Imbler High School - Golden Reveries Yearbook (Imbler, OR)

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The bonds were not due until 1933, but the State was willing to retire them. The money was withdrawn and the bonds were retired. The balance of bonds not retired from want of funds was paid off at the rate of one to two thousand dollars per year until paid. At this time both LaGrande banks were closed and the district did its banking with the 1st National Bank of Elgin. This little bank was able to go through the panic without closing. Money was scarce and people could not pay their taxes. The school district had to operate mainly by School Warrants. For a long time the teachers were paid by school warrants, and many times ten warrants for each teacher for a month's salary were written out. This was done because the warrants were hard to sell and the teachers very often had to cash their warrants at a discount. In 1925 the citizens of Imbler decided that a new gym was needed. In order to start a fund for the building it was decided to have an auction sale. The citizens donated everything in the line of farm machinery, farm products, and livestock. Quite a sum was raised but not nearly enough. As the citizens were wondering how to raise more money, Lucy Wade donated the balance required with the understanding that the gym was to be named Wade Hall in honor of her brother, Walter. The gym was built by donation labor mainly. About 1931, the floors of the upper south rooms of this school building began to settle and a new steel beam had to be installed. It was very long and required two railroad cars to bring it to Imbler. About 1933 an addition was added to the gym, as it was too short to meet regulation requirements for a basketball court. This addition cost nearly $2, 000. This amount was paid out of the reg-

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a bit of argument and indecision as to where it should be built. Some wanted it on the schoolhouse lot south of the town of Imbler, where the old school building still stands, and others wanted it on the location where it now stands. For a time, the town of Imbler was divided into two districts, the North and the South. The students went to school in two different buildings. At this time, the lots where the present school stands were used as a lumber yard for the original Summerville Lumber Company. Mr. Irvin Wade and Mr. Waldo B. Bach were the owners. To bring the discussion to an end, a committee of five men took the situation in hand and took out petitions for signatures in favor of the present location. These five men were Reuben McBride, Clay W. Fox, Peter H. Westenskow, Charles W. Cleaver, and Walter Stringham. The cost of the building was above $30, 000. A contractor from La Grande, Pete Bosquet, was in charge of the construction. Bonds were voted in the amount of $30, 000, and to pay off these bonds when they were due, an annual payment of $1, 332 was made and deposited in the Investors Syndicate. This was known as the Sinking Fund. These bonds were held by the state Deputy State Treasurer, called on Leonard Billings and suggested that the School District withdraw from the Investors Syndicate because various concerns all over the country were going broke, and he was afraid that this company would too. Imbler school teachers about 1918. when the panic came in 1929 and 1930. Mr. Fred Paulus,

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ular school funds on the new building and the improvement part of the budget. The new addition was on the west end of the gym. As time went on, it became necessary to have more room. In 1951 four more class rooms were needed. A new separate room for the heating plant was needed, and reconstruction, improvements and repairs on the existing schoolhouse and gym were needed. An election to vote on $130, 000 bond indebtedness was called to be held April 23, 1951. At this meeting the legal voters then duly elected J. L. Westenskow, C. M. Hale, and Edna Jordan as Judges and Stella B. Huron as Clerk to conduct this election. At this election, 288 ballots were cast. There were 140 for bonds and 88 against bonds. After the election, one hundred and thirty, $1, 000 bonds were issued and offered for sale. The bonds were sold to the First National Bank of Portland, their rate being the lowest. These bonds are now being bought back or paid off at the rate of 7 to 8 thousand dollars per year. The County Treasurer holds tax money back to pay off these bonds yearly. During this year nine of the $1, 000 bonds will be bought. The payments are arranged so that by 1967 all bonds will be bought back. Mr. L. H. Russell, a contractor from LaGrande, was given the contract for construction of the new school building and also of the remodeling of the present schoolhouse and gym. This was done in the year 1952. Set in the midst of the Grande Ronde Valley, built upon solid and fertile soil, the west windows of Imbler School give a breathtaking view of Mt. Emily whose peak is covered with a white expanse of snow for nearly the entire school year. In the east, which the school is facing, is Mt. Harris. The Golden Reveries staff would like to thank the many people who donated their old school pic- tures to us and Mr. Leonard Billings, who furnished us with most of the school’s history.