Chis, Marie, Bill and Bernice Ehret in a photo taken in 1909. Chris, along with his brother Carl, were the founders of Redmond's first mercantile.

100 Years Ago

May 10, 1923 — Husbands get annual ‘stuffing’ last night

The ladies of the Juniper Literary club entertained their husbands with a dinner Wednesday evening at the home of Mr. and Mrs. J.R. Roberts.

The club colors, green and white, were carried out in the table decorations of apple blossoms, white tulle and green candles. Miniature green nut baskets with the place cards of white attached lent a festive air to the occasion.

Following the dinner the evening was spent in a social way.

75 Years Ago

May 13, 1948 — Courtesy pays off all around, Lynch proves in tourist talk

Motorists will scratch a whole town off their list of stopping places just because some act of indifference or discourtesy on the part of just one person or firm in business there. On the other hand, they will return again and again to towns where they have been treated right.

To illustrate this point, M. A. Lynch gave many specific instances from his own experience in his talk Tuesday evening at the closing session of the Redmond chamber of commerce tourist host school.

For many years he has been making trips through California, and just from force of habit, he said, he always stops at the same service stations, eating places and auto courts where little courtesies at some time had been extended to him. But there are a number of entire towns, he said, that he takes a very special delight in passing through without stopping, all because of seemingly trivial incidents that had happened there in his travels.

In one place he had to look all over town for a car battery and could get no help in his search from a service station. In another place he was sent to a sloppy restaurant, and in another the auto court manager simply threw the blankets on the bed and told Mrs. Lynch to make it herself.

Lynch made it clear that he was using his own reaction to such experiences as typical of those of thousands of other travelers, and said he has made it a special point over the years to find out if others did feel the same way.

50 Years Ago

May 16, 1973 — Horsemeat plant due in Redmond

Redmond may become the horse capital of the world with the opening next month of slaughtering plant in the same location that some years ago was used for horsemeat processing.

A&A Enterprises, a corporation headquartered in Bakersfield, Calif., with facilities throughout the nation, plans to begin operation at the Redmond plant on June 4, according to Bob Corberry, local manager.

Corberry said the plant would begin with an initial volume of 40 horses per day, increasing to 100 horses daily. The animals will be obtained locally and shipped in by rail and truck.

The fresh and frozen meat will be shipped by air and truck to Portland. Corberry estimates that overseas export will claim 90 per cent of the market. He also said that 90 per cent of the meat would be for human consumption.

Some 14 persons will be employed by the new industry.

The manager, who is coming here from Grandview, Idaho, said the Redmond plant has passed U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection. A few minor changes required are being made currently.

A&A Enterprises purchased the packing plant 1½ weeks ago from Tri-County Meats, which had acquired the facility along the railroad just south of Redmond in March of last year. After extensive remodeling Tri-County Meats, formerly Myers Packing Company of Bend, had opened the former horse plant as a beef slaughtering plant — both wholesale and custom.

Additionally, the new firm has leased and improved nearby feed lots for short-term holding of live animals and leased the upstairs portion of the former Lloyd’s Lockers on Railroad Blvd. for frozen storage.

Currently a federal inspector for the plant is in training at Hubbard.

Ed Carroll operator of the J&H Market in Portland, which has been doing highly-publicized land-office business in horsemeat sales for human consumption, has been contacting state officials in an attempt to block the Redmond plant on grounds, “It would run us out of the country …and deplete our natural resource.”

25 Years Ago

May 13, 1998 — Board approves alternate skatepark site

The room was crowded and the tension thick Tuesday night, as Redmond Area Skaters and their supporters packed the conference room at the Cascade Swim Center.

The Central Oregon Park and Recreation District board was scheduled to make a decision on the location of a skateboarding park at the meeting.

But instead of approving a site behind the swim center, which skaters disliked, or a spot in front of the pool, which at least one board member opposed, the board decided to consider an alternate location.

The board unanimously agreed to seek approval from the Redmond School District for a site on the south side of the swim center. The school district’s agreement is necessary because it owns the property.

The newly suggested site, which borders the high school parking lot, would be unfenced and would not be bound by the swim center’s hours of operation.

Board member Merill Haddon said the site next to the pool would alleviate problems with parking and COPRD accountability.

“It has to be a separate identity,” he said. “It cannot be a child of the COPRD.”

The board will ask the school district to lease the land to COPRD. In turn, the park district would lease the land to the skatepark.

However, board members Stan Stevenson and Ron Hulbert said if the alternate location creates problems for the existing skatepark design, they will not support the site.

Skatepark supporters agreed to consider the new location.

“I think it’s a good option to put it on the side, said Becky Westcott, owner of Railside Skate Shop in Redmond. “I like it better over there.

Pat Minney, who has accompanied RAS on all four of its trips before the park board, said she has reservations about the visibility of the alternate site.

“I’ll go along with the majority, but I’d rather it was decided tonight,” she added. The proposal, which may go before the school board at its May 19 meeting, also lies in the hands of Redmond High Principal Dan Purple.

Purple expressed concerns over the possible loss of parking spaces. “We’re moving toward capacity in our lot, and I want to be sure that there’s always going to be parking for our students and our staff,” he said.