100 Years Ago

From the East Oregonian

Feb. 9-10, 1913

By action of the joint house and senate ways and means committee of the legislature, the sum of $125,000 has been sliced from the appropriation asked for the Eastern Oregon Hospital by Superintendent McNary. As a result of the cut there will be no additional wing constructed during the next two years and there is danger of congestion at the institution. Some of the other requests were likewise reduced by the committee.

50 Years Ago

From the East Oregonian

Feb. 9-10, 1963

Only one thing need be said about Avery Whitmans occupation to qualify it as most unusual. He sells squirrels. Despite a fire that destroyed his last shipment in 1961, he and his wife, Mildred, have done well in a business with a specialized market. Whitman rebuilt the fire-destroyed building behind his home on Southwest 15th and plunged back into production again. The Whitmans are the Wests largest producers of squirrels and chipmunks, selling them to a steady but widely spread market of pet shops, zoos and parks all over the United States, Canada and, occasionally, Great Britain. In addition, they have laboratories and hospitals as steady customers. Despite the steadiness of the market, Whitman has a headache the supply fluctuates. In fact, it goes up and down like a squirrel in a pine tree.

25 Years Ago

From the East Oregonian

Feb. 9-10, 1988

The Oregon Tourism Council has picked Umatilla as the site for a $176,000 Welcome Center that will reflect the art, history and culture of northeast Oregon a pilot project among the first of its kind in the United States. Project director Bridget Beattie McCarthy of Portland said about 23 percent of the total budget will be used to pay local artisans to design and build the art, furnishings and architectural detail of the Welcome Center, which is envisioned as a log building.