This Week In Bonners Ferry History
100 Years Ago
The body of 9 year old Lyle Vergel Good was found in the Kootenai River at the boom camp of B.F. Lumber Co. The boy, along with his mother, 10 year old sister, and a ferryman had drowned in a boating accident near Warland, Montana. The bodies of the others had been recovered earlier. A few days before the drowning occurred, Mrs. Good had told her husband of having dreamed that she was drowning. She was on her way to Libby to buy war bonds with $480 on her person which has not been recovered.
Every citizen of Boundary Co., be it man, woman or child, is called upon to help win the war by loaning money to the government through the purchase of War Savings and Thrift Stamps. Each school district is apportioned its quota based upon its’ population estimated by taking 4 times the number of school age children and multiplying this number by $20 with the following results: Copeland owes $3,360, Eastport owes $2,800, Naples owes $4,480, Bonners Ferry owes $57,520. It is desired to have all pledges signed by June 28.
Latest figures show the casualties since landing in France nearly a year ago is 8085, which includes 1172 killed in action, 364 died of wounds, 1234 died of disease, accident 422, wounded in action 4547 and 346 missing in action including prisoners.
50 Years Ago
Bob Fitch was elected commander of American Legion Post 55 with Pete Braun, First Vice Commander; Bill Chubb, Jr., Second Vice Commander; Arthur P. Zimmerman, Adjutant (for the 42nd consecutive year) Vic Rae, Jr., Sergeant at Arms; Ted Helmer, Finance Officer, and Leo Mangum, Chaplin.
The Bonners Ferry American Legion and Babe Ruth baseball teams played a full schedule of games the past week and came out with three wins and two losses.
In honor of the 50th wedding anniversary of Dr. and Mrs. Bowell, their daughters extend an invitation to friends to attend an open house at the Bowell home this Saturday, June 15th from 2 to 5 p.m. The Bowell’s have resided in Bonners Ferry for 47 years.
Dan and Ken MacDonald participated in the Lind, Wash. rodeo last Sunday and Dan took firsts in both the bull riding and saddle bronc events. Ken placed fourth in the bareback event.
15 Years Ago
Just three weeks after approving a $728,000 levy to keep the outlying schools open, voters Tuesday night did what many observers had thought was an impossibility—they passed an $11 million general bond obligation to build a new high school by 68.11 percent.
Rex Aitken and his family along with some friends shared traditional Ktunaxa dance styles and culture with members of the Boundary County chapter of AARP during a meeting at the Senior Citizen Center. “The drum is the center of the Of the Universe,” said Aitken. “Because we all dance together, we have one heart, one mind.”
On May 22, 23, and 24, ten Bonners Ferry track girls traveled to Boise State University to participate in the 2003 Idaho State track championship. They brought home the 3rd place state track trophy, scoring 54 points.