100 years ago
On May 8, 1923, the Chamber of Commerce’s annual Fats vs. Leans ballgame took place on the Vancouver Barracks athletic field. Preceded by a parade headed by the 7th Infantry band, the game was filled with “thrills and incidents,” The Columbian reported. Led by George Palmer, cashier of the Vancouver National Bank and a “real baseball player,” the Leans walloped the Fats 14 to 6.
75 years ago
City Finance Commissioner George Hutton announced on May 12, 1948, that the traffic signals on Washington and Main streets would be synchronized. A petition “submitted a month ago by 60 Washington Street merchants” resulted in a citizens’ traffic safety council and a “go ahead” for the work. The project finished up in summer 1948.
50 years ago
The Fort Vancouver Regional Library received an award from the Washington Library Association on May 12, 1973. Praising the library’s refusal to remove Playboy from its shelves, the nominating board cited the library’s “stand against censorship and promulgating the concept of intellectual freedom.”
25 years ago
Orchards resident Skip Barnes got his 15 minutes of fame in early May 1998. After heading to Portland for an open casting call, he auditioned to be an extra in a movie. Barnes got a part and appeared as one of many extras in the made-for-TV movie “Love is Strange,” which aired in 1999. Barnes, in a bailiff costume, appeared alongside actors such as Kate Nelligan and Ron Silver. Reflecting on his adventure, Barnes told The Columbian he was paid “minimum wage, but it’s the experience that counts.”
