Skagit River Journal

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Noel V. Bourasaw, editor 810 Central Ave., Sedro-Woolley, Washington, 98284 Home of the Tarheel Stomp Mortimer Cook slept here & named the town Bug
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Tella-Pix photo features, Sedro-Woolley Courier-Times Chapter 1, Part 1, Sedro-Woolley businesses, 1960s

A Paean

From Paian, in Greek mythology the "healer of the Gods;" the name was later applied specifically to the god Apollo. In time it cquired the mening of song, hymn, or chant to Apollo, of a triumphant nature; hence, a triumphal song in general. (Benet's Reader Encyclopedia, Third Edition, 1987)

1. Mus. A song of joyful praise or exultation. 2. A fervent expression of joy or praise. 3. An ancient Greek hymn of thanksgiving or involcation, esp. to Apollo. (American Heritage College Dictionary, 1993)

By Noel V. Bourasaw, Skagit River Journal This new section is a paean to the days of my youth, my high school years when, as Art Bagley often reminded me, my head was usually up my posterior. I remember all these Sedro-Woolley businesses from the 1960s. When I was a child growing up in the Utopia district, Saturday was our shopping day, and that almost always meant Sedro-Woolley. Our "convenience stores" back then were Tom's Service Station on the Minkler Highway and Koop's Grocery in Lyman. Everett or Bellingham were only destinations on special occasions, every three or six months. Seattle was in another universe.
This section is growing like those dancing brooms who taunted Mickey Mouse in Fantasia. We planned it originally as two small parts, photos from 1960 and 1975. But then we found so many more rich minefields, sort of like how Amasa Everett found the coal-ore minefield back in 1975, and then a boulder rolled over his leg and he became known forever as Peg-Leg Everett.
This section will grow through 2012 and onwards. The 91 (and growing) photos are of Sedro-Woolley businesses, businesspeople and various personages are mainly from the June 30, 1960, and May 26, 1960 special insert to the Courier-Times, both rich with detail and names. You will find more than a hundred people, mostly business owners, in more than 80 photos in five parts. We originally planned one section and then it exploded. Courier Publisher Frank Evans realized back in the 1950s that the Seattle Times Sunday Rotagravure section — now the Sunday Pacific magazine — was a really good idea about instilling a sense of place, of extolling the community in a format different from the weekly newspaper. He combined the Tella-Pix photo-reproduction process with a special glossy, high-bright stock and the editions immediately became a hit.

Old-timers will recall when Safeway stood on Ferry street where various hardware stores have stood for the past 30 years. Do you remember when this was later briefly a Prairie Market, where we wrote our own prices on the grocery items with grease pencils. Note that the old Northern Pacific depot is in the background in the left center, and behind that is the Lentz feed and seed store, which had not yet been razed. We wish the photographer had turned just a little to his or her left. Special points to anyone who knows the history of the Lentz business and who especially can answer: when did it change from Lentz & Nelson to just Lentz? See Part 3 of this series for all the grocery stores, back when there were four downtown.

Over the years many people at history shows have given us various editions, and the late Howard Miller gave us key numbers from the 1950s through '70s. Any photos that are not from that edition are identified when possible. You can find more of the editions at the Sedro-Woolley Museum in their fine library, with heavy old chairs and a marvelous wooden table, just like in the old Carnegie Library.
We hope that other readers will donate more editions, or provide copies or scans. Many editions were "Progress" issues, which featured dozens of people and businesses. We especially seek those and the 1965 Progress Edition because we have only read transcripts and they are most interesting. Future editions will include Sedro-Woolley businesses in other years, along with features on communities as far flung as Marblemount, Alger, Bow and Burlington. Please share any of your memories of these stores in our guestbook below or in an email. Do you have photos of other stores in Sedro-Woolley or nearby towns? Please enjoy these stories.

Links, background reading and sources

Part 1 Clothing Stores and others
Part 2, Autos, service stations and others
Part 3, Grocers, Furniture stores, TV, Appliances, Jewelers and others
Part 4, Restaurants, Food, Drug Stores and others
Part 5, Professions, Hardware, Barbers, Sporting Goods
Many more Tella-Pix photo features coming up in issues starting with number 60 and throughout the next few years.
Our new portal section to Photo specials about old Sedro, Woolley and Sedro-Woolley, based on Tella-Pix, a process that Frank Evan employed at the old Courier-times in Sedro-Woolley. Many links already and growing by leaps and bounds in the New Year.
Check out Sedro-Woolley First section for links to all 100+ stories about the towns of Sedro and Woolley and the old-timers, and reasons to shop here first and make this your destination

Story posted on Jan. 2, 2011
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This article originally appeared in Issue 59 of our Subscribers-paid Journal online magazine

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Oliver-Hammer Clothes Shop at 817 Metcalf Street in downtown Sedro-Woolley, 90 years continually in business.

Peace and quiet at the Alpine RV Park, just north of Marblemount on Hwy 20, day, week or month, perfect for hunting or fishing. Park your RV or pitch a tent — for as little as $5 per night — by the Skagit River, just a short drive from Winthrop or Sedro-Woolley. Alpine is doubling in capacity for RVs and camping in 2011.

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