Visit Colville Through ‘Little Journeys’

The novelist Terry Davis once said that those of us who live in the Inland Northwest need to write about the area.

“If we don’t,” he said, “then somebody else will.”

His point was that, contrary to what many people might tell you, there is an abundance of literary material here. It exists both in the geography and in the humans who have inhabited that geography.

Some of the most insistent recorders of Inland Northwest life are the historians, professional and amateur, who have labored to tell the many stories that have occurred here.

One such historian, a journalist actually, was J.C Harrigan. Early in his stint as editor-publisher of the Colville Examiner (now the StatesmanExaminer), a period of time that lasted from 1907 to 1947, Harrigan wrote a series of articles about his town. He published them in his newspaper between 1923 and 1926.

What Harrigan did was to talk to the town’s “old-timers,” and especially to his newspaper predecessor, John B. Slater. With their help, he pieced together a building-by-building history of the town.

Now, through the sponsorship of the Northeast Washington Genealogical Society, Harrigan’s series has been collected in one bound edition. “Little Journeys Around the Town: Colville, Washington” (338 pages, $29.95 paper) is available at Colville’s Book Depot, the Statesman-Examiner and the Colville Chamber of Commerce.

The society, which is housed in the Colville Public Library, is also selling the book. The address: 195 S. Oak, Colville, WA 99114 (add $3.50 for shipping and postage).

“Little Journeys” is filled with minutiae. Much of it is a who’s who of the time, which won’t interest some readers. But Harrigan has his moments.

For example, when describing Colville’s former gambling scene, he wrote that its passing is probably a good thing. After all, “The modern educational opportunities do not go into such details as the odds paid on calling the turn, or on how much capital is needed to play progression when the limit is $10 on a number.”

In Harrigan’s day, he wrote, “(I)t is up to the young man to learn how to get by, without getting mad, when his ace is trumped by the dark lady who is visiting the hostess.”

Now, that’s pure poetry.

Prizes for writers

Before you can read, you must have writing. In that vein, consider these two writing contests.

Kimera, a Spokane-based literary journal of some repute, is holding a fiction chapbook contest that boasts a $150 first prize. For the rules, visit the Kimera Web site at www.js.spokane.wa.us/kimera. To enter, send submissions to: Chapbook Contest, Kimera, 1316 N. Hollis, Spokane, WA 99201.

As an alternative, the Pacific Northwest Writers Association is holding a 2001 Literary Contest in seven categories: romance, playwriting, fiction, screenwriting, nonfiction, poetry and children’s picture book. Awards in each category range from $600 to $150. For submission requirements, visit the PNWA Web site at www.pnwa.org. Or write to PNWA Literary Contest, 9594 First Ave., N.E., No. 522, Seattle, WA 98115-2012.

Never too late to start

Seniors (those age 55 and above) have a menu of literary-themed activities lined up for them in January by the Institute for Extended Learning.

Poetry workshops: Meets Mondays, beginning Jan. 8 through March 19, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. at the Corbin Senior Activity Center, 827 W. Cleveland. Cost: $14. Also, Thursdays, beginning Jan. 11 through March 15, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at the Hillyard Senior Center, 4001 N. Cook. Cost: $14.

Life Writing: Beginning Thursday, continuing each Thursday through Feb. 22, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at Medical Lake’s St. Anne Catholic Church. Cost: $15.

All classes will be taught by Lisa Conger, and all require preregistration. To register for those and other IEL Seniors Program classes, call 533-3393.

Needed: Self-starting publishers

The January meeting of Spokane Authors and Self-Publishers will be held at 11:30 a.m. Thursday at the Old Country Buffet, 5504 N. Division. Tony and Suzanne Schaeffer Bamonte, co-authors of several self-published histories, will present their book “Miss Spokane, Elegant Ambassadors and Their City.” Aspiring writers are invited to attend. Call Chuck O’Connor (466-5516) or Jim Hooppaw (466-8148).

What’s your signing

Tony and Suzanne Schaeffer Bamonte (“Miss Spokane, Elegant Ambassadors and Their City”), signing, NorthTown Barnes & Noble, 4750 N. Division, 7 p.m. Wednesday (482-4235).

Book clubs

The January meeting of the NorthTown Barnes & Noble Mystery Book Club will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the store cafe. Call Sharon at 482-4235.