2015 November - Walla Walla Lifestyles

T H E VA L L E Y ’ S P E O PL E , W I N E & F O O D

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FRO MA TH TO A HAUN E ODDE T S NAC HRO ED MUSE T STUFF NIST I U IC CY M AND N TOWN S , CLIS TS A UBVERS ND W IVE A ITCH RTWO ES' G R RAV K ES Supplement of the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin

November 2015

10

th

anniversary

F O R T H E L O V E , S U P P O R T A N D L O YA LT Y. . .

FROM ALL OUR CUSTOMERS, WINERIES,

F R I E N D S , FA M I L I E S , A N D O U R A M A Z I N G C O M M U N I T Y

Thank you!

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W E WA N T T O S AY. . .

WE’RE SETTING THE MOOD FOR ONE-STOP SHOPPING!

Keep your kids warm with knit pants.

Get your game on!

Large selection of Seahawks novelty items.

Step into a shopping wonderland at

Clay in Motion

ds at great pr astic fin ices t n Fa Let our friendly staff help you find that perfect gift this holiday season.

Holiday Celebration

Add sparkle and shine to your home. Great selection of holiday decorations and ornaments.

Surprise family and friends with a gift of great tasting dips, soup mixes, pepper jellies and drink mixes

November 12-15

Gift Certificates Available

85301 Hwy 11 • Milton-Freewater, OR 541-938-3316 •www.clayinmotion.com

Gift & Coffee Shop open daily

2015

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Wrap yourself in softness!

Large selection of hats, gloves, scarves, and clothing

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3796 PEPPERS BRIDGE ROAD, WALLA WALLA, WA 99362 W W W . A M A V I C E L L A R S . C O M

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A new look for a new vintage...

open 7 days a week | 1704 j.b. george rd, walla walla, wa 99362 view our new private tasting options online at www.pepperbridge.com/touring-tasting

Wall a Wall a Lifest yles 3

It’s A Wonderful Life James W. Rodgers Frank Capra adapted by

from the film by

directed by Cheryl Sutlick & Robert Randall, produced by Barbara McKinney

November 13, 14, 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29; December 4, 5 Performances at 8 pm and matinees Nov. 22 • 29 at 2 pm.

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Little Theatre of Walla Walla www.ltww.org

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4 Wall a Wall a Lifest yles

9/22/15 1:38 PM

November Contributors Chetna Chopra is the associate editor of Walla Walla Lifestyles magazine.

Associate Editor

Jennifer Colton-Jones is a freelance writer, award-winning journalist and purveyor of the interesting. She is most at home in the Pacific Northwest.

Janice James is a teacher with advanced degrees in art history. She enjoys fresh sights, sounds, flavors and viewpoints. Contact her at 9953jej@gmail.com.

Writer

Writer

Steve Lenz is the designer for Walla Walla Lifestyles magazine. Contact him at stevelenz@wwub.com.

Brenden Koch is the managing editor of Lifestyles and Specialty Publications editor at the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin.

Contact him at 526-8304 or brendenkoch@wwub.com.

Nick Page is a photographer, musician and history nerd.

His creative background often influences his dramatic photographic style. Contact him at nickpagephotography@ gmail.com.

Photographer

Managing Editor

Photographer

Karlene Ponti is the Specialty Publications writer for the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin.

Contact her at 526-8324 or karleneponti@wwub.com.

Andy Perdue is the editor and publisher of Great Northwest Wine.

Contact him at andy@ greatnorthwestwine.com.

Emily Star Poole is a lifestyle photographer and creative-nonfiction writer smitten with telling true stories. Contact her at emilystarpoole@gmail.com.

Writer

Writer

Photographer

Terri Rorke is a combat veteran who believes travel is the best teacher. She documents her journeys to share the world's stories, and to share her story with the world.

Diane Reed is a writer, photographer, historian and keen observer of life. She grew up in the East dreaming of becoming either a cowgirl or a famous writer.

Writer

Writer

Comfort Inn & Suites of Walla Walla

We'd like to hear from you!

Want to comment on a story or pass along an idea for an article?

Send us an email at feedback@wallawallalifestyles.com.

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Wall a Wall a Lifest yles 5

tablee of contents tabl NOVEMBER 2015

7

FIERY DENTIST INSPIRES WINERY NAME

The jaw-dropping tale of a burned business, burned bridges and eventual restoration

November 2015 PUBLISH ER

Brian Hunt EDITOR

Rick Doyle M A NAGING EDI TOR

Brenden Koch

A SSOCI AT E E DI TOR

Chetna Chopra

10

WINE MAP

Know where to go to taste, buy and enjoy Walla Walla's renowned wines.

DO YOU WANT TO EAT TODAY? 12 WEIRD Local eateries can be found in some unusual places.

PRODUCT ION M A NAGER

Vera Hammill DE SIGNER

Steve Lenz PRODUCT ION S TA F F

16

DINING GUIDE

Where to find fine fare

James Blethen, Ralph Hendrix, Steve Lenz, Jason Uren SA L E S STA F F

WALLA ON THE WILD SIDE 17 WALLA The Museum of Un-Natural History

Jeff Sasser, Donna Schenk, Mike Waltman, EDI TOR I A L A SSISTA N T

21 Some rural towns boast giant initials. Dayton has an actual giant.

Karlene Ponti

THE HILLSIDE FIGURE

THE WITCHES OF WALLA WALLA 22 Legends regarding the Bentleys’ untimely demise have passed through

generations of locals.

A DM INIS T R AT I V E A SSIS TA N T

Kandi Suckow

COVER: Gerry Matthews in his Museum of Un-Natural History. (Photo by Steve Lenz) FOR E DI TOR I A L IN FOR M AT ION

27 The true stories of four curious artifacts

WALLA WALLA’S MYSTERIES OF THE MUSEUMS

31

IN THE SPIRIT OF HISTORY

Rick Doyle rickdoyle@w wub.com

Brenden Koch brendenkoch@w wub.com

Kirkman House Museum embraces its paranormal side.

BAD ASS BICYCLE RIDE 34 Taking a good time to the street

38 CAN’T-MISS EVENTS

PLEASE LIKE US

Union-Bulletin.com

6 Wall a Wall a Lifest yLes

PLEASE FOLLOW US

Photo by steve Lenz

39 WHERE IN WALLA WALLA?

Weird Wine

The Otis Kenyon Wine tasting room.

Fiery dentist inspires winery name

The jaw-dropping tale of a burned business, burned bridges and eventual restoration

By Andy Perdue / Photos by Steve Lenz

O

ne might not think of a convicted arsonist as the role model for launching a winery.

But an unusual family background that concludes with a story of redemption is the perfect backdrop for Otis Kenyon Wine in Walla Walla.

The winery began in 2004, but this story started 80 years earlier with James Otis Kenyon.

He was the first dentist in Milton-Freewater and, by all accounts, was excellent at his job.

“He was doing really well down there for a number of years, got married and had two kids,” said Muriel Kenyon, his great-granddaughter.

“Then another dentist moved into town and took away half his business.”

James didn’t take this with the greatest composure: In 1923, he went to the rival dentist’s office in the middle of the night and set it on fire.

“My great-grandfather decided the best way to deal with the competition was to burn him out,” Muriel said.

James Otis Kenyon's dental-school graduation photo. (Courtesy of Muriel Kenyon)

On the verge of being identified as the culprit, James confessed, and it appeared he would be heading to prison. However, a number of professionals from Milton-Freewater and Walla Walla signed a petition to keep James out of jail; instead, he was sent to the Eastern Oregon State Hospital in Pendleton.

“I’m not sure that in 1923 that was a better option than going to jail, but that’s where he went,” Muriel said.

James’ life was collapsing. After he was put away, his wife divorced him, moved to Walla Walla and told her two sons their father was dead.

“So my granddad and his brother were raised in Walla Walla thinking their dad was dead,” Muriel said. “My father was born and raised in Walla Walla and was really close with his grandmother growing up, but he was absolutely never allowed to ask what happened to his grandfather. He was dead, buried, gone.

That was it.”

Wall a Wall a Lifest yles 7

Weird Wine But that wasn’t it. In the 1970s, Steve Kenyon wanted to find out how his grandfather died, so he began to search. All he had was his grandfather’s middle and last names.

Strangely, no death certificate was on file in Oregon or Washington. Instead, Steve came upon a story in The Oregonian newspaper about a James Otis Kenyon who had been honored for 50 years of excellent dentistry in Oregon.

James, 85, was retired and living in Lincoln City, Ore. During his time at the mental facility in Pendleton, James was lauded for performing excellent dental work on patients and staff.

He also was the institution’s barber.

After two years, he was released. He tried to reconnect with his family, particularly his two sons, but his ex-wife was a strong-willed woman who would have none of it, so James moved to Portland, where he restarted his dental business and worked until he retired.

He remarried and adopted his new wife’s three children.

And he set no more fires.

Otis Kenyon Wine's labels include a silhouette of James, and seemingly burned edges.

UPCOMING EVENTS Rosebud:

The Atomic Bombshells NOVEMBER 14 7:30PM

The Lives of Orson Welles

A polished and perfectlychoreographed, professional burlesque troupe, celebrating the feminine (and masculine) form with good humor, style, and MGM-era glamour.

Ages 18 & over only.

NOVEMBER 6 7:30PM Erik Van Beuzekom’s one-man show profiles a man best known for his film “Citizen Kane” and sci-fi radio play “War of the Worlds”.

The Great Kaplan NOVEMBER 19 6:30PM

SPANISH-STYLE WINE

from the

WALLA WALLA VALLEY

Tasting Room Open

Fri.-Sun. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Releasing our 2012 Award Winning Reserve Tempranillo

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Illusion, music, juggling and deadpan comedy collide in this show for all ages. New skits!

Little Watts Children’s Series presented by Adventist Health.

Get your tickets at www.phtww.com, by calling 509.529.6500, or drop by the box office.

Gesa Power House Theatre 111 N. Sixth Ave., Walla Walla, WA PW-76_Nov_Upcoming_events_lifestyles.indd 1

8 Wall a Wall a Lifest yles

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When Steve tracked him down on the Oregon coast, he cruised past James’ home several times before calling him from a pay phone.

James’ wife answered, but wouldn’t put him on the phone because he was taking a nap.

Steve blurted out, “I think he’s my grandfather.”

James’ wife, who knew of her husband’s checkered past, paused for a moment, then said, “Oh, I’m so glad you called.”

It turns out she had been encouraging James to reach out to the family he had left behind a half-century earlier.

“He ended up living to be 101,” Muriel said.

“For the last 15 years of his life, he was reincorporated into our family. He was a really caring, generous, loving man. But he absolutely refused to talk about ‘the incident,’ as he referred to it when anybody asked.”

Years after James died, Steve and his family decided to get into the wine business. They quickly decided to name the winery Otis Kenyon in honor of James.

Then they figured they should go ahead and include his story as the backdrop for the winery.

The front label includes a silhouette of James and has seemingly burned edges. On the back label, a brief version of his story is told.

Visitors to the winery often go home with boxes of matches, and the Matchless Red is one of the winery’s best sellers.

But it almost wasn’t to be.

A month before the family was getting ready to bottle the first Otis Kenyon wines, everyone started to have second thoughts.

“We kind of panicked,” Muriel said. “We’re talking about arson. Arson is a bad thing.

People get hurt, people get killed. It’s a serious issue. So we kind of freaked out and decided ‘there’s no way we can do this.’”

For three weeks, the family spent every waking hour trying to come up with a different name. But every good idea they had was already trademarked.

“In the end, nothing else worked as well as this, so we just decided to go for it,” she said.

“In the 11 years of doing this, nobody’s ever had a bad reaction. It turned out to be a momentary panic that I’m glad we didn’t listen to.”

Wall a Wall a Lifest yles 9

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AMAVI CELLARS 3796 Peppers Bridge Road 509-525-3541 amavicellars.com BASEL CELLARS ESTATE WINERY 2901 Old Milton Highway 509-522-0200 baselcellars.com

3.

4.

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WOODWARD CANYON

Tasting Room Open Daily Classic & Reserve Tastings —————

“Since its founding in 1981, Woodward Canyon has been responsible for some of the state’s best and most age-worthy wines.” Seattle Magazine

7.

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12.

11920 W. Highway 12, Lowden, WA 99360

Walla Walla Valley www.woodwardcanyon.com

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509-525-4129

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BERGEVIN LANE VINEYARDS 1215 W. Poplar St. 509-526-4300 bergevinlane.com BLUE MOUNTAIN CIDER 235 E. Broadway Ave., Milton-Freewater 541-938-5575 drinkcider.com CASTILLO DE FELICIANA 85728 Telephone Pole Road Milton-Freewater 541-558-3656 castillodefeliciana.com COLLEGE CELLARS 3020 Isaacs Ave. 509-524-5170 collegecellars.com DUMAS STATION 36226 U.S. Highway 12 Dayton, WA 509-382-8933 dumasstation.com DUNHAM CELLARS 150 E. Boeing Ave. 509-529-4685 dunhamcellars.com FIVE STAR CELLARS 840 C St. 509-527-8400 fivestarcellars.com FORGERON CELLARS 33 W. Birch St. 509-522-9463 forgeroncellars.com FOUNDRY VINEYARDS 13th Avenue and Abadie Street 509-529-0736 wallawallafoundry.com/vineyards FORT WALLA WALLA CELLARS 127 E. Main St. 509-520-1095 fortwallawallacellars.com GRANTWOOD WINERY 2428 Heritage Road 509-301-0719 509-301-9546

14. JLC WINERY 425 B St. 509-301-5148 jlcwinery.com 15. CAVU CELLARS 175 E. Aeronca Ave. 509-540-6350 cavucellars.com 16. L’ECOLE NO 41 WINERY 41 Lowden School Road and U.S. Highway 12 509-525-0940 lecole.com 17. LODMELL CELLARS 6 W. Rose St., Suite 104 206-409-4395 lodmellcellars.com 18. LONG SHADOWS 1604 Frenchtown Road 509-526-0905 longshadows.com By appointment only

19. MANSION CREEK 6 W. Rose St., Suite 105 253-370-6107 mansioncreekcellars.com 20. NORTHSTAR WINERY 1736 J.B. George Road 509-524-4883 northstarmerlot.com 21. PEPPER BRIDGE WINERY 1704 J.B. George Road 509-525-6502 pepperbridge.com 22. PLUMB CELLARS 39 E. Main St. 509-301-8694 plumbcellars.com 23. REININGER WINERY 5858 Old Highway 12 509-522-1994 reiningerwinery.com 24. ROBISON RANCH CELLARS 2839 Robison Ranch Road 509-301-3480 robisonranchcellars.com

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Paid listings. To be included, contact addirector@wwub.com.

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25. SAPOLIL CELLARS 15 E. Main St. 509-520-5258 sapolilcellars.com 26. SAVIAH CELLARS 1979 J.B. George Road 509-520-5166 saviahcellars.com 27. SOLE ROSSO ESTATE WINERY 2158 Old Milton Highway 509-252-3504 sole-rosso.com 28. SPRING VALLEY VINEYARD 18 N. Second Ave. 509-525-1506 springvalleyvineyard.com 29. STUDIO TWOZEROTWO ARDOR CELLARS A.MORELL WINES 202 E. Main St. 509-876-8086 studiotwozerotwo.com 30. SULEI CELLARS 17 N. Second Ave. 509-529-0840 suleicellars.com 31. SYZYGY 405 E. Boeing Ave. 509-522-0484 syzygywines.com 32. TAMARACK CELLARS 700 C St. (Walla Walla Airport) 509-520-4058 tamarackcellars.com 33. TEMPUS CELLARS 124 W. Boeing Ave. (Walla Walla Airport) 509-270-0298 tempuscellars.com 34. TERTULIA CELLARS 1564 Whiteley Road 509-525-5700 tertuliacellars.com 35. THREE RIVERS WINERY 5641 Old Highway 12 509-526-9463 threeriverswinery.com

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36. VA PIANO VINEYARDS 1793 J.B. George Road 509-529-0900 vapianovineyards.com 37. WALLA WALLA VINTNERS Vineyard Lane off Mill Creek Road 509-525-4724 wallawallavintners.com 38. WATERMILL WINERY 235 E. Broadway Ave., Milton-Freewater 541-938-5575 watermillwinery.com 39. WOODWARD CANYON WINERY 11920 W. Highway 12, Lowden 509-525-4129 woodwardcanyon.com

Wall a Wall a Lifest yles 11

Weird Food

Weird do you want to eat today?

Local eateries can be found in some unusual places.

By Janice James / Photos by Emily Star Poole

I

’ve been eating my way around the area, lately, and have detected something a bit weird going on.

Then again, if it’s a trend, it could be downright revolutionary and eventually not weird at all. Yeah, soon enough, it could be mainstream. Well, maybe not. It is pretty weird.

Let’s say we’re hungry. We don’t want to stay home and cook. Too time-consuming, too messy. For a minute we consider going to a bona fide restaurant. Way too normal.

Maybe we’re in a hurry. Food truck, fast-food drive-thru? Isn’t there something else? Something novel? Interesting? Surprising?

Turns out, yes, there is. How about we go to a furniture store for a lovely sit-down breakfast?

Or we could pop into a florist’s shop for lunch, or grab a latte and gluten-free goodie later this afternoon.

Then there’s the gas station where a chef offers food choices beyond your wildest imagination. And, at least for a little while longer, we could go to a fish-and-tackle store with a very unappetizing name, and order some authentic, homestyle, award-winning Mexican food.

Ready?

across the street at my first restaurant. It’s named for him,” she said with pride.

The dish consists of scrambled eggs chock-

fully before answering, “Could be several people, could be my son, but it started with a customer who was building a home. He bought a lot of furniture. When he told me what his favorite breakfast was, I said, ‘That sounds good.’”

At the mention of furniture, how could I not get a little more curious?

Especially since the furniture in the restaurant part of the store had caught my eye. It was inviting, attractive and comfortable. It turns out Suffield’s exacting eye for furniture led her on an online search, whereupon she rescued several pieces from Coffee Connection, the Bistro and the China Buffet, all former or current restaurants in Walla Walla.

“It’s kind of nice to have a little bit of the history from the area come in,” she added.

Garden of Eatin' Joeli Hansen and two foodprep helpers were handling a busy lunch crowd the day I stopped by Garden of Eatin’ in Milton Freewater with my mom.

As I took in the many dimensions of the scene — staged in what was formerly a family home — my first reaction was a pleasantly disorienting, almost dreamlike, feeling.

Yes, we were at a lovely marble Carolyn's Cafe counter to place our order from Carolyn Suffield is the owner, a laminated menu card that alcook and pastry chef of Carolyn’s lowed for a fully customized seCafe, a delightful breakfast establection of sandwich options, then lishment inside Suffield Furnitake a seat, be served and eat. ture Company in Dayton. The Carolyn Suffield is head honcho at Carolyn's Cafe, located within Suffield's But might I also want to pick menu offers standard fare and a Furniture Company in Dayton. up a greeting card or small gift few more curiously named breakitem, perhaps a stuffed animal? I fast options. full of ham, cheese and onions; I chose a homewas drawn deeper into the space by the promise There had to be a story, so I asked Suffield made biscuit as my bread option. of other gently unfolding surprises. about two items — The Dennis Scramble Mix As for Jon’s Scrambled Mix — which inSoon I found Evelyn Zamudio smiling as she and Jon’s Scrambled Mix. cludes cut-up link sausages, onions, peppers, worked on floral arrangements in a dedicated “Dennis was my very first customer — cheese and eggs — Suffield shrugged thoughtspace. She identified herself as the floral man12 Wall a Wall a Lifest yles

With a deli on site, Nature Garden Flowers and Gifts customers never have to leave the store hungry.

ager of Nature Garden Florist, the only flower shop in Milton Freewater.

She noted, matter-of-factly, the combination of food and flowers, along with cards and gifts, was often very helpful for customers who might “come in to eat, then get some flowers and a card.”

After I wandered through adjoining rooms, I entered an enclosed, landscaped patio area where people were eating at tables in the shade.

The day was bright and sunny, the air crisp.

A water feature was gaily chirping in the far corner. I sat on a stone bench at a stone table and inhaled as deeply as I could. Just a reality check.

Later, Hansen recounted more of the benefits of both businesses sharing space.

“When one of us gets busy, we help each other out. To-go orders, deliveries — we work together. I can take orders for her, she can take orders for the café. She’ll ring people up if we’re busy. It’s like a little family.”

Still on a high note, Hansen added, “Saager’s (Shoe Shop) down the street is very good at referring people — you know, local people helping local people out.”

In her next breath, Hansen was raving about a popular item on the menu — a gluten-free

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Wall a Wall a Lifest yles 13

Weird Food

Andrae's Kitchen's dining area in the Cenex gas station convenience store (below) is always a busy place during lunchtime.

pumpkin muffin top with chocolate chips and maple glaze — and heaping praises on the supplier — the bakery and deli Devour, at 511 N. Wilbur Ave., in Walla Walla.

What a refreshingly friendly business model, I thought.

Andrae's Kitchen at the Co-op Locals might already know that tantalizing meal options await them at Andrae’s Kitchen at the Co-op, located inside the convenience store at the Cenex co-op gas station in Walla Walla. After all, the restaurant has garnered a strong following on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and visitors from Portland and Seattle and farther afield make a concerted effort to drop by when in town.

Owner Andrae Bopp credits the successful implantation of his restaurant to the business acumen of Cenex General Manager Mike Potter, who enticed him to move inside the convenience store from the parking lot where he once stationed his food truck.

A classically trained chef, Bopp looks around with pride as he sits at a table amid other tables full of busy eaters: “A lot of people start in a lesser-style kitchen and work their way up, whereas I started in Michelin three-star places and it comes down now to a gas station.”

Speaking of his clientele, Bopp boasts, “We have one of the most diverse cross-sections of customers in town. We have farmers, ranchers, construction workers, penitentiary guys, wine 14 Wall a Wall a Lifest yles

makers, tourists, business owners, students.

We are running out of parking spots.”

Here, again, the one-stop set-up is conducive to getting several things done. What’s not to like about getting gas, meeting a friend for a

delicious sit-down lunch, grabbing a six-pack of beer and a bag of Cheetos for later, and then going over to the side of the building to get your car washed?

Dora's Deli The Walla Walla Worm Ranch has been owned and operated by the same family for almost 20 years. For 65 years, the establishment was known as the place to get fishing supplies, tackle and, naturally, worms.

Increasingly, due to the tireless efforts of Dora Jimenez, her son Rubio, and Dora’s cousin Fulgencia Lopez, the kitchen has gained fame for outstanding Mexican food, including a veg-

etarian taco that in 2013 was named one of the best tacos in America by the online food-anddrink resource The Daily Meal.

The availability of handmade corn tortillas, in-house hot salsa verde and medium salsa roja, not to mention the possibility of enhancing Jimenez’s food with a beer or glass of wine on-site, draws people in.

Though her intent is to sell the remaining inventory of fishing supplies and tackle, then use the unoccupied space for more restaurant seating, Jimenez remains staunchly attached to the name.

“It is history,” she says, and, seeing the humor, laughs, remembering when a Walla Walla University student once jokingly asked for a worm taco.

Jimenez and her son speak highly of the support the business has received over the years from Walla Walla University faculty, staff and students. Both give credit for their winning national recognition to student demand for a vegetarian taco.

Although undecided about exactly how to repurpose the reclaimed space, they are tossing around ideas that prioritize the needs of the local community. As for the menu, more vegetarian options may be on the way.

Where is all this going? I got to thinking of the unlimited possibilities. If I went to a smoothie/juice bar, could I also get a pedicure and pick up my dry cleaning? Or what?

Did you just say there’s a crêperie in the back of the hardware store?

If You Go:

Despite the name of her business, Dora Jimenez' award-winning cuisine is 100 percent worm-free.

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Walla Walla

Dining Guide

The Brik Bar and Grill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1415 Plaza Way, Walla Walla • 509-529-7999 Open daily, 11 a.m. if you're hungry for consistently fresh tastes, like home-cooked food, go to the Brik. All dishes are born when you order. Never frozen. Never microwaved. Even the chicken pot pie is handmade!

Clarette’s Restaurant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

15 S. Touchet St., Walla Walla • 509-529-3430 Open daily, 6 a.m.-8 p.m.

Clarette’s offers many locally sourced foods and consistently is voted the Valley’s best place for breakfast. Generations of locals have marked important occasions with its classic American-style breakfasts. Located on the Whitman College campus, one block off Main street, near the travelodge. Lots of parking. Breakfast served all day.

Grandma's Kitchen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

36 S. Colville St., Walla Walla • 509-876-4236 Tue.-Thu., 12-8 p.m.; Fri. & Sat., Noon-11 p.m.; Sun., Noon-7 p.m.; Closed Monday Grandma’s Kitchen offers many delicious, regional Mexican dishes. enjoy cactus salad from the state of Hildago plus tasty original dishes from yucatan, Morelos and Chihuahua. enjoy sangria or one of our 10 Mexican beers with your meal.

Located in the heart of downtown Walla Walla.

Jacobi’s Italian Café & Catering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

416 N. Second Ave., Walla Walla • 509-525-2677 • jacobiscafe.com Mon.-Thu., 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Fri. & Sat., 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

Come “Mangia Mangia” in Walla Walla at Jacobi’s Café! At Jacobi’s Café you can enjoy our signature italian cuisine and experience casual dining with customer service that is second to none. you may dine in our vintage train car or sit back and relax on our patio. Because when you are Italian Café & Catering thinking italian ... think Jacobi’s!

Mill Creek Brew Pub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

11 S. Palouse St., Walla Walla • 509-522-2440 • millcreek-brewpub.com Mon.-Sat., 11 a.m.-midnight; Sunday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.

For 18 years, Mill Creek has served locally brewed, handcrafted beers. You’ll find great values on the kid-friendly lunch and dinner menu, served inside or out on the largest patio in town. Local wines, daily specials and great atmosphere, all await you at Mill Creek Brew Pub.

Patit Creek Restaurant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

725 E. Dayton Ave., Dayton • 509-382-2625 Lunch: Wed.-Fri., 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.; Dinner: Wed. & Thu., 4:30-7 p.m.; Fri. & Sat., 4:30-7:30 p.m.

Named in “Northwest Best Places” as the only four-star french restaurant east of the Cascades, Patit Creek has been serving great cuisine — without the attitude — since 1978. While all the entrees are exquisite, the meat dishes are truly notable, especially the Medallions of Beef Hiebert. An imaginative wine list and remarkable desserts make Patit Creek a gem worth traveling for.

T. Maccarone’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4 N. Colville St., Walla Walla • 509-522-4776 • tmaccarones.com Open daily, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.

Welcome to t. Maccarone’s, a modern, Washington wine-country bistro influenced by classic Italian sensibilities. Join us in our downtown Walla Walla restaurant for a celebration of the senses. from the fragrant allure of white truffle to the warm spark of candles in our intimate dining room, let us help make your wine-country experience truly memorable.

Thai Ploy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

311 S. Ninth Ave., Walla Walla • 509-525-0971 Open seven days a week from 11 a.m.

Roast Duck Curry, Lemon Grass Barbecued Chicken, Coconut Prawns, Pad Thai and more.

A great menu of thai dishes, expertly prepared. Enjoy a glass of wine, cold beer or tasty Thai iced tea with your meal. Plenty of room for groups or just the two of you. If you’re looking for a true thai dining experience, thai Ploy is the place for you.

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16 Wall a Wall a Lifest yLes

Weird Places

The main exhibit area in the Museum of Un-Natural History is filled with a variety of artistic works.

Walla Walla on the wild side

The Museum of Un-Natural History

By Diane Reed / Photos by Steve Lenz

G

erald “Gerry” Matthews is, arguably, one of the most unusual, not to mention iconoclastic, residents of Walla Walla.

Matthews enjoyed a long and successful acting career in New York City, doing Broadway shows, a series of musical revues (including twice-nightly performances at the famed Plaza Hotel), live television, cartoon voices (he was the voice of Sugar Bear, a commercial character who graduated to cartoons in the 1960s) and commercials (once rowing around in a toilet tank for a Ty-D-Bol ad).

In the late 1980s, Matthews and his wife, Tony Award-winning actress Pat Stanley (honored for her role in the musical “Goldilocks”), got in their car and went up and down the West Coast in search of a place to retire. Despite having lived in New York for decades, Matthews has always liked the country.

When they happened upon Walla Walla, they decided to settle in, buying a vintage home on Stanton Street. Today, Matthews is a fixture in Walla Walla, primarily because of the “museum” he founded downtown, the Museum of UnNatural History.

The seeds for this eclectic local museum were sown decades ago when Matthews lived in a building in New York City next to the Museum of Natural History.

After a party at his apartment spilled onto the museum grounds, Matthews and his equally tipsy friends decided there really should be a museum of un-natural history. As he puts it, they decided “there was a need for a museum to present a less factual point of view. In fact, perhaps, a provocative — even offensive — point of view for the rare, discerning few.”

Fast forward to the summer of 2001. Mat-

this piece features a sugar Bear likeness “being preserved in Scotch,” Matthews said.

Matthews provided the voice of the cartoon bear in commercials, modeling the character's vocal style after Dean Martin, who, Matthews said, never took the stage without a glass of scotch in his hand.

Wall a Wall a Lifest yLes 17

Weird Places

The masks and figures in “Wall of Fools” are a “depiction of the life of an actor — the personas actors are forced to take on,” Matthews said.

thews, who had previously made artwork for his own homes, was creating works of art in the large basement of his retirement home.

He put together a group of pieces featuring assemblages of found objects and ephemera with a social commentary “heavily laced with satire and sarcasm.”

He mounted his first exhibit that summer at the Waterbrook Winery tasting room, which was then located downtown at First Avenue and Main Street. Although he sold 11 pieces during the show, there wasn’t enough room at home to accommodate all the remaining pieces.

(By the way, he’s still trying to buy back those 11 pieces, with limited success.)

So, harking back to that inebriated party in New York, Matthews found a way to solve his space problem and, at the same time, fulfill the “need for a Museum of Un-Natural History,” opening the museum on Sept. 10, 2001, in a rented space above Tallman’s Drug Store at 4 1/2 W. Main St. Matthews started with the remaining pieces from his exhibit and has been building on that 18 Wall a Wall a Lifest yles

Matthews’ newest piece features a baby-doll representation of North Korea’s supreme leader, Kim Jong-un. “He’s a total innocent baby, about as suited for running a country as my dog. Cute, though,” Matthews said.

collection.

The rambling rooms of the Museum of UnNatural History are chock-full of curious, surprising, zany and, possibly to some, shocking works of art.

There’s a piece titled “Wall of Fools,” featuring masks — some found, others created by Matthews — that remind him of his career in show business.

Matthews has always collected ephemera to use in his art, from found objects he picks up at yard sales, antique shops and eBay, to family memorabilia. If he needs an element he doesn’t have in his trove of materials, he often crafts it.

He considers many of his works to be autobiographical, including a rectangular piece aptly named “Autobiography,” which features compartments filled with photographs and ephemera from his family and ancestors and a piece that pays tribute to cabarets.

Other works reflect on literature, current events, sexuality and technological innovation, often sending up politicians, authors and books, institutions and sexual mores.

Hanging from the ceiling is a bicycle assemblage titled “Velocipedus Rex,” the embodiment of a pun.

A lifelong love of Erector Sets and engines is embodied in kinetic sculptures that bring sound and movement to the gallery.

Matthews’ most recent piece is titled “Dear Leader,” and skewers North Korea’s Kim Jongun.

Take note that Matthews also enjoys writing captions for his works as much as he does creating the works. Visitors will find his commentary ranges from ironic to biting to, at times, offensive.

Matthews surveys his domain from his selfdesignated “throne” in the Museum of UnNatural History. A consummate entertainer, he considers his museum a stage where he enjoys performing and entertaining visitors.

During this summer’s Gentlemen of the Road event Matthews was in his element, performing for several hundred visitors who gave the museum rave reviews.

Left: A jingoistic, devilish figure is “a comment on the period of the (George W.) Bush administration,” Matthews said. Right: Another piece “makes fun of Bush’s war,” Matthews said, noting that a lot of his art pieces are critiques of the 43rd president.

For More Info:

Introducing

The Museum of Un-Natural History, upstairs at 4 1/2 W. Main St., is open Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., but Matthews says he “can be persuaded to open at any reasonable hour for those who are willing to use the telephone or Internet and promise to say something interesting in my guest book.”

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Matthews can be reached at 509-529-9399, or by email at info@wallawalladada.com.

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Wall a Wall a Lifest yles 19

Weird Places

Left: A rotating Ferris wheel made of Erector Set components “has no meaning, but it’s fun to look at,” Matthews said. Another room in the museum features a figure of Shirley Temple constructed partially with Erector Set elements. Right: The contents of a theatrical trunk set in a back corner of the museum are an autobiographical representation of Matthews’ life. The front features copies of his union cards and IDs from the age of 22 to “not too long ago,” he said. Within the trunk are various pieces of ephemera that “represent the interests of a boy growing up,” including clippings from a vintage nudist magazine from Texas, meant to indicate Matthews’ coming-of-age.

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Weird Landmark

The hillside figure

Some rural towns boast giant initials. Dayton has an actual giant.

Story and photo by Brenden Koch

I

mmense initials can often be seen carved into or painted on hills surrounding rural towns — the sizable white “A” on the canyon wall above Arlington, Ore., for example.

But few hamlets boast a similar phenomenon featuring a gigantic corporate mascot. Dayton is one of those rare towns.

At one time, the largest industry in Dayton was the Blue Mountain Cannery, built in 1934 to process local pea crops. In 1939 it expanded to also preserve asparagus.

In 1947, Blue Mountain was purchased by the Minnesota Valley Canning Company, and three years later began operations under the Green Giant label.

Soon, the company’s mascot, the Jolly Green Giant, could be seen on signs and merchandise all over Dayton.

In early 1970, local growers, seeking to express their admiration of the business that contributed to their existence, created a nearly

life-size likeness of the massive mascot on a steep hillside a mile west of the town.

This was done by staking out an outline of the mirthful figure, then filling the enclosed area with fertilizer. The treated grass grew faster and thicker than the surrounding ground surface, creating a literal green giant that, at 500 feet tall, could easily be seen by passers-by driving along U.S. Highway 12.

There was a problem, however: During dry seasons, the grass died away and the giant all but disappeared. So, in the 1990s, a crew of volunteers took thousands of white and green concrete blocks up the hillside and laid them down to form a more drought-resistant version of the mascot.

Pillsbury purchased Green Giant in 1978, and was then itself bought by Seneca Foods.

In 2005, Seneca moved the Dayton canning operation to Peru, taking with it around 50 fulltime and 1,000 seasonal positions. The town no longer had the Green Giant business, but its vestige — the jolly hillside giant — remains.

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Wall a Wall a Lifest yles 21

Weird Places

The witches of Walla Walla

Legends regarding the Bentleys’ untimely demise have passed through generations of locals.

Story, photos and layout by Brenden Koch

“W

hat is buried here, Max?” asks the man.

“Witches,” his young son

replies.

“The tale here is that back in the 1800s there were witches here in Walla Walla ... They were killed here in Walla Walla and were buried here,” the YouTube video’s narrator explains to viewers.

22 Wall a Wall a Lifest yles

The camera pans down to reveal a pair of grave markers resembling oversized parking dividers. The names PARDON DOCK BENTLEY and LIDA ANN BENTLEY are marked on their sloped sides.

A smaller version of these markers lies just to the south, bearing the name of C.S. (Chester) BENTLEY, who died 130 years ago, Oct. 16, 1885, at barely the age of 4.

For years, locals have handed down the Bentley legends from generation to generation. It is generally understood that Pardon Dock and Lida Ann were put to death by townspeople in 1900 in retribution for their practice of witchcraft.

Various elements of the family’s grave-site assemblage are purported to provide evidence supporting this claim.

The dates The incomplete state of the pair’s death dates — “1900 AND” — indicates that although their mortal bodies were slain in 1900, their souls remained in some sort of undead state. The people who exterminated the Bentleys expected them to rise again, and, hopefully, be put to death again — but permanently, this time.

The hands Hands on gravestones typically point upward, folks say, to direct the soul of the deceased heavenward. The digits on the Bentleys’ headstone aim, instead, directly toward terra firma, clearly steering the pair’s souls hellward.

The text The headstone features cryptic wording — “PERPETUAL” on one side, “CARE” on the other. Whoever buried the Bentleys obviously was calling on a higher power to stand sentinel at the grave to ensure no malevolent spirit could emerge from within.

The markers These were crafted of thick concrete to prevent (or at least deter) the Satanworshippers’ souls from exiting their temporary graves and wreaking vengeance on the local populace.

Several prominent cracks in the surface of 4-year-old Chester’s marker (left) seem to lend credence to this claim. This is because his innocent soul split the marker as he ascended through it on his merciful journey to heaven.

His parents’ markers (right), on the other hand, remain pristine, the lack of similar surface fractures a clear indication the pair’s souls had, in fact, headed in the opposite direction.

Wall a Wall a Lifest yles 23

Weird Places

Mountain View Cemetery Supervisor Chris Jones describes the Bentleys' missing headstone, after it was stolen in March 1988. (U-B file photos)

When taken as a whole, these pieces of evidence seem to be proof the graves’ inhabitants were practitioners of witchcraft, rightfully killed by the fearful, eventually vengeful townsfolk in the last year of the 19th century.

Since then, stories of the Bentleys’ lives, deaths and diabolical undeaths have been passed on from person to person, with various responses.

In the 1990s, one teenage aspiring visual-artist took a girl he was wooing to the Bentley plot to practice photography. In those pre-Photoshop days, he took several exposures, then, in the darkroom, combined them to create an image that made it look as though she were floating, ghostlike, above the grave.

Other local teens had a more aggressive reaction in the apparent presence of the supernatural: The graves’ headstone was the target of a theft in March 1988.

As reported in the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, cemetery Supervisor Chris Jones said the thieves likely parked a truck at the grave site one evening between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., loaded the 16-by-24-inch, 200-pound 24 Wall a Wall a Lifest yles

stone and drove off.

The legend clearly already existed at that time.

“I’ve been real concerned about (the Bentley grave) since I started working here,” Jones is quoted as saying. “There’s been so much interest.

“Kids have come into the office asking me if he was a warlock, and how I can prove it. And I tell them it’s not my story, it’s theirs.”

The stone was recovered within a few days, after an anonymous caller to the U-B revealed youths from Milton-Freewater had stolen it, then abandoned it at that town’s cemetery.

After a short search, Walla Walla Parks and Recreation Director Mike Peterson located the undamaged stone. The U-B noted city officials planned to confer with a mason to better secure it.

This apparently was accomplished, as today the headstone still is affixed at the west end of the twin markers.

So locals obviously have believed something weird is going on with the grave for some time. But how accurate is the legend? Does the grave truly belong to a pair of turn-of-the-20th-century witchcraft practitioners? Let’s take a closer look at the evidence.

The dates A check of the marriage records reveals Pardon Dock Bentley (born Nov. 2, 1833, in New York) wed the much-younger Eliza Lida Ann Holbrook (a native Walla Wallan, born here Dec. 12, 1858) on April 7, 1878.

Despite what is claimed on his marker, however, Pardon Dock died not in 1900, but a full decade later, Feb. 28, 1910.

And Lida Ann’s “1900” is inaccurate as well, for after Pardon Dock died she remained alive, and soon was remarried, to a serviceman named William Farlow. Following her eventual death June 16, 1926, she was buried as Lida Farlow, two plots to the north of the grave she purportedly shares with her first husband.

So the fact neither of the Bentleys died — much less were apparently killed by townspeople — in 1900 renders the “1900” piece of witchcraft evidence unreliable.

Still, why the ominous “AND” following the date?

Bentley family descendant Robert Steingraber of New York believes the dates’ incomplete state was only temLida Ann Bentley Farlow (Photo courtesy of Robert Steingraber) porary; they were intended to be finished with the couple’s actual dates of death — “‘1900 and 12’ or something like that,” he said.

But this did not happen, mainly because of love lost.

According to reports, although they still were married, Lida Ann did not appear overly enamored with Pardon Dock at the time of his death.

An article in the Walla Walla Union (one half of the eventual UnionBulletin) published March 1, 1910, states the pair had been separated “for some time past.”

Given this lack of affection, Lida Ann probably wasn’t keen on going to the time and expense of adding the closing “10” to his death year. And, since she was buried elsewhere under a different name, it wouldn’t have made sense to add “26” to her marker on the Bentley plot.

The text “Perpetual care” refers not to a caretaker of malicious souls, but a more terrestrial variety of stewardship. A perpetual-care cemetery or grave site is one for which a trust fund has been established to pay to maintain it into perpetuity.

So the phrase simply is intended to indicate the Bentleys’ plot would be cared for as long as the cemetery exists.

But besides these two words remaining on the headstone today, there once was additional text, which proved rather unpopular with Pardon Dock’s survivors. Upon his death, the 1910 article notes, his relatives were “either contemplating changing the stones or doing away with the vault.”

Why would they do that? Possibly because of what the dearly deceased previously had chiseled into the headstone.

From 1890 through 1907, Pardon Dock is listed in municipal records as being employed as the sexton of the Walla Walla City Cemetery (later rechristened Mountain View Cemetery). During his duties maintaining the graveyard grounds, he undoubtedly became very familiar with the town’s marker manufacturers, funeral parlors and other demise-related industries.

The closeness of Pardon Dock’s relationship with Lee Roberts of Roberts Monument Co. is revealed in the 1910 article. The uncredited reporter relates how Pardon Dock had telephoned Roberts late one night — as one would usually do only with a close friend — with a description of a grave marker he wanted to have made immediately.

Inscribed on the marker above one side of the grave, the newspaper reported, would be the words “Here I am. How do you do?” And above the other, the text would read: “I am dead, so are you.”

The Bentleys’ grandson, Howard Bentley of Walla Walla, in 1988 was quoted by the U-B as believing his grandfather had intended for it to be a whimsical marker: “He was an odd man. He wanted the stone that way — it was his sense of humor.”

But rather than being appropriately amused, after hearing the unusual request, Roberts, the sleep-interrupted stonemason, believed Pardon was “temporarily deranged,” according to the Union. Thus, Roberts neither took the sexton seriously nor subsequently undertook work on the strange stone.

Two months later, Pardon Dock asked Roberts for a status update on his order. The sexton was “much put out” to learn nothing had been done on the markers, and apparently insisted on them being created.

This is where the pointing fingers come in.

Wall a Wall a Lifest yles 25

Weird Places The hands By themselves, the downward digits can mistakenly be interpreted as damning. But situated below Pardon Dock’s requested verses, they lose their incriminating character “Here I am,” one spouse would be saying to the other, the pointing finger specifying the exact location referred to.

“I am dead,” the equally deceased partner would reply, the direction of their own finger denoting the maker of the assertion.

It is not surprising the surviving Lida Ann, already on the outs with Pardon Dock, would not want his idiosyncratic attempts at humor featured on her grave.

And it appears the Union article was correct, as the headstone today bears no such language; instead, there are two blank rectangles sunk into the marble above the hands. The top right corner of one of the rectangles even bears what appear to be the remnants of two incised letters — “AD” — which could easily be interpreted as the end of the line “I AM DEAD.” The markers While the parental Bentleys’ hefty markers surely are in decent shape for being over a century old, they are not actually in mint condition; they do contain cracks.

So does that mean a higher power eventually pardoned the souls of Pardon Dock and Lida Ann, granting them the opportunity to ascend through their markers for a celestial reunion with little Chester?

Or does it simply mean the markers have weathered naturally after being exposed to the elements for well over a century?

In either case, the mere presence of the cracks disproves the theory the markers were somehow endowed with the supernatural ability to trap the grave-inhabitants’ souls below ground.

Conclusion We’ve reviewed the evidence backing the claims Pardon Dock and Lida Ann Bentley dabbled in witchcraft and were put to death for their actions, as well as the official records and journalistic reports indicating the two were, instead, unremarkable folk whose lack of sustained marital affection ultimately manifested itself in disfigured, unsettling grave markers.

But do the facts really actually matter?

Even if the stories can be rationally disproved, they likely still will live on in the imaginations of Walla Wallans. Parents will pass them down to their kids — and, via the Internet, to the general public; teens will relate them to their friends, who will disperse them even further.

It is clear that even in these cynical modern times, the legends are — as are Pardon Dock and Lida Ann — in no danger of permanently passing on.

26 Wall a Wall a Lifest yLes

Weird Artifacts

Walla Walla’s mysteries of the museums The true stories of four curious artifacts

By Jennifer Colton-Jones

A

boring black box that is anything but; a pump organ that returns to its home; a safe no locksmith can crack; and a chest unopened for decades. Each resides in a Walla Walla-area museum.

Each has a story to tell, and each is a mystery at a museum.

Maybe black paint was the only color available the military would let them use. Somebody, whether it was John Ryan himself or someone else, had a bit of carpentry skill.”

Civil War. The Ryans went to Washington, D.C., and took the box with them.

“Eventually, after the war, they get sent to Fort Walla Walla, and in the 1870s, their daughter meets a soldier at the fort, marries him and settles in Walla WalThe black box — Fort Walla la,” Payne said.

Walla Museum That daughter kept the In the climate-controlled box with her, filling it with storage room at Fort Walla family memorabilia.

Walla Museum, a black box The box came to Fort Walla sits on a gray metal shelf. The Walla Museum in 2004 after worn black paint and scuffed the great-granddaughter of wood hide a secret history.

John and Mary Ryan donated it and five generations of maSomewhere on the Oregon Trail, terials. circa 1858 ...

Now, the box remains inIn 1857, the U.S. Army conspicuous in its home on established Fort Crook in Furniture Shelf 3-B, just one Northern California, and, soon more artifact awaiting its turn after, a wagon train carrying a on the display floor. unit of the 1st U.S. Dragoons With thousands of artiset out for the fort across the facts in its collection, the Oregon Trail. museum houses many other Before the wagons reached mysteries waiting to be unthe fort, they were attacked by covered. “hostiles” and — in a move Which soldier owned the common for the time — they revolver recovered from a farm emptied the contents of the Mary Ryan's blanket chest is made of wood salvaged from the area in the mid 19th 50 years after Steptoe’s defeat wagons, providing a distrac- century. (Photo by emily star Poole) at Tohotonimme — a battle tion for their attackers and that could have been as deadly greater speed to escape. as Custer’s Last Stand? Did Among the travelers were John Ryan, a solThe box originally was made of wood salLincoln really give a copy of a photograph to dier, and his wife, Mary, who served as laun- vaged from other boxes and may have been dea student in Illinois who would come to Walla dress for the troops. Among the items dropped signed to store goods or ammunition. It was Walla? in the frenzy to flee was Mary Ryan’s blanket converted into Mary Ryan’s new blanket chest, For now, the questions remain a mystery, chest. complete with hinges and a lock. just like the exact origins of Mary Ryan’s imDistraught over the loss, she turned to her The box still bears the marks of its origins, provised blanket box. husband, and he promised to find her a new including the blue Army paint and the “U.S.” one once they reached the fort. stenciled inside the lid and “CoC” embossed The unopened chest — The Boldman House At a frontier military post, however, the on the ends above simple, stained-rope handles.

Museum Ryans had to make do with what was available, The bottom of the box is lined with an oil Not all chests carry the use and history of according to James Payne, executive director cloth similar to the ones issued as rain gear for the Ryans’ blanket chest. Some remain closed of Fort Walla Walla Museum. soldiers of the time period. and locked for decades, their treasures hidden “Once they arrived, here they are in the midMary Ryan accepted her improvised blanket from human eyes. dle of nowhere, so it’s not like they could just chest and used it at the fort until 1861, when go to the furniture store and buy a nice chest,” the Army called the 1st Dragoons back to the Dayton, Wash., 1912 ...

Payne says. “They just took what was available.

East Coast shortly after the outbreak of the In 1912, Steven Boldman and his wife, Wall a Wall a Lifest yLes 27

Weird Artifacts

This trunk belonging to Gladys Boldman was closed for nearly 70 years. When it recently was opened for the first time since 1946, its contents were found to include toiletries, and clothing, some of which is lying on the bed. (Photo by Jennifer Colton-Jones)

Blanche, purchased a Victorian home in downtown Dayton in which to raise their family.

Between them, the couple and their daughters — Minnie, Marie, Goldie and Gladys — would live in the home for 87 years, keeping it almost a time capsule of the era.

From the intricate carpets to glass contact lenses tucked safely away in dresser drawers, the Dayton home is full of artifacts — but not all the Boldmans stayed in Dayton.

Born in 1908, Gladys was 4 years old when her family moved into the Dayton house. She would graduate from high school in Dayton, but set her sights on the business world outside the small town.

She attended business college and went on to work as a secretary and, later, as bookkeeper for prestigious hotels, including the Marcus Whitman, the Governor Hotel in Olympia and the Boise Hotel in Idaho.

Boldman House Project Coordinator Sylvia Beuhler says Gladys loved her job.

“From the gossip of letters, it sounds like she pretty much ran this place,” Beuhler says with a laugh, referring to the Boise Hotel. But the love and prestige of the business world couldn’t keep Gladys away from her family in a time of need.

At the age of 38, Gladys returned home in 1946 to help her sister care for their father af28 Wall a Wall a Lifest yles

ter their mother’s death. At the time, Gladys shipped trunks from Boise with all her belongings and stepped back into Dayton life.

One of those trunks was never opened again

by Gladys. Today, the hinges still squeak like new metal, and the trunk hasn’t lost its shine.

Recently, Beuhler opened the trunk for the first time, finding six outfits, silk stockings, a crocheted apron, cologne and other toiletries.

Each item — appropriate for Gladys’ business lifestyle of the 1940s — was never unpacked or put away in the Dayton home.

“Maybe she thought she would go back.

Maybe it was a different life at home and she wouldn’t lose these clothes,” Beuhler said.

“Whatever the reason, supposedly she just never opened it up.”

Although Steven Boldman died in 1954, Gladys never returned to her career and remained in the home until her death in 1999 at the age of 91.

Gladys left the estate to the Dayton Historical Depot Society on the condition it be restored and used for education. The most modern furniture in the home was added in 1968.

“It’s a treasure trove. It’s a really interesting history to read through, through the actual letters,” Beuhler said. “They make you realize what an easy life you have now.”

Since 1999, the Dayton Historical Depot

Society has worked to restore the home, including undertaking a project to restore the 1890s wallpaper in the hall and kitchen and the 1925 rosebud wallpaper in one bedroom.

Staff continues to go through the artifacts, letters and diaries left by Gladys and her family.

Although Beuhler says unknowns are solved all the time, the question of why Gladys never unpacked her trunk remains a mystery.

The return of the organ — Bruce House, Waitsburg Unlike the Boldman House and its timecapsule caretaker, not all regional mansions were cared for. Some became abandoned ghost houses.

Washington Territory, 1883 ...

The pioneer life was never an easy one, but William “Perry” and Caroline Bruce braved the trip for a chance at a new life and prosperity.

The move was a good one for the couple, who staked a homestead claim and established a farm in the area that would eventually become the city of Waitsburg.

The gamble paid off for Perry Bruce, who found such success as a farmer and merchant that he built a spacious Victorian home downtown in 1883.

The ornate mansion became the town’s showpiece and social highlight, but Perry

Left: Although Waitsburg's Bruce House is furnished with a variety of antique pieces, this pump organ is one of the few items original to the home.

Right: Bruce House volunteer Anita Baker brings the pump organ to life. (Photos by Emily Star Poole)

enjoyed the luxury for only five years before his death.

After her husband’s death, Caroline Bruce continued to have an active social life as a mother, and grandmother to her daughter’s children, who included William Oscar Abbey.

One of William’s children, Evangeline “Vangee” Abbey — later Vangee Johnston — grew up in the house and had fond stories of playing the pump organ in the Bruce House parlor.

The Bruce House remained with Perry and Caroline’s descendants until 1922, when it was sold. Most of the property and furnishings went to auctions and were scattered across the Pacific Northwest and beyond.

The building became the Weller Library until it was abandoned in the 1950s and left to the elements.

For almost 25 years, the mansion was the town’s ghost house, often broken into and vandalized, until 1971, when a group of residents banded together and formed the nonprofit Waitsburg Historical Society, its primary mission: the restoration of the Bruce House.

With most of the furnishings sold and scattered, the society began collecting period items and reopened the building as a museum and monument to the Victorian era and Waitsburg’s history.

“When they refinished the house, there was

very little in it,” historian Jerry Bloom says. “It was just the town’s haunted house. There were few pieces that were original to the house. We really don’t know what they had in the house, but we have some interesting pieces.”

Today, from period clothing to a knickknack-covered Murphy bed, the Bruce Memorial House is filled with antiques and period pieces.

But in 2011, the magic of the Internet brought back one piece of authentic Bruce treasure.

Craig Funabashi, the grandson of Vangee Johnston, came into possession of the pump organ his mother had received when her family home was sold in the 1920s. After Vangee’s death, Funabashi decided the best place to deliver the organ was back to the Bruce House and the Waitsburg Historical Society.

The organ now stands in the parlor, one of only a handful of original pieces from the historic home.

But how Funabashi knew to contact Waitsburg remains unknown — as does what happened to the rest of the Bruce family treasures.

The locked safe — Dayton Historic Depot The Dayton Depot boasts a silver-and-gold safe — 2 feet tall and weighing almost a ton — in its front ticket office. A beautiful example of period construction, the safe houses more than

just a dynamite-proof interior — it has a secret.

Downtown Dayton, the late 1800s ...

As the middleman between investors — primarily real estate — any broker needed the protection of a good safe.

In the late 1800s, a broker could do no better than a safe from Diebold Safe & Lock Company of Canton, Ohio. The company that would later manufacture armor for tanks and develop ATMs specialized in anti-dynamite safes impossible to crack.

The safe now in the collection at the Dayton Historic Depot is no exception.

This particular safe was produced sometime between 1887 and 1902 and purchased from San Francisco. It eventually came into the possession of a broker in Dayton.

The safe remained in the broker’s office on Main Street through four different financiers until the office closed in 1992 after the death of the last broker, George Baker.

One of Baker’s relatives turned the safe over to the Dayton Historic Depot in 2000.

Equipment was called in to move the safe — it was so heavy it broke through the floor boards at the Depot and workers had to remove the safe and reinforce the floor with cement before replacing the wood.

Part of the weight comes from the metal Wall a Wall a Lifest yles 29

Weird Artifacts

The contents of the interior compartment in this late-19th-century safe are unknown, as the door is locked and nobody knows the combination.

(Photos by Jennifer Colton-Jones)

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construction, but much of it — and its “antidynamite” efficiency — comes from the cement lining the space between the metal. So heavy it takes two hands to move, the outer door still slides open without a sound.

The open door reveals a shelf and a second secure compartment. The lock still turns, but it does not open; once the safe arrived at the Depot, the donor confessed he didn’t know the combination to the interior lock.

“The craftsmanship is so magnificent. But it’s so magnificent we can no longer open it,” Tamara Fritze, Depot director, said. “I’ve been told that it should be a combination with five numbers and it should go to the left first, but no one has been able to open it. We’ve had people fiddle with it almost for hours.”

Two locksmiths have examined the equipment, and neither was successful at cracking the combination. What — if anything — remains inside the second chamber is still a mystery.

“The longer you look at it, the more interesting it becomes,” Fritze said. “I hope people will come and try and open our safe.”

If you have the time, you’re welcome to try to crack the safe, but be warned: Many have tried, and, to date, no one has succeeded.

Weird Homes

The elegant exterior of the Kirkman House Museum shows the style of its 1880s construction. The former family home also holds on to its mystery.

In the spirit of history

Kirkman House Museum embraces its paranormal side.

By Karlene Ponti / Photos by Steve Lenz

O

pen the door to the Kirkman House Museum, 214 N. Colville St., and you cross the threshold into the past, or, at least, draw closer to the eternal.

“There’s something about this house,” board member Pam Myers says. “At the front door I felt like I’d come home. I have a total love of this house. It becomes a big part of you.”

Board member Rick Tuttle agrees there is a presence here. He has always been interested in history, and was drawn to the house because of the Kirkman family’s story.

He also shares an interesting connection with the Kirkmans.

Tuttle’s birthday is April 25. Family patriarch William Kirkman died on April 25, as did Isabella Kirkman, many years later.

Museums tell the stories of the people The formal front living room is decorated with antiques. in the past. This is especially true of the Many items in the home belonged to the Kirkman family.

Kirkman House Museum because it was a family home, and many of the clan’s possessuccesses.” sions remain in the house.

Museum staff also appreciate the artistry “It’s important to preserve what has hap- put into the building of the home, as well as pened in the past,” Myers says. “It helps us the dynamics of the family who lived there. move forward, learn from our mistakes and “The craftsmanship of a house like this ...”

Myers says. “Look at this, how old it is and all the love that went into this.”

“I like William’s story, the quintessential American,” Tuttle says. “His work ethic; not well educated but very shrewd.”

Kirkman is credited with remembering everyone who ever gave him a helping hand and contributed to his success.

“He had a lot of partners,” Tuttle says.

“Textbook ‘American Dream.’”

Among the many relics in the museum are Kirkman’s letters.

“The way he wrote was very matter-offact,” Myers says. “‘Moving cattle, attacked

by Indians, lost six cattle and three men.’

It’s life, move on.”

Tuttle and Myers say history is fun, as is learning about the people of the past who weren’t that different from those of the present.

According to Myers, Kirkman had a wonderful sense of humor and the house was a joy to him.

One of Kirkman’s stories mentions him putting cotton balls in the biscuits one morning as a joke.

Wall a Wall a Lifest yles 31

Weird Homes

Myrtle Belle Kirkman's bedroom.

Paranormal activity is often experienced in or near Fanny Anne Kirkman's bedroom.

Isabella Kirkman's bedroom. The spirit of Isabella has appeared to several in the home.

32 Wall a Wall a Lifest yles

“We have those wonderful stories,” Myers says.

The family lived in the house day to day. As life went on, children were born and grew up.

Loved ones passed away.

“There was laughter in the house, so much love and enjoyment of life; so much grieving,” Myers says. “The house is alive. Even if you’re alone, you feel like you’re not alone.”

Indeed, some of the family members’ energy and life force apparently stayed in the house after they left their bodies and this world.

“A few years ago, (the museum) was closed in early May to be cleaned. Some volunteers would come in early, some later,” Myers says.

“I was doing bookwork up in the office.”

She also was cleaning the windows and shutters. It was quite a job, so her goal was one window a night.

“I would make sure it was empty and locked every night before leaving. Every night, the door would end up unlocked. I stood by the stairs and told whoever was doing this to stop. The next night the door was locked, and stayed locked,” she says.

“A week after I finished the last window, I was in the office upstairs and I heard somebody walking around upstairs. I went to Myrtle Belle’s bedroom and I saw something move toward Fanny Anne’s room. An adult-size coppery, shimmery thing. And I heard giggling. It went on for an hour,” she says. “It was this incredible color, shimmering. Then it swirled around up towards the ceiling and disappeared. My husband said, ‘You had a ghost.’ It had to be female.

It was interesting to have that experience for that long. I think they appreciated all the work we were going through to bring this back.”

“I spent hours in the basement with a ShopVac,” Tuttle says. “And I haven’t seen anything like that.”

Since the connection with the spirit-world is so pronounced, in keeping with the history of the home, the museum started an annual psychic fair as an educational event.

“During one of our ‘Whispered Memories’ sessions, (psychic Janice Lynch) asked the spirits to make themselves known. The light bulbs started to flicker,” Tuttle says. “They didn’t before, and they didn’t after. They don’t flicker.”

Tuttle says there have been people who’ve seen a bearded man at the top of the stairs. A woman also has been seen in the same area.

Myers says one museum tour included guests who, as children, would run up to the door, ring the bell and run across the street.

They called it, “Ding, dong, ditch.” One day,

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Psychic Janice Lynch conducts a reading on an item supplied by an attendee of a past "Whispered Memories" event at Kirkman House Museum. (U-B file photo)

said Isabella is here, and her daughter Gracie is here,” Tuttle says.

“Psychics and spiritualists were huge in the Victorian era,” Myers says.

So the museum’s emphasis on the spiritual — and its hosting of a psychic fair — is educational and historically relevant to the era.

One guest at a previous fair told them, “I don’t believe in God or heaven, but now I’m conflicted. There’s something more out there and I need to learn.”

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when they looked back at the house, there was an older woman in old-style clothes looking out the window at them. They said it scared the bejeebers out of them.

No more "Ding, dong, ditch."

Ever.

Tuttle says the museum’s alarms and motion sensors go off all the time, especially right after the "Victorian Christmas" event. Lights that had been turned off are discovered back on, long after staff and volunteers have left for the evening.

Myers says she hasn’t ever had a bad experience in the house. Tuttle says the energies seem to be friendly.

The bed in Fanny’s room has looked as though it had been lain on, or had even been completely unmade, according to Myers.

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Weird People

Bad Ass Bicycle Riders pose for a photo before the group's annual Tweed Ride, in April 2015. This is one of the group's most-anticipated and bestattended events. (Photo by Nick Page)

Bad Ass Bicycle Ride Taking a good time to the street

By Terri Rorke

W

hat ingredients do you need to make a Bad Ass Bicycle Ride? Equal parts creativity and community. Add outlandish costumes and noisemakers, to taste.

From comic-strip-hero themes to its wellknown Tweed Ride, Walla Walla’s Bad Ass Bicycle Ride is not your average bike group. Through its themed rides, BABR is a non-hierarchical, self-governed group with an unofficial mission to dispel any perceptions that bicycling is a privilege for a select crowd.

“It doesn’t matter what your athletic ability, income or political views are — bicycling exists outside all of those trappings, and, because of that, it is open to everyone,” said Stacy 34 Wall a Wall a Lifest yles

Buchanan, who co-founded and organizes the group along with fellow Walla Walla native Andy Alexander.

Buchanan and Alexander’s first group bicycle ride occurred in spring 2010, when about 10 friends met at The Green Lantern Tavern and took off on bikes to cruise around town. At the time, they had no idea what they had created.

Almost a year later, Buchanan asked Alexander if he was interested in organizing another ride, to which Alexander replied, “Let me grab my cape.”

“We did the same type of bike ride, and it just clicked. We knew there was something special and fun happening,” Buchanan said.

By January 2012, BABR would organize its first Tweed Ride, followed by a variety of other themed rides over the years, ranging from PostApocalyptic/Mad Max to Super Hero, Hippy, Water Fight, St. Patrick’s Day, Cinco de Mayo and more.

“I figure we all like comic books and cartoons. Bringing that world to life isn’t hard.

It just takes a little creativity,” said Alexander, who is also known as "Pirate Andy."

Alexander said he grew up in a sleepy version of Walla Walla, before the wine-industry boom, where if you wanted to have fun, you had to create it yourself. This imaginative approach, coupled with BABR’s collective spirit of

Led by Stacy Buchanan (foreground, left) and Andy Alexander (foreground, right), BABR riders cruise on a balmy evening in April 2013. (Courtesy photo by Kurt DeWitt)

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community, may be why the group has nearly 600 members today.

On a typical BABR ride, you will find 30-50 bicyclists of all ages weaving through alleyways and side streets while “merrymaking” with ringing bells, horn honks and giddy chatter during the entire jaunt through town.

Traditionally, the group also parades down Main Street for a “victory” lap that grabs downtown patrons’ attention. Some gaze in interest, while others on bikes join the procession. The trip ends at a local business where the group celebrates the ride’s theme.

“The rides are a guilt-free way to hang with a bunch of friends, enjoy life together and meet new people in the community,” said Carmen Castaldo, a seasoned BABR member.

Castaldo said the rides are sometimes weird and random, but he appreciates how the group offers a judgment-free activity and a way to unwind after work.

But BABR is more than a merrymaking parade and social outlet. The group has been a creator of change in the Walla Walla Valley through the years.

For example, with its organized themed rides, BABR has donated helmets to children, given bicycles to those in need, and worked

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Weird People

BABR regular Michael Jaramillo rides with the group during the 2014 Macy's Parade of Lights in downtown Walla Walla, accompanied by Tucker, his wheaten terrier. "I have taken him on countless BABR rides — he loves being out front of the pack," says Michael. "Tucker and I both enjoy the BABR; wonderful people — I can't say enough good things about them." (Photo courtesy of Kurt DeWitt)

with nonprofit groups such as Blue Mountain Action Council and Blue Mountain Humane Society.

Most recently, BABR was a voice for bicycle safety and advocacy in Walla Walla via open houses, as well as meetings with city engineers and the City Council, to include bicycle lanes as part of the $15 million Isaacs Avenue construction project scheduled for 2017.

It’s no surprise the Downtown Walla Walla Foundation named BABR as the “Best Civic/ Community” group in 2012 and 2014.

Buchanan and Alexander don’t seek to take all the credit for BABR’s success, noting, instead, it is due to the group’s spirit of community and positivity.

“At the beginning, I never thought it would be a vehicle for direct action, but it makes me proud to see the impact,” Buchanan remarked.

Buchanan and Alexander hope the same spirit of inclusiveness is what will fuel BABR well into the future, whether they are involved or not. For now, Walla Walla can continue to expect to see BABR members frolicking through the streets. Feel free to join them.

Or, as Alexander put it: “This isn’t a generation stuck in its ways. We aren’t here for a long time; we are here for a good time. And I’ve got a parade of bikes right behind me to explain it.”

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NOVEMBER NOV. 3 • Wine tasting. Plateau Restaurant at Wildhorse Resort & Casino, Pendleton. Details: 800-654-9453, wildhorseresort.com.

NOV. 4 • “Friends of Acoustic Music” dance. 7 p.m., Reid Campus Center Ballroom, Whitman College. Details: fam.bmi.net.

NOV. 5 • The “First Thursday” Concert brings music to your lunch break. Featured guest tba. 12:15 p.m., St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 323 Catherine St. Details: 509-529-1083.

NOV. 6 • Free admission at Tamástslikt Cultural Institute, Pendleton. Details: 541-966-9748, tamastslikt.org.

• The Whitman Orchestra Fall Concert, conducted

by Paul Luongo. 7:30 p.m., Chism Recital Hall. Details: 509-527-5232, whitman.edu.

• "Rosebud: The Lives of Orson Welles" will be performed at Gesa Power House Theatre. Actor Erik Van Beuzekom stars as Welles. 7:30 p.m. Details: phtww.org.

NOV. 6-8 • Fall Release Weekend. Participating wineries. Details: 509-526-3117, wallawallawine.com.

NOV. 7 • The Kirkman House Museum holds its annual Psychic Fair. Det ails: 509-529- 4373, kirkmanhousemuseum.org.

• Walla Walla General Hospital Gala fundraiser.

Dinner, auction and entertainment. 5:30 p.m., Marcus Whitman Hotel. Details: 509-527-8303, adventisthealth.org.

• “Cabaret!” The Walla Walla Symphony’s annual fundraising gala. 6 p.m., Reid Campus Center Ballroom, Whitman College. Details: 509-529-8020, wwsymphony.org.

NOV. 11 • At 11 a.m., the annual parades in Milton-Freewater and Walla Walla honor veterans. Many events, including breakfast, chili feed and honor ceremonies.

Details: 541-938-7634, 509-301-6050, 509-5251310.

• The “24 Hour Play Festival” performance is the result of writing and rehearsing that began the day before. 7 p.m., Performing Arts Center, Walla Walla Community College. Details: wwcc.edu.

NOV. 11-15 • “Go On” is performed at Harper Joy Theatre.

8 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, matinees at 2 p.m. Whitman College. Details: 509-527-5180, whitman.edu/hjt.

NOV. 12 • The Whitman Jazz Ensemble Fall Concert, directed

by Doug Scarborough. 7:30 p.m., Chism Recital Hall, Whitman College. Details: 509-527-5232, whitman.edu.

NOV. 13 • Bluegrass Jam. 6:30 p.m., CAVU Cellars, 175 E . Aeronca Ave . Det ails: 50 9-54 0 - 6350, cavucellars.com.

NOV. 13-14 • Get ready for the season with the annual Mary Stewart Christmas Craft Show. 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Community Building, 109 N.E. Fifth St., Milton-Freewater.

Details: 509-386-3875.

NOV. 13, 14, 20-22, 27-29 • The Little Theatre of Walla Walla presents “It’s A Wonderful Life.” 8 p.m.; Nov. 22 and 29, matinees at 2 p.m. Details: 509-529-3683, ltww.org.

NOV. 14 • Burlesque by the Atomic Bombshells. Must be at least 18 to attend. 7:30 p.m., Gesa Power House Theatre. Details: phtww.com.

• Chorale and Chamber Singers Fall Concert. 7:30 p.m., Cordiner Hall, Whitman College. Details: 509-527-5232, whitman.edu.

NOV. 15 • Whitman College Concerto and Aria Competition.

3 p.m., Chism Recital Hall. Details: 509-527-5232, whitman.edu.

NOV. 17 • Walla Walla Symphony Concert, “Beethoven’s 5th.”

7 p.m., Cordiner Hall, Whitman College. Details: 509-529-8020, wwsymphony.org.

NOV. 18 • The Whitman Wind Ensemble Fall concert, directed by Gary Gemberling. 7:30 p.m., Chism Recital Hall, Whitman College. Details: 509-527-5232, whitman.edu.

NOV. 19 • "The Great Kaplan," a family-friendly show exploring vaudeville. 6:30 p.m., Gesa Power House Theatre.

Details: phtww.com.

NOV. 20-21 • ’Tis the season for the annual Christmas Trio Craft Sale. Crafts include quilts, jewelry, pottery and treats. Walla Walla County Fairgrounds. Details: 509-525-7918.

NOV. 22 • The Walla Walla Gun Club holds the PreThanksgiving Turkey Shoot. Details: 541-969-7913, wallawallagunclub.com.

NOV. 26 • “Burn the Bird,” Thanksgiving open house at the YMCA. 8-11 a.m. Details: 509-525-8863, wwymca.org.

NOV. 27-28 • Get the holidays started with Dayton’s Christmas Kickoff. Local artists, music and the Friday-night traditional winter fireworks celebrate the season.

Details: 509-382-4825, historicdayton.com.

NOV. 27-29, DEC. 3-5 • Walla Walla Community College Theatre Arts presents “The Nerd.” 7 p.m.; Nov. 29, matinee at 2 p.m. China Pavilion, WWCC. Details: 509-5274255, wwcc.edu.

NOV. 28 • Beautiful gifts get you into the holiday mood at the Christmas Gift Boutique Craft Show. Juried crafters present their wares in this craft show that has more than a 40-year history. 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Marcus Whitman Hotel. Details: 509-529-8210.

• Free admission to the annual Christmas Bazaar. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Rivers Event Center, Wildhorse Resort, Pendleton. Details: wildhorseresort.com.

Regular Events • Live music. 6 -9 p.m., Sinclair Estate Vineyards, 109-B E. Main St. Details: 509-876-4300, sinclairestatevineyards.com.

• Live music. 8 p.m., Wildhorse Sports Bar at Wildhorse Resort & Casino, Pendleton. Details: 800654-9453, wildhorsresort.com.

WEDNESDAY

• Live music. 8 p.m., Wildhorse Sports Bar at Wildhorse Resort & Casino, Pendleton. Details: 800654-9453, wildhorseresort.com.

• Live music. 9 p.m., Sapolil Cellars, 15 E. Main St. Details: 509-520-5258, sapolilcellars.com.

• Some Wednesdays, music. Rogers’ Bakery, 116 N. College Ave., College Place. Details: 509-522-2738.

• Live music. 9 p.m., Sapolil Cellars, 15 E. Main St. Details: 509-520-5258, sapolilcellars.com.

• Record your music. 7 p.m., Open Mic Recording Club at Sapolil Cellars, 15 E. Main St. Details: 509520-5258, sapolilcellars.com.

• Music or DJ. Music: 9 p.m., DJ: 10 p.m.; Marcy’s Downtown Lounge; 35 S. Colville St. Details: 509525-7483, Facebook.com/MarcysBarAndLounge.

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

• Walla Walla Food Tours holds its walking foodand-beverage tour. 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Details: 866736-6343, wallawallafoodtours.com.

• Walla Walla Food Tours holds its walking foodand-beverage tour. 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Details: 866736-6343, wallawallafoodtours.com.

• Pianist Carolyn Mildenberger. 5-7 p.m., Sapolil Cellars, 15 E. Main St. Details: 509-520-5258, sapolilcellars.com.

• Live music. 6 -9 p.m., Sinclair Estate Vineyards, 109-B Main St. Details: 509-876-4300, sinclairestatevineyards.com.

TUESDAY • “Trivia Game Night.” 7 p.m., Red Monkey Downtown Lounge, 25 W. Alder St. Details: 509-5223865, redmonkeylounge.com.

38 Wall a Wall a Lifest yLes

• Music or DJ. Music: 9 p.m., DJ: 10 p.m.; Marcy’s Downtown Lounge; 35 S. Colville St. Details: 509525-7483, Facebook.com/MarcysBarAndLounge.

Submit your event send your event details to Karlene Ponti: 509-526-8324 or karleneponti@wwub.com.

Photos by Steve Lenz

Where in Walla Walla?

Last issue’s clue: Here, the glass is always full, and so are customers' stomachs.

Answer:

Tony's Sub Shop

Last month’s winners: Clue:

One might expect this serene waterfall to have a funky style. Which cellar does it grace?

Pam Hamilton Nancy Miles Susan Wood Archie Taylor Daniel Taggart

Kathy Ruthven David Frasco Rem McBride Mike Breiner Susan Janelle

Contest rules:

If you have the answer, email it to rickdoyle@wwub.com, or send it to: Where in Walla Walla? 112 S. First Ave., P.O. Box 1358, Walla Walla, WA 99362. The names of 10 people with correct answers will be randomly selected, and they will receive this great-looking mug as proof of their local knowledge and good taste.

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Holiday Choral Selections from the Middle Ages through Today

Monday, December 7, 2015 - 7:30 pm Walla Walla Presbyterian Church Featuring the 100th Anniversary of the Preston-Pilgrim organ.

For more information about upcoming choral concerts, check our website or like us on Facebook.

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