THE TIMES - WAITSBURG, WASHINGTON - THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2011—1

Vol. 134, No. 32 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2011 75¢

INDEXOpinion:Jobs Stood For Progress ............................2Touchet Valley News:Commercial Ave. Vision ..............................3WHS Homecoming Schedule .....................3Sports:Tigers, Dragons Tie ....................................8Classifieds ..............................................10Legal Notices ..........................................11Weather ...................................................12

WP Quiets Bulldogs’ Bark

Page 7

dayton is no. 1 in league

Page 7

On Facebook: www.facebook.com/waitsburgtimesOnline: www.waitsburgtimes.com

Supporters Make Case For 2012 Horse Races

Encore25 Years After

Quitting Show Biz, Little

Wolf Is Back On Stage For A Home Act

Dayton Gets Taste Of Asia

Council DelaysSewerVote

Markeeta Little Wolf photoMarkeeta Little Wolf earned the cover of the Australasian Post in 1977.

Markeeta Little Wolf photoMarkeeta Little Wolf in a

headdress of emu feathers as a teen.

By Jillian Beaudry

The Times

WA I T S B U R G -- It has been 25 years since Mar-

keeta Little Wolf has belted out songs with her powerful voice to an audience. Little Wolf performed on TV, in club acts and even on the theater stage in musicals from age 12 to 28, when she gave it all up to sell real estate and have a different kind of life.

Little Wolf, now 53, real-ized about one year ago that she still has one more show in her, she said. And she’s been working since on songs, light-ing and cos-tumes to give her friends in Waitsburg a piece of her she’s kept quiet for so long.

A Show Biz Family

Little Wolf , born in New Zealand, said she was born with a song in her heart.

“I came out of the womb (singing),” she said. “I came by it naturally coming from a show business family.”

Her father was a profes-sional wrestler in the 1930s named Big Chief Little Wolf. He was 100 percent Navaho Indian who wrestled in the United States in the winter and

headed to Australia to wrestle the rest of the calendar year.

“The people loved him because he was a great show-man,” she said of her father.

In Australia, Big Chief’s fame grew and he performed in a Wild West and circus show. She describes is as “the circus meets cowboys and Indians.”

Little Wolf said her father Big Chief met her mother Dona at a party when he was seated at Dona’s table. She says Big Chief asked Dona to dance and they later married and had Markeeta. Little Wolf has one older brother from her mother’s first marriage. He is a lawyer and former judge living in Hermiston, Ore.

While Big Chief was per-forming in the show, Dona, a

tiny and timid woman, would take the mon-ey and round up acts, Little Wo l f s a i d . Once, despite stage fright, Dona had to fill in for a per-former and ride a trick pony in the show, Lit-tle Wolf said. The g i f t o f song does not come from her mother, Little Wolf said. But, her father and

brother have wonderful voices, so it does run in the family. Big Chief would often sit outside and just begin to sing, she recalls.

While growing up, Little Wolf sang all types of music. She later got hooked on Coun-try Western music, which she would play with a little box guitar.

After lots of practice, she booked her first performance at a birthday party in some-one’s home in Australia when she was 12 years old. She played music for 15 to 20 min-utes and received a $20 bill for

her work.“I couldn’t believe it,” she

said. She told her mother she

wanted to be a professional musician and Dona enrolled Little Wolf in every kind of class imaginable that would

(See “Encore” on Page 5)

By Jillian BeaudryThe Times

WAITSBURG – Mem-bers of the board of the Days of Real Sport, Dayton Days and other groups af-filiated with local Class C

Horse Racing Reps

Appeal To State Racing Commission

race tracks scribbled their signatures on a letter to members of the Washington Horse Racing Commission with the hope that the com-mission will give the tracks money in 2012 to bring back their horse racing events.

The commission’s fund balance, a cut of money earned from wagers at Au-burn’s Emerald Downs, only allowed for six days of Class C racing in 2011. The fund-ing does not come from tax payers. The commission last winter decided to provide those days to the Tri-Cities

Horseracing Association in Kennewick because of that facility’s significant, recent investment in its track, in-cluding a new rail and barn estimated at $150,000 and paid for with state grants.

The annual Waitsburg event Days of Real Sport, which had been held for 97 years, did not take place in May. Dayton Days contin-ued without a horse-racing component.

Walla Walla, Waitsburg and Dayton agreed to let the Kennewick track have all of the commission’s funds in

2011 with the understanding that the other tracks would receive money for race days in 2012.

Because there was no rac-ing, Bill Hoff, a Walla Walla resident who stables and trains race horses in Waits-burg, said the local economy took a hit because there was no draw to bring tourists in for Real Days of Sport.

Representatives from Dayton have written their own letter and are also in-volved in the effort, Hoff said.

Hoff said he would like in

2012 for the commission to give each race track an equal piece of the pie. If the funds were distributed evenly, then each race track could go out and find private funding to carry out more racing dates.

Hoff said Waitsburg was getting about $15,700 from the commission for each racing day, but received none in 2011.

In tough economic times, there has been less mon-ey generated at Emerald Downs, so the commission has less than ever to give.

“We need Emera ld

Downs to do well to gener-ate money,” Hoff said.

Without races in Waits-burg last May, Hoff said local business owners took a hit.

“I’ve been told the Days of Real Sport Weekend was the best economic weekend of the year,” he said.

Terry Jacoy, the treasurer of the board that organizes Days of Real Sport each year, said many new busi-nesses have opened up in

(See “Races” on Page 6)

Markeeta Little Wolf

In ConcertSaturday, Oct. 29

Plaza Theater208 Main St., Waitsburg

By Imbert MattheeThe Times

DAYTON – The Day-ton City Council Monday decided to table a proposed ordinance amendment that would have made homeown-ers responsible for repairs to sewer lines that connect their houses to the main.

After holding a public hearing on the ordinance and receiving comments from two concerned Dayton residents, the council voted to explore a new idea that would add a small fee to residents’ utility bill to create a reserve for such repairs in the future.

“It’s a possibility I hadn’t considered,” Councilman and Mayor Pro Tem Merle Jackson said about the pro-posal offered by Art Hall, a new Dayton resident who recently relocated here from the Everett area.

Hall said he was con-cerned about shifting the burden of “side sewer” re-

City To Explore Other

Options To Cover Costs

(See “Sewer” on Page 6)

Imbert Matthee photoThe Kim family is turning a former bowling alley and Mexican restaurant into the

Asian Grill that will serve barbecue and teriyaki dishes.

By Imbert Matthee

The Times

DAYTON -- If the num-ber of questions Dayton Chamber of Commerce Director Claudia Nysoe has been getting lately are any indication, there’s quite a bit of excitement and anticipa-tion in the valley about a new addition to Dayton’s restaurant community.

“I’ve had two or three people a week asking me when’s that new place go-ing to open,” Nysoe said. “Everyone here in Dayton is really excited about having a new place to eat.”

The place in question is the Asian Grill and the answer to the much-asked question is: soon!

Members of the Kim

family, who used to own “I Love Teriyaki” on Main Street in Walla Walla, said they hope to open their doors to the old bowling alley and former home of Fiesta En Jalisco sometime before the end of the month.

The Kims are still waiting on some equipment and are in the process of obtaining their beer and wine license of the

establishment, which they say will serve Korean, Japanese and Chinese cuisine with dishes ranging in price from $7.50 to $13.50.

“I hope it will be well-received,” said Kyung Kim, who will run the new res-taurant with her husband Yon and their son Chung. Daughter Julee, who lives in the Seattle area, is the Asian

Grill’s owner.The Kims have a long

history of owning and op-erating Asian restaurants. The elder couple immi-grated from South Korea in 1978, joining a far-flung immigrant family that also consisted of Kyung Kim’s sister in Ohio and another

(See “Asia” on Page 6)

Valley Residents Get

Another Dining Option

THE TIMES - WAITSBURG, WASHINGTON - THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2011—5

TOUCHET VALLEY NEWS

Imbert Matthee photoMarkeeta Little Wolf and her husband Michael Hubbard. Little Wolf holds a photo of

herself as a teenage singer.

Markeeta Little Wolf photoBig Chief Little Wolf holds baby Markeeta Little Wolf.

Encore(Continued from Page 1)

help her obtain this goal, including elocution, singing, dancing, acting and sight sing-ing lessons.

Her Big Break

At age 13, Little Wolf au-ditioned for the Australian TV show “New Faces.” She performed her song and she said the judges were very im-pressed.

“All of the judges were all over themselves,” she said.

She was selected to per-form later on the show’s grand finale and competed well. Next stop for her was an audi-tion for “Showcase” and she earned a spot on that show. She said she didn’t win showcase, but was chosen Miss Conge-niality and earned a place on a tour bus that traveled all over Australia for a year. Little Wolf was 16 touring the country and performing with her mother by her side every step of the way.

“After that, I was a house-hold name,” Little Wolf said. “It was a good springboard for my career.”

Little Wolf said even as a girl she had a good head on her shoulders, and her mother was protective and wouldn’t have let her get into trouble anyway.

“My mother was very strict and I had a very cloistered life,” Little Wolf said.

Dona was in no way push-ing her daughter into show business, but didn’t stand in the way of her dreams.

“I think she just knew I was serious,” Little Wolf said. “I had a lot of God-given talent, but God can only do so much. The rest is up to you.”

Little Wolf said Big Chief was very proud of her suc-cess and only became irritated when she went from being known as Big Chief’s daughter and earned her own fame, and he was referred to as “Mar-keeta’s dad.”

At age 17, she put out an album and visited Hollywood and sang at the Palomino Club.

“I was (underage) and I wasn’t supposed to be in there,” she said with a laugh. “I’d do my show and leave.”

She continued performing around the world, in places such as Fiji and Southeast Asia, and in Australia from ages 188 through 22. Then, she came back to the U.S. to continue pursuing her career.

Her album got some air play, but it didn’t go gold.

“I’d gone as far as I could in Australia,” she said. “I was ambitious.”

Her father Big Chief had

suffered a massive stroke when he was 48 years old and never wrestled again. He want-ed to come back to the U.S. at the end of his life, so that added to the reason for coming to the states permanently. He died in 1980.

But, she found America to be tough to add to her suc-cesses. She said she sounded and looked different from other American performers at that time and she had trouble furthering her career.

“They didn’t know what to do with me,” she said.

Six years later at age 28, she decided one day to leave it all behind.

“I’d had a very good run,” she said of her music career. “I said ‘I’m not going to end up (singing) at Holiday Inn at 53.’”

A New Life

For Little Wolf, the time was right to study and get her license to sell real estate in Los Angeles. She said she was good at her new job and L.A. was exciting because there was so much to do. However, the Rodney King Riots in 1992 frightened Little Wolf and her mother, who had moved to the U.S. with her. She said random people were being dragged out of their cars and they decided to relocate.

Little Wolf said she was interested in moving to a small city. She had visited her brother in Hermiston and had been to the Walla Walla area and liked it. But, she was wor-ried Walla Walla would grow too large.

One day, she pulled out a map and started looking at cit-ies near Walla Walla. She said her finger followed Highway 12 from Walla Walla on the map and she went right past Dixie to a small town called Waitsburg, population 1,250. Little Wolf called a local real estate agent who sent her a vid-eo of the town and she quickly found a fixer-upper to buy.

As soon as she drove into

Waitsburg, she still had never been there in person, she re-members saying “This is it. This is the place I’ve always wanted to live.”

In 1993, Little Wolf and her mother moved into the Preston Street house and were having trouble with a neighbor and needed some legal help. Her brother couldn’t represent her, but gave her the name of a local lawyer, Vaughn Hub-bard. Hubbard listened to Little Wolf’s legal problem and buzzed his son Michael into the office. Before meeting Michael Hubbard, Little Wolf said she wanted to retire to this little town and grow a veg-etable garden. But, he changed her plans. The couple dated for about a year and married in a small ceremony. She also inherited three stepchildren.

Little Wolf had saved all of the money she made in her music career and the L.A. real estate market had been good to her, so she didn’t need to work. But, she said she got bored and took on one of her favorite jobs as a cook at the Bull’s Eye tavern during the daytime. She loved how busy it was and came up with homemade spe-cials. Michael Hubbard was her best customer, she said.

The job she’s most proud of is her position as mayor of Waitsburg from 2007-2010.

“I’ve done a lot in my life,” Little Wolf said. “I’ve sung for kings and queens, raised three rotten kids and sold millions in real estate. But being the may-or of Waitsburg is the single biggest accomplishment that I’m proud of.”

Laughing, she also says she doesn’t miss the stressful job.

Now, she continues work-ing at her husband’s law office, as she has for the past 14 years, and takes care of her mother who still lives in town.

The Big Show

The idea for the show start-ed with Little Wolf and friend Steve Haberman. Haberman met Little Wolf in L.A. at

a cabaret club in 1984. She originally came to watch a show at the club and ended up auditioning as a performer, he said. Haberman was the musi-cal director of that show and he now lives and works in the Tri Cities as a musician and host of a radio show.

Haberman is the pianist for the local car show every year and Little Wolf said about a year ago, he helped her answer the question “do I have one more show in me?”

The pair has been work-ing all year on a show that is the story of Little Wolf’s life through song and pattern, she said.

Little Wolf is the set, but she’s got costumes and she thinks she will really surprise the locals who haven’t known her in the capacity of a per-former.

“If nothing else, it will be entertaining because this is one thing I know how to do,” she said.

The show is set for Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. at the Plaza Theater at 208 Main St., in Waitsburg. Tickets are selling fast and half the theater is already filled, she said. She jokes that she offers a “money-back guarantee,” and really thinks the community will enjoy it. For her, it’s just a chance to get up and show off her skills that she has kept hidden for 25 years.

“It’s for my own satisfac-tion,” she said.