Kissin' 977

Some times people will come up to me and say, “That’s a true Washingtonian right there! Being able to handle cold weather wearing shorts!” Actually, I’m a warm climate beach boy from SoCal.

With each tiny town, I’d discover interesting history that makes these small hard to see dots on the map so unique. So while looking for another tiny town to explore with just a few people living there, I stumbled upon a town named, Marlin with a population of 52-ish. But when I went to look it up on the map, to my confusion it kept pointing me to Krupp, Washington. “No, you stupid Google Map! I want Marlin, Washington!” Once again I was directed to Krupp in Grant County.

Small towns has it’s charms and that’s why people want out of the overcrowded, heavily traffic, crime infested big cities. We love a close-knit community where we care for and love each other.

Winter seemed to have lasted longer than normal. Did we even have Autumn? Yeah, Spring is a comin’. And before we know it, Summer will arrive. Then we can really enjoy the best of the Wenatchee Valley! Yea! yea. Something’s missing. You still wanna get away, don’t you. What are you dreaming about? In general, most people mentioned “I just want to escape to the beach.” I can’t blame you.

When I first moved to Wenatchee, everyone would ask me a million questions as if they worked at Dutch Bros. The number one question was, “You just moved here? What brings you to Wenatchee?”

The name "Neah" refers to the Makah Chief Dee-ah, pronounced Neah in the Klallam language (which is fascinating itself, and deserves it’s own article) The town is named of body of water Neah Bay, which acquired its name in the early 19th century. The town was called by several different names since the 1700’s, but by 1847, the bay was first called Neah by Captain Henry Kelley during his “reorganization of the British Admiralty charts”. Although at the time, Kellett spelled it, "Neeah Bay”. Perhaps since the name refers to Chief Deeah, with a similar spelling.

Anatone didn’t always have a really low count. Anatone was first settled in 1878 by Daniel McIvor and Charles Isecke. It was named after a woman who was part of the Nez Peace (Nimíipuu) Tribe that lived in the area. It was a slow growth. In 2000, they counted about 221 residents.

It would be awesome to fall in love like they did in the movies from the 1940’s. But I’m afraid the girl would runaway if I suddenly broke out in a song and dance.

A couple weeks back I wrote an article about What Makes a Person a ‘Local’ in the Wenatchee Valley. And I got some great answers from listeners. But one theme that I found interesting was there were places, names, and things that locals from Wenatchee…and quite frankly anyone in Washington State would say. In fact, that last sentence is example number one.

For many of us Shedders, and Kissin’ 977 listeners, waiting for the lineup and dates for Watershed 2023 was like a kid who was counting down the days until Christmas. We all had our wish list filled out, and Thursday night before announcement day, artists and bands danced in our dreams, all in hopes that we’ll see them soon perform live at the Gorge Amphitheater, August 4th, 5th, and 6th.