This week in history – from The Arlington Times archives

10 Years Ago 1997

10 Years Ago 1997

Four months ago, 30 acres of land east of Smokey Point Boulevard off of 168th Street NE looked more like Green Acres than Petticoat Junction. But now, with the help of public and private sectors, Navy personnel have a place they can call home and a home they can call community. Friday marked the first day Navy families moved into the completed town homes in Country Manor. Petty Officer 2nd Class Chris Black thinks the best part is the large yards. My kids already are going to love all the grass and playground equipment. He points toward the back where two of his new neighbors children are laughing and playing. I just cant wait for my wife to get here from Los Angeles with the kids, he said. When complete in the next few months, the complex will include 185 homes. They will range from two-bedroom, 1,160-square-foot units to four-bedroom units with over 1,550-square-feet of space. A walking and jogging trail will surround the development with intermittent exercise stations and tottler play areas. Chief Petty Officer Farrow currently is staying at the Navy Lodge with her children, Camille, 6, and Quentin, 4, but will move in the next several days. For her, community has already started. This is wonderful, she said. This is what Ive always wanted for the kids. Having met many new neighbors at the lodge, she is convinced this is something different from typical housing. I wont shed one tear for leaving New Orleans for this, she said. Ive always wanted to live in a small town atmosphere, somewhere the kids can grow up. Lakewood School District Superintendent Wayne Robertson, on hand for Fridays ribbon cutting ceremonies, found families also excited about the new school district. We already have 56 new students, mostly elementary, planning to attend, he said. The district expects as many as 355 children to join the burgeoning school district rolls before the end of the year due to the Country Manor project. Many officials, including Second District Congressman Jack Metcalf and dozens of local officials attended the celebration of something new to government projects success. Having broke ground in April, Dujardin Development Company, along with their partner, the U.S. Navy, quickly built the low cost housing for Navy Personnel. The Navy invested $5.9 million toward development costs to help keep rental rates affordable for enlisted families. Dujardin will develop and manage the rental housing. The project, on schedule and under budget, offers housing up to 35 percent cheaper than private housing rates. That allows the families to spend more on groceries and other necessities. Marysville Councilman John Myers sees it as a win for everybody. This is a good example of what the public and private sector can do together, he said. I just wish they had this when I was in the military. Anita Rutherford, a member of the Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce, remembers with disgust what it was like in the old days in the military. I moved at least 25 times in 20 years following my husbands career, she said. I was always afraid to hang pictures on the wall because you never knew where you were going to live tomorrow. Rutherford is most impressed with the possibility of future ownership by the residents, she said. Dujardin will offer 20 percent of the units for sale six years after the project is finished, estimated to be in 2003. Reflecting the attitude of many in the Smokey Point area, Theresa Williamson, an owner of a self-storage business, looks at it as an economic boon. I knew four years ago this was coming and this is what progress is all about, she said. She is planning to add more than 100 new spaces in expansion to meet rising demand.

25 Years Ago 1982

Thirty-one Snohomish County diary farmers have received the 1982 Dairy of Merit award according to Mathew Paul, chairman of Washington Dairy Farm Beautification committee. The winning farms scored 90 or more points when judged on roadside appearance, landscaping and cleanliness of animals. High scorers (98 or more points) were Henry Graafsta, Grant and Dean Jensen, Elmer Klein, Gerald Klein and Strotz. Bros., all of Arlington; Stuart Lervick of Stanwood and Darrell Ricci of Snohomish. First time winners were Stan Faber of Arlington and Jack Struiksma and Youngren Farms, both of Stanwood. Other winners were Barr Farms, Marinus Smeek, Gerritt Byle, George Grimm, Paul Klein, Chuck Kroeze, Case Lanting, Alex Moore, Larry Parker and Hank Van Dam, all of Arlington; Cliff Henning, Rick McGuire, Luther Moe, Fred Moore, and Howard and Bill Rod, all of Stanwood; Peter Poortinga and Hank Van Dam, both of Marysville; Pamela Skorupski and Sid Saswick, both of Everett and Ulrich Brothers of Snohomish.

50 Years Ago 1957

Christ Gunderson was a man with a born talent for making things out of wood and welcome indeed was a man who could build in the pioneer community of Silvana, when he arrived in 1908. In his native Norway, Mr. Gunderson learned the cabinetmakers trade as a youth and in his pioneering days here he turned out many beautiful pieces of furniture very rare items in those days and many of them collectors items now. He also built many of the houses and farm buildings in this area. The Gardener homestead, which Mr. Gunderson purchased in 1908, included a fine stand of maple trees. These trees had a beautiful, curly grain, which lent itself very well to the cabinetmakers art and he soon set about cutting them down, seasoning the wood and turning them into furniture. Some of these pieces can still be seen in the old home, now owned by his daughter, Mrs. Clara Vognild of Darrington. A specialty of this remarkable woodworker was the building of spinning wheels, of which he made more than 100, all of them patterned after the wheel his mother brought with her from Norway. The original spinning wheel is still in the family and the first of the well-known Gunderson originals is still in the old home. This pioneer was by nature a quiet and studious man, whose inquiring mind led him into many projects quite foreign to the life of a frontier farmer. He studied electricity when it was still a young science and as a result, his farm had a light plant and electric lights long before his neighbors discarded their kerosene lamps and lanterns. When a young man in Norway, Gunderson wooed and won a neighbor girl he had known from childhood. However, their wedding was delayed until they were re-united in America, where their first home was in Iowa. A man of fragile health, Mr. Gunderson moved to Washington to escape the bitter Iowa winters and here he lived to the age of 88, passing away in 1951. Mrs. Gunderson died in 1946. They reared a family of five boys and one daughter; all of whim are living in Washington.