The scoop on Ferdinand’s

We enjoyed your article “The scoop on Ferdinand’s murals” in your Summer 2014 issue.

Our recollection is that the middle name of its original manager, Rune Ferdinand Goranson ’41 of Edmonds, determined the naming of the dairy department creamery’s ice cream shop. It is likely that his middle name also contributed to a decision to decorate the shop with Disney’s Ferdinand motif.

Having been off-campus married students during the early 1950s, living on a limited budget, we have fond memories of Troy Hall. The shop’s inexpensive scraps from Cougar Gold rounds enabled us often to subsist on cheese sandwiches.

Barbara (Ferree) ’56 & Walter ’61 Yeager
Edmonds

 

I can appreciate the space limitations for the Scoop on Ferdinand’s Murals article (Summer 2014), but it would have been nice to see those recently found older plywood paintings some of us remember from the Troy Hall location, since you referred to them so extensively. I’m on the East Coast so cannot see them in their new location. Thanks for the updates though … I do miss going in for a quick treat!

William B. Ciaccia ’90
Baltimore, Maryland

Editor: Actually, in this case it wasn’t space limitations but rather that the photographs weren’t available until after the printing of the issue. We have them now and you can view them online.

 

Lost highway

The WSM Summer 2014 article “Lost Highway” made reference to Col. Edward Steptoe.

Southwest of Tekoa, Washington, is a mountain or butte jutting up out of the Palouse prairie, and was locally known in my youth as Steptoe Butte.

I worked on a wheat ranch between Tekoa and Tensed, Idaho, abutting the Washington/Idaho border. One of the local weather guides or signs was Steptoe Butte. If it disappeared behind clouds we had just enough time to shelter the combine or harvesting equipment before the rain hit.

The ranch was located on the Indian reservation. Chief Benewah [once] had a dwelling on the ranch as well as a “wiggie-up” down on Hangman Creek. The creek meanders from the ranch towards Tekoa and empties into the Spokane River some 50–60 miles northwest.

On the map I included with the letter the creek is labeled “Latah,” which is also a tiny town consisting of a post office and stage.

Well, enough of meandering through the past. Thanks for the article bringing back memories of Steptoe.

Luther E. Brede ’50
Springfield, Ohio

 

What’s new?

Residence Inn
The Residence Inn Marriott Pullman opened its doors in May adjacent to the Student Recreation Center and up Fairway Drive from Bailey-Brayton Baseball Field and Beasley Coliseum. The new hotel features 131 rooms, extended-stay suites, fitness center, swimming pool, conference rooms, and business center. Stonebridge Companies, whose CEO Navin Dimond is a 1985 alumnus, will manage the property. The hotel will employ WSU students and hotel management classes might occur on site. (Photo Robert Hubner)