The McMenamin brothers of Oregon were in town earlier this month to much fanfare. They plan to open a destination establishment in the W.A. Anderson Building on Bothell Way Northeast in 2013. You can bet the Bothell High class of ’63 is hoping to land its 50th class reunion at the brand-new restaurant-pub-brewery-spa-hotel complex.
As public, preservation and business officials conducted an official welcoming ceremony on the front stoop of the now abandoned historic building (which formerly housed Anderson School), a couple of Bothellites mused about personal memories of the school.
Al Haynes recalled that he met his wife, Carol, while attending Anderson when it was a junior high school. Ninth-grader Al was student-body vice president and Carol, only an eighth-grader, was secretary. Mike Ericksen was president. All three attended BHS, Al and Mike graduating in 1963.
Police chief Forrest Conover let it be known that he may owe his very existence to Anderson School. His musician dad lived in Ballard and on one occasion was playing piano in a group performing for a dance at the Anderson School. His future wife and Forrest’s mother just happened to be attending and requested a song. They met, and six years later married.
After 27 years with Bothell police, Forrest plans to retire the end of this year, but likely will be curious enough to keep an eye on the Bothell McMenamins as it develops.
As an aside, it should be noted that neither Inglemoor nor Woodinville high schools had opened by 1963. Northshore School District students from Kenmore and Woodinville attended Bothell High.
Noteworthy
Champs: The Maltby Café, operated by Bothellites Sandra Albright and Tana Baumler these past 22 years, was declared winner of the best dessert offered at the recent Bite of Seattle. Encouragingly for the future of the cafe, the desserts were prepared and served by the next generation, Tana’s daughter, Tessa, and Keesha, Tana’s niece from Montana, and their respective spouses. They served more than 5,000 plates of marionberry or strawberry shortcake with cream fraiche topping. Most feasters asked for a combination of the berries.
Tasting: More than 20 of Woodinville’s production wineries and/or tasting room operators will be offering a taste of their premium goods on Aug. 28 at Country Village. The event is a fund-raiser to help launch the next season for the Northshore Performing Arts Foundation.
Pop Keeney: Expansion and re-turfing of the Pop Keeney football and soccer stadium in downtown Bothell is on a tight schedule to be open in September in time for the local high- school season. On the gridiron schedule, the 4A Kingco scheduler apparently accommodated the school-district project by sending Bothell, Inglemoor and Woodinville teams to “road” games to start the season.
The date for the first home game hasn’t been released yet, but will feature the Woodinville Falcons. Also, the district’s new “Wall of Honor” will be unveiled at special ceremonies with those plans nearing completion. The “wall” will recognize graduates for individual achievements in life and Northshore School District faculty and staff members for major contributions to the district’s educational programs.
Class of ’62
My “Northshore Citizen” column in June extolling achievement of members of the Bothell High class of ’63 found its way to Gainesville, Fla., and Fran Boynton. She is looking for an address, phone number or e-mail information for a graduate of the stellar Bothell High class of ’62 — Sandra Lee Sperring. Sandra’s uncle, Thomas Sperring, “would cherish the opportunity just to talk with her.” Fran can be reached at (352) 334-5021, ext. 5795.
Sandra’s father, Charles Sperring, was Thomas’ older brother and died during World War II in the Philippines in October of 1944. Sandra was born in May of 1944 and her father had seen her only in pictures, Fran noted. Charles served on the USS Johnston, built in Seattle, a destroyer that figured in a key naval battle of the Pacific campaign.
The Johnston was famous for bold action in the Battle of Samar as the small “tincan” that led a handful of light ships inadvertently left unprotected in the path of a massive Japanese fleet of battleships and cruisers. The sacrifice of the Johnston and the carrier escorts stopped a powerful Japanese force from attacking vulnerable U.S. landing forces. As a result, the Johnston actually was able to inflict greater losses than it suffered.
John B. Hughes was owner-publisher of the Northshore Citizen from 1961 to 1988 and is active in local nonprofit organizations.
