Number 11 April 2020 Do You Remember the Fleetwoods? World War II on the Homefront Stormy Behavior Costs Olympia Police Chief, Assistant Chief, Their Jobs A Windstorm for the Ages $5.00 THURSTON COUNTY HISTORICAL JOURNAL The Thurston County Historical Journal is dedicated to recording and celebrating the history of Thurston County. The Journal is published by the Olympia Tumwater Foundation as a joint enterprise with the following entities: City of Lacey, City of Olympia, Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, Daughters of the American Revolution, Daughters of the Pioneers of Washington/Olympia Chapter, Lacey Historical Society, Old Brewhouse Foundation, Olympia Historical Society and Bigelow House Museum, South Sound Maritime Heritage Association, South Thurston County Historical Society, Thurston County, Tumwater Historical Association, Yelm Prairie Historical Society, and individual donors. Publisher Editor Olympia Tumwater Foundation Karen L. Johnson John Freedman, Executive Director 360-890-2299 Lee Wojnar, President, Board of Trustees [email protected] 110 Deschutes Parkway SW P.O. Box 4098 Editorial Committee Tumwater, Washington 98501 Drew W. Crooks Jennifer Crooks 360-943-2550 James S. Hannum Erin Quinn Valcho www.olytumfoundation.org Obtaining a Copy of the Journal The Journal does not offer a subscription service. To get your own copy, join one of the her- itage groups listed at the top of this page. These groups donate to the publication of the Journal, and thus receive copies to pass on to their members. Issues are also available for purchase at the Bigelow House Museum, Crosby House Museum, and Lacey Museum, and occasionally at Orca Books in downtown Olympia. One year after print publication, digital copies are available at www.ci.lacey.wa.us/TCHJ. Submission Guidelines The Journal welcomes factual articles dealing with any aspect of Thurston County history. Please contact the editor before submitting an article to determine its suitability for publica- tion. Articles on previously unexplored topics, new interpretations of well-known topics, and personal recollections are preferred. Articles may range in length from 100 words to 10,000 words, and should include source notes and suggested illustrations. Submitted articles will be reviewed by the editorial committee and, if chosen for publication, will be fact-checked and may be edited for length and content. The Journal regrets that authors cannot be monetarily compensated, but they will gain the gratitude of readers and the historical community for their contributions to and appreciation of local history. Opinions expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the Olympia Tumwater Foundation Written permission is required to reproduce any part of this publication. Copyright © 2020 by the Olympia Tumwater Foundation. All rights reserved. ISSN 2474-8048 WHO/WHAT/WHERE IS IT? This photo shows Poppy Cannon visiting tempts have been made by the founder, the Olympia Brewing Company in 1958. his sons and associates to establish oth- In May 1958, Cannon (along with friend er breweries on the Pacific coast. They Elizabeth Chadwick Carlson, a former used the same equipment, the same in- Olympia resident whom she worked gredients, the same methods and the with on the East Coast) toured the best water supply in each city but they Olympia Brewing Company in Tumwater couldn’t produce a beer that tasted like on assignment from House Beautiful the true Olympia. The yeast was magazine. As food and beverage editor, brought from the Carlsberg breweries in Cannon was visiting Western Washing- Copenhagen to Washington.” ton researching salmon, nursing home food, and beer. The July 1958 issue of Poppy Cannon (1905-1975) was one of the brewery’s It’s the Water News news- the leading cooking authorities in the letter published this photo and reported 1950s. She was at the height of her ca- that the women were impressed by both reer when she visited the brewery. She the taste of the beer and the brewery’s had become the food editor for House “spotless” appearance. The newsletter Beautiful in 1953, a prestigious position called Cannon “an internationally recog- as the magazine aspired to be the arbi- nized judge of fine food and beverages.” ter of taste in lifestyle for the upper In the picture she is examining hops, a class. She later worked for Ladies’ Home key ingredient in beer. Journal. Cannon wrote a number of cookbooks, but her most famous was Cannon wrote about Olympia beer in an The Can-Opener Cookbook (published in article “The Changing Taste for Beer” in 1951 and reprinted multiple times) the October 1958 issue of House Beauti- which focused on quick cooking with ful; the article explored brands of im- prepared ingredients for working wom- ported and domestic beer. She com- en. Her work encompassed both gour- pared Kirin beer from Japan to Olympia met cooking and shortcut cooking with beer and under “Very Special Ameri- processed foods. cans” she wrote: Photo courtesy Olympia Tumwater Foun- “According to the slogan, ‘It’s the water’ dation, Schmidt House Archives. that makes Olympia Beer so good. The facts seem to bear out this contention. Article submitted by Jennifer Crooks, a Their pure glacial water comes from ex- local historian. Among other activities, ceedingly deep artesian wells, dug Jennifer is creating an index to the It’s through four or five layers of sand, the Water News at the Schmidt House loam, and clay. At various times at- Archives. WHO/WHAT/WHERE IS IT? A stylishly dressed woman inspects the contents of a barrel in a factory. Who is she? Where is she? (Hint: She is visiting from the East Coast, and she is not Julia Child or Martha Stewart.) Turn to the inside back cover for the answers. Number 11 Table of Contents April 2020 2 Do You Remember The Fleetwoods? James S. Hannum, M.D. 9 World War II on the Homefront Sharon Mallory Wood 32 Stormy Behavior Costs Olympia Police Chief, Assistant Chief, Their Jobs John Dodge 41 A Windstorm for the Ages John Dodge Back Cover Who/What/Where Is It? On the cover: The Fleetwoods circa 1960. From left to right: Gretchen Christopher, Gary Troxel, and Barbara Ellis. Photo used by permission of Gary Troxel at www.the fleetwoods.us/photo-gallery.html (accessed September 1, 2019). See article on page 2. This black-and-white photograph has been colorized using a new tool available through Legacy Family Tree. For more information or to colorize your own photo- graphs, visit https://news.legacyfamilytree.com/legacy_news/2020/02/your- black-white-photograph-to-full-color-in-1-step.html. The first few photo conversions are free; after that, you will need to pay a subscription fee. 1 DO YOU REMEMBER THE FLEETWOODS? James S. Hannum, M.D. A recent post on the website tives). The Fleetwoods provided enter- ThurstonTalk reviewed the rich history tainment for that gathering. of musical creativity in the Olympia metropolitan area. Kurt Cobain (the I learned that in 2007, The Fleetwoods lead singer of the group Nirvana) lived differed significantly from the mem- in the apartments at 114 Pear Street bers of the group during its heyday. between 1989 and 1991. Some of his The 1959 version of The Fleetwoods most noteworthy work was done dur- consisted of Gretchen Christopher, ing those years. Sleater-Kinney, a na- Barbara Ellis, and Gary Troxel. That tionally successful rock band, was year, they recorded their first hit rec- formed in the Olympia-Lacey area in ord, “Come Softly to Me.”2 1994. The group took its name from Lacey’s Sleater-Kinney Road. Mack- Troxel was the only member of the lemore is the stage name used by rap- original trio who appeared in the per- per Ben Haggerty. He is known to formance I enjoyed in 2007. As is the have spent a significant amount of case for many successful groups, a time hanging out in Olympia from variety of factors gradually led the in- 2004 to 2009.1 dividual singers to diverging careers. The Fleetwoods’ contract with Liberty However, another group, The Fleet- Records concluded in 1966, and the woods, predates all of those perform- group chose not to renew it under ers. While exploring a West Olympia terms that were less favorable than neighborhood in 2001, I conversed previous versions.3 with a man who informed me that Gretchen Christopher lived nearby. At For several years after 1966, the per- first, I did not recall who she was; the formers continued to appear in vari- gentleman reminded me that she was ous combinations including two or 4 one of the original singers in The three of the original members. Ellis Fleetwoods, a nationally-known group retired from the group in 1974 and that had several hit recordings in the Troxel is said (by Gretchen Chris- late 1950s and early 1960s. I was re- topher’s website) to have resigned offi- minded of that earlier meeting in cially from the group in 1983. In the 2007, while attending a birthday party years that followed, Christopher man- held for a neighbor, Fred Finn (now a aged separate groups on the East and former Democratic member of West Coasts which she designated as the Washington House of Representa- “replacements” for The Fleetwoods.5 At 2 Gary Troxel’s group, The Fleetwoods, as it exists in the 21st Century. From left to right: Bonnie Hannukaine, Cheryl Huggins, and Gary Troxel. Photo used by permis- sion of Gary Troxel at www.thefleetwoods.us/photo-gallery.html (accessed Septem- ber 1, 2019). 3 the same time, Troxel performed with his own group called The Fleetwoods.6 It has been together for about 35 years, and still does shows. The Fleetwoods should not be con- fused with Fleetwood Mac, a complete- ly unrelated group.