2001: Rodie Renn-Lasher
In 1923, when Robert A. Long was recruiting men to help build Longview, Rodie Renn-Lasher’s grandfather, Frank Kisch, loaded his family in a Model T and headed for the new city from Alberta, Canada. They lived in tarpaper huts in Rainier before houses were built in Longview. Renn-Lasher received a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Washington State University and a master’s degree from the University of Portland. A nursing instructor at Lower Columbia College and an emergency department nurse for St. John Medical Center, she was involved in numerous civic groups.

2002: Holly Bishop
Holly Bishop’s parents came to Longview for their honeymoon in 1923, and never left. By age 16, Holly was a disc jockey for radio station KWLK, learning skills that earned him a job on a Navy short-wave broadcast station during World War II. He held the microphone as Gen. Joseph Stilwell announced the Japanese had surrendered. After the war, Bishop ran a grocery store and worked as a ship chandler and a bail bondsman. He also started and sold two radio stations. In 2011, he was inducted into the R.A. Long Hall of Fame.

2003: Clyde Shadiow
As a teenager, Clyde Shadiow managed the Commercial Hotel, owned by his mother, on the corner of Broadway and 12th Avenue. During World War II, he enlisted in the Army without finishing high school. While he was overseas, R.A. Long Principal Earl Reed sent Clyde an honorary diploma. Shadiow owned Clyde’s Custom Painting for nearly 40 years. Until his death in 2009, he was Longview’s unofficial historian. He collected the Long-Bell Log, old photos, news clippings, and more. The keepsakes were displayed in The Merk’s Long-Bell Reading Room, which he set up to honor Longview’s 75th birthday.

2004: Roger Peters
Roger Peters was born at St. John Hospital, the youngest of three children of Amos Peters (’23 Club President in 1968) and his wife, Elsie. A graduate of Mark Morris and the University of Washington with degrees in zoology and economics, he returned home to work in the family construction business. Local projects he has worked on include major remodels to the Longview City Council Chamber and St. Rose Church, as well as construction of Calvary Community Church, LCC Campus Services, the Longshoremen’s Credit Union, and St. Rose Parish Center.

2005: Carol Crayne
Two years after her father, Clyde Shadiow, was president of the ’23 Club, Carol Crayne led the club’s annual meeting. Born in 1951, Carol graduated from Mark Morris High School as senior class secretary and later helped to organize Class of 1969 reunions. She married Jesse Crayne the same month she graduated, and the young couple bought a home in Lexington. There, they took in dozens of foster girls over the years. They also raised daughters of their own. Carol had careers in banking and office management. She died in 2021.

2006: Cindi Stiebritz McCoy
Buses have been a part of Cindi McCoy’s life since she was young. Her parents, Leslie and Verone Stiebritz, bought the Longview/Kelso Bus Company in 1968. Dad, Mom, Cindi, and her two brothers ran their buses without any outside help until 1976, when the City of Longview purchased the business. Cindi’s bus career continued, however. She started driving a city bus in 1979 and five years later became transit supervisor for the Community Urban Bus Service. She retired in 2010 after 30 years with the city.

2007: Debby Merz
Horses have been a lifelong passion for Debby Merz. For years, she and husband Bill opened their M-Z Ranch west of Longview to local students for a day of learning about horses and the western way of life. Because the activities required equine expertise, only youngsters lucky enough to have a teacher who owned a horse could come. She served on the Thunder Mountain Pro Rodeo Committee for more than 25 years. Off the ranch, she was a cosmetologist, banquet manager for Henri’s Restaurant, and a Realtor. She has visited more than 45 countries.

2008: Kaye Clinch
When Kaye Clinch was president, she qualified for membership under the club’s longstanding rule that lineal membership ended after the second generation. That restriction contributed to a decline in membership. To revitalize the club, she and fellow officers initiated changes that opened membership to all descendants of Longview pioneers and their spouses. Another change was ending the written application requirement to become an honorary member. Kaye is a retired CPA who volunteers for the thrift shop that supports Youth and Family Link.

2009: Patti Lamb
Patti Lamb’s maternal grandparents, Charles and Irma Stief, arrived in Longview in 1923. Charles drove teams of horses pulling earth-moving gear called Fresno scrapers. The contraptions shaped dredge spoils from Fowler Slough into the banks surrounding Lake Sacajawea. He also paved city streets. Patti’s year as president was highlighted by adopting club bylaws that extended lineal membership requirements beyond the second generation and made it easy to become honorary members. Patti spent most of her working years as a legal assistant and typist.

2010: Margie Botten
Margie Botten’s mother, Velma Arnold Noteboom, had missed out on lineal membership by two years. As a ’23 Club vice president, Margie was among the leaders who were eager to do away with the application process for honorary membership. Margie wanted the club open to all who appreciate Longview. Her love of Longview was evident in the program she presented as president. With photos and words, she recounted the wonder she felt as a youngster walking under the city’s seemingly endless canopy of trees. That gratitude endures, as does her family’s tradition of decorating ’23 Club dinner tables with dahlias.