The phonebook lives on in Waterville

WATERVILLE, Wash. – You need a phone number or mailing address. Should you reach for the smartphone or grab a local copy of the telephone directory?

For many in Waterville, their instincts lead them to pick up an eight-page Waterville Telephone Directory containing 439 people’s phone numbers, including cell, and 93 plateau businesses, as well as addresses.

Chapter Z, a Waterville chapter of the Philanthropic Educational Organization, still prints a telephone directory, which is available at the Waterville Thrift Store and Town Hall for $6. Chapter Z will sell copies at Saturday’s Farmers/Crafters Market from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Pioneer Park.

“If people want one, come out and get one,” said Susan Mittelstaedt, Chapter Z member.

“Will it change in the future?,” asked Phyllis Browning, treasurer of Chapter Z. “Possibly, because the younger generation have their numbers in their phones and so they’re not as likely to go to a phonebook. But for those of us that have lived here many years, it has been a staple in our household.”

Directory sale proceeds support P.E.O. scholarships and activities, including a local scholarship for Shockers seniors. This year, Waterville High School senior Julia Ashley received $600 from the P.E.O.

“It’s kind of a staple,” Browning said. “All your businesses basically have one or two copies on hand because it has addresses, local phone numbers, you don’t have to go search through the big phonebook.”

“It’s handy,” Browning added. “And that’s basically what it is. Especially for the older generation. I hate to call us older, but let’s be honest here.”

“I really like it because it’s just local people,” Mittelstaedt said.

“Since we all have P.O. boxes in town, you know, it (the directory) is our resource because the post office is not going to give out post office box numbers,” Browning said.

The addresses prove handy for finding addresses to send cards when there is a death in a family or a new baby, according to Mittelstaedt.

“Sometimes the old ways are quick and easy,” she said.

The Waterville directory started in the 1970s. Chapter Z took 745 numbers, the Waterville area code, from the larger Verizon Directory and, with a Hermes typewriter, typed the Waterville directory for print, according to Browning.

Chapter Z have since streamlined the process with computers. Using the previous Waterville directory as a reference, members of Chapter Z check and add phone numbers and mailing addresses.

“We (Chapter Z) called all the numbers,” Mittelstaedt said.

“It’s hard to get new residents’ telephone numbers because, usually, they’re cells,” Browning said.

The directory gained new numbers and addresses through sign up sheets, which were available at the thrift store, library, and Town Hall. If a P.E.O. member had a contact in their cell phone, not yet in the directory, the member called and asked to include the number in the directory.

Chapter Z assembles the information on a PDF and prints 200 directories at Commercial Printing Inc. on Wenatchee Avenue in Wenatchee. Chapter Z reprints every two or three years, Browning said.