Looking Back for Dec. 14

A look back at past Pilot articles by Julie Engler

50 Years Ago

Dec. 14, 1972

A search for the oldest continuous living resident of Whitefish was concluded by the Whitefish Library Association with the naming of Mrs. Roger Smith, formerly Pearl Ruth Geeslin, who was born in the LaSalle area in 1898 and came to Whitefish in 1903, and Marvin Hove who was born in Minneapolis in 1882, moved to Kalispell in 1903 and came to Whitefish in 1904. He was a locomotive engineer for the Great Northern Railway for 53 years. The two were presented with free gift certificates for copies of “Stump Town to Ski Town,” a history of the community.

40 Years Ago

Dec. 16, 1982

The Big Mountain celebrated its 35th anniversary and had a grand opening of its newly expanded night skiing. A full slate of activities were planned for the evening, including free night skiing with a fireworks display. Also planned was a birthday cake in the Ptarmigan Room, and music and dancing with the Sandy Sanderson Trio. Free sleigh rides through the base area were offered by Jeff Fisher.

30 Years Ago

Dec. 17, 1992

A game of pool turned deadly for a Whitefish man and a 19-year-old Kaliaspell man faced a murder charge in connection with his death. According to witness reports, Raper and Rothacher were drinking and shooting pool in the Palace when an argument broke out over a shot. There were conflicting reports of who began the argument.

20 Years Ago

Dec. 12, 2002 Servings of snow have been thin so far this year, with the snow base at the summit of the Big Mountain down 30 inches from last year at this time. Snow-dependent locals are so desperate that two pray-for-snow parties were deemed a necessity this year. “If there’s no snow by Christmas, we’re in big trouble,” Extreme Motorsports owner Rick Gonzalez said.

10 Years Ago

Dec. 12, 2012

Early conceptual drawings for a new Whitefish City Hall building combined with a parking garage showed how the corner of Baker Avenue and Second Street might look in the future. The first concept was for a two-story city hall along Second Street with a parking garage north of some offices along Baker and First Street. The second design is for a one-story city hall along Baker and retail space fronting Second Street.