Mount St. Helens: Reader Memories
Compiled for the 30th anniversary of Mount St. Helens' eruption, a selection of reader memories that tell the tale of that day.
Section:Picture story
Vehicle maintenance: Following a thorough dusting of volcanic ash, Barbara Greer Richards cleans off the family car at 2607 W. Dean Ave.
Barbara Greer
Sometime around early afternoon I got a phone call from the head of maintenance wondering why I didn’t go to work that day. I told my boss I understood we were to stay off the roads for the foreseeable future. He said, 'Who do you think is going to clean this place?'
Terry Hontz Spokane
Ash cloud cover: A friend of Betty Ehr took this photo from the rest area between Lewiston and Othello on May 18, 1980.
Betty Ehr
Ralph Thomas Cole Newport, WA
Aftermath: Ron Cauvel points out the height of the mud flow near Toutle Lake, Wash.
Ron Cauvel
Mike Dorman Deer Lake area
The climactic moment: Mount St. Helens reaches critical mass and erupts.
Willard Pennell
When it was all dark and eerie because Mount St. Helens had erupted, our neighbor went out on the porch and howled like a coyote. We thought that was very appropriate and added to the weirdness.
Don and Lois Bender Spokane
Mary Pierce
Boys will be boys: Nicholas Schuerman, 2, is allowed to play outside in Mead after the eruption but only when wearing a mask. “The kids were so desperate to play outside, so we relented,” wrote his mother, Jan Schuerman.
Jan Schuerman
Vivian Turner
The 'new' Black Bird was moved into its hangar along with many other planes. The announcement came on that the air show was canceled and everyone should leave immediately. My husband’s first thought was that a war was imminent.
Kate Wendell Coeur d’Alene
Here comes the ash: Terry Flume, center, and Vicki Flume, not pictured, were married in Spokane six days after Mount St. Helens blew. The groom’s party took officials’ warnings as inspiration for a posed photo.
Vicki Flume
In memory: Geology graduate student Jim Fitzgerald was on a mountain six miles from Mount St. Helens when the volcano erupted. He was killed in the blast, and his Datsun was discovered five days later.
Barry Johnston
Few takers: “The picture is of my husband Leroy, who had a great sense of humor and put the sign on our front gate on the South Hill,” writes Joyce Deitz, of Spokane.
Joyce Deitz
Ominous signs: A dark cloud of ash approaches Pullman on May 18, 1980.
Gene Rosa
The show started out great, but as the night wore on, the ash began to take its toll on everything. ... The singers’ voices tanked, guitars wouldn’t stay in tune and other fun stuff, but The Wheel finished the show to a very happy but gray crowd.
Jim Christensen Spokane
Mary McCauliffe Spokane
Surprise, Honey. “Mount St. Helens blew one day before our first wedding anniversary. My wife said I didn’t have to do anything that big ever again for our anniversary,” writes Sam Richart.
Sam Richart
Leonard Rist Cheney
Dee Ross Coeur d’Alene
I finally pulled into my apartment parking lot and headed to my apartment. My roommates and I decided that we should walk to the local Dismores and stock up on college essentials: beer and toilet paper.
Jay W. Scott Irvine, Calif.
Even the dogs were wearing masks in Farmington, Wash., after the dust arrived.
Willard Pennell
Garden variety: Howard Fleenor tries to clean up ash on his Latah Valley property May, 20 1980.
Marilyn Fleenor
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