DELIVERING NEWS TO MID-COLUMBIA SENIORS SINCE 1982
NOVEMBER 2022
Vol. 10 | Issue 11
Wartime service in Tri-Cities turns into lifetime commitment By Wendy Culverwell editor@tcjournal.biz
A youngAltha Skogley covered plenty of ground before World War II steered her into service at Naval Air Station Pasco. Altha – “Al” to friends and family – was born March 4, 1923, in Montana to a World War I veteran who had served under Brig. Gen. Billy Mitchell in the trenches of Western Europe. Her father came home, married and had 11 children. Al was fourth, arriving four years after her twin brothers. Now 99 and just four months shy of her 100th birthday, Al – whose married names were Simmelink and Perry – is among a dwindling number of World War II veterans and is an important advisor to Malin Bergstrom, president of Bergstrom Aviation and founder of the Pasco Aviation Museum. The museum is dedicated to
preserving the memory of the Naval Air Station on the old airfield, better known toAltha (Skogley) day as the Simmelink-Perry Tri-Cities Airport, where Al spent part of the war in uniform. “She’s one of a kind,” Bergstrom said. Al was 6 when her family moved to Mott, North Dakota, which she remembers as “the spot God forgot.” But it was home. As a young adult, she moved to Chicago, but returned to Mott when her mother was injured in a car accident and needed care. She took a job in the local courthouse and grew bored. Young men were scarce, and life was slow. She told her parents she intend-
ed to join the Navy’s Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) program and they gave their blessing. Her journey to Pasco began when she enlisted in Bismarck and was shipped to New York City for WAVES training at the U.S. Naval Training Center on the campus of Hunter College in the Bronx. At the conclusion of training, she refused an offer to be a secretary. “I just didn’t want to do that,” she said. She was instructed to stand aside and before long, she and 30 other women were given their destination: Naval Air Station Pasco, a busy flight training school for Navy pilots. At its peak, Naval Air Station Pasco was the third-busiest training base in the country. Only Pensacola, Florida, and Corpus uALTHA, Page 13
Courtesy Malin Bergstrom/Bergstrom Aviation Altha (Skogley) Simmelink-Perry poses in a jeep during her World War II service as a Navy WAVE at Naval Air Station Pasco in 1944.
Joann moving into old Sears store at Columbia Center By Wendy Culverwell editor@tcjournal.biz
Joann, the sewing and crafts retailer, is moving its Kennewick store to Columbia Center mall, where it is taking over a portion of the space vacated by Sears in 2019. The new store is set to open in April, depending on construction being completed on time, said Joan Davis, Kennewick store manager, who confirmed the move. Davis said the new location, less than a mile from the current one, will provide much-needed space
for Joann, a popular destination for crafters and quilters. She referred further questions to a spokesperson at the company’s Hudson, Ohio headquarters, who could not immediately be reached. Joann, which trades under the symbol “JOAN,” has 848 locations in 49 states and reported $2.4 billion in net sales for its 2022 fiscal year. Construction documents filed with the city of Kennewick show a portion of the former Sears space is being demolished for the future store. The demolition work affects
23,000 square feet and entails demolishing interior finishes, including drywall, ceiling tile, floor coverings and column covers. The work is valued at $125,000. Drawings attached to the demolition permit indicate Joann will have entrances into the mall as well as the parking lot. The project leaves an L-shaped section of the old store unused. Demolition work has begun at the south-facing parking lot entrance, near Dick’s Sporting Goods. Simon Property Group, which
owns the mall, is the developer. Fox Design Group is the designer and CDI Contractors is performing the demolition work. Sears left a 160,000-square-foot hole when it closed its Columbia Center store in 2019 after its parent company filed for bankruptcy. The space remained empty, the vacancy obscured from mall visitors by a temporary wall that features a fashion poster and marketing information about leasing mall space. The move puts Joann at the cenuJOANN, Page 2
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Bulldog-Lions rivalry tradition drew community to gridiron
Page 5
MONTHLY QUIZ
Just Roses sells business as owner begins cancer treatments
Page 15
What Native American tribe did Sacajawea, who traveled a sizeable part of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, belong to? ANSWER, PAGE 9
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