A Look Back …This week in the Forks Forum

Published 1:30 am Thursday, September 4, 2025

This week in 2000 Forks Police Department Officer Brian King was featured in a photo with K9 officer Triton (photo). It was reported that the Elwha Resort just east of the Elwha bridge had been sold to Olympic National Park. It had been built in the 1920s and a few people were still living in several of the cabins.

Fifty years ago this week Forks Forum owner/publisher Gordon Otos had printed the last edition under his ownership. The new editor/owner Lorraine Berg was taking over after spending a month learning about the process. The Otos’ had owned the paper for eight years (photo). Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Gooding of Beaver, were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary with a reception at the Sportsman’s Club. Former Tyee resident Leroy MacDonald had died. He came to Tyee (Seims Carey Camp) in WWI as a soldier and part of the Spruce Division efforts. He later worked for the State Dept. of Forestry, which would later be called the DNR.

This week in 1968 fourteen Forks students were attending Peninsula College in Port Angeles; to name a few …Matthew Anderson, Richard Dickson and Forest Rollins. In “Help Wanted” Allen Logging and Veneer was seeking someone to do office work. An out-of-the-area story reported that members of a group called “The Women’s Liberation Movement” had plans to burn their bras and other instruments of torture i.e. curlers, girdles etc. outside the Miss America Pageant taking place at the Atlantic City Convention Hall. After the burning they also had plans to crown a sheep. In grocery ads Pay and Save Foods was offering MJB coffee, 3lbs for $1.98.

In 1953 it was reported that the F8F Grumann flyer who had survived a mid-air crash near Quillayute Airport and was attended to by Dr. Leibold had died in Bremerton. In another front page story high grade manganese from Bear Creek area mines (50 tons) had been trucked to Port Angeles and later on to New Mexico. Town council had passed Ordinance #51 -creating a water department and establishing rates and other fees. In the Mill Creek News section Rocky Fletcher had returned from duty in Korea and then immediately left town spending the summer in Alaska crabbing with his uncle. In other military news …Jim Whitehead and Gary Parker were home on leave from the Navy.