Last Dance At Century Link For Cougs

I went to Century Link field last night to watch the Washington State Cougars drop a heartbreaker to Rutgers 41-38. It is the last time that the Cougs will play a scheduled game in Seattle, at least for a while.

2014 WSU Football Season Gets Underway

Cougars face Rutgers at Century Link Field tonight.

KXLY 50 Starlit Stairway Show

In one of the best marketing campaigns of the Inland Northwest, viewers from our generation can still remember the phone number of the Boyle Fuel Company.  Starlit Stairway, an amateur talent show, ran for 20 years on Spokane TVm first KXLY channel 4 and then KHQ-6. The show went off the air in 1973. Here is the story of how the Boyle Fuel Company jingle came about.

Groz and Gas Interview Pat O'Day

The beginning clip is a good snapshot of 1960s era Rock  and Roll radio.

Walla Walla Trivia Posts Mentioned In That Town's Paper

Walla Walla Union-Bulletin feature editor Annie Charnley Eveland has recently mentioned this blog in a couple of separate features. 
First was the Denney's Hi Spot commercial (above), one of my memories from childhood.  It was a local classic and had been hoping that someone had it on tape.  Enter Wa-Hi graduate Hank Unck, who worked at KTEL during the early 1970s and was able to e-mail it to me. 
The next was Eddie Feigner (pronounced Faynor).  Eddie was a legendary fast-pitch softball pitcher, who traveled the world with his 4 man team known as the King And His Court.  Eddie was inducted into the Washington State Sports Hall Of Fame, along with some other better known sports figures in a ceremony before a Mariners game that my wife and I attended earlier this month.

Revelations at Loon Lake

I sure miss my Uncle Dave,  my was my Grandfather Barer's brother and one of the sons from B. Barer and Sons.  My dad and him were business partners for 18 years.  This was taken from their vacation spot at Loon Lake by Burl (Dave's son), who has lately begun to post some old family videos.

In this clip, Dave is being interviewed by grandson Lee Goldberg.

Maple Valley Farmer's Market

Check out the Maple Valley Farmer's Market  every Saturday from 9am until 2pm until October 4th.  You market takes place on the ground of Rock Creek Elementary School 25700 Maple Valley Black Diamond Road  Maple Valley, WA 98038.  I stopped by this morning and bought some fresh berries and flowers for my wife.

Dave and Dora Barer's 50th Wedding Anniversary Video

Cousin Stan Barer is the host  in this trip down memory lane,  My Grandfather Barer's brother David and his wife celebrated 50 years together.  Uncle Dave, passed away a few weeks later.  To the right of Stan, you can see my Grandmother Barer.

Don Pardo--The Voice

When workers had their Monday morning water cooler discussions about SNL, chances are, they didn't talk about Don Pardo.  You may not have heard of Don Pardo, but you probably heard him.  He was the voice of Saturday Night Live for nearly 40 years.  Because of Pardo, you knew the players, knew the guest host, and the music act.  Don Pardo had a 70 year career at NBC, being the studio announcer for The Price Is Right, Jackpot, and Jeopardy.
Don Pardo died this week at 96. 

Kurt Russell Speaks About Baseball Career

Kurt Russell brought a little bit of Hollywood to Walla Walla when he played for the town's Northwest League team in the early 1970s. In this piece, he talks about his more famous stint with the Portland Mavericks. This echoes the earlier piece that I posted from the Seattle Times.

Stan Barer's Bar Mitzvah

From Burl's "youtube" page, this video features both sets of my grandparents, My Uncle Dave and Aunt Dorothy (Stan and Burl's parents) my Mom and Dad  before they were a couple, my Uncle Phil and Uncle Arny, Cousins Burl, Stan, and Jan and many old family friends who are no longer with us.  Filmed in 1952 at the old Walla Walla shul on Rose and Tucannon Streets, it was torn down in the early 1970s for an Elks Lodge.  The shul was moved to it's present site on Alder and Roosevelt.

Mike Steps Up To Ice Bucket Challenge

I was challenged by the Wagner family to take the ice bucket challenge.  It is a drive that has become viral on facebook.  You will also see newscasters and other public figures doing it on TV and what not. While it is definitely trending, perhaps tiresome, it is indeed a worthy cause.  ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease can hit people in the prime of their life.  It snuffed out the career and eventually the life of Baseball great Lou Gehrig.  What means the most is that at least one of the people that I challenged, stepped up to to also do it.

Hank Simon's Last Show On KALE

Raised in Walla Walla, Hank Simon's last show on KALE in the Tri-Cities. 

Essie Hicks--Running For State House

Last weekend, I volunteered to work in the Democratic Booth at Mt Si Days. Essie Hicks was there, campaigning to represent the 5 Legislative District in the State House Of Representatives.  The seat is currently held by Republican Jay Rodne.  The 5 District is comprised of Southeastern King County.  Main towns are Issaquah, Maple Valley, North Bend, and Carnation.

No Cure For Seahawk Fever

Yes we are the champions!  King 5 did this report on a couple of rampant Seahawks fans on it's morning news.   The team did not let us down.  The Hawks defeated San Diego 41-14.

Dana Parnello Appointed To Maple Valley City Council

The newest face on the Maple Valley City Council is actually a familiar face.  Dana Parnello was recently appointed to the Council to take the place of Victoria Laise Jonas.  Parnello was also appointed to the council in 2010 when charter member Laure Iddings resigned.  He did not run to retain his seat.
Parnello had served on the Maple Valley Planning Commission from 2007 to 2010.
Parnello was appointed to the council by a 6-1 vote, with Linda Johnson being the dissenting vote.
He will be sworn in on August 25th.

Walla Walla Native Eddie Feigner Inducted

There was a ceremony before last Sunday's Mariner game.  Several well known athletes were being inducted into the State Of Washington Sports Hall Of Fame and one not as well known.  Walla Walla native Eddie Feigner, who passed away several years ago, joined Chip Hanauer, Alvin David, Keith Jackson, Detlef Shrempf, and Jack Thompson as inductees.  Feigner was represented by his son, Eddie Feigner, Jr.
Feigner was a pitcher and "The King" for a barnstorming team known as "the King and His Court",  a fast-pitch softball team.  In an exhibition one time, Feigner struck out Willlie Mays, Roberto Clemente, Brooks Robinson, Willie McCovey, Maury Wills, and Harmon Killebrew, consecutively.  For more on Feigner, click here

Ken Levine's Unique Tribute To Robin Williams

When a celebrity passes on, bloggers and blog readers will often go to TV writer Ken Levine's well written By Ken Levine   In this touching piece, Ken eulogizes Robin William the way he feels Robin would want it.  click here

Rest In Peace Robin Williams

Actor's death in Bay Area ruled a suicide. It is clearly not the first time an entertainer has chosen to end his or her life. However, we generally think of someone on the back side of a career or an addict.  While Williams, had battles with drugs and alcohol, I think his death points to more underlying causes. While Williams, at this point of his career, was not a "red hot" talent.  He was a looming presence on the Hollywood scene.
Perhaps, this tragedy can lead to something positive, perhaps it can raise awareness of Depression and how to manage it.  But one thing we can do is stand up and applaud Mr. Williams for entertaining and making those around him happy, something that he, perhaps was not.

An Afternoon At Safeco

Fernando Rodney takes the mound in the top of the 9th with the Mariners leading 4-1.  It was not a smooth inning for Rodney,the M's all-star closer, who gave up a run and hit a batter with a pitch to load the bases, but he was able to hang on and strike the last batter out to preserve a victory over the Chicago White Sox.
We were at the game, yesterday.

Lou Piniella Joins The Mariner Hall Of Fame

I captured this from the TV during Lou Piniella's induction into the Seattle Mariner Hall Of Fame.

Lou Piniella To Be Inducted

No doubt, one of the top 5 figures in  Mariner history, Lou Piniella will be inducted into the team's Hall Of Fame tonight.  Lou Piniella managed the M's during 7 of their 11 seasons above .500 (more wins than losses) and all 4 play off appearences.  When Lou is introduced, you may hear what sounds like booing, they are really yelling LOU!  I met Lou at the 2013 Hutch awards.

Old Walla Walla Radio Remembered--Part 5

Denney's Hi Spot was a lunch bar on Main Street near Palouse in Walla Walla.  It was known for frequently heard radio commercials featuring owner Joe Denney.  Denney's songs were simple yet conveyed the message of  who, what, and where.   Thank you to former KTEL air personality Lee (Hank Unck) Michaels for digging this up!

Seattle Radio Greats Meet

Thank you to Jason Remington for this picture.  It is so appropriate that this picture was taken in front of the Seattle skyline.  These men dominated the Seattle airwaves in the 60s and 70s.  A group of past and present Seattle air talent gathered at Salty's last Monday to reminisce about old times and plan for a Northwest Hall Of Radio History.  Burl Barer is 3rd from left in back and Pat O'Day is in green shirt on the right.

Seattle Pilots--Part 2

The Pilots launched in 1969, the same season that Walla Walla Bears would be it's town's Northwest League entry.  When the Pilots and  the other American League entry, the Kansas City Royals had the expansion draft, I was excited because I had baseball cards for most of the players, after all these years I realize that there was a reason for that.  Most baseball cards are for mediocre and average players.
The Pilots did have a few player who were from the defending champion Detroit Tigers.  I think that the Tigers made these players available so they didn't have to give them pay raises.  Wayne Comer and Ray Oyler were the Tigers contribution.
I listened to the Pilots on KUJ in Walla Walla, the same station to carry Northwest League games.  They were on NBC's game of the week once, that I can recall. 
Diego Segui pitched for the Pilots and also for the Seattle Mariners. His son, David, also played for the M's.
The Pilots have a web site with bits and pieces of the teams history.  You can find it here

The Pilots--Seattle's Forgotten Major League Team

The Seattle Pilots may be Seattle's forgotten team, but when the Mariner management was struggling to get a new stadium built, the memory of the Pilots was put into play.It was clear that if the Mariners were to move, it would be the second MLB team to leave.  Seattle would never have it's own big league baseball team again.  In addition, the Pilots were only here one year. With the Mariners continued failures, up to the 1995, many held the belief that it is impossible for Major League baseball to succeed here. 
With the move of the Seattle Super Sonics, both Major League teams that Seattle hosted in the 1960s have left town and assumed new names and identities.  If the Sonics had Clay Bennett, the Pilots had Bud Selig, who like Bennett, wanted a Major team in his home town.  Today, Selig is commissioner of Major League Baseball, although he won't get many cheers in this area.  At least not many more than former NBA commissioner David Stern.  Stern was Bennett's ally in the Sonics departure.
I found this video on the history of the Pilots.  You can click here to see it.

The Blues Are Back!

They fly by quicker than you can aim a camera, but we were able to enjoy the Blue Angels as they returned to Seafair.  After a year off because of sequester, they returned along with with many other acrobatic flying groups.  Once again, we were able to watch at our friend's viewing party at their house in Mercer Island.  The picture above was the best shot I got of the Blues.

Welcome Back, Beast Mode!

Seahawk Marshawn Lynch has ended his hold out.

Blog Mentioned In Walla Walla Paper

I was surprised a few days ago to find that my post about the old South Eastern Washington TV show Uncle Jimmy's Clubhouse was picked up by the Annie Charnley Eveland's column in the  Walla Walla Union-Bulletin.  Sharing childhood memories, some like this one, long gone, and rekindling other's memories, is one of the fun things about writing the blog. I was able to get the information to write about the Clubhouse from the "My Town Walla Walla" page on facebook.
I barely recall having my name read from the birthday book when I was little.  I believe they butchered my last name.

Happy Birthday, Brother

 

It's Steve's birthday today.

Veteran Seattle Radio Host Bob Rivers Retiring.

Bob Rivers moved to Seattle three months after I did, Rivers became a Seattle institution and I've become a admirer of Seattle institutions.  Rivers started his Seattle broadcasting career at KISW, he then moved to KZOK where he manned the mike for almost 10 years, when he couldn't get KZOK owner CBS to blink the big eye, he moved to oldies station KJR-FM. 
Rivers is known for his satirical songs, known as "Twisted Tunes" and for having his seaplane stolen by "the barefoot bandit" Colton Harris-Moore.  He is joined on his show by fellow radio personalities Spike O'Neil and Downtown Joe. 
Rivers has twice been voted Radio And Records Major Market Rock Personality Of The Year.
His last show is schedule for August 8th, exactly 25 years to the day after his first Seattle show,

Former Seattle Mayor Paul Schell Dies

Seattle was on a high note when Paul Schell became the city's mayor.  Local companies, Microsoft, Amazon, and Starbucks were becoming household names across the nation.  Pearl Jam and Nirvana were on top of the music scene. 
Unfortunately, the week long meeting of the World Trade Center   brought violent police confrontation that played out worldwide and the city lost it's footing.  A man was killed during the city's Mardi Gras celebration, and Boeing moved it's headquarters to Chicago. Paul Schell did not even get past the primary in his bid to be reelected.
Before being elected mayor, Schell was behind several civic projects including getting a new library built downtown.
The former mayor died yesterday he was 76.

The Portland Mavericks Remembered

Larry Stone writes an excellent piece on  "..the nuttiest baseball team the Northwest has ever seen" in today's Seattle Times.  Stone talks about the Portland Mavericks, so named because they had no Major League affiliation.  They were in the Northwest League with the Walla Walla Padres and became the team everyone loved to hate.  I had been wanting to do a post on the team, but really did not know where to begin.  You can read Larry's story by clicking here.

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

I had a great time last night with with wife, and friends as we went to Safeco Field to watch the Mariners play the Baltimore Orioles.  Although the M's came up short, we watched an excellent pitching performance by Felix Hernandez.  We also stayed around for the fireworks display afterwards.  Before we went over, we met for a pre-game brew at Henry's

Summer Relief

Back in the early 60s sometime, my parents took my sister and me swimming at Graybill Pool.  It was on the outskirts of Walla Walla.  At the time, I believe it was one of 3 outdoor public pools in Walla Walla, 2 commercially run and one public.  Actually Pioneer Park also had a pool, but was very small.  I believe that all are gone now, giving residents little relief from temperatures that often get above 100 during July and August. 
This picture was found on the Bygone Walla Walla page by Joe Drazan.

The Chase--A Fun Summer Read

Much like Lt Gerard devotes his career to capturing Richard Kimball in The Fugitive, FBI special agent Kate O'Hare has dedicated her life to capturing international con man, Nicholas Fox. In the first installment of this series, O'Hare learns that after Fox escapes from her clutches yet again, she is part of a secret government scheme for her to work with the criminal mastermind.  However, she is on her own on this.  A bad move can lead to her arrest and conviction. 
In The Chase, the stakes get high, as the duo is charged  with recovering a stolen artifact that if not recovered could destroy relations between the US and China.  The twist is that the artifact is held by a  well known trusted government figure. Add to the fact, he has a ruthless security team protecting his house. 
A well rounded group of characters are either introduced or brought back by "The Heist" to make this a fun read.  The contrast in character between the straight laced, dedicated O'Hare and the charming Fox, continues to make great chemistry for this series.
The Chase is the latest release from mystery writer Janet Evanovich and TV writer Lee Goldberg.

Natural Fireworks In Maple Valley

Maple Valley woke to the rattle of a big lightning and thunderstorm.  It is the first time it has  rained  here in weeks.  It has to be welcome news if some of that falls on the wild fires in Central Washington.  At this writing, the thunder has tapered off.

Sunset On The Lake

We have just returned to our Maple Valley home after watching house and dog of  friends of ours for two weeks in Bellevue   As it happened, we had marvelous weather and were able to capture this sunset from their backyard off Lake Sammamish.

Tower Of Power, Steve Miller Band, Journey Rock White River

Three great bands, all with San Francisco Bay area roots, but distinctively different sounds, played the White River Amphitheatre yesterday, as I celebrated my birthday with my wife and friends.
The White River is located on the Muckleshoot Indian Reservation near Auburn. It is now 11 years old.
The festivities opened with Tower Of Power, a funk rock, jazz fusion group from Oakland.  the group has many hits and was warmly greeted by a growing crowd setting up for the long afternoon/evening. 
Classic Rock staple Steve Miller Band (top picture) followed and the crowd roared to it's feet, as it played some of it's biggest hits.  Steve Miller, now Washington based, also sprinkled in some of his favorites from the band's blues based history, when the band was mostly heard on FM stations.  He also payed tribute to departed band member Norton Buffalo, who had been with the band for 31 years.
Power Rock  hit machine Journey (bottom picture) was the headliner, with hard hitting guitar riffs, a dazzling light show, touching piano solos as it played a long set into the night.  The band spoke of it's bay area ties, even earning a few quiet boos, when playing "Lights", a song paying tribute to San Francisco.  The Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers are tangled in an intense rivalry for superiority in the NFL.

Enjoying A Concert

Watching Tower Of Power at White River Amphitheatre.

JFK Jr, 15 Years Have Passed

It was 15 years ago today that John F Kennedy, son of one of our more endeared presidents died along with his wife and sister-in-law when the plane he was piloting crashed on the way to a wedding in Massachusetts,  Considered by many presidential material by some, he was beginning to make a name for himself, starting a political based magazine known as George.

Light Blogging!

Have not put much up this week.  Mostly because of the great weather, plus a few other factors.

Theatre Begins To Take Shape

A look at what will be the Bellevue Youth Theatre in Crossroads Park.  The area has been under construction for well over a year.  Sources say the Theatre should be open in December.

Happy Together Tour 2014 Hits Jackpot At Snoqualmie Casino

No summer is complete, in my opinion, without watching an outdoor concert, and to lead this season off, we headed East to Snoqualmie to watch the Turtles and a group of guests on this year's version of the Happy Together Tour.  A young at heart crowd  was singing, clapping, and dancing to songs bringing back memories of a first date, prom, graduation, or lunchtime on the oldies station. 
The concert started off with Gary Lewis And the Playboys, a mega hit maker in the 60s until Lewis went in the Army, squashing his career.  Mitch Ryder was next doing classics like "Devil With The Blue Dress On".  Mark Farner (bottom picture in blue shirt), once the lead singer of Grand Funk, took the stage, he looked older in years, but young in spirit, moving across the platform like a teenager.  An artist I hadn't heard of, Chuck Negron, was better known as a member of 1970s  hit machine 3 Dog Night, (middle picture) sang a sample of  the Dog's great hits.
Rounding out the show was the headline group, The Turtles.  Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman have lead the band and have been it's mouthpiece since it's inceptions.  They combine memorable hits like "Eleanor" "She'd Rather Be With Me", and the rock classic, "Happy Together" with a Smothers Brothers type comedy shtick that made them a popular booking on mainstream variety shows of the 1960s.
Next week, we "journey" to the White River Amphitheatre to see Journey and Steve Miller in concert.

LeBron Going Back To Cleveland

NBA all star Lebron James has announced that he is returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers.  You can check details here.

Cool Things To Ship At The UPS Store In Crossroads

We were able to pick up this pinball machine at it's location in Bellevue which we had crated  and shipped by freight to San Francisco.  For information on Pick Ups for packing and shipping around around the Bellevue-Redmond area, call 425-746-6880

More Great Pictures From The Needle

A couple more pictures from last night.

Dining At The Needle

Deb and I celebrated our 19th anniversary last night with dinner at Sky City, the restaurant at the top of the Space Needle.  Although the Needle is well over 50 years old, it retains it shows little signs of age. 
The seating area of the restaurant rotates a making a full 360 degree rotation every 47 minutes. 
The original name of the restaurant was "The Eye Of The Needle" It was known for having prices as high as it's 500 foot altitude.  Today, the prices are about equal to any fine restaurant in the area.
The views from the restaurant were stunning.    When we finished, we walked up to the observation deck.  It was crowded with tourists from all over the world.   There was a mini-museum there with historical pictures and artifacts.  There is a gift shop at the base. 
We had our rehearsal dinner at the skyline dining area (the new addition to the needle at 100 feet, built in 1982) in 1995 and we had been to the observation deck many times.  It was however Deb's first time to the Restaurant and my first time since going there with a couple buddies in 1978.  We thank Deb's Grandma for giving us a gift card for Sky City.

Seager Makes All Star Squad

It has been announced that Mariner 3rd baseman Kyle Seager will play in his first All Star Game.  Seager is hitting .274 and has been a defensive stalwart for the M's.  He joins teammates Robinson Cano and Felix Hernandez on this year's squad..

Walla Walla TV Memories--Uncle Jimmy's Clubhouse

Walla Walla did not have a TV station, but we did have stations from Tri Cities and Spokane.  Eventually with the advent of Cable, we were able to get Seattle and Vancouver, BC.  One of the more memorable children shows was Uncle Jimmy's Clubhouse.  We saw it on KEPR, out of Pasco. It actually originated from KIMA in Yakima.  Children would appear on the show on or near their birthday.   If a child was not able to be on the show their name would be read from the birthday book.  Sponsored by Darigold, a regional milk distributor, one lucky child got to drive a miniature milk truck.  Uncle Jimmy was Jimmy Nolan, a WSU grad who had worked at KUJ in Walla Walla in 1940.  He would host the show, as well as do news at the station from mid 1950s to the late 70s.

Mariner Fans Seeing Improvements

The Mariners are at 48 wins and 39 losses, third in the American League West.  After the Seahawks won the Super Bowl, it was widely thought that the M's, which had been off the Seattle sports radar for almost a decade, would stumble through another long hopeless season.  This year however, it is clear that the years of futilitty may soon be over. The M's have been hanging in, even after a couple of losing streaks and have even shown some power at the plate. 
So, my conclusion is that we should enjoy the season improvements and not worry about the chance for a late season fade.  The M's face the White Sox today to conclude a three game series in the Windy City.

Happy 4th Of July

4th Of July With Seattle Radio Icon Pat O'Day

Celebrating the 4th Of July. Seattle Style

Beautiful Summer Night In Maple Valley

We love eating dinner out on the deck in the summer.  This was taken just as the sun was setting, my favorite time.

Area Temperature Shoots Up

Puget Sound area temperatures are expected to cool to the upper 70s today.  The thermometer hit 94 yesterday breaking records for that date.  It  was a busy day at our store, so there was not much chance to get a break from the heat.  Luckily, air conditioning was working properly.

THE CHASE by Janet Evanovich & Lee Goldberg (Commercial)

What I'm reading now.  This summer beach read is actually better than The Heist, the first Evanovich Goldberg best seller.

The Turtles Bring Act To Area

They were on every teen show in the 60s.  Los Angeles based band, The Turtles, are coming to the Snoqualmie Casino on July 11th.  For information on the show, go to www.snocasino.com .  The two leaders of the group, Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, were also part of the Mothers Of Invention group, led by Frank Zappa. 

The group was mentioned in passing by The Boss, Bruce Springsteen during the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction of the E Street Band.

If that doesn't do it for you, the concert will also feature such living legends as Mitch Ryder, Gary Lewis And The Playboys, Mark Farner and much more.

Howard Kaylan makes his home in the Seattle area.