B EACHCOMBER V ASHON -MAURY I SLAND NEWS | A star performs for Vashon Community Care [4] CRIME | Marijuana operation discovered on Maury [5] SCHOOLS | High school crowns royalty at Homecoming [15] 75¢ WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2012 Vol. 57, No. 43 www.vashonbeachcomber.com TOP-NOTCH ROWERS Vashon crew competes at world’s largest regatta. Page 16 MUSIC FOR THE WORLD Colwell’s career has taken him around the globe. Page 11 More kids at Chautauqua suggest enrollment could climb By NATALIE JOHNSON Staff Writer After years of slowly declin- ing enrollment at the Vashon School District, school officials are pleased to see a large crop of new students at the elementary school this year. Though enrollment across the district is still slightly down, Chautauqua, the school that typi- cally sees smaller class sizes each year, is up by about 15 kids. And the actual number of new faces is closer to 30, Chautauqua admin- istrators say, since a large class of fifth graders graduated last year. Some Chautauqua classes are now brimming with up to 30 stu- dents. The school even hired a new para-educator to help with the large number of fifth graders and to corral students at the buses. “It has been a big growth,” said Principal Jodie Metzger. “It was an overwhelming sense of new children, and it has been all fall. We feel that change.” School officials aren’t ready to declare that enrollment is back on an upward path, but they say they’re encouraged by the num- bers at Chautauqua. Leslie Brown/Staff Photo Vashon Park District Commissioner Joe Wald and some kids cut the ribbon at the park district’s par- tially completed field complex next to The Harbor School Sunday. The field then opened to play for the youngest members of Vashon’s soccer club. “There have been challenges along the way, but I have to say, the blue skies have opened up,” a smiling park district commissioner David Hackett told the gathering. Many of the young players, their parents and coaches were pleased by the soft and level expanse of green grass. “I think it looks fantastic,” said Kevin Wing, who oversees the U8 and U10 teams. “The project’s half complete. Let’s finish the deal.” By LESLIE BROWN Staff Writer The rains have barely begun, but Vashon’s busiest athletic field is already pockmarked by large brown patches, worn areas that will turn into mud holes as the play continues and the rain intensifies this fall. During a recent tour of the McMurray Middle School field, built eight years ago as a state-of-the-art athletic surface, Dave Wilke, Vashon School District’s maintenance direc- tor, pointed out what he sees as the field’s problems — patterns of wear that will only get worse. “This is where the kick-off tussle happens,” he said, nodding toward a swath where the grass is patchy. Pointing toward a large bare spot in front of the goal, he said, “That’s where the goalie stands.” At this point in the season, after a summer of minimal use and robust grass growth, the McMurray field — the Island’s main soccer field — should be an even carpet of green, Wilke said. The fact that it’s already sporting bare spots, he said, “is alarming.” “What’s it going to look like when the rains really settle in?” he asked. The state of Vashon’s fields has been a vexing issue for years among the Island’s recreational sports community, an issue that has become increasingly tricky and even con- tentious as the number of Islanders playing soccer has climbed. In many ways, it’s a good dilemma, says Wilke: He and others at both the school dis- trict and park district are encouraged by the large number of young people turning out for Dismay mounts over the state of Vashon’s fields By NATALIE JOHNSON Staff Writer Two years ago, Michael and Miriam FitzPatrick decided they shouldn’t take in any more ferrets for a while. The couple, who run a small nonprofit ferret shelter, were in debt from veterinary bills and needed to hold off until they were out of the red. That was nine ferrets ago. “We’re kind of suckers for them,” Michael FitzPatrick said. A couple weeks ago Michael, a tall and slender 61-year-old, stood with his wife in a room full of cages at the couple’s small cabin, which doubles as Ferret Shelter Northwest, and nuzzled a brown and gray ferret named Jack. The small, sleek animal seemed to return his love, giving what Michael calls kisses to his silver, trimmed beard. “He’s wild and crazy, but when you pick him up he’s a cuddler and a kisser,” Michael said. Another ferret scurried around on the carpet and tried to crawl up Michael’s pant leg. A couple others stood alert in their cages, waiting for their turn to run around, and still others lay content in old sweaters or A Vashon couple gives it all for ferrets NEW FIELDS OPEN TO YOUNG SOCCER PLAYERS SEE FIELDS, 20 SEE ENROLLMENT, 18 Michael and Miriam FitzPatrick hold a pair of ferrets at their home, which doubles as Ferret Shelter Northwest. Natalie Johnson/ Staff Photo SEE SHELTER, 13
Transcript
BEACHCOMBERVASHON-MAURY ISLAND
NEWS | A star performs for Vashon Community Care [4]CRIME | Marijuana operation discovered on Maury [5]SCHOOLS | High school crowns royalty at Homecoming [15]
75¢WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2012 Vol. 57, No. 43 www.vashonbeachcomber.com
TOP-NOTCH ROWERSVashon crew competes at
world’s largest regatta. Page 16
MUSIC FOR THE WORLD Colwell’s career has taken
him around the globe. Page 11
More kids at Chautauqua suggest enrollment could climbBy NATALIE JOHNSONStaff Writer
After years of slowly declin-ing enrollment at the Vashon School District, school officials are pleased to see a large crop of new students at the elementary school this year.
Though enrollment across the district is still slightly down, Chautauqua, the school that typi-cally sees smaller class sizes each year, is up by about 15 kids. And the actual number of new faces iscloser to 30, Chautauqua admin-istrators say, since a large class offifth graders graduated last year.
Some Chautauqua classes are now brimming with up to 30 stu-dents. The school even hired a new para-educator to help with the large number of fifth graders andto corral students at the buses.
“It has been a big growth,” said Principal Jodie Metzger. “It was an overwhelming sense of new children, and it has been all fall. We feel that change.”
School officials aren’t ready to declare that enrollment is backon an upward path, but they say they’re encouraged by the num-bers at Chautauqua.
Leslie Brown/Staff Photo
Vashon Park District Commissioner Joe Wald and some kids cut the ribbon at the park district’s par-tially completed field complex next to The Harbor School Sunday. The field then opened to play for the youngest members of Vashon’s soccer club. “There have been challenges along the way, but I have to say, the blue skies have opened up,” a smiling park district commissioner David Hackett told the gathering. Many of the young players, their parents and coaches were pleased by the soft and level expanse of green grass. “I think it looks fantastic,” said Kevin Wing, who oversees the U8 and U10 teams. “The project’s half complete. Let’s finish the deal.”
By LESLIE BROWNStaff Writer
The rains have barely begun, but Vashon’s busiest athletic field is already pockmarked by large brown patches, worn areas that will turn into mud holes as the play continues and the rain intensifies this fall.
During a recent tour of the McMurray Middle School field, built eight years ago as a state-of-the-art athletic surface, Dave Wilke, Vashon School District’s maintenance direc-tor, pointed out what he sees as the field’s problems — patterns of wear that will only get worse.
“This is where the kick-off tussle happens,” he said, nodding toward a swath where the grass is patchy. Pointing toward a large bare spot in front of the goal, he said, “That’s where the goalie stands.”
At this point in the season, after a summer of minimal use and robust grass growth, the McMurray field — the Island’s main soccer field — should be an even carpet of green, Wilke said. The fact that it’s already sporting bare spots, he said, “is alarming.”
“What’s it going to look like when the rains really settle in?” he asked.
The state of Vashon’s fields has been a vexing issue for years among the Island’s recreational sports community, an issue that has become increasingly tricky and even con-tentious as the number of Islanders playing soccer has climbed.
In many ways, it’s a good dilemma, says Wilke: He and others at both the school dis-trict and park district are encouraged by the large number of young people turning out for
Dismay mounts over the state of Vashon’s fields
By NATALIE JOHNSONStaff Writer
Two years ago, Michael and Miriam FitzPatrick decided they shouldn’t take in any more ferrets for a while. The couple, who run a small nonprofit ferret shelter, were in debt from veterinary bills and needed to hold off until they were out of the red.
That was nine ferrets ago.“We’re kind of suckers for them,” Michael
FitzPatrick said.A couple weeks ago Michael, a tall and slender
61-year-old, stood with his wife in a room full of
cages at the couple’s small cabin, which doubles as Ferret Shelter Northwest, and nuzzled a brown and gray ferret named Jack. The small, sleek animalseemed to return his love, giving what Michael calls kisses to his silver, trimmed beard.
“He’s wild and crazy, but when you pick him up he’s a cuddler and a kisser,” Michael said.
Another ferret scurried around on the carpet and tried to crawl up Michael’s pant leg. A couple others stood alert in their cages, waiting for their turn to runaround, and still others lay content in old sweaters or
A Vashon couple gives it all for ferrets
NEW FIELDS OPEN TO YOUNG SOCCER PLAYERS
SEE FIELDS, 20 SEE ENROLLMENT, 18
Michael and Miriam FitzPatrick hold a pair of ferrets at their home, which doubles as Ferret Shelter Northwest.
Natalie Johnson/Staff Photo SEE SHELTER, 13
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Our goal is to give you the best customer service available on the island.
Positive signs are indicating that we have left our local housingcrisis, and we are moving towards a healthy recovery. Sellers willexperience less to no decline, and their homes should sell in a reasonable amount of time, if priced correctly. Buyers looking for great opportunities are feeling pressure for the first time in years, with multiple offer scenarios, and listings going into contract immediately. In many ways, we are experiencing a sellers’market, with many years of pent up demand showing itself.
Between $100,000-$400,000, 64 homes have sold. From $400,000-$700,000, 28 homes have sold. Finally, from $700,000 upward, eight homes have sold. We had our first and only over million dollar sale in the 3rd quarter. We have a total of 108 closed sales. At this time last year, we had a total of 72 closed sales. We are moving towards breaking all sales records of the last 3 years by a significant measurement. The average sales price of a home rose 2% to $402,000. Rest assured, with this many positive factors, property values will strengthen. Let’s look forward to continued market improvement!
For a complete quarterly, and to see how the election might effect the market, visit www.SophiaStendahl.com
Islanders witnessed an accident at the north-end ferry dock last week that caused at least one of them to raise the alarm about pedestrian safety at the busy intersection.
Tom Hennessey said he was walking down the dock around 5 p.m. Tuesday, a busy time at the dock, when he saw two elementary school-age children stand-ing at the end of the dock waiting to cross the four lanes of traffic toward La Playa Restaurant.
When cars in all of the lanes stopped, the children entered the crosswalk and began to walk across the dock. “They did everything right,” he said.
One driver exiting the ferry, however, apparently didn’t see the stopped car in front of him or her and hit it, sending both cars fly-ing into the crosswalk. The two children were a few feet away, he said.
The near-miss and potential for catastro-phe were frightening, Hennessey said. “I felt sick to my stomach.”
Debris from the accident f lew, he said; a piece of the struck car hit a near-by vanpool van that had stopped for the children. Amazingly, however, the two children were not hit by anything and continued on their way.
In the days since, Hen-nessey said, he’s called the Washington State Ferries, and his wife, JoAnne Hennessey, talked to Ann Murray, who oversees school bus transporta-tion on Vashon. Neither Hennessey could determine who the children were or why they were walking across the street without an adult.
Jodie Metzger, the principal of Chautauqua Elementary School, was alarmed when she learned of the incident but deter-mined the children had not been dropped off by a school district bus.
“They weren’t kids with us,” she said. “We don’t leave children unattended.”
Even so, she, like the Hennesseys, is alarmed.
“I go to the ferry every day,” said Metzger, who lives in West Seattle. “It’s a dan-
gerous spot if people aren’t making good choices.”
It turns out the crosswalk is under King County’s jurisdiction, not WSF’s.Paulette Norman, the engi-neer with the county’s roads division, said she looked into the incident after learn-ing about it from a reporter, but she, too, was able to learn little. No police report was filed, she said.
Last year, she said, the county added f luorescent yellow-green signs alerting drivers that a crosswalk wasahead.
“We’ll take a look and seeif there’s anything else we can do out there to remind people of the crosswalk,” she said.
Tom and JoAnne Hen-nessey said they’d like tosee a pedestrian-activated sign that would flash when people were entering the crosswalk.
“It’s such a simple fix,” he said.
He decided to make some telephone calls and see if he could draw attention to the issue because of the near-catastrophe he witnessed.
“It’s just a disaster wait-ing to happen,” he said.
Page 4 WWW.VASHONBEACHCOMBER.COM
Friday
VASHON EAGLES
Roast Beef Dinner Baked Chicken
October Fest DinnerSaturday, October 27 at 6pm
Dinner Features:
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Red CabbageGerman Potato Salad
Join us for Scary Fairyoke brought to you by the Washington State Fairies
206-463-547718134 Vashon Highway SW
(Liquor service is available to members and their guests) WAC 314-52-115(1)
Red BicycleBistro & Sushiin Downtown Vashon
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By SUSAN RIEMERStaff Writer
In the midst of its fundraising campaign to raise $350,000, Vashon Community Care (VCC) received a little help last week from an unlikely source: nationally renowned singer and songwriter K.D. Lang.
Lang came to Vashon last Wednesday for VCC’s ninth annual fundraising event, Uncork the Love, held at The Hardware Store Restaurant. The night raised $66,000 for the nonprofit organization, according to VCC’s Director of Development Linda Milovsoroff. So far in this campaign, VCC has raised more than $270,000 and hopes to reach its goal by the end of the year, she said.
The funds — twice the amount VCC raises in a typical year — will go to pay off some of the nonprofit organization’s debt and make it possible for VCC to refinance the building’s mortgage. Doing so will save VCC roughly $20,000 each month and $9 million over the course of the loan, accord-ing to VCC Administrator Janelle Ansell.
Both women noted they are pleased with the progress of the campaign. Milovsoroff, who opens the mail, said it has been like Christmas everyday.
“The generosity of the community has been overwhelming,” she said.
New donors have stepped forward, she said, and donors who had previously donated small amounts have made large donations. Many have included positive comments about VCC and its place in the community, she added.
While the agency is fundraising, it is also reducing staff hours in a variety of departments, striving to do so in a way that does not compromise care, Ansell said.
She noted she hopes to restore those hours when VCC is in a more stable position financially.
If the campaign brings in more than the target amount, she said she would be extremely pleased.
“The more financially stable we are, the more secure we are for current and future generations,” she said. “We want to be on this Island for many, many years to come.”
As for the night with Lang, both women relished the event, feelings apparently shared by the 95 patrons in attendance, who paid $500 per ticket to attend.
“People just had these grins on their faces,” Ansell said. “Everyone’s eyes were glistening.”
Lang sang from the center of the room, she said, accompanied by her pianist who played a grand piano brought in for the occasion.
The star came to the Island in support of this cause because her manager, part-time Islander Steve Jensen, is friends with Linda Bianchi, who is on the VCC board and its development committee. In planning the event, Bianchi said, a fellow committee member suggested — in jest — that Lang
would provide nice entertainment. Bianchi said she had never called upon Jensen before in this way, but she asked him if Lang, who lives in Portland, might sing. When she first asked, he declined, Bianchisaid, but called back one month later with adifferent response.
“This is the kind of organization she would like to help,” Bianchi recalled Jensensaying. “Not only her, but me, too.”
Word of Lang’s upcoming appearance was kept under wraps, though the invita-tions to the event carried the news and were snapped up quickly, Milovsoroff said.
All three women voiced their appre-ciation of both Jensen and Lang for theircontribution to the night, which brought in $13,000 more than last year’s event and is an all-time high.
“To witness the power and emotion withwhich she sings in an intimate setting, all I can say is, ‘wow,’” Bianchi said.
Additionally, Ansell said, Jensen pur-chased a guitar from Vashon Island Music and had Lang sign it, a gift that will further benefit VCC. “That was a surprise for us,” she said. “We will take advantage of that in some fashion.”
Moving forward with their campaign, VCC staff and board will reach out to thecommunity at large through the mail and conversations with donors, Milovsoroff said. They are also applying for grants.
Inside VCC, Ansell said staff and resi-dents have pulled together to come up withways to bring in more money and stretch dollars further. It is this spirit, Ansell said,that first drew her to VCC.
“The heart and soul in the building is amazing,” she said. “It makes us all do what we do because the work we do is hard.”
K.D. Lang wows the crowd on behalf of Vashon Community Care at The Hardware Store Restaurant. For additional photos, see Jeff Dunnicliff ’s website at www.jeffdunnicliff.com.
Vashon Community Care welcomes a star to its fundraising soirée
Page 5
Wine Dinner for benefit of VASHON MAURY COMMUNITY FOOD BANK
at
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$40 Suggested Donation
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Enjoy a sumptuous 4-course wine dinner to raise money for VMCFB. Hardware Store Chef, Andrew Oldham, and
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Seating is limited.
Call 206-463-2005 for reservations!
Did you know?Dry mouth causes tooth decay. Saliva plays a very important role
in protecting the teeth from acid in the mouth. When carbohydrates are consumed, they are converted into acid by bacteria in the mouth. The water and mineral content of saliva serves to wash away acid and rebuild tooth structure. Unfortunately, as we age, saliva flow decreases and many common medications cause dry mouth. Many people grab for hard candies to help alleviate the discomfort of dry mouth but this only compounds the problem and accelerates decay. Consider sugarless candy or gum with xylitol and drink plenty of water.
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Police recently confiscated a large amount of marijuana from what they believe to be an illegal growing operation on Maury Island. A man at the home, however, claimed he is authorized to grow medical marijuana, and detectives are now investigating.
On Oct. 10, sheriff ’s deputies investigat-ing a tip found more than 30 marijuana plants at a home on a dead-end road near Point Robinson, said Sgt. Cindi West, a spokeswoman for the King County Sheriff ’s Office.
The growing operation, in the garage of the home, included fans, ducts, grow lights
and humidifiers, West said. Deputies also found a large drying rack with two rows of drying marijuana and about six nine-foot marijuana plants growing in the backyard.
A 55-year-old woman who answered the door at the home gave deputies permission to search the garage after they came to the home and were “overwhelmed with the odor of fresh marijuana” coming from the garage, West said.
Shortly after, a 59-year-old man arrived and said the he was growing the plants as medical marijuana. The man, however, was unable to produce a medical mari-juana card or other documentation, and
police confiscated the marijuana.West said neither the man nor woman
was arrested. (The Beachcomber does not report names of people who have yet to be charged with a crime.) She said detectives are currently investigating and will likely forward the case to the prosecutor’s office.
“It will be up to the prosecutor if charg-es are filed,” she said.
According to Washington state law, an individual with a medical marijuana card can posses no more than 15 marijuana plants and 24 ounces of usable marijuana.
— Natalie Johnson
Islanders will soon be able to recycle scrap metal on Vashon.
Beginning Nov. 1, the county recycling center on Westside Highway will add scrapmetal to its list of items that can be recycledfor free.
The center will accept items that are atleast 70 percent metal, as well as metal sid-ing, barbecue grills, metal fencing, wheel rims and widow frames.
Adding scrap metal recycling is partof the county’s effort to encourage recy-cling over disposal, said Doug Williams, a spokesman for the county, in a press release.
The recycling center and transfer sta-tion is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
For more information on materials accepted at the center, see http://your.king-county.gov/solidwaste/facilities/vashon-transfer.asp?ID=344.
Voice of Vashon (VoV) board members will try their hands at bartending tomorrow night at The Hardware Store Restaurant in an effort to raise funds and awareness for the nonprofit organization.
The fill-in bartenders will pour beer and wine for patrons, who will also be able to enjoy a music and announcement booth set up by board member Richard Montague for the evening and perhaps appear in a video of the event for Comcast 21, VoV’s public access television station. David Godsey, known to many for his role as Rev. Hunter Davis in the Church of Great Rain, also plans to make an appearance for a “blessed bourbon and beer benediction,” Montague said.
The goal of the evening is to “have some fun, get to know VoV and use the tip jar on the bar,” Montague said.
A generous portion of the bar tab that evening will go to VoV, he said, and dinner patrons will have the opportunity to support the organization as well. Proceeds from that night will fund equipment upgrades and a new interactive website, Montague said.
Through the event, Montague said he and other board members hope Islanders will come to more fully understand what VoV offers to the community, which includes a community Internet radio station and an emergency alert radio station, in addition to public access TV.
Outside the restaurant, “emergency thirst beacons” will be set up, noting that guest bartenders are standing by, Montague said.
The event will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday and “go as long as it goes, at least until 10 p.m.,” Montague said.
Officers confiscate 30 marijuana plants from Maury home
Two former Vashon Park District com-missioners have written a letter to the cur-rent set of commissioners saying they’d like to pore over the current budget, review all outstanding debt and help the agency craft its 2013 spending plan.
Truman O’Brien and Carol Ireland McLean, who served on the park board about a decade ago, co-signed the letter and emailed it to the five current com-missioners Monday. The two would also work with other Islanders — including CC Stone and Hilary Emmer — to garner input from user groups about their 2013 budget needs, according to the letter.
O’Brien said he and McLean drafted the letter after a meeting at Emmer’s house last week, where they discussed ways they could help the park district. They did so, he said, because the park district board, at a meeting last month, asked for input and support from the community.
“We made the offer because they asked for help,” O’Brien said. “We said, ‘OK,
before we can help we need all the data.’”Two park commissioners — chair Bill
Ameling and David Hackett — responded Monday night, declining the offer but saying the were open to their input.
“I don’t see any need for the elected board to cede authority or put you in a place (of) special authority over the park district,” Hackett wrote in an email.
Noting that O’Brien and McLean “have a lot of support from the horse asso-ciation,” Hackett added, “That is not a terribly large or representative group of islanders.”
Ameling, also in an email, said he didn’t see any support for O’Brien and McLean’s proposal from the board. “This board is up to taking care of business,” he added.
O’Brien said he was disappointed but not surprised by the response. McLean said she didn’t want the board to feel defensive. “I’m not the least bit interested in pointing the finger,” she said.
VOV FUNDRAISER
Write to us: The Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber welcomes community comment. Please submit letters — e-mail is preferred — by noon Friday for consideration in the following week’s paper. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Only one letter from a writer per month, please.
All letters are subject to editing for length, grammar and libel considerations. We try to print all letters but make no promises. Letters attacking individuals, as well as anonymous letters, will not be published.
David Moseley, in his letter to The Beachcomber, makes some good points about the newspaper’s recent coverage of the upset over the Chetzemoka.
The Rhododendron and the Chetzemoka are two very dif-ferent ferries. And while the Chetzemoka may seem over-built for the short run between Tahlequah and Point Defiance, it provides other assets to the broader ferry system that the single-hulled Rhody couldn’t.
But we’re troubled by one element in his letter. As is so often the case in the world of civic debate, he’s shooting the messenger.
The Beachcomber’s news story quoted lawmakers and commut-ers, crew members and the state auditor’s office, all of whom — in one fashion or another — raised questions that have been circu-lating on Vashon for months. Did WSF invest well when it built the Chetzemoka and its sister ships? Why did Vashon get saddled with this ungainly, oversized ferry? And isn’t it a little crazy, in this time of severe financial shortfalls, to equip the run with a boat that burns twice as much fuel as the 55-year-old boat it replaced?
The state ferry system had to work fast to replace the state’s four Steel Electrics, a class that had served the Port Townsend run, after the state discovered cracks and corrosion in their hulls. But the fact is, many in the Puget Sound region are unhappy with the result.
Moseley is a smart administrator who’s made a name for himself as someone who knows how to listen. He’ll visit Vashon on Nov. 7, one of his regular meetings with ferry-dependent constituents. We trust and hope he’ll be able to engage Islanders, hear their concerns and respond substantively to ongoing ques-tions about the cost and performance of the Chetzemoka.
As the 2012 election nears, I find myself more and more depressed by the lack of actual choice that is being offered to the voters. The issues that matter most to me are never even discussed. Where is cli-mate change? Poverty and home-lessness? The endless wars that we can’t pay for? Taxing the rich?
Both major parties have sunk gradually into a state of slavish adoration of the multinational corporations and the 1 percent, lured there by the endless fund of donations that pay for their cam-paigns. The media is fed lavishly on those donations, selling mil-lions of dollars worth of attack ads that make no sense at all and are largely based on lies, distortions and misdirection.
I really envy those European countries with seven or eight parties and a lot of debate about ideas and directions. But we are a country with 60 different kinds of snack crackers, but only two politi-cal parties.
What’s a voter to do? I, for one,
am a Green Party advocate and vote for our third party candidate when I can. It’s a little bit of a relief.
I know it’s futile — shut
out of the fundraising tsunamis, third parties are competitors in name only. Our Green Party candidates can never participate in any of the debates and are rou-tinely arrested for even trying to sit in the audience. They are released later, but the point is made. The American public is only allowed to hear about certain corporate-approved issues.
I know that many of us are afraid of somehow tipping the election in the wrong direction by abandoning the majors and going for a minor
choice. In Washington state, that is at most a miniscule concern, at least for the presidential race.
The latest New York Times estimate places the probability of an Obama victory in Washington at 99.7 percent. Neither party is campaigning here — the Romney people have written it off, and the Obama people are taking it for granted. They only come here to fundraise.
So your vote for either Obama or Romney is a wasted vote. Romney won’t win in Washington state and Obama won’t lose, no matter what you do. So have some fun. Maybe your protest vote will help the two majors to wake up a little. Probably not, but it’s worth a try. Maybe a Libertarian, Socialist or Justice Party candidate is more to your liking. Pick a maverick that fits your views and pull the lever. It feels good.
— Islander Steve Graham is a retired University of Washington
IDENTIFICATION STATEMENT & SUBSCRIPTION RATESVashon-Maury Island Beachcomber, 17141 Vashon Hwy SW, Suite B, Vashon, WA 98070; (USPS N0. 657-060) is published every Wednesday by Sound Publishing Inc.; Corporate Headquarters: 19351 8th Avenue NE, Suite 106, Poulsbo, WA 98370-8710. (Please do not send press releases to this address.)
SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $30 on Island motor route delivery, one year; $57 two years; Off Island, continental U.S., $57 a year and $30 for 6 months. Periodical postage paid at Vashon, Washington. POSTMASTER: Send changes of address to Beachcomber P.O. Box 447, Vashon Island, WA 98070.
I was disappointed to read the recent article in your paper titled “Questions Plague Vashon’s Newest Ferry.” Simply put, comparing the Chetzemoka to the Rhododendron, as the article does, is not appropriate and is inherently misleading.
As I explained during my interview, the two ves-sels vary greatly when considering capacity, engines, age, performance and crew requirements. The 1947-era Rhododendron was the oldest vessel in the fleet. Despite our exceptional maintenance record, it had reached the threshold of its useful life, just as the Steel Electric vessels did. We are extremely fortunate to have built new vessels so we can assign the new, larger capacity Chetzemoka to this route.
The article suggests that the Rhody was almost as large as the Chetzemoka. This is incorrect. The Rhody was last rated to carry 48 vehicles with a car deck of approximately 9,900 square feet, and the Chetzemoka is rated to carry 64 cars with approximately 13,400 square feet of car deck space. If you compare ridership on the route between the Chetzemoka and Rhody, you will see an upswing in the last year. From Jan. 24, 2012, through the end of September 2012, ridership on the route was up 1.9 percent, vehicles were up 2.3 percent, and, most significantly, large commercial vehicles were up 103 percent.
The article also discusses fuel consumption and suggests that because the Chetzemoka burns more fuel than the Rhody, our customers may have to pay higher fares because of the higher fuel usage. This is
incorrect. The Chetzemoka is performing below the budgeted estimate of 75 gallons per hour at approxi-mately 67 gallons per hour. A proper comparison would be the Island Home in Massachusetts, which has the same propulsion system, yet consumes 128 gallons per hour. Even with fuel on the Chetzemoka consumed at a rate lower than the original budget estimate, we are still actively looking at ways to reduceconsumption — as we do for all vessels on all routes.
The Chetzemoka is operating very well on the route. This is evidenced by the fact that the Chetzemoka has made 9,874 trips between Jan. 24, 2012, when it began service on the Point Defiance/Tahlequah route, and Oct. 10 this year, with only 39 sailings lost due to mechanical issues. We believe the Chetzemoka is an excellent vessel that will continue to provide great service to WSF and our customers for years to come.
Finally, it is worth noting that the Chetzemoka, Salish and Kennewick were named Significant Boats of 2011 by WorkBoat Magazine, a national maritime publication.
I am sensitive to the cost that our customers bear to use the ferry system; however, we are in an envi-ronment of escalating costs and a lack of sustainable funding for the ferry system that we depend on and love. I am hopeful that this coming legislative session will deal with the financial challenges facing the ferry system and transportation as a whole in Washington.
—David Moseley is the head of Washington State Ferries.
Article was unfair in comparing new ferry to old
A handful of Islanders have discovered — quite by surprise — that their names have been stricken from the rolls of vot-ers in King County.
Some were longtime voters such as Rick Skillman, a former hospital CEO who has been registered to vote on Vashon for 17 years and got a postcard that he initially discarded because he thought it couldn’t possibly be true. Turns out that an error in the date of his birth somehow got entered on his voter card and he was suddenly no longer registered.
Other Vashon voters, including a woman who has been registered to vote since 1988, suddenly found their registra-tions were no longer valid. Skillman, in an email to The Beachcomber, said he couldn’t help but imagine that some kind of “dark force” was at play. “I fell into a little paranoia,” he said.
Meanwhile, The New York Times, in a piece published Oct. 14, found that Washington and Maryland’s computer-based voter-registration systems are quite vulnerable to manipula-tion by hackers. It took the Times less than three minutes to update the registrations of several prominent executives in Washington, the paper reported.
Is this what has happened with Skillman? We don’t know. But if you’re a registered voter and your ballot has yet to arrive in the mail, call King County Elections promptly. Something may be amiss.
Watch for your ballots
Page 7
Amiad & Associates Exclusively Representing Buyers of Vashon Island Homes
206-463-4060 or 1-800-209-4168
We’ve been in our house for about four months now and are discovering several things that were missed by the home inspector. The biggest one is a leak in the roof. It’s been so dry we didn’t even see it until that rain we had recently. What recourse do we have against him?
You should review the contract you signed with the inspection company. There is language there that states that inspectors can’t report on what they don’t see and that they are not responsible for
problems that arise later. I reviewed the inspection that you left with me, and found that the inspector did mention that portions of the roof were very worn and that the roof was overdue for replacement. He also added that there was no sign of leaking (like stained wood in the attic) at the time of the inspection. His comments should have alerted you to the possibility that the roof might be a problem.
In the excitement of buying a house it’s easy to forgo the opportunity to read all of the fi ne print. Generally, I insist that my clients read everything. I’d rather try to address their concerns up front rather than after problems arise. All inspection companies have disclaimers. You signed a contract that stated that they were not responsible for things they miss.
Most licensed inspectors do a good job, but it is possible that they can miss some-thing. I always attend the inspections with my clients so that I can ask questions myself when I see something that needs explaining. I see in the notes from your in-spector that you chose not to attend the inspection. Passing that up means that you failed to hear the inspector’s comments and didn’t have a chance to ask questions.
You will need to check with an attorney to go over your rights, but my guess is that you have no recourse against the inspector. I suggest you go over the inspection carefully and make note of anything he called out for further evaluation, and then follow up on those items.
Q:
A:
Just Ask EmmaCurrent Real Estate Issues
To view this blog & make comments,
visit www.vashonislandrealestate.com/blog.html
We Buy:
We buy Sterling Silver!
Seattle Times
The Seattle Times has announced quite a remarkable decision, to spend newspaper money to place ads in their paper in support of Rob Mckenna’s candidacy for governor. Over the history of newspapers, there has always been a careful division between at least an attempted objectiv-ity in reporting news on the one hand, and on the other, announced editorial page opinions favoring one candidate or another. Their decision strikes me as dissolving this line.
I feel I will no longer be able to trust the objectivity of their news reporting, but will feel the intruding pressure of opinion everywhere. I think Times staff writers have already expressed an awareness of, and unhappiness with, this situation.
In The Beachcomber’s Oct. 17 issue, Greg Wessel noted how the world is coming to see our country as governed from behind the scenes by corporations: corporate money and corporate will. I don’t and won’t watch television news for just this reason: The aura of opinion is everywhere in any news hour. The Times is a “family-owned” newspaper, but is behaving like a corporation, its corporate self-seeking overriding a long, fine history of ethical journalism. I expect soon the day when actual news writing will have shrunk to a few paragraphs and the “newspaper” will be made up of opinion-filled pages full of slanted information purchased by wealth and directed to its purposes. Time for those of us with some principle left to express distress?
I will be reading The Times from now on with great cau-tion and distrust.
— Cal Kinnear
Humor column
I subscribe to The Beachcomber to get local news and events. I was disappointed to see yet one more “political” article but thought from the title that it would condemn the excesses on both sides as well as the propensity of all politicians to dodge the tough issues and kick the can down the road. Instead the article opined that Europeans think and Americans don’t. I immediately thought of the brilliance of Spain, Greece and Italy. Examples of American “non-thinking” only cited those from supposed conservative sources.
Many of us would prefer that The Beachcomber stick to local issues and leave national politics to more prestigious sources such as the Wall Street Journal, NPR and CNN rather than someone who admits to thinking as a hobby.
— Joan Ouderkirk
Election
In this election we face the choice of a candidate — President Obama — who supports abortion, or a candi-date who does not — Mr. Romney.
Abortion is considered indispensable to women’s health. Our tax dollars go to support massive cash infu-sions to Planned Parenthood, an organization whose founder Margaret Sanger was a known eugenicist. By its own numbers, Planned Parenthood’s business model relies heavily on abortion for income. While only 3 per-cent of its services are related to abortion, over a third of its income stems from it.
Several states have voted to defund Planned Parenthood. In some, the Obama administration has stepped in to pro-
vide funding directly to the Planned Parenthood.While supporters of Planned Parenthood say that it
supplies crucial health care to women, the fact is that it provides a very small percentage overall of the available women’s health care to women. In the state of Indiana, which passed a law prohibiting health care contracts with and grants to abortion providers, Planned Parenthood provides less than 1 percent of “other” women’s health care to Medicaid recipients, but over 50 percent of the state’s abortions. Community health care providers paid through Medicaid and Medicare actually serve most of Medicaid and Medicare women’s health care needs.
Thanks to the passage of Obamacare, our insurance dollars as well must be used to support abortion whether we agree or not. Employers not supplying health insurance plans that in turn are required to provide for abortion will be fined heavily. Thus, the right to life of over 54 million Americans since Roe v. Wade, as well as our rights, have been stripped from us for the purposes of infanticide.
Abortion must disengaged from affordable health care, but it won’t happen under the tenure of Pres. Obama. A well-formed conscience must vote against him.
We invite service men and women to treat yourself and your family to a memorable getaway. Visit Leavenworth in November and enjoy
special military discounts throughout the city.
2012Holiday
Gift Guide
Ad space is still available.
Call 463-9195
Our guidepublishes the Wednesday
beforeThanksgiving!
Our guidepublishes the Wednesday
beforeThanksgiving!
Page 8 WWW.VASHONBEACHCOMBER.COM
Scholastic Book Fair: The fair will be open during school hours; kids and parents can shop for books and gifts. The proceeds will help cover the cost of fifth graders attending Camp Waskowitz. The fair began Oct. 16 and will end the night of the Harvest Fair, Oct. 26, at Chautauqua.
Pumpkins for a Cause: The Olympus Pony Club will hold its annual pumpkin sale fundraiser at Harbor Mercantile (the Burton Store) this month. All proceeds will benefit the club. Pumpkins can be purchased during business hours.
Deer Hunting at Island Center Forest: The forest will be closed to all uses other than hunting through Oct. 31. The forest’s Gate-way and Natural Area is open for all uses other than hunting during this time.
Baby Story Times: Babies ages 3 to 21 months with an adult are welcome. 10 a.m. Wednesdays this month at the Vashon Library.
Chautauqua Kids Can Cook – A Potluck & Pig Roast: Families can be a part of National Food Day and celebrate community and affordable, healthy, sustainable food. Students will prepare and bring a potluck dish and recipe, vote on their favorite dish, enjoy Sun Island Farm’s barbecued pig and listen to music. Families are invited to bring apples for press-ing. Potluck dishes are assigned by grade level; for more information, call Chautauqua at 463-2882. 6 to 8 p.m. at Chautauqua.
Skeptics and Believers: Re-ligious debate in the Western intellectual tradition is the focus of a fall series of lectures and discussions. This week’s topics are Judaism and Modernity and Kierkegaard’s Faith. 4 to 6 p.m. at Lewis Hall behind the Burton Community Church.
Voice of Vashon Fundraiser: Guest bartenders will be pouring drinks for the cause. 6 p.m. at The Hardware Store Restaurant. (For more information, see page 5.)Vashon Vespers: This new 35-minute service is meditative, musical and open to all. Childcare will be available. 7 p.m. at the Church of the Holy Spirit.
Benefit Garage Sale: The BARC Stewardship Council will hold its second annual rummage sale as a fundraising effort for the BARC skatepark. Proceeds will go toward the outdoor skatepark bowl. For more information or to donate items, call Jennifer Wilke at 697-2377 or Alli Reid at 898-1013. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the indoor skate park, 10500 S.W. 228th St.
Senior Center Birthday Table: Those with birthdays this month will be honored at the center’s celebration. The cost is $4.25 for lunch. 11:45 a.m. at the Vashon Senior Center.
Harvest Fair and Costume Party: Families are invited for carnival games and prizes, music, a bounce house, arts and crafts, cake walk, spooky trail and concessions. It is also a costume party and a fund-raiser for the PTSA. Admission will be $6 for kids ages 4 to 12 or $1 off with a can of food. 6 to 9 p.m. at Chautauqua.
Poetry Reading: Vashon poet David Lloyd Whited will read from his new book of poetry, “Olde Man Coyote Goes to Towne.” 6 p.m. at the Vashon Bookshop. (For more information, see page 12.)
Farmers Market: Stop by to enjoy autumn’s bounty. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Village Green.
Benefit Garage Sale: The sale
continues. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the skatepark, 10500 S.W. 228th St.
Adopt-A-Cat Day: VIPP hosts an adopt-a-cat day every Saturday. Go to www.vipp.org for directions or call VIPP at 389-1085. 11:30 am. to 2:30 p.m. at its adoption center at 12200 S.W. 243rd St.
Cribbage: Play nine friendly games of cribbage against nine different players. Win cash prizes. Earn national rating points. Visi-tors are welcome. The cost is $8 for visitors and $10 for members. For more information, email Vashon [email protected]. 1 to 4 p.m. Saturdays at the Vashon Eagles, 18137 Vashon Hwy. S.W.
Vegan Potluck: Bring a prepared dish of organic vegan ingredients. Whole organic fruits and salads are especially welcome; all dishes should include a detailed list of ingredients. Call Linda Fox at 963-1058 or email her at [email protected] for directions. 5 to 7 p.m. at Fox’s home near town.
Unitarian Fellowship: In the tra-dition of Latin America, in a joyful celebration that combines sacred time and space, Victoria Clayton and the fellowship will show love and respect for those who have died. Bring a photo or object and food that represent shared memo-ries. 9:30 a.m. at Lewis Hall behind Burton Community Church.
Lutheran Church Celebration: The church has been at its present location since 1962. To mark the 50th anniversary of the dedication ceremony, the church will host a festive Eucharistic worship service on Reformation Sunday. The service will be open to the public and will highlight Lutheran con-tributions to music and the arts. A potluck meal in the fellowship hall will conclude the event. For more information, call the church office at 463-2655. 10:30 a.m. at Vashon Lutheran Church, 18623 Vashon Hwy. S.W.
Girl Scouts Gather: Women and girls are invited to share their scouting memories on Vashon and elsewhere. The event will cel-ebrate Girl Scouts’ 100th birthday with tea and a Girl Scout cookie
party. Call Carol Slaughter for more information at 463-2274. 1 to 4 p.m. at the Sportsmen’s Club.
Continuing Conversations: Georgianne Fiorini will answer questions about the Fiorini Ski School, which takes place annu-ally in three Northwest locations. Call Dorothy Hall-Bauer for more information at 463-5664. 4 p.m. at Hall-Bauer’s home, 10127 S.W. Burton Drive.
Audubon Program: John Marzluff will bring his new book, “Gifts of the Crow,” authored with artist Tony Angell, for a talk and book signing. Free. 7 p.m. at the Land Trust Building.
Family Story Times: Newborns to kids age 6 with a caregiver are welcome for a half-hour of stories, finger plays, movement and music. 11:30 a.m. Tuesdays through Octo-ber at the Vashon Library.
Celebrate Recovery: This is a new group for individuals recover-ing from any addiction and oper-ates from a Christian perspective. Meetings will include a light dinner, testimonies, music and instruction. People from all reli-gious backgrounds are welcome. For more information, call Pastor Steve Sears at 463-9635. 6 p.m. Tuesdays at Calvary Full Gospel Church.
Community Cinema: This month’s film is “As Goes Janes-ville,” a documentary that looks at Janesville, Wisc., when GM shut down Janesville’s century-old auto plant in 2008, causing mass layoffs and creating many residents in need of work. As goes Janesville, so goes America, according to the film’s producers. The post-film speaker will be Terry Sullivan of Transition Vashon, who will be joined by by representatives from the Backbone Campaign and Sus-tainable Vashon. Island GreenTech will co-host the event. Free. 6 p.m. at the Vashon Theatre.
Senior Center Halloween Party: Prizes will be given for best cos-tume and to game winners. The cost is $4.25 for lunch. 11 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 31, at the Vashon Senior Center.
Vashon Drum Circle: All ages are welcome to drum and sing with Buffalo Heart, a large community drum. Free, but donations will be accepted. Participants should park in guest spaces or on the road. 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2, at the Vashon Cohousing Commonhouse, 10421 S.W. Bank Road.
Fur Ball: Vashon Island Pet Pro-tectors will host its annual Fur Ball next month. The evening will include dinner and a live and silent auction. Advance tickets are $55
per person or $100 for two; at-the-door tickets are $60 per person or $110 for two. Tickets are available at www.VIPP.org, Pandora’s Box, Vashon Bookshop and Fair Isle Animal Clinic. 4 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3, at the Open Space for Arts & Community.
Great Books: The next book is “First Snow on Fuji “ by Yasunari Kawabata. 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 5, at the Vashon Library.
Washington State Ferries Meeting: The public is invited to attend this meeting with ferry personnel. Topics will include the legislative session, community marketing, new ferry construc-tion, liquefied natural gas and route-specific issues. 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 7, at McMurray Middle School.
Social Security 101 — Every-thing You Wanted to Know: Kirk Larson, Western Washington Public Affairs Specialist for the Social Security Administration, will offer information on retirement benefits and eligibility require-ments, what early retirement does to benefits and understanding how to get the most from benefits. Seating is limited; call 463-2069 to reserve a space. 1 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 8, at the Penny Farcy Training Center.
Author Reading: Island author Karen Cushman will read from her newest book, “Will Sparrow’s Road,” about a young runaway in Elizabethan times who finally stops running. 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9, at Vashon Bookshop.
Holly Daze: Get a jump on shop-ping for the holiday season. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 17, at McMurray Middle School.
CLASSES
Delta Dogs: Learn how to be part of a therapeutic pet partner team. Email Jinna Risdal at [email protected] for more information. 6:30 p.m. Mondays at Vashon High School.
English as a Second Language: Free classes in reading, writing and speaking English meet for adults each week. 6 p.m. Tuesdays at the Vashon Library.
Silk Painting: Suzanna Leigh will offer Shibori painting on silk. The class will include Japanese tech-niques of folding, twisting, tying and dying silk. The cost is $75 plus materials, about $25. For more information, call Leigh at 463-5255. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 11, at Leigh’s studio, 20733 87th Ave. S.W.
The Island’s downtown merchants will host the annual Halloween festivities between 5 and 7 p.m. next Wednesday; the main highway will close to traffic, and ghouls, goblins and ghosts will wander about in search of candy. The Explorers will judge costumes at the main intersection in town and choose winners from several categories. The title is just for glory, though; no prizes will be given. Former Islander and photographer Rebecca Douglas will cap-ture Islanders in their Halloween costumes from 4 to 7 p.m. at Café Luna. The photo shoot is free, but participants can pur-chase and order photos at www.rebeccadouglas.com.For the festivities, roads will be closed from 4 to 7:30 p.m, including Vashon Highway from S.W. 178th Street to Cove Road and Bank Road from 97th Place to 100th Avenue.Above, a family of ducks enjoyed Vashon’s downtown on Halloween last year.
CALENDARVashon-Maury
Deadline is noon Thursday for Wednesday publication. The calendar is intended for commu-nity activities, cultural events and nonprofit groups; notices are free and printed as space permits.
The Beachcomber also has a user-generated online calendar. To post an event there, see www.VashonBeachcomber.com, scroll to the bottom of the page and follow the prompts.
CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN
VASHON THEATRE
Looper: Ends Oct. 25
Ends Oct. 25
Happy: 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 28. Free.
6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 30. Part of the Com-munity Cinema series. Free. (See entry below for more information.)
Vashon-Maury Island Groundwater Protection Committee: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 24, at Vashon Island Fire & Rescue.
Vashon Island School District School Board: The Thursday, Oct. 25, meeting has been rescheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 30, at McMurray.
Vashon Commons Committee: 6:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 29, at Ober Park.
Vashon Island Fire & Rescue: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 30, at Station 55.
Viewers on Vashon will find VoV-TV on Comcast Cable Channel 21. Most VoV-TV shows are produced by Islanders.
The Wellington’s program airs at 5 p.m. Wednesday, noon Thursday, 9 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday.
A full schedule is available at www.voiceofvashon.org.
Page 9
Dental Care of VashonAdvanced family & cosmetic dentistry
*Offer ends December 31, 2012. Price does not include abutment, crown or bone augmentation, if required.
ADAM P. CRAMER, DDS AND JIM CUNNINGTON, DDS
206.463.9115 | www.dentalcareofvashon.com
Friday, Nov 2nd
Please have your insurance information when you call and bring a picture ID and Insurance/Medicare/Medicaid cards to the appointment. Thank you for partnering with us in the fight against breast cancer.
17637 100th Ave SW, Vashon, Washington 98070
Vashon Market (IGA) Gift Certificates will be
given to patients
(Additional appts possible Sat. 11/3)
East Side of Vashon Plaza - Parallel to 100th Ave. SW - Mobile Coach - Assured Imaging Women’s Wellness of WA
This Friday’s Vashon Rotary Guest Speaker
Dan SatterbergKing Co. Prosecutor
CSI: How prosecutors use forensic science tools to find the
truth and convict the guilty.
Friday- Oct 26th, 11:00am, The Green Ginger Restaurant
SCENE & HEARD: THE SCOOP ON PUMPKINSThe Vashon Pirates football team lends some muscle each year to the Vashon Island Coffee Roasterie by scooping out more than 200 pumpkins in preparation for the annual community carving. This year the team accomplished the task on Saturday.“We are so thrilled that they help us,” said Eva DeLoach, Roasterie owner. “We are so grateful.”In the mix of pumpkins this year are two 500-pound giants from Maury Island. The public is invited to participate in the eighth annual carving all week at the Roasterie and between 5 and 9 p.m. this Friday. People may also take a pumpkin home, carve it and return it by Friday. The first lighting will take place this weekend, DeLoach said. “We love the sense of humor and art-istry on the Island,” she said.
mWW
Page10 WWW.VASHONBEACHCOMBER.COM
Island Home Center & Lumber 206-463-5000 www.islandlumber.com
Ladies Night 20128th Annual Ladies Night
Monday, November 5th
6:00PM-9:00PM.
Join Us For Good Food, Great Prizes
& The Best Sale Prices Of The Year!
In exchange for a fabulous evening,Please Help Us Make Wishes Come
True This Holiday Season with a
Ladies NightKiwanis Toy Drive
New and unwrapped toys, clothes, art supplies, etc.(infant - 18 year old boy/girl)
Vashon Maury Food BankNon-Perishable Food
By LESLIE BROWN Staff Writer
When Paul Colwell takes to the stage at a special per-formance Sunday, he’ll play a mandolin his father sent to him in 1961, when he and his broth-ers were traveling through the Congo, singing songs of peace and reconciliation.
It’s a small piece of history — one that speaks to Colwell’s phenomenal life story. It’s also, he said, a decent mandolin.
“We traveled through all kinds of terrain, and this man-dolin held up beautifully. It’s a work horse,” he said.
If anyone can be called a beloved Islander, Colwell, 77, can. He works full-time at Vashon High School, where he’s a para-educator, assist-ing students with disabilities. White-haired and genteel, he comes across as a kind uncle, always concerned about the high school students he knows, people’s children, his neighbors and friends. Rarely, it seems, does he mention himself.
But his unassuming style belies a remarkable personal story — one that began more than 60 years ago, when he and his brothers got signed by Columbia Records. Paul was 16 at the time, his brother Steve, 18, and Ralph, 14 — the young-est to be signed by a major label.
The boys — a fourth brother became a doctor — took to music in their home in Southern California and later, Indiana, where they’d sing “You are My Sunshine,” har-monizing easily, Paul recalled. Steve, at age 14, answered a special offer in a magazine and sold enough seeds to earn a guitar. In 1948, he suggested the brothers start a band. Paul bought a ukelele and within two weeks, the brothers, wear-ing matching cowboy outfits, performed at a school assembly.
“Right away, we were out there,” Colwell recalled.
It was an auspicious begin-ning to what would become a life of globe-trotting and head-line-grabbing musicianship.
In 1953, after winning talent shows, garnering spots on radio shows and even making regular appearances on a TV show, the brothers were invited to Caux, Switzerland, for a gathering at the headquarters of Moral Re-Armament (MRA), an inter-national organization focused on reconciliation.
Paul had just been accepted to Occidental College and his older brother Steve had been there two years when they decided to begin traveling with the MRA delegation. It
was also when they hooked up with Herbie Allen, another American musical prodigy — a man with whom they became lifelong musical collaborators.
“It fascinated us,” Paul said of MRA. “We were idealistic young people. We thought, ‘Hey, here’s a way to have an incredible adventure and see the world.’”
Paul and his brothers trav-eled with MRA for the next 13 years, providing the musical component as the organiza-tion sought unity and peace in Europe, Asia and Africa. He never made it to Occidental, nor did his older brother return. Rather, they ended up writing and singing songs in 42 different languages. They sang for the King of the Maori peo-ple in New Zealand, the prime ministers of Japan, Thailand and Burma and feuding fac-tions in a recently liberated Congo, where they spent a year.
Their song “Vive le Congo,” a tribute to the African nation, became something of a national anthem, a song that was played near-daily as the country sought to redefine itself, Colwell said. All told, according to the Colwells’ biography, “A Song for The World,” the Colwell broth-ers made more than 400 broad-casts over Radio Congo in four indigenous languages. Their programs were described by a Congolese leader as “a voice of sanity to the nation.”
Those MRA days were sig-nificant for another reason. It was during his travels that Paul met Catalina Quinn, the daughter of actor Anthony Quinn and another member of the MRA delegation. They got married in 1967 and eventually had three children.
Paul talked about those early heady days as he sat in the home he shares with his wife, a painter. The house — cottage-like, with large windows over-looking Quartermaster Harbor
— seems to reflect the life that he and Cati, as he calls her, have chosen. It’s small, at once both gracious and modest, an artful home that the couple rents.
Colwell’s later years are somewhat more well-known. He and his brothers went on to cre-ate musical productions for Up With People — an organization launched in 1968 that sought to build bridges of understanding among people. Paul jokingly calls the song they wrote for it “a little ditty that traveled well.”
Indeed, Up With People — with its hopeful message con-veyed by the clean-cut Colwell brothers — initially captured a segment of America weary of the 60s. Over time, it became an organization dedicated to youth empowerment and international understanding — which is still is today.
That organization’s path, too, was phenomenal: The Colwells helped to produce shows in six continents, playing for athletes in Munich after the terrorist attack in 1972, in a bullring in Madrid, in Watts, Carnegie Hall and at six Super Bowl halftimes.
Colwell’s life is quieter now, for sure, he said. He and Catalina moved to Vashon a decade ago, after 27 years in Tucson, where Up With People was based. They came to Vashon in part because Cati, raised in California, missed the ocean. Some days, when it’s raining hard and they’re looking out over the bay, he’ll turn to her and ask, “Is this enough water for you?” he said with a smile.
But he still cares passionately about young people and the kinds of positive experiences music can provide. Sunday’s performance, he said, is a nod in that direction.
“It’s absolutely essential that young people remain involved in the arts and the creative pro-cess,” he said. “In some ways, that’s what we’ve been involved with for decades.”
Page 11
ARTS&LEISUREVashon-Maury DANCE AT THE HERON: Some of Vashon’s best choreographers will f i l l the Blue Heron
with new dances and rockin’ l ive music at 6 and 8 p.m . Saturday night. Among the choreog-raphers will be Elizabeth Mendana Shaw, Abby Enson and Leah Mann, along with guest per-formers Mar tha Enson, Nicole Grey, Hallie Aldr ich and others. Tickets, $10 to $16, depending on the show, are available at the Vashon Bookshop, the Heron’s Nest and the Blue Heron.
Paul Colwell will play a Gibson mandolin his father sent to him in 1961 at Sunday’s FamJam, a concert that will feature him, his brothers and Herb Allen.
Paul Colwell, pictured at far left, performs with Sing Out ’66 in Nashville, Tenn., a forerunner to Up With People.
FamJam 2012, a concert featuring the Colwell Brothers and Herb Allen, will take place at 4 p.m. Sunday, at Open Space for Arts & Community.The show — a gathering of musi-cal friends and family put together by Islander Paul Colwell, co-found-er of the famed group, "Up With People," — is a benefit for Vashon Allied Arts youth scholarships and the Interfaith Council to Prevent Homelessness' dinner program.Colwell, an expert mandolinist, has enticed an array of talent from Vashon and beyond to join him on the stage. His singer/songwriter son, Jeb Colwell, will be there, as will his brother, Ted Colwell. Herb Allen, "Up with People" co-founder, will bring his virtuoso keyboard and xylophone
playing to the mix. Drummer Gib Dammann and banjo picker Rochelle Munger complete the ensemble.The performance wouldn't be complete without the voices of children, so Islander Marita Ericksen will direct the Vashon Island Youth Chorus in a song or two. Other featured performers include the Island band, Poultry in Motion, songwriter/vocalist Allison Shirk, The Three Amigos from Vashon High School's Percussion Ensemble, and hip hop artist and VHS senior Peter Evans. Tickets to the concert, $12 gen-eral and $10 for children, seniors and VAA members, are on sale at Vashon Bookshop, Vashon Pharmacy, the Blue Heron and www.brownpapertickets.com.
Strumming for peace: Paul Colwell’s remarkable life
Page 12 WWW.VASHONBEACHCOMBER.COM
NOVEMBER EVENTS
Please RSVP Three Days in Advance Seating is limited, and reservations are required for all events.
206.937.6122 2615 SW Barton St., Seattle, WA 98126
www.DaystarSeattle.comIt’s so good to be home!
NATIONAL AMERICAN INDIAN HERITAGE MONTH SERIES
Mondays in November at 2:30 p.m.November 5th - Burke Museum Trunk Show: Native
Peoples of the Plateau. Enjoy a beautiful collection of artifacts from the Columbia Plateau to include berry basket,
cornhusk bag, beaded bag, tools, pair of dolls and so much more!November 12th - Veterans Day Tribute & Reception:
Daystar employee, Anetta Townsend, daughter of Native American WWII Veteran, Alexander H. Mathews, will share
her father’s story as a Bataan Death March Survivor and POW. November 19th - Native American Art Collection:
Join us as our residents share on display their personal collections of Native American jewelry, art and baskets.
November 26th - American Indian Presentation: Anetta Townsend will talk about her Indian Dress and Baby Cradle Board Collection from the Northern Paiute, Apache and Comanche.
“PURLS OF WISDOM”Tuesday, November 6th, 2:30 p.m.
Join author, Don Hansler, as he reads several entertaining essays from his book. Don will autograph free copies of his book for participants.
OVERCOMING THE HOLIDAY BLUESThursday, October 15th, 11:30 a.m.
Join us for a light lunch with Ed Carr, RN. as he presents ways to help alleviate the blues that affect some people
during this wonderful time of year.
We currently have a few apartments with special pricing. Join us for one of our events and learn more about becoming part of the Daystar family!
Join us as we honor those who have protected our country, celebrate National American Indian Heritage Month, and give thanks for the many blessings we share.
Come feel the warmth of the Daystar family! We offer a variety of living options perfect for you or a loved one! Our programs and activities are designed to provide interesting cultural and fun activities to exercise your body and your mind!
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Island poet David Lloyd Whited will read from his latest book, “Olde Man Coyote Goes to Towne,” this Friday.
From start to finish, this book tells the story of Coyote residing in downtown Tacoma, trying to make a living. Coyote, according to Whited, is a contradictory figure in Native American lore: full of good, full of greed, a trickster, a hero, a thief and an agent of change.
“The coyote is a survivor,” Whited said.
In this book, 10 years in the mak-ing and published this month by Nine Muses Books, Whited’s Coyote mani-fests all those traits as he navigates the urban world.
Whited, part Native American, said he has worked with tribes for 30 years and has listened to countless stories about Coyote. Those stories were the impetus for this book.
Whited, 61, commutes each day to his job on the Puyallup Reservation in downtown Tacoma, where he writes social service and health care grants to help deal with the effect of the urban
environment on tribal cultures and val-ues. Several poems speak to that experi-ence, he said, noting that the Puyallup Reservation is one of the most urban reservations, and seven municipalities lie on reservation land, including Tacoma, Federal Way and Puyallup.
At the reading, listeners should expect to experience a lot of contradictions in their emotions, Whited said — sadness, but with sardonic laughter and joking in the midst of it.
Whited was first published in 1969, and is familiar to many Islanders; he has read at Vashon Bookshop before, he said, and he read at the Vashon Poetry Festival last year.
Whited will read at 6 p.m. Friday at the Vashon Bookshop. His reading will be the third in the Poet Laureate Reading Series. Ann Spiers, who organizes the series, said she hopes to offer two or three more readings, most likely in April as part of National Poetry month, and is open to suggestions of whom to include.
— Susan RiemerTwo acclaimed American
musicians, Jesse Sykes and Phil Wandscher, will perform their original songs at a benefit to sup-port Referendum 74 and marriage equality at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2, at the Vashon Island Coffee Roasterie.
Island singer/songwriter Mike Dumovitch will open the show, and Lisa Stone, executive director of Legal Voice and member of the governing board of Washington United for Marriage, will be present to talk about the referendum and the efforts made by its supporters to retain the freedom to marry for all committed couples.
Sykes and Wandscher are known for their work in Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter, a band that has released four recordings and toured widely through-out the United States. The New York Times has described the band’s sound as “spellbound music, rapt in fatalism and sorrow,” and The Stranger called the group’s latest album, “Marble Son,” “a country-western, psych rock, sha-manic, folk masterpiece.”
Tickets to the event are $20 and can be purchased in advance at www.brown-papertickets.com. Search for event Jesse Sykes.
Don a costume and head out for a Vashon tradition — a Halloween masked ball featuring Subconscious Population, slated for 9 p.m. Saturday, at the Red Bike.
The band, well loved by longtime Islanders for its funky and hyp-notic grooves, is led by Ron Hook. For many years, the band has offered up a Halloween show, and this time it’s free.
The night is for Halloween revelers 21 and older only, and everyone will be required to show identification at the door.
The local fashion design collective The Vashonistas will present a screening of a video that docu-ments their recent fash-ion show, “Fushion,” at 8 p.m. Thursday at Vashon Theatre. Admission is $5 — it’s a donation for Vashon Youth & Family Services’ HART program. “Fusion” took place on Oct. 6 at the Open Space for Arts & Community; it featured creations by more than a dozen local designers.
brightly colored ferret hammocks slung in their large, multi-level cages.
“Every one of them has his own personality and quirks,” said Miriam, a petite, soft-spoken woman who also held a ferret. “We’ve had different groups of them, and they’re always so much fun.”
The FitzPatricks have taken in about 60 ferrets over the years, mostly pets given away by owners who couldn’t care for them. More than 20 of the ferrets have been from Vashon, where the FitzPatricks, who have lived on the Island a dozen years, have become known for their fierce love of the animals.
“They say they’re not taking any more, and they always end up doing it because they’re so soft-hearted,” said Shelley Calabrese, a friend of the couple as well as their landlord.
The cabin near Sunrise Ridge, where the couple now keeps eight ferrets, is modest compared to the shelter they once ran out of a larger home on Vashon, where they had up to 20 animals at a time. In fact, the couple says their operation is now more like a hospice — they take in ferrets that are unadoptable due to medical or behavioral prob-lems and care for them the rest of their lives.
“I would love to rescue more, but at least we’re making a small dent,” Michael said.
The FitzPatricks, who are also known for twisting bal-loons at the Strawberry Festival each year, say not everyone understands their interest in the small, weasel-like ani-mals. It’s been tough to raise funds for the nonprofit, and the couple has been accused at times of collecting the pets.
But the FitzPatricks point out that operating the shelter is truly a labor of love — caring for the animals is time consuming and expensive, and providing hospice for them takes an emotional toll.
“We treat them like pets and love them like pets, but we’re not taking them in just to have more pets,” Michael said. “We pay a price to keep them healthy, and we pay an emotional price to care for them in their waning days.”
Ferrets, Michael explained, are extremely prone to health problems, most of which stem from harmful breeding and neutering practices. Most ferrets eventually need care for heart issues, cancer or adrenal disease, which Michael said is like ferret diabetes.
Fair Isle Animal Clinic has given the shelter discounts, but still the FitzPatricks have racked up thousands of dol-lars in personal credit card debt for the animals’ expensive care, bills they’re working to slowly pay off.
The couple lives on a shoestring budget, making money from balloon-twisting at festivals, publishing a free guide to Pike Place Market and selling memorabilia online. About half their income goes to the shelter — they’ve never been able to raise enough to cover its operations.
“If we had puppies or kittens it would be easier,” said
Michael, adding that they do have Vashon supporters and are also grateful to stores that have donated supplies.
Last winter the couple’s financial situation got even tighter when a ladder Michael was on collapsed. He broke both wrists in the fall, an injury that required two surgeries and months of healing.
“I couldn’t even lift a spoon,” he said.Suddenly Miriam had to single-handedly care for the
ferrets as well as Michael and had little time to work.Michael got choked up when he recalled how musician
friends from off-Island held a benefit concert to help cover his medical bills. Friends and family also chipped in, and the Calebreses gave them a break on their rent for a while.
“If it weren’t for people helping us personally and help-ing the shelter during that period, we’d be on the street,” he said.
Michael’s love for ferrets began about 25 years ago, when his first wife, who was allergic to cats, thought a ferret would be a good alternative. When word got out that the couple liked their new pet, others began to hand off their own ferrets, and Michael had the beginnings of his infor-mal shelter.
“The more we got to know them, the more we felt like we had to do it,” he said.
Decades later, Ferret Shelter Northwest is a registered nonprofit, and Michael, who has been married to Miriam for nearly 20 years, has become something of a ferret expert.
“He’s like a ferret whisperer or something,” Calabrese said.
Calabrese once gave the couple two ferrets after there was a fire at her home.
“(Michael) somehow bonds almost instantly with them and builds relationships with them, which is really unusu-al,” she said.
Other ferrets, the FitzPatricks say, come to the shelter with sadder stories — they were neglected and flea-ridden, were found running down the street or were played with too roughly by kids.
Many families get ferrets because they’re cute, Michael said, but find that the high-energy pets are a lot to handle.
Ferret shelters, though not common, are full of pets that people couldn’t keep. Last time he checked, Michael said, a shelter in Burien had nearly 150 ferrets.
Back at the cabin, Michael went to a cage where a pink, hairless head stuck out from under a blanket. He took outEddie, a ferret that was mishandled by a 2-year-old child. The stress caused Eddie to develop adrenal disease and permanently lose his hair. But even ferrets that are treated well usually die at just 5 to 7 years old
Michael’s eyes teared up as he described caring for a dying ferret. He or Miriam will hold the ferret for hours, he said, sometimes carrying them around in a special sling. “We try to give them comfort in their later days,” he said.
The couple keeps a memory book with names and pic-tures of all the ferrets they’ve rescued, lives they’re proud to have helped. One of Michael’s proudest accomplishments, however, came just a year ago, when he says he helped change the future for a countless number of ferrets.
Last fall, opposition grew to the University of Washington Medical Center’s use of ferrets as infant simulators for medical students practicing intubation.
Michael, who had long been opposed to the use of ferrets for medical practice, signed petitions and joined a protest at the UW sponsored by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. He brought along a ferret named Kelly — the only ferret at the event — garnering air time on local news channels.
“It put a ferret’s face on it,” he said. “It really was huge in terms of showing the ferret as a pet and not this nebulous animal they use for research.”
In May, the UW ended its use of ferrets at its medical school.
“You feel like you’re up against a lot of opposition … to try to take on the UW by bringing a ferret down,” Michael said. “But sometimes you win. Sometimes you win.”
CONTINUED FROM 1
To donate to Ferret Shelter Northwest, visit a donation box at Fair Isle Animal Clinic and Pandora’s Box, mail a check to P. O. Box 1963, Vashon, or contact [email protected].
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To place an ad in the Service Directory, contact Daralyn or Matthew at 463-9195. Deadline for ad placement is Friday at 1pm.
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Check our facebook page for updates. 17705 Vashon Hwy 206-463-7777
Sun-Wed 11am-5pm Thur-Sat 11am-7pmOpen til 8pm Halloween
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PIRATESCELEBRATE
Despite rain showers and a tough loss at Friday’s football game, Vashon High School celebrated the Homecoming game in full force. Students weren’t able to make floats for the event this year because of construction activity on campus, but spirits were high as Homecoming royalty, selected by their peers, paraded around the football field. A Homecoming dance was held at the high school the following day.Clockwise from top middle: king and queen Tanner Montague and Lena DeGuzman; seniors Brooks Benner, Jefferson Douglas, Cate Stackhouse and Jasmine Acosta; sophomores Liam McConnell (filling in for Ezra Ende) and Zinaida Carroll, juniors Giacomo Paganoni and Margaret Sayre; and freshmen Ana DeGuzman and Kyle Johnson.
Page 16 WWW.VASHONBEACHCOMBER.COM
SPORTSVashon-Maury
SALE FOR THE SKATEPARK: Suppor t Vashon’s only skatepark and score some deals at the Rummage at the Park, a huge garage sale this weekend with all proceeds going to the Bur ton Adventure Recreation Center skatepark. 10 a.m . to 4 p.m . Fr iday and Saturday at the skatepark on 228th Street.
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Steen JenningsTennis, SophomoreSteen has been a really versatile and valuable player for this team. He has played singles and doubles and competed very well in each, ending up with one of the better records on the team. Even better, he has begun to make some breakthroughs in his game that should translate to him becoming one of next year’s best players. I am looking forward to seeing how he develops next season.
PIRATE Did YouKnow... For more information about VARSA and VYFS, call Luke McQuillin at
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This year, over 600 youth & adults will attend the annual Prevention Summit in Yakima, an enriching and culturally competent training and networking opportunity for youth, prevention professionals, treatment providers, policy makers, college faculty, students and dedicated volunteers. Attendees
strategies, and network with parents, children and teachers as they work toward prevention of substance abuse, violence and other destructive behaviors in Washington State.
state come to share their ideas and projects.
Vashon sent five boats to the competition By MARIANNE METZ LIPEFor The Beachcomber
For the first time in its history, the Vashon Island Rowing Club competed at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston last weekend, sending five boats to the prestigious competi-tion. The club had a strong showing, with three juniors boats and one masters boat placing in the top half of their fields.
The invitational is the largest regatta in the world, drawing thousands of row-ers from around the globe and nearly 300,000 specta-tors. VIRC was selected in a lottery to attend and was one of the smallest clubs at the event.
This long-standing regat-ta is known for its challeng-ing 5k course that has three major turns and seven bridges to navigate along the Charles River.
VIRC coach Richard Parr said that because of the obstacles, it can be hard for rowers to keep up speed.
“With the turns, bridges
and people in your way, it’s not unusual to have to stop to safely get through cer-tain areas of the course,” Parr said. “Strategy is every bit as important as speed in this one.”
Gus Magnuson was the first Vashon rower to com-pete, entering the Men’s Club Single. Rowing in a field of 64 scullers of vari-ous ages, Magnuson over-took two boats during his race to finish in fifth place among the youth competi-tors and 18th overall.
Parr said Magnuson did a “phenomenal job.”
“He navigated traffic real-ly well. Gus kept his head, was aggressive, but knew where he was and what was around him,” he said.
Masters Su DeWalt, Kim Goforth, Debby Jackson and Marilyn Kleyn raced in the Director’s Challenge Women’s Quad, an event with highly skilled row-ers, including several Olympians. Although the Vashon women came in 17th, they were the fastest in their age category.
Junior rowers Tate Gill and Baxter Call ran into trouble during the Men’s Youth Double race. They were penalized twice for
failure to yield to a fast-er boat, something Parr described as a harsh but fair call. The finish time would have put them in the middle of their field had they not been given a three-minute penalty.
Kalie Heffernan and Anna Ripley had a success-ful race in the Women’s Youth Double event, pas-sign three boats during the race and finishing 11th. Heffernan attributed their success to the stroke rate they maintained and hav-ing a clear path throughout the course.
“I’m really glad at how well we did because finish-ing 11th out of 39 is pretty sweet,” Heffernan said.
Wrapping up the week-end was the Women’s Youth Eight, a race that had 85 entries. Rowing for Vashon were Halimah Griffin, Maya Krah, Teagan Lynch,
Emmie Kehoe, TerraJane Ripley, Kirsten Girard, Katelyn Carter and Bryn Gilbert with coxswain Ally Clevenger.
In a shell borrowed from another team, coxswain Clevenger was working with a boat that was very differ-ent than what she was used to and had to stop three times to avoid collisions.
Parr said the boat clearly had good speed, as it still finished in the top half of its field.
When they weren’t com-peting, rowers were able to meet Olympic and world-champion rowers and cox-swains and watched them race. The thrill of their own turn on the Charles River, however, will not be soon forgotten.
“I’m really proud of them,” Parr said. “Effort-wise and sportsmanship-wise, they held their heads high.”
By KEVIN ROSSFor The Beachcomber
The Vashon girls and boys cross country teams placed fifth and sixth at the Nisqually League champi-onship meet last Thursday.
Eight league teams competed at the event at Fort Steilacoom Park in Lakewood. Cedar Park Christian ran away with the girls team title and a Nisqually Leage trophy by placing four of its athletes in the top 10. Charles Wright captured the league cham-pionship for the boys.
In the girls race, junior Maddi Groen finished 13th, covering the 3.1-mile course in 21:58, a personal best for this year. Freshman Natalie VanDevanter kept a strong pace to finish 19th overall with a time of 23:05.
Senior Landon Summers was the fastest Vashon boy and finished 21st overall in 18:48.
After the races, the league held an unusual event for the athletes — a pie eat-ing contest between all the teams. Groen and Summers represented Vashon.
Some runners chose to scarf their pies down, while Groen and Summers displayed their excellent table manners. Bellevue Christian edged out the Pirates to claim the victory.
Overall, the Pirate cross country team has a enjoyed a big turnout this season.
They are a young team with many underclassmen, and the runners are showing improvement that will carry into the seasons to come.
Up next for the Pirates isthe Tri-District meet, which will be held in Lakewood on Saturday. There will be18 teams at the meet, and the top six girls teams and top 30 girls will qualify for the state cross country meet in Pasco. For the boysmeet, the top five teams andtop 25 individual boys willqualify for State.
Last year Groen was the lone Pirate to qualify for State at this event.
— Kevin Ross is a cross country coach at Vashon
High School.
Vashon runners go up against league competitors
Landon Summers steps up the pace as he enters the final200 meters in the NisquallyLeague championships.
Crew sees success at prestigious world regatta
Gus Magnuson, competing in the Men’s Club Single, placed 18th in a field of 64 scullers and fifth in his age group.
The last two weeks have been up and down for the Vashon High School volleyball team.
Away at Bellevue Christian on Oct. 9, the varsity team lost its match while the junior varsity team won 3-0.
The next game at Cascade Christian resulted in defeat for both Vashon teams.
But once the Pirates were home again last Wednesday, both the JV and varsity teams eas-ily won their matches against Chimacum.
The season wraps up this week with two home games against Seattle
Christian on Monday and Life Christian on Wednesday. These matches will determine whether Vashon quali-fies for the Nisqually League playoffs, set for this Saturday.
— Jill Mulvihill
The Vashon boys ten-nis team won its final league match, against Eatonville on Oct. 9, to finish 6-6 in the Nisqually League — a good record after a slow start to the season.
The boys carried their late-season momentum into the league tourna-ment on Thursday, fin-ishing eighth and fourth in doubles and third and fourth in singles.
Singles players Ben Whitaker and Peter Amick finished the
tournament tied for third in singles and will play each other to deter-mine who advances to the district tournament on Wednesday.
In doubles play, Caz Mozeleski and Parker Scott lost a heartbreak-ing three-set match, which would have sent them to districts as well.
It was a strong show-ing for Vashon, which emerged as a clear sec-ond-strongest team at the tournament after powerhouse Charles Wright.
In addition to finish-ing a successful tourna-ment, the tennis team’s future looks bright for next season. A strong group of freshman and sophomore players developed this year, and some key juniors will return next year as well.
— Pat Mulvihill
SPORTS BRIEFS
The Vashon football team took another disappointing loss at Friday’s Homecoming game, where it lost to Chimacum in a shutout, 47-0. It was the Pirates’ seventh loss this season — their only win so far came last week when they beat Pemberton, B.C., at home. This week Vashon will take on Seattle Lutheran, 7 p.m. Saturday at West Seattle Stadium.Pictured above, Owen Brenno, 76, and Evan Lawson, 34, drive Chimacum’s Colton Shaw, 80, out of bounds in front of the Pirate bench.
Pirates trounced by Chimacum at Homecoming game
“If it’s primarily kids who have moved to the Island, that would be a nice trend,” said Superintendent Michael Soltman.
The news comes after some have suggested Vashon — with an aging population and statistically fewer young families — is slowly becoming a retirement community.
The school district, now at about 1,420 students, has lost about 150 kids since its most recent peak in 2000. Since then there have been some upticks in enrollment, but most years have seen a slight decline, and now the district’s younger classes are substantially smaller than those at the high school. Last year’s senior class at Vashon High School was about 130, while this year’s first-grade class at Chautauqua is at 85.
It’s a downward trend many school districts are expe-riencing. Tom Dargel, the district’s business manger, said that because of low birth rates — a trend documented in the 2010 census — many schools in established communi-ties are seeing falling enrollment.
But Soltman says he isn’t worried yet. The district has
prevented enrollment from dropping substantially, he said, by accepting a growing number of off-Island students. The so-called commuter kids bring about $5,000 each in state funding, helping the district continue its programs.
According to school district records, in 2003, just 44 off-Island students were enrolled on Vashon. This year there are 187 commuter students, including 16 at Chautauqua, and there’s a waiting list of students wanting to attend the middle school and high school, Soltman said.
“Off-Island commuter students have kind of balanced the decline in the local population (of children),” he said.
If Chautauqua’s small burst in growth is any indication, that decline may be about to turn around.
Gillian Callison, who handles enrollment at Chautauqua, said that of the 30 new families with children at Chautauqua, more than half of them recently moved to the Island.
“I think there’s a whole lot of new families,” Callison said. “Even our kindergarten families seem to be new parents.”
School board member Bob Hennessey said he was happy to learn about new families coming into the district, but said it would be premature to call it a trend.
“I don’t think you can rely on two years worth of informa-tion to predict much of anything,” he said. “We will have our ups and downs.”
At the same time, Hennessey said, he does believe the
district will get an infusion of students in the coming years. Studies have predicted the region will grow significantly inthe next couple decades, he said, and he believes some ofthose people will inevitably come to Vashon.
In fact, according to a recent report by the Puget SoundRegional Council, a multi-county organization that looks atregional growth and transportation issues, the Puget Sound area is expected to add more than 1 million people by 2040. Unincorporated and rural areas, the council predicts, will see similar — though not as extreme — growth.
Some real estate agents say they’re already seeing more families move to Vashon.
Susan Lofland, a realtor at John L. Scott, said that a fewyears ago during the peak in home prices, most of her clients were older couples. Now, she said, about half the clients sheworks with are young families moving to the Island with children ranging from newborn babies to middle schoolers.
“There’s no question about it that the shift over the lastyear and a half has been toward a greater percentage of mybusiness being young families,” she said.
Ken Zaglin, who owns the John L. Scott office on Vashon, says the evidence is anecdotal but he wouldn’t be surprisedif more families are coming to Vashon — though he noted they could be replacing families that have moved off theIsland.
With home prices down and interest rates good, Zaglin said, home sales on the Island are up substantially comparedto last year.
“We’re seeing an increase in people who have been sitting on the fence on making a decision to move to Vashon,” he said. “It’s an OK time to buy.”
The school district, meanwhile, isn’t making any assump-tions. The new high school, projected to last more than 50years, is being built to hold about 525 students, just 35 morethan the high school’s current population.
Soltman is hoping, however, that more commuter stu-dents will come to Chautauqua to fill in some of the smallerclasses. It’s one reason the district recently installed a super-visor to ride the ferry with elementary school commuters.
“Ferry monitors are able to provide supervision and give parents more confidence and trust to put their kids on the ferry every day,” he said.
The district is also looking to attract more exchangestudents, another measure that Soltman said would bolsterenrollment and enrich the school community.
Vashon High School has applied to be one of a select number of schools in the Seattle area that can accept highschool students from other countries on a special exchange visa. The high school recently had a site visit by theDepartment of Homeland Security, Soltman said, and the district expects it will be approved for the program soon.
If approved, the door would be opened to a new popula-tion of foreign students — many from China and Japan — who want to study in the U.S. Soltman said the district would charge tuition to the exchange students, though he wasn’t sure how much.
“There’s quite a demand for placement,” he said. “I think it would bring good diversity to the school population and enhance community.”
Page 18 WWW.VASHONBEACHCOMBER.COM
All-Merciful SaviourOrthodox Monastery
9933 SW 268th St. (south of Dockton)SUNDAYS: DIVINE LITURGY 10:00 am
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Burton Community ChurchALL ARE WELCOME
INSPIRATION not Indoctrination!Worship 11 am
Rev. Bruce Chittick, PastorMaggie Laird
Pianist/Choir Director463-9977
Bethel Church14736 Bethel Lane SW(Corner of SW 148th St.
and 119th Ave. SW)9am Sunday Bible School
10am WorshipFollowed by coffee fellowship
AWANA Thurs 6:00pm Sept-May
Offi ce phone 567-4255
Vashon Island Community Church
Worship Service 10:00 am (Children’s Church for preschool–5th graders)
Offi ce Phone 463-3940Pastors:
Frank Davis and Mike Ivaska9318 SW Cemetery Road
www.VICC4Life.com
Catholic ChurchSt. John Vianney
Mass–Saturdays at 5:00 pmSundays 8:00am and 10:30am
Worship 10:30 am & 7:00 pmThursday Bible Study 7:00 pm
Call for locationSaturday Prayer 7:30 pm
Pastor Stephen R. Sears463-2567
Vashon Presbyterian Church
Worship 10am17708 Vashon Hwy (center of town)
Pastor Dan HoustonChurch Offi ce Hours
Monday– Thursday 10 am - 2 pm
463-2010
Our Vashon Island
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ENROLLMENTCONTINUED FROM 18
Page 19
Henry Eugene Soike
Long time Grays Harbor resident Henry Eugene Soike passed away peacefully on Wednesday evening October 3rd after a brief illness. He was 91. His wife Dorothy passed away last May. He is survived by his daughters, Cynthia and Claire, sons Steven and David & Tina; and four grandchildren - Layne, Bryan, Derek & Adrianne, and Michael. Henry’s surviving sisters-in-law are Gerry Soike of Seattle and Virginia Tibbals of Berkeley, along with many nieces and nephews.
Henry’s mother Leola Minor was the daughter of a Vashon homesteading family. Henry was born in Portage on Vashon September 24, 1921. His parents
contributed land and helped build the Center Grade School next door to their family home. He skipped a grade to join the same class with his two beloved twin siblings, Clifford II “Bud” and Claire who have now passed away. They graduated from Vashon High School in 1938. Henry became interested in flying as a youth when his father took him up with a barnstorming pilot. While attending the UW during the war, he helped test Boeing B-29 bomber models in the Kirsten Wind Tunnel. Henry graduated in 1942 with a BS degree in Aeronautical Engineering.
While at the UW, he took dancing lessons and met fellow student Dorothy Draper from Aberdeen who taught the lessons in a local studio. Henry and Dorothy Draper were married on July 7, 1945 and together they enjoyed 67 years of marriage.
He began his working career at Pan American Airways where he was stationed in Alaska to repair war damaged aircraft. Later he was a project engineer in both New York and Santa Monica for the maintenance and conversion of Douglas aircraft from military to passenger service. Then Henry worked 16 years in his family’s motor freight business named Coast Truck Lines that originally had a terminal on Vashon that took island farm produce to Pike’s Market in Seattle. He later worked for the Port of Grays Harbor for 25 years and worked tirelessly to diversify commerce, increase employment, and deepen the harbor’s ship channel.
He truly enjoyed river, ocean, and lake fishing in Washington, Alaska, and Canada. He especially enjoyed organizing and planning travel trips with Dorothy, siblings, family members, and many long-time friends. He always remained particularly fond of Vashon Island.
Arrangements are via Whiteside Mortuary in Aberdeen with additional obituary information and a guest book at www.whitesidefamilymortuaries.com.
A life celebration for Henry will be held at 11:00 am on Saturday November 3rd at the Aberdeen Rotary Log Pavilion, located adjacent to state route 12 at 1401 Sargent Blvd., Aberdeen, WA 98520. Come join us in sharing fun stories.
On October 18th, surrounded by family and friends, Marynell peacefully said farewell to this earth.
She was born August 28th, 1960 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Ben and Grace Matt and was the youngest of their four children.
Marynell grew up in Milwaukee, attended Messmer High School, and graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater in 1983 with a BA in Communications and a minor in Dance. A love of travel began with a 10,000 mile road trip across the country after college. In 1986, she served in the Peace Corps in Mauritania, West Africa, where she worked with the women of the village to create a vegetable garden co-op. Her passion for travel led to extraordinary adventures.
Marynell’s creativity inspired various careers throughout her lifetime, including positions at the Milwaukee and San Francisco Ballet companies, the Berkeley Repertory Th eater, the Lutheran Brotherhood, and Vashon Allied Arts. She started a home-based publishing business before dedicating herself, body and soul, to her fi nal work as a gardener and garden designer.
Marynell lived in Southern and Northern California, spending one of the most magical years of her life in the Marble Mountain Wilderness as a caretaker for a remote and primitive lodge. In 1997, when visiting a childhood friend on Vashon Island, her search for community was fulfi lled. She made the island her home. In 2006, her dream of having a child came true with the birth of her son, Benjamin (Ben) Joseph Shay Matt.
Marynell’s life was abundant with traditions, rituals, and a love of the outdoors. She was committed to fostering joy and the bonds of family, friendship, and community.She lovingly planted these seeds in Ben.
Marynell touched others deeply with her vibrant spirit, warm heart, and playful nature. Her legacy encourages us to see beauty and joy in others, walk in nature, care for our animals, lovingly prepare meals, dance with abandon, embrace silliness, and appreciate the love that surrounds us.
Marynell is survived by her son Benjamin; brother Ben Matt Jr.; sister-in-law Barbara Matt; brother Christopher Matt; sister Jennifer Yuhas; brother-in-law Dan Yuhas; nieces Meghan Matt, Maureen Herritz and her husband Kurt, and Alison Pitrof, her husband Jeff and son Gavin; nephews Christopher (Chip) Matt and Michael Matt.
Her Celebration of Life service will be held at 11 a.m. on October 27th at Bethel Church on Vashon Island.
Marynell S. Matt
Robert E. Rosenbaum
Robert E. Rosenbaum, 68 years old, of Vashon, died suddenly Friday October 19, 2012. He was born November 20, 1943 in Lincoln, Nebraska and later settled in Seattle. He moved to Vashon Island where he lived for 36 years.
His abiding passion was architecture and the work of Frank Lloyd Wright. A number of homes, some on Vashon, attest to his talent and imagination.
Robert is survived by his wife of 30 years, Carole Elder; his mother Mary Rosenbaum (Vashon); two sons Alex and Colin ( Julie) and two grandchildren, Joshua and Jenevieve. His sister Jean (Alan), brother Phil and 9 nieces and nephews.
A Remembrance Service will be held November 11, 2012, 1PM at 6706 SW Maury Park Road, Vashon Island, WA.
Donations in Robert’s name can be made to: Vashon Co Housing Homeowners Association 10421 SW Bank Vashon, WA. 98070 or Vashon Community Care Center, 15333Vashon Hwy SW Vashon, WA. 98070
Barbara Chasan died at home on Oct. 19, 2012. She was 74.
Mrs. Chasan was diag-nosed in July 2011 with advanced cancer of un-known origin. During the week of Oct. 15, she developed a severe breath-ing problem that her doc-tors could not explain. She had lived on Vashon since January 1971.
Mrs. Chasan was born Nov. 20, 1937, in San Francisco and spent her childhood in central Utah and Bellingham, where she graduated from high school. She received bache-lor’s and master’s degrees in English literature from the University of Washington
and a bachelor’s in nurs-ing from Seattle University, where she received an award as the outstanding nursing student in her graduating class.
Mrs. Chasan edited books for Doubleday in New York and for sev-eral Northwestern pub-lishers, including The Mountaineers. She edited new editions of books by the anthropologist Mar- garet Mead and the Western writer Louis L’Amour, “Medicine for Mountaineering,” “A Field Guide to the Cascades and Olympics,” the classic 100 Hikes series by Ira Spring and Harvey Manning and many others.
As a nurse, Mrs. Chasan worked on the bone mar-row transplant unit and in the general internal medi-cine clinic of the Seattle Veterans’ Administration hospital. She also worked part-time on Vashon for the Visiting Nurse Service and for the school district, serv-ing as the Childfind coor-dinator and the registered
nurse for the Birth-to-6 program. After retiring from the VA, she worked part time for the UW as a research nurse and study coordinator.
She chaired the research committee of the Puget Sound Oncology Nursing Society in 1997 and 1998.
She is survived by her husband Dan, whom she married in 1967, her chil-dren Sarah and Matthew and four grandchildren.
Islanders are invited to participate in a communi-ty-wide children’s activity, Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF, at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 28.
This annual event pro-vides an alternative to gathering candy. Children collect money rather than candy and in the process learn that around the world some children have a lack of food, clean drinking water, medicine, health
care, immunizations and education.
Sixty years ago the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) began to collect money to assist children in poor living conditions. At least two generations of children and parents in America have taken time from Halloween activities to raise money for the orga-nization.
To participate in this year’s UNICEF trick-or-treat event, children and parents will gather at the Vashon United Methodist Church. Drivers and con-centrated housing areas will be assigned.
The full coin boxes will be turned in at the church at 4 p.m., and there will be games, refreshments and recognition of costumes.
Individual families may pick up a UNICEF box for their own in family collec-tion from 9 a.m. to noon Monday through Thursday at the Methodist Church office. There are also dona-tion boxes at many Vashon merchant locations.
FYIVashon-Maury
sports. Vashon’s soccer club now boasts 500 kids, up from 250 a few years ago. Other sports, too, from lacrosse to baseball, are competing for field space.
But even with the par-tial opening of new and improved fields next to The Harbor School, there’s a capacity issue on Vashon, he said.
“It’s a great problem to face,” Wilke said. “But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s also a really hard prob-lem.”
“There’s no standard of care that can address the issue of over-use,” he added.
Indeed, many in the recreational sports com-
munity are frustrated by the inadequate number of fields, their condition dur-ing the rainy months and the frequency with which those fields are temporarily closed to play.
An effort to address the issue was attempted two years ago, when the school district put forward a bond measure that would have turned the high school’s biggest field into one with synthetic turf — surface that could take the kind of heavy play Vashon’s grass fields can’t handle. The $3.5 million measure failed to garner the supermajority it needed to pass.
Greg Martin, former president of the Vashon Island Soccer Club, is still frustrated that the com-munity failed to pass the measure. “We need to get at least one (synthetic) turf
field put in,” he said. “That would solve this problem.”
Against this backdrop, the school district and the park district are increas-ingly at odds over the way the community’s parks and fields are managed — a situation that has added to the community’s sense of frustration.
For years, the park dis-trict and school district have had an agreement in place outlining mainte-nance, costs and schedul-ing for the community’s shared recreational assets — parks, fields, the high school theater and the school district’s gymnasi-ums. In 2009, the so-called Commons Agreement was redrafted, with the park district agreeing to take on sole responsibility for maintenance and schedul-ing of the Island’s athletic
fields and parks.The new agreement
was seen at the time as an effort to create efficien-cies and ensure the fields were well-maintained. In fact, members of the park district board sought such an agreement because they were unhappy with the school district’s level of maintenance and believed it made more sense for the parks department to over-see care of what all agreed were shared assets.
David Hackett, a park district commissioner and a lawyer, said he joined the park board six years ago in large part because he was frustrated by the school district’s care of its fields. He was a lead cham-pion for a new Commons Agreement, one that places much greater responsibility on the park district.
“I think the commons were run in a way that didn’t benefit the public,” he said, referring to the days when the school dis-trict had primary responsi-bility for maintenance.
Now, however, the tables have turned, and some are expressing frustration with the park district’s mainte-nance of the fields. Indeed, under the 2009 agree-ment, the park district is to craft an annual main-tenance plan. It has yet to do so, park district officials acknowledged.
The park district’s mount-ing financial difficulties — due in part, coinciden-tally, to its effort to build a new set of fields next to The Harbor School — have exacerbated the situation.
At recent meetings, the park district board has put forward several possible spending cuts for the cash-strapped agency — includ-
ing a $12,000 savings if it decides not to top-dress the athletic fields this year. School officials say such a decision is untenable; what’s more, they say, park dis-trict officials never directly approached them or the committee that oversees the Commons Agreement with the idea.
“I read more in the news-paper about what they’re thinking about in terms of field maintenance than I hear from them,” said Superintendent Michael Soltman, sounding frus-trated.
Bob Hennessey, a school board member and a soc-cer coach, said the park district’s stance of late has raised fundamental ques-tions about the Commons Agreement.
“Does the park dis-trict plan on honoring the Commons Agreement, or is it null and void?” he asked. “It’s a serious question.”
At a recent school board meeting, Soltman told the board that he believed the school district would have to dip into its reserve and cover the costs of top-dress-ing the fields this year — a maintenance measure that involves applying a fresh layer of sand to a field.
“I understand (the park district) has financial trou-bles. But we also have a cov-enant with the community to maintain our facilities,” he told the board.
Should the school dis-trict cover maintenance costs, he added, it would be a float. “They still have a duty under the Commons Agreement to pay these costs.”
Susan McCabe, the park district’s interim execu-tive director, said the park district just doesn’t have
a choice when it comes to top-dressing the fields this year. The agency will also likely have a hard time pay-ing this year’s water bill for the fields. It took the agen-cy until August of this year to pay its 2011 water bill, she said.
“I understand their con-cern,” she said of the school district’s frustration over the park district’s decision to not top-dress the fields. “But we don’t have the money. We can’t do it.”
Hackett, for his part, said he believes the park district hasn’t taken ade-quate care of the fields in recent months, a problem that he said stemmed from management issues by Jan Milligan, the former park district executive direc-tor who was terminated in August. When the park dis-trict’s maintenance direc-tor quit earlier this year, Milligan had the mainte-nance staff report directly to her — “and it’s pretty clear that did not work well,” he said.
But he also said the park district has no intention of walking away from the Commons Agreement and expressed frustration with Wilke, the district’s main-tenance director, whom he claims is calling an ordi-nate amount of attention to the fields’ problems.
“For whatever reason, Dave continues to stir the hornet’s nest on the Commons Agreement any chance he gets,” Hackett said.
Soccer enthusiasts, mean-while, say the issues are much bigger than the cur-rent back-and-forth between the school district and the park district. McMurray’sfield, slated to last 12 or more years when it was built eight years ago, is clearlyin disrepair, some said, and the school district will likely have to consider replacing it sooner than expected.
“We have so much demand for that field,” saidMartin, the former soccer club president. “Even with perfect maintenance, we’d be in the same position.”
But the new fields nextto The Harbor School will help take pressure off of McMurray, he added. And while he’s disappointedthose, too, are not made of synthetic turf, he’s looking forward to getting out on them.
“Those will be really good fields,” he said.
Page 20 WWW.VASHONBEACHCOMBER.COM
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David Albert Culp, Jr. passed beyond this world and into the heavenly spirit on October 2, 2012. He was 59.
David’s life had been saved many times by conspicuous miracles of modern medicine: nine years ago, three years ago, two years ago and again earlier this year. He was proud of his collection of doctors. He was a big fan of nurses and medical technicians, too. In recent months, David’s health declined significantly. And when he was done with what his hospital had left to offer, the family brought him home to Maury Island. According to his wishes. His last days were warm and bright and he left us peacefully. He had been a resident of Vashon-Maury since 1997.
David was born on June 22, 1953, in Iowa City, IA. He was the third child and first son of David Sr. and Anna (Keiser) Culp. His father was a physician, a brilliant surgeon and teacher at the University of Iowa Hospital. David described his mother as his model for team coach and film director. His parents raised five confident, compassionate children, all successful in each of their chosen professions: teaching, law, film making, geologic science and law enforcement.
Film making was David’s great passion and he was extremely good at it. He made (directed & edited & sometimes co-wrote) a collection of well-known local commercials for Rainier beer, Ivar’s restaurants, Sea Galley restaurants, Boyd’s Coffee, Long’s Drugs and Taco Del Mar, to name a few. Years ago, David and a good friend made a series of anti-smoking films that were also famous. David had a special gift for working with young people, especially with young actors. He knew how to bring out the confidence and best performances on camera. This really helped, in the making of many educational films, mostly for the Comprehensive Health and Education Foundation in Seattle.
David is survived by his wife, Crystal (McConnel) Culp, on Maury Island, and his beloved children, David Albert Culp III, Kaitlin Scarlet Culp and Sarah Francesca Culp and Crystal’s two sons, Lucas Lorenzo and Julian Lorenzo. All of the children live in Seattle. His sister, Roberta Culp, lives in Coralville, IA and sister, Marylin Culp, lives in Charlotte, NC. His brother, Matthew Culp lives in Des Moines, IA and his brother, Thomas Culp, lives in , Alburnett, IA.
David was preceded in death by his parents. While David did not stay for a very long time, he did have a big life, with many chapters. He was a devoted father, a great team player, a dedicated teacher, a spiritual mentor, a natural leader with perfect comic timing. And much more. He touched many, many lives in this world.
His being will be celebrated on November 1st at St. Mark’s Cathedral, in Seattle at 1:00 p.m. Donations in his honor can be made to Church of the Holy Spirit on Vashon Island or to the Northwest Kidney Centers in Seattle.
More of David’s story can be found, and you can sign our online guestbook, at www.islandfuneral.com
David Albert Culp, Jr.
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The Commons Committee, comprised of seven members who oversee the Commons Agree-ment, will meet at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the park district’s Ober Park office.
Page 21
~ Memorial ~
Dale E. Calkins, 28Graveside Service on Saturday,
October 27, 2012, 2pm, Vashon Cemetery. Reception to follow at Sound Food.
Please visit our online guest book at www.islandfuneral.com.
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Spaulding is a solid gray/blue
male with stunning looks. He has a
sweet and gentle personality to boot.
This guy loves to be petted and held.
He gets along with the other cats at the
shelter but he pretty much keeps to
himself. Spaulding kept running away
from his home because of the family
dogs. This guy deserves a loving home
with a lounging chair where he can live
a life of luxury. Date of entry 9/28/12.
Jasper was left behind when his
owners moved away from the island.
Neighbors found him and brought him
to VIPP. Jasper is the quintessential
orange boy kitty, totally sweet and
mellow. He gets along with his
bunkmates at the shelter and he is one
of the favorites of the volunteers. This
boy is looking for a safe secure home
where he can be loved for the rest of
his life.
The Grooviest Fur Ball Ever!Nov 3rd, O Space
My name is Jetta and I am a four year old
female Border Collie looking for a job! I am very
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Celebrating28 Years
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