Roadrunner Recap: Reunion Day 5

Our reunion ended a couple of days ago, but I want to note our times for posterity.  So the next few blogs will continue with our reunion.  My brothers and their wives and Pam and I joined up in Spokane (and traveled to the surrounding area) June 22-29.
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Day 5 back in Spokane:

Almadean and Jim met and married in Spokane in 1942.  During those years, the Davenport Hotel in downtown Spokane was a landmark.  It continues to be.  It has a lot of history.  The hotel is named after Louis Davenport who was commissioned by local businessmen to build it.

Mr Davenport wanted to bring Europe to Spokane and it became his theme.  Architectural influences from Spain, France, England, Italy and Russia can be seen throughout the hotel.

The doors opened in 1914 and was an instant hit.  It grew in prestige and renown until after World War II when visitors and the railroads that brought them changed course.  Automobile travel increased while travel by train to the city steadily decreased.

Over the years many famous people stayed at the hotel including Mary Pickford and Tyrone Power, Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindbergh, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby.  More recently, Cher, Neil Diamond, Jerry Seinfeld and Sting have stayed at the hotel.

And my brothers and their wives wanted to stay there and experience the best Spokane has to offer!  It is a true treasure and fantastic, historic hotel.

As you might expect the rooms were more than ordinary

After they checked in (we stayed at the Fairchild AFB Famcamp in our own beds) we met by the fountain in the Grand Lobby for a tour of the hotel with our docent Ken.

Our first stop was the Isabella Ballroom, Mr. Davenport's favorite room in the hotel.

Then we stopped at the Marie Antoinette Ballroom

The Elizabethan Room hosted many meetings and events.

Mr. Davenport had his office at one end of the room.  He often would come in and greet the guests.

Our last stop was the Hall of the Doges.  It is Spokane's oldest ballroom and the only flying ballroom in the world.

The entire ballroom was removed intact in 2000 and placed inside the newly constructed east wing of the hotel.

After the tour we had a fantastic dinner by the Grand Ballroom Fireplace.

(view from second floor balcony)

(floor level view)

After dinner, we walked around the downtown area.  The city was just concluding their 'Hoops Fest 2011' tournament where 9000 3-person teams competed.  The city blocked off streets and constructed basketball courts for the games.  We have no idea who won or how many brackets there were.  We saw a few games finishing up.

And we walked by the Bing Crosby Theater

We probably would have taken in a show if the schedule had worked out but the next show was the day everyone was leaving.

We walked around some more and then bid good night to everyone and returned home to the Roadrunner.

It was a fun day in downtown Spokane and a great tour and dinner at the Davenport Hotel.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles and hope everyone has a safe / fun 4th of July!

Until next time...

Kennewick and back to Spokane - Reunion Day 4

It seems like we have been at this longer than four days.  My brothers and their wives flew into on Wednesday and we have been to see Garfield, Moscow-Idaho, Colfax and Kennewick.  Mom's grandfather Asa Overby on her mother's side was quite the business man.   We got interested in where he lived and that's how we ended up in Moscow Idaho for a few hours on Thursday.

Turns out after his first wife died in 1907, he married Mary Hunter in 1908 and she lived in Moscow.  More to follow at some point on that story.  They divorced but we don't know why.  Asa's daughter Pearl married Martin Wysong (my grandfather) and they lived in Kennewick.  Kennewick is where our mom grew up.

Friday we talked with Ken Silliman of the Farmer's Exchange in Kennewick.  His father owned the business, then Ken owned it and now his children own it.

He is a live-long resident of Kennewick and remembered mom (Almadean) and her sister Ellen.  Ken was a classmate of Ellen's (class of 1937).  Almadean went out with Clint who was Ken's older brother.

We took notes and listened intently.

We engaged with Ken,  while Pam and the girls hung around and patiently waited.  And they found some comfortable chairs to sit in.

Sue and Pam think I have taken enough pictures…..but how can that be?  I still have film in my camera!

After talking with Ken, we decided to go by the Kennewick High School even though we knew the one built in 1936 has been replaced by a new one.  

I believe they rebuilt the newest one on the same property but there is no evidence of that.

We then drove over to the other side of town where Almadean's Aunt Tamsel lived.  She had a boarding house that is now a Senior Citizens home.

Her Aunt Tamsel was also know to have given Almadean and Ellen hand-me-downs which they appreciated.  Mom became a very good seamstress and as Ken (at the Farmer's Exchange) said, those girls always dressed sharp.

After that, we gassed up and headed out of town to Spokane.  Around lunch time, we stopped at a regional fast food place for lunch.

When we got back to Spokane, they all checked into the Fairchild Inn again and then came over to the Roadrunner for some down time and dinner.

We decided to bowl a few games at the Roadrunner Lanes on the Wii.  

They also took a shot at some tennis.

We grilled some pork loin roast and we had a big salad for dinner.

Then we sat around and talked for a while.  After 4 days of this we are running low on energy.  We have been running hard and the next few days promise to be a little less intense.

But these are good times and we want to take advantage of our time together.  It has been a special time with each other with a few more days left.

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Until next time…

Reunioning Day 3

The Warner Brothers (Jim and Almadean's sons and their wives) continued the Reunion 2011 activities from Colfax, Washington.

We made the two hour drive over to Kennewick, Washington from Colfax.

The country side along the way was beautiful.  In the short 120 mile drive, we saw a lot of wheat fields among the picturesque rolling hills.

We got to the Pasco-Kennewick bridge about 11:30.

Our first stop was the Kennewick Historical Society.  But it was closed and didn't open until 12:00 noon.

So we decided to drive over to where mom and her sister Ellen grew up.  Unfortunately, the house they lived in has been razed and replaced by a parking lot of the UMC church.

I wondered if their house in the 1920's and 1930's may have been similar to some across the street.

It was about lunch time so we went over to O'Henry's Restaurant near downtown Kennewick.

This restaurant also had a bakery where my mom may have picked up bread every day.  The restaurant had some Kennewick High School Class pictures on the walls in the back in the room where we ate.

It was fun looking at all the pictures.  And the lunch was great.  Brad had some soup made by the award winning cook.
Then we went next door to take a look at the Roxy Theater where Almadean and Ellen both worked while they were in high school.  Rumor was they let some school kids in to see the show at no cost from time to time...

It is no longer a theater.  It has changed owners over the years and once was a clothing store.  Now it is an Antique and Gift Store with a coffee shop.  We talked with the present owner who gave us some of the history.

From the theater we went back to the Historical Society Center.  There were no pictures allowed in the Center.  We stayed about an hour and tried to find out new information about Almadean or her father Martin Wysong.  Mom was second in her Kennewick High School Class of 1938.

She gave a speech on 'The Future of Education in Washington State' during her graduation activities.
From there we went over to the Riverview Heights Cemetery where her parents Pearl and Martin Wysong are buried.

The lady at the cemetery gave us a map and helped us locate the gravestones.  Pearl died in 1952 and Martin died in 1969.  Martin was once an auto mechanic, worked the wheat fields before he married Pearl and was once the janitor at the high school.

We walked around for a while and then left for our hotel at the Quality Inn.  We had dinner at Olive Garden, went back to the hotel and called it a night.

It was another fun day.  Besides learning a little more about our grandparents, we have been able to spend a lot of time with each other which has been really good.  We all enjoy each other and get along well.

Today we'll make a couple of stops before we head back to Spokane.
Another day of discovering our roots and being with family.  Its been a really good time.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles.  And thanks for taking a moment to post a comment.  We always love those!  Until next time…

Warner Brothers Reunion - June 2011 Day 1

This is the first of what may be 7 posts on our family (Warner brothers and our wives) reunion.

Our folks were married here in Spokane in 1942.  I am blessed with three older brothers. We had no sisters.  Dad always wanted a little girl and when they tried a third time for one they got twin boys.  Me and my brother Reid.  Marty is the eldest and Brad was next.

Our parents are no longer with us and we have a lot of questions about our heritage and ancestry.   Reid's home office of Environment Control is in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho about 45 miles from Spokane.  When he was here in 2002, he started looking around the area and retracing some places where our mom lived and worked after she graduated from Kennewick High School.

Mom and Dad met here in Spokane (in 1940?) while she was working at the State Street Theater and going to Morse School of Beauty and Culture.  And Dad was stationed at nearby Fort George Wright.

So we have planned on a trip together to the area and it began yesterday.  Reid and Amy flew in on Southwest Airlines from Albuquerque.

Marty and Elena flew in from Walnut Creek, California.  And Brad and Sue drove from Fort Worth, TX with the most recent stop in West Yellowstone, Wyoming.

We got everyone checked in to the Fairchild Inn here on base.

Then we went back over to the coach and enjoyed the nice day.

Reid and Amy have been the impetus behind this event and did a lot of prior planning and preparation for it.

Reid laid out a schedule of the next seven days and we went through it.  He prepared a package for each couple with memorabilia and notes related to where mom and her relatives lived in the 1850's in eastern Washington.  

The plan for the first couple of days is to start out at the Spokane County Courthouse where our parents got their marriage license, drive over to Garfield where mom's grandfather Asa Overby homesteaded 240 acres of land, then look through some records at the courthouse in Colfax before we spend the night there.  

On Friday, we plan to look around Kennewick where our mother grew up and graduated second in her high school class of 1938.  

After reviewing the plan and the information, we went over to the Airmen's Mess Hall for dinner.

But before we got there, Elena and Marty surprised us with T-Shirts.  By then I figured we were  official.

Aren't t-shirts part of reunions?  I am sure we'll see more of them later.  

On to the chow hall and a good dinner for a great price.

After dinner we returned to the Roadrunner and enjoyed the evening. The girls talked inside the coach while we played a few games of ladder ball.  It was fun and we were not too concerned about the score.

We traded team a few times and I think Brad came out the big winner.  

We watched the sun go down and pretty much called it a day after that.  We are looking forward to the rest of our time together and learning lots about our family history.

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles.  Stay tuned for more on the Warner Bros. Reunion of 2011.  Until next time...