McNary and Umatilla men and women combined operations in putting on the formal dedication of the lock at McNary dam Saturday, December 16, 1950, as the McNary Development association played host to some 400 interested visitors.

Two barge loads of sightseers, many of whom were seeing the dam and its construction for the first time at a close viewpoint, passed through the lock into the river above the dam some 16 feet above the river below the dam. Some of those making the trip were engineers who were more than a little interested in the dam, lock and especially in the gap on the Oregon side where the tetrahedrons had been dropped to raise the river about 15 feet. It was the first time a barge had gone up the river since October 15 of this year.

Earlier in the McNary recreation hall about 200 men and women as invited guests of the association ate sandwiches and cookies with tier coffee as the sun tried to penetrate the cloudy skies.

W.R. Nugent, president of the association, was in general charge and was master of ceremonies.

Umatilla high school’s band furnished the music during the luncheon and the barge trip through the lock, playing the national anthem in the lock as formal dedication took place. The sun managed to peep through the clouds a bit on the way down river from the lock and on the way back to the landing on the Oregon side where the trip had started.

Little noted by the newsmen present but more than a little noted by most of the crowd was the appearance of Miss Eleanor Raynor – Miss Pasco of 1950 – in white bathing suit as the barges waited in the lock.

Cameras – movie and stills were in evidence through the trip and pictures appeared in the Portland papers early this week.