The colonel is coming, the colonel is coming

Col. Paul Guemmer turned over command of the 92nd Air Refueling Wing and Fairchild Air Force Base to Col. Brian Newberry a year or so ago. Before leaving, Guemmer briefed Newberry about the nine months the wing spent at the Grant County Airport; the great treatment received from the airport personnel and the support for the troops from the community.

Shortly after taking command, Newberry indicated to me a desire to visit Moses Lake not only to inform our citizens about the mission of Fairchild, but to also learn about the city, the Port of Moses Lake, other local businesses and the people.

The visit has been delayed for several reasons; the need to settle into his position as commander of an Air Force Base and budget cuts being the largest two.

Last month he received permission from his boss, a three-star general, to make the trip. Larry Godden and I are the coordinators for the visit.

He will be touring Grant County Airport and several businesses in the area. Plus he will be the guest speaker at the Sept. 24 Morning Rotary meeting at 6:30 a.m. at Bob's Restaurant.

Request from Larry and Dennis: Would a bunch of the Noon Rotary members consider attending this morning meeting. He would like to speak to the Rotary members, but won't be able to attend Noon Rotary's meeting this trip.

Public invited to no-host luncheon

In the spirit of the Lunch-With-The-Troops events held in 2011, we are holding Lunch-with-Colonel Newberry on Sept. 24 at the Porterhouse Steakhouse. This will be a no-host lunch and open to the public. The back part of the restaurant has been reserved from 11:30 to 1:30. We will begin gathering at 11:30 with lunch scheduled to begin in buffet-style at 11:50.

So grab a friend or relative and attend the luncheon, meet Col. Newberry and his wife, Jill, and the new Command Chief, Wendy Hansen. We will need as accurate a count as possible, so RSVP to the Porterhouse at 766-0308. Also feel free to contact me for more information or with questions: 762-5158.

This is another chance for our community to support our troops.

Grant County history

The Grant County Historical Society has compiled several volumes of Grant County history. The books are available for purchase at the Historical Society Museum gift shop in Ephrata.

I bought the series in 2009 and secured permission to relay some of the history through this column. Memories of Grant County, compiled from taped interviews by the Grant County Historical Society.

Weber tells of life in the Volga colonies

Note from Dennis: The greater Columbia Basin has a history of being settled by the Russian Germans or is it the German Russians. Jake Weber tells us about the colonies established by the German immigrants when they were in Russia. Read on.

Today we backtrack a bit and then continue the story of the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project by Jake Weber recorded Nov. 9, 1976:

From Saxon, Switzerland, Holland, East Prussia and others these people migrated into the Volga colonies by the thousands. One year over 24,000 of them migrated there. Their usual starting place was to take a boat at Lubeck, cross the Baltic Sea, and go to the port of St. Petersburg and then take a long train containing horses just like pioneers did in our country.

It took months and months to come to the place where they would like to be. Some went to where the Volga River  got quite large and  took a boat. The two principal places where the people went was Saratof on the west bank of the river and Samara on the East bank.

There were established at that time over 100 colonies or villages on the Volga River. In these villages they had their own places. They lived together. They had their own churches, their own schools, their own legal entities, they paid very little in taxes.

The amount of land which the head of the family could farm was about 40 acres. They went there in the mornings to work and returned in the evening. In important times, like harvest, they probably stayed out in the fields. They used to travel as far as 15 miles from the center of the town, in extreme cases.

In the village of Walter Chufor lived one Asmos Weber, who had a son named John Adam who had four sons and two daughters. The Russian government changed some of these rules. They increased the taxes, wanted them to learn the Russian language and they had to serve in the militarily except the oldest son and the youngest son.

Any son in between in the family had to serve four years in the army. John Adam's oldest son was Chris. He  didn't like the idea, so he took his small family and went to the United States of America. He landed at Ritzville and became one of the great pioneers of the area.

The next son was Jacob. He didn't make it. He went into the army and he stayed there four years. Shortly after being discharged from the army he took  his small son and his wife and headed for the United States.

He landed at Quebec, Canada, crossed the continent on the railroad with the port of entry Spokane, and landed in Ritzville. During the  winter  or early spring the rest of the Webers came to  the United States. My father,  and  Hannah's  father plowed together the first 160  complete  acreage  in the Quincy Valley.

E-mail from Cheryl

Facts from the past gleaned from the Moses Lake Herald, Columbia Basin Herald and The Neppel Record by Cheryl (Driggs) Elkins:

From the Columbia Basin Herald on Aug. 12, 1949:

Brother, sister reunited here after 22 years

Rev. Talmadge Wiley of Bremerton was guest speaker Sunday at the Baptist Church services. He also conducted Bible School Monday evening in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Krueger. A former church missionary in India, he and his wife are now making their home at Bremerton.

House guests of Mr. and Mrs. Ed Arndt during their stay here, they were joined for the weekend by Mr. and Mrs. Axel Graversen of Horsens, Denmark. Mr. Graversen and Mrs. Wiley are brother and sister and have been separated for 22 years.

Sunday they all visited Coulee Dam, in which Mr. Graversen, an electrical engineer vacationing in the states, has a special interest.