The final words of the song, “Home Sweet Home” are “Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home.”
I was born and raised in Lewiston, and live here in retirement. Let’s talk about some reasons I love my hometown and the area.
Like others who love their hometown area, I like mine because of the memories of my daughter, parents, grandparents and many friends who I knew, and most are buried here. My parents were buried in the beautiful Normal Hill Cemetery at the ages of 97 and 102, and my grandparents are buried at Normal Hill and Clarkston’s Vineland Cemetery. Our beloved daughter Jolyn Dahmen passed away at the age of 46 and is buried at Vineland, too, a few blocks from where she lived, and close to the Clarkston Golf and Country Club where she played golf with her husband Ed and son Joel who is now a professional golfer.
Golf and baseball are two reasons to enjoy our valley because of the warm year-around weather. Baseball is definitely why I like Lewiston, as is the old Normal Hill neighborhood area. Normal Hill is named for the nice college located there which is now called Lewis-Clark State College. It started in 1893, and for the first 50 plus years, it was a small college called the Lewiston State Normal to train teachers. It now is a 4,000-plus student school that includes a nursing program, a vocational school, and many general and liberal arts offerings. Among the old buildings on campus are new ones like the library, the nursing building, and the $16 million Student Activity Center which has a gymnasium which seats 3,500.
College graduation and Lewiston High School’s commencement ceremonies are held in the Activity Center, as well as exciting sporting events like the men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball games. Located next to the Activity Center is Harris Field, one of the nicest and best looking college baseball stadiums in the country, and home to the NAIA World Series, which has been won by the LCSC Warriors 19 times. Harris Field has hosted the NAIA World Series many times, and still does, for 10 teams at the end of May in one of Lewiston’s major events.
A couple of other big Lewiston events are the Lewiston Roundup rodeo held each September since 1935, and Hot August Nights in old Pioneer Park with many bands for entertainment.
Health care in the valley includes hospitals like the St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center on Normal Hill where my wife, the late Barbara Wagner Riggs, and I were born. Clarkston has a nice hospital, too. I think Lewiston and Clarkston both have good public schools, including Lewiston’s beautiful new high school located in the Orchards.
Lewiston’s area history fascinates me, and I have written many articles about it. Old churches and homes interest me, including the ones with a view of our two rivers. The rivers are important with tour and barge boats, recreation, fishing and more, and the rivers have nice man-made walking paths.
I am a newspaper nut and I love our local Tribune, which has been home-owned by the Alford family since it started in 1893.
Two views I like are seeing the valley from high on top of the Lewiston Hill and the Christmas lights at Locomotive Park. Transportation for industry and passengers is provided by airlines, barge and railroad.
Where do people work? Lewiston has two major industrial employers, the Clearwater Paper Co. since 1927, and the ATK-Speer Bullet Factory.
These are a few reasons I enjoy living in our area. How about you?
Riggs, 90, is a lifelong Lewistonian. He’s an avid Warriors fan, a retired educator, coach and school superintendent and volunteers his time at the Nez Perce County Historical Society. He can be reached at bdriggo@gmail.com.
