75 years ago

Oct. 17, 1941

Two Grays Harbor fishing boats landed almost $5,000 worth of soup fin shark livers at Westport and Aberdeen today as the price jumped to $6.60 a pound.

Arnold Bravik in the Friendship brought some 2,800 pounds of shark to the Fishermen’s cooperative at Westport, selling from the catch about 425 pounds of liver worth well over $2,500. He had 75 fish.

Gus Strand’s Marathon landed a huge load of shark and dogfish at the Strand plant in Aberdeen. It was estimated the boat’s sharks would yield possibly 300 to 400 pounds of liver, valued at approximately $2,200.

The boat captains kept their counsel, regarding where they made the big catches.

50 years ago

Oct. 17, 1966

A late Saturday night fire destroyed the Crane Creek Shingle Mill on the north shore of Lake Quinault, idling the 50 men who worked there.

Volunteer firemen fought the blaze for five hours with water pumped from the nearby mill pond, but were unable to bring it under control.

Mrs. Victor Esses, the wife of one of the mill owners, said that Crane Creek was the largest green shake mill in the Pacific Northwest and had supplied 10 percent of the Southern California green shake market.

25 years ago

Oct. 17, 1991

The children receive hugs, stories and lunch.

At the same time, their mothers (some fathers, too) get a break and heightened self esteem as they move a step closer toward a high school diploma.

After three years of hurdling financial, political, organizational and legal roadblocks, Snug Harbor Child Care opened this fall in Aberdeen with about 15 youngsters.

The big room located in the former Hopkins Junior High building is filled with cribs, high chairs, tiny babies and cabinets filled with toys. Moreover, it’s free, with the prospect of long-term dividends.

“This place means that many young girls will stay in school,” said Keelee Norlin who teaches a parenting class down the hall attended by some of the teens who use the day care. “They will be able to graduate now and the dropout rate will go down.”

“Of those who are on public assistance at 19 years old, 40 percent will still be on it at 30 unless we do something at this age concerning job skills, self esteem and parenting classes,” said Paul Youmans, director of the Coastal Community Action Program.

Compiled from the archives of The Daily World by Karen Barkstrom