Here’s what was happening in the news this week:

100 years ago

The Oak Harbor Fruit Growers Association cannery on the Maylor dock was a site of bustling activity as 25 people, mostly boys and girls, peeled beets for the cans. Peelers were paid between $1 to $1.50 per day depending upon their nimbleness. Other wages at the cannery reportedly ranged from $4 to $1.50. The cannery was expected to provide a boost to the Oak Harbor economy.

Sheriff Armstrong and his deputies declared their intent to “enforce decency” at public dances in Oak Harbor. No “rough stuff” or “suggestive dances” would be permitted. It was editorialized that, “public dances are fast becoming a menace to decent society.”

The Coupeville Times had commented upon Oak Harbor’s “convivial condition” during Fourth of July celebrations, saying that no such thing had occurred in Coupeville since its incorporation, and that there was “no excuse” for it in Oak Harbor. Sheriff Armstrong had brought two men to the county bastille to sober up. One of the men was a Coupeville resident. The Oak Harbor News referenced another instance in which citizens of Coupeville had not upheld the county seat’s ideal as a sober town. During the past winter, a Coupeville youth and his friends had “got on a glorious jag” and “fought and raised old Ned till after midnight” after drinking a jug of gin they’d stolen from the wharf.

75 years ago

Art Case and his three sons attempted to raise their largest flock of turkey yet — 10,000 birds. The turkeys required about three tons of food per day in addition to their range grazing. It was the family’s fourth year of raising turkeys.

Berry pickers were thought to be the cause of numerous brush fires in Western Washington. The state forester cited 52 fires that had been traced to that source. Forester T.S. Goodyear is quoted as saying, “The wild berries of Washington are the finest in the world and sometimes I am forced to believe that the people who pick them are as wild as the berries.” Goodyear elaborated, saying that carelessly tossed cigarettes and campfires left burning were the main causes of the fires.

50 years ago

The State Parks and Recreation Commission purchased two sites for state parks: Fort Ebey and Fort Warden near Port Townsend. Fort Ebey was purchased from the General Services Administration for $57,500. The purchase of Fort Ebey was the culmination of a long struggle to have the area established as a park. Several local clubs and chambers of commerce had advocated for its establishment.

Local ferries experienced a record high amount of traffic over the July 4 weekend. Nearly 12,000 cars and 21,000 passengers used the Washington State Ferries on the Mukilteo-Columbia beach route. During the same four days the year prior, the total count was 10,269 cars and 17,983 passengers.

25 years ago

Whidbey Island’s game farm was set to close due to budget cuts. The Eastern Washington game farm in Lewis County was also facing potential closure. The two were the only remaining game farms in the state.

A helicopter from Whidbey Island Naval Air Station rescued a 13-year-old girl who had fallen 200 feet down a cliff at West Beach. Though others had died after falling from the same cliff, the girl sustained only minor injuries.

The Town of Coupeville was scheduled to vote on whether to merge with Island County Fire District No. 5. The merge would mean residents would incur a tax of $1.05 per 1,000 assessed property value for Coupeville residents.