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

100 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

March 31, 1918

Lenin caused plan to fail

Word of the bold efforts of Trotsky to launch in the Teuton nation’s revolution to save Russian democracy reached the government today. The “trump card” failed because Lenin tipped off the Slavs’ hand.

Trotsky had staked all on the revolution in Germany, refusing to yield to Lenin’s plan of abject surrender of Russian rights. He prolonged the Brest-Litovsk meetings as he worked for a grand coup.

On the appointed day Lenin did not accompany Trotsky to Brest-Litovsk. The appeal to the German people was stopped by military men before it had reached the soldiers and most people. It is significant that industrial riots followed.

Though the effort failed, it will go down in history as one of the most unique documents of the war.

Serious differences have developed between Austria and Ukrainia regarding the division of territory say reports from Kioff. Austria demands part of the Volin province.

Trotsky was wildly applauded today when he pleaded with the Moscow soviet congress for the immediate creation of a large Russian army.

Hoop pole fair here tomorrow

Barkers and clowns, hot dogs, shooting galleries and about a dozen more attractions will be featured at the Hoop Pole fair the high school juniors will give tomorrow night in the assembly hall. The door will open promptly at 8 o’clock, when the fun begins.

The big room has been divided into booths, which may be visited upon presentation of paper money certificates purchased at the door. In one section will be a fortune teller, in another a cave of horrors, and a third has the “slide for life” which should be popular with the youngsters.

In the shooting gallery, one may pink the kaiser. Bert Tardy and Marion Coyner have arranged a boxing match and Amy Ingamann will present her chorus of six fair maids in light vaudeville. The girls who take part in this are Viola Brown, Mildred Kline, Nellie Leslie, Clara Rogers, Gladys Sather and Constance Knickerbocker.

Sight-seeing will be another feature, for an improvised jinricksha has been provided.

Girls will serve homemade refreshments and hot sandwiches.

The proceeds of the affair all go to the junior class, which, with the assistance of Miss Inez Pence, is getting up the frolic.

75 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

March 31, 1943

Rush for meat noted in Bend

Meat counters in Bend did big business all day long today as housewives lugged some point saving packages of steaks, chops and roasts to ease the family into meat rationing that starts next week.

Big roasts, which will serve for Sunday dinners and several meals through the week, proved popular with buyers.

Supplies of meat continued to be ample all day. Bend, unlike larger population centers in the West, has felt little of the meat shortage that brought rationing. However, by mid-afternoon some markets were able to furnish buyers only with pork.

Cheese, still unfrozen despite heavy sales all week, was another item in which purchasers bought “extra.”

Next week when points from war ration book No. 2 will be needed for purchases, markets expect sales to drop far below this week’s as families use up the surplus bought this week.

Air attack on area held probability

Colonel W.H. Stratton, commanding the fourth fighter command in the northwest, said today that an air attack on this area is no longer a possibility, but is a very definite probability. Stratton, speaking before over 100 county civilian defense coordinators, army officers and state officials meeting in Salem, voiced the opinion of every speaker, urging that the public should not be alarmed, but rather be prepared.

Another army officer, Colonel Albert A. Stackpole, commanding the 104th cavalry, compared the defense preparations on the Pacific coast to a football game, saying the losing team generally starts throwing wild passes.

Army and navy officials have informed H.P. Everest, assistant OCD director for the northwest, that enemy submarines are continually lurking off the Pacific coast.

Afrika Korps nears defeat, Davis believes

War information director Elmer Davis predicted today that Marshall Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps would be defeated in time to permit an allied invasion of the European continent this year.

Davis told a press conference he believed Rommel’s army would be “exterminated or at least reduced to a negative status” in time to permit a United Nations’ invasion before bad weather sets in. He emphasized that this was merely a civilian’s opinion.

Davis said that March submarine sinkings of United Nations cargo vessels were worse than in recent months but were not nearly so bad as the sinkings in March, 1942. This month’s ship losses, he added, were “nothing near” the worst months’ record.

50 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

March 31, 1968

Winter sports athletes honored at Bend banquet

More than 300 people watched three basketball players and one wrestler receive special honors at Tuesday night’s Annual Winter Sports Banquet at the Bend High School cafeteria.

Dave Newton, Bend’s ace forward, received two honors for basketball from Head Coach Chuck Hudson. Newton was named the most outstanding basketball player and was put on the Kiwanis honor roll for getting the most rebounds in a season. He pulled down 236.

Steve Perrigan and Jim Bishop also were named to the Kiwanis honor roll. Perrigan was the top field goal shooter with an average of .467, while Bishop was the top free throw shooter with a .667 percentage.

Sam Myers was named the most inspirational wrestler by coach Hoiness who also announced that Ed Bonn and Bill Shaffer were named co-captains for next year’s squad.

Pete Smith, whose Bend Lava Bear ski team took the Dartmouth Cup (the mythical state championship) just a couple of weeks ago, gave awards to his racers.

Stunned nation hears president say he won’t seek re-election

President Johnson’s decision to not run for re-election rocketed vice-president Hubert H. Humphrey today into the front ranks of Democratic White House contenders along with Sens. Robert F. Kennedy and Eugene J. McCarthy.

The president endorsed no one in his dramatic withdrawal speech Sunday night when he stated, “accordingly, I will not seek and I will not accept the nomination of my party for another term as your president.”

The president said he was withdrawing in hopes of restoring national unity, especially in the area of seeking peace in Asia. He appealed to the Communists to accept his order halting most bombing in North Vietnam as a sincere effort to end the killing.

25 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

March 31, 1993

Progress takes people

You don’t need an eagle’s eyes to spot the special role played by volunteers like Jay and Teresa Bowerman.

In fact, a wealth of “Every-day Heroes” come into view in the pages of The Bulletin’s 1993 Progress Edition — included in today’s paper.

The Bowermans, Sunriver residents for 20 years, are typical of the persons profiled — Central Oregonians who pitch in on a variety of events and programs, not for the glory but simply to do what needs to be done.

“If I can help a project out, then I’ll do it,” said Jay Bowerman. He and his wife are heavily involved in Sunriver’s nature center, preparatory school and other organizations.

Some of the names could be quite familiar, such as Redmond’s B.J. Fowler, whose hands are in so many pies she could open her own bakery.

Or Mona Key, who heads a literacy program for young children in Bend schools.

Others are less visible to the broader community, but no less important.

Such as Frank Krupica, who quietly helps out his church, neighbors and friends.

Or Merlene Morris, who helps those infected with the virus that causes AIDS to scope with a scary future.

Many of your neighbors who get their spot in the limelight today — behind a Norman Rockwell-style cover by Bulletin advertising staff artist Clint Nye — would find it much easier to join another group or seek out another load of donated food or clothing than to sit down and talk about themselves and what they do.

Modesty is not a prerequisite for an “Everyday Hero,” but it seems to be a common trait.

Take a look inside and see. Copies of The Bulletins 1993 Progress Edition may be purchased from the circulation department.

No silver, no sympathy

A man who told police he had a pistol in his car to protect himself from a werewolf was convicted of carrying a concealed weapon after a prosecutor established the bullets weren’t silver.

Jose L. Contreras was arrested last year as he sat in a parked car in a driveway. He claimed he was there to ask the home’s occupants about a job, and that he had a 9mm gun to protect himself from the werewolf.

Around the time of his arrest, a local tabloid had published articles abut sightings of a werewolf-type creature.

District Attorney Phillip Koss referred to the fabled way of killing werewolves — with silver bullets — in asking sheriff’s Deputy Gerald Post abut the Contreras’ ammunition. Post said the bullets weren’t silver.

Contreras was convicted Wednesday.