Earthquake shook McMinnville, Linfield campus April 13, 1949

Story in Nov. 17, 2017, McMinnville N-R/News-Register mentions, "In 1948, an earthquake in McMinnville drove people out of the stores..."

Mac News researched the earthquake. It appears the earthquake was in 1949, not 1948.

"On (Wednesday) April 13, 1949, Yamhill county residents felt an earthquake that was centered between Olympia and Tacoma, Washington.  In Washington, this quake caused eight deaths. While Yamhill County was shaken by the quake, damage was minimal, and no deaths occurred. The quake rocked northwestern Oregon, extending as far south as Eugene, Coos Bay, and Reedsport, and east as far as Prineville and La Grande. In downtown Salem, West Salem and in outlying areas buildings trembled, light fixtures swayed, dishes rattle in cupboards. Most of those who were outside at the time reported no shock." Source: Yamhill County Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan.

Linfield Prof. emeritus Edith “Duffy” Reynolds, Class of 1951, a McMinnville resident, was a Linfield student eating in the college’s dining room in the ground floor of Pioneer Hall when the earthquake hit.

“I thought I was getting sick,” Duffy told Wildcatville in November 2017. “But, then I realized, especially after the (earthquake-savvy) students from California ran out of the room, that I was getting tossed around” because of the tremors. Once outside, she watched Pioneer's bell tower swaying.

Her roommate was taking a geology class in the ground floor (beneath the college President's Office) in Melrose Hall when the earthquake began.

The class was taught by George Barnes, physics and geology assistant professor. When things started shaking the prof exited the room through a ground-level window with students following him.

Front page story in the Thursday, April 14, 1949, McMinnville T-R/Telephone-Register had headline "Quake Jolts McMinnville!"

Headline was over this story:

A series of share earth shocks, followed by tremblors of decreasing intensity, shook McMinnville along with the rest of the Northwest Wednesday, causing little else than a rash of 'earthquake stories.' Damage in the city was confined to cracking plaster and breakage of small household articles.

The shocks, occurring at 11:55 a.m., rocked the city first with a light shock, followed by a heaver tremor. Shaking of the earth continued with decreasing intensity for the next three minutes.

Thousands of residents and offer workers thronged to the streets following the realization that an earthquake was in progress. Office staffs in Yamhill County's venerable courthouse made haste to evacuate the ancient structure as its three-story height swayed and trembled.

Deputy Sheriff Ford Hagen released prisoners from the cells and brought them into the clear under guard.

The large water tower at the Farmers Cooperative Creamery swayed heavily and cross-braces were loosened, necessitation the employment of a crew to tighten the members of the structure.

Radio station's KMCM's new 210-football tower swayed heavily and workmen, engaged in construction of the transmitter building and student, reported the heavy guy wirers "sang like violin strings."

Wall cracks were reported at Julian Eccles Motors and at the L.A. Courtemanche building. A report that large cracks had developed at the junior high school were denied this morning by School Superintendent Frank Fagan. A crack in the driveway at Macy and Son developed during the quake and cracks were noticed in the new garage at the rear of West Coast Telephone company.

Slight damage to stock was reported in some downtown McMinnville stores as the temblor jarred glassware and other breakables to the floor.

No injuries as a result of the quake were reported in the McMinnville area, although the first reaction by a number of the residents was that they were suffering a heart attack or high blood pressure. Nausea was noticed by a number following the trembling.

The city water and light department reported no breakages, either in water mains or in power lines.

An issue of the T-R with headline “Earthquake Damage Reports Varied With Some Failing to Note Shock” and an April 21, 1949, dateline from the Webfoot area south of Dayton (Yamhill County) said, “The earthquake of last Wednesday was felt in varying degrees of intensity in this community last week, some not feeling it at all and others reporting quite severe shaking and some plaster cracking. No major damages reported.”

Other earthquake recollections by Linfielders:

--Ken Rogers, Class of 1951:

He was attending a history class in Melrose Hall ground floor. It was taught by Prof. Jonas “Stein” Jonasson. When the earthquake started, a student sitting in front of Rogers asked him to move his feet from the back of her chair because her chair was shaking. “I don’t have my feet on your chair,” Ken responded. Meanwhile Prof. Jonasson started sweating and clutched the podium from which he was delivering his lecture. Rogers told the professor and fellow students, “we’re having an earthquake. Let’s get out of here.” They did. Exiting through the classroom windows.

--Tom Meicho, Class of 1951:

He was in a geology glass in Melrose Hall ground floor. After the earthquake happened “most of us ran up the stairs. Maybe not the wise decision,” Tom said. “When I dashed out of the room I looked back and our professor was trying to help a very large woman out the window. I started laughing until I saw the pillars in front of the building shake from side to side. Later, I had the job of cleaning the chapel. A lot of dust and dirt fell.”

POSTSCRIPT:

--By the way, notice that Duffy, Ken and Tom were all attending class in Melrose. That was because at that time (1951) all, almost all or many Linfield classes were held in Melrose.

::::

Linfielder Rusty Rae reports on Linfield football 2018 season-ending game in Texas

Goliath wins! Linfield falls to Crusaders, 24-0

By Rusty Rae - Sport Editor- McMinnville N-R/News-Register - Nov 28, 2017 print edition 

BELTON, Texas — Sometimes Goliath wins.

Linfield College discovered that Saturday. The Wildcats fell, 24-0, to number-one ranked and defending national champion University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in the second round of the NCAA Division III tournament.

Linfield entered the contest as the number eight-ranked team, following one of their best games of the season, a first-round victory over fifth-ranked Hardin-Simmons University the previous week in McMinnville. The Wildcats knew besting the Crusaders required a near-perfect game, and one or two mega-mistakes by the Cru’ on which the ‘Cats could capitalize.

“We knew that (Linfield would have to play its best game of the year) – we had to play an exceptionally clean game and we had to get some fortuitous turnovers here and there – and that didn’t happen,” said Joseph Smith, Linfield’s head coach.

Linfield’s trip to Texas began badly when the charter plane taking them to Texas Thursday was a no-show. Linfield would wait until Friday for its flight to the Lone Star State.

 “That was a pretty big curveball to suddenly have the plane not show up. The NCAA not being prepared for that – leaving the team stranded with no contingency plan – loading the bus multiple times – just an unfortunate Thursday,” Smith said.

“The plane scheduling snafu has everything to do with fatigue, sleep cycles – it has everything to do with the physical preparation for the game. Those little things make a difference,” he added.

Could the botched airline incident have foreshadowed the Wildcats’ rocky start?

From the opening series, little worked for the Wildcats. Stopped on a third-and-one, Colton Ramos’ punt was blocked, and the Crusaders started their first drive on the 'Cat 15-yard line.

“That was a devastating series of events. We had an errant snap, not the best protection on it – put that together and you get a blocked punt. Just a devastating start. We had to not get behind by multiple scores. We needed to keep it close and if it was close in the fourth quarter I really liked our chances,” Smith said.

Linfield battled through adversity and, aided by a penalty, pushed the Crusaders into a second-and-17 scenario at the 17-yard line. But the home team sprung Bryce Wilkerson on a reverse for the 17 yards and a 7-0 lead at 12:08 in the first quarter. 

“That was a great call on their part. They executed it really well. I thought they had a very, very good offensive gameplan against us. They’d worked on it – you could tell they’d put a lot of time in on us – had a really good plan. Hats off to them,” Smith said.

Linfield’s defense, without Jason Farlow, the NWC Co-Defensive Player of the Year, battled valiantly against the Cru’. Although the ‘Cats returned two of their starting cornerbacks to playing status, they played only sparingly.

Even so, Linfield’s defense fought with verve and effectiveness through the rest of the first quarter, blunting the Crusader offense. UMHB's John Mowery missed a field goal at 6:12 in the first stanza, but the 'Cat offense couldn’t do much to help their cause in the first half. 

In the second quarter, the Crusaders found creases in the Wildcat defense to score 10 points. UMHB's freshman quarterback, Carl Robinson, found daylight, sprinting 36 yards for the second score, and a 14-0 lead at 11:13 in the second quarter.

The 'Cats deflated a late Mary Hardin-Baylor attack, forcing a 25-yard Mowery field goal at the 4:03 mark of the second quarter. The half ended with the Crusaders leading 17-0.

While the first half became a horror show rivaling The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the Wildcats made adjustments and came out with renewed energy to start the second.

Linfield stopped the Crusaders' opening drive, forcing UMHB to punt. Finding an offensive rhythm, the Wildcats appeared to finally adapt to the early Texas kickoff.

Starting on their 20-yard line, the ‘Cats fed their all-conference running back, Chidubem Nnoli. He put together runs of nine, six, and two yards with a pass mixed in to freshman Kyle Kimball they crossed the 50-yard line.

Senior Blake Burnett spelled Nnoli, but on a third-and-one at the UMHB 40, was dropped for a three-yard loss. The senior Smith then dialed up pass plays for Wyatt, threading the needle with a perfect pass to Keegan Weiss for 27 yards.

Wyatt followed up with a seven-yard strike to J.D. Lasswell and a six-yarder to Kimball, giving the ‘Cats their best chance at a score with a first and goal at the Cru’ three-yard line.

Wyatt Smith called Nnoli’s number for a pair of carries, and the UMHB defense grudgingly gave up two yards. On his third try at a score, Nnoli was thrown for a three-yard loss. Faced with a fourth-and-goal from the four-yard line, Linfield abandoned the field goal. It would take a touchdown if they had any thought about winning the game.

Linfield brought in Aiden Wilder, who has been highly effective running the ball in the red zone. Wilder was able to make three-plus yards, but came up short of the goal line.

“We needed to score there – that pretty much did us in. It’s a three score game at that point. If we score we cut the margin to 10 points and it would have given us a big lift – and we’d have a game. 

But we didn’t – very disappointing,” the head coach said.

Displaying their great talent, the score-saving tackle was made by the two Crusader safeties. “You rarely can block the safeties, you’ve got to be able to beat them – and they were able to come down and make the play. I thought it was a great effort on Aiden’s part,” the senior Smith said.

Part of the strategy in choosing the TD over the field goal was also the fact, that if the ‘Cats came up short, UMHB would take over on their one-yard line. Smith said he thought this was an opportunity to flip the field and gain strong field position, keeping the ball on the Cru’s side until Linfield scored.

But the Crusaders hadn’t rehearsed that script, assembling an impressive 99-yard drive culminating in a perfect 32-yard strike from Richardson to Jonel Reed, pushing the score to its final 24-0 margin with 1:54 left in the third quarter.

Smith said, “(Richardson) is something special. I thought their QB last year was pretty special – but he is right up there. This kid won the game for them with his legs – he broke it open.

“The game turned when we didn’t score – and they took it all the way down and changed the field positions – that was really a backbreaker. That pivotal series as well as the blocked punt kept the game from being close,” he added.

Throughout the year, the Wildcats have owned the fourth quarter and this ‘Cat team certainly didn’t shy away from competing with the Crusaders. Linfield’s final possession of the third quarter started at the ‘Cat 29, and the Linfield air-game found new life as the Crusaders were playing deep enough not to give up a big play.

Wyatt Smith was stellar as Linfield moved down the field. The last play of the third quarter, a 25-yard pass to Lasswell, gave the Wildcats renewed resolve as the fourth quarter started.

With Wyatt Smith taking what the Crusaders gave the ‘Cats, he mixed in passes and a couple of runs to move the team to the UMHB 18-yard line. On a third and seven, however, he was picked off, ending the drive. Coach Smith said, “It was probably a bad call on my part. Everything was wrong about it – I’d sure like to have that call back.”

Wyatt Smith drove the ‘Cats to the UMHB 39. He and Lasswell teamed up for a five-yard gain to the 34-yard line, but then three straight incompletions turned the ball over on downs.

Linfield found Crusader territory on its next series, but on a fourth-and-two, Smith was sacked for a 10-yard loss and again Linfield turned the ball over with 3:26 left.

UMHB efficiently ran out the clock, driving to the Linfield 21-yard line before taking a knee on the final play of the game.

Smith finished the game 20-31-1 for 182 yards. Nnoli scampered for 37 yard on 19 carries. The 'Cats were held to 220 yards of total offense. UMHB rolled to 378 yards of total offense. 

Saturday's defeat marked the Wildcats' first shutout in 16 years (vs. Southern Oregon in 2001) and Linfield's first playoff game in 26 years (vs. Pacific Lutheran in 1991) in which it failed to generate points. The Crusaders' last loss was to Linfield in the 2015 NCAA quarterfinals.

Linfield finishes the season 9-2, losing twice to University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.

UMHB will host the University of St. Thomas in the quarterfinals next weekend in Texas.

X-Ray vision

Both Sides Now: Memorial Stadium 11/28/2017

Will a time come when Linfielders will sing the college fight song at the drop of a hat?

Note: Many Linfielders (well, in reality just one, me) have requested that this award-winning (my decision) opinion piece -- which originally appeared 11/27/2017 at the Wildcatville blog -- be repeated. So, here it is. At this time -- this is re-posted 12/1/2019 at BWC-Linfield and Linfield Alumni Facebook pages -- changing the name of Linfield COLLEGE to Linfield UNIVERSITY is impending. There is no better time than now to create a Linfield UNIVERSITY Fight Song.

EVERY COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY AND SCHOOL HAS ITS TRADITIONS

Take Washington State University (WSU) in Pullman -- for which I worked 26-plus years -- and Linfield College -- which I attended four years and graduated in 1970 -- for example.

WSU is home of the Cougars/Cougs. A common greeting between those with WSU affinity is "Go, Cougs!"

Linfield is home of the Wildcats/Cats. Between those who are Linfielders it's "Go, Cats!"

Fight songs?

The WSU Fight Song is something Cougs sing at the drop of a hat. It's sung at sporting events by fans and teams, often accompanied by the WSU Marching Band or the WSU Pep Band. It's often sung acapella, oftentimes spontaneously, at other events including commencement.

The Linfield Fight Song is not as well known among Cats. Even when it's played at home football games, Linfield fans may know the tune "On, Wisconsin" and not realize it's the same music used for "On with Linfield," the college's fight song. Even if they know the tune, they may not know the lyrics:

On with Linfield, On with Linfield
Fight right through that line
Take the ball right down the field
A touchdown’s sure this time
Rah, rah, rah!

On with Linfield, On with Linfield
Fight on for your fame
Fight Wildcats, fight, fight, fight!
To win this game!

SUGGESTIONS:

1--Linfield is adding marching band in fall 2018. Hopefully the Linfield Marching Band will play "On with Linfield" loudly and proudly at a variety of sporting and non-sports events. Will a time will come when Linfielders will sing the college fight song at the drop of a hat?

2--Linfield school colors are cardinal and purple. Please make sure both colors are represented in the Linfield Marching Band uniforms!

POSTSCRIPT:

= Link to "On, Wisconsin" band music with lyrics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOYus1BE7jk

= In at least one football game on Linfield's Maxwell Field between the Wildcats and a team from a Wisconsin university, a recording of "On with Linfield" was not played over the Memorial Stadium public address system. Fans and team members of that Wisconsin school (which does not have a fight song using the "On, Wisconsin" tune) would have assumed 1) Linfield was playing "On, Wisconsin" for them, 2) Linfield thought "On, Wisconsin" was their university’s fight song.

=Audio file On Wisconsin 

https://soundcloud.com/user699942183/fanfare-on-wisconsin

Linfielder Howard Graves shared stationery from his travels

Howard Graves, a bureau chief for The Associated Press in New Mexico, Oregon, and Hawaii for The Associated Press during a 41-year career, exchanged correspondence and newspaper clippings with numerous former colleagues over the years – to the point where he became known as the “UnaClipper” or the “ClipMeister.”

Graves, a member of the Linfield Class of 1951, also shared stationery with former colleagues that he picked up during travels. 

Paul Albright, worked for Graves in the Albuquerque, New Mexico, AP bureau in the 1960s. The stationery exchange began when Albright occasionally scribbled a note to Graves, using a page of Holiday Inn or Motel 6 stationery. 

Somehow, Graves got the notion that he should share stationery with Albright and others, partly so they would continue to correspond with him. 

As Graves and his wife, Audrey, motored through the Midwest, the Far West and elsewhere, Graves kept stationery from their hotel/motel rooms and enclosed it with his latest missive to Albright who could not possibly use it all. 

When Graves died at age 90 on Jan. 25, 2017, in Prescott, Arizona, Albright had at least a ream of unused stationery Graves sent him from hotels and motels in the U.S. and abroad. In this slide show is a sampling: