Also, see Why McMinnville is still the 'Walnut City'
http://www.newsregister.com/article?articleTitle=a-look-back-columbus-day-storm-rips-through-county--1349892013--4897--
A look back:
Columbus Day Storm rips through county
Oct 10, 2012
By Starla Pointer Of the News-Register
=But people were more weary of the rain than worried about it. Oct. 12 dawned drier and colder, at 28 degrees, leading farmers who lived near the Walnut City to believe they’d be finishing the harvest in good weather.
= Fred Withee’s barn blew away. Rudy Leppin’s barn collapsed, killing nine cows and calves and 1,000 chickens. Hal Mahon’s orchard on Baker Creek Road lost at least half its walnut trees. Reuben Reist’s prune orchard was half destroyed.
=In fact, the Columbus Day Storm almost wiped out the local walnut and prune industries and heavily damaged other tree crops.
=The county extension agent estimated severe damage to half of the county’s 14,600 acres of orchard land. Fortunately, the agent said, most of the walnuts and filberts were salvageable.
http://www.newsregister.com/archive?articleArchiveId=a10045793
"Stopping by" by Starla Pointer
Stormy stories 50 years later, Columbus Day Storm a vivid memory
Oct 10, 2012
= On the afternoon of Oct. 12, 1962, JacE (Cameron) Macy stood at her back door with her sister and father, watching the Columbus Day storm tear through the family’s large walnut tree. =and uprooted millions of board feet of timber and thousands of fruit and nut trees, including walnut trees that played a major role in local agriculture at the time.
=Their walnut tree didn’t fare so well = Laurel Adams taught at Memorial Elementary School. As he left the building about 4:30 p.m., he heard a roaring sound.
= “In seconds, the wind blew almost every leaf off the black walnut trees along Birch Street,” he recalled = The Columbus Day Storm left a lasting legacy that Laurel notes every Friday when he attends meetings of his service club, Walnut City Kiwanis. “We credit that storm with changing McMinnville from ‘The Walnut City,’” he said.
= In addition to being a major agricultural crop in the area, walnuts also grew on the trees shading nearly every street, he said. But many of those signature trees blew down in the storm.
=The next morning, under blue skies and sunshine, the Olsons inspected the damage. They had lost eight of the nine walnut trees on their property, and their chimney and roof were gone.
http://www.newsregister.com/article?articleTitle=a-look-back-columbus-day-storm-rips-through-county--1349892013--4897--
A look back: Columbus Day Storm rips through county
Oct 10, 2012
By Starla Pointer Of the News-Register
=But people were more weary of the rain than worried about it. Oct. 12 dawned drier and colder, at 28 degrees, leading farmers who lived near the Walnut City to believe they’d be finishing the harvest in good weather.
= Fred Withee’s barn blew away. Rudy Leppin’s barn collapsed, killing nine cows and calves and 1,000 chickens. Hal Mahon’s orchard on Baker Creek Road lost at least half its walnut trees. Reuben Reist’s prune orchard was half destroyed.
=In fact, the Columbus Day Storm almost wiped out the local walnut and prune industries and heavily damaged other tree crops.
=The county extension agent estimated severe damage to half of the county’s 14,600 acres of orchard land. Fortunately, the agent said, most of the walnuts and filberts were salvageable.
http://www.newsregister.com/article?articleTitle=a-love-for-walnuts-that-runs-deep--1347377149--4589--
A love for walnuts that runs deep
Sep 8, 2012
By Nicole Montesano Of the News-Register
=Once touted, by enthusiasts at least, as the future of Oregon’s Willamette Valley, walnuts enjoyed an abundant season for some decades in the first half of the 20th century. The memories still linger, in old trees and a few remaining references to Walnut City — testament to their importance in McMinnville and surroundings — and in the memories of local farmers like Charlie Chegwyn.
=But there are still walnut orchards standing here and there, and McMinnville resident Kamal Kotaich maintains that the Willamette Valley remains premiere walnut country.
=“I would like everyone to know that we are still Walnut City,” he said
=In 1962, the Columbus Day storm blew over entire orchards. In 1972, a hard freeze killed still more of them.
http://www.newsregister.com/article?articleTitle=houseful-of-memories--1344042614--4220--
Houseful of memories
Aug 3, 2012
By Nicole Montesano Of the News-Register
=“The house had a lot of walnut trees around it, so he had a walnut dryer down there,” Gibson said. “I used to have to pick them up, and deal with those ugly husks.
=“I was still doing it in college. They blew down during the Columbus Day storm, which was good riddance.”
