Friday, July 29, 2011

Marv and Nettie Karn to celebrate 60th wedding anniversary


Marv and Nettie Karn of Pierce will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary Saturday, Aug. 6 at the Pierce 1860 Days.

They met in Salem, OR in the summer of 1949 at a roller skating rink, where Nettie worked, and two years later married in Vancouver, WA on Aug. 18, 1951.

Marv served four years in the U.S. Air Force as an A&E Mechanic and later earned his wings as an aircraft engineer and crew chief. After an honorable discharge in January 1955, Marv worked for the State of Oregon for 10 years, seven months as a correctional officer for the state penitentiary in Salem.

On Dec. 13, 1965 they moved to Pierce for work at Jaype Plywood Mill, retiring in Aug. 1994.

Nettie cooked at the old Pierce school and 25 years as cook at local restaurants in Pierce, while raising four sons, and some friends’ children that finished high school at Timberline, when their parents moved away.

Nettie is known for spoiling all of the neighbor kids and dogs. Her cooking is famous as well as her wit, when it comes to her “nasty Nettie’s killer cakes” (hotcakes that they patch the potholes in the road with) and her pies, homemade soup, chili and pastry.

Marv loves hunting, camping, fishing and the outdoor style of Pierce and most of the good people of Pierce.

The Karns will be out of town on their anniversary date, Aug. 18.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Son of OHS grad named outstanding basketball player


Ten–year-old Braeden Wilson, the son of former Orofino High School and Lewis-Clark State College basketball standout Zach Wilson, recently attended Fred Mercer’s 34th Annual Kamiah Basketball Camp.

Braeden, of Lewiston, who will be in sixth grade this fall, competed in the minor league division at the camp. The minor league division is comprised of boys entering grades six through eight.

Despite his young age, Braeden proved to be an outstanding player, a scoring and rebounding powerhouse. At the awards ceremony on the last day of camp, Braeden was selected Most Valuable Player in the minor league division.

Camp founder and organizer Fred Mercer said that the award goes to “the one player in each age group that a coach would most like to build a team around.”

Braeden is the grandson of Stewart and Le Ann Wilson and Kenda and Bob Tribble, all of Orofino.

Monday, July 25, 2011

Read Pierce student's paper about U.N. Pilgrimage


Jonathan Syed in New York, one of the cities he visited this summer, on a United Nations Pilgrimage Tour, along with 160 other delegates. Jonathan was sponsored by the White Pine Rebekah Lodge.
UN Pilgrimage
By Jonathan Syed, Pierce
  The UN Pilgrimage Tour is a great experience; I am glad that I made the small amount of effort required to be part of this trip. To apply for the opportunity provided by the local Rebekahs Lodge, I had to write a three-five minute speech and take a written test about the United Nations. As the winning applicant, I won an all-expense-paid two-week trip to the East Coast.
  During my trip, in the summer of 2011, I traveled through many exciting places, such as Washington D.C., Gettysburg, Philadelphia, Ottawa and New York City. I joined 160 other delegates from around the country who were also given this opportunity to be a part of the trip of a lifetime.
  Our tour groups showed us around the historical aspects of the visited cities. In Washington D.C., my group and I saw the White House, toured Congress, The House of Representatives, and the Lincoln Memorial. On top of that, we were able to explore the incredible Smithsonian Museums. I enjoyed the Air and Space Museum the most out of all of the Smithsonian Museums.
  At Gettysburg, we viewed all of the sites that were involved in the battle. In Philadelphia, I saw the Liberty Bell and toured Independence Hall, where the Constitution was first signed. While on the long bus ride to Ottawa, our tour guides stopped and showed us around Niagara Falls.
  Finally, in New York City all of the delegates got to walk through Times Square, go to the top of the Rockefeller Center, tour Liberty Island and The Statue of Liberty, and also got to attend the Broadway play, “Sister Act.” I enjoyed that play so much that I would like to attend more Broadway plays in the future.
  Out of all of our stops, New York City was my favorite. There is so much to see there that it was impossible to see it all in the three short days we spent there.
  In addition to all of the great places that I visited, I made friendships that will last a lifetime. It took awhile for everyone to become friends, but when we did, things got a lot more fun. I plan on telling everyone in my area how great the trip was and strongly recommend them to apply for it as well.
  Finally, a big thank-you to our local Rebekah Lodge members for making this opportunity available and selling the many raffle tickets to pay all my expenses. Thank you also to the East Coast Odd Fellows and Rebekah members that made all our meals and dedicated their time to being our groups’ tour leaders. Your efforts were greatly appreciated by all of the delegates.

Friday, July 22, 2011

Duffer Madness golf tournament is Sunday

By Jeff Jones, Tournament Director

The Orofino Maniac Boosters is proud to again sponsor the annual Duffer Madness golf tournament. This 18-hole, four-person scramble tournament will be held on Sunday, July 24 at the Orofino Golf and Country Club. Sign-up begins at with tee off at 8:30 a.m. Lunch will be provided. Each golfer will also receive a goodie bag and special Maniac ball marker.

The Hole in One contest offers prizes including $5,000, your choice of premium golf equipment, your choice from a premium electronics package and airline tickets for 2 to your destination.  We would love to give away these prizes and invite you to win!

We will also have prizes for various contests such as longest drive, longest putt, and closest to the pin for both the men and women. We will have a raffle for golf packages at area golf courses, Booster merchandise and other items. If you would like to purchase chances on the raffle please contact a Booster board member.

Please come out and participate in this important event. Your contribution on behalf of the student athletes and Orofino Maniac Boosters will be greatly appreciated. 

Sign-ups are being accepted at Orofino Golf and Country Club or you can call 476-3117 to sign up via telephone.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

My Favorite Memory

In celebration of Clearwater County’s 100th Birthday, the Clearwater Tribune would like to publish our readers’ favorite memory of their time in this area. Here are the latest submissions.

Submitted by Eunice Weinmann Kincaid

My name is Eunice Weinmann Kincaid. I live in Damascus, Oregon, now, but I lived in Orofino from 1938 to 1956, with a couple of summers back there while I was in college in Lewiston. I have no photographs of my 18 years in Orofino, and I have a thousand memories. One of my best memories was in a playoff basketball game in Lewiston in 1954-1955. Our band was there, and the electricity suddenly went off.

As good Maniacs, as one man, we began to play the fight song in the dark. That was electrifying! Our team won and went on to win the division. I always thought that I was the one to suggest playing our team song, but in later years, I have heard several others claim the credit - so I think the idea hit a bunch of us at the same time.

Submitted by John R. Werner, New York

In the summer of 1962 my bride Lucy (whom I’d met at the Univ. of Wash. journalism school) and I returned from Pittsburgh following my graduation there in printing management, to produce the 50th anniversary edition of the Clearwater Tribune, then owned by my mom and dad Bob and Vera Werner.

We worked all summer long preparing the extra pages that were printed and accumulated for assembly and distribution in August. That made for lots of extra work for printers Julian (foreman) and Jack Dahl who typeset all the material on the old Linotype and Intertype machines, and for pressman Wally Rugg.  Leonard Knotts may was an apprentice printer along about then, as well. This is but one wonderful memory of my work there, good newspaper training before joining The New York Times Western Edition in Los Angeles late that summer.

Earlier, about 1955, before Dworshak Dam was built (named for the late Senator Henry Dworshak), the Idaho State Land Board would make an annual week-long junket down the North Fork on big rubber rafts used by PFI for its annual log drive. Learning about and seeing first hand land and, importantly, sustained forest utilization was the mission of the trip. CTPA chief Bert Curtis hosted the governor and legislators among other dignitaries on this cruise from Boehl’s cabin each summer.

That left me and the office staff to produce the Clearwater Tribune while dad floated with the others on this trip.  On that Thursday morning I flew with bush pilot Tom Kiiskila in his Piper Cub into the North Fork region to drop the latest edition of the Clearwater Tribune (and Lewiston Tribune—we were ecumenical) to the travelers on the beach. As we approached the beach spot, Tom flipped open the Piper’s right windows, rolled the Cub up on its right side, so, leaning out I was looking straight down at the ground.

Over the roar Tom shouted to me to make the drop. “Make dam sure you throw the bundle hard enough to miss the plane’s tail,” he cautioned. I did. Earlier, in 1948, dad had worked in Wash. D.C. as administrative assistant for his old friend Sen. Dworshak. [That spring, (I was in the 5th grade) we lived in WDC and thus missed the flood of 1948.] This friendship persisted and when Congress approved the Dam, it and the fish hatchery that followed were subsequently named for him.

Submitted by Joe Goffinet, Lewiston

It was the fall of 1960 and the school year had just started. The County Fair was three weeks away. In those days the Junior Class, then the class of 1962, by tradition was in charge of the high school float for the parade. We were an innovative group and we decided that we had to have the best float ever, not just from the school, but from the whole community, but we had only three weeks.

I am almost certain that the theme that year was "Grow with Idaho" or something close to that. We decided that our float would have the theme of "Idaho Grows Through Education". That part was easy. Then we had to get down to the nitty gritty. Bill Cummings gave us a trailer and a place to build it. His shop was up on the hill behind the elementary school. I think that now it is the Shamion Body Shop.

That was one hurdle overcome, but what would the float look like? We decided that we would do a big three dimensional state of Idaho and put all the institutions of higher education on it. We built the frame in the shape of the state and then covered it with chicken wire. We also had to have a skirt of chicken wire around the trailer.

This "Idaho" was very big and very tall. All that chicken wire had to be filled with napkins. Of course blue and white would have been perfect but for whatever reason we could not get enough blue napkins, so it ended up being pink and white. But size was not enough for us. We wanted to Wow the crowd so we managed to figure out a way for the "Idaho" to be on a pivot and it would rotate. Butch Engstrom won the honor of lying on his back and rotating the Idaho. It was so tall that we had to lift utility lines along the way to get it to the parade.

This was a major undertaking stuffing all those napkins in the chicken wire. We recruited everyone we could to help. We did not have a lot of time to build this thing and we worked late into every night to finish. No one would go home for dinner, so one night my mom cooked a big pot of chili for all of us. It was very easy for us because I lived very near. We ate and went back to stuffing napkins.

I do not remember who paid for all of those napkins. I think we had a small budget from the school, but I am sure that parents pitched in for most of them. We recruited any body that could help stuff napkins, from all classes. Having girlfriends and/or boy friends from other classes helped.

The day of the parade we were still finishing up. But it was done. Butch was put inside and guys who had to lift up utility lines to get the float downtown and finally we got the float down to Johnson Ave.(It is still Main Street to me).

I must say that it was magnificent. I know that there had never been a float like it in the parade and I am not sure there has ever been another one like it. In addition the first color photo to be used in the annual "The Prospector" was in the 1961 edition.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Clearwater County recycling program

Submitted by the Clearwater County Commissioners

The Clearwater County Recycling Program has been a great success. Recent gains in market prices for recyclables have turned in great returns for the program. Sales of scrap metal collected over a one year period brought a check for over $37,000 from Sutton Salvage.

This money will be used to offset the increasing costs of trucking and land filling Clearwater County’s garbage. With this increased revenue and the corresponding money saved by reducing the amount of garbage land filled there should be no need to raise the County’s solid waste fees. The cardboard recycling has also benefited from increased sale prices. Part of the proceeds will be issued to expand the program in Weippe-Pierce areas.

There are a lot of logistical details to be worked out but the County is committed to making this work. The County has several partners in their efforts including the City of Pierce, and AITCO (which is outside of Weippe); Simmons Sanitation dba NADL in the Orofino area and an army of volunteers who help in the separation, collection and transportation of the recyclable cardboard. Riverview Construction generously donated their time and building materials to construct several collection stations that are in place in the Orofino area.

Ted Leach personally donated over 1000 hours of his time to the cardboard program. The Commissioners would like to thank everyone who is involved with this program and encourage anybody who is interested to get involved. If anyone would like to help they can call Stan Leach at 476-7132 to find out how.

Another bright spot in our efforts to reduce costs was started by Road and Bridge Supervisor Rob Simon. The severe windstorm we had last November generated a mountain of brush from blown down trees. Instead of paying to landfill this material, Mr. Simon contacted a local hog fuel grinding contractor. They were able to grind up almost all of that material at no cost to the County. The County is currently working on a program where all woody material would be separated and ground up for hog fuel instead of paying to landfill it. The Commissioners would like to thank Rob Simon and Helen Criss for their ideas and efforts to always get the vest value out of every dollar spent.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

1860 Days 2011 Grand Marshals Marv and Nettie Karn


Narrative by their son Mike Karn; with added information submitted by Marv and Nettie, in parenthesis.

Marv and Nettie celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on Aug. 18.

My mom and dad met in Salem, OR.  After they married, the Air Force took them to Arizona and Texas, then back to Salem after an honorable discharge (Korean War Vet - Jan. 4, 1951 to Jan. 5, 1955; USAF Crew Chief).

Dad took a job as a correctional officer at the Oregon State Penitentiary. Dad was a member of the shooting team and won many awards for his marksmanship. While employed at the pen, he volunteered to work at the Forest Camp on the Wilson River near Tillamook, OR.  The Forest Camp was manned by convicts and a small group of guards. They would travel around the Northwest when fire season was on and fight forest fires!

I can remember Dad being gone for two to three weeks on big fires. This was Dad’s chance to earn some decent money! Sometimes when he was gone, Mom would take us three older boys out to the strawberry and bean fields so she could make some money to help put food on the table.

Then one day, interrupting plans to go to Alaska, came the ad in the Oregonian.

I remember it was alarge ad advertising for workers to come to Pierce with 20 years guaranteed jobs working at Jaype Plywood, with lots of fishing and hunting as a bi-product. Dreamland for Dad and us kids. My dad was more than happy to work plenty of hours to get ahead. (Moved to Pierce, Dec. 13, 1965). We got rid of the Fiat 600 and got a brand new 1966 Toyota Land Cruiser with a winch. We traveled the backwoods and hunted and fished every chance we could as Dad was an avid outdoorsman, with four boys to pull winch line. Mom was a bright fixture with all the kids and later, the early morning loggers and mill workers. (Nettie cooked for Pierce High School and 25 + years in restaurants in Pierce).

She was always ready to tell you how bad you looked or how dumb you were. And, where else could you hear the cook say, “Aw, Fishguts”. Her homemade soups and pies were popular with the patrons of the Clearwater Café where she last worked with her good friend Bobby Jo Mc Millen. (Nettie is known for her hot cakes “Nettie’s Killer Cakes). People who were around then will agree what a pair they made. 

Mom and Dad both are known to be as good of workers as it would be possible to find. Ask anyone. Mom and Dad are living comfortably in the remodeled home that we moved to in 1965, on  Ash Court in Whispering Pines. (Marv retired from Potlatch, Jaype Mill in August, 1994. He served four years on the Pierce City Council in the ‘70s. He was an active member of the Odd Fellows in Pierce. Marv and Nettie raised four sons in Pierce, Marv, Jr., Eric, Mike and Gary).

Monday, July 18, 2011

Orofino teacher among 37 to spend week exploring 1950s Cold War history

Pam Danielson, a teacher at Orofino Junior Senior High School, was among 37 teachers from around the state selected to attend the Idaho Humanities Council’s 2011 weeklong summer institute, titled Are You Now or Have You Ever Been…Fear, Suspicion, and Incivility in Cold War America, scheduled for July 24-29 at the College of Idaho in Caldwell.

Supported in part by the IHC’s Endowment for Humanities Education, and generous grants from The Whittenberger Foundation and State Farm Insurance, the institute will immerse teachers in an exploration of the Cold War and its legacy for domestic and foreign policy. 

Teachers will receive room and meals for the week, texts and curriculum materials, and optional college credit. 

The week will feature lectures, panels, and films on the McCarthy hearings of the 1950s and their impact on American constitutional law and civil liberties; popular culture of the 1950s and how Cold War fears were interpreted in American literature, music, art, and film; the history of the arms race, and more.

Participants also will learn about 1950s political history of Idaho and the Intermountain West and its lingering impacts. 

Lead scholars for the week include David Adler, Director, James and Louise McClure Center, University of Idaho, Katherine Aiken, Dean, College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences, University of Idaho, and Ron Hatzenbuehler, Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Letters, Idaho State University. 

The week also will include several special lectures that will be free and open to the public.

Nicholas Thompson, a senior editor at The New Yorker and author of The Hawk and the Dove, will deliver the keynote address, The Hawk and the Dove: Lessons for Today’s Foreign Policy from Paul Nitze and George Kennan.”

David Walker, a Boise State University military historian, will present an overview of the Korean War.  Marc Johnson, longtime political analyst and partner with Gallatin Public Affairs in Boise, will present “The Singing Senator and Little Joe from Idaho: The Cold War and Idaho Politics.”

Ellen Schrecker, professor of history at Yeshiva University and author of Age of McCarthyism will present “McCarthyism Was More than McCarthy: Anticommunist Political Repression during the Early Cold War.”  F. Ross Peterson, Utah State University Emeritus Professor of history, will present “McCarthyism and Mountain West Politics, 1950-57.”

The Idaho Humanities Council is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting greater public awareness, appreciation, and understanding of the humanities. The IHC hosts an institute every summer that explores different humanities topics and themes.

For more information about this summer’s institute, see IHC’s website at www.idahohumanities.org or contact IHC Grants & Fiscal Officer Cindy Wang at 208-345-5346, or cindy@idahohumanities.org.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement being prepared for proposed land exchange

Orofino, ID—The Forest Service has signed an addendum to the 2008 feasibility analysis for the Upper Lochsa Land Exchange.  The addendum takes a closer look at the federal lands recently proposed for exchange by the Idaho County Commissioners.

According to Nez Perce-Clearwater Forest Supervisor Rick Brazell, the Idaho County Commissioners objected to all action alternatives presented in the 2010 Draft Environmental Impact Statement because of potential negative economic impacts to Idaho County’s tax base.

The Commissioners countered with a new alternative that identifies approximately 45,000 acres of federal lands entirely within Idaho County that could be considered for exchange for the roughly 40,000 acres of Western Pacific land within the Upper Lochsa drainage.  Those lands are also located within Idaho County.

The 45,000 acres identified by Idaho County exceeds what is needed to complete the exchange and will be refined through future public involvement processes.

Brazell said he welcomes the alternative as he seeks a solution to what has been a contentious proposal.  At the same time, he acknowledged the new alternative is likely outside of the agency’s authority because the Forest Service only has authority to approve a value-for-value exchange.

Idaho County has indicated they plan to pursue legislation that would allow an acre-for-acre exchange with the provision that additional revenues generated by the swap would be allocated to watershed restoration efforts in the Upper Lochsa lands.

Project Manager Teresa Trulock said the next phase in the process is to develop a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement which presents and analyzes the new proposed alternative.  That would be followed by a 45-day public comment period.

She expects the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement to be released sometime in October.

The Upper Lochsa Land Exchange was initiated in 2008.  It originally involved the exchange of approximately 40,000 acres of” Western Pacific Timber LLC lands that were interspersed with Forest Service lands near Lolo Pass for scattered parcels of national forest system lands located within Benewah, Bonner, Clearwater, Idaho, Kootenai and Latah counties.

The Forest Service sought to acquire the lands to block up ownership in the headwaters of the Upper Lochsa River.  The lands also hold significant aquatic, terrestrial and cultural values.

Information regarding the exchange including the 2008 Feasibility Analysis and the July 2011 Addendum can be viewed at the Clearwater National Forest website http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/clearwater/ under the heading “Projects.”

For more information, contact Teresa Trulock at (208) 935-4256.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Bonner Mountain Music Festival July 23

The Bonner Mountain Music Festival will be Saturday, July 23 at the Robert Spence home,
12459 Upper Fords Creek Road at mile marker 12.5, Orofino.

The festival is a variety show with local talent from the Clearwater area featuring old and new country, gospel, blue grass, and country rock.  Performers are Shiloh Sharrard, Jake Bonner, Dyan Spence, Pat Threewit, Mike and Pidge Jenkins, Bob and Elsa Riek, Julie Hutchinson, and Mike Riccomini, plus many other favorites.

The music plays from to with a break for a potluck dinner that begins at Bring a covered dish, your own table service, a chair, and a coat.

For more information, please call 476-5330. Everyone is welcome! See you there!

Monday, July 11, 2011

Clearwater County removing flammable vegetation

C-PTPA and Clearwater County crews work to remove fallen branches and other flammable vegetation from Cavendish Highway.


Cavendish Highway, located past Ahsahka, looks much cleaner since C-PTPA and Clearwater County crews removed a great deal of flammable vegetation and clutter.

Last year Clearwater County received a grant to remove flammable vegetation within the Sunnyside Fire District. After the bidding process Clearwater County awarded the project to Clearwater-Potlatch Timber Protective Association (C-PTPA).

Working with homeowners and once the weather cooperated C-PTPA began to remove excessive fuels in the prescribe area earlier this year. The intent of the hazardous fuels reduction treatments is to create a system of fuel breaks throughout the project area that can slow down or stop a wildfire and provide a safe evacuation route.

During the last couple of weeks C-PTPA has focused on Cavendish Hwy. The work has involved removing and chipping hazardous fuel along the roads deeded right-of-way. If you have driven the Cavendish road lately you will notice a nice park like setting along the side of the road where the project was conducted. The project has been going well and should conclude later this year.

Clearwater County encourages homeowners to develop a defensible space around their home. Doing so can help protect your home when a fire approaches. Keep in mind that preparing your property for fire does not mean removing all your trees. Simply removing over-hanging branches or limbing trees up from the ground can be a good benefit.

What are the most important things to do to protect my home?

·   First, make sure you have a nonflammable roof covering and assembly. Your roof is the most vulnerable spot for embers that blow in and collect.
·   Clean out gutters and downspouts of debris and leaves.
·   Keep the surface and area beneath decks and porches free of debris and leaves.
·   Maintain a 3-to-5-foot space around your house and all attachments that is “fuel free” – no flammable mulch, woodpiles, or plants that can allow fire to touch the house.
·   Screen vents with metal mesh; if possible, replace large win-dows with double paned or tempered glass to resist break-age during a fire.

Of course, large flames can and will ignite your home if they are close enough to the house. Ensure that trees and shrubs within the first 30 feet of your home are healthy, spaced apart, and not overhanging the house.

If your home is on a slope, thin out vegetation to a further distance (50 to 100 feet) to slow fire’s spread as it approaches uphill. 

For more information please contact Clearwater County Office of Emergency Management at 476-4064.