vashon-maury island beachcomber, february 29, 2012

75¢WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2012 Vol. 57, No. 9 www.vashonbeachcomber.com

BEACHCOMBERVASHON-MAURY ISLAND

75¢

BEACHCOMBERVASHON-MAURY ISLAND

By SUSAN RIEMERStaff Writer

On a recent rainy afternoon, several pho-tographers gathered among the vibrant quilts and bright-colored bolts of fabric at Island Quilter. Some nestled their cameras right up to their subjects, taking the closest pictures imaginable, while others stood further apart to capture the long view.

While much about the afternoon could have passed as an ordinary photo shoot, other parts of the event were in fact remarkable: The youngest photographer in the bunch was in sixth grade, and the oldest, 93.

Those gathered were part of an intergenera-tional photography workshop led by Island pho-tographers Chris Beck and Ray Pfortner. The class, which began in January, includes sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders at The Harbor School and residents of Vashon Community Care. Twelve meetings in all, the class gathers twice a week, one day dedicated to a workshop, where photos are displayed and the students and teachers comment on them at VCC, and

the other day dedicated to a field trip. So far, the 13-member group has traveled

to Vashon Island Coffee Roasterie, the Bone Factory, the quilt shop and DIG; next week they’ll head to Point Robinson. Working sometimes in student-senior pairs and sometimes alone, class members are learning about photography in the digital age as well as about each other.

“It’s always wonderful to get the generations interacting,” said Naomi Goldick-Davis, the VCC manager of social work and community outreach. “That’s my passion.”

The first seeds for this class were planted last year when several Island photographers

A NIGHT WITH THE STARS, VASHONSTYLE

More than 200 people turned out for the 15th annual Oscar Night at Vashon Theatre, a lavish affair replete with (faux) Hollywood celebrities. This year included appearances by Helen Mirren, the war horse Joey, Asa Butterfield (aka Hugo) and several others. Many awards, of course, were handed out. Visit The Beachcomber’s website for a list.Above, left, Oscar Night announcer Susan McCabe and hosts Aimee Demarest and Fiona Hope take a limo ride. Above, right, Emily McAthur, a sixth-grader, steps onto the red car-pet. And right, costume contest judge Karen du Four des Champs enjoys hors d’oeuvres offered by Craig Sutherland (aka Jack Nicholson).

Sheriff ’s office plans to reduce coverage

Fire agency explores a new approachBy LESLIE BROWNStaff Writer

The grey-blue house on a quiet street in Burton looks like a clas-sic family home — with a two-car garage, a crimson-red front door and a peek-a-boo view of Quartermaster Harbor.

But instead of housing a fam-ily, the 2,200-square-foot resi-dence stands as a new effort on the part of Vashon Island Fire & Rescue (VIFR) to reduce emer-gency-response times to the outer reaches of the Island.

These days, two young men — volunteer emergency medical technicians or EMTs — live in the four-bedroom home, situated a block away from the Burton fire station. When a call comes in, they don their gear and hustle to the station, where they climb into an aid car and rush to the scene.

It’s a scenario that routinely shaves two or three minutes off the response time to the southern end of the Island and a minute or two to parts of Maury, VIFR offi-cials said. And while that might not seem like much, fire officials say, those few minutes could mean life or death to someone who’s having a heart attack or is in need of oxygen.

“Two minutes can make a huge difference,” said Candy McCullough, who chairs the fire commission. “I think it’s definite-ly worth it.”

The residency program, as it’s called, is part of a larger effort on VIFR’s part to reduce response time by strengthening volunteer participation in the department, one of the few in King County that still draws heavily on the

By NATALIE JOHNSONStaff Writer

If the King County Sheriff ’s Office’s proposal for a resident deputy program on Vashon is approved by the deputies’ union, Islanders will see a significant decrease in police presence on Vashon as soon as April 1. The Island will also, however, gain a full-time sergeant to oversee Vashon’s operations and follow crime trends.

Several sheriff ’s office officials laid out the proposal at a Vashon-Maury Island Community Council (VMICC) meeting last week, making an official announce-ment of the plan reported by The Beachcomber based on anony-mous sources two weeks ago.

Many who attended the meet-ing expressed concern that the new system — which would rely heavily on on-call officers — would result in longer response times. However, some also said they understood the sheriff ’s office is faced with making tough budget cuts.

SEE PHOTOGRAPY, 10

A new intergenerational workshop brings seniors and students together

Volunteers at VIFR

SEE VOLUNTEERS, 9

SEE SHERIFF, 20

From 12 to 93, Islanders learn the joys of photography

DINE ON MAURY The golf club opens its

restaurant to the public. Page 5

ART THAT GLITTERS

World-renowned jeweler makes a stop on Vashon.

1

NEWS | Lawmakers work to save PO boat’s dock. Page 3COMMENTARY | An Islander’s look at health care reform. 6SPORTS | Vashon Aikido teams with Seattle for an event. Page 18

Leslie Brown/Staff Photos

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Good News! Part 2

by Beth de Groen

Windermere Vashon

On February 15, 2012, Mathew Gardner, CEO of Gardner Economics, presented market updates to the monthly Windermere Premier Property Breakfast Meeting, data which is will relatively affect properties in all price levels. Following are more excerpts from Gardner’s report:

Good news for the Seattle area is the interest of East Coast investors, who foresee this region (and Seattle) as being the most important west coast region/ city for the next decade. The definite feeling is the potential for growth in jobs and the housing market (new construction) is much greater here than any other western state. Investors are positioning themselves to back this area. One of the reasons for their thinking are what Gardner refers to as, The Five B’s:Boeing---an Asian nation ordered two hun-dred 747’s on Valentines’ Day.Bytes---this is one of two major centers for technical development in the US. For exam-ple, there are 350 companies in the Seattle area, manufacturing video games!Bio-tech---a local company is within a year of announcing a cure for one major group of cancers.Bothell---There are two people in Bothell on the verge of patenting a car that goes fast, for much longer distances on electric power; and the price will be low. This is not Tesla!Benefactors---We have the highest concen-tration of billionaires of any place in the US except the lower East Side of Manhattan (an island that is the same size as Vashon-Maury). Philanthropists create an environ-ment that fosters human creation, diversity, and intelligence. Local people are among the greatest givers in the world---setting out to rid the world of polio, malaria, and fixing countless other problems plaguing Earth. Good people are attracted by this positive energy. This is a good place to be!

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VARSA Community Attitudes Survey The Vashon Alliance to Reduce Substance Abuse (VARSA) is conducting a survey on community attitudes on alcohol and drug use. Your personal opinions and your perceptions of the community’s attitudes will allow us to better understand how the community environ-ment affects youth choices. The survey is anonymous and will take about 10 minutes to complete. For the online version, type (or copy and paste) this link into your web browser: www.surveymonkey.com/s/VARSASURVEY. You may also take the survey by clicking on the link in an email from our on-line publicity campaign. We ask for your patience if you receive our email from several sources. Please take the survey just one time. Paper copies of the survey are available at Vashon Pharmacy, the Library, Café Luna, Vashon Maury Community Food Bank (on food distri-bution Wednesday), Vashon Island Coffee Roasterie, and Burton Coffee Stand. A Spanish language version of the survey is available at these sites as well. We will publicize the results of the survey at our website and in local papers. For more information on VARSA and its partners, please visit our

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State lawmakers are working to ensure that Vashon’s foot ferry can continue to dock at Pier 50 in down-town Seattle.

Washington State Ferries recently announced plans to renovate Colman Dock in downtown Seattle, remov-ing Pier 50 in the process. The pier is where the King County Water Taxi — with sailings from Vashon and West Seattle — docks along with the Kingston Soundrunner.

The House Transportation Com-mittee, however, wants WSF to change its plans. Representatives have includ-ed a proviso in the House transporta-tion budget that would require any

renovation to the Colman Dock to maintain passenger-only ferry access to the terminal.

Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon (D-Burien), who was instrumental in getting the clause included, said that the proviso would enforce a current state law, RCW 47.60.662, which requires the state ferry system to collaborate with passenger-only ferries for service at its terminals.

Although the state no longer oper-ates foot ferries, Fitzgibbon said, law-makers still want to see them succeed.

“It’s important to my constituents, and it’s important to have good trans-portation connections,” he said.

The proviso isn’t in the Senate bud-

get, but Fitzgibbon said he hoped it would make it into the Legislature’s final version.

“We’ll have to work with the Senate and make sure it stays in the final budget,” he said.

Construction at the Colman Dock is set to begin in 2015.

The public can comment on the project through March 15. To com-ment, visit www.surveymonkey.com/s/ColmanDock, email [email protected] or mail comments to Washington State Ferries, Attention: Marsha Tolon, 2901 3rd Avenue, Suite 500, Seattle, WA 98121.

— Natalie Johnson

King County officials have sent notices of violation to 133 waterfront homeowners noting they’ve failed to meet a county deadline to get their septic systems inspected.

The letters are the latest step in the county’s three-year effort to get 262 homeowners in Vashon’s six marine recov-ery areas to comply with new state rules around septic sys-tems in areas deemed critical to Puget Sound’s health.

The notices of violation follow a letter that was sent in December stating homeowners had until Feb. 3 to meet the county’s deadline. If homeowners fail to comply with the violation notices, they could face civil penalties, said Larry Fay, the community environmental health section manager for Public Health - Seattle & King County.

“They still have time to comply, although the window is closing,” he said.

The county has struggled to get Islanders to comply with the rules, in part because of the high costs of replacing failing septic systems and the difficulty of finding systems that work on small parcels like those that line Vashon’s waterfront. County officials have held several meetings, gone door to door and sent out several reminders and notices, Fay said.

“I feel like we’ve done three years of almost quarterly

mailings that are friendly in tone. I still want to be friendly, but I’ve got deadlines,” Fay said.

At the same time, he added, he’s encouraged by the response the county has gotten in the last couple of months. A year ago, only about 20 percent of those with properties within the recovery area had begun the process of comply-ing with county rules. Now, nearly 50 percent have had their septics inspected and, if needed, repaired or replaced.

Some Islanders, however, blame the county for the low compliance rate, noting that in other parts of the Puget Sound region, public officials have secured low-interest loans for residents to use to upgrade their systems. At last week’s Vashon-Maury Island Community Council meeting, Robert Keeler, who chairs the council’s land-use committee, presented a motion requesting the county to provide information about potential sources of financing.

Fay agreed that the lack of funding has been a problem. It appears, he added, that the county will be able to secure about $350,000 from the state to start a revolving loan fund.

“I’m pretty certain we’ll be able to get something set up,” he said.

— Leslie Brown

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Friday, March 2nd6-9 pm

Blue HeronWilliam Mitchell

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Tom HughesInstallation

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DuetLenard Yen“Prepositions”

The Hardware Store Restaurant

Biffle French“The Osprey Hunter”

Heron’s NestGRAND

REOPENINGLynanne RavenPainted Mirrors

Greg BushPhotography

Ignition Studios & Gallery

Fire Dancing, Food, Art

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Two Wall GalleryLynn Wilhoit

Watercolors & Acrylics

VALISE Karen Kennell

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Longtime marine vet is next in speaker series By NATALIE JOHNSONStaff Writer

Islander Tag Gornall says you can’t tell there’s an up until you’ve experienced the down. He has experienced both during his decades-long career as a marine mam-mal veterinarian, and he’ll share both this Sunday as the next speaker in Vashon Community Care’s Telling Stories series.

On Vashon Gornall is per-haps best known as a volun-teer, a green energy propo-nent and, during the holidays, an Island Elf. But as a retired veterinarian, he is also one of the world’s foremost marine mammal experts.

Gornall’s 35-year career as a marine biologist and

marine mammal veterinar-ian has taken him around the world studying aquatic animals, designing aquari-ums, consulting with gov-ernment agencies and even working with movie makers. He worked with the first orca in captivity, helped otters affected by the Exxon-Valdez oil spill, consulted on the set of “Free Willy 2” and was even called Seattle’s Whale Doctor. Gornall’s career is especially noteworthy in the Puget Sound region, where he has worked closely with the Seattle Aquarium and con-sulted at the Point Defiance Aquarium and Woodland Park Zoo.

A sign language interpret-er will translate Gornall’s talk on Sunday. Gornall said reaching out to the deaf com-munity is important to him, as he grew up with two deaf parents.

“I would like to welcome

them in,” he said. “This has been my whole life, in this community.”

He believes being raised by deaf parents may have affect-ed his work with animals, as he learned to not always rely on spoken cues.

“I think it taught me to pick up on things that per-haps a hearing person would not,” he said.

Gornall said that in prep-aration for his talk he has been poring over old photos

and notes, an act that has reminded him of some of the best and saddest times in his work with whales, otters, gorillas, polar bears and other animals.

“It’s brought a lot of the funny times back and a lot of the heartbreak back, and I want to share a little bit of both,” he said.

Gornall said the stories of his vast experiences will also demonstrate his belief that the most interesting animal of all is the human.

“I can often predict what an animal will do, but humans are always a moving target,” he said.

Islander will tell of humor, heartbreak in animal work

Tag Gornall will speak as part of VCC’s Telling Stories series at 4 p.m. Sunday at Bethel Church. Ticket sales are by dona-tion at Vashon Bookshop and VCC. All proceeds benefit VCC.

Tag Gornall

Vashon dog wins at Westminster

Bubbie, a two-year-old Icelandic Sheepdog owned by Islanders Donna McDermott and Terry Warnock, is already stack-ing up some impressive awards. But perhaps his proudest accomplishment yet was when he won Best of Breed at the Westminster dog show in New York ear-lier this month.

“I was elated,” said McDermott.

The win was especially sweet considering Bubbie’s mother took Best of Breed at Westminster last year — the first year the rare breed was recognized by the Westminster Kennel Club.

Bubbie was also the top Icelandic Sheepdog at the American Kennel Club National Championships last December, where there was tough competition.

McDermott said Bubbie enjoyed New York, though he was a little overwhelmed by all the people. He got to walk around the city with his brother who lives there and even met a Harlem Globetrotter.

“He’s a little rock star,” she said, “but at home he’s just our sweet little guy.”

— Natalie Johnson

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For the first time in recent his-tory, and possibly ever, residents of Maury Island and southern Vashon will have a dining option close to home. It’s not exactly a new restaurant, though. Tomorrow, the Vashon Golf & Swim Club will open its restaurant to the public with expanded hours, new chefs, a revamped menu and a new name — the Mileta Creek Restaurant.

Chris Lueck, who was hired as the club’s new operations man-ager a few months ago, says the restaurant’s opening is part of an ongoing effort to bring new rev-enue and new members to the 80-year-old club, which has strug-gled to maintain its membership in recent years.

He believes Islanders will like Mileta Creek Restaurant not only because of its location, but for what he calls “spectacular views” of the rolling green golf course, Quartermaster Harbor and the Olympic Mountains. The club-house’s lounge and dining room seat nearly 100, and during warm-er months, Lueck said, diners flock to the patio, which looks out at the water and can seat another

60. Even as a private club, he said, the restaurant has been “hopping in the summer.”

Lueck said he has revamped the menu to appeal to a variety of diners — offering everything from hamburgers and macaroni to steak and fine wines, and pro-viding an affordable selection for kids. With chefs Heather Sanders of Heather’s Homegrown and Kael Noah of Uptown Takeout, the res-taurant will open with a hearty winter menu with plenty of meat. Come spring, Lueck said, they’ll offer lighter fare with fresh herbs and produce, and they’ll add bar-becue in the summer.

“We’ve kind of modernized the menu, especially at dinner,” he said.

Lueck is in talks with local farmers to eventually stock the restaurant with Island produce and eggs, and he says Mileta Creek will sell the cheapest wine of any restaurant on Vashon.

Lueck, who used to manage Vashon Thriftway’s wine section, said that while most restaurants triple the cost of wine, the golf club’s new restaurant will charge less than double a bottle’s value.

“We’re getting some good deals,” he said. “I’ve always thought it’s a

ripoff to triple or quadruple a bottle of wine.”

The restaurant will also add what Lueck calls a two-for-$20 deal. Any night, $20 will get din-ers two appetizers, two plates of a specific entree and one selected bottle of wine.

Lueck said the club hopes Mileta Creek Restaurant — named after the creek that bisects the property and runs into the harbor — will put the club on display in a way it hasn’t been before. Ideally those who enjoy their experience at the restaurant will consider joining the club, which has witnessed a decline in membership since 2003.

In 2010, in an effort to appeal to more Islanders, the club began to offer limited and more affordable membership options, and in 2011 it rebranded itself as the Vashon Golf & Swim Club.

The club has considered open-ing its restaurant for some time, and Lueck said when he came on board he pushed for the change.

“Looking over the financials, it’s readily apparent that the old busi-ness plan isn’t working,” he said.

Lueck — who attended the Culinary Institute of America and was a professional chef for

30 years — has also brought new wine and beer tastings and wine dinners to the club, events open to members only.

The restaurant opens as the organization begins a new mem-bership campaign, waiving ini-tiation fees for those who join in March. Lueck said that to remain vital on Vashon, the club needs to attract younger members with families, something he hopes the Mileta Creek Restaurant will do.

“This is the direction the club wants to get back into, attracting families up here,” he said. “That’s what the club was founded on, families.”

The Mileta Creek Restaurant will be open 11 a.m to 8 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday and for brunch Sunday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Reservations are recommended. Call 463-2005.

Maury Island restaurant goes public

Chris Luek, the Vashon Golf & Swim Club’s new operations manager, will run the revamped restaurant.

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.

Our e-mail address is [email protected].


EDITORIAL

In the wide realm of issues affecting the Island, residents should pay close attention to our ferry service. We should write letters, sign petitions, stay informed and find creative ways to press our case.

The reason is that this is an area of great vulnerability for us, an issue with wide-ranging ramifications. If ferry service continues to climb in cost or is significantly reduced, the Island will increasingly become a place out of reach to young families and people of modest incomes.

That, in turn, would profoundly affect our social fabric — from the health and well-being of our public school system to the very feel of daily life on Vashon.

What’s more, we have a legiti-mate logistical concern. The ferry system — much like a two-lane highway in a rural outpost in Eastern Washington — is our

lifeline. In the social compact at the heart of our democracy, we have a right to expect our elected officials to fully understand and support this lifeline — as well as a right to consistently and even forcefully remind them, should they forget.

Islanders, it seems, have a tendency to complain about Vashon’s lack of government service and support. We want a better library, adequate police coverage, roads in good repair. But we believe a careful analysis of the way King County dollars are distributed would show that Vashon measures up quite well in terms of per-capita resources.

We’re an unincorporated area with a rural sensibility. Our complaints, when it comes to county service, sometimes seem unrealistic, even petulant.

Ferries, however, are a different matter. Indeed, this is the issue that could make or break us. Simply put, we have so much to lose if the crisis facing the ferry system is not adequately addressed in Olympia.

That’s why it’s encouraging to see some new energy dedicated to the issue.

For the last couple of years, two people — Kari Ulatoski and Greg Beardsley — have carried this issue virtually single-hand-edly. Recently, however, after Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond said several ferry routes could be axed altogether, Ulatoski and Beardsley’s Ferry Advisory Committee got an influx of energy.

Several new people have begun attending their meetings, bringing new energy to this critical issue.

That latest threat — the possibility of completely suspending service on five routes, including two of Vashon’s three ferry runs — seems sidestepped for now. Once again, lawmakers found Band-Aids — not a cure — to address our ailing ferry system.

But the issue will hardly go away anytime soon. Until Olympia finds the political will for a real fix, our ferry system will continue to limp along from crisis to crisis and our Island’s way of life will be at risk.

Islanders should press for a fix to our ailing ferry service

ADMINISTRATIONPUBLISHER: Daralyn Anderson

[email protected]

ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATOR: Patricia Seaman [email protected]

Circulation (206) 463-9195

[email protected]

Administration (206) 463-9195Fax (206) 463-6122

E-mail: [email protected]

EDITORIALEDITOR: Leslie Brown

[email protected] (206) 463-9195 [email protected]

ARTS: Elizabeth Shepherd [email protected]

SPORTS: [email protected]

BUSINESS, CALENDAR: Susan Riemer [email protected]

STAFF REPORTER: Natalie Johnson [email protected]

ADVERTISINGMARKETING REPRESENTATIVE: Matthew Olds

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The Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act of 2010 will be fully implemented by 2014. How will it affect Vashon Islanders?

Several people have told me that anyone on Vashon who currently needs health care can get it, imply-ing that the act won’t make much difference. That’s not true.

Pharmacist Tom Langland explained to me that “most of the acute and emergent needs are taken care of.” He agreed, how-ever, that “acute and emergent care” is not an adequate defini-tion of health care. According to Wikipedia, “Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and preven-tion of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impair-ments in humans.”

A 2011 Vashon survey that gar-nered 520 responses found that 21.8 percent had no health insurance; 25 percent had been turned away by a provider because they are on Medicare; 27.9 percent had been turned away for lack of insurance; 11.3 percent had children with no insurance, and 43 percent could not afford prescriptions.

I spoke with a number of employ-ees at a small busi-ness on Vashon who have no insurance. One 36-year-old has been uninsured for 15 years; another, who is 52, currently has none. A 33-year-pays $174 a month for insurance but is being dropped because the company will no longer cover individuals. A University of Washington student is unable to afford the university-sponsored insurance, which costs $456 per quarter. Another spends $500 a month following a recent hip sur-gery. Her two daughters, 23 and 26, with no insurance go off-Island for their care to a doc-in-a-box.

At another business I visited, the two owners — a husband and wife team — said that half of their income in 2011 was spent on med-ical expenses, even with insurance.

How will the act benefit these Islanders and the rest of the country? Each state will establish Health Insurance Exchanges, lists of approved insurance plans. The act requires all Americans to purchase insurance if they are not

already cov-ered or face an annual non-compli-ance penalty. Those who can’t afford it — with incomes below 133 percent of

the federal poverty level ($14,856 for an individual in 2012) — will be able to get their coverage from Medicaid. In addition, there will be federal assistance to pur-chase insurance in the exchange for those between 133 percent and 400 percent of poverty line. Unfortunately, the act specifically forbids any federal funds to pro-vide for abortions.

Even with this act in place, however, many will still be unin-sured. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that by 2019, the

number of people lack-ing insurance will be reduced from 32 mil-lion to 23 million. Of those, 7 to 11 million will be undocumented immigrants, leaving another 12 to 16 mil-lion without insur-

ance. After conducting several interviews and reading numerous articles, I can’t say for certain who those uninsured people will be — but some, clearly, will be those who decide they’d rather get fined for lacking insurance than buy it.

What’s more, even with the act in place, many will still lack affordable health care. According to the Physicians for a National Health Plan, “Millions of middle-income people will be pressured to buy commercial health insurance policies costing up to 9.5 percent of their income but covering an average of only 70 percent of their medical expenses, potentially leav-ing them vulnerable to financial ruin if they become seriously ill.”

For insurance companies, is this a boom or a bust? According to provisions of the act, insur-ance companies will be required to spend 80 to 85 percent of pre-miums on actual provision of

health care and no more that 15 to 20 percent on overhead and profits. A number of the larger companies are already leaving the field, including Aetna, Cignet and Principal Financial Group. Group Health, Blue Shield and Blue Cross are raising premiums at accelerat-ed rates, building huge surpluses, according to a recent article in the Seattle Times.

Many hope the act’s profit limits will eventually lead to fewer insurance companies and to a national single payer system, heartily endorsed by U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott. Still others hope there will be an increased number of companies in each state competing for the huge influx of new enroll-ees — an influx that could bring about competitive offerings.

A serious problem with the act is about access, according to Islander Rick Skillman, a retired hospital executive. “This is a train going down the tracks toward collision.” There are not enough general practitioners to care for the millions of people who will be newly insured. Therefore, in the future as now, many folks will go to emergency rooms, further crowding an already stressed sys-tem and resulting in longer waits for those with true emergencies. One Islander told me he waited nine hours in the emergency room with a failed kidney. Unless a huge number of medical students are already in residence preparing to become general practitioners, the train wreck Skillman projected will surely happen.

In two years, each state will have set up its own Health Insurance Exchange from which individuals and small busi-nesses will choose coverage. The state Legislature is finalizing the rules for the exchange. The state Insurance Commissioner and the state Health Care Authority are establishing criteria for selecting plans and determining definitions of health care coverage. We on Vashon need to watch and engage them as they lay out the future of our care.

— Kate Hunter is a longtime Islander and civic activist.

HEALTH CAREBy KATE HUNTER

Vashon has a stake in the health care debate

For more information about the Act, see www.HealthCare.gov.

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As you suggested, my wife and I made the effort to get pre-

approved for a home loan before seriously looking at houses.

Unfortunately, our credit scores were not as good as we expected

them to be. The two loan people we talked with said we would

have to bring up the scores before we could qualify. Do you think

we would be better off buying a home where the seller will carry the contract?

The short answer is no. It’s far more important to get your credit score up. That allows you to qualify for any home in your price range that might suit you, rather than a very small selection of homes that offer seller fi nancing. We all learned some lessons from the recession. One of those is not to go into debt for more than

you can handle. If you have too much debt now, or have made payments late, or a number of other problems, it wouldn’t be prudent to rush into buying a house.

Another important thing to know is that very few sellers can, or will carry a contract. Most folks need the money from the sale of their current home to buy another one somewhere else. It’s a rare seller these days, that can afford to wait for the money. In addition, sellers will also check your credit and most will ask for a large down payment. In my experience they also want higher interest rates than standard lenders are offering. Most contracts held by sellers require a pay off in just a few years. Three to fi ve years is the most common.

I would advise that you work with a lender to fi nd out how to improve your credit score. There are even non-profi ts that will give you helpful credit counseling. These days credit scores are the primary way lenders judge the risk of lending. I know it’s hard to wait but you will be so much better off if you do.I would add that you should order your own credit report and be sure there are no mistakes.

Q:

A:

Just Ask EmmaCurrent Real Estate Issues

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They’re line up on the futon sorted by size, like jays on a high-tension wire. They stare slack-jawed at the screen while blues, reds and greens dance across their faces in the semi-dark. The laugh track punctuates the snap-pish dialogue, teenaged voices breaking in alternating cadences; Hannah Montana, Pair of Kings, Wizards of Waverly Place.

These TV kids are older and cooler than our four kids. Flippant insults and clever retorts have muscled into our older chil-dren’s vocabulary, loan words from pillaging barbarians, teen-age sitcom Vikings.

My wife Maria and I have the normal love/hate/then-hate-a-lit-tle-longer attitude concerning TV. We badge up when a conversation turns to TV, claiming to have not even owned a TV for several con-tiguous years; but especially when our babies were small and there were a lot of them, and a good night’s sleep was pleasant fiction, nothing made the nut as well as a late-night bag of Cheetos or a box of Ding-Dongs and back-to-back episodes of “Dog the Bounty Hunter.”

We had been watching a TV we got at a bizarre electronics sale

held in one of the old Seattle’s Best Coffee build-ings several years ago. We pawed over heaps of retail-returned electron-

ics, piles of broken TVs, DVDs, speakers, cash-only, no returns, no questions.

Our TV was classified as functionally fine — “works!” scratched in Sharpie on a piece of blue tape — but its grey plastic cabinet was in a pile of pieces. When we got it home, I duct-taped it together, and years later tape and TV are still strong; we’ve since gifted it to a couple new to the Island who didn’t need much in the way of a TV, either.

Maria’s family are solid Midwestern farmers, corn and beans and the Blessed Virgin, and they have a fabulous custom of bestowing large sums of money to one another at Christmas.

This year, we took her family’s generosity and sunk the entire amount in a gigantic TV, plus a game console that our youngest boy begged us to buy, prostrate, his arms wrapped tightly around my ankles. The shopping decision was this: If we’re going to actu-ally buy a TV, we’re going to buy the biggest TV they have. We’ll be all in.

And so we are all in. The gigantic TV paired with an unlimited Netflix account has made it possible to watch, for example, every Storage Wars episode consecu-tively. Our kids hold hours-long, sugary after-school Hannah Montana festivals. The spectacle of Billy Ray Cyrus dad-swaggering his way through his one-note Achy-Breaky part is completely lost on our four.

Just like having all these kids, the idea of Family Movie Night began innocently enough. Maria rented “The Sound of Music” and talked of having a Family Movie Night. Her

concept was simple: We would all watch an ancient, heart-warming family show while eating buttered popcorn and thinking clean thoughts. The first Family Movie Night was a sappy, sentimental success, and so there were several more, a series: “Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang,” “Swiss Family Robinson,” “Singin’ in the Rain.”

But after a while, the Family Move Nights started to drift off course. The kids began program-

ming the mov-ies, and they changed the format slightly to more closely align the playbill with their tastes in theater.

The new-breed Family Movie Nights hold the entire family, includ-ing both adults,

captive for a series of derivative grade-school kid’s movies, full of poopy-potty bathroom humor, pie-in-the-face reaction shots and dizzying computer-generated graphics and choppy editing: “Home Alone II,” “Mr. Popper’s

Penguins,” “Spy Kids” 1 through 3, number 4 in 3-D.

Family Movie Night is still satisfying, sitting together and admiring the fine digital sheen of our huge new TV. However, the unfortunate reality of the current format is that the movies are often so puerile that Maria and I find it hard to sit still for the whole thing, without fidget-ing with our phones or actually packing in laptops to get work done.

At times the movies are so bad they fail to hold the attention even of our youngest kids. They’ll play provocateur, standing in front of the screen so no one else can see, waiting for a reaction, or draping themselves across their brothers and sisters, fomenting unrest on the futon. The last half-hour inevitably drags past bedtime and a couple kids usually drift into sleep.

After the credits, I hog-carry the still-sleeping kids up the stairs. It’s getting harder to do that; we’re all getting a little older.

— Kevin Pottinger and his wife Maria are the parents of

four children.

Family Movie Night: An exercise in family life that began so innocentlyFAMILY LIFEBy KEVIN POTTINGER

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NATIONALHEARTMONTH

Recently, this estimable newspa-per reported a discussion underway among the Island’s Chamber of Commerce, local businesses and the University of Washington’s School of Architecture proposing a facelift for shops downtown. This is something like going to Nordstrom, “over town,” and having a makeover at one of the cosmetic counters, knowing full well you’ll never buy the insanely expensive stuff they’re selling.

I don’t know about you, but as I read the story I couldn’t help but think: why didn’t the Chamber talk to the uni-versity’s plastic surgery department? Facelifts? Bring them on! I mean, talk about “community beautification!” I’m guessing there are a lot of aging folks on this island, like me, who might find this concept attrac-tive — and a lot of younger folks who would welcome the aesthetic improve-ments.

I confess that my thinking on this matter, such as it is, may be influenced by the fact that this year I become a genuine, card-carrying “senior citizen” complete with Medicare coverage. And when I look in the mirror each morning while shaving, I can’t help but think: Isn’t there a major engineering or construc-tion firm in Seattle, with cranes and other heavy equipment, who could improve upon this view?

Here are some things I’ve noticed

about aging. You lose hair on your head but gain it in your nostrils. Can someone tell me why that is adequate compensation?

Your memo-ry shrinks even

as your toenails grow, fast and thick. Much as I try, I find nothing profound in my toenails, though I persist in believing that my mind once was pro-found, wherever it went and no matter

how thick it became. Your muscles ache but

not from any body-build-ing program you’ve been pursuing at the Vashon Health Club: No, pain is just the new status quo. You give hearty hugs to vaguely familiar shoppers at the Thriftway but won-der who the heck they are

and why they’re so friendly. And speaking of the Thriftway,

you stand in the aisle, your eyes focused somewhere out near infin-ity and think: I wonder what was on that shopping list I wrote down and then forgot to take with me. When I wander into Island antique shops, like Treasure Island and Lost & Found, I find things I grew up with. Someone

please tell me how it is that my life became “vintage!”

One of the few benefits of attaining the status of “senior citizen” is that you get discounts. Whose idiotic idea was that? I can hardly think of a more wrong-headed notion.

Let’s face it, with every year we continue to age, we cost society more. We have higher medical bills. We have more car accidents (though at very low speeds). We earn less. We are more of a burden to our children, who have gone from being accepting of us at last to being annoyed we’re still, expensively, hanging on. It’s rude, really, our lon-gevity. We get discounted tickets to the Vashon cinema. Why is that? Because they know we’ll never remember enough of the flick to ruin it for oth-ers, that’s why.

Senior discounts, therefore, are nuts. Instead, there should be a senior pen-alty. We are costly. The penalty should rise with every year past 65 — let’s say, a percent a year. That way, if you have the effrontery of reaching, say 90, you pay 25 percent more for everything. I’m just saying: It’s only fair.

On the other hand, if an army of UW plastic surgeons swooped down upon the Island, we could postpone these existential concerns — at least until the facelifts themselves began to fail. No matter what you do, time always wins.

But I can’t think that far ahead any-more.

— Will North is a Vashon novelist.

NORTH PASSAGESBy WILL NORTH

LETTER TO THE EDITORStrawberry Festival

Our Strawberry Festival has had that name for over 30 years. Changing it because a few folks can’t find strawberries is at most a poor excuse for such an iconic Island event. Nor does changing the name to more reflect the music, art and food make sense, because those things are considered synonymous with the word “Festival” already. And if you still insist on changing the name to reflect more on art and music, we can just blend in among so many other art and music festivals throughout our area.

Moreover, there’s a risk the public will misunder-stand and think it’s a whole new event, no matter how long you try to subtly change the name from one to another. Changing such a well-recognized name both on and off the Island defies the basic principles of effective promotion, marketing and the benefits recognized from logo/brand recognition. Unless there is an unquestionably good reason to do so, you will have squandered years of promotional equity, a value that doesn’t come easily nor cheaply for any fundrais-ing event.

Furthermore, I view changing the name as under-mining the historical value and familiarity of our Strawberry Festival over several generations of both Islanders and visitors alike. I trust that the Chamber’s underlying reason for changing the name is to attract more visitors to Strawberry Festival. For the reasons given, it’s beyond better judgment how changing our festival’s name accomplishes that.

And oh yes, advise those handful of folks looking for strawberries to drop by the Rotary strawberry booth. It’s one of the festival’s largest booths and a great place to buy anything from strawberry short-cake to strawberry sundaes to buckets of strawberries!

— Gary Sipple

A facelift for the town? Let’s start closer to home

support of volunteer firefighters and EMTs. The two men at the Burton house, Cody

Plancich, 22, and Ross Copland, 21, are housed at VIFR’s expense. In exchange, Plancich and Copland — both trained EMTs who also work part-time as ambu-lance drivers in the Seattle area — have to be on call 10 times a month for 12-hour shifts.

The deal works for them, the two men said as they sat in the living room of the spa-cious home, called the Bennedsen House in honor of Lt. Robert Bennedsen, a volunteer firefighter who was killed in Afghanistan in July 2010. Both men are on their way toward becoming professional firefighters and paramedics and welcome the experi-ence the residence program provides.

“You just get better and better,” Plancich, a 2007 graduate of Vashon High School, said of the experience.

The fire department also benefits, VIFR officials said. Assistant Fire Chief George Brown said he’d like to see even more EMTs and firefighters spread out across the Island. Parts of the Island are still outside of the five-mile range considered the gold stan-dard in emergency response. A station with living quarters further southwest would be better, as well as another on Maury.

But the Bennedsen House is a step in the right direction, he said — a good invest-ment for the district and one that has enabled it to draw on the services of two promising young firefighters who cost the district very little.

“Their eagerness and their willingness to learn the job and learn to do it right is refreshing to me,” Brown said. “They’re not afraid of work.”

Brown, who came to the department from Pullman, Wash., has been working assidu-ously on the district’s volunteer program since his arrival two and a half years ago, trying to enhance and improve a part of the district considered critical to its success. His changes have been far-reaching, some say.

Volunteers no longer simply sign up and then continue on with their lives, awaiting a page that they might — or, more sig-nificantly, might not — be able to answer. Instead, as a result of a program Brown instituted, volunteers now have to agree to three 12-hour shifts a month or nine per quarter, with their stipend slightly higher if they staff that shift from the fire station rather than their own home.

He also instituted a Vashon-based acad-emy, or training program, that volunteer EMTs have to take — an additional require-ment for Vashon volunteers, who also take a state-mandated EMT class.

The need for the changes was apparent to Brown shortly after he arrived at the district.

“When I first got here the volunteer system amounted to, ‘Come if you can.’ It wasn’t working,” he said.

The district always had enough paid staff on duty to respond to the first emergency call that came in. But on nights with back-to-back calls, which is not unusual for the small department, VIFR officials would often have to send out repeated pages to get enough volunteers to show, Brown said.

“Without volunteers,” he added, “one call wipes us out.”

What’s more, he said, some of the volun-teers were not keeping up on their training. The agency, he noted, “used to take any volunteer who signed up.” Now, he said, the district focuses on “quality over quantity” in its volunteer ranks.

The district lost volunteers in the course of the makeover. About 20 dropped from the rolls, in part because they couldn’t man-

age the shift requirements and extra train-ing demands, Brown said.

But the program, now a year old, is deliv-ering the results Brown was looking for, he said.

The district currently has 47 active EMT/firefighter volunteers — 26 who live off-Island and 21 from on-Island. Another 10 Islanders volunteer as support personnel. As a result of the shift requirements each volunteer has to keep, the district is now much closer to what Brown and others con-sider full staffing levels — enough person-nel to cover three back-to-back calls.

Last year, Brown said, volunteer EMT/firefighters helped to staff 82 percent of the agency’s weekday shifts and 84 percent of its weekend shifts.

“This is a big change,” Brown said.Some of the commissioners say they miss

the old days, when the volunteer ranks were filled largely by Islanders motivated by a sense of civic duty. The new sys-tem, said Commissioner Ron Turner, has turned VIFR into “a recruiting spot for the IAFF” (the International Association of Fire Fighters).

McCullough, a volunteer herself until she became a commissioner a year ago, said she

also wishes the volunteer program still had that homegrown feeling.

“I was happy to have our troops in the past that we could call on locally,” she said.

The culture is different, she added, now that VIFR’s volunteers are more likely to be young men and women who see it as a step-ping stone in their career. “They’re not like the typical Vashon volunteer,” McCullough said. “They want jobs. It’s built into the culture.”

At the same time, both Turner and McCullough said, they accept the fact that Vashon — one of the few districts in the region that uses volunteers anymore — had to beef up its program.

“We don’t just need bodies anymore. We need people who are trained and qualified,” Turner said.

“The world has changed,” he added. “And it’s hard for some people to accept.”

Some of the longtime volunteers who have stayed with the program, meanwhile, say they’re pleased by the changes. Jill Bulow, a volunteer EMT who joined the department six years ago, said she doesn’t mind the shift requirements and was happy to get the additional training.

When she first started at the district, Bulow said, “It was disorganized. We were learning good things, but different things from different people, and it was confusing.”

Now, she said, “We’re getting very clear and thorough training, and that’s why I joined.”

As for the two young men staffing the Bennedsen House, they’re also pleased by the new approach — especially the quid pro quo that enables them to live rent free in exchange for receiving considerable on-the-job training.

The district, they believe, is getting a good deal. The two men said they work more shifts than VIFR requires. They also take care of the house — last weekend, they pruned the fruit trees in the fenced back-yard — and help out their Burton neighbors when needed.

Indeed, they said, their lives are pretty much consumed by work — between their volunteer shifts at VIFR and their paid jobs with Tri-Med, an ambulance company serving Kent, Burien and Highline. But they’ve got little choice, they said, if they want to break into the competitive and ultimately well-paying field of professional firefighting.

“It’s the life we want, to get that good career,” Copland said. “We work and work and work. But that’s what you’ve got to do.”

Cody Plancich, left, and Ross Copland live at the Bennedsen House in Burton. Behind them, above the fireplace, is a framed photo of Robert Bennedsen and other memorabilia that honor the fallen soldier.

CONTINUED FROM 1

Vashon Island Fire & Rescue has been trying for years to find a way to serve the far-flung corners of the Island — to address the joke that the agency could always save a foun-dation in the case of a fire, but that was about it.

Its new residency program, where two young men live at a house in Burton around the corner from one of its fire stations, is a step toward trying to find an economic solu-tion to that problem, the fire department says.

The agency paid $437,000 for the house in June 2010. Now, when it receives a call from the south end in the middle of the night, the two volunteers — Cody Plancich and Ross Copland, both trained EMTs — can get there a tad faster than their counterparts at Station 55.

The four-bedroom house often has two other volunteers staying overnight there, rotating through on an as-needed basis. As a result, says fire Commissioner Ron Turner, “We’ve got improved response.”

The agency could have an even faster response, however, if it could station an aid car at the house — something not allowed under current zoning because the house is con-sidered a residence, not “a primary (emergency) response site,” said Assistant Fire Chief George Brown. As it is now,

when a call comes in, Plancich and Copland have to hop in their VIFR-issued SUV, zip around the corner to the sta-tion, park their SUV and jump into the aid car.

The two men are proud of how quickly they’re able to get to the station. From the moment they receive a page to the moment they step into the aid car takes about two minutes, they said.

But fire commissioners want the response to be even faster. Turner said he plans to ask the commission to seek a waiver from the zoning law so that the department can park an aid car at the house. Brown, too, wants to eventu-ally seek a variance, though he wants to wait until the time is right.

“I think it’s very doable, but timing’s everything,” Brown said.

The district paid cash for the house, using funds from its reserves. Turner said it made considerable sense to purchase the house, in light of the low real estate prices on Vashon these days.

Ultimately, Brown said, the district hopes to build a new fire station, replete with sleeping quarters, in the south-west quadrant of the Island — a location that would better

enable the district to serve the south end and west side of the Island. But such an undertaking would cost millions of dollars, he noted, and the district is far from ready to take on such a project.

“To me, it’s an investment. It’s a no-lose proposition,” Brown said of the Bennedsen House.

Turner, who championed the idea of the house in Burton, said he wants to expand the residency program so that the district can better serve Dockton. Just a few weeks ago, he looked at a house not far from the district’s small station in Dockton, which — like the structure in Burton — is not big enough to handle live-in firefighters.

The house he found in Dockton, he said, was too big and expensive, but he plans to continue the search.

“We’re always looking,” he said.Meanwhile, neighbors of VIFR’s house in Burton say

they’re happy to have two young EMTs in their neighbor-hood.

“I totally love having them there,” said Nici Dawber, who lives across the street. “Imagine if we did have a fire. ... They’d be here right away.”

— Leslie Brown


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photographed each VCC resident, culmi-nating in a show called Perfectly Aged: Faces of Vashon.

Goldick-Davis noted then how much the residents enjoyed working with the pho-tographers, and she began to think how to get the residents behind the camera instead of in front of it. Eventually, she approached both Beck, a volunteer at VCC, and Pfortner to see if they might teach a class. She also shared her idea with James Cardo, the headmaster at The Harbor School to see if the school could offer such a course as an elective. All parties agreed, and now the class — which will end this month — will culminate in May with a juried show at VCC, showing the best work of each student.

The course focuses mostly on composi-

tion, Beck said, and while The Harbor School students have their own cameras, most of the residents are using cameras donated via VashonAll, a popular email bulletin board.

At the quilt shop, VCC resident Ellen Mark, who will celebrate her 94th birthday in June, was taking photos with a slim red Fujifilm camera.

“I thought it would be interesting and out of the ordinary,” she said.

At her age, she said, she has so many photos that people have sent to her over the years that she doesn’t know what to do with them all. So she’s taking the class, she said, “just for the experience.”

“I’ve enjoyed it so much,” she said, add-ing that she has also enjoyed working with students.

“They’re fabulous,” she said. “They’re patient. They know a lot more than I do.”

While Mark had not taken photos for many years, she recalled her first camera: an Eastman Kodak box camera. The well- known camera company sent cameras to every 16 year old in the country that year, and she was one of the lucky recipients.

“I took a lot of photos with it,” she recalled.

Photographing a quilt in the front win-dow, 13-year-old Lhamu Konrad said that after taking a summer camp from Beck and Pfortner, she did not hesitate to sign up.

“It was immediate,” she said. “I thought — I have to do this.”

Working with her that day was Barbara Gross, 76, who said she had never used a digital camera before and was the only one in her family without one.

“I got sick and tired of waiting for Walgreen’s to develop my pictures,” she said. “You never know if they are good or bad.”

Now, she knows, of course, if she has cut off someone’s head or lopped a person out of the picture, but she is learning much more than that.

“The teachers are fabulous; they let you take baby steps. They’re patient and they’re inspiring.”

Far back in the store, Harbor School student Julian White-Davis experimented with placing his camera up against bolts of fabric.

“I like extreme close-ups, so the viewer is wondering: What is that?” he said.

He appreciates the intergenerational aspect of the class, he noted, and has learned from the seniors.

“I really like to hear about their childhood and their past experiences,” he added.

Jack Rabourn, 74, worked largely by him-self that day, one of the many seniors rolling in his wheelchair around the store, pho-tographing with his own Nikon. In earlier years, he did a lot of photography, he said, but then health problems intervened. Now he has picked up his camera again after learning that a long stretch of chemothera-py and radiation was not effective against a brain tumor.

“I am trying to do some living things,” he said. “I am trying to get back to doing photography as an art form. I decided you just have to go forward.”

Pfortner said he most hopes the students in the class “learn how to show us their world, their vision.” Some photos, he noted, have been about ordinary life: a table set for dinner, the view out a window.

He recalled the famed Vashon photogra-pher Oliver S. Van Olinda. “He shot the most ordinary things and because of the passage of time, they became extraordinary.”

For Beck, the class has also had consider-able rewards as she and Pfortner have navi-gated the ins and outs of teaching photog-raphy to such a diverse group of students, including “techno kids” and seniors who are not familiar with the Internet. Members of both groups, she added, have taken some excellent photos.

“It’s absolutely fascinating to see how all of them see things,” she said. “Old or young, it’s about how you see.”

PHOTOGRAPHYCONTINUED FROM 1

Julian White-Davis takes a close-up of a quilt during a recent session.

Jack Rabourn relaxes at a recent workshop. Behind him, Ralph Eister, 92, takes a shot.

Pagw 11

ARTS&LEISUREVashon-Maury PASSPORT TO MUSIC: Hear world sounds when Vashon Allied Ar ts’ New Works

Series brings Avaaza to the Blue Heron stage at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 10. The band’s music is an amalgam of sounds inspired by flamenco, Gypsy, Persian, Nor th African, Indian, Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern styles. Call 463-5131 for tickets and more information.

An artist crafts a plan to make the most of VashonBy ELIZABETH SHEPHERDArts Editor

Famed metalsmith, jeweler and educator Robert Ebendorf will come to Vashon next week, with an itinerary that includes an exhibit at the

Silverwood Gallery, time spent in a classroom with Vashon High School jewelry students and a lecture for Vashon Allied Arts’ Arts & Humanities Series.

Ebendorf, born in 1938, has won decades’ worth of acclaim for his jewelry, which he meticulously crafts with found objects and nontraditional materials, includ-ing everything from seashells to bones to bits of Chinese newspapers.

His career, launched in the 1960s with a Louis Comfort Tiffany grant and a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Norway, includes his own retrospective exhibition at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C., and induction into the National Metalsmith’s Hall of Fame. He is currently the Carol Grotnes Belk Chair of the School of Arts and Design at East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C.

So how did the famous North Carolina-based artist wind up scheduling a whirlwind tour of talks and a show on Vashon?

According to Gerry Feinstein, who curates the Arts & Humanities Series, it was all Ebendorf ’s idea.

Feinstein said that Ebendorf had recently visited a friend on Vashon, who told him that he should meet Eric Heffelfinger, a jeweler, teacher and co-owner of Silverwood Gallery in Burton. The friend also told Ebendorf about Vashon Allied Arts’ Arts & Humanities lecture series.

Ebendorf wasted no time in pursuing the connections. He first made an impromptu stop at Silverwood Gallery,

where gallery co-owner Margaret Tylczak told him that Heffelfinger was teaching a jewelry class at Vashon High School, and that she’d be happy to take him there.

“Eric was absolutely floored when they walked in the door, because he’s known about (Ebendorf) for a long time and greatly admired him,” Feinstein said. “He was pretty dazzled by that.”

Soon, Heffelfinger and the famous artist had concocted a plan for Ebendorf to come back to Vashon, where he’d work with students in Heffelfinger’s class and then show his own work alongside Heffelfinger’s and his students at Silverwood Gallery.

Feinstein also recounted that she had gotten a call out of the blue from Ebendorf, who offered his services as a lecturer in VAA’s series.

“We began to learn about him, and discovered that he is known as a great teacher and lecturer,” said Feinstein.

“He sought us out,” said Janice Randall, VAA’s commu-nications director. “He wanted to come.”

Randall said that Ebendorf couldn’t be more humble, and seems genuinely excited about everything he has signed up to do on Vashon.

One of the things that makes Ebendorf ’s story especially interesting, Randall said, was that he has overcome a life-long struggle with dyslexia on the road to his fame as an artist.

The condition, Ebendorf explained in a recent inter-view, might help explain “why the helter-skelter in some of the things I make today sometimes have been talked about, that I create my own language.”

The work of Robert Ebendorf, Eric Heffelfinger and jew-elry students from Vashon High School will be shown in a one-week exhibit opening at 6 p.m. Friday at Silverwood Gallery.

Ebendorf’s lecture for the Arts & Humanities Series will take place at 7 p.m. Sunday. Tickets, $18/$20, are almost sold out. Call 463-5131 to check availability.

Robert Ebendorf, a world-renowned jeweler, will have a show at Silverwood Gallery and explain the tools of his trade at a lec-ture at the Blue Heron. At top left, a bracelet made by Ebendorf from found materials.

A wealth of concerts show off the talents of musicians from far and nearCheck out the following concerts for an

eclectic offering of everything from the heavenly sounds of Bach to the throbbing beats of a legendary reggae band.

On Thursday, renowned harpsichord-ist Jan Weinhold, from Lübeck, Germany, and baroque flutist Jeffrey Cohan will present “The Bach Family,” a concert of music by Johann Sebastian Bach and sons Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Wilhelm Friedemann Bach.

The program, set for 7:30 p.m. at the Vashon Methodist Church, will include sonatas for flute and harpsichord by Bach and sons and organ solos by both Johann Sebastian and Carl Philipp Bach.

Weinhold was born in Hamburg, Germany, where he studied sacred music, organ and historical keyboard instruments with a long list of influential masters. He has taught and performed widely through-out Germany and Europe as a soloist and chamber musician.

Flutist Jeffrey Cohan has performed as soloist in 25 countries and received

acclaim as a modern flutist and one of very few who specialized on all transverse flutes from the Renaissance through the present.

A suggested donation of $15 to $20 for the concert is a free will offering toward expenses. Youth 18 and younger are free. For more information about the concert, visit www.concertspirituel.org.

Reggae giant Clinton Fearon will bring his Boogie Brown Band back to Vashon for

a night of exuberant dance music at 8:30 Saturday, at Red Bicycle Bistro.

Fearon, who has packed the house many times at the Bike, came of musical age in Jamaica, where he formed the seminal reg-gae band The Gladiators. Since the 1980s, he’s been a force in Seattle’s music scene.

Opening for Fearon will be local sweetheart Sarah Christine. For the past 12 years, Christine has honed her craft at festival appearances throughout the Northwest and beyond. She has also con-tributed vocals to acts such as Publish the

Quest, The Crucialites, Adrian Xavier Band and Rau. She’ll soon release her debut album, “Free From Fear.”

Island music legend Ron Hook will play a free, all-ages solo show at 7 p.m. Friday at The Vashon Island Coffee Roasterie. Hook is the front man for the Island band Subconciously Population, and accord-ing to concert promoter Pete Welch, he has inspired a whole generation of Island musicians.

“This man is considered an elder by many on the Island, and a mentor to so many musicians who have come up throughout the years,” Welch said.

Talented youth will take over the Bike when Vashon High School students perform at an open mic at 8 p.m. Friday, March 9.

The night, a benefit for VHS’s 2012 Senior Party Fund, will include music, comedy, magic, poetry, dance, a jam ses-sion and more. Tickets are $5.

Harpsichorist Jan Weinhold and singer/songwriter Sarah Christine both have upcoming appearances on Vashon.


William MitchellPhotography

Tom HughesInstallation

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Spring is just around the corner, and during Friday’s Gallery Cruise, Islanders might get a few

signs of a new season. Hats that speak of spring, art that

reflects nature and s’mores at a new gal-lery are just some of the fun offerings this week.

So don your walking shoes and head for the town. Most venues are open from 6 to 9 p.m.

The Blue Heron will host two artists in its March gallery show, Tacoma photogra-pher William Mitchell and Island mixed media artist Tom Hughes. The opening on Friday will also boast live music from Riverbend.

Mitchell, an avid climber and adven-ture traveler, worked full-time for the Department of Transportation, with a sideline doing photography for a photo stock agency. After retiring in 2003, Mitchell began shooting full-time.

His current exhibition will show abstract works from a portfolio he calls “Tangles,” a collection of color photographs that reveal nature through an abstract lens. He scans and prints works on archival paper.

A recent immigrant to Vashon from Buffalo, N.Y., Tom Hughes creates tem-porary sculpture with a message. His exhibition, organized around the theme of “Where We’ve Been,” illuminates words within recycled cardboard and salvaged plywood sculpture.

The installation, according to Hughes, will allude to mischief and collusion.

“It’s interactive art in a very concrete way, low-tech; it’s been referred to as a punk-rock aesthetic. I reinvent the wheel every time,” he said.

The Island’s newest art space, Ignition Studios and Gallery, will be open for its second First Friday fling, with food, fire pits, s’mores and fire dancing by Kajsa Ingemansson and friends. Zamorana’s Taco Truck will be in parked in Ignition’s parking lot.

Tenants of the space include Island Artistry Tile, Vashon Vintage and JK Designs. Upcoming Ignition exhibitions will include portraiture by Gage Academy instructor Ryan Finnerty and a sum-mertime show of still-life work by Vashon painter Anelecia Hannah in partnership with North Carolina landscape artist Charles Philip Brooks.

Vashon’s new textile gallery — Common Thread: A Fiber Arts and Textile Collective — is having a show sure to conjure up thoughts of March hares and mad hatters. For the exhibit, each artist in the collective has created a hat that reflects her medium.

Works by Rebecca Wittman, Suzanna Leigh, Kira Bacon, Kasia Stahancyk, Marnie Nordling, Sharon Schoen, Linda Stemer, Anya Weil, Mary Shemeta, Kim MacDonald, Jenni Wilke and Laurel Boyajin will be on view at the shop, located in the former site of Books by the Way.

Two Wall Gallery will feature acrylic and watercolor paintings by Lynn Wilhoit. The artist, whose work has been exhibited at almost every Island art spot over the years, has been influenced by her many trips abroad as well as her admiration of the art of the Fauves, the Cubists and Pablo Picasso.

“I have no preconceived ideas before I start a painting,” Wilhout said in an art-ist’s statement. “I simply paint, see the direction the bold color and water are tak-ing and I continue from there.”

From mad hats to mixed media

Enjoy a taste of spring at this month’s First Friday

William Mitchell’s work, which will be on display at The Blue Heron, includes an abstract take on nature.

Painting by Yonsenia White

Ignition is also the new studio home of and Island Artistry Tile & Stone

www.ignitionartists.com17630 Vashon Highway SW, behind Movie Magic and the Red Bicycle!

First Friday Celebrations—March 2nd, 6-9 p.m.Fire Dancing by Kajsa Ingemansson and Friends

and food by Zamarana’s Taco Truck!

Ignition is also the new studio home of and Island Artistry Tile & Stone

www.ignitionartists.com17630 Vashon Highway SW, behind Movie Magic and the Red Bicycle!

Tues – Sat 11–5 pm463-5252

VashonAlliedArts.org

Lynanne Raven painted mirrors

Greg Bushphotography

H e r o n’s N e s tFriday, March 2

GrandReopening!

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LYNN WILHOITNew Two Wall Gallery

March 2 - 28th

Gallery OpenMon.-Sat 10-5

Sun 12-5

Call Sally Shivers206.463.4888

Offering a class? Sponsoring an auction?

Producing a play?Post your event on the Beachcomber’s

new online calendar.Visit www.vashonbeachcomber.com,

go to the calendar and follow the easy prompts.

During March, VALISE Gallery will present multi-media artist, musician and painter Karen Kennell.

Last summer, after play-ing the cello for 21 years, Kennell experienced some-thing of a tragedy: Her beloved instrument was crushed under a moving trailer.

“I had played a concert the night before,” she said. “I put it under my friend’s trailer to keep it out of the sun and heat. I didn’t think anyone would be moving vehicles, but they moved that one and it ran over my cello. When my friends came to find me, my first thought was disbelief.”

With this exhibit, Kennell aims to recon-structs her mangled cello — literally and metaphori-cally — using installation, photography, painting and video and exploring both grief and healing in the process. The cello itself will be displayed in the front room of the gallery, the pieces suspended between the floor and ceiling as if the cello were intact, with space between the pieces.

Kennell is a native of Puget Sound but rela-tively new to Vashon. She is finishing her Master

of Divinity at Seattle University.

Kennell has been an amateur cellist for 21 years and has played in sym-phonies for years. More

recently she finds herself playing in folk, rock and worship contexts with gui-tars and voice. She also has been painting for nearly 10 years.

The butcher paper will come down from the win-dows of The Heron’s Nest, when the bustling retail arts store — owned and oper-ated by Vashon Allied Arts — has a grand reopening Friday. Drop by and see how new store manager Ellen Parker has reorganized the store. There will also be new art on display, including work by this month’s featured artists — photographer Greg Bush and Lynanne Raven, an artist who makes painted mirrors, such as the one shown at left.

— Courtesy Photo

Blooms & Things will present painter Jayne Norton’s show “Germination.”

Duet will present “Prepositions,” painter Lenard Yen’s show of new oil on canvas color abstractions.

Puget Sound Cooperative Credit Union will be celebrate its one year anniversary with a showing of the photography of John Anderson, music by Amrita, refreshments and prizes.

Vashon Senior Center, on Bank Road, will exhibit original artworks by students of Carpe Diem Primary School, and Clare and Bob Hallowell will display their worldwide collection of bird and frog sculptures from 5 to 8 p.m.

Vashon-Maury Island Heritage Association will present “Abby Williams Hill: Wanderlust, Works on Paper, 1895-1927” (see story, next page).

SnapDragon, Vashon’s newest eatery, welcomes singer/performer Melodie Trottier, aka M is for Murder. She’ll perform her classic songs from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

The Hardware Store Restaurant will present photographer Biffle French’s show, “The Osprey Hunter.” French is a nature and travel photographer. He is also an author and wood artist.

Karen Kennell holds pieces of her crushed cello, which she’ll reassemble as part of her show at VALISE.

By VERNA EVERITTFor The Beachcomber

Imagine an educated woman of the 1890s who favored camping, hiking and sitting on the precipice of mountains over domes-ticity, fashion and fitting in. Picture a woman who tossed aside corsets and bustles for men’s clothing, who was commissioned by the Great Northern and Northern Pacific railroads to create plein air art.

Islanders will be able to view some of the seldom seen drawings she pro-duced during her years of wanderlust. In cooperation with the University of Puget Sound, Vashon-Maury Island Heritage Museum’s newest exhibit, “Abby

Williams Hill: Wanderlust, Works on Paper, 1895-1927,” opens Friday.

Abby Williams Hill, her husband Dr. Frank Hill and their young son left Grinnell, Iowa, to move out West — all the way west to Tacoma — in 1889. Through her many day books and dairies, she painted a picture in which she shunned the life of a doctor’s wife, finding it far more interesting to sail to Vashon, befriend the locals and fish for her supper.

Hill also loved children and, unable to have more of her own, adopted three daughters. She spent her summer months camping on Vashon where she home-schooled (or tent-schooled)

her four children. The summer ritual of camp-ing on the Island lasted long enough for Hill to buy property and set up an art studio in Burton. There, she sketched several local sights along the beaches, including native canoes and homes.

After receiving her first in a line of four commissions, she began in earnest to cre-ate landscapes of the Pacific Northwest. Her works were used to entice tourists to hop on trains and explore the virgin territory, much as she had done. Hill’s work includes more than 100 canvasses of landscapes and portraits, including one of Sioux chief White Bull.

Many of those com-missioned paintings were shown at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, the Lewis and Clark Exposition in Portland and the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in Seattle in 1909. And some recently made it to Vashon,

where they were shown at the museum two years ago

But her sketches — some-times spare, other times fully realized — are not nearly as well known. Nor were they always mentioned in her day books. Hill, how-ever, dated them and identi-fied their locations, so it is possible to place them into the chronology of her work.

Hill traveled extensively through the United States — from the North Cascades to the Great Plains. She painted the Grand Canyon,

Yellowstone and a very rus-tic Laguna Beach. She cycled for a year through the countrysides of Belgium, France, Switzer-land and Germany.

From her journals we know she was happier away from the constraints of societal expectations. One dairy entry noted, “I’ve been rambling on in my diary without date or day.” And another, while on a train, said, “Our eyes ached with constant watching, yet we were unwilling to miss a

particle of grand panorama we were passing.”

A tour through the heri-tage museum’s Wanderlust exhibit may even inspire some of us to take off on an expedition of our own, “without date or day.” At the very least we can sus-pend our concerns and trav-el back in time to imagine the world once inhabited by Abby Williams Hill.

— Verna Everitt is on the board of the Vashon heritage

museum.


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Tax Help: Professional tax prepar-er Hilary Emmer will help people who make $25,000 or less with their taxes. The service is free, and appointments are not needed. 10 a.m. to noon Thursdays through March 29 at the Vashon Library.

Zen Center Series: The Puget Sound Zen Center will sponsor a Spring Dharma Study Series, “Self and World: An in-depth exploration of our inherent capacity for love and wisdom.” A free introductory discus-sion will be held with John Candy. For information call 463-2841. 6:30 p.m. at the Vashon Library.

Community Dinner: This month’s dinner is sponsored by the Vashon Island Ultra-Marathon and Trail Run. Information about the run as well as the new Vashon Running Club will be available. The menu includes Mexican pork or vegetarian posole, fresh tortillas, jicama salad and dark chocolate coconut bars. 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Vashon High School cafeteria. Suggested donation: $10.

Ayurveda Tea Time: Join Ronly Blau, a certified ayurveda practi-tioner, for samples of ayurvedic tea. Free. 4 to 5 p.m. at Full Circle Wellness.

Finances and Health: Thomas Kraabel, an investment advisor with KMS Financial Services, will lead a discussion on financial planning with a health-related focus, covering state rules regard-ing Medicaid, asset transfer and asset exemptions. He will also discuss long-term care insurance. His presentation will be part of the Parkinson’s Support Group meet-ing but relevant to people with a range of health and financial concerns. Call Steve Steffens at

567-5976 for more information. 1 to 2:30 p.m. at Vashon Lutheran Church.

Republican Party Vashon Precinct Caucuses: Registration opens at 9:45 a.m. and caucus meetings begin at 10 a.m. at the Vashon High School commons.

Fibernet: Priscilla Schleigh Kim-mel will discuss the use of color.Updates and other items will be shared after her presentation. The cost is $2. 10 a.m. in the Voice of Vashon office on Sunrise Ridge.

Wilderness Program Open House: Vashon Wilderness Program, which offers youth programs for ages 4 to 17, will hold an open house. 10 a.m. to noon at Camp Sealth.

Embrace Change: J. Mathias Bennett, a spiritual advisor, will discuss how one can find greater clarity and purpose and determine next steps toward living life more fully. $30 per person. 1:30 to 5 p.m. at Vashon Intuitive Arts.

Unitarian Fellowship: Rev. Eliza-beth Stevens will lead the service, discussing how to assist those with dementia on their difficult journey. 9:30 a.m. in Lewis Hall behind the Burton Community Church.

Lutheran Church Concert: Carpenter’s Tools International, a music ministry group, will lead the church service. The service will include a concert and short play. 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Vashon Lutheran Church.

Vashon Island Women’s Club: This meeting will be used to edu-cate potential members about the General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC) and begin shaping a new Vashon Island club’s agenda, the focus of which will be service. All women 18 and older are invited. Contact Pam Robbins at [email protected] or 724-2096 if attending or for more informa-tion. 2 to 4 p.m. at the Ober Park performance room.

Housing for People with Disabilities: Seeds4Success-Vashon is looking at the need for housing on the Island for people with disabilities. Organizers ask families to join in a discussion of options. Both families that need significant care for their members or less significant care are asked

to stop by. Call Lee Ockinga at 370-0709 for more information or to arrange child care. 3 p.m. at the Vashon Library.

Great Books Discussion Group: The selection for March is “Culture and Anarchy“ by Matthew Arnold. Visitors are welcome. The only requirement to participate is to have read the material under discussion. 6:30 p.m. at the Vashon Library.

Poetry: Vashon Watch meets every first Tuesday for people who want to write, discuss and/or perform poetry. This month, the topic for discussion is “What makes a good poem?” Participants should bring a half dozen copies of a poem that they think is well-crafted. Contact Devon Atkins at [email protected] for more information. 6 to 7 p.m. at the Vashon Bookshop.

UPCOMING

Legal Clinic: Vashon Legal Clinic, which offers free legal advice the first Thursday of each month at the Vashon Senior Center, will run from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, March 8. Call the King County Bar Asso-ciation at 267-7070 to schedule an appointment.

Drum Circle: Vashon Drum Circle will drum and sing with Buffalo Heart, Vashon’s community drum. Free, but donations accepted. Sponsored by Women’s Way Red Lodge. 7 p.m. Friday, March 9, at Vashon Intuitive Arts.

Friends of the Library: Share ideas for raising funds to sup-port Vashon Library’s programs, expand services and recruit new members. 10 a.m., Saturday, March 10, at the Vashon Library.

Day of Wellness: Hestia Retreat is holding a “women’s day of wellness,” which will include workshops, speakers, movement classes, a silent auction and more. The event is a fundraiser for Hestia Retreat. An all-day pass is $85; a pass with a gift basket is $110. Visit hestiaretreat.com/page smith/19 for more information. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, March 11, at Camp Burton.

Community Cinema: “Revenge of the Electric Car,” a look at the global resurgence in electric cars, will be shown. A Q&A with the Vashon Electric Vehicle Associa-tion will follow. 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday, March 11, at the Vashon Library meeting room.

Food Safety for Organic Farmers: The Vashon Island Growers Associa-tion will host a free workshop on how to safely grow food for sale to the public. 9 a.m. to noon, Saturday, March 17, at Vashon Cohousing’s Common House. Call Mark Musick for more information at 463-4736.

CLASSES

Sunday School at Havurat Ee Shalom: Kids ages 6 and up will begin with discussion from 10 to 11 a.m. and be joined by kids 3 and up from 11 a.m. to noon for snacks, stories, crafts and games. The group will meet twice a month. For more information, contact Julie Shannon at 569-5414. Upcoming meeting dates are March 11 and 25, at Havurat Ee Shalom, 15401 Westside Hwy.

Island Quilter: The store offers new beginning sewing and quilt-ing classes each week. See the store’s website, www.IslandQuil-ter.com, or call 713-6000.

Yoga: Ronly Blau will teach “Yoga Sandwich,” with alternating “lay-ers” of silent meditation and yoga. 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, March 1. The cost is $20. Register at [email protected] or 499-8488. Both classes meet at Island Yoga Center.

Vashon Allied Arts: Kids ages 8 to 12 can bake sweets from scratch in “Sugar and Spices” from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Thursdays beginning March 1. Complete class schedule, registra-tion and scholarship information is available at www.VashonAllie-dArts.org or by calling 463-5131.

Afro-Brazilian Drumming: Learn to play the rhythms of Brazilian congas, djembes, surdos, agogos, snare drums and other percussion instruments in a fun, supportive environment. No experience is necessary and instru-ments are provided. All ages are welcome. Students under 12 need to be accompanied by an adult. Discounts are available for fami-lies. 6:30 to 7:45 p.m. Thursdays, at the RhythmJoy Studio, 10354 S.W. Mukai Circle, then students carpool to the Havurat Ee Shalom to play for the Afro-Brazilian dance class from 8 to 9 p.m. The cost for the four-week session is $60; drop-in cost is $18. To register, call Geoff Johns at 567-5822. The next session begins March 1.

Afro-Brazilian Dance: Warm up and cool down in a fun, friendly environment with live music. No dance experience is necessary. The cost for the five-week ses-sion is $79 or $18 to drop in, and the first time is free. To register, contact [email protected] or 567-5822. For more information, see www.rhythmjoy.com. 7:30 to 9 p.m. Thursdays beginning March 1, at Havurat Ee Shalom.

Kabbalah 101 — Understand-ing the Mystical Tree of Life: All are welcome to receive Kabbalah wisdom and techniques for spiri-tual healing, enhanced intimacy, abundance, inner joy and purpose in life. Rabbi Alyjah Navy facili-tates. The cost is $40. 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 10, at Vashon Intuitive Arts.

Animal Tracking: Teens can partic-ipate in a one-day workshop on the art and science of animal tracking, sponsored by the Vashon Wilder-ness Program. Learn strategies of

Dr. Lorraine McConaghy, the public historian at the Museum of History & Industry in Seattle, drew on hundreds of maps, letters, legal notices, obituaries and other archival records to write “New Land, North of the Columbia,” a book that sheds a fresh light on Washington’s rich and colorful history. The book, a look at Washington from 1853 to the present, features nearly 400 documents, including a telegram to Washington Territory’s governor signed by Abraham Lincoln, the rough draft of Theodore Roethke’s “The Rose” and a NASA map of Washington, shot by Landsat satellites. Michael Upchurch of the Seattle Times called it a “beguiling visual journey through Washington history.” McConaghy, part of the Humanities Washington Speakers series, will present a historical trav-elogue, based on her book, at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Vashon Library. The free event will also include a discussion on caring for personal archives.

CALENDARVashon-Maury

SUBMISSIONS

Send items to [email protected] to appear in The Beachcomber. 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.

Or visit www.vashonbeachcomber.com and go to our e-calendar, where you can post your items directly online.

TAKE A JOURNEY INTO THE PAST

VASHON THEATRE

Hugo: Ends March 1

The Lorax: Plays March 2 to 8

When Worlds Collide: March 3

See www.vashontheatre.com for show times or call

PUBLIC MEETINGS

Vashon-Maury Island Community Council Board: 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 5, at McMurray Middle School.

Vashon Island School District School Board: 7 p.m. Thursday, March 8, at McMurray Middle School.


VoV TV is found on Comcast Channel 21. Most shows are produced by Island-ers. If you’ve created a video program, contact Susan McCabe at 463-0301. RockFlicks, the short-film contest for all ages, is open now to all Islanders or those attending Vashon schools. For details see www.voiceofvashon.org. The submission deadline is May 4. There is a $100 prize for the top two winners.

Friday and Monday, 6 p.m. Poet Sam Hamill visited Vashon last May. Island filmmaker Peter Ray recorded his moving reading at Ober Park in the film “The Poet’s Way in Wartime.”

Saturday, 6 p.m. and Monday, 8 p.m. Get the story of a soldier who spent years serving her country while fighting for justice within the military. Peter Ray recorded Col. Grethe Cammermeyer as she presented her story to a packed audience at the Land Trust Building this month.

CONTINUED, NEXT PAGE

Friday, March 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. 3/3)

East Side of Vashon Plaza - Parallel to 100th Ave. SW - Mobile Coach - Assured Imaging Women’s Wellness of WA

The King County Republican Party will

hold its Vashon Precinct Caucuses

on March 3rd at 10am at the

Vashon High School Commons.

Registration opens at 9:45am. Caucus meetings will begin promptly at 10:00.

For more information please contact

Jim Clingan 34th District Republican Chairat 206-243-3020

www.vashonheritage.org

it was thought no woman has ventured as far

ABBY WILLIAMS HILL:

WANDERLUSTworks on paper, 1895 – 1927

Opening March 2, 2012

Anyone with a new program is welcome to submit material.

The deadline is March 16, 2011Call Susan Riemer at

463-9195susan@

vashonbeachcomber.com for information on how to be included.

PublishesApril 4, 2012

summerfun!

Call Daralyn or Matthew to have your

business included!

[email protected]

Our 2012 Special Section focusing on your Home & Garden is coming in the March 21st issue


animal movement and behavior, as well as how to move through the landscape as a native tracker. Cost is $50, plus $20 materials fee; scholarships are available. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 10. For more information, visit vashonwilder-nessprogram.org/teen or call 651-5715.

English as a Second Language: Learn how to speak, read and write in English. Free weekly lessons, beginning to intermediate level, are taught by an ESL instructor. During the class, homework tutoring is available in the library for elementary and middle school students of ESL families. 6 p.m. Tuesdays at the Vashon Library.

Zumba: Zumba Fitness classes, which combine Latin and international music, meet weekly. Dari Haffie teaches from 9 to 10 a.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays, and Sara Van Fleet teaches from 10 to 11 a.m. Thursdays, all at the Dance Acad-emy. For details, prices and additional classes, see www.vashonzumba.com.

Delta Dogs: Learn how to be a Pet Partner team and offer the therapeutic comfort of animals to others. Email Kathy Farner for more information at [email protected]. 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 6,

at Chautauqua Elementary School.

Incredible Years Parenting Class: Vashon Youth & Family Services will offer its parenting series, The Incredible Years, for parents of children ages 2 to 10. The 12-week series explores the joys and challenges of parenting, using a research-based curriculum. Cost is a slid-ing fee, $15 to $100. Dinner is provided at no cost. The course will be held in the evening, beginning Tuesday, March 13, at VYFS’ Playspace. Contact Lori Means at 463-5502 or [email protected] for more information.

Story Times: Toddler Story Times, for ages 21 months to 3 years with an adult. Enjoy a 20-minute program of stories

and songs. 10:40 a.m. Tuesdays, March 6, 13, 20 and 27. Preschool Story Time, for ages 3 to 5. Enjoy 30 minutes of stories and songs. 11:30 a.m. Tuesdays, March 6, 13, 20 and 27. Baby Story Time, for ages 3 months to 21 months with an adult. Enjoy stories, songs, bounces and tickles. 10 a.m. Wednesdays, March 7, 14, 21 and 28. At the Vashon Library.

Monoprint Class: Valerie Willson will teach a beginning monoprint class at Quartermaster Press Studios on March 10 to 11. The class, which costs $195, plus $15 for materials, will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m both days. For more information, contact Willson at [email protected].

Girl Scout cookies will be on sale March 2 to 18 in front of Vashon Thriftway, where Vashon’s one Girl Scout, Ciera Orchard, will be sell-ing eight varieties of cookies for $4 a box. Or call her parents, Terri and Garnet Orchard, at 463-3972, to order boxes for pick up.

Meanwhile, it’s the 100th anniversary of the Girl Scouts, which was launched by Juliet Gordon Lowe in Savannah, Ga. A display in the Vashon Library’s foyer will commemorate the centennial.

There will also be a potluck for former Girl Scouts living on Vashon in April. Watch for details, or call Becky Bumgarner at 463-5767 or Carol Slaughter at 463-2274 for information about upcoming events.

SCENE & HEARD

Phil Volker, legion commander at American Legion Post 159, awards Lisa Devereau with the post’s annual “star award” for her help with Memorial Day services and her ongoing work helping veterans adjust to civilian life. The plaques, made by Islander Roy Bumgarner, are awarded to a member in the community who has made a significant contribution without a lot of recognition.


SPORTSVashon-Maury

SEE ISLANDERS ROW: The Vashon Island Rowing Club will hold its annual scrimmage — the only time the rowers compete on Vashon — from 8 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday. Races will star t at Jensen Point and will be visible in inner Quar termaster Harbor. The masters and the juniors will go head-to-head for the coveted One Guinea Cup trophy at 10:45 p.m.

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By CHERYL PRUETTFor The Beachcomber

McMurray Middle School kicked off its wrestling season this month with about 23 young grapplers, up from last year’s 18.

The team began competition with some great performances against Mountain View Middle School of Bremerton on Thursday, Feb. 16.

The Mustangs won six out of 10 varsity matches and 10 of 16 total matches that day.

The team lost in total points due to several forfeits in vacant weight classes, but the matches that were wrestled were well-fought.

Highlights of the meet were when Chester Pruett started off a match with a come from behind pin with four seconds to go that fired up the team and when Franklin Easton gave away 35 pounds in an exhibition match and won by pin. Chase Wickman was also dominant throughout his match.

Todd Gateman, Logan Nelson, Sean Delargy, Shane Williams and Preston Peterson won varsity matches.

On Saturday six McMurray wres-tlers competed in the Washington State Middle School Regional Tournament in Graham.

The tournament was full of very experienced wrestlers from across Western Washington, all seeking seed points for next weekend’s state middle school championship.

Representing McMurray were sixth-graders Hunter Burger, Connor Hoisington and Ellis Peterson and eighth-graders Preston Peterson, Chester Pruett and Clyde Pruett.

Both Chester and Clyde Pruett won matches at the high-compe-tition tournament, and Clyde fin-ished a strong fourth in a tough 12-man bracket.

— Cheryl Pruett is the mother of two middle school wrestlers.

McMurray eighth-grader Palmer Burk watches as coach Corey McIntyre demonstrates a headlock on eighth-grader Franklin Easton.

Middle school wrestlers take to the mat

Aikido class hopes to attract more

Liam Rockwell takes down Lisa Macleod during Aikido practice last week in the Vashon High School wrestling room.


Last week a half-dozen Islanders gathered in the wrestling room at Vashon High School to practice the ancient martial art of Aikido. One man, clad in a black belt and pants, had been practicing for decades. Another young boy had just picked up the art and didn’t even have a white Aikido uniform yet.

One of the great things about Aikido, said Vashon instructor John Koriath, is that there is no competition.

“(The goal) is for everyone to get better by prac-ticing together,” he said.

Koriath and fellow Islander Alex Tokar began the Aikido class in October after it hadn’t been offered on Vashon for some time. So far, Koriath said, it’s attracted about a dozen Islanders, some who come more regularly than others.

Aikido is a non-violent martial art, meaning participants don’t attack each other, but instead redirect their opponents energy in an attempt to take them down, Koriath said.

“The ultimate goal is to point them in another direction they cannot resist against,” he said.

Those who practice the art, he said, do so to

develop strength and flexibility, to practice using their body and mind together and to work with others.

“It’s a lot of fun. ... It’s always a little more spir-ited with a larger group,” he said.

Koriath, a leadership coach by day, said he’s pleased with the class, which he teaches through the Vashon Park District, but would love to see it grow. Tomorrow the group will host a community event to give Islanders a taste of Aikido.

Tomorrow evening several members of Seattle’s Aikido dojo, or group, will visit Vashon to give demonstrations and practice with Islanders. The Seattle group’s sensei, or teacher, will instruct along with Koriath and Tokar.

Koriath said Islanders who have never practiced Aikido can either try it out that night or observe.

“You can get a feeling for whether it’s some-thing you might enjoy doing,” he said.

The Vashon Aikdo group will host a commu-nity event from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday at the VHS wrestling room. Regular Aikido classes take place from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays at VHS. For more information, see www.vashonparkdistrict.org or call 463-9602.

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“I think everyone realizes that money is short right now, and that some of these things are going to take place whether we like it or not,” said Joe Ulatoski, a VashonBePrepared leader who attended the meeting.

Chief Deputy Steve Strachan, second in command at the sheriff ’s office, told about 30 Islanders who attended the meeting that the sheriff ’s office simply can’t continue to staff Vashon with around 13 deputies. Due to budget cuts, he said, the agency has eliminated 170 positions in the last three years — cuts Vashon hasn’t felt because the office has strived to keep two deputies on the Island at all times.

Looking for what he called an innova-tive solution, Strachan said the office has proposed that five to six deputies staff the Island. During peak hours one deputy would be on duty and one would be on call, either at home or at the substation, to respond to high-priority crimes and emer-gencies. During non-peak hours, which would be determined by the department, there would be no deputies on duty and two deputies on call.

Strachan, along with Capt. Patrick Butschli, who oversees the sheriff depart-ment’s southwest precinct, and Chief Dave Jutilla who oversees patrol, fielded a num-ber of written questions about the proposal.

Sgt. John Hall, Vashon’s administrative ser-geant, was also at the meeting.

The officials spoke candidly about the proposal, noting they wouldn’t know the final details until a plan was approved by the deputies’ union.

Butschli said there would likely be longer response times under the program since deputies would sometimes respond from home and may even be awakened for a call.

“In some cases it’s going to be longer than we would all like. In other cases it will be very quick,” he said.

Butschli emphasized, however, that other parts of the county already see long response times due to cuts in staffing. “That’s business as usual on the other side of the water,” he said.

The change would come as the sheriff ’s office reworks how it covers unincorpo-rated King County. Beginning in April, the agency’s four precincts will be replaced with zones. Officers, instead of being assigned to cover one precinct, will move between zones as needed, a measure Strachan said would better use their deputy resources.

Along with the change in Vashon’s staff-ing model, Strachan said the county hopes to bring on a full-time sergeant to work on Vashon and oversee the Island’s operations. Strachan said the individual would be like a police chief for Vashon and would be in charge of scheduling deputies, communi-cating with the community and follow-ing crime trends — a leadership position Vashon doesn’t currently have.

Tim Johnson, president of the commu-

nity council’s board, said that bringing a full-time sergeant to the Island would be a positive change. Hall, who currently over-sees Vashon, is based in Burien and can only give a portion of his time to respond-ing to Islanders’ concerns and attending community meetings.

“I think having someone here 40 hours a week who is in a supervisory position and has the ability to manage deputies is cer-tainly a welcome piece of any plan they have going forward,” Johnson said.

Dave Hoffman, a fire commissioner who attended the meeting, said he thought Islanders should consider forming a vol-unteer system, an idea brought up during the meeting to make up for the reduction in deputies.

Hoffman said he would sign up for a com-munity volunteer reserve or neighborhood watch program, though it would likely first have to be approved by the deputies’ union.

“I’m grateful for the good work the sher-iff ’s department does, and I know over town they have a lot of issues they’re dealing with,” Hoffman said. “I want to do what I can to help them out and keep it safe for the community.”

George Brown, Vashon’s assistant fire chief, also attended the meeting and said he was pleased to hear the officials prom-ise there would always be two deputies at least on call on the Island. Sheriff ’s deputies often assist Vashon Island Fire & Rescue responders at car accidents, fires and domestic violence incidents. They also provide traffic assistance and security at the

scenes of emergencies.Brown said he was confident the on-

call officers would continue to respond to VIFR’s calls for assistance, and since there would still be two deputies available, the new plan shouldn’t affect VIFR’s opera-tions.

“There is a known two people that will always be on the Island, and that’s what caught my ear,” he said. “I though it was a very doable system without having a nega-tive impact on us.”

Brown said he also liked the idea of peri-odic emphasis patrols for drunk drivers — something officials at the meeting said there may be funds for under a new system.

“I think the element of surprise plays a big role with criminals,” he said.

Officials at the meeting said they were open to feedback on the plan and that someone would return to the March com-munity council meeting to give an update.

“We’re not so settled on it that if a good idea came up or an option to make it better, we’ll consider it,” Strachan said.

Johnson said he didn’t think there would be an effort to prevent the county from moving forward with the plan if approved by the union. But he did hope the agency would stay in close communication with the community council as it implements the new way of policing.

“There’s some room to contribute ideas and maybe get a little more coverage, push around the edges of it,” Johnson said. “My opinion is that a fairly significant reduction in service is coming one way or the other.”

CONTINUED FROM 1

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Val Seath (206) 790-8779Nancy Sipple (206) 465-2361Diane Stoffer (206) 650-6210

Ken Zaglin (206) 940-4244This office independently owned and operated JOHN L SCOTT VSH

Len Wolff (206) 300-7594Jean Bosch (206) 919-5223Deb Cain (206) 930-5650Ishan Dillon (206) 355-4100

Leslie Ferriel (206) 235-3731Crist Granum (206) 419-3661

Susan Lofland (206) 999-6470Phil McClure (206) 696-1800

Val Seath (206) 790-8779Nancy Sipple (206) 465-2361Diane Stoffer (206) 650-6210

Ken Zaglin (206) 940-4244This office independently owned and operated JOHN L SCOTT VSH

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Vashon

Burton

Stop by our officefor maps & info

Stop by our officefor maps & info

Westside 1.36 AcresMostly level land near community beach

access! Winter views, drilled well, expiredseptic design. Sunny western exposure!

JUST LISTED! MLS #322804 $165,000

3 bdrm 2 bath 1.16 ACCustom-built home amid forested seclusion in alovely garden setting! Vaulted ceilings, upper-floor master suite, basement garage & bonusroom, separate shed. MLS #285117 $300,000

3 bdrm 3.25 bath 10.14 ACRefined country Craftsman is just right, inside &

out! Massive Russian fireplace & gleaming woodfloors, huge porch, 3-car garage with 1 bdrm

studio for guest or office. MLS #315310 $749,000

vashon-maury island beachcomber, february 29, 2012

Documents

island quilter

island photographers

vashon island coffee

vashon theatre

class members

annual oscar night

red carpet

car garage