A Look Back …This week in the Forks Forum (week of March 19)

Published 1:30 am Thursday, March 19, 2026

This week, 25 years ago, it was reported that the Quillayute Valley Scholarship auction had set a new record … taking in $87,000 (photo). The Rainforest Players were presenting a play called “Catch Me If You Can.” Three candidates for school superintendent were meeting the public at a lunch at the ONRC. The QVSD M&O Levy had passed. Forks Elementary School had welcomed in local artists for FES Art Week.

Fifty years ago this week, the Loop Tavern had been burglarized …but the joke was on them …all they stole was an empty cash register. Rochelle Diimmel of Far West Propane was featured in a photo. Readers were asked to stop by and see her and check out the lemon tree that matched a yellow gas fireplace on display (photo).

In 1969, a fire had destroyed the Bing Smith home. Mr. Smith only had time to grab his daughter and make an escape. The Pay & Save Shell had installed a car wash. Wash your vehicle for just 25¢. Ronnie Lee Sego, who had shot and killed his wife and robbed the Hang-Up Tavern, had been sentenced ….but not before he and another inmate escaped from the Clallam County Jail. He was captured the next day in Seattle …the escape added another 10 years onto his sentence. A Lonnie Archibald photo of the Huesldonk cabin, built in 1895, had appeared in the paper.

This week in 1954, it was Visit Your School Week. Community members were invited to just “drop by” for a tour. Twenty school-age boys had taken part in training for First Aid. After completion of the class, the boys were going to assist local Law Enforcement with their work. The Busy Bee 4-H club minutes shared that Vice President Kenneth Ulin had demonstrated how to make a fruit salad.

This week in 1940, local pioneer Charles Palmer had died at the age of 64. He was born in New York in 1875 and came to the West End in 1902, taking up a homestead on the Bogachiel. He later purchased a ranch on the Forks Prairie. He served on the board of the Forks Co-operative Creamery. It was reported that the IOOF meeting had been lively ….with Mr. Goodwin of Beaver giving an exhibition of his dancing dolls. Later, Carmen Peterson and Dorothy Roberg performed several dance numbers, Edna and Minnie Anderson played several accordion numbers, and the Price boys from Tyee played several songs on banjo and harmonica. In advertising ….McGee Grocery and Market had t-bone steaks on special at 29¢ a pound.