December 1967

At the Dec. 5 meeting of the Shelton City Council, Mayor Frank Travis Jr. announced the city had decided not to award a franchise for cable television within the city limits. He told applicant Thomas Brokaw that this decision left the business as a free enterprise with which he could proceed, if he wished. Gay Taylor, who was already operating a private cable television system in Shelton, had been denied a city franchise in 1957.

Weather made the front page of the Journal on Dec. 7. Nearly 7 feet of snow in the higher elevations shut down Simpson Timber Co. operations. Extreme high tides, augmented by low barometric pressure and high winds, sent water over the road on two sections of the state highway - one at Bayshore and the other between Belfair and Belfair State Park, and flooded a few homes along Hood Canal.

Max Schmidt Jr. and Mrs. Roberta McCleary, who served on a committee that had lobbied to have Washington's new four-year college located as close to Shelton as possible, were happy with the selection of a site on Cooper Point Peninsula, which would be only a 15- to 20-minute drive for students from Shelton.

Early in December, Lilliwaup pioneer John Aaro, approaching 80 years of age, performed his annual tradition of pruning and decorating a holly tree that had been growing in the yard of his home since 1907. According to Journal correspondent Frances Catto, "John enjoys this pre-Christmas job so much that he refuses to allow anyone but himself to do it or even to help with it."

The weather caused havoc again Tuesday, Dec. 19, with snow falling all day and into the evening. Several activities had to be postponed or canceled due to hazardous driving conditions, including the Junior Miss Pageant at Mountain View School, the Shelton Junior High winter concert, and the Shelton-Elma basketball game.

The front page of the Dec. 21 Journal included a story revealing that former Teamsters Union President Dave Beck Sr. and Helen Reynolds, who had married in Seattle on Dec. 5, had obtained their marriage license in Shelton. The Journal was especially interested in the fact that although marriage licenses are public records and had always been published in the Journal, the Beck-Reynolds application had not been placed on file with the others. County Auditor Ruth Boysen said she had honored the couple's request that the application not be made public.

Also on Dec. 21, the Journal announced that the 40 et 8/Journal Christmas Basket Fund had reached $874.50. Volunteers would be gathering in the PUD 3 auditorium that evening to assemble over 80 "huge Christmas baskets," which would be delivered to recipients Friday.

Letters of appreciation were rolling into the Fred B. Wivell American Legion Post for the Christmas packages they had sent in November to Mason County military men in Vietnam. J. L. Messer wrote, "I have been deeply involved in the battle of Dak To in the last several weeks and your letter and excellent fruit cake were a definite uplifting to my spirits. You can't imagine how good it is to have people back home thinking of us over here."

John and James Connolly, owners, announced that the Shelton Meat Co. on Mountain View, which had been in business since some time prior to 1900, would close at the first of the year. The business closure was part of the agreement reached between the Connollys and the Mason County Hospital District, which had purchased 9 acres of land from the brothers for the new Mason General Hospital.

The first Shelton Junior Miss contest, sponsored by the Shelton Jaycees and Mell Chevrolet, was on the evening of Tuesday, Dec. 26. Judging was in two parts. Judges had interviewed each of the girls on the previous evening, judging them on personality and character. At the pageant, the girls appeared in formal dress and presented their talent selections. Jeanne Osborne, who presented the piano selection "Bali Hai" from the musical "South Pacific," was the winner. First runner-up Barbara Hubbard presented a dramatic reading from Joan of Arc. Jeanne would be entered in the state contest in Pullman in January. Winner of that competition would go on to the national final in Mobile, Alabama in March.

Winners of the Christmas Decoration Contest, sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce, were announced in the Dec. 28 Journal. "The hard-working judging crew spent a cold, sloppy Thursday inspecting the many outstanding Christmas displays. The chamber expressed appreciation to all who decorated their homes, whether they entered the contest or not, which helped make Shelton one of the best-decorated cities in the state." Winners were chosen in several categories. The Louis Diemert family won first place in the religious category for a lighted Nativity scene.

■ Jan Parker is a researcher for the Mason County Historical Museum. She can be reached at [email protected]. Membership in the Mason County Historical Society is $25 per year. For a limited time, new members will receive a free copy of the book "Shelton, the First Century Plus Ten."