Radio Maverick

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?”

We’ve all had some kind of nickname throughout our lives. Sometimes those nick names that were savagely given to us by a bully in junior high that had written that branded name on our underwear after giving us a wedgie.

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.

I know. In the past couple of months it seems like we’ve been hearing so much about roundabouts in the Wenatchee Valley. With the aggravation of all the roundabouts on First Street, to the new ones being created in North Wenatchee and Leavenworth. It makes our heads spin like Linda Blair’s head in The Exorcist. But “They” tell us that roundabouts are for the most part safer than the 4-way stops. Here are the stats.

I get it. Even if you’re not into football, there’s something to say about going to a Super Bowl gathering for the fellowship. I’ve been to Super Bowl parties just to be with my family. But most of my life, I’ve lived either on the beach or very warm to hot cities. So come Super Bowl Sunday, why would you want to be stuck inside watching some game, while you could be out enjoying a beautiful day.

I never saw it with all the clouds coving over Washington in the past week, but there are some that are saying that the Chinese Spy Balloon, that has now been shot down over the Atlantic Ocean, could have been floating high above the state of Washington. Actually I’m kinda surprised the balloon didn’t get popped by the Space Needle. And how did it get over the Cascades? Stevens Pass? Boy, that would have taken forever! But while soaring through Washington, the spy balloon could have made itself useful.

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.