In 1910, President Taft became the first commander in chief to throw the opening pitch at a baseball game, Alva Fisher patented the first electric washing machine and the Boy Scouts of America were incorporated and chartered.

During that same year in July, another group of pioneers were banding together. An enterprising collection of Whidbey Islanders signed the “Articles of Incorporation” for the Clinton Progressive Association.

The purpose of the formation of the corporation, according to the historic document, was for “erecting and maintaining of a public building in the settlement of Clinton. Said building to be used by the community as a public hall in harmony with the laws of the state and such rules as may be from time to time adopted.”

That was 100 years ago, and now it’s time to celebrate the stories behind Clinton and the hall.

A visit from Sec. Reed

The building, which today is called the Clinton Community Hall, is still owned and maintained by the Clinton Progressive Association. In recognition of that group’s dedication to maintaining its corporate status for an entire century, Secretary of State Sam Reed will present the association with an official Century Corporation Award during the centennial celebration at the hall. The event is from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 15.

The program of local history titled “A Century Later: Clinton Celebrates” will be emceed by Jim Freeman and will also include stories, humor and a video about old Clinton by Gordon Simmons, Roy Simmons, Tom Fisher, Joan Nelson, Mary Sue Lile and Jill Johnson. A special birthday cake for the association made by award-winning cake maker John Auburn of J.W. Desserts will be served.

Elisa Miller is president of the association’s board and one of the organizers of the event. Miller stressed the point that, through thick and thin, the association has kept up its original vision of giving unincorporated Clinton its only public assembly hall.

“A century later we’re still registered, so our purpose is steadfast,” Miller said.

“This is important to Clinton, because as a town we don’t have much common space available to us besides the park. The hall is common to all of us,” she said.

Such an auspicious 100-year-old birthday is certainly cause to celebrate. But notable, too, is the fact that of the nearly 3,000 Washington incorporations filed in 1910, only 60 exist today, and the majority of those are churches and service organizations such as the Clinton Progressive Association.

Included in that number are three other South Whidbey century corporations, Whidbey Telecom (1908), the Clinton Cemetery (1909), and Langley United Methodist Church (1909).

Since 1910, the Clinton Progressive Association has operated as a nonprofit community-supported organization that owns and manages the Clinton Community Hall. The hall was built as a home for social activities and community services, and to serve as a place where local issues could be discussed. It was the community vision of these founders that is still alive and thriving a century later.

Stories remembered

The original community hall was razed in 1964 and the current one built the following year. Miller said the life of Clinton depends on the hall; that’s where things happen, where things get done, she said.

Evert Olkonen is a longtime resident of Clinton, his family having owned the Swan Farm, about a mile up the hill off Deer Lake Road, since 1910. His mother Elsie Swan Olkonen, who was born there in 1917, was a mover and shaker in the town of Clinton for most of her life and is well-known for her involvement in the community and in the state. She was an active member of the Clinton Progressive Association and was instrumental in the construction of the new hall, with the help of her brother-in-law Horace Flynn and her brother Ivar Swan, who were building contractors.

In August 1965, $2,500 was borrowed from Langley State Bank for the building of the hall, then another $1,000 was borrowed in June 1966. By March 19, 1968, the money was paid back with interest, Olkonen said.

“My uncles Horace Flynn and Ivar Swan were the main builders,” Olkonen said.

“The first roof was made from cedar shakes that Martin Orr made. The whole community was involved in doing what they could.”

Olkonen said his sister remembers Chrisy Burrier arguing for long hours with his uncle Horace about how the kitchen should be built.

“My uncles never charged a dime for the work they did in building the hall. I think almost all the work was donated,” Olkonen said.

He remembered standing on the balcony of the old hall as a boy and watching the dancers from above during one of the regular social gatherings. The hall also hosted smorgasbords, fundraisers and bingo nights.

“There were so many people to thank for the building of the hall,” Olkonen said. “Names long forgotten, except by the few old-time islanders that still remain here.”

Spitfire Clintonite

But his mother’s influence went beyond Clinton and the building of the hall.

At one point she was the Island County Democratic Chairwoman for a few years.

Political dinners were held at the hall by the Clinton Progressive Association.

“If there had been speed dials back then,” Olkonen said, “my mom would have been in the top spot.”

One memory Olkonen has of his mother’s impressive clout was when Congressman Al Swift and U.S. Senators Henry Jackson and Warren Magnusson were invited to dinner at the hall.

He remembered them laughing and when his mother asked what they were laughing about, they said, “They were invited and they weren’t going to risk turning down Elsie.”

“Everyone laughed and my mom turned red-faced. But it was true,” Olkonen said.

Olkonen’s mother was heavily involved in the community, as were other members of his family, and their names still adorn street signs throughout the southern gateway to the island.

The association had its challenges through the years, one particularly for which Elsie Olkonen showed her true dedication to the Clinton cause.

“I remember my mom leading a delegation to Olympia to make sure the nonprofit status of the club [association] stayed intact,” Olkonen recalled.

“When the state ferries needed a place to put their dock, they took the beach access that had been granted to the Clinton Progressive Association. The state wouldn’t give back the beach, so my mom led a protest march right down the road with picket signs,” he said.

It started from the hall’s parking lot, he remembered. Newspapers ran Elsie Olkonen’s picture holding a “Where’s the Beach?” sign.

“She always fought hard for the community,” Olkonen said of his mother.

Like his mother, Olkonen and his sister were often volunteering at the hall.

“My mom would also get my friends involved. It was just a part of growing up here in Clinton,” he said.

It’s the stories like these of how Clinton has maintained its close community through this common meeting hall that Miller is keen to emphasize through the centennial celebration.

Miller said the party and the stories told by Clinton community members is meant to be fun and to remind everyone that this important cornerstone has survived and will continue to thrive.

“We’re still operating with the same mission, and quite successfully, as was designed by the pioneers,” Miller said.

This event is sponsored by Clinton Progressive Association, the South Whidbey Record, Whidbey Island Bank and the Clinton Chamber of Commerce.

Clinton Community Hall is at Humphrey Road and Highway 525.