The following are segments of stories from the Oct. 1, 1964 edition of the Whidbey Island Record, now the South Whidbey Record.
45,000 visit station for Navy air show
“Three times Old Sol played his ace this summer — once for the Fourth of July celebration at Oak Harbor, the second time for the Coupeville festival and the third time for the Island County Fair. The Navy was worried at the beginning of the week but they drew the fourth ace and the entire community played the winning hand.
“… The first day, Saturday, 6,566 cars were tallied through the gates, the second day, 4,536, and best Navy estimates came up with a round figure of 45,000 spectators, which was conservative since many viewed the proceedings from the perimeter of the station.
“Blue Angels were in fine form and gave a thrill to the most experienced Navy aviator as well as youthful spectators.
“One spectator said, ‘I’ve seen them before but I always forget they can be this good.’”
Voters to have say on building hospital
“Hospital Commissioners passed a resolution at their Sept. 17 meeting to place a $650,000 bond issue in the November general election for the future building of a hospital in Coupeville to serve all of Whidbey Island.
“Commissioners are Ed R. Adamson, North Whidbey; Ted Christiansen, Central Whidbey; and James M. Hay, South Whidbey.
“The group also went on record that they would not make any assessment to the taxpayers until Hill-Burton matching funds are approved. Matching funds of $300,000 are expected. Cost of the hospital will be approximately $900,000 without the health center which has now been eliminated in the planning.”
NAS Whidbey will grow as A6A’s are phased in
“A look into the future of Whidbey Island Naval Air Station and its relation to the surrounding civilian community was given to about 60 members and guests of the Oak Harbor Rotary Club last Friday by Captain D. G. Gumz, commander of Fleet Air Whidbey.
“Captain Gumz tied the military and civilian community together by the use of several graphs and charts which showed the predicted population trends for the next five years.
“According to Captain Gumz, there will be a decrease in personnel for the almost one year until July 1965, as the A3B aircraft are phased out. Following that, there should be a steady increase in population on the base as the new A6A is phased in until July 1969, when the actual on board count is expected to be over 7,000 officers and men. This will be a net gain of 1,100 military men.”
