Quincy Valley Post-Register Features

OUR NEIGHBOR

Page 1 of 20

A month’s stay spans 50 years

Feb. 02, 2012 - Narciso Medrano was born to Librado and Trinidad Medrano in Elsa, Texas in 1936. He followed generations of family members who worked the same 400 acres in the Rio Grande valley.

Enjoying five decades in George

Jan. 26, 2012 - Elaine Elshoff was born in Mitchell, South Dakota but the family moved to Silverton, Ore., when she was only three. Growing up, her parents encouraged education and promoted her going to a university. She attended Mt. Angel Women’s College and received a degree in education.

Grandpa gets around town

Jan. 19, 2012 - Cecilio Garza came from Alamo, Texas with his young family to Quincy in 1965. His first job was picking rocks, and he continued to work hard to support his growing family of eight girls and one boy: Angie, Sylvia, Diana, Nancy, Linda, Gracie, Lupe, Marie and Arnold. Garza saw that there was a lot of work available in the Quincy Valley. He worked on local farms for 14 years, and worked for Lamb-Weston for the next 14 years.

Anderson is still cookin’

Jan. 12, 2012 - Lillian Anderson settled in the Quincy Valley with her husband, Arthur L. Anderson in 1954. “Starting in 1953, we were here every weekend building our basement home. It was the first year the area was irrigated,” she said. On their 70-acre farm, Anderson and her husband grew dry beans, sugar beets, field corn and seed crops such as alfalfa, radish seed and mustard seed.

To Quincy by way of Korea

Jan. 05, 2012 - Hitoshi Tsukamaki, or “Tosh” as he is known by his friends, has a long, rich, life history which eventually led him to the Quincy Valley. He was born in Sumner, on a vegetable farm. His father delivered the fresh produce to the Pike Place Market in Seattle. Eventually the family moved to the small town of Notus, Idaho, where he lived until he got out of the Army in 1952.

Going back to the basics

Dec. 29, 2011 - Mary Gillmore moved to Quincy from the Ellensburg area about 24 years ago. On their small farm, they raise horses, cows and chickens, and have a big garden. She has raised her brood of five boys and one girl in the Quincy Valley and has home-schooled all of them. “We wanted to be independent of what the state was offering in education. I gathered the best materials available on my own,” said Gillmore.

The three Kings of Quincy

Dec. 22, 2011 - In the holiday spirit, I spent some time thumbing through the Local Book to find anyone with a name related to the holiday season whom I could use for the person of the week. I found a Mr. Miracle in Moses Lake, but alas, I could not find any Quincy names that jingled any bells. Finally, I came upon the idea of interviewing the King family. Although there are four, and not just three, I was able to spend a few moments talking three of the Kings about their family and what the holidays mean to them.