E-mail from Cheryl

They are difficult to miss heading west along I-90 just east of Ellensburg. They are 221 feet tall and white with three rotating blades, each 129 feet long. The Wild Horse Wind Facility operates and maintains 149 of these wind turbines, capable of producing 273 megawatts of electricity, with one megawatt of wind energy capable of meeting the electrical needs of 225 to 300 average homes.

The Wild Horse free tour is family friendly and it should be a “must do” tour for all families.

The outing was designed as the September board meeting of the Grant County Historical Society board or director’s meeting. While only three board members were enticed to attend the tour, it was an educational field trip for those three.

The idea of having the board meetings in conjunction with a field trip is sound. A couple of months ago, the board toured the museum at Wanapum Dam and other field trips are in the works.

Board members needed

The Grant County Historical Society needs your help on another matter. We are in need of board members. The board meets once a month, usually at the Ephrata American Legion, from 11:30 a.m. to noon.

If you are interested, contact the museum at 754-3334.

Living museum

The Grant County Historical Museum and Village will hold the annual Living Museum day next Saturday, Sept. 24, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

This is a great family outing with many historical building restored to original status.

Facts from the past gleaned from the Moses Lake Herald, Columbia Basin Herald and The Neppel Record by Cheryl (Driggs) Elkins:

From the Columbia Basin Herald on July 10, 1952:

Block 40 to picnic

Block 40 settlers are invited to a picnic Sunday at Sun Lakes State Park, beginning at noon.

Space constraints forced us to skip Nat Washington’s Grant County history this week, but we’ll continue it next week.

Lunsford wins A-Main event in stock races

Les Lunsford (98) of Ephrata took the A-main event in Sunday’s stock car races on the Legion Speedway, before a fair sized crowd that stayed in their own cars to get out of the dust.

Digger O’Dell (88) came in second followed by Histon Robinson (19) of Quincy, Roy Fuller (8) of Moses Lake and Louie Vitolo (77) of Soap Lake.

A Soap Lake man, Chuck Frazer, took the B-main, with only four cars running, following by Jack Sitton of Wilbur.

Best time was Curt Elshire’s, followed by Buzz Reed and Wayne Gardner. Eishire took the trophy dash to add to his points. Heat winners were Harold Chapman, Vitolo and O’Dell. The track was fast, smoother than before, with more work promised before the July 20 race. The Columbia Basin Stock Car Racing Association plans races here every other Sunday for the rest of the summer.