Joseph Claypoole 338

Library, 201 E. Methow Valley Highway.

TwispWorks Fourth Friday will be from 4-8:30 p.m. at TwispWorks, 502 S. Glover St. The event includes music, food, games, demonstrations, artists’ studios and more.

Kalyna Rakel Duo will perform at 6 p.m. at the Old Schoolhouse Brewery, 155 Riverside Ave., Winthrop.

Mike Bills will perform at 6 p.m. at Sweet River Bakery, 203 Pateros Mall, Pateros.

A retirement party to honor

Lael Duncan and Donna Talbot will be from 6-8 p.m. at 12 Tribes Omak Casino Hotel, 28968 Highway 97.

Those planning to attend are asked to RSVP to jessicab@occac.org by July 15. The event includes a program, hors d’oeuvres and a no-host bar.

What4 will perform at 7 p.m. at Twisp River Tap House, 201 N. Methow Valley Highway.

Saturday July 23

Methow Valley Farmers Market will run from 9 a.m. to noon at the Methow Valley Community Center, 201 E. Methow Valley Highway, Twisp. Ken Bevis will perform nature-based Americana music.

Okanogan Valley Farmers Market runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Legion Park, Okanogan.

Margo May and guests will perform at 6 p.m. at the Mazama Public House, 516 Goat Creek Road.

Emele and the Boys will perform at 6 p.m. at the Methow Valley Ciderhouse, 28 Highway 20, Winthrop. Randy Battle Bluz Band will perform at 6 p.m. at Sweet River Bakery, 203 Pateros Mall, Pateros.

Contraband Countryband will perform at 8 p.m. at the Twisp River Tap House, 201 N. Methow Valley Highway.

Sunday July 24

Winthrop Market runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Mack Lloyd Park. Terry Hunt will perform at 5:30 p.m. at the Twisp River Tap House, 201 N. Methow Valley Highway.

Tuesday July 26

Okanogan Valley Farmers Market runs from 3:30-6:30 p.m. in East Side Park, Omak.

One man’s car is another man’s art

By JOSEPH CLAYPOOLE The Chronicle

OKANOGAN

— Old and expired license plates are generally worth only as much (if not less) than the aluminum they’re made with.

If you’re lucky enough to have a vintage or collector’s plate, you might even make a couple hundred bucks. However, most plates nowadays are simply recycled for their metal.

However, Okanogan County native Dale Markham has found fun in art with these metal plates.

Markham, 80, takes old

license plates and gives them new life. Cutting, bending and gluing pieces together to form custom vanity pieces for anyone and everyone.

“I just cut them like so,” Markham said, gesturing at his work bench. “And then you flip it over and use this special glue.” Markham then clamps the pieces together, generally overnight, before arriving at a finished product. In all, not counting the extra setting time he affords his work, he can finish a plate in half an hour.

Dale started collecting cars at around 15 and has been

restoring them ever since. He’s sold most of the cars since then, but still travels far and wide (as possible) to collect the odd car or two.

While on a trip out to Monroe about 15 years ago, Markham saw a man demonstrating how to take old plates and create new ones, with any word or phrase you might want.

He started with simple ideas, like “65IMPALA,” before venturing into more creative phrasing like “2FAST4U.” Now, Markham does university names, mascots, other phrases, and funnier words as well.

He does draw the line at any

explicit or raunchy language. Markham generally sells at swap meets and car shows, but will take the occasional custom order. He asks that you give him a call at 509-449-6010 if you’re interested.

If you’re lucky enough to become the owner of one of his works, he warns that they’re not legal to drive with. He recommends attaching them once at a car show or meet.

A lifelong love of cars has sparked a passion within a passion, and for Markham, its been a great ride.

“It’s been a real adventure,” he said.

JOSEPH CLAYPOOLE | The Chronicle

Dale Markham (left) with a sample of his plates. Above, Markham demonstrates his process at his workbench.

Omak home destroyed by fire

OMAK — A single-wide mobile home on Omak Riverside Eastside Road was completely destroyed by a fire on Saturday, Oct. 29. The building was fully involved upon arrival with an unknown cause. Omak and Okanogan fire departments were called to the structure. The Red

Cross was called to assist with living arrangements.

The blaze lasted an hour and a half and there were no injuries, according to Omak Fire Chief Kevin Bowling. One man lived in the home. It’s unknown if he had insurance. Additionally, approximately 10

acres of property burned from a fire which started as a controlled fire on Sunday, Oct. 30. The burn began on 23 George Road, Omak, and eventually spread over a hill on 11 George Road due to the wind blowing, said Bowling. This fire also lasted around an hour and a half.

There were no injuries or building damage, and Okanogan Fire Department and Omak Fire Department responded. Fire Districts 7 and 8, and Malott Fire were also called due to worry of possible spread, but District 8 and Malott were canceled while in route.

Filling stockings with wood

PUD, TranGo to study hydrogen bus fleet

OKANOGAN — The Okanogan County PUD applied for a grant to possibly install a hydrogen fueling station and hydrogen fuel cells in the county, in partnership with the TranGo, the department said during their Oct. 24 meeting.

Brent Timm, general manager for TranGo, said the agency is pursuing a feasibility study for deploying a zero-carbon bus fleet, in accordance with state requirements. Hydrogen fuel cells are likely a better option for their buses than lithium electric batteries, Timm said.

The PUD also has state requirements through the Clean Energy Transformation Act and, more recently, the capand-trade legislation passed in 2022 to receive energy from carbon-free power resources. TranGo and the PUD submitted a joint application for Department of Energy funding, through the Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub, to develop a hydrogen fueling station and a 100 KW fuel cell to generate electricity. This demonstration project will help both entities meet state mandates.

Douglas County PUD is in the process of building a hydrogen production facility, and their proximity and the current working relationship with Okanogan PUD has made the project competitive for federal funding. Although nothing is official yet, the grant could provide around half of the $6 million estimate for the project, with other grant funding available for the other half. Most likely, the funding would be available in 2024-2025.

Okanogan PUD is still studying the details and feasibility of the project, but if proved effective, could be expanded to meet transportation needs and electricity production requirements in other parts of the county as well.

In other business, the board:

• Approved a grant application to USDA Re-Connect to provide See PUD, page A2

How Key Club and Kiwanis are turning wood and kindness into toys and cheer

Story, photos by JOSEPH CLAYPOOLE The Chronicle

EVERY YEAR IN DECEMBER, FAMILIES gather at the county fairgrounds to pick up food baskets and toys to help out round out the Christmas holiday.

Canned goods, prepackaged foods, and penny drives to purchase groceries make up the baskets that help set the dinner tables, and toys are often donated after being purchased from a local store.

But every year, a set of handmade, wooden toys is sprinkled throughout the offerings for families. Commercial trucks, Volkswagen cars, and even ducks with wheels, carefully crafted and assembled, make it to kids in Okanogan County on an annual basis in time for the holidays, all thanks to local Kiwanis and Key Clubs, and Wally Richards.

Wally moved to the Omak area from western Washington around 30 years ago. He was already deep into his toy woodworking project before moving, having joined his local Kiwanis at least five years before making the trip.

Once Wally and his wife – who have been married for over 72 years – arrived in Omak, he quickly got back to work cutting, shaping, and sanding toys to giveaway.

This year, the collection of toys includes UPS box trucks, Volkswagen cars, nested ducks (on wheels!), tops, and “name trains,” as Wally calls them.

The name trains are alphabet blocks on wheels, similar to train cars, and are able to be connected in any order to spell words, places, and names. Nearly every preschool in the county has received a name train from Wally’s

See TOYS, page A6

Ellie Porter (left), the editor for Omak’s Key Club, is etching in designs for the toys by burning them into the wood - pyrography. Grace Worden, at right, is also etching.

operation.

And a seemingly lifelong passion for woodworking meant that all the tools he might need are in his shop next to his house. The only major change in the assembly line came in 2013 when Key Club members from Okanogan and Omak high schools joined in.

“They like to come and hangout, helping make toys,” Okanogan’s Key Club advisor, Dennis O’Connor, said. “The snacks, the game to win snacks, it all makes it a great experience.”

That experience starts the moment you enter Wally’s shop.

“If you walk in the door, you’re going to work,” Wally said, jokingly.

And in the shop, if it’s a Tuesday or Thursday night in the months before Christmas, you’re likely to see a group of children huddled around a set of pushed-together tables, talking about the school day and the latest gossip while working.

In the back, a smaller group of adults have one eye on the letter block in their hand, sanding away, the other eye diligently watching the youngest kids of the group.

Two of the students, clearly friends, sit snugly shoulder-to-shoulder, etching in the lines for the UPS logo, doors, and other vehicle

features by burning the wood – pyrography.

“Wood burning, it’s fun and I like that he trusts us with the toys,” Denise Marquez, Okanogan’s treasurer and, according

to Wally, a wood burning extraordinaire, said. “Especially since it’s so important to him.”

Simple wooden wheels and dowels are carefully assembled with wood glue by another small group of students, their finished pile steadily growing. A similarly growing, though slower, stack of finished toys lines the far wall.

Though Wally used to do all the assembly on his own, the student volunteers now help with much of the process.

Nowadays, Wally purchases the raw materials, shapes the blocks, and provides fun – and snacks!

“Snacks? Pretzels?” Wally asks, running around the circumference of the room. “You all know there’s water over here as well?” Within a half hour of the group’s 2-hour assembly session, Wally pulls out a “shutthe-box” game, where players

roll dice and try to shut the box by eliminating the numbers 1-9 through sums equal to their dice roll. Rolling a 10 would allow you to block out the eight and two, or perhaps the one, four, and five.

“It’s fun for the kids,” Wally said. “And it gives them the chance to earn some gas money from me if they do the best on a given night.”

The kids are soon back to work, slowly making progress towards their annual average of 200 tops, 100 trucks, 100 cars, and 100 nested ducks, plus however many name trains are needed this year.

Before that can happen, Wally can be heard asking the shop’s Alexa to play the Bee Gees, “Ah, it’s Wally’s dance time,” O’Connor says with the change in music.

And soon after, the entire room is up, copying Wally’s dance moves like an

electronics-free reenactment of the Just Dance game. And though the fun times, snacks and games help bring in kids and new groups to help, it’s the helping that makes them stay.

“I like seeing the way kids light up when they receive toys or gifts,” Nattalyn Cariker, a Key Club student volunteering with the project, said. “It makes me feel good inside to help.”

The positive experience, as noticed by Cariker’s mother, Nattalie, touched every student who came, and has come, to help. The toys are for the kids in the county, and the process of making those toys happens to be for some of the kids as well.

Hayden Swartsel, president of Okanogan’s Key Club, said it’s one of the r easons why he still helps.

“It feels good, makes me feel like I’m really contributing to my community,” Swartsel said.

Cyelah O’Neil playing “shut the box,” for fun and to try and win some gas money.

The entire group dutifully working at their assigned tasks, courtesy of Wally - at left in the blue polo shirt.

TOYS from page A1

Nattalyn Cariker in the middle of sanding wooden blocks for the toys.

Creating a legacy with Okanogan wrestling

By JOSEPH CLAYPOOLE The Chronicle

OKANOGAN — The Okanogan valley is filled with incredible wrestlers. Legacies are being built upon and constructed anew in Tonasket, the Methow, as far north as Oroville and down in Omak.

Recent results at the event of the season with the annual culminating tournament – the Mat Classic – at the Tacoma Dome prove that enough.

Twenty-three podium finishers in the 2022 season and nine individual titles in 2023 prove that enough.

But one team has found themselves at the helm of a new coach, and a new story – the Okanogan Bulldogs.

First started by Frank Eylar and the school’s inaugural 1970 team, Okanogan has seen some sporadic accomplishment through the years. A fifth-place team finish in ’74 would mark a 30 year drought before the team would see another top-six finish in 2004 after finishing sixth.

Another sixth-place finish in ’06 would outline a handful of other top-10 team finishes and individual state titles, 10 in total amongst nine wrestlers.

The women’s side of the mat saw a similar story with the Bulldogs only having participants starting in 2016, though just one. A few years later would have a similar story with just one participant from the school in 2018 and 2019, before the team saw their first podium finish in Makayla Duran in 2020, achieving sixth.

And then the Okanogan High School hired Martin Mitchell, a four-time state wrestling champion for Tonasket, as the head coach of wrestling in October 2020.

Mitchell comes from a family of educators. His father was a history teacher and coach for nearly 40 years and his mother an elementary school teacher for over 30 years.

After finishing his college education at the University of Oregon and Eastern Washington University, Mitchell found that it was time to come back to the area for the 2019-2020 school year.

“When I first moved back to the Okanogan valley, wrestling was one of the last things on my mind,” Mitchell said in a Facebook post. “I wanted to be a teacher and I wasn't really looking to be anything more than a great teacher.”

Soon after, he was gently persuaded to help out with a budding wrestling program in the area called Okanogan Underground.

“I reluctantly, and luckily, agreed to help,” Mitchell recalled in that same post.

As he got a better handle on his teaching duties – now a renaissance man of education, working in world history, geography, state history, coding, and world events – Mitchell found more time to spare, and most of it going towards wrestling.

Dean Klepec, former Okanogan athletic director, then reached out to Mitchell about helping with the middle school wrestling program. After that season – with the 2022-2023 wrestling sophomores being in the seventh grade then – he was hooked.

“I began traveling all around with the kids at the Underground and found myself setting goals I had not allowed myself to think about in a very long time,” Mitchel said.

After Mitchell was hired as the high school wrestling coach, he knew he had goals he wanted to reach, not just as a coach, but as a team and program. But no matter how realistic the goals were or impassioned the athletes may be, Mitchell knew nothing could be accomplished without numbers.

“When I first took on the program, numbers on the boys and girls side was pretty low. We didn’t have a full team and it’s pretty hard to be successful when you don’t have a full lineup.”

He started looking at students competing in the fall and spring but were perhaps taking the winter season easy. Mitchell says he wanted to show students that wrestling was, of all things, fun.

“Our first year in with COVID, we didn’t get much competition and just wrestled in our league, the season was just a few weeks long,” Mitchell said. “It didn’t feel like a real season. We had a lot of kids turn out – over 20 – twice as many as the year before. The wrestlers’ that were in the room had a lot of raw talent that just needed to be directed in the right direction.”

“It takes a village to raise a... wrestler.”

Athletes alone wouldn’t get the Bulldogs where they wanted to go. Mitchell is quick to acknowledge the help of and praise the other coaches and parents who make the program’s success a possibility.

Tony Klepec brings in messages on success for the mat and in life, John Swartsel is always there with an encouraging, and booming, voice, and John Hensley is “one of the best technicians” that Mitchell has had the opportunity to coach with, he says.

He also gives thanks and recognition to those coaches that helped him in his wrestling career, both in the Underground and in his time in high school. The coaching staff as a whole plays a huge impact on the program, and it’s something the athletes notice as well.

“I think that all of our coaches bring so much to the program and you can really tell they love the sport,” Sarah Hamilton, who finished fifth this year, said. “All of the support and dedication to this program, it’s what’s going to win us more state titles and team titles in the future.”

The spring before the 20212022 season, which would be his first as a high school coach, the team was excited. No goals had truly been set yet, but the wrestlers knew they wanted to get somewhere. It wasn’t until the team’s first tournament of the season that they all knew they were ready.

At the 2021 Tony Saldivar Tournament in Granger, the team took third – shocking not just themselves, but teams from around the state as well.

“We got asked by maybe 10 different coaches: ‘Where are you from?’ ‘Where do you guys compete?’” Mitchell said. “Just complete bewilderment on the faces of theses other coaches.

“This team that just came out of nowhere into this big, 32-team tournament, just came in and took third place.”

Mitchell says that the kids

took the win in stride. Energy levels and focus at practice increased, and this is when he and the other coaches say they saw the wrestlers really start to do it for each other.

“It’s gone from something that the kids see, to something they know they can do, to now it being, almost an expectation,” Mitchell commented. “Knowing the things, they need to do to get to their goals. The eighth graders joining the team fresh wanting more, ‘We need more than five of us at state.’ They’re setting goals for themselves and the team – great, but realistic and achievable, goals.”

Some of the wrestlers, like two-time state champion Johnny Swartsel, weren’t even sure of placing at state as team heading into high school.

“Growing up, I never though about placing at state as a team,” Swartsel said. “But when we started to build our team (in 2021), I strongly believed we would place in the top five for sure.”

It’s a young team, Swarstel says, but one that will surely be amazing and successful. And with a team made up of only three seniors and then a room full of freshmen and sophomores, the Bulldogs are a young team indeed.

That youth brings only positives though, as Mitchell and co. make sure to work on the mental aspect of the sport as well, ensuring the team understands that they all play a part – both in the team titles and individual matches.

“The coaches have really taught us to think and know that we could be better,” Joseph Cates, state champion at 285, said. “And teaching us where we can improve.”

That mentality of improvement and teamwork extends to those in the grades below as well.

“The future will definitely see some more state champs,” Cates says. “Tanner and Chad and Braydon could be there next year, too. I see our school placing first as a team in the near future.”

The athletes are clearly on board with the changes for the Bulldogs, and others are

starting to notice as well.

Dean Klepec was voted the women’s coach of the year for the district, and Mitchell says he’d nominate any of his coaches as assistant coach of the year if given the opportunity.

Tanner Grooms was athlete of the year for the league while Johnny Swartsel, along with his back-to-back state titles, won an individual academic state title.

First time wrestlers are on board for the coming work, and hopeful success, in the program. Eva Robeck, who made it to state for the first time, is already planning on competing at state again next year, and making sure she brings home some hardware.

Others, like Kiley Kaiser, share those goals, but also don’t want to do it alone.

“Hopefully we get more girls to turn out next year,” Kaiser said. “It helps when you have friends to practice with and hangout with at tournaments.”

The change in pace for Okanogan wrestling has brought a team trophy back to the valley for the first time in school history, and three state champions, another first. It’s also seen the highest number of women Bulldogs make it to state, with four, including two fifth place finishers in Afton Wood and Sarah Hamilton.

All the wrestlers are ready for the years and seasons to come.

They, and Mitchell all seem to share the same goals and motivations as well.

“I’m a competitive person,” Mitchell said. “I don’t want to win with one person and be satisfied.”

Instead, Mitchell wants to win with a full lineup of wrestlers and bring home a state title – a sentiment that Okanogan wrestling team believes in and is fighting for.

ROGER HARNACK | Cheney Free Press Afton Wood, Okanogan, gets a solid throw against Miley Blanton, Forks, in her first match at the 2023 Mat Classic state wrestling tournament, Feb. 17-18. Wood would pin Blanton in 1:15, and eventually claim a fifth place finish in the girls 1B/2B/1A/2A 120-pound bracket.

ROGER HARNACK | Cheney Free Press Joseph Cates, Okanogan, lifts coach Martin Mitchell into the air in celebration after pinning opponent Anthony Contreras, Warden, in the championship bout of the 1B/2B 285 pound bracket at the 2023 Mat Classic in Tacoma. Cates won his final bout in just 19 seconds.

ROGER HARNACK | Cheney Free Press Sarah Hamilton, Okanogan, fights to get her leg free while maintaining side control in her state opening match against Goldendale’s Jordan Kiemele on Feb. 17. Hamilton would win the match by pin in 2:50. She’d go on to place fifth in the 1B/2B/1A/2A 125-pound bracket.

OUR VIEW

Flu season is upon us

IT’S THAT OF YEAR AGAIN — cold and flu season.

With children back in school and all of us tending to spend more time indoor as the weather becomes chilly, that means flu cases are going to rise.

According to John Hopkins Medicine experts, the influenza “flu” season will make its annual return in the coming weeks.

Flu cases tend to increase in October and can occur as late as May.

Last season, flu activity remained low, but experts are concerned that the 2022–23 flu season may likely be worse than last year, since mild flu seasons are often followed by more severe flu seasons.

This, mixed with ongoing cases of COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses that circulate in the fall and winter months, may lead to a surge in illnesses, medical professionals said.

Johns Hopkins Medicine experts recommend prevention methods to protect yourself and your family from these respiratory illnesses, such as getting a flu vaccine as well as hand washing and maintaining proper hygiene.

Common sense also plays a big role in staying healthy.

We should remember to wash our hands a little more often than normal. Cover our mouths when coughing and, most importantly, stay home when sick.

These simple steps, along with regular immunizations, vitamins and healthy lifestyle choices can immensely help guard against the common cold.

CORRECTIONS

The Chronicle staff strives to be accurate. If errors occur we want to correct them promptly. If you believe a correction is warranted, please call 509-826-1110 or 800-5723446 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

FROM OUR READERS

Unauthorized sign was inappropriate

This sign was posted on my Forest Service permit gate between private and government land.

Maybe these people should have to obtain a permit from the cattleman’s association in order to buy a steak, hamburger, bacon, eggs, milk, butter, or any agriculture food products. Otherwise, they could eat granola and tofu. Oh, and by the way, they can vote for Biden and Pelosi so they can have high priced gas to pull their

electric cars to the charging station.

Don Dagnon Letters to the editor policy: The Chronicle encourages readers to write letters to the editor for a free and wide-ranging discussion of public issues. If possible, every letter is published, although publication does not imply agreement nor endorsement by The Chronicle. Letters may be submitted online at www.omakchronicle.com. All letters must be signed by the writer and include a daytime phone

Contacting legislators

7th

• Rep. Shelly Short R-Addy Term expires January 2023 416 Sid Snyder Ave. S.W. P.O. Box 40407 Olympia 98504-0407 360-786-7612 short.shelly@leg.wa.gov

shellyshort.src.wastateleg.org

• Rep. Jacquelin Maycumber R-Republic Term expires January 2023 425B Legislative Building P.O. Box 40600 Olympia, WA 98504-0600 360-786-7908 jacquelin.maycumber@leg.wa.gov

COMMUNITY

• Rep. Joel Kretz R-Wauconda Term expires January 2023 335A Legislative Building P.O. Box 40600 Olympia, WA 98504-0600 360-786-7988 joel.kretz@leg.wa.gov joelkretz.houserepublicans.wa.gov

McGee shares history of his Okanogan at second annual Fly-In event

By JOSEPH CLAYPOOLE The Chronicle

OKANOGAN — The second ever Okanogan County Fly-In ran, or rather flew, last Saturday, Sept. 24, and featured a special guest – US Navy veteran John E. McGee Jr.

The fly-in event featured nearly triple the number of planes from its inaugural event last year, along with a Life Flight crew and helicopter, Civil Air Patrol members, the Okanogan Chamber, and the Okanogan-Omak Rotary Club.

McGee’s connection to Okanogan began on Sept. 21, 1967, just two days and 56 years before he had ever set foot in the community. Though he didn’t know of the town or county then, McGee was starting his service as an electronics material officer on a Navy ship named after Okanogan County.

The USS Okanogan first launched in 1944 with duties in WWII before assisting in the Korean War.

When McGee joined on in 1967, while the ship was homeported in Long Beach, Calif., the vessel was getting ready for service in Vietnam through upgrades and system preservations.

Assigned as 3rd Division Officer, as McGee told it at the fly-in, he was in charge of 20

men at the aft end of the ship. That number soon became 19 as his first experience with a “pathological liar” found him with his first story to share.

“I had one seaman,” McGee described. “Who had just completed 60 days of restriction to the ship because he had a habit of leaving the ship and not coming back.

“It was my first, naïve experience with a pathological liar.”

McGee, believing the man to be reformed, approached his commanding officer, and vouched for the seaman, in hopes he would receive his liberty card back.

The commanding officer told McGee that if he received his liberty card, he would never see that man again.

“I assured the [commanding officer] that would not be case,” McGee said. “The seaman left the ship that afternoon, and I never saw him again. Lesson learned.”

McGee continued with stories of his service aboard the USS Okanogan, describing his, and the ships, journey through drydock in California and the Pacific Ocean before eventually arriving in New Zealand to participate in festival.

While there, an incident with some war protestors found the ship in the eye of an Auckland based newspaper, and through a real-life version of Telephone,

printed the ships name as the “USS O’Kanogan,” the only time the American ship was Irish, McGee said.

He continued his service aboard the Okanogan throughout southeast Asia,

with stints served out of Thailand, Singapore, Saigon, Japan, and eventually Hawaii. Eventually, McGee made his way back to Long Beach –though delayed by the failed boilers of another ship – just

in time for his wedding in 1968 with wife Yvonne, now married 53 years.

McGee left the USS Okanogan in 1968, being transferred to the USS O’Brien, and then the service in 1969 as part of a

reduction in force. The Okanogan was retired from service just a year later in 1970. Their daughter, Melanie, would continue the military tradition after graduating the Naval Academy in 1993, and son John McGee III who would join the Navy as a Naval Flight Officer.

McGee’s son, who now lives in Anacortes on the west side of Washington, happened to notice how close Okanogan was to his new home and asked former mayor Jon Culp if any opportunities to visit might be possible, explaining the importance of Okanogan in his father’s life.

Finally, the McGee’s arrived in Okanogan, nearly 55 years after McGee Jr. stepped off of the ship named after the county and described his journey aboard the vessel to members of its community.

The day before his speech, on Sept. 23, the McGee’s received a tour of the town from Fire Chief Jeremy Patrick in a fire truck, along with selfguided tours of Frank Matsura murals and the Okanogan Historical Museum.

After his speech, Okanogan Mayor Wayne Turner presented McGee Jr. with a ceremonial key to the city. McGee was certainly happy with his visit, or at least with Patrick, as he asked, “Does this fit the fire truck?”

JOSEPH CLAYPOOLE | The Chronicle

From left, John McGee III, Yvonne McGee, and John McGee Jr. smile in front of a photo of the USS Okanogan after McGee Jr. received his honors at the Fly-In, Sept. 24.

Museum

By JOSEPH CLAYPOOLE The Chronicle

OMAK — The Stampede Museum is only five years old, but it carries generations of memories and history.

What started with a tale that most Stampede fans know, involving Leo Moomaw and Tim Bernard, turned into a long enterprise that would eventually birth the grand opening of the Stampede Museum, 410 E. Second Ave.

In 1924, just a few years before Bernard and Moomaw kicked off the Stampede in 1933, a little girl named Marguerite Lambert was born in Canada.

Lambert, who eventually married Russel DeTro, was given the nickname “Bunny” by her brother. The DeTros moved to Riverside and eventually joined the Omak Stampede family through her daughter, Ginger.

Ginger was Miss Omak Stampede in 1964. That brought Bunny and Russel DeTro into the fold of Stampede as they began chaperoning events.

Bunny eventually was named as the first woman on the Omak Stampede Board of Directors.

Firsts didn’t stop there, as she was eventually elected to the Stampede Hall of Fame and became the first female Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Gold Card member.

Bunny was one of the first passioned advocates for a museum

Museum display highlights queens through the years.

to represent and showcase the storied history of the Omak Stampede.

Two other major advocates for the museum included Mary Henrie, former Omak Chamber of Commerce president, and Deb Copenhaver, a two-time world champion saddle bronc rider and 1947 Omak Stampede all-around champion.

Henrie had been heavily involved in just about every civic improvement project in the area for decades leading up to the 2016 groundbreaking

for the museum, including the Omak Visitor Information Center, according to Ed Parker, a former grounds director and parking manager for Stampede. Parker spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony in October 2016. Parker now is one of the three main volunteers and managers at the museum alongside his wife, Diana Parker, former associate board member for Stampede, and Karmen Beeman, Stampede royalty director for around 14 years.

The history of Stampede isn’t just represented in the museum, it seems to course through its walls and those who help run and care for it.

Beeman’s three daughters, Shauna, Sarah and Jackie, also are involved in the Stampede. Shauna helps with the museum’s queens display section and was a queen herself in 1982 along with being Miss Rodeo Washington the year after that.

Sarah Grooms, who is the Stampede office managger, was queen in 1986 and also Miss Rodeo Washington in 1987.

Jackie reigned as Stampede queen in 1996.

Sheryl Curtis, another volunteer at the museum, is the daughter of Gene Curtis, one

JOSEPH CLAYPOOLE | The Chronicle

DEE CAMP | The Chronicle

Longtime friends Deb Copenhaver (left) and Bunny DeTro greet each other at the 2017 dedication of the Stampede Museum Association facility in Omak. Copenhaver died in February 2019; DeTro died in December 2018.

JOSEPH CLAYPOOLE | The Chronicle

Exhibit at the Stampede Museum features Deb Copenhaver’s world championship saddle.

Wilkie

OMAK STAMPEDE COLLECTION

Omak Stampede founders Leo Moomaw (left) on Scott and Tim Bernard on Freckles, in 1939. Both are in the Omak Stampede Hall of Fame.

MUSEUM

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of the first rodeo clowns for Stampede. Two other “diehard” volunteers (in the words of Diane Parker) are Marty Robbins and LaWanda Jones, the granddaughter of Moomaw and the daughter of Arnie Will, a famous left-handed roper, respectively.

Even this year’s queen, Evelyn Picking, has ties into the event’s history, as she’s the great-granddaughter of Moomaw via his daughter, Peggy (Moomaw) Nelson. Picking’s other grandmother, Cindy Taylor Picking, was queen in 1973 and helped with the 1966 Disney film “Run, Appaloosa, Run” when it was being shot in Omak.

Involvement with the museum stems, in part, from a culture supported by former board president Dick Wilkie. When one person joins Stampede, the whole family is recruited.

Work projects would involve the parents, kids and, if possible, even the pets. It helps that Wilkie was a firm believer in the “work hard, play hard” mentality.

With a family culture built

into Stampede, and support for the museum carrying strong, it was inevitable that something would be built. In 2016, after securing private funding and some donations, the groundbreaking ceremony for the building took place on Oct. 4. A little less than a year later, on Aug. 7, the building opened and was dedicated to Bunny DeTro for her efforts in getting the museum up and running. A permanent exhibit in the museum is dedicated to her; Bunny died in December 2018.

The building was constructed by Dale Erickson, who Diana Parker said donated an incredible amount of his time, experience and knowledge.

He said the building “is going to be my legacy, too,” Parker recalled.

Copenhaver also has an exhibit in the museum.

He was saddle bronc world champion in 1955 and 1956, and also had title wins in Calgary, Alberta; Pendleton, Ore.; Madison Square Garden in New York; Salinas, Calif.; Denver, Colo., and Fort Worth, Texas, plus numerous wins in Omak at the Stampede.

He was also inducted into the PRCA Hall of Fame and, in 1978, the Omak Stampede Hall of Fame. Copenhaver donated

his 1947 championship saddle to be a centerpiece in the museum and, before he died in 2019, built a stand for the saddle from wood salvaged from the original Omak Stampede Arena. The arena was replaced in 2009.

Other pieces of history and historical figures in the museum are an outdoor metal statue of horses donated and made by Virgil “Smoker” Marchand, exhibits on Arnie Will and Gene Curtis, past Suicide Race and Stampede winners, buckles, booster buttons, saddles, tools, artifacts and more.

And even if rodeo history doesn’t appeal, there also an original concert poster for the Kenny Rogers concert in from Aug. 14, 1976.

The museum recently received 501(c)(3) status as a non-profit organization and continues to run off of donations and reserve funds from the initial private funding from construction.

It’s open from 1-4 p.m. Tuesdays throughout most of the year, plus all of Stampede weekend. If in doubt, Diana Parker says to trust the technology, “when the open sign is on, we’re open.”

Admission is free.

Stuff to do

THE CHRONICLE

Youngsters hunt for prizes in a stack of straw during the 2021 Wrangler Kids Night. This year’s event is at 4 p.m. Thursday in the Omak Stampede Arena. Admission is free. Prizes will be awarded.

THE CHRONICLE Youngsters crowd into Maley’s store (now LaDoux’s) to sign up for the Omak Stampede kiddie parade in 1965. This year’s grand parade will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 13.

JOSEPH CLAYPOOLE | The Chronicle

Displays at the museum are dedecated to roper Arnie Will and founders Tim Bernard and Leo Moomaw.

THE CHRONICLE

A bull rider comes out of the chute in 1954.

BROCK HIRES | The Chronicle

Folks zoom around on a carnival ride in 2021. This year’s carnival is provided by Paradise Amusements.