The Redmond Recorder

REDMOND HISTORICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

MARCH 2018 • VOL. 20 • NO. 3

Every town has a history. Discover ours.

Saturday Speaker Series

The Truth and I: Reading Betty MacDonald
in the Age of Memoir
Saturday, March 10, 2018
10:30am – noon (Doors open 10:00am)
Old Redmond Schoolhouse Community Center
16600 NE 80th St., Redmond, WA 98052
$5 suggested donation for non-members
Speakers subject to change.
For details: www.redmondhistoricalsociety.org

The Egg and I, published in 1945, is a humorous memoir by American

author Betty MacDonald about her adventures and travels as a young
wife on a chicken farm on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State.
Historian Paula Becker shares the unusual life of the Northwest author
and how her book dares us to explore what “truth” in memoir means.
Speaking courtesy of Humanities Washington. See story on p. 4.

Every town has a history. Discover ours. • March 2018

 2018
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OFFICERS
Joe Townsend • President
Mary I. Hanson • Senior Vice President
John Oftebro • Vice President Finance
Halee Turner • Vice President Collections
Sayeda Haq • Secretary
DIRECTORS AT LARGE
Judith Simpson
Indira Krishnaswami
Debra Pelletier
Brian Burck
VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR •
Krishna Nandanoor
ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER •
Tasia Williams
ATTORNEY • Charles Diesen
Our finances are public record and may
be viewed at the office.
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THE REDMOND RECORDER
is published nine times annually.
NEWSLETTER EDITOR
Laura Lee Bennett
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Teresa Potter - Urban Dakota Creative
redmondhistoricalsociety.org
PHONE 425.885.2919
WEBSITE redmondhistoricalsociety.org
EMAIL info@redmondhistoricalsociety.org
HOURS Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday:
9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
March 2018 • Every town has a history. Discover ours.
Society News
Welcome to Sayeda Haq, who joined the
Board of Directors as Secretary. See her
bio on p. 8.
Welcome Shantini Radhakrishnan, who
recently joined the Saturday Speaker
Series program committee. We thank
Julianne Rossiter and Bliss Ong for their
great work and service to this committee.
Welcome Judith M. Lankford, a new
Lifetime Society member.
Erratum: In the February 2018 issue,
Society News p. 4, new Lifetime Member
Louise Graep Barnes was incorrectly
listed.
Location Change for April 14 Saturday
Speaker Series
Ride the shuttle to Emerald Heights.
Please park at Redmond High School
(17272 NE 104th St, Redmond, WA
98052).
Shuttle schedule:
Depart Redmond High School (before
program)
9:30 am • 9:45 am • 10:00 am
Depart Emerald Heights (after program)
12:15 pm • 12:30 pm • 12:45 pm
Coldwell Banker Bain real
estate broker Bliss Ong has
formed a unique partnership
with the Redmond Historical Society in an
effort to help raise money for the Society.
Coldwell Banker Bain will give 10%
back to support the Redmond Historical
Society when you or someone you refer
is looking to buy or sell property. Coldwell
Banker Bain established its Community
Partnership program as a way for the
company and its brokers to give back
to the organizations that are committed
to the welfare of our communities, For
more information, contact Bliss Ong at
425.445.8006, or call the Society Office at
425.885.2919.
 President’s Notebook

Pardon Our Dust… We’re Moving!

By Joe Townsend

After a multi-year effort, our quest for a new home*

for the Redmond Historical Society is coming to a
happy ending. Once again, the Redmond business
community has been very supportive of the Society.
Specifically, we want to thank Robert Pantley and
his daughter Angela Rozmyn of Natural & Built
Environments LLC for Robert’s offer, under gener-
ous lease terms, for space in the Vision 5 building in
downtown Redmond.

We also want to thank the Nelson Legacy Group for their donation of stor-
age space in the Red Way Self-Storage facility on Redmond Way. Thank
you, Mike Nelson, Buff Nelson, and Tom Markl for making this possible.

Of course, we owe a great deal to the City of Redmond, which over the
years has been generous to the Society in providing space in the Old
Redmond Schoolhouse with favorable lease terms, use of the auditorium
with generous contract terms, and storage space in a former farm building
at Martin Park. The City has also provided a contract for the Senior Center,
where we will hold our Saturday Speaker Series programs in the Fall of 2018
and Spring of 2019.

Working with these businesses and the City of Redmond has been reward-
ing, and has occupied a considerable amount of time for the Society. It’s a
credit to the Officers and Board members, as well as other Society volun-
teers, that we can continue to carry out our community services—the Satur-
day Speaker Series, website and newsletter, and archive preservation—all
while working to secure a new home and raise funds.

Our move is currently scheduled for mid-

March, 2018. The new location address is
8525-163rd Court NE #120, Redmond, WA
98052. Until then, things are going to be a
bit cluttered in our office. Pardon our dust,
in advance.

*See the October 2017 Redmond Recorder

for background information. Vision 5 building

Every town has a history. Discover ours. • March 2018

 Saturday Speaker Series

The Truth and I: Reading Betty MacDonald

in the Age of Memoir
Betty MacDonald burst onto the
American literary scene in 1945
with her memoir, The Egg and I,
a tartly witty tale about operating
a chicken ranch on Washington’s
dauntingly wild Olympic Peninsula.
Betty’s vivacity, offbeat humor, and
irreverent take on life captured a
public ready to laugh again after
the grim, hard years of World
Paula Becker
War II. During its first year, The
Author and Historian
Egg and I sold one copy every 22
Speaking courtesy of
seconds.
Humanities Washington
Although she wrote
autobiographically, Betty’s
relationship with truth was slippery. Enjoy a relaxing morning at the
During a 1951 libel suit, Betty Redmond Historical Society
testified that she’d made up nearly Saturday Speaker Series, a
all of The Egg and I—questionable monthly program that features
testimony that worked in her favor. six speakers addressing topics of
Betty’s readers seemed not to local, state and Pacific Northwest
mind this discrepancy, but why? historical interest. The series
This talk on March 10, led by is held 10:30am – noon at the
journalist and Betty MacDonald Old Redmond Schoolhouse
biographer Paula Becker, ponders Community Center, 16600 NE 80th
how Betty’s kind of nonfiction St., Redmond, WA. Doors open at
relates to the popular genre of 10:00 am. $5 suggested donation
memoir today. What—then and for non-members. Speakers
now—does “truth” in memoir subject to change. For details:
mean? www.redmondhistoricalsociety.org.

March 2018 • Every town has a history. Discover ours.

 Society News

Fundraiser Update
To all who participated in the Redmond Historical Society’s Dinner and
Auction Fundraiser, here’s a hearty THANK YOU! The combination of
registrations, donations, Silent and Live Auctions, Paddle Raise, trivia
games, and unexpected sustaining gifts have netted the Society over
$41,000 in funds to continue our many endeavors. The Paddle Raise
to assist our Fund a Need list to upgrade various office technology will
help us maintain and advance our collections and archiving activities.
And, since the event, we’ve also received over $2,000 in donations from
attendees to further our annual financing going forward. Again, we thank
all our members, friends, and wonderful volunteers who are making a
difference in helping keep Redmond’s history alive.
―John Oftebro,VP Finance
Acknowledgements
Claire Bruining & Chelsea Wright Palmer’s East
of Getting Eventive, cashiering C2Educate Redmond
Troy McVicker & Scott Branston of Urban Dakota Creative
EventSourceNW Patsy Rosenbach, photographer
Redmond Senior Center Laura Lee Bennett, copy editor
The City of Redmond, Washington Off the Vine Catering

Sponsorship
Gold Sponsor ($2,500) Table Sponsors
Chris Himes Fred Herzberg
Silver Sponsor ($1,000) Chris Himes
Dale & Jo Ann Potter - Fred Herzberg & Jeanne Large Judy Lang
Roger Trepanier - Joe & Doris Townsend Russ & Paige Norman
John & Deborah Oftebro
Bronze Sponsor ($500) Joe & Doris Townsend
Don & Mary Fowler Sally Eberhardt

REDMOND PARKS & REC CELEBRATES 50 YEARS AT

SATURDAY SPEAKER SERIES
On February 10, John and Lynn Couch
brought two large cakes to celebrate the
50th anniversary of the City of Redmond
Department of Parks and Recreation,
which was founded in 1968 when John
Couch was hired. Photo: Sherry Stilin

Every town has a history. Discover ours. • March 2018

 Local History
Doctor Theodore Kieffer
By Tom Hitzroth
On page 95 of Our Town Redmond
by Nancy Way, there is a photograph
of Dr. George A. Davis and Dr.
Theodore Kieffer in an automobile,
in front of the Hotel Redmond.
Although there were a few doctors
in the Redmond/Kirkland area at
that time, for some reason Dr. Kieffer
interested me, so I looked into
his time here. It turns out that this
particular photograph is possibly
one of the very few if not the only
photograph taken of him while he
was in the Kirkland/Redmond area.
Theodore Joseph Kieffer was
born in Syracuse, New York, on
January 27, 1874, to Charles and
Emma Kieffer. He appears on the
1892 census in Syracuse and his
occupation is listed as a clerk. In
1900, he was still living in Syracuse,
but his occupation is now listed as
a physician. Dr. Kieffer obtained a
Clipping from the Redmond–Kirkland
Press on May 26, 1906. Courtesy of the
Kirkland Heritage Society. 
March 2018 • Every town has a history. Discover ours.
license to practice in Washington in
1904, and by 1906 he was practicing
in Kirkland. In the Redmond–Kirkland
Press of May 26, 1906, it records that
Dr. Theodore Kieffer had moved his
office from Kirkland to Redmond. It
would appear that by 1909 or 1910,
Dr. Kieffer had left Redmond and
moved on to Cordova, Alaska, where
he continued his practice. From
Alaska he returned to New York,
and by World War I he was living
in Rochester, New York. He lived
out the rest of his life there, passing
away on April 18, 1953.
The photograph in Our Town
Redmond is a rarity, featuring a
physician who came to Washington
in the very early part of the last
century, established his practice
in Kirkland, moved to Redmond in
1906, cared for the residents of the
Redmond community, and was gone
all within a span of six years.
Short article from Kirkland-Redmond
Press, May 1, 1907.
Courtesy Kirkland Heritage Society
 Society News

Society Celebrates 15 Years

of Walking Tours By Laura Lee Bennett
In 2002, local historian Tom Hitzroth and Society co-founder Naomi
Hardy developed a walking tour and since 2003, Tom has led walking
tours of Redmond’s historic district. Over the years, the tour has evolved
from one hour to two, with the script changing as new information is
discovered. “I’m looking for the question I can’t answer, which means I
need to look further into a particular area.”

A lifelong Eastside resident and chair of the City of Redmond Landmark

Commission, Hitzroth continues to work at identifying details of Redmond
development from its earliest times to 1930. He is currently researching
the historic site of the settlement of Melrose that preceded Redmond.

2018 Walking Tour Schedule

Saturday April 7, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Sunday April 22, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Saturday May 6, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Sunday May 20, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Sunday June 10, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Sunday June 24, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Sunday August 12, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Justice White House/Hotel
Sunday September 9, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Redmond

There is a suggested donation of $10 for each person with a limit of 10

people per group. You can pre-register for the event by calling our office
at 425.885.2919. You can also drop by our office, or mail in a check to
16600 NE 80th St. Room 106, Redmond, WA, 98052. You can also pre-
register on our website: www.redmondhistoricalsociety.org/. Registrations
must be received by the Friday before the tour.

Tours include a significant amount of walking and standing, with limited

opportunity for resting. We recommend comfortable shoes and weather-
appropriate clothing. If you have any further questions about our tours,
please call our office. Tour begins across the street from the Hotel
Redmond (Jensen/Fey Architects) at 7730 NE 76th St.

Every town has a history. Discover ours. • March 2018

 Society News

Sayeda Haq Joins Society Board of

Directors
Sayeda Haq joined the Redmond
Historical Society Board of
Directors as Secretary in February
2018.

Sayeda’s family moved to

Lynnwood in 2015, after living
in the Greater Boston area for
about 25 years. Originally from
Bangladesh, Sayeda came to
the US as a graduate student at
Boston University. After completing
her Masters in Economics, she
worked at the World Health
Organization in Geneva and at the
World Bank in Bangladesh. She
returned to the US to pursue a
PhD in Health Services Research
at Brandeis University, a research
university based in Waltham,
MA. Then, she worked as Health
Financing Advisor for the United
States Agency for International
Development (USAID), an
independent agency of the federal
government responsible for
administering civilian foreign aid
and development assistance.
She currently works for the
Knowledge Globalization Institute
as a Senior Research Consultant,
where she collaborates with
scholars, academics, policy
makers, and non-governmental
organization (NGO) leaders to
expand educational programs
for global citizens. She was the
campus coordinator for Americans
for Informed Democracy at
Brandeis and has volunteered
for Habitat for Humanity. She
loves to spend time with her
daughter Samina, who is pursuing
a PhD in Sociology at the
University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Sayeda enjoys travelling and
visiting museums, and takes deep
interest in the local history of the
places she visits.

Become a Member Today!

It’s easy to join the Redmond Historical Society: by mail, on our website,
at a Saturday Speaker Series program, or in our office. We accept
checks, cash, or credit cards. Membership is a tax-deductible donation;
we are a 501(c) (3) nonprofit. See you on March 10!

March 2018 • Every town has a history. Discover ours.

 Order
Now
Redmond
Reflections Book
$15 (INCLUDES TAX)*

SHIPPING & HANDLING: Please add $10.00 shipping & handling surcharge
for any order that you would like mailed.

ORDERING INFO*:
NAME____________________________________________________ PHONE NUMBER_____________________

# OF BOOKS ORDERED_______ AMOUNT ENCLOSED (CHECK PLEASE) _$_____________________________

SHIPPING INFO:
NAME _______________________________________________________________________________________

STREET ADDRESS ____________________________________________________________________________

CITY • STATE • ZIP _____________________________________________________________________________

NOTE: REDMOND REFLECTIONS is also available at the Redmond Historical Society

OFFICE at the Old Redmond Schoolhouse Community Center. (Hours of operation on page 2.)

Great Gift Ideas for History Lovers

Need something special for someone who appreciates our history?
These are available at our Society office:
BOOKS POSTCARDS
of historical photos
MAGNETS
featuring artwork
by Patti Simpson Ward
HISTORIC DOWNTOWN
REDMOND WALKING GUIDE
The Redmond Historical Society’s
updated Historic Downtown Walking
Guide. Suggested donation is $8.

OUR TOWN, REDMOND

History of Redmond This painting of Marymoor Park, Flying Kites
at the Clise Mansion, is the work of fine artist
by Nancy Way. Patti Simpson Ward.
$12 (includes tax)
Visit her website to see more images of
Eastside settings— pattisimpsonward.com.

Every town has a history. Discover ours. • March 2018

 Society News

Huge Historic Thank Yous

Many thanks to our Saturday Speaker Series volunteers
for their generous donation of time and effort
to ensure a smooth program day:

Press Release – Miguel Llanos

Setup – Tom Hansen
Signs – Shantini Radhakrishnan
Audio/Visual – John Stilin
Videotaping – Miguel Llanos
Door Greeters – Patsy Rosenbach and Sylvia Bernauer
Membership – Shantini Radhakrishnan
Coffee – Mary Hanson
Baked Goods – Bliss Ong
Cake – John and Lynn Couch

Our Society Lifetime Members

Sharon Freeman, Ballisty Allen Lang
Louise Graep Barnes Judy Aries Lang Dick Shinstrom
Marjorie Costello Judith M. Lankford Frederick Springsteel
John Couch Miguel Angel Llanos Beryl Standley
Cory de Jong Jon M. Magnussen John C. Stilin
Betty L. Emmanuel Dorothy Matsui Sherry B. Stilin
Tony Emmanuel Allison Reed Morris Fred Stray
Frank Garbarino Edward O’Brien Larry O. Sundholm
Madeleine Roberts Hagen John Oftebro Subhadra Terhanian
Suzanne Hall Dale Potter Doris Townsend
Wayne Hansen Jo Ann Potter Joe Townsend
Mary Hanson Bobbie Graep Rettig Roger Trepanier
Jerry Hardy Vivian Robinson Arlyn Bjerke Vallene
Chris Himes Laurie M. Rockenbeck Patti Simpson Ward
Rosemarie Ives Margy U. Rockenbeck Donald Glennister Watts
Patricia Weiss Jovag William Rockenbeck Joanne Westlund
Barbara Weiss Joyce Doris Bauer Schaible James Windle

A full listing of lifetime members, both current and in memoriam,

is available at redmondhistoricalsociety.org

March 2018 • Every town has a history. Discover ours.

 Membership

Join
Redmond Historical Society
Every town has a history. Discover ours.

CONSIDER A GIFT MEMBERSHIP FOR A FAVORITE HISTORY BUFF.

LEVELS OF MEMBERSHIP (Check one only.)

$5.00 _____ TRAILBLAZER (Student)
$25.00 _____ PIONEER (Individual)
$40.00 _____ HOMESTEADER (Family)
$200.00 _____ ENTREPRENEUR (Supporter)
$250.00 _____ CORPORATE (Business)

$1,000.00 _____ HISTORY MAKER (Lifetime)
ALL CONTRIBUTIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE.
PLEASE MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO: REDMOND HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Fill out the form below, cut out and mail with your check to:
Redmond Historical Society
Attn: Membership
ORSCC, Room 106
Renew
16600 NE 80th Street Now!
Redmond, WA 98052
MEMBERSHIP (CIRCLE ONE): NEW RENEWING

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If FAMILY MEMBERSHIP, OTHER NAMES TO BE INCLUDED

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NEWSLETTER DELIVERY (CHECK ONE): _______ EMAIL ________ U.S. MAIL

Every town has a history. Discover ours. • March 2018

 March 2018 • Every town has a history. Discover ours.
Redmond Historical Society
16600 NE 80th Street, Room 106
Redmond, WA 98052
Major Sponsors
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