75 years ago

April 25, 1942

• Starting Monday, May 4, and continuing for six days, a house-to-house canvass of all Grays Harbor will be conducted to encourage investment in war savings bonds, Herbert Horrocks, county war savings chairman, announced today.

More than 600 workers are being enlisted to visit every one of the 18,000 homes in the county. Horrocks said every Harbor wage earner will be asked to pledge a certain percentage of his earnings to the purchase of war savings bonds and stamps. The recommended percentages vary from five to 25 percent, depending on the person’s income.

• Dressed in a sailor suit with a straw hat, Tony Cmelich won the annual costume competition at Hoquiam high school yesterday as the seniors presented their traditional Kid Day frolic.

Two girls dressed as cannibals, Jean Martin and Elizabeth Holderman won second prizes.

April 26, 1942

No newspaper published

50 years ago

April 25, 1967

Ocosta High School’s spring musical production, “Bayou Flute,” will open a three-night run at the school multi-purpose room Thursday. The cast of 57 is the largest ever presented in an Ocosta High School production.

Playing leading roles in the two-act musical comedy that depicts events in the lives of the Cajun bayou people are Evelyn Olafson, Chris Daniewicz, Tom Bodwell, Wendy Harrington and Merle Hawthorne.

April 26, 1967

On a spring evening in 1891 a few families gathered at the little white Presbyterian church at the corner of Wishkah and I streets in Aberdeen to worship as Bishop John A. Paddock conducted the first Episcopal Church services in the infant city.

In the words of the late Mrs. Maude Perry Douglas, “The route down Wishkah Street was on a board sidewalk, raised high over a swampy expanse dotted by bunch grass and the small spruce trees of the salt marsh, through which the tide ebbed and flowed twice daily.

“It was a memorable evening,” Mrs. Douglas recalled.

The Rev. S.P. Robertson, who was rector of the parish from 1928 until 1945, will be guest speaker at a Diamond Jubilee banquet at the Morck Hotel this weekend.

25 years ago

April 25, 1992

A generation of children knew her as an innovative kindergarten teacher, decades of Harborites have applauded her dramatic talent and thousands of hungry folks have her to thank for at least one meal a day.

But from now on, when people talk about Jane Mezera of Cosmopolis they’ll no doubt add that she was The Daily World Citizen of the Year for 1992.

“Jane Mezera is the only person I know who is not only truly indefatigable but never gives up, never complains, never says ‘I’m tired,’ never insists on her own way. And everything she does is for the good of the community,” wrote Carol Stubb, an award-winning actress.

Roger Lane wrote: “(She) was my kindergarten teacher, but instead of the usual cutting and pasting, she taught us about the world. She called on her experience as a world traveler to show us that the world is a big, wonderful place with different peoples and cultures.”

Many now know her as the volunteer coordinator of St. Mary’s ecumenical “Feed the Hungry” program —recruiting cooks and kitchen helpers, purchasing food and supplies and picking up produce from a local grocer twice a week.

“Dedicated,” “diligent,” “encouraging,” “generous,” “organized,” tireless” and “sensitive.” Those are words that are consistently used to describe Jane. Mezera.

April 26, 1992

Even before he had obtained the rank of Life Scout, Joachim Zahn of Elma, knew what he wanted to do for his Eagle Scout project: design an osprey platform.

His father, Helmut “Max” Zahn, helped him select just the right tree for the platform, One of Max’s co-workers, Jim Gerchak, volunteered to make the platform, and four of Joachim’s fellow scouts in Troop 15 (Jake Casberg, Dusty Matsen, Matt Bowe and Eric Iverson) braved pouring rain and pelting hail to bushwack a trail to the 100-foot high Sitka spruce that was selected for the platform.

Compiled from the archives of The Daily World by Karen Barkstrom