Compiled by Don Hoiness from archived copies of The Bulletin at Deschutes County Historical Society.

100 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

Feb. 24, 1918

Greek volunteers for U.S. Regiment out of gratitude

Being an alien doesn’t give one an excuse to stay out of the United States army, thinks Angelos C. Kirtsis, who left last night for Vancouver, where he expects to enter the 42nd battalion of the Twentieth Engineers. Mr. Kirtsis has been living on a homestead at Imperial the past two years. In 1906 he came from Macedonia and engaged in farming in Washington. Before coming to Central Oregon he was in the commission business in Seattle. In his home country he had been a reporter for a magazine printed in Salonika.

Mr. Kirtsis has not yet been naturalized, but he is wholly in sympathy with this country’s part in the war. He says he feels it is his duty to go with the American army and has volunteered out of gratitude to the country.

School system is explained

Explanation of the new high school system of disciplining the students occupied the principal part of the meeting of the Parent-Teachers Association, held last night in the school assembly room. Following a talk by Principal H.M. Grant, parents of the students discussed the recent change in the method of checking up on conduct and attendance. As a whole, those at the meeting agreed that the present one was an improvement upon the old system, but a few parents objected to suspension as a penalty for disorderly conduct. Two maintained that sufficient inquiry had not been made into individual cases.

Mr. Grant, in opening his lecture, emphasized the need that the students have a proper respect for authority. “We need cooperation between the faculty and parents in bringing this about,” he said. “The student whose parents are not cooperating with his teachers is bound to get in friction with the school system. The average child feels that as long as his parents back him he is all right.”

Introduction of the new method was the outgrowth of the increased attendance at the school, making it impossible to keep account of each pupil at all hours of the day. After conferring with faculty members and prominent educators of the state, Mr. Grant evolved the plan, which is being tried out. It was put together from suggestions made by all of those whom he consulted. Both Mr. Grant and the teachers, who spoke on the matter last night, said it had already had a beneficial effect in the few weeks of its existence.

Among the new rules instituted are the following:

No student shall be exempt from final examination if he has unexcused absences against him.

A re-admittance card must be obtained from the office when a student returns to classes after an absence.

Records will be kept of the school attendance and behavior.

Other rules will follow.

75 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

Feb. 24, 1943

Stalin, on 25th anniversary of red army founding, says nine million Nazis liquidated

Premier Josef Stalin said today that though the red army had been left to bear the full weight of the war alone “in the absence of a second front,” it has put out of action 9,000,000 axis soldiers and begun the “mass expulsion from Soviet country.”

Time is working against Germany and she is becoming “more and more exhausted and weakening,” Stalin said in an order of the day addressed to Russian armed forces and people on the 25th anniversary of the founding of the red army.

At the same time, however, he warned that Germany has not yet been conquered.

“From this … it does not follow that the Hitlerite army is finished and it only remains for the red army to pursue it to the western border of soviet country,” he said.

“The German fascist army is going through a crisis because of the blows received from the red army, but this does not mean that it cannot recover. The fight against the German invaders is not yet finished; it’s only developing and spreading.

“It would be stupid to think that the Germans will abandon without fighting even one kilometer of our soil. The red army has before it a severe fight against a treacherous, cruel and still strong enemy. This fight will demand time, sacrifices and endurance.”

Of the 9,000,000 axis officers and men immobilized since the start of the war Stalin said, 4,000,000 were killed on the battlefield, including 700,000 in the last three months alone. Another 300,000 were captured in the last three months, he disclosed.

Troops assigned to pick cotton

Troop units have been assigned to assist in the harvest of long staple cotton near Phoenix, Arizona, the war department announced today.

This was the first assignment of troops to farms in this war and was carried out under a new policy disclosed last Friday to have been approved by President Roosevelt.

The army’s brief announcement said:

“Troop units have been assigned to relieve an emergency situation arising from the shortage of farm labor for harvesting the long staple cotton crop in the area near Phoenix, Arizona. The importance of this crop as an indispensable war material impelled war department action as a matter military necessity.

“Units from nearby military installations will be employed in the emergency work.”

50 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

Feb. 24, 1968

Professor sees great potential for Bend area

Bend could be a major recreation center, in the same league with Sun Valley, Idaho, and Aspen, Colorado. That is the opinion of Theodore W. Kleinsasser from the University of Oregon School of Architecture and Allied Arts. He is one of the instructors for a course in environmental design, which will hold its second session tonight at Bend Junior High School.

Aside from Bend’s potential as a recreation center, there is another more immediate context based on the activities and needs of the permanent residents, Kliensasser said.

The course is sponsored by the university under a federal grant. The universities major interests are to assist the people of Bend to understand and anticipate environmental problems and potentialities, and to gain insight into the workings of Oregon communities in order to be a better consultant to the people of the state.

Kiki becomes first U.S. girl to win World Cup ski race

Teen-ager Kiki Cutter of Bend, Oregon, already is looking forward to the 1972 Olympics.

A daredevil skier with a go-for-broke attitude on the slopes, Miss Cutter gave the rest of the United States something to look ahead when she won the Kirkerudbakken women’s slalom Sunday. It was the first victory ever for an American girl in a World Cup race.

Kiki didn’t earn a birth on the 1968 Olympic team until about two weeks before the start of the games. She had made one of the best American showings in the pre-Olympic meets and although she didn’t finish high at Grenoble, U.S. coach Bob Beattie predicted that she and 16-year-old Judy Nagel would be earning a lot of medals in the next few years.

Miss Cutter fulfilled this prophesy sooner than expected as she had the best times on both runs for a combined time of one minute, 33.41 seconds.

On Saturday, Miss Cutter finished third in the women’s giant slalom. Miss Nagel was 4th.

25 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

Feb. 24, 1993

Spotted owl food joke leaves a bitter taste

It’s supposed to be a joke, but environmentalists and people from the timber industry haven’t been amused by the Spotted Owl Helper mix being sold at some truck stops and convenience stores.

“We’ve got to keep our sense of humor, but a product like that only makes light of a serious economic and environmental issue,” said Diana Wales, a Roseburg attorney and member of the Umpqua Valley Audubon Society.

“Eating spotted owls or even talking about eating them is not going to solve anything,” said Bob Ragon, vice president of Sun Studs Inc.

The gag gift is produced by Kevin Johnson, a graphic artist and entrepreneur from Colorado.

Though he acknowledges that his product has ruffled some feathers, he says it is not intended to offend anyone.

“If you see the graphics on the package, you would know the product is tastefully done,” he said. “There is nothing grotesque about the package. The product is completely tongue-in-cheek.”

But General Mills, producer of the real Hamburger Helper, isn’t laughing. The company is suing, a company spokesman said.

Teamwork, Sunriver home earn award

Builder Kevin Rea and architect James Rozewski are batting 3-for-3 — all home runs.

Last year Rea and Rozewski, who played on the same Little League baseball team in Bend 30 years ago, paired up for their third house in the past decade. And just like the previous two it won an award.

The Sunriver home designed and built for Matt and Connie Perlot was named the best home between 3,000 and 4,500 square feet in Custom Builders magazine annual contest. A year earlier, another of their entries won best-in-the-West honors. Their first collaboration was honored by the Central Oregon Board of Realtors as best new residence.

In their latest award winner, Rea and Rozewski gave the lot high fives for helping determine the shape and placement of the home. Using the constraints of setback and height requirements, Rozewski gave the Perlots privacy by turning the front of the house, including the garage doors — and the major view windows — away from the street and toward the North. “When you’re in the house you don’t even know that cars exist,” said Matt Perlot. “All you can see are bikers, golfers and cross-country skiers going by. There’s a tremendous sense of privacy.”