Okanogan Valley Gazette-Tribune, April 30, 2015

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OROVILLE FBLA COMPETES,

SPRING BARTER FAIRE

TORI KINDRED STATE

At the Okanogan Family Faire Grounds, May 1, 2 & 3

PRESIDENT... See Page A3

SERVING WASHINGTON’S

OKANOGAN VALLEY

SINCE 1905

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Tonasket man arrested for attempting to lure 8-year-old girl into car

PLANTING THE FUTURE

Man alleged to have knives and other weapons in car BY GARY A. DEVON EDITOR@GAZETTE-TRIBUNE.COM

OROVILLE – A Tonasket man was arrested after he allegedly tried to lure an eight-year-old Oroville girl into his car on two separate occasions, according to Sheriff Frank Rogers. Arrested was Douglas A. Lowrie, 53. The arrest came after he allegedly contacted the girl on April 18 when she was walking home on Golden Road, southeast of Oroville, from a friend’s house and again on April 22 when she was walk- Douglas A. Lowrie ing alone. According to reports, Lowrie contacted the young girl and gave her a bag of potato chips. Lowrie told her if she got into his car he would take her anywhere she wanted to go. “He talked with me two times and tried to get me to get in the car,” said the girl last Friday. “He told my daughter that he had my telephone number, she ran home and told me,” added her mother. “On April 22, Lowrie attempted to pick

Above, Tonasket Tree Board members and volunteers met at Little Learners Park Friday, April 24, to celebrate Arbor Day planting five trees, including a Flamingo Box Elder Maple donated in memory of Cola Burton. Other trees planted were Red Maples, a Coral Fire Mountain Ash, a Northern Red Oak and a Purple Leaf Plum. The Tonasket Garden Club donated one of the trees, and the others were purchased by the city through a grant. This is the ninth year the city has planted trees on Arbor Day; “to increase the amount of city trees, with emphasis on our parks and to let community members enjoy watching them grow,” announced Mayor Patrick Plumb. The majority of trees planted in past years has been at Chief Tonasket Park. Pictured, left to right, are Jim Rice, Andy Townsend, Council Member and Tree Board Director Dennis Brown, Mayor Plumb and City Maintenance Supervisor Hugh Jensen. In the front are Council Member Claire Jeffko and Hunter Plumb. Right, two-year-old Hunter Plumb digs into the Arbor Day planting activities at Little Learners Park, before focusing his attention on harvesting earth worms.

up the same girl again and she reported it to her mother. Lowrie then drove to the victims’ residence and started to talk to the mother, who instructed her kids to call 911,” said Sheriff Rogers. As Lowrie drove away from the residence, the mother wrote down the license of Lowrie’s vehicle and reported the incident to the sheriff ’s office. The vehicle Lowrie was driving is a 2011 Hyundai Elantra 4 door, registered to him. On April 22, Deputy Isaiah Holloway was detailed to Golden Road in reference to a child luring complaint. At the location the deputy made contact with a mother and her daughter. The mother reported that a male subject had attempted to lure her daughter into his vehicle on two different occasions. Deputy Holloway started looking for Lowrie and located him driving north on County Highway 7 and Thayer Road. “Lowrie was questioned about the incident and his only comment was that he thought she was 13-years-old and then he stopped talking,” said Rogers. Lowrie was placed under arrest and transported to Okanogan County Jail and booked for two counts of attempting to lure a minor into a motor vehicle. Prior to the arrest, the victim’s mother posted photos of a similar car on Facebook in an effort to warn people about this man. “Then when he was arrested we were told he had several weapons, including knives, in the car with him,” she said. “I hope he doesn’t get out of jail any time soon.”

Tonasket Librarian retires after 18 years Tonasket Library loses Meg but welcomes Sara BY KATIE TEACHOUT KATHERINE@GAZETTE-TRIBUNE.COM

TONASKET - Tonasket City Librarian Meg Lange is retiring from an enjoyable career serving readers young, old and in-between.

Katie Teachout/ staff photos

A Retirement Party/Open House/ Reception is scheduled for today, Thursday, April 30, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.; to say good-bye to Lange and welcome new librarian Sara McVay. Lange began working for the library in 1994, after coming to Tonasket to visit her sister Cathy Lange, and liking the area enough to stay. The sisters are originally from Tuscon, Arizona. At the time, the library was only open

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Forresters are May Fest Grand Marshals BY GARY A. DEVON MANAGING EDITOR

OROVILLE – Dane and Joyce Forrester are this year’s May Day Grand Marshals and their choice by the May Festival Committee is somewhat of a departure, but well deserved. While the couple are widely known for keeping the Community Fireworks show going, they also have strong ties to the community at large and the schools. “Just guessing by my kids ages, I would say that we have been involved for 15 years total with the fireworks,” said Joyce. Dane says it all began with Joy Ehlers and then was picked up as a cause by the Sons of the American Legion. After a few years, the group grew smaller

and smaller until the Forresters seemed to be the only ones left to approach the community. “In the beginning we were short of having enough money, then Jim Prince donated to help us out. We’ve had others, especially Greg James, chip in each year, but it is often a struggle to find the funds,” said Dane, who adds that many in the community have been generous. He points to the help the event has gotten from Brian and Rebecca Sawyer the past six years as making his job easier. Brian Sawyer is the licensed pyrotechnician that is responsible for making the show a spectacular each year. The couple, especially Dane, say they are glad to be out of the fund raising part of the event now that the Oroville Chamber of

Commerce has taken over. “Now we can just go down to Deep Bay Park and help to set off the fireworks. We don’t even have to worry about getting the park ready any more,” said Dane. In addition to the fireworks, Dane has coached junior high basketball for three years and high school softball for 10 years for Oroville. He can also often be seen running the time clock at sporting events. “We put in two years helping with the Can Am boat races in 1988 and 1989 and we put on the Oroville May Day 3 on 3 Basketball tournament for three years under the Oroville Booster Club,” said Joyce. For 22 years Dane worked for the family business at Dicks Furniture, as well as helping out with their orchards. The furniture

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Dane and Joyce Forrester are this year’s May Festival Grand Marshals. Both have strong family ties to the community, the schools and the May Festival celebration. They are the third generation to participate in the parade and the second to serve as Grand Marshals. Gary DeVon/staff photo

store was started by his grandfather.When the store closed he concentrated on his floor covering business Forrstar Flooring and Home Supply, but now is running the apple and cherry

Newsroom and Advertising (509) 476-3602 gdevon@gazette-tribune.com

orchards full time. The orchards were also started by his grandfather. His parents, Richard and the late Barbara Forrester, were May Festival Grand Marshals in 2005.

Like the younger Forresters, they were chosen for their contributions to the community. Dick and Barbara were amazing role models to Dane and I

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INSIDE THIS EDITION News A2 Schools A3, A8 Cops & Courts A4

Letters/Opinion A5 Community A6-7 Sports B1-2

Classifieds Real Estate Obituaries

B3-5 B5 B6


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