity!
This place is crawling with old buildings! And
they’re not just small ones either. Some of these
things are 4-5 stories high! I hope that someone
see these things and wants to preserve them!‖
We don’t have as many old buildings in Red-
mond as they do in Spokane and most of our
sites aren’t as big. But, then again, our town isn’t
quite the same size as their town. But one thing
we do have is that spirit that seeks to preserve,
restore and re-dedicate our history. We haven’t
missed our opportunity. And for that we can be
proud. You’re doing a great job, members. I’ll
see you on March 10th
at the Old Redmond
Schoolhouse Community Center at 10:30.
- Walt Buchman
Redmond Recorder Page 6
Meeting Highlights Number 18
February 10, 2001
Attending: Betty Buckley Anderson, Kay Nichols Brulé, Jennie Bryden, Angi Buchman, Rachel Buch-
man, Walt Buchman, Richard Cole, Liz Carlson Coward, Margaret Doman, Evelyn King Gilbert, Jerry
Hardy, Naomi Hardy, Chris Himes, Larry Hoger, Harvey Iverson, Pat Weiss Jovag, Barbara Weiss Joyce,
Judy Aries Lang, Norma Leicester, Miguel Llanos, Marge Mann, Bill Marr, Clare Marr, Carl Marrs, Pat
Marrs, Joanne Bryden Marsh, Daryl Martin, Ward Martin, Doris Hebner McFarland, Gerry Radtke Mell-
quest, Dale Potter, Jo Ann Potter, Phil Roe, Patsy Cook Rosenbach, Carol Radtke Semandiris, Richard
Shank, Ilya Smirnov, Veronica Smirnov, Bob Sollitto, Aisha Strange, Charlene Sugden, Jerry Torell, Judy
Gilbert Turner, Kris Underhill, Helen Usibelli, Don Watts, Rose I. Weiss and Margaret Evers Wiese.
Treasurer Phil Roe reported our net worth on January 13, 2001 is $15400.78. The $3,000 Municipal
Funding money has been received. The $4,000 grant from 1% hotel/motel tax has been approved for our
purchasing a computer, digital video camera and software. The fixed expenses of the Society are presently
$622/month. A new budget process is ―in place‖ wherein all expense reimbursements are tied to budget
line items.
Our guest speaker was Richard Shank, lead spokesman for Education Hill Wetlands and Wildlife Preser-
vation and Protection Association. Richard spoke about recent Education Hill history in light of recent
land development, wetlands and the Nike Site. Copies of Richard’s presentation outline are available for
review at the Society’s ORSCC office.
Following Richard’s presentation, we discussed William Perrigo’s coal mines on Education Hill, and the
location of Perrigo Springs on the east side of Education Hill.
Phil Roe, recording
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