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After talking with Ken, we decided to go by the Kennewick High School even though we knew the one built in 1936 has been replaced by a new one.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