Weigands escape to retire in 'Mayberry'

RITZVILLE – In 2007, Mark and Sandra Weigand left their Snohomish County home to settle on Sixth Avenue here.

When they finally departed the west side of the state, Sandra asked Mark, "Aren't you going to look back?"

"No, I never want to look back," he said.

Born in Newton, Kan., Mark Weigand's family moved to Oregon when he was in grade school. He grew up near the Columbia River and after graduating from The Dalles High School, he joined the Coast Guard. After discharge, he attended radio and television school in Portland.

Sandra Weigand was also born in the Midwest - Sioux City, Iowa - but grew up on 42nd Street in Spokane.

She attended Lewis and Clark High School. After graduation, she worked for law firms and other businesses in Everett.

Meanwhile, Mark Weigand was employed as a mobile home manufacturer's representative at a firm headquartered in Portland, Ore. He climbed the corporate ladder and eventually became a sales manager for their Canadian division.

After a 12-year stint he left and started an RV service center in Lincoln City, Ore.

"There were no RV service centers from Astoria to southern Oregon," he said. "I saw a niche. The central Oregon coast is full of RVs and mobile homes, and I had the requisite background through my prior work with the Portland company."

Sandra's father worked for Mark, so she periodically drove to Lincoln City to visit her parents. That's how the couple eventually got together.

"I was living in Snohomish; he was in Lincoln City," she said. "Mark told me he wasn't willing to live near Seattle. So I moved to Lincoln City and we got married. I got a real estate license and ended up selling condos on the Oregon coast.

"Dwelling in Lincoln City was like being on vacation," she said. "We got to live in an oceanfront condo and enjoyed expansive views of the Oregon coast."

Mark also put his radio and television training to good use, working as a disc jockey for KBCH radio station in Lincoln City.

"After my regular day shift, I manned the station from six to midnight," Mark said.

At one point, he and another fellow were hosts on a radio show called, "The Morning Coffee Break."

But the Lincoln City vacation didn't last.

During Carter Administration years when mortgage interest rates were running 18%, Sandra Weigand had trouble selling her house in Snohomish. She met a couple from Seattle and sold the house to them on contract, but the deal fell through.

"The couple abandoned the property," she said. "We had to return to Snohomish to reclaim the house. We couldn't walk away. There was too much money at stake."

Reluctantly, the couple moved to Western Washington.

"Mark agreed - with one stipulation," she said. "He could choose where we would retire."

"I agreed to live there for two years," Mark Weigand recalled. "Well, 18 years later we were still living in Snohomish."

Sandra returned to her previous company in Everett, and Mark took a job with a security consulting firm. While working for that business, Mark designed complex systems.

"For instance, animal rights wackos would sneak into mink farms and let the critters escape," Sandra said. "Mark had to design a security system for those farms."

Setting up security systems wasn't all fun and games. Mark recalled one instance in which gang members raped and molested a young girl at a house on Lake Washington.

"The owner called our firm and we built a better security system for their house," Mark said. "One day I was training the owners, and as I stood on the second-floor balcony overlooking the front door, it smashed open and a gang burst into the house.

"They looked up at me and I had my gun pointing at them. They said, 'Who are you?' and I said, 'You don't want to know. Get the hell out of here!'"

After they left, Mark called the police and the gang members were apprehended.

"Guns were pulled on me twice over there," he said. "That was just part of the game. In later years, when cameras became more sophisticated, we'd record crooks on video and catch them. That made me feel good."

While in Snohomish, the Weigands vacationed in eastern Washington and started looking for places to retire, including Walla Walla and Dayton. On one of those trips, they visited relatives Alan and Avia Thompson, proprietors of the Danekas Funeral Home in Ritzville.

"When I first drove down Division Street into Ritzville, I looked around and fell in love with the place," Mark said. "I told Sandra, 'This is Mayberry. Let's move here.'"

"Some of our Seattle friends cautioned us," Sandra said. "They said we're going to hate it. We'll be outsiders in a small town. We'll never be accepted."

But that didn't happen.

"Within a week of our arrival, Pastor Bill and Lisa Cox of the local Foursquare church were walking by the house and introduced themselves to us," she said. "They invited us to church and we're still there." Alan Thompson also introduced them to folks in town, and within two years Mark was serving as president of the local Lions Club.

He was also vice president of the Ritzville Golf Association and served on the city council for two terms.

"They welcomed us with open arms," Mark said. "We love Ritzville for that."

Any improvements they'd like to see?

"More stores and a couple more restaurants," Mark said. "But it's not going to happen overnight. When I was on the council, I opposed spending money on downtown Ritzville. If the city is going to grow, it will grow up by the freeway.

"I was in favor of annexing the property by Big Bend Electric, for example. It's zoned and ready to go."

Mark said he was somewhat frustrated with the city council.

"I tend to be progressive about new development, but very conservative with the dollars," he said. "The city has many rules and regulations that are anti-development. For example, they charge $18,000 for a sewer hookup. Why would a developer come here to be faced with that kind of charge? Most cities charge less than half that amount."

He also spotlighted the wildlife museum. "I think it's a shame the museum isn't better advertised. It's a fantastic facility, but nobody even knows it's there."

According to Sandra, advertising should be more targeted. "There are young people on the west side who don't want their kids growing up in a place like Tacoma or Olympia or Seattle," she said. "The city needs to advertise where people who want to escape the urban environment live. If those folks knew about the affordability of Ritzville and the values of people here, they might come to check it out."

Nevertheless, Mark and Sandra are optimistic. "I'm looking forward to this new city council," Mark said. "The council is getting some young people with good ideas."