Spokane

Donna Gerken is readying to celebrate her 81st birthday homeless, along with her 77-year-old husband Ernie Gerken.

The line for the Christmas Bureau’s last day was shorter than usual, but people still came in search of toys and books for their children and grandchildren.

From 1975: More than 500 air travelers made an unscheduled stop at Spokane International Airport after flights were diverted from foggy Seattle and Portland.

Imagine it’s a sunny spring day. You’ve traveled to a new place, and you’re shopping for a souvenir.

After seven years of coming to the Christmas Bureau, Debbie Fischetti knows that she is in for a scavenger hunt. She never knows what she will find for her four grandchildren, whom she is raising, but she knows she will find something that fits their interests.

From 1975: Louis D’s, the newly revamped restaurant in the Davenport Hotel, had an enticing offer in its saloon.

North Spokane resident Audra Shope had her hands full Wednesday morning.

A failed cross-country move has put Bernadette Spears, her partner and their three children in a local motel, struggling to make ends meet. Spears is the only one working as her partner waits for surgery to repair a hernia.

From 1975: A Spokane Chronicle reporter visited a Vietnamese refugee family and found that they had a new addition: Joseph August Nguyen, age 4 days.

A Spokane woman whose furnished basement was flooded with sewage following city maintenance behind her home will receive a $62,000 settlement, which the City Council unanimously approved Monday.

From staff reports

An anonymous donor has given $1 million to the Campbell House, one of Spokane’s historic jewels in Browne’s Addition that is under the care of the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture.

From 1975: “Whitewash.”

Spokane leaders are still debating what to do with Spokane Falls Boulevard, an issue complicated by an almost evenly split public survey last fall.

Riverfront Park’s Ice Palace, which opened the day after Thanksgiving in 1977, had a 40-year run as a downtown winter attraction. Opening day included demonstrations by local figure skating clubs that were set to disco music. A new park mascot called Dudley, Dean of Dawgs, styled like Disneyland costumed characters, was introduced to the crowd.

Parents and guardians once again lined up at the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center long before dawn Saturday to receive toys and books for their children at the Christmas Bureau. For some, it will be the only presents their children receive.

From 1975: It was beginning to look a lot like … misdemeanor trespassing?

The Christmas Bureau has been supported by the community every year since its inception in 1945, in its endeavors to supply families in need with a Christmas dinner and gifts for the children. Some of those donors return year after year, their support spanning decades.