I saw in today’s Tribune that Rowena Bell has died. I remember interviewing her several years ago for a story about her weekly newspaper column in Pomeroy. She was a sweet lady. Here’s the article:
Columnist serves up down-home news
Lots of folks in Pomeroy ‘live for her column’
Kerri Sandaine
Monday, April 15, 2002
POMEROY — Every week subscribers of the East Washingtonian grab the latest edition and flip to Rowena Bell’s column to find out the “latest news on the Bell Telephone System.”
The best-read section of this town’s weekly newspaper, which features everything from who is in the hospital to what the neighbors down the street had for Easter dinner, is written by an 80-year-old woman who has lived in Pomeroy all her life and knows just about everyone in Garfield County.
For the past 15 years, Bell has been offering readers updates on folks who are battling health problems, guest lists from local parties and details about holiday gatherings. She writes about people’s vacations, pets and out-of-town visitors.
And her down-home news is served up to an audience who hangs on every word.
“We all live for her column,” says Lynn Shawley, a Pomeroy school secretary.
“She gives us all the information about what’s going on with the people we care about in Pomeroy.
“It’s the first thing I read, and I read it thoroughly.”
The column also seems to be a hit with some readers who have never set foot in Pomeroy. One former resident moved to Spokane two years ago and began taking her hometown newspaper to the office.
At first her co-workers found Bell’s column entertaining because of its small-town flavor, says Merrilee Keatts.
Then they started following the progress of people with ailments who are featured in the column.
“Now they’re hooked on it like a television show,” says Keatts, who works at Nickel Nik Classifieds.
“They love it and look forward to it. They want to know the progress of so-and- so, and they wonder how different people are getting along. One man who was sick ended up dying and they felt like they knew him.”
That surprises Bell.
“Maybe I will have to be careful what I write because more people than I think read it,” Bell wrote in a recent column. “I have thought that only Pomeroy people or former Pomeroy residents read the paper.”
She says she’s flattered and a bit flabbergasted by the attention.
“I just visit with people,” she says. “I know most of the people. If they make any kind of a trip, I try to get them to tell me something about it. If they have company, I try to tell who came. I think there’s more interest in telling how people are, so I give reports on health too.”
A typical health update gives details such as how a person was injured in the first place. A February column gave this account: “The day after Christmas Donna Anderson got out some carpet cleaner to clean some spots on her rug. She did not realize she had squirted some of the cleaner on her kitchen floor. After she completed the rug, she started walking across the kitchen floor and stepped on a slick place and fell on her left hand.”
Sometimes animals make the news, too. An item says Karen Huntington’s llama is getting along fine. “The man that brought the llama over from the coast told them that Oscar was the llama’s name. Karen said she just could not seem to get the animal to get settled down and he did not respond to his name at all.
“Karen called the family in Maple Valley that had trained the llama and the lady told her that his name is Riel. Karen said the next morning she went out and said good morning, Riel, and the llama has been responding to her all the time now.”
Keatts says almost everyone who has ever lived in Pomeroy takes the paper even after they move.
“Every week we have the Pomeroy college kids who are living here in Spokane and their friends over for dinner. The first thing they do is get the paper and read Rowena’s column.”
A third of the newspaper’s circulation of 1,400 goes out of the county, according to Publisher and Editor Mike Tom.
“Rowena’s column is probably the most well-read part of the paper,” Tom says. “People out of town enjoy reading what their friends and family are doing. People are very loyal to the paper.”
“She works so hard and takes it very seriously,” says Janice Baldwin, a retired Pomeroy resident. “We read it every week. She goes into a lot of detail and her conscientious approach really impresses me.”
“You get up to date on what’s going on in town and it’s not gossip, it’s fact,” says Bud Crickmer, also retired. “She’s accurate. She calls people to verify her stories.”
Bell has been a widow for almost 33 years. She’s the mother of five children, all living outside the area. She went to work in the Garfield County auditor’s office after her husband died and retired about 15 years ago.
“I came to the Senior Center on Monday after my last day of work,” Bell says. “I just sat down and a lady handed me a yellow pad and said the woman who usually writes the news is on a trip. She asked me to take over for one week.”
One week turned into two, and before long Senior Happenings became the Bell Telephone System column and Bell’s new career was launched.
“No one wanted the yellow pad, so I just went ahead. My kids encourage me to do this.”
Until recently, Bell wrote all her columns out in longhand. But one of her son’s gave her a computer and now she types her news, which is picked up Monday mornings by the Toms.
Since she doesn’t drive, Bell walks most places and picks up news items as she visits with folks along the way.
She’s already thinking about next week’s column as she jots down notes.
Bell pauses to say she enjoys gathering local news and keeping abreast of what’s happening in Pomeroy.
“But when my kids come home, they give me a hard time,” she says with a laugh. “They say, ‘You’re slipping mother. I’ve been in town an hour and I’ve already found out something you don’t know anything about.’ “
