By MARY TURNER

Knights Ferry has been pretty quiet this week; with not much to report on, I’d like to share another excerpt from the book “Touring Knights Ferry with Tom”. Following is a short bit on the history of the Knights Ferry General Store.

“Osmon C. Drew (1836-1911) who, with a man named Moulton, opened the Knights Ferry General Store in 1852. A host of owners since have kept the store running continuously. They are: George Valpey, Ernest Collin’s, Norman Smith, Dick Ulrich-Frank Smith, Forest Babcock, Harry Bugbee, H. Holliday, Roy DeGraffenreid, Raymond McNees, and now George Feichter.”

Tom recalls: “When Ern Collin’s got it he put a stairway on the west end of the store leading upstairs to sleeping quarters for the help. There was no bar in the original store. Back in the store was a row of nail kegs (nails came in wooden kegs in those days) and they had a board across that and the old fellows, maybe three, four of them would sit on that board and chew tobacco and spit into the nail kegs. Osmon Drew owned it first and George Valpey got it from him. When Drew had it, they didn’t hang around there so much, but when George got it he associated with those boys you know…George belonged to the band and he had a pretty good singing voice. He used to sing with them when they had picnics. I don’t know what instrument he played, but I can see him right now, walking around sucking on a lemon to keep his voice in tune!” (Touring Knights Ferry with Tom by Marjorie Willms, Copyright 1976)

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Ongoing Events:

Odd Fellows Breakfast - 1st Sunday of the month @ The Odd Fellows Lodge

Free Market - 2nd Tuesday 3:30pm @ The Odd Fellows Lodge

Taco Tuesday - 5pm-8pm @ Rick’s Saloon

Thankful Thursdays - 1st & 3rd Thursdays of the month. Free meal with drink purchase 5pm-8pm @ Rick’s Saloon

Upcoming Events:

School Board Meeting - May 14, 5:30pm @ Knights Ferry School

Water Board Meeting - May 21, 7pm @ The Miller’s Hall

Memorial Day - May 25, 2026

Odd Fellows Pot Luck Social - May 27, 6:30pm @ The Odd Fellows Lodge

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Do you have any exciting Knights Ferry local news, upcoming events, historical facts about the area, jokes or recipes to share? Contact Mary Turner at knightsferrynews@gmail.com