SVR Special Pages - Then and Now History Pages 2016

& NOW

THEN

A Spotlight on historic Snoqualmie Valley Businesses

Courtesy Photos

Above: Now a visitor center, Snoqualmie’s charming brick building was in use as the Washington State Bank in 1943 and, below, in 1984, as City Hall, where this police officer is pictured.

Inside: Encompass Anniversary North Bend’s early childhood learning organization marks milestone

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Signs of Fall City Historical Society creating information signs for downtown spots

15

Historic, artistic window Snoqualmie Valley Hospital restores its chapel stained glass

16

Celebrating survival North Bend’s mountaineering shop to celebrate 25 years

17

12 • October 19, 2016 • Snoqualmie Valley Record

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THEN & NOW HISTORY PAGES 2016

Snoqualmie’s first bank building nears 100 years as a historic icon

By EVAN PAPPAS Staff Reporter

One of Snoqualmie’s oldest buildings stands on the corner of S.E. River Street and Falls Avenue S.E., it has served many purposes over the years including home to a bank, Snoqualmie City Hall, office space, and the Snoqualmie Valley Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center, but it has always remained a consistent fixture of the city.

Thanks to the extensive research and efforts of Dave Battey, local historian with the Snoqualmie Valley Historical Museum, much of the historic building’s past has been uncovered. In 1992, Battey wrote a series of articles detailing the history of the building.

“It’s one of the most important buildings in the city,” Battey said. “Probably the most important one from a historical perspective.”

In the early 1900s, the Snoqualmie Falls Lumber Company began operating in the Valley, which strengthened the local economy. To address the local economic improvement, the State Bank of Snoqualmie was opened on April 10, 1919.

Courtesy Photo

The State Bank of Snoqualmie stood on the corner of Falls Avenue S.E. and S.E. River Street from 1923 to 1929.

The bank was located at Otto Reinig’s store which is now Carmichael’s True Value also on the corner of River Street and Falls Avenue.

The bank, initially estab-

lished by W.L. Peters and Associates, had been “coupled together” with other Eastside banks and a central headquarters location was needed. In 1923, the State Bank of Snoqualmie

was built across the street from the bank’s original location and has stood in the city for 93 years.

The bank’s most important installation was the 8-by-12-foot vault, built

with reinforced concrete and a 6,000-pound vault door that was shipped from San Francisco.

W. L. Peters and Associates continued to run the bank until 1929,

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when Valley resident and banker C. Beadon Hall purchased Snoqualmie’s Bank.

Hall was also the owner of the Tolt State Bank, Duvall State Bank and the State Bank of North Bend.

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Hall ran the Valley banks for 14 years before moving to Snoqualmie in 1943.

He reorganized his banks as the Washington State Bank chain and made the Snoqualmie building the headquarters of the business.

In 1956, Hall sold the chain of banks to the Seattle First National Bank (which changed its name to Seafirst in 1974). Twenty years later, Seafirst wanted to move to a new location in Snoqualmie and through

discussion with Mayor Charles Peterson and other citizens, decided to donate the building to the city.

Battey said to legally complete the transaction, some money had to be exchanged.

During the opening ceremony of the new Seafirst bank building, Mayor Peterson handed a dollar bill to the bank officials.

“Charles is the one who accepted the bank building donation from Seafirst National Bank, because there has to be some money

exchanged, he was the one who pulled the dollar,” Battey said. “It was a courtesy from Seafirst and good PR for the bank.”

The city of Snoqualmie planned to turn the former bank building into a new city hall. Through a fundraising group led by George and Jean Swenson and Mona and Joe Lyon, $2,500 was raised for the renovation. Battey was involved in raising money by working at an ice cream social fundraiser.

Battey said volunteer firemen, police and citizens worked on the renovation and by the end of 1976 city hall was completed.

In November 1990, Snoqualmie, and its new city hall, was hit hard by flooding, Battey said. This forced the city office to relocate temporarily to North Bend. Volunteers helped the city with renovations to the building again and some of the city staff moved their offices into a building that had previously housed

Snoqualmie Valley Record • October 19, 2016 • 13

Sno-Falls Credit Union.

Snoqualmie’s Mayor Jeanne Hansen was able to move back into her office at city hall in 1992, two years after the flood.

From the 1990’s until the construction of the new city hall in 2010, the old bank building was in municipal use. Once the city staff moved out, the Snoqualmie Valley Chamber of Commerce leased the building to use as office space and, in partnership with the city, as a

visitor information center.

The Snoqualmie Valley Chamber of Commerce has remained in that building, but is now planning to relocate as the city of Snoqualmie has sold the building back into the private sector, said Andy Glandon, president of the Chamber Board.

While the use of the building has changed multiple times in the past and continues to change now, it remains an icon of Snoqualmie’s history.

Courtesy Photo

Above: Formerly a bank and city hall, the building still stands today as the Snoqualmie Valley Chamber of Commerce. Right: The interior of the State Bank of Snoqualmie, before its purchase by C. Beadon Hall in 1929.

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14 • October 19, 2016 • Snoqualmie Valley Record

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THEN & NOW HISTORY PAGES 2016

Focused on youth for 50 years: Encompass celebrates big anniversary Editor

The Encompass NW organization serving the Snoqualmie Valley is probably the most youthful 50-year-old you’ve ever seen. Its three locations (in North Bend and Carnation) are filled with children almost year round and with the energy needed to serve this growing population.

Encompass has celebrated and is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year with a community party in August, participation in local festivals all summer and, coming up Nov. 5, its annual fundraising gala.

“The official birth date is in November,” says Encompass Community Outreach Manager Marsha Quinn. “But we have been celebrating, because we’re in our 50th year.”

There’s a lot to celebrate.

The organization got its start from truly humble beginnings in 1966, when a group of parents of special needs children decided to bring the services their kids needed to the Valley.

Encompass is now a recognized leader, at both the state and federal levels, in early childhood education.

“In the beginning, it was completely grass roots,” said Quinn. “It was for those parents who didn’t want to drive to Issaquah or Bellevue or Seattle to get services.”

What started as the SnoValley School for Special Needs, Inc., a donationfunded program, evolved into Children Services of Sno-Valley. The program, providing learning assistance to special needs children, moved from the churches that had been hosting it to a house near Mount Si High School in the 80s, and expanded to offer a preschool for all children.

All eight staff members worked in the garage while the Four Seasons Preschool met in the house.

The organization offered a range of services, which were frequently expanded but always within the “silos” of early childhood education and pediatric therapy. Early learning programs promoted the social, emotional, cognitive and physical development of children; pediatric therapy programs, including a Birth to 3 intervention program, supported optimal growth and development of infants and toddlers with developmental delays.

From the house, the program expanded again to accommodate the increas-

ing need for early learning services. This move, in the ’90s, brought the organization to its primary location today, the Early Learning Center on Boalch Avenue in North Bend. The move was also something to celebrate, resulting from a $1 million capital campaign and with the help of Dick and Rosanna Zemp and the Weyerhaeuser Mill of Snoqualmie.

The new name, Encompass, was chosen in 2005 to reflect the varied services the organization had come to offer. Those services are still the heart and soul of Encompass today, which has expanded physically, to the opening of a stand-alone pediatric therapy clinic in 2011 in North Bend, and earlier this year, to the Riverview School District’s preschool program, offered as part of the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program. Its mission, while expanding in scope, has stayed consistent.

“We primarily focus on the 0 to 8 young child and the pediatric therapy programs,” Quinn said. “Our staff has grown substantially, the number of programs we have has grown substantially.”

Courtesy Photo

Nancy Whitaker, the former executive director of Encompass from 2002 to 2008.

In the past year, Encompass has served at least 1,700 children with one or more of its 26 programs. About 10 years ago, the entire Encompass staff numbered 25. These days, there are 25 people working in the organization’s pediatric therapy clinic alone, and nearly 80 on staff throughout the organization, most of them full time.

Quinn has been with the organization for 12 years and she, like former Encompass executive director Nancy Whitaker, started out as a parent.

Courtesy Photo

Encompass volunteers pose for a photo at the Early Learning Center.

“I started as a volunteer, tory with the organization.

Along with Whitaker, and both of my boys started “Nancy Whitaker is one the evening will feature a in early intervention,” she of the first people to receive commemorative video of said. services,” Quinn said. “She the organization’s history.

Whitaker, the organi- started out as a parent and Organizers are hoping for zation’s executive direc- she grew to be our execu- attendance of 400 people tor from 2002 to 2008 and tive director.” and have set a fundraising volunteer for more than 20 The Encompass gala goal of $400,000. years, will be the featured will be held from 5 to 10 For more information speaker at the upcoming p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5 at the about Encompass, visit gala, highlighting her his- Bellevue Hyatt Regency. www.encompassnw.org.

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Snoqualmie Valley Record • October 19, 2016 • 15

Courtesy Photos

Above: The final design for the Fall City Historical Society sign on schools in the town from 1873 to 1915. Below: A large maple tree hangs over the early schools sign. The Brown School stood at that location from 1900 to 1915.

Fall City Historical Society continue historic sign installations throughout town Three new educational signs have been installed at some of Fall City’s important historic locations, with four more in the works,

thanks to the efforts from the Fall City Historical Society.

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throughout the town began in 2015. The signs all share the same design elements to create a cohesive theme for the historic landmarks of Fall City.

Each sign has a historic photo and a brief history of the location from the historical society website.

The signs also feature a QR code that takes viewers to a more thorough explanation of the sign’s subject in a Web page optimized for mobile browsers.

The latest sign placed by the historical society is the Early Schools of Fall City sign, placed at 4347 and 336th Place S.E., Fall City.

The 20 by 30-inch sign was funded by a grant from the King County Community Services Area Program.

Earlier this year, historic signs funded by King County Heritage 4Culture for the NeighborBennett House and Fall City Masonic Hall were installed.

The Neighbor-Bennett

House was the first saloon in Fall City. It was built in 1905.

The Masonic Hall was built in 1895 and is still in use today.

The Fall City Historical Society is currently working on four more signs.

Two signs for the MooreParmelee House and Fall City Methodist Church are awaiting installation and signs for the PrescottHarshman House and Model Garage are in the design phase.

The historical society has also expressed interest in working with local businesses on River Street to create signs for their historic buildings.

More updates on the project will be given at the historical society’s annual community meeting from 2 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 23, at the Fall City Masonic Hall.

For more information visit www.fallcityhistorical. org.

16 • October 19, 2016 • Snoqualmie Valley Record

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THEN & NOW HISTORY PAGES 2016

Historic stained glass window relocated to Snoqualmie Valley Hospital chapel

By JILL GREEN Contributing Writer

In 1985, liturgical artists, Robert and Jill Hill, created and designed the stained glass window for the former Snoqualmie Valley Hospital on Ethan Wade Way. The 12-pane window was designed for a chapel in the hospital that was financed by generous donations from the community.

The couple designed the interior of the chapel and oversaw the project. They said they chose the floral design for the glass to appeal to all faiths and to represent purity and peace.

“People go into a chapel to pray and may feel hopeless,” Jill Hill said. “We chose blue because it is a color that makes people feel calm.”

The window was removed and put into storage a few years later when the hospital expanded services and needed to repurpose the chapel for patient care.

Plans for the new hospital that opened May 2015 included a chapel. The window was designed to the specifications of the historic stained-glass window as a central focal point and to honor the community members who created and donated the window. A few glass pieces had broken in storage and needed repaired.

Hospital staff contacted the original artists and learned that the Hills are still designing and restoring stained glass in their home studio called HillHouse Studio in Anacortes.

“The original glass was hand-blown from Fremont Antique Glass Studio in Seattle, so I had no trouble matching the colors for the new pieces,” Robert Hill said.

The restoration took nearly three months. The window was mounted in the new hospital under his supervision in the chapel off the main hospital lobby in March 2015.

Courtesy Photo

Robert Hill, who with his wife Jill, created the stained glass window that was once at the old hospital, helped install the art work in the chapel at the new hospital in March 2015.

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Most businesses, when they grow, relocate to bigger cities, with bigger markets. A few specialty retailers, like Pro Ski and Mountain Service in North Bend, benefit from doing the opposite.

Pro Ski, part outdoor retail shop, part mountain guiding service, got its start in Seattle 25 years ago, but moved to North Bend 10 years later in 2000, for a lot of reasons, that all boiled down to one, access.

Store owner and founder Martin Volken wanted to live and work in the same place, explained store manager Mike Yost, and “He was kind of… shopping the other mountain towns, but he settled on North Bend because of access — access to good skiing terrain. You can’t find a better place.”

That must still be true, since the store is still here after two more transitions. The first was a move from one side of North Bend Way to the shop’s current home on the other side of the street, after about a year in business. The second, about 10 years ago, was an expanCourtesy Photo sion of the shop into its neighbor- Mountains are what drew Pro Ski and Mountain Service owner Martin Volken ing space. to locate his shop in North Bend, against the stunning backdrop of Mount Si. The “We are in an extremely unique shop celebrates its 25th anniversary Saturday, Oct. 29. outdoor recreation environment,” said Yost. “It’s just the perfect place International Federation of a Swiss mountain guide, Volken to have a little gear store.”

The shop is also in the elite Mountain Guides Associations- leads the international guiding position of claiming its own certified guide, in Volken. Also service for the business.

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Mount Si GC has been a Snoqualmie Valley tradition since the 1920’s when the land was transformed from a hops farm into a golf course. It became an 18-hole public course in the 1930’s. In 1958,1985, and 1994 the course underwent significant changes and has evolved into a popular public golf course. The restaurant saw changes to its outside and inside in the late 2000’s and continues to serve excellent food along with a smile.

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“He’s one of only 100 IFMGA guides in the world,” said Yost.

“And he was in the store tuning skis yesterday. That’s where he started, tuning skis and he still does it.”

In its second expansion, with about 75 percent going to retail space and the remainder going to the guiding service, the store was able to reach more customers, and more levels of customers, said Yost.

“And we’re outgrowing the space we have… We’re pretty well-rounded for a small store. We have gear for skiing, hiking, climbing, mountaineering, people who are super high-end athletes and people who are just going out for a day of recreation,” he said.

All of those people are invited to an anniversary celebration the shop will host from 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29. In addition to a short presentation, the event will include refreshments and a free raffle for big prizes.

“We’re not trying to make this a salesy thing, it’s just kind of a community gathering,” said Yost.

“In the last 10 years, a lot of small specialty ski shops have been closing, … and we’ve found a way to have success and we’re just excited to share that with everybody.”

Pro Ski and Mountain Service is at 108 W North Bend Way, North Bend. For more, visit http://www. proskiservice.com.

A Snoqualmie Valley Tradition

Now

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The Fall City Historical Society will host Llyn de Danaan, author of the 2013 “Katie Gale: A Coast Salish Woman’s Life on Oyster Bay,” as its featured speaker at the group’s annual community meeting, 2 to 5 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 23 at the Fall City Masonic Hall, 4304 337th Place S.E., Fall City.

Everyone is welcome to this free event.

De Danaan writes non-fiction historical and anthropological essays and has been a research consultant for Washington Indian tribes since 1991. She received the Washington State Historical Society’s Peace and Friendship award in recognition of her role in fostering understanding of cultural diversity.

She will discuss her research for the Katie Gale story at the meeting. Her appearance is sponsored by Humanities Washington.

North Bend shop celebrates 25 years in mountaineering business

9010 Boalch Ave SE, Snoqualmie WA 98045

Historical Society to host ‘Katie Gale’ author for Oct. 23 meeting

Snoqualmie Valley Record • October 19, 2016 • 17

18 • October 19, 2016 • Snoqualmie Valley Record

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THEN & NOW HISTORY PAGES 2016

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Snoqualmie Valley Career Fair Job Seekers Welcome!

Bring your resume, letters of reference and materials to fill out job applications, or come to learn more about your opportunities.

Saturday, Oct. 22 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

At Snoqualmie Valley Hospital

9801 Frontier Ave. SE, Snoqualmie

Participating Employers

Alpine Dental Care City of Snoqualmie Bartell Drugs Columbia Hospitality Fred Meyer Goddard School Maurice’s Nintendo Quality Food Centers (QFC) Snoqualmie Brewery & Taproom Snoqualmie Tribe Snoqualmie Valley School District Snoqualmie Valley Hospital Spacelabs The Summit at Snoqualmie Technical Glass