Burl Barer From The Mid 1980s

In this picture from 1986, my cousin, Burl Barer is pictured with family friend, Bill Grant and then Washington Governor Booth Gardiner.  Burl is leaning against the wall, third from the left.

At the time, Grant was campaigning for the Washington State Legislature.  He would be successful and serve until his death in 2009.

This was taken in front of Walla Walla's old Liberty Theatre, which had closed years before and was used as a campaign headquarters. 

This was on the Bygone Walla Walla blog. 

Scholarship Proposed To Honor Gina

A bill to honor the late Gina Grant Bull, a Walla Walla High School graduate, is on the floor in the state senate.  Senate bill 5346 would create a scholarship for pages.  Grant Bull was supervisor of pages while working in Olympia.  Her father, Bill Grant, represented Walla Walla in the state house. Grant Bull's sister Laura succeeded her dad after his death.  Their mother was a good friend and classmate of my cousin Jan Barer Curran.
Gina Grant Bull, a graduate of WSU, passed away last fall.

Gina Grant Bull

The news hit me like a ton of bricks--Gina Grant Bull was vivacious, lovely, and ageless.  I had just seen her at last summer's Wa-Hi class reunion.  She was one year behind us, but she and others volunteered.  Gina's father, Bill, was a state legislator, he was the last Democrat elected to represent the very Conservative Walla Walla Valley.  Her father's charisma obviously had passed on to Gina who had a certain presence when she was in a room. She was married to a former WSU Cougar football player, Ron Bull.
  Gina worked in Olympia with the state legislature as a Page director.  We both went to WSU and would always say hello when we passed. 
I talked over coffee with her and some of her friends at the 2012 Washington Democratic Convention in Seattle. Her dad had passed away a few years earlier while still serving in the State house.
I  just found out that Gina died suddenly yesterday.

Laura Grant-Herriot Picked To Replace Bill Grant

The Walla Walla Union-Bulletin reports that Laura Grant-Herriot has been picked to represent the 16th district in The Washington State House Of Representatives. The Walla Walla Democrat was picked by county commissions representing the four counties in the Southeastern Washington legislative district. Grant-Herriot replaces her father Bill Grant who died late last year. The choices goes against the wishes of the area precinct committee officers who made George Fearing from Kennewick their number one choice. Grant-Herriot is a 5Th grade teacher at Walla Walla's Berney School.

Representative Bill Grant Dies

Representative Bill Grant of Walla Walla has died of lung cancer, Grant had served 22 years in the state legislature and was re-elected last November. Grant was one of a handful of Democrats representing conservative Eastern Washington in Olympia.