February 2015 good life issue

WINTERING IN PANAMA Y EVENTS CALENDAR

WENATCHEE VALLEY’S

NUMBER ONE MAGAZINE

February 2015

Open for fun and adventure

Price: $3

being lincoln Passion for 16th president turns into a teaching tool Back to the Old Sod in search of roots Boating the historic coast of Turkey

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Contents

page 16

sailing through history in friendly turkey

Features

7 trails of happiness

If you haven’t been to Ski Hill and Freund Canyon in Leavenworth recently, you are in for a surprise. Thank James Munly

10 Wintering in panama

After a couple of visits, Chelan couple buy a home and intend to move to the highlands of Central America nation — where the temperatures are moderate all of the time

14 what would abe lincoln say

Leon McKinney has researched the 16th president and found plenty of inspiration to share with school kids and adults

18 slow, slower and slowest

Reenactment of historic ski race brought out three... well, experienced... racers

21 finding family in the old country

Charlene Woodward started on a computer searching for relatives in Ireland, and eventually ended up having dinner with them

24 RIVERSIDE 9

New apartment community is at the crossroads of urban buzz and the serenity of nature

ART SKETCHES

n Photographer Lynette Smith, page 32 n Author Dan Gemeinhart, page 39 Columns & Departments 28 Pet Tales: Two favorites from the shelter 29 Bonnie Orr: Try this food you think you don’t like 30 June Darling: Yes, let’s talk about religion 34 The traveling doctor: Is there a doctor on board?

35-39 Arts & Entertainment & a Dan McConnell cartoon 37 The night sky: Here comes the king 40 History: Settlers move in... Indians are moved out 42 Alex Saliby: Traveling with state wines in the trunk

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OPENING SHOT

®

Year 9, Number 2 February 2015 The Good Life is published by NCW Good Life, LLC, dba The Good Life 10 First Street, Suite 108 Wenatchee, WA 98801 PHONE: (509) 888-6527 EMAIL: editor@ncwgoodlife.com

sales@ncwgoodlife.com ONLINE: www.ncwgoodlife.com FACEBOOK: https://www. facebook.com/NCWGoodLife Editor/Publisher, Mike Cassidy Contributors, Michael Bendtsen, Jack and Dorothea Davis, Ryan Parsons, Keith Wiggins, Marlene Farrell, Charlene Woodward, Andy Dappen, Bonnie Orr, Alex Saliby, Jim Brown, June Darling, Dan McConnell, Susan Lagsdin, Peter Lind and Rod Molzahn Advertising manager, Terry Smith Advertising sales, Lianne Taylor and Donna Cassidy Bookkeeping and circulation, Donna Cassidy Proofing, Dianne Cornell Ad design, Rick Conant TO SUBSCRIBE: For $25, ($30 out of state address) you can have 12 issues of The Good Life mailed to you or a friend. Send payment to: The Good Life 10 First Street, Suite 108 Wenatchee, WA 98801 For circulation questions, email: donna@ncwgoodlife.com BUY A COPY of The Good Life at Hastings, Safeway stores, Walgreens, Mike’s Meats at Pybus, Rhubarb Market, Martin’s Market Place (Cashmere) and A Book for All Seasons (Leavenworth)

A fine morning to praise the sky

by Michael Bendtsen

This image was taken in the

upgraded and beautiful Entiat Park that the PUD has been working on the past year or so.

Although this being the offseason and my time there brief because the park is not fully opened yet, arguably this could

be the finest park in the area.

The landscape, structures, lighting, trails, campsites and artwork are second to none it seems.

They have done a great job designing it to feel natural and blend with the surroundings.

This sculpture is by artist Smoker Marchand, who grew up on the Colville Indian reservation in Omak.

He also has similar works in other parks and areas such as the one at the Beebe Springs natural area next to the Beebe

ADVERTISING: For information about advertising in The Good Life, contact advertising at (509) 8886527, or sales@ncwgoodlife.com WRITE FOR THE GOOD LIFE: We welcome articles about people from Chelan and Douglas counties.

Send your idea to Mike Cassidy at editor@ncwgoodlife.com

The Good Life® is a registered trademark of NCW Good Life, LLC. Copyright 2015

by NCW Good Life, LLC.

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Bridge at Chelan Falls.

This shot was taken after a long hike up above Entiat and on my way back home to Wenatchee.

More of Michael Bendtsen’s photos can be seen at www.facebook.com/ mcglinns

On the cover

Ryan Parsons of Parsons Photography took this photo of Leon McKinney striking a steely-eyed presidential pose as Abraham Lincoln, who was born 206 years ago this Feb. 12.

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editor’s notes

MIKE CASSIDY

Dumbo, Panama & flying above fears To entertain our kids when

we were busy making breakfast, we purchased Disney’s Dumbo and showed them how to play the movie on our TV. We must have heard snippets of Dumbo 100 times or more as the kids took turns in their growing up years to curl up in blankets and watch the baby elephant.

I’ve seen a horse fly...

I’ve seen a dragon fly...

I’ve seen a house fly!

I’ve seen all that, too! I’ve seen a peanut stand, and heard a rubber band! I’ve seen a needle that winked its eye! But I be done seen about everything when I see an elephant fly!

There’s comfort in routine — for kids and for adults. My car “knows” how to drive from work to home while my human brain entertains other thoughts… to the extend that on a recent evening, I was pulling into my driveway when I remembered I was supposed to have stopped for eggs. My human mind took over the wheel and off to the store I went.

Routines get us through the day and the week, that’s fine, but when mind-LESS-ness starts getting us through the years, we are in trouble.

To live a more mind-FULL-life requires escaping the routine and the expected.

Which is something Jack and Dorothea alluded to when the couple stopped by The Good Life offices several weeks ago to talk about moving to Panama.

Saying they were in their late 70s, and had a nice home overlooking Lake Chelan (two reasons many of us would give for not changing a thing), they

took turns explaining, “We want a new chapter in our lives,” and, “We’re looking for something different and another adventure.”

(See the Davises’ story, beginning on page 10.)

I mentioned the Davises to a friend of mine, who was cold to the idea: “Isn’t anywhere south of the border dangerous?”

And that is pretty much how many of us see the world: A place of threats and chaos. Foreign looks dark and dangerous.

I once lived in Brisbane, Australia, where the tabloid newspaper took delight in odd news from the U.S. One story told of a few guys on a hot New York night sitting outside on garbage cans. One fellow got up to go inside for a cold beer, came back to discover another guy had taken his place atop the can. An argument ensued, a gun was pulled, one guy shot another, and the headline read: U.S. man killed in argument over garbage can.

A constant patter of similar stories — and isn’t there always someone somewhere doing something dumb and dangerous in the U.S.? — could convince a person that our “safe” America is too risky to visit.

At the end of Dumbo, the little elephant — told by naysayers he can’t really fly — is falling to his doom when a little boy shouts: “Dumbo! C’mon, fly! Open them ears! … You can fly! Honest, you can! Hurry, open them up!”

And open his magic ears he does and soars over the crowd.

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Don’t let the “ foreign” scare you off. Enjoy The Good Life.

— Mike February 2015 | The Good Life

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fun stuff a full LISTING of what to do begins ON PAGE 35

A short month with a long list of fun

from silent to sound, starring Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds. Numerica Performing Arts Center. Cost: $5. Info: numericapac.org.

Thursday, Feb. 12, 6:30 p.m.

Introduction to Winter Waterbirds — North Central

February is a month for lov-

ers — for lovers of getting out and having some fun.

Take a look at some of these events found in this month’s What to Do calendar:

Chicks on Sticks — 8km women’s-only event. Proceeds go to The Wellness Place, providing direct services for breast cancer awareness. Icicle Trail at Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery. Info: skileavenworth. com. Sunday, Feb. 1, 9:30 a.m.

Home Show — Home builders show with vendors and displays.

Town Toyota Center. Tickets and info: www.BuildingNCW.org.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 6-8.

Oh, what a glorious feeling — watching Gene Kelly in a magically 1950s musical. Thursday, Feb. 12, at the Numerica Performing Arts Center.

friendsofnwhatcheries.com.

Info: fws.gov/Leavenworth/.

Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Feb. 22.

Broadway’s next HIT musical — Improvisers gather

provised musical — complete with memorable characters, witty dialogue and plot twists.

Numerica Performing Arts Center. Cost: $25-$29 adults, $21/$25 seniors, $19/$23 youth. Info: numericapac.org. Saturday, Feb. 7, 7:30 p.m.

made-up hit song suggestions from the audience and create a spontaneous evening of music season during a free two-hour in the Rain 664-9063 — This 151 South Worthen Street, Suite 201 · (509)Singin’ 664-9063 · (800) and humor. The audience votes guided snowshoe tour on the film is a spoof of the turD.A. Davidson & Co. member SIPC · 1952 www.dadavidson.com for its favorite song and watches moil that afflicted the movie Icicle River Trail. No experience as the cast turns it into an imnecessary. Cost: free. Register: industry in the late 1920s went

Winter Life Snowshoe Tours — Enjoy the winter

Wenatchee Office:

151 South Worthen Street, Suite 201 (509) 664-9063 (800) 664-9063 www.dadavidson.com D.A. Davidson & Co. member SIPC

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Washington Audubon Society’s Jenny Graevell and Wenatchee Naturalist Susan Ballinger have co-designed this course to increase your observation skills in a collaborative setting.

This hands-on course will use field guides, bird study skins, presentations, apps and optics.

The Saturday half-day field trip will be at Walla Walla Park and the Horan Natural Area where participants will practice birding skills under supportive guidance of the instructors and local Audubon members. Info: ncwaudubon.org. Feb. 17, 19, 22.

Winter Ice Gala — Starring Ryan Bradley, U.S. figure skating champion, Jean-Luc Baker and Kaitlin Hawayek, 2014 world ice dance champions, Wenatchee Figure Skating Club, Miss Washington 2014, Kailee Dunn and Miss East Cascades 2014, Ashley Lowers and the Glenn and Friends Trio. Town Toyota Center. Info: towntoyotacenter. com. 2/20. 6 p.m.

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Volunteers

A long slough in the dirt to craft whoops of joy James Munly leads effort to build new, accessible trails in leavenworth

By Marlene Farrell

If you like getting outdoors and you live locally,

you need to thank James Munly. He has given us all a gift.

Through his coordination and labor, the vision of new multipurpose trails has become reality.

Leavenworth has long been known for its rugged trails ascending wild peaks, where one might encounter a mountain goat almost as easily as another hiker. Those trails, up the Icicle and in the Tumwater, are perfect for all-day excursions or multi-day trips.

But when one only has a couple hours instead of a whole day, the Leavenworth options have been limited, especially compared to the extensive Foothills trail network in Wenatchee. And if the trail enthusiast would rather be on a bike, or on a horse, or with a dog, their options have also been few.

But now there is more.

If you haven’t been to Ski Hill and Freund Canyon in Leavenworth recently, you are in for a surprise.

Go, and see the new trails, the result of thousands of volunteer hours.

More than anyone, James has been there, on the

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James Munly may be a mountain bike enthusiast, but now, he says, it’s more like: “I am a trail builder with a small mountain biking habit.”

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James Munly: Trail architect }}} Continued from previous page ground, sculpting the landscape with his five-ton excavator. He is the architect of swoops and climbs that make trail runners and mountain bikers whoop with joy.

For Leavenworth runners, hikers and bikers, the Ski Hill trails and Freund Canyon trail have long been a part of our weekly regimens. Now with connector trails sprouting up between the two, new life has been breathed into this trail network and the unrepeatable miles have quadrupled. This is the fruition of negotiations with the Forest Service that began over 25 years ago.

James has been patiently, doggedly involved for almost 20 years.

4 the Boys Trail at Ski Hill First, in 2013, he and his crew of volunteers built the 4 the Boys Trail above Ski Hill. This trail was named in memory of the four local men who died in two recent avalanches, all of whom were kindred spirits to James in their enthusiasm for outdoor pursuits.

James says his main volunteers deserve a big share of the credit too.

He recalls, in the construction of 4 the Boys, “we ran into rock that unfortunately was too hard for the mini-excavator to dig, so out comes the generator and electric jackhammer to break it up. I ran back down to get some gas from the truck below. On my way back I was blown away over how much trail we had built in a month.

“As I came around the corner I saw Lisa Magee (55 years young), Al Murphy (65 years young), and Thomas Magee (75 years young) running the jackhammer and breaking rock out of the hillside. The jackhammer weighs 75 pounds all by itself

The design of the Freund trail involves banking and curving a lot, which is fun for the riders (and runners) and also helps promote drainage.

and running it for hours will wear out the strongest of people half their age.

“The hardest part is that in July it’s 95-100 degrees and building trail on the south side of the ridge in the direct sun and wearing boots, pants, long-sleeve shirts and hard hats makes it that much harder.

We filled up the generator and about four hours later we were through, and Al was back in his excavator building a sweet bench trail.”

Freund Canyon Trail, restored and improved Freund Canyon trail, located a couple miles up the Chumstick Highway from downtown, is an eight-mile loop that has long been a hot spot of cross-country mountain biking in Leavenworth. Other trails are off limits, illegal or only appropriate for downhill experts wearing full protection.

So it was tough on local bikers when Freund underwent a major thinning operation, beginning in the fall of 2013, and the downhill portion was replaced with a logging road.

If you were to run or bike the Freund loop now, the recent log-

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James would be out there on drizzly October mornings, walking the road bed to get an image in his mind, then using the excavator to move dirt and even plant little trees. ging would still be obvious. But, as if by magic, James and other volunteers have erased most of the road. In only two months this past fall, they transformed it into a sinuous trail.

Give it a little more time and the forest will insinuate itself right up to where the tires roll.

Wildflowers, ferns and saplings will push up and lean toward the riders and runners, and the trail will feel natural and timeless.

The trail will also be safer and more resilient thanks to James’ design to bank and undulate the steep sections and add drainage

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February 2015

every 50-100 feet instead of the road’s drainage every 300 feet.

James would be out there on drizzly October mornings, walking the road bed to get an image in his mind, then using the excavator to move dirt and even plant little trees. It was slow work, but he was in his element.

James and Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance These days, James says, “I am a trail builder with a small mountain biking habit.”

Mountain biking certainly is in his blood. He’s the owner of Das Rad Haus, a Leavenworth bike shop, and director of Bike N’ Brew, the biggest annual mountain bike race in Washington. His wife, Christine, and two sons, Ryder and Dylan, are all avid riders.

Some of his work is funded through his position as Volunteer Coordinator of the Central Chapter for Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance’s (EMBA). EMBA is a 501c3 non-profit organization that seeks to protect, maintain and create trails for the mountain bike community. EMBA has developed good working relations with the Wenatchee River Ranger District.

“Bob Stoer and T.J. Broom at the district have been instrumental in this process with us.

We will be involved with future measures to meet recreationalists’ needs in our region.”

In addition to EMBA, major local donors, Leavenworth Winter Sports Club, Das Rad Haus, Der Sportsmann, Eurosports, Fallon Technology, Munchen Haus, Icicle Brewing Company, South and Idylwild Pizza, provided other critical funds for the projects.

James puts in hundreds of unpaid hours because he wants this trail for himself and for his community. He says, “I am super passionate about riding trails. I want to ride with my kids and be able to ride right from my house.”

These easily accessed trails will get a lot of use. Some community members are deterred by the fact that most trails require a long drive up a dirt road and a special parking permit. The new trails out of Ski Hill help people get out regularly. Once a 75-year-old woman hiked by James while he was working and said, “I walk my dog every day here now.”

For mountain bikers, these intermediate trails are stepping stones to learn and practice good technique so they can then venture on the area’s expert trails.

The benefits earned James and the Central chapter of EMBA a Regional Volunteer award from the Forest Service’s Northwest Region in 2013 for their work on 4 the Boys Memorial Trail.

When he talks about the trails and future plans, his excitement is palpable and contagious. The work of EMBA in Leavenworth, Wenatchee and Chelan has been so well received that now they are inundated with trail project proposals, enough to keep them busy for years, if not decades.

James doesn’t mind. He likes to keep busy.

And he knows the value of the trails. It really hit home for him on a ride last spring.

School kids turn out to work on the trail in soggy weather.

“A few of the local dads and myself picked up our 8 to 10 year old kids from their last day of school for the summer with bikes loaded and snacks ready to go.

“We shuttled up a little ways and had the kids ride Freund and then down 4 the Boys to town and it was such an awesome feeling. About half way down I realized that this was something I would be able to do with them and my wife for years to come.”

How you can help A lot of people have given a few hours of time, a weekend or two, or even more, to help build these trails.

The trail construction and maintenance could use all of our help.

In the spring, look for postings (on the EMBA’s website, or another good calendar can be found at www.justgetout.net/ wenatchee) about trail work parties and take a day to help build the trails that will be enjoyed for generations to come.

Other ways to help EMBA are through membership and donations.

Any contribution to their projects can be leveraged to earn matching grant moneys to help cover the costs. For more information on the central chapter

of Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance, check out its website: https://centralwashingtonevergreen.wordpress.com/.

When she’s not helping her kids, volunteering, or writing, you’ll find Marlene Farrell, of Leavenworth, running those nearby trails.

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WINTERING IN

PANAMA We get asked a lot: “Why Panama and not move some place more conventional like Yuma or Tucson, or southern California?”

It is not a short answer...

By Jack and Dorothea Davis

W

e are spending the winter in our home here in Boquete, Panama for the first time since we bought the house.

So far this time we have not done anything exciting like we try to do when on vacation in a new place. We have been mostly involved with setting up our household and getting a car for the three months we will be here this time and meeting neighbors and the like.

On the way we spent three days in Panama City where the main airport to the United States and Canada is. We spent the time getting our permanent resident visa at the emigration office. We had started the process last April on a trip here for that purpose. Without a resident visa of some kind it is only possible to stay in the country on the visitor visa for 90 days.

Also, the Pensionado visa we have gives us a lot of discounts on items like airfare, restaurants and other places. We also went to the U.S. Embassy in Panama City to get our Washington State drivers licenses authenticated so

FLOWERS ALL YEAR-ROUND — The annual flower festival is taking place two weeks during the middle of January. The flowers are in an area like a county fair grounds and are year round, not annual like in Wenatchee. There are maybe a hundred booths set up selling all kinds of things like crafts, jewelry and the like in addition to many food booths and coffee shops. We came into town Saturday night and found traffic backed up for over a mile on the two-lane road into town for the start of the festival. — JACK DAVIS

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we can get a Panamanian license because the U.S. license is only good for 90 days like the visa.

We bought the house here because we plan to move here full time after we sell our house in Chelan.

We get asked a lot: “Why Panama and not move some place more conventional like Yuma or Tucson, or southern California?”

It is not a short answer to that question and has involved about 15 years of decision-making.

About the time we were moving to Chelan from the Puget Sound area, our daughter moved to Panama where her husband had a job with a Seattle-based company. As a result we spent several months in Panama as grandkids were born here.

We traveled the country out of curiosity and discovered the people here are very friendly, the climate is warm all year and the pace of life is slower and generally very enjoyable.

On one of our trips we found this mountain town of Boquete to be very charming and cooler than the areas closer to the beautiful beaches, which we found too hot and humid for us. Boquete at an elevation of about 3,500 feet is cooler than at sea level.

As years have gone on living in Chelan in a house we built overlooking Lake Chelan, we began to think more and more about that quaint little town in Panama we first saw about 14 years ago.

We decided to take another look at the town in the rainiest month of the year, October. We came and found the rain was in the afternoons with clear skies in the mornings and then thun-

Dorothea and I are somewhat more like nomads in that we like a little adventure... derstorms in the afternoon and evening most days. Yet it was shorts temperature the whole time.

We decided to contact a Realtor in town to see what house prices were like. We looked at six houses one day but did not make an offer at the time because we were still looking at the rest of the town and the living conditions.

We met several people from various places in the States who had been here for several years and we asked a lot of questions regarding the health care sys-

HOUSE HOME — This is our house — with Dorothea and the Realtor in front — which has no heating or air conditioning system because of the moderate temperatures all year-round. The big mountain (right photo) that is just west of Boquete is a dormant volcano over 11,000 feet high.

The picture of the valley is of the main part of town next to the river. It is an old town with many small businesses. Housing is up the sides of the hills and is mostly hidden by trees in the picture. — JACK DAVIS

tem, safety, cost of living and others. We did not find anybody who was entertaining the idea of moving back to the States. We received reassuring answers to all of our concerns.

We made an offer on a house just before we were scheduled to leave for home and after a little negotiating the seller accepted our offer and we got an attorney to handle the closing for us while we were in the States.

It is evident now that we did not make a snap decision to

February 2015 | The Good Life

move here even though it had been our plan to rent first and look around before buying a place here.

Dorothea and I are somewhat more like nomads in that we like a little adventure and were looking for another chapter in our lives. We lived in quite a few houses in various places in the Puget Sound area as well as in the rainforest of the Olympic Peninsula before we made the move to sunny Chelan in 2001, although we had property there

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since 1989 in Manson.

During our working years, we were able to travel some places in the world visiting our kids, relatives and friends. We have traveled to Japan, Thailand, Germany (where Dorothea was born) France, Switzerland, Austria, Mexico and what used to be called Yugoslavia from one end to the other in rental cars.

We have kids and grandkids in Virginia and New York state as well as in Chelan, after they moved from Panama, and have driven across the U.S. several times. Incidentally, it is just as easy to fly to the U.S. East Coast (same time zone) from here as it is from Seattle. Miami is a threehour flight for Panama City.

We have things pretty well settled here in our house now and will start traveling around again to see places that we have heard about and not been to yet.

A neighbor here has a fish-

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WINTERING IN PANAMA

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}}} Continued from previous page ing boat on the coast about two hours from here and has invited me to go out and catch some big fish. We also want to go around the other side of the 11,000-foot extinct volcano that is just west of Boquete to see how that area has progressed since we visited briefly in 2001.

Yesterday we spent most of the day shopping for groceries and supplies in David (pronounced Dahveed), which is about a half hour drive from Boquete.

It is the second largest city in Panama with a population of over 200,000. It is big enough to have some familiar U.S. stores like TGI Fridays, McDonalds, Pizza hut, KFC and a huge DOIT-Center.

They have an interesting and familiar looking big box store called PriceSmart. It is set up just like a Costco store and has some Kirkland Signature items on the shelves. I noticed some apples from Wenatchee there as well as some form Virginia and Chile.

David also has a regional airport for flights from Panama City, similar to Wenatchee has for getting to Seattle.

Houses are interesting here as most do not have any heating or cooling system. The weather is warm year-round so having

questions about living in Panama

1. Are you worried about your safety?

We do not have any worries about our safety here. As far as we can tell they do not have gangs or graffiti to go with them here.

2. Are you cut off from your family — kids and grandkids — in Panama?

We have Internet installed in our home here now and have Magic Jack to call the same people we called from Chelan. We get an international edition of the Miami Herald from the nearby grocery store to keep up with some of the major happenings in the U.S. We also have a cell phone for local calls in Panama.

3. Is it a lot cheaper to live in Panama than Chelan?

It is somewhat cheaper to live here than in Chelan as house prices are considerably cheaper and to encourage investment property taxes are waived on new construction for 20 years.

Restaurants are probably 25-50 percent cheaper here in Boquete than in Chelan.

4. Can you get by with just English?

English is the coming trend in the world but it does not let a non-Spanish speaking person communicate on a social scale.

But it is very adequate to get the necessities in the stores and ask directions. There are about 3,000 expats from the U.S. and Canada living here in Boquete. There are several groups who meet frequently and a Tuesday Market where many foods and crafts are sold, mostly to English speaking people by English speaking people.

5. What about TV? Can you watch the Seahawks and other U.S. sports?

Most of the TV here is via satellite so it is possible to get any channel in the world so we could watch the Seahawks play, if we wanted and had a TV in our home. So far we are doing without TV this trip. It will be connected when we move here permanently. Also there is a sports bar in town with several games going most of the time.

— Jack Davis

(Most) houses here do not have any heating or cooling system.

The weather is warm year round so having windows open to let the breezes in keeps the inside about 7579 degrees... windows open to let the breezes in keeps the inside about 75-79 degrees night and day.

Electricity here is quite a bit more expensive than we are used to in Chelan, so most people use it sparingly and have propane connected to the water heaters, range and clothes dryer, if they have one.

We are starting the dry season now where it rarely rains at all for about six months until the wet season starts about April. It is tropical here with all kinds of trees I do not know, even though I am a forester.

The next-door neighbors to us have orange and grapefruit as well as bananas growing on their property. Gasoline for the car is now about $2.65 a gallon although it is sold by the liter as most of the rest of North America, Central and South America except the U.S. We do not have to figure cur-

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February 2015

rency rates here as they use the American dollar as the basis for their currency, the Balboa, which is equivalent to the U.S. dollar. Most of the paper money used is the American dollar while there are some coins of the same size as our change coins, except they have a picture of Balboa, who was one of the early explorers here.

Since we are only a few degrees north of the Equator we have about 12 hours of daylight all year long. It only changes a few minutes from the longest to the shortest day of the year with sunset about 6:30 each evening.

Another interesting thing about living in a tropical location is that Panama is not in any of the hurricane zones.

As I mentioned before, Dorothea and I have traveled quite a bit and we always compare the new places we see to where we live at the time. We have a lot of comparisons in our minds as places a person has been do not

leave the memory system, no matter how old you get.

Add to that, as we age our priorities change as to what is desirable. As we are in our late 70s now, we have different expectations from our living situation than we did when we were in our 30s.

That is the reason the quaint town in the highlands of Panama never left our minds even while living in our beautiful home overlooking Chelan and the lake.

BANANAS ON THE TREE — These bananas are about 200 feet away from our house. Each banana is about six inches long. The entire bunch is 24 inches in length. Each banana hangs upside down on the tree with the part next to the tree being at the bottom. There is a long tail of sorts hanging from the bottom of each bunch that Is also about 24 inches long. I am not a banana expert but these have quite a ways to go before they are ripe. I am not sure if they grow in size as they ripen or not but I will keep tabs on these. — JACK DAVIS

Let Us Help!!!

Call 509-885-4473 for a Complimentary Consultation

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Jack is a retired forester from the U.S. Forest Service and District Manager of the local Conservation District in King County for nine years. Dorothea was born in Germany and worked as chief accountant for the U.S. Army commissary in her hometown before immigrating to the U.S. where she was District Manager for AVON and later office manager for a concrete company in Arlington, WA. Between them they have three children and seven grandchildren. Their house overlooking Lake Chelan will be on the market early this spring when they return from Panama.

THE MAN WHO WOULD BE

ABE LINCOLN Passion for history and the 16th president turns into a tool to inspire principled leadership

By Susan Lagsdin

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hen Leon McKinney was teaching and directing bands (jazz, concert, marching and even a polka band) he used the acronym S.O.D. to guide his actions in the classroom.

He said, “That stood for ‘Supervise, Organize, Deputize.’

Now I like to think I’m more of an ‘Encourager.’ I want to lift other people up when I can.”

His 25 years as a music educator — briefly at Pateros and then continuing his career at Eastmont High School — taught him a great many things, and one of them was certainly how to be a positive leader, no matter what the setting.

And the setting he chooses often is again the classroom, where he appears in the persona of Abraham Lincoln, using his extensive knowledge of the man to teach not just historical facts but lasting life lessons.

In elementary schools, his appearances have challenged students to raise their reading scores and to memorize the Gettysburg Address. In older grades and high school he uses the guise to present inspirational talks like “The 8 Principles of America’s Greatest Leader.”

Future Business Leaders of America and Distributive Education groups have booked him for conferences, and he’s spoken with authority in churches and at Pybus Market — always as his alter-ego, Abraham Lincoln.

On Feb. 12 he and actress Mary Ellen Kirby will portray the Lincolns at Wenatchee Valley College’s Grove Theater for a 206th birthday event.

However, Lincoln was not Leon’s boyhood hero.

Two other presidents were more influential. Harry Truman, visiting Grand Coulee dam, passed the McKinney home in his entourage and waved directly at the family. Leon recalls then that at age 7, he immediately gained interest in the presidency.

Later, he and his family were buoyed by the knowledge that Jack Kennedy had a mentally handicapped sister, just as Leon did (and does — she’s 75 this year and an inspiration to him still). They credited Kennedy with easing the way for special needs education and notably the Special Olympics.

“I was always a little bit interested in history,” Leon explained, “and especially politics, because of the discussions we had at home. But I had no real passion for it.”

There’s a reason that for the last six years Leon has donned the black suit and top hat and with surprising ease taken on the character of the much taller, gaunter, dark-eyed and gangly 16th president.

In 2009 Leon’s wife Bonnie suggested he visit the Lincoln’s

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Leon McKinney pays homage to a famous Abraham Lincoln photo. Lincoln said of the portrait taken by Mathew Brady in 1860 that it, and the anti-slavery speech he gave the day of the picture in New York, won him the White House. Photo by Ryan Parsons of Parsons Photography

home city of Springfield, Illinois.

The McKinney’s spent days there. First, Leon delved deep into history at the multimillion dollar presidential library he described as “Steven Spielberg/ Walt Disney interactive.” He visited Lincoln’s house, his law office, his burial place and the old state capitol building. (Lincoln was instrumental in re-positioning the capitol in Springfield.)

Finally he went to New Salem, where the future statesman had worked odd jobs as a young man and gained a reputation for honesty. There, stories abound for retelling — like the miles the young clerk walked to return six cents he’d accidentally overcharged one store customer.

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Leon has donned the black suit and top hat and with surprising ease taken on the character of the much taller, gaunter, darkeyed and gangly 16th president.

Leon was hooked. Something about the time period, the man and the myths captivated him.

He wanted to know even more, and eventually Lincoln became a passion.

Three months later, Leon had

A few of Leon’s favorite Lincoln quotes Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.

Whatever you are, be a good one.

You can fool some of the people all the time, and all the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time.

Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.

No matter how much cats fight, there always seem to be plenty of kittens.

Hypocrite: The man who murdered his parents, and then pleaded for mercy on the grounds that he was an orphan.

Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle. a bright idea — since he would be in Olympia anyway for his granddaughter’s dance recital, what if he visited her fifth grade class and did an Abraham Lincoln talk? By then, he’d worked up a kind of a monologue, chock full of facts and anecdotes, and was eager to try it out on young audiences. He was a hit.

With much more research (aided by the extensive, artifactfilled McKinney presidential library) plus a good costume, a slick power point and a varied slate of themes, six years later he’s often on the road throughout the region for commemorative events and history lessons.

Inspiring others by being the voice of Lincoln would be sufficient avocation for many people, but five years before the Springfield trip, Leon was already on a crusade.

In 2005 he initiated project H.O.P.E., and with golf tournaments and $5 pledges from teachers (he calls it the “one latte a month” donation), he’s helped raise money that enables local students to attend Wenatchee Valley College.

Leon McKinney looks spiffy in his golfing knickers in this pre-beard phase. He organizes an annual golf tournament to help local students go to college. Photo by Donna Cassidy

There’s a lot of “pay it forward:” the program also honors especially proactive teachers who’ve helped kids succeed, and Wenatchee Valley College has honored McKinney similarly.

Leon estimates that this June the group will give out a record 15 $1,000 scholarships at Eastmont, Wenatchee and Westside High schools — both districts’ superintendents appreciate H.O.P.E.’s success and are willing boosters.

That’s two post-retirement pastimes, yes?

No. Leon’s also been on the board of directors of the North Central Washington Community Foundation, has twice been president of his church, and is a lifetime mentor/member of the Million Dollar Roundtable, an honor in the insurance industry, his second career. He’s currently involved in the John Maxwell leadership training program. He currently envisions an amalgam of the Abraham Lincoln talks and project H.O.P.E. that someday may go nationwide.

In 2010, he published a small February 2015 | The Good Life

book, Heroes and Hope: Inspirational Themes for Challenging Times that offers witty, upbeat

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lessons like “From Ruts to Rainbows,” “Life is a Two-Reeler,” “The Battery Charger ” and “The Apple or the Whip?”

And for leisure? Leon also directs his church’s choir and golfs about twice a week, year-round.

The McKinney’s grown kids and small grandchildren get plenty of attention. At 73, it seems like he’s been blessed with — beyond a driving sense of purpose — a great deal of physical energy, and possibly 30hour days and nine day weeks.

He takes his life work as an “encourager” seriously, but he can still have a laugh on himself: It seems Daniel Day Lewis was in Springfield close to the time he was, starting research for his Academy Award-winning role in the film.

Leon quipped in a decidedly Lincolnesque drawl: “I will always regret that Mr. Lewis did not have the pleasure of meeting me.”

You can contact Leon McKinney at hopeforkids1@gmail.com.

Boating in Turkey

arriving by water, taking a dinghy ashore and then walking over ancient mosaics and through marble columns of toppled temples

By Keith Wiggins

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or this crew, bareboat chartering is our favorite way to travel.

Having previously chartered sailboats to Desolation Sound, BC, British Virgin Islands, Croatia and Belize, when we asked sail travelers, “Where should we go next?” They responded, “Turkey.”

With best friends, Mike and Carol Holliday, Jerry and Karon Sallee, Bart Block and my wife, Claudia, planning a sailing trip to Turkey became dinners together with charts, travel books, new outfits, recounting

of past trip memories and anticipating biblical ruins, people, local cuisine and enhanced friendship.

To charter a sailboat overseas requires several years of boating experience and an American Sailing Association certification for any Mediterranean country.

With an experienced crew contributing to navigation and boat systems, my title of captain had me signing the liability forms, and if apprehended by customs, being escorted to their office while officials said, “The crew goes free.”

Calling our trips “sailing” provides better visual romance

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TOP: Walking the docks of an irresistible town along the Aegean Sea. ABOVE: The crew on a sleek, modern catamaran visits another ancient harbor.

than the actual reality of catamarans. A catamaran offers reasonable sailing on a reach but lacks forward progress to windward, yet provides spacious accommodations. Often motoring provides the best

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velocity made good.

Bare boat chartering offered the freedom to schedule pace and destinations, provided wonderful views as we passed ruins of ancient civilizations, placed us close to the local

Our crew sailed between Islands where Alexander the Great passed with his conquering fleet. people, and gave us perspective upon approaching a must-see site framed by turquoise water and the bluest sky.

Early this past October, we flew to Istanbul, seeing grand mosques, the Ottoman Palace, labyrinth markets, and enjoying tasty Turkish cuisine.

We gazed across the Bosporus channel separating Asia and Europe, like the European knights of the Fourth Crusade, we marveled at the splendor of Istanbul. Then known as Constantinople, in 1204 the city was pillaged by Christian knights who sacked the city and returned to Europe with priceless treasures, without continuing on to battle the Muslims holding Jerusalem.

After a few days, we flew to the Aegean coastline to explore for two weeks by catamaran far from the tour buses and cruise line crowds.

Anchored off the crusader castle of Bodrum, we envisioned Medieval European knights walking the ramparts. Today, our view was a marina full of exquisitely crafted wooden gullet sail boats, rimmed with restaurants and shops selling “genuine fake” fashions, and floating above it all were amplified minarets’ calls to prayer.

We sat in the amphitheater of Ephesus where the crowd shouted, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” This was in response to Apostle Paul challenging Ephesus crafting of fertility goddess Artemis idol figurines.

Our crew sailed between Islands where Alexander the Great passed with his

Visiting ruins of the library of Celsus, an ancient Roman building in Ephesus, completed in 135 AD.

conquering fleet.

Marveling at the Eastern Roman Empire engineering and architecture, and magnificent Ottoman mosques and minarets, we wondered how soaring cathedrals, now converted mosques, constructed 700 years before Europe achieved supported interior domes.

We tried adjusting to the slower pace of sailing, but attraction to the next charming village or anchorage close to ancient ruins entranced us past a comfortable return.

There’s nothing like arriving by water, taking a dinghy ashore and then walking over ancient mosaics and through marble columns of toppled temples.

Once, we tied to a town quay amidst a three-day family and town wedding celebration. The licorice-tasting Rika poured freely along with traditional music and burka dresses. While there, Turks began adding clothing layers and closing shops, but October weather remained warm to us and a February 2015 | The Good Life

relief from oppressive summer heat and tourist crowds.

Frequently, during a trip an unexpected situation presents a serendipitous outcome.

While waiting anxiously roadside for a cab to retrieve our passports left in last night’s room, a conversation with a returning sailor confirmed the possibility of sailing into Greece for a day trip without the time-consuming expensive formalities of clearing customs.

Despite the heightened security with Syrian refugees entering Mediterranean countries, we crossed into the postcard picture harbor of Simi, a tiny island said to have the prettiest harbor of Greece. That day’s gift offered spectacular hillside multi-colored classical architecture, a memorable lunch, Orthodox churches and women in old-style Mediterrean dress.

It was back in secular Turkey — secular, in that the fivetimes-a-day calls to prayer are virtually ignored — where we gained a safe vantage and better www.ncwgoodlife.com

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appreciation of Muslim culture.

We found more in common than our preconceived differences.

We loved the exotic sites, ancient history and welcoming people — we even received an open wedding invitation for next year.

As we sense the inescapable limitations that comes with the passage of time, our group of sailing friends know we can’t miss a year without planning another sailing vacation… perhaps it’ll be another section of Turkey’s immense coastline.

Lou Whittaker, the first American on Everest, reminds us, “If you’re not living life on the edge, you’re taking up too much space.”

I’m hoping that this trip report gives back to the many articles in The Good Life that challenge us to live on the edge.

Keith Wiggins is a business partner at Boswell’s Furniture and lifelong Wenatchee Valley outdoor enthusiast. He enjoys planning new adventures and the sharing with friends and family that travel provides.

3 OLD-ish, SLOW-ish men ski into the woods

Here the Patrol Race route enters the “Powerline Arctic” where trees take the sting out of winds howling over the Pacific Crest Trail . Even so, the rime forming on the southwest sides of the trees indicate it’s windy out there. Photo by Andy Dappen

The Patrol Race Revisited: Reenactment of old race called on ‘experienced’ local skiers

by Andy Dappen

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enatchee couldn’t send its best, so it sent some of its oldest.

This was, after all, a reenactment of the historical ski Patrol Race between the old lodges owned by The Seattle Mountaineers climbing club, one located near Snoqualmie Pass, the other 18 trail miles away near Stampede Pass.

So when the call went out for three-man teams interested in re-starting a race 72 years after it was last staged, it was deemed appropriate by the city

fathers that the team of “Old, Older and Oldest” represent the Wenatchee Valley.”

Anyone can be young and fast,” said a city council in a press release, “but it takes decades of dedication to the craft to be old and slow.”

To be honest the threesome of Tom Janisch, Andy Dappen and Jamie Tackman bristled at the ageist moniker, but off to Snoqualmie Pass they went in February to do their city proud. At the sign-in, the team renamed itself to “Slow, Slower and Slowest.” They smiled at their cleverness in disallowing age to define

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them.

“Slow, Slower, and Slowest?” the race organizer asked puzzled by the choice as he scratched out the old name and wrote in the new. “And would that be referring to your physical or mental capabilities?”

“Huh?” said the team captain.

“Right!” said the race organizer. “Slow, Slower and Slowest it is.”

A map was produced and, pointing to different checkpoints, the race organizer told the three where to go. This annoyed the orneriest of the trio. “Collectively we have 160

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years of ski touring experience between us. It will be a cold day in Hell when a pubescent whelp tells us where to go.”

“It will be a cold day in Hell if I ever see you again,” the race organizer mumbled to himself.

With that, an attractive blonde took their team photo, looked at her watch and said, “Get ready to leave in three, two, one, zero.

Go, go, go!”

It was 7:05 a.m. as the three sprinted on skinned skis up the slopes of Summit West Ski Area at Snoqualmie Pass. They moved with the likeness of lizards crawling over blocks of ice —

left ski forward, pause five seconds, right ski forward, pause, left ski forward again.

One minute out and 50 feet away the race organizer told the blonde, “They’ll never make it.”

Undaunted by such skepticism, the trio maintained their stoic pace upward through a gray morning that slapped their faces with spindrift swirling in vortexes of 15-degree air.

Atop the ski area, the three strode south and intersected the Pacific Crest Trail, which, like a great serpent winding through the hills bent left, writhed right, dipped down and curled up.

Through hemlock forests, with trunks five feet in diameter and with canopies capped by a foot of snow, they plodded. “These guys are old,” Slow marveled craning his neck back to breaking point to take in the 200-foot height of the monsters.

“And they’re even slower than us,” he cackled.

The trail snaked onward, usually winding uphill, sometimes arcing slightly downhill. “How is it that the downhills are so short and the uphills last forever?”

Slow wondered as they continued their trademark shuffle — left, pause, right, pause, left.

“There’s no explaining the mystery,” Slowest concluded.

Yet, like the proverbial tortoise, the three made progress.

Windy Point west of Mount Catherine succumbed to their efforts, then Tinkham Pass.

Another Patrol Race participant, Brandon Kern, crosses Mirror Lake. Photo by Lowell Skoog

Details, Details

The Historical Race — The Patrol Race ran annually from 1930 to 1941 and connected two huts owned by The Mountaineers. The race started at Snoqualmie Lodge (which has since burned down) and followed a route to Meany Lodge following trails and roads toward Tinkham Peak, Mirror Lake, Yakima Pass, Dandy Pass (3,700 feet) and Stampede Pass.

The Modern Race — The race was resurrected in February 2014 and now follows a slightly longer network of trails and roads connecting the Summit West Ski Area with Meany Lodge. This year’s race will be held on Feb. 28.

Teams and Equipment — The race must be completed by teams of three that travel together and end together. Emergency equipment, warm clothes, food, and water must be carried by each participant.

Record Time — Wolf Bauer, who raced the route back in the old days, continues to hold the course record for fastest time (4 hours and 37 minutes). The best time produced by those completing the course in 2014 was a disgraceful 7 hours 9 minutes.

To register for this year’s race — See this page (www.meanylodge. org/activities/patrol_race/patrol_race.html) or the Facebook page (www.facebook.com/patrolrace).

Down on the frozen plain of Mirror Lake with Tinkham Peak rising steeply above them, they

sat on packs and refueled as several teams of younger skiers sprinted by.

>> RANDOM QUOTE

Build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs.

Farrah Gray

February 2015 | The Good Life

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“Fool rabbits,” they laughed.

“We’ll be mopping up the course with their tails before the day is done.”

Seven hours from the start time, they slid into Checkpoint 1, at about the 10-mile mark.

The race organizer, who had accessed the checkpoint more directly via a snowmobile, showed no empathy for setting them loose on a course that only went uphill. “At this rate you won’t make the end before dark. Why don’t we take you out on the machine with that team?” He pointed to a threesome huddled around a fire.

Slow recognized the skiers.

“Why there are some of the fool rabbits who passed us earlier!” he crowed.

A debate about being pulled from the race followed. “We’re not concerned about the dark,” Slowest told the race organizer.

“We’ve got headlamps.”

Slower also emphasized they had plenty of reserve in the tank. “We’ve been pacing ourselves, but we can pour on the gas.” And without waiting for approval they sprinted away from the checkpoint in fast motion: left, wait two seconds, right, wait….

}}} Continued on next page

3 old-ish, slow-ish skiers }}} Continued from previous page

Now the landscape streaked by at hyperspeed. Over the course of the next two hours Stirrup Creek came and went in a blur, as did Dandy Creek and Dandy Pass.

Furthermore, the uphill curse of the Pacific Crest Trail cracked and the route actually slanted downhill at times. A little before 4 p.m. the team intersected a patroller sweeping the course in reverse to clear it of stragglers. He greeted them with more pessimism, “Tell them at Checkpoint 2 to take you out on the machine, you’re moving too slow to beat the dark.” And away he flew.

“We’re going to finish with daylight to spare,” Slow told his team and onward they glided.

Soon they slid into Checkpoint 2 where they were greeted by an acquaintance, and an amiable, 15-minute chat ensued. By then,

the skis had been re-skinned, and a little food had been consumed. “The sweeper wanted us to tell you something,” Slowest said, “What was that?”

“Oh yeah,” Slower said. “I don’t remember either.”

“Doesn’t matter,” their acquaintance told them. “You guys better get going so you can mop up the goslings along the way.”

And off they went with a blessing.

Now the course traversed through ribbons of decimation where great swaths of primordial forests had been leveled to make way for corridor upon corridor of high-tension power lines.

Where the forest lay leveled, the wind howled, spindrift swirled, and the electric lines snapped as snowflakes were vaporized by the jolt of volts.

“It’s the power line Arctic,” Slow noted before they stepped out

Representing Wenatchee from left, were the threesome of Jamie Tackman, Tom Janisch and Andy Dappen — they may be moldy but they were determined.

into the first of many miserable microclimates wrought by the decimation of trees. On the far side of each windy strip they would pluck icicles from eyebrows as they re-entered the sanctuary of the forest.

By 4:45 the skins were off for the final time and the longest descent of the day separated them from the finish. Although powder snow coated the forest floor, there would be no such prissy surface to ski.

They salivated over the sandblasted wind crust awaiting them — this was garbage that actually demanded skill to carve.

Down they went in the dimming light alongside the power lines. Much lower they traversed through forests and intersected ski slopes serviced by a remote rope tow. Shortly thereafter, they reached race’s end at the doorsteps of the Meany Lodge owned by The Seattle Mountaineers.

As Slowest pulled to a stop, other racers and guests of the

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lodge huddled around to congratulate him. Slow, having arrived a minute sooner, was already rummaging in his pack.

“Here it is.” He fitted a headlamp over his ski cap and turned it on. “It’s not much of a tour if we don’t end in the dark,” he said with a grin.

Slower and Slowest dug into their packs, produced headlamps, and also fitted them to their heads, “OK we’re ready.”

And with that the shining lights of Wenatchee entered the dark hut and gave the younger, faster skiers the privilege of basking in their awesome luminance.

Outside the race organizer shivered waiting to see if other racers would be gliding in after dark.

For him resurrecting the Patrol Race had, indeed, proved to be a cold day in Hell.

Andy Dappen is the editor of the www.WenatcheeOutdoors.org website where this story was first published. See the website’s skiing guidebooks for other two-boarded tales featuring our local mountains.

Finding family in the Old Sod Search started with computer clicks, ended with having tea with new-found cousins

By Charlene Woodward

W

hen my husband Larry and I started planning a trip to Ireland for Fall 2014, we wanted to see where my Irish grandparents came from.

I dreamed of meeting “blood relatives” still living in the country and because Larry had been delving into his family’s ancestry for years this project turned into a team effort, hence “we.”

Finding family on my grandmother’s side was easy. Six siblings came to America in the late 1800s while two stayed in County Mayo. Over the years the families had stayed in touch and I had numerous second and third cousins still living in or near the small town of Ballyhaunis where my grandmother, Mary Hoban McMahon, was born.

The much bigger challenge was to find relatives on my

Charlene Woodward, left, talks with her Irish cousins while one determinedly scrubs the gravestone of their common great-grandparents.

grandfather’s side. We knew next to nothing about Thomas McMahon — he died long before my father had children (I was born in 1950) and there were no

February 2015 | The Good Life

family photos of him or records of any kind relating to his roots in Ireland.

When we started the search for McMahon relatives in Ire-

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land, here’s what we knew: Thomas was born in 1859, 1864 or 1868 depending on which census you looked at (see side-

}}} Continued on next page

RESEARCH Field notes;

Recycled names, moveable birth dates, and what’s a ‘cousin ONCE removed’?

S

ome more quick thoughts on finding ancestors:

Charlene Woodward, second from back on left, sits down to dinner with her Irish McMahon cousins and their spouses.

Finding family in the Old Sod }}} Continued from previous page bar); he died in Seattle in 1926.

We knew he was from County Clare because an inscription on the headstone in Philipsburg, Montana where Thomas and his brothers Patrick (who died in 1899 at 29) and James (who died in 1900 at 35) were buried told us they were “Natives of County

Clare.”

Other than these brothers who died unmarried and childless, we had no information about Thomas’s parents or other brothers and sisters.

What we did have was the Internet.

Access to information about one’s ancestors has made genea-

March 17, 2015 | Noon - 1:30 Wenatchee Convention Center

Entrepreneur of the Year Tech Savvy Business of the Year Future Technology Leader K-12 Future Technology Leader Post-Secondary Innovative Use of Technology in the Classroom Deadline for nominations is February 11

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n Special challenges to finding family in Ireland include National records from the 1700s to 1922 were lost in a fire in Dublin leaving researchers to piece together birth, marriage, death and other records from other sources — often with big gaps in information.

Another challenge is commonality of last names. My family name, McMahon, is the single most common name in County Clare. Then add to that the fact that families recycled first names extensively— lots of Michaels, Patricks, Bridgets and Catherines.

My grandfather kept getting younger and younger. One likely reason was so that he could stay employable. Who would want to hire a 60-year-old when you could hire a 50-year-old? Thomas had a large family to support and luckily no one expected him to produce a birth certificate.

n Birth years can jump around:

n Maybe your family made newspaper headlines: The Library of Congress has a searchable database of newspapers from all over the country going back into the 1800s and 1900s chroniclingamerial.loc.gov. I found detailed obituaries for my grandfather’s brothers that gave me names of family members and clues about their lives. You might be surprised

logical research exponentially easier than ever before. There are both U.S. and international records of all kinds available online that make the job of finding family on one’s own much simpler.

Using the free site familysearch.org we found a death record for Thomas that gave his parents’ names: Denis (sic) and Bridget (nee Cleary) McMahon — a big find. With these names we went on to find several children of theirs including the ones we knew about, as well as another brother, John, and three sisters, Bridget, Margaret and Catherine as well as where they were born.

Further online research told us that John McMahon — the brother who stayed in Ireland — was born in 1866, got married in 1914 and had two children. These children, Patrick and Mary Catherine, were my father’s first cousins.

From a remarkable, 600-page,

self-published book called Families of Kilmaley Parish (available from the Wenatchee Public Library), written by a retired Chicago-area firefighter, John Mayer, we quickly learned that John’s son Patrick never married and died in 1970 and that John’s daughter, Mary Catherine, married John Hayes in 1951.

That’s when we hit a wall.

Records after 1940 are not as accessible online because many of these people are still alive and don’t want their personal information shared.

With a couple of clicks we found that County Clare had an excellent website that directed us to the County Clare Genealogical Center. For a flat fee — 300 euros (about $360) — they would search records not available online and by combining that information with their intimate knowledge of the county as well as the life and times in which one’s ancestors lived, they would produce a genealogical

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at what you’ll find out about your family. n The value of baptismal records: Irish Catholics baptize their children as soon as possible after they are born.

Church baptismal records exist even when birth records may not and will usually name the godparents in addition to parents with the mother’s maiden name. Because godparents are often neighbors or relatives, you can then find more connections to follow up on to confirm or disprove a detail.

My grandfather Thomas was godfather to his sisters Bridget and Margaret. He was 15 years old at the time of Bridget’s birth and therefore old enough, in the tradition of the Catholic Church, to serve as a godparent. n First cousins, second cousins and what the heck is “once removed?” First cousins are the children of siblings; second cousins

are children of first cousins and second cousins to each other; third cousins are children of second cousins and so on. “First cousin once removed” can be confusing.

Here is how it works: when my first cousin has a child that child is my “first cousin once removed.” If the child of my first cousin has a child that child is my “first cousin twice removed” and so on. n Spending money on genealogical research assistance: I was reluctant to spend money on what might be a road to nowhere until my husband pointed out that if we were to do the research ourselves and it took us an extra week of digging in libraries and other archives we might not find anything and spend more money on hotel rooms than using a genealogical service.

(Did I mention that the other half of my ancestry is Dutch?)

— Charlene Woodward

February 2015 | The Good Life

report.

In my case they found my family — alive and well and still living in County Clare.

My grandfather’s brother John’s daughter, Mary Catherine, had six children born between 1951-1957: John, Mary, Anne, Margaret, Michael and Catherine.

One bonus of hiring the genealogy center was that they paved the way for a meeting with my second cousins by calling Michael and letting him know that he had some “American relations who want to meet him.”

Imagine what it must have been like for my cousins: We had been looking for them for nearly a year but they had no idea they had American relatives until the genealogist made that call a few days before our visit.

What a thrill it was to hear the genealogist say: “You have six second cousins living near here.

We called your cousin Michael and he said it would be all right for you to contact him. Here are

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his home and cell phone numbers.”

It brought tears to my eyes to realize that I was about to meet relations whose connection to one another was 150 years old.

We heard about our “new” family at 2 p.m. and by 5 p.m. we were having tea in Michael’s living room.

And it wasn’t just Michael we met. There were his sisters Anne, Margaret and Catherine as well as his wife, children and a couple of grandchildren.

When we started talking we couldn’t stop.

We left them after two days together with an invitation for them to come visit us any time in the US and we’ve stayed in touch ­ever since. More than we dared hope, we succeeded in finding family in Ireland.

Charlene and her husband, Larry, have lived in Wenatchee for 22 years and own Dogwise Publishing, specializing in books on dog behavior and care. She loves traveling, swimming and hiking local trails.

This big tower off Riverside Drive signals the entrance to the Riverside 9 community clubhouse as well as the administrative offices. They definitely have a drop-in feel, even offering a decanter of dog treats.

Riverside 9: Think ‘community’ more than ‘complex’

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By Susan Lagsdin

O

K, admit it. You’ve had your eye on them for months.

Maybe you’ve seen the construction rising up all the way from the Wenatchee hills or Fancher Heights; maybe you’ve jogged past on the Loop Trail or detoured from your downtown commute along the river just to watch them grow.

If you’re an architecture afi-

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February 2015

cionado or steeped in construction know-how, you’ve probably made more than your fair share of in-progress comments.

Don’t be deterred by the fields of mud, cyclone fence and earthmoving equipment.

Riverside 9 Apartments (appropriately at the corner of Riverside Drive and 9th Street) one of Wenatchee’s most closely watched new construction sites, is definitely open for busi-

Riverside 9 designers have created space (not simply the high, bright illusion of space) just where most other apartments feel cramped by offering open living areas, short halls and big bathrooms.

Granite and maple in the kitchen and plenty of light in the sitting room are features of this ground floor unit.

Any soft color palette can be changed to something bolder, if it’s repainted upon moving out.

ness. Its first tenants arrived in September, and new sections fill every month.

According to leasing manager Lee Dawson, Riverside 9 wants to be an “apartment commu-

nity” not merely an “apartment complex,” even though there will be 312 units at build-out this summer. Her own fromthe-South gregariousness seems a good draw and as she greeted people on a walkabout to view apartments, it was clear she’s established rapport.

Some residents are content to come and go with no interaction (apartment life at its most basic), but people who seek communal environment can attend informal gatherings like “meet ’n greets,” poolside barbecues and TV sports nights at the

February 2015 | The Good Life

clubhouse.

As you watched the units rise up from the earth from studs to sheathing to fresh paint, you probably wondered why in the world they didn’t all face the river. Or the mountains. One or the other, f ’godsake.

Study the site plan to see that many are cleverly cantilevered to have something nice to look at; realistically, in multi-unit housing not everyone can have the premium view (or the quietest bedroom, or the shadiest patio).

But Riverside 9 has attracted

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many of its tenants because of the reasonable rents for relatively elegant materials and décor. The most compact units are studios maxing out at 498 square feet, and the largest apartment offered is 1,563 square feet. Smart design makes them all feel surprisingly spacious.

And, knockout view or not, patio or skylights, super-efficient or roomy, at Riverside 9 the realtor’s cliché: “Three things matter: location, location, location” becomes a reality.

Walla Walla Park is an easy

}}} Continued on next page

Riverside 9 }}} Continued from previous page amble upstream, and in just a 12-and-a-half minute walk south along the river you’re at Pybus Market, which also puts you two blocks from the center of downtown Wenatchee. (The time is an average of Lee’s 15 minutes stroll and the 10-minute strideout of her boss, Samantha St. James).

Anyone who eschews driving might be even happier within the year. The final and most ambitious section of the project — the one that’s currently mud and machines — should enhance the whole riverfront neighborhood and also build community: a mix of two-level townhome and live-above units comingled with retail stores.

Soon, you might meet your friends at a bistro or wine bar.

Shop for delicacies in a tiny bodega-style market. Visit a yoga studio or day spa, a bike shop, an art gallery or service offices (insurance, financial planning, law and the like).

Here’s a feature you won’t find in most apartment developments, especially spanky new ones: pets. Lee said “We are extremely pet friendly… several people bring their pooches by the office for a daily visit.” So far,

Some of the smaller apartments have counter top dining only, but this two-bedroom model unit shows a choice of both casual or more formal options. A mirrored dining room wall adds visual space; around the corner to the left are a laundry area and the two bedrooms and two baths.

she says, there’s been no noise or mess problem — Riverside 9 seems to attract a pretty responsible breed of dog owner.

The reasons people choose to lease rather than buy are diverse. An apartment offers

good transitional housing while a house is being sought or built.

Young professionals at work by day and out in the evenings appreciate a pared-down living arrangement.

Home ownership might not

NCW Home Professionals

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February 2015

make sense for families unwilling or unready to part with a 20 percent down payment and mortgage ever after. Some older people prefer the camaraderie and the security of a compact community.

Or, there’s a combination of motives.

Mature downsizers, some couples, some singles, have found that yard work and home maintenance are not their favorite recreations. Their grown children have left and they’ve jettisoned years of extra belongings. They may wish to travel, or they just enjoy being unencumbered.

So, what’s it really like to live in Wenatchee’s first big new apartment complex in decades?

Sherri and John Carrere, both 50-somethings working full time, sold their 3,000 square foot home in Briarwood and made the giant leap across the river to a 978-square-foot apart-

tude will be rewarded: in ment, and they love it.

April she’s first in line for “We’re meeting people the move to a big third our age from all over the floor unit with a river country who’ve moved view. here,” Sherri said. “WithIf you’ve watched the out taking care of a construction and read house, we have a lot more the news stories, you may leisure time together — have speculated about we can bike right out to Riverside 9, “the big new the trail, ride 11 miles, kid on the block.” Why then stop at the pub or put apartments right Pybus for a meal on the there? Who’s going to live way back. And when we there? What are they like walk into our home again inside? Do people really it feels like we’re at a rewant to walk everywhere? ally nice resort.”

Well, with newly conJennifer Cottrell, a structed buildings filling 27-year-old dietician, up pretty much as they moved from Issaquah to are completed and a waither tiny studio with her ing list for some spedog “Mose” in September. cific units, the Riverside She cooks happily in the 9 owner and managers big kitchen, walks Mose The biggest draw is possibly the back-door proximity to Wenatchee’s side of the 11 mile Loop are confident they have on the trail, enjoys visitTrail, where walkers, joggers, bikers and sometimes leashed dogs convivially share space at all the right formula: build ing the clubhouse, minhours of the day. it well on some of our gles with young singles community’s nicest real estate, and generally is an ideal apart“I lived in an apartment befriendly, with nice neighbors. I poised between river and city ment candidate. fore — it was really loud, and feel totally safe, and I can walk blocks, between natural serenity Jennifer’s enthusiastic about the parking was way, way off. just about everywhere.” and urban buzz. her new Wenatchee home.

But this place is great — really Her patience and good atti-

Saving energy is no joke Make your home eggs-tra comfortable this winter with rebates on

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February 2015 | The Good Life

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PET tales

Tells us a story about your pet. Submit pet & owner pictures to: editor@ncwgoodlife.com

Everyone at Wenatchee Valley Humane Society always asks me who

my favorite dog in the shelter is. Every dog is my favorite dog, but I must admit that Macy and Mister are up at the top of the list because they are the ones that my husband and I adopted!

— Kathie Teeley WVHS volunteer

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J

illian Lenicka, 12. enjoys her furry best friend, Oakley. The two are inseparable.

“I remember the day we got Oakley at the dog groomers,” said Jillian. “I wanted him the minute I saw him.

“Oakley is quite a character with his own original personality. He doesn’t always have good behavior but I love him anyway. I don’t think I’ll have such a goofy, loud dog again.”

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column GARDEN OF DELIGHTS

bonnie orr

It’s amazing what you don’t like that you’ve never tasted Slice the parsnips lengthwise into quarters. Chop the strips into two inch pieces.

Quarter the apples and slice into triangular pieces.

Heat the butter in a large saucepan.

Stir in the parsnips and apples and slightly brown.

Add the white wine and the nutmeg.

Cook slowly until the veggie/fruit mixture is tender and the wine is mostly absorbed.

Serve hot.

Unfairly, parsnips have

earned a bad rap.

They get lumped into the vague category of odd tasting and odd-looking veggies that grow in the ground: Those earthy beets, turnips and rutabagas.

As well, unless they are roasted, they are not a very attractive color.

It is an undeserved fate. If we could change parsnip’s image, it would rank up with broccoli as a favorite vegetables — even for kids — because they are sweet and fragrant.

I feel it is time for parsnips to stand up and speak for themselves.

Flavorful parsnips can be steamed, roasted, fried, pureed, and, if necessary, boiled.

In Europe a homemade drink is parsnip wine. Because they are so versatile they are often incorporated into stews with other anonymous veggies. I saw an English recipe using parsnips as the base for a spice cake.

That is one step too far for me.

They can be grown in the garden as a late summer crop like carrots, which are a cousin. The leaves slightly resemble parsley leaves because parsley is another cousin.

Mulch parsnips and leave them in the ground until you are ready to harvest them during the winter. Storing them in the ground preserves their sweetness.

Most grocery stores display parsnips over there by the turnips. Purchase one more than you think you will need because the parsnips might have tough cores that need to be cut out and discarded.

Roasted Parsnip and Pasta Carrots, parsnips and parsley are botanically related and meld beautifully into a dish made with cream.

This vegetable is usually pared before using because the peeling can be stronger than the inside flesh.

Parsnips are a perfect NCW dish because they are delicious combined with apples. Any type of apple will do, but I particularly like the sweet tart taste of Granny Smith with the sweet smooth taste of the parsnips.

Kissing Cousins Quick, easy, colorful and delicious.

Who could ask for a better vegetable dish? The rich taste of this dish improves when you prepare it a day in advance.

Serves 6; 20 minutes

1 pound carrots 1 pound parsnips 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger 1 cup cream or half-and-half 3 tablespoons parsley chopped 1. Peel and coarsely grate the vegetables.

February 2015 | The Good Life

2. Microwave the veggies for five minutes until warmed through and slightly soft. Stir in salt and pepper.

3. Put the vegetables in a saucepan, add the ginger and heat slowly in cream until the cream is absorbed.

Cook about five minutes more. Check that the vegetables are totally soft.

4. Stir in the chopped parsley and serve.

Parsnips create a delicious sauce for pasta or rice. This is a delightful change from tomato-based sauces.

Pan-roast the slices of parsnips.

Or a few days before hand when you are baking something else, roast the parsnips in the oven. They should be soft and golden before they are added to the other ingredients.

NCW Parsnips Serves 4; 45 minutes 3 medium parsnips, peeled, 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, 2 tablespoons butter 1/2 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg 1 cup sweet white wine- Riesling www.ncwgoodlife.com

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1-1/2 pounds parsnips, roasted 1/2 pound panchetta (Italian bacon) 2 shallots chopped 1 large clove garlic minced 2 cups chicken stock 2 teaspoons corn starch 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese 3 cups cooked pasta (or two cups steamed rice, if you prefer.)

Peel the roasted parsnips and chop them into coarse pieces.

Fry the panchetta with the chopped shallots. Panchetta has far less fat than American bacon.

Add the garlic and the parsnips to the pan. Stir thoroughly.

Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil.

Thicken with the corn starch mixed with 1/4 cup cold water.

Pour the sauce over the rice or pasta and stir thoroughly.

Garnish with the grated cheese.

Serve hot.

Most of my cooking friends admit that they have never cooked parsnips. Try these recipes; we are all missing a delicious addition to our menus.

Bonnie Orr — the dirt diva — cooks and gardens in East Wenatchee.

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column moving up to the good life

june darling

Let’s talk about an untouchable topic For many people Febru-

ary ranks as the absolute worst month.

It’s a “freezing, bleak, no good” month made worse for lonely people by Valentine’s Day, as wrote a blogger on the Internet.

You may find yourself particularly bored, in a funk over the weather, mad about not meeting your January goals, stressed over too many bills and not enough money, feeling like nobody loves you, or just overwhelmed by everyday life stresses.

Perfect month for talking about … RELIGION! Wait, take a breath. Hang with me here.

I know many of us have received a little friendly advice to never discuss religion, sex,

I stumbled on to an article in Forbes that estimated the U.S. economic benefits of being quite a religious country is to the tune of $2.6 trillion per year. money, or politics if we want to keep our jobs and friends. Why embark on a subject that may leave some cold and others very hot under the collar?

Well, frankly, it’s very difficult to ignore the current research on religion and spirituality as

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it relates to the good life. For example, I stumbled on to an article in Forbes that estimated the U.S. economic benefits of being quite a religious country is to the tune of $2.6 trillion per year.

Trillions of dollars is a lot of dough, but there’s much more that gets my attention in terms of reported benefits of religion and spirituality from a strictly secular perspective.

First you might want to get a sense of how wide-ranging this recent religion/spirituality research is by quickly browsing this short list of areas studied: optimism, self-esteem, resilience, delinquency, suicide, drug use, marital stability, diet, exercise, smoking, hope, meaning and purpose, depression,

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February 2015

anxiety, integrity, psychosis, social support, hypertension, irritable bowel, weight, coronary heart disease, hypertension, Alzheimer’s and dementia, cerebrovascular disease, immune function, endocrine function, cancer, chronic pain, longevity, household income and participation in welfare.

In all of those categories except one (weight) the majority of the studies suggest that religion and spirituality are somehow related to positive outcomes.

Here’s an example of a very specific outcome recently reported in December of 2014 by economic researchers: “Doubling the rate of religious

... when we participate in certain philosophies and practices, when we believe there is an ultimate purpose for us; we glean hope and strength. attendance raises household income by 9.1 percent, decreases welfare participation by 16 percent from baseline rates, decreases the odds of being divorced by 4 percent, and increases the odds of being married by 4.4 percent.”

To be sure there’s still lots to be debated and further investigated. Some of the studies are better than others. Religion and spirituality seem to matter more in some categories than others (for example, more in hypertension and heart disease than cancer).

Religion and spirituality are murky terms; some studies do not tease them apart. Studies of different countries have some differences in outcomes. And most importantly, there are various ways of explaining the outcomes.

It could be that religious attendance increases the number of social interactions people have and those relationships bolster other positive outcomes.

It could be that religious institutions provide financial and emotional “insurance” that helps people navigate setbacks, or it could be that religious faith improves well-being directly by enabling the faithful to be less stressed out by life problems.

For whatever reason, it seems that when we participate in certain philosophies and practices, when we believe there is an ultimate purpose for us; we glean hope and strength. We have a moral compass for navigating life’s complexity. We are men-

tally and physically healthier.

In fact a few years ago, under the guidance of researchers, the U.S. Army began the Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness program aimed at increasing physical and psychological health, resilience and performance.

A part of that training focusing on religious and spiritual practices.

But is there anything in all of this that could potentially be useful for all of us — the spiritual, the religious, the apathetic, the humanists, the agnostics and the atheists?

Here are the thoughts that I came up with.

1. If you already have some interest or connection to a particular religion or religious practice, it may be a time to become more intentional and committed.

2. If you have never engaged in any religious or spiritual practice, but you are open to the idea, you may want to take a step toward learning more or directly experiencing them.

3. If you are uninterested in religion and spirituality, but willing to embrace some of the associated philosophies and practices that have been connected to health and wellbeing, you may want to do these things: n Develop compassionate, committed relationships. n Contribute your resources to others in need. n Notice and be thankful for all that you have. n Have a purpose in life that is bigger than yourself.

How might you move up to The Good Life by embracing philosophies and practices that seem connected to health and well-being?

June Darling, Ph.D. can be contacted at drjunedarling1@gmail. com; website: www.summitgroupresources.com. Her books, including 7 Giant Steps To The Good Life, can be bought or read for free at Amazon. com.

February 2015 | The Good Life

add a dash of romance Spice things up a bit this Valentine’s Day, and treat your loved one to a couple’s massage at the Aspen Leaf Day Spa. Take time for a healthy escape and ease back into total relaxation together.

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(509) 884-1510 www.ncwgoodlife.com

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The Art Life

// SKETCHES OF LOCAL ARTISTS

“Rounding up the Herd” — This image was taken in Bend at a ranch during a horse roundup. The cowboys came running over the hill in an attempt to relocate the herd. The dust was light and billowy, and Lynette happened to be at the right place at the right time to capture this image.

An eye for the smiling and soulful sides of life

by Susan Lagsdin

“I

think most photographers learn to look at the world in a special way. There might be a dead tree that looks ugly to other people, but when I look at it I see beauty — line, contrast, composition…” Lynette Smith brings that same optimistic perspective to subjects that are inherently beautiful, and makes

them even more so.

Lynette is a north central Washington native who needed to spend time in the Big City (she chose Portland) so she could fall in love with Wenatchee again. In 2002, she chose a return to her family over a promotion to Houston, and though city getaways are still appealing, her hometown’s size and friendliness are perfect for

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her.

Graduating from Eastern Washington University with degrees in communication and business management as well as public relations and graphic arts, Lynette used that education well at a variety of companies including Nike and Warner Brothers TV. But it was always the camera work that fascinated her.

Two years ago, at age 45, she decided to make it her profession.

As a new commercial photographer, she says, “You start out doing everything — you never say no. But you have to learn what you love — and hopefully you can spend your time taking pictures of just those things.”

She’s finally honed her camera

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February 2015

work down to the essence: senior portraits, engagements and weddings, and horses. Those commissions fill her life with rewarding work.

Sensitive to the way society unravels the self-esteem of many young girls, Lynette is proud that she can make senior portraits especially positive.

She said, “I like to bring out the beauty that’s always been there — sometimes the moms will look at the pictures and say, ’I haven’t seen her smile for years.

How did you do that?’ or, ‘You actually found the real girl in my daughter.’”

Her other favorite peopleportraits? It’s all about love and marriage.

“It is so much fun doing engagement photos, feeling the

“Love Captured” — Kirk and Kexshera had just been pronounced husband and wife and we wandered down a path for their first photos as husband and wife. Off to my left was a lovely field of yellow wild flowers and Kirk carried Kexshera into the middle of the field. As we were getting ready to take the photos they were so giddy, giggly and just full of so much excitement and love now that they were husband and wife. In between some of the photos, Kirk whispered something into Kexshera’s ear and she started giggling, and my camera was ready to capture the moment. Even though they knew I was there taking photos — for a moment — I think they forgot. The best two words I can use to describe this couple is love and magic. — LYNETTE SMITH

anticipation, being around all that positive energy. From the first meeting I feel really bonded with my clients. And weddings — every single one has been a joy — I love capturing that special smile, a tender moment.

“I have to educate people sometimes about wedding photographs,” she said. “Invest in the professional. Relax and know that every special moment will be photographed with great care — and allow yourself and your guests the freedom to enjoy the day.”

She even advocates “unplugged” weddings where all handheld devices are placed in a big basket at the front of the church. Drastic, but it proves her point. Selfies and blurry snapshots steal focus, and the special day deserves everyone’s full attention.

A few years ago, Lynette had a pivotal experience with photography that affirmed the value of her profession. Her brother was dying of lung cancer, and the family gathered around him for a last group portrait. Lynette was outvoted on the plan to hire an outside professional pho-

Lynette Smith poses with the first camera she learned to use — her dad’s now vintage Argus. Photo by Dalisa Jo Photography

tographer to memorialize the moment.

So, the siblings took candids February 2015 | The Good Life

— mostly badly staged, lifeless snapshots that still languish in a document file on the computer.

And Lynette still regrets that she didn’t stand firm so everyone could own excellent final photographs of their whole family.

That led her directly to another facet of her profession: now she volunteers her photo work to “Soulumination,” a non-profit group that creates exquisitely formatted albums and framed photos free of charge for families with children under 18 (or parents with children under 18) who have life-threatening illnesses. Lynette knows how much those photographs are valued.

She devotes her personal attention to a family of four good dogs who are much-photographed, but her other passion is horses — she rides English dressage and has rescued and rehabilitated an off-track thoroughbred.

She’ll do commissioned equine portraits here, but also travels to Nevada and the Steens Mountains of Oregon to photograph the wild herds.

She said, “I was excited to see www.ncwgoodlife.com

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“... — I love capturing that special smile, a tender moment.” one of my horse photos on the cover of Horses in Art magazine at Hastings. What a thrill!”

Currently she’s working on a book, a compilation of what she calls her “cowboys in dust” photographs.

New clients, projects, travel and studio dreams will keep her especially busy, and recently she’s added a new skill set: she’ll be in front of a classroom. In the same two years Lynette was growing her business, she completed class work for her K-8 teaching credential, and will work locally as a substitute.

She’s hoping to fold the two professions into a comfortable living in the town she was glad to come home to.

To view more of Lynette’s photos, visit her website at: www.LynetteSmith.com.

>>

column THE TRAVELing DOCTOR

jim brown, m.d.

Is there a doctor on board?

We were on an overnight

flight from Seattle to Amsterdam when an announcement came asking for a doctor to turn on their call light, which I did.

A flight attendant asked if I would look at an elderly female who had nearly passed out in the bathroom after relieving herself. I took her history, blood pressure and checked her heart and lungs. She had no significant medical history or medications.

I felt she was dehydrated from lack of fluid intake since we left Seattle and that her blood pressure had fallen once she stood up after going to the bathroom.

It was up to me to make the determination to continue on or turn around to land back on the

East Coast. I felt we could go on.

I sat with her for a while, and she finished the flight without incident.

On a different flight a few years later, we were on a nonstop flight from Miami to Seattle, when a similar call came over the loudspeaker. There was a 44-year-old man complaining of epigastric (upper abdominal pain) as well as severe diarrhea.

I knew that heart pain sometimes presents with epigastric pain, but after examining him and taking his history, his problem seemed most likely to be travelers’ diarrhea.

He was a lawyer who was just returning from Cuba where he was part of a justice project interviewing detainees at Guantanamo. We had just re-

These incidents got me wondering: “How often do medical emergencies occur on commercial airlines and how safe is flying?” turned from Ecuador, and I had medicine for travelers’ diarrhea, and he agreed to take it.

I also was asked to talk with an EMT in a call center on the ground to determine if we needed to divert the airplane and land immediately. I did not

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Confluence Health is an affiliation between Central Washington Hospital & Wenatchee Valley Medical Center

Barrett’s is caused by prolonged exposure to stomach acid or GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease)

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Risk factors for Barrett’s • Male • Caucasian • Age 50 or Older • Central Body Obesity • Smoker If you have 2 or more risk factors, please talk to your doctor to discuss treatment and whether Radiofrequency Ablation is an option.

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confluencehealth.org

www.ncwgoodlife.com

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February 2015

think that necessary, and we continued on to Seattle.

Upon landing there, an ambulance was waiting to pick him up and take him for a more complete evaluation. He emailed me two days later that he had fully recovered.

A few months ago a 16-yearold boy died on a Delta flight from Seattle to Atlanta. This boy had a previous medical condition and had gone into cardiac arrest. The flight was diverted to Spokane while flight attendants and volunteers gave him CPR to no avail.

These incidents got me wondering: “How often do medical emergencies occur on commercial airlines and how safe is flying?”

It seems that in the last year I have read about more flights being diverted for various reasons including medical emergencies, mechanical issues, smoke in the cabin, flames in an engine, a splitting of the inner wall covering in the cabin, and unruly passengers, some drunk, fighting or arguing about the seat in front of them being reclined too far.

Possible Ebola in passengers has raised another wrinkle into the mix.

The year 2014 marked the 100year anniversary for commercial air travel. We have come a long way from the first commercial flight across Tampa Bay lasting 25 minutes at a cost of $400.

Flying in commercial jetliners is very safe. In the past five years the death rate for passengers in the U.S. has been 1 in 45,000,000. A professor at MIT calculated that a traveler could fly every day for 120,000 years before being in a fatal accident.

In 2013 more than 8 million

For young people ages 1524, automobile fatalities and fatalities from guns totaling 15,000, are the leading causes of death. people were flying every day or roughly 3 billion people a year.

It surprised me that with these numbers, there are not more inflight medical emergencies than there actually are.

The New England Journal of Medicine reported a study conducted on five airlines, both domestic and international, over a two-year period 2008-2010.

There were 11,920 medical emergencies resulting in calls to emergency call centers. This is on average one emergency per 604 flights. The most common problems were syncope (fainting or near fainting), respiratory symptoms, and nausea and vomiting. Physician volunteers on flights provided medical assistance in 48 percent of cases and aircraft were diverted in 7.3 percent of cases Of the 10,914 patients where follow up was available, 25 percent were taken to a hospital, 8.6 percent admitted and 0.3 percent died. The most common reasons for admission were stroke or possible stroke, respiratory distress or heart issues.

I didn’t know until recently that under the 1998 aviation Medical Assistance Act, airline passengers are protected from liability while offering medical assistance. That is reassuring, however, I personally can’t imagine any physician who would not offer assistance to someone in distress regardless of that law.

Despite two recent Malaysia Airlines crashes when compared with other forms of transportation, flying on commercial

airlines is very safe.

Some 97 percent of aviation fatalities that occur are primarily in private airplanes rather than commercial airplanes.

According to ABC news, on average five small planes crash daily with approximately 500 deaths annually. Train travel caused 759 deaths in 2014.

Almost 500 of them were not passenger fatalities but were pedestrians and people stopped in cars on rail right of ways, and some of these were thought to be suicides.

There were 800 deaths blamed on marine transportation, especially recreational boating.

These causes pale in comparison to the 32,367 deaths in the U.S. blamed on roadway accidents, which also include 4,000 pedestrian deaths.

For young people ages 15-24, automobile fatalities and fatalities from guns totaling 15,000, are the leading causes of death.

It is predicted that by 2015 gun deaths in this age group will surpass automobile deaths.

Recently we visited our son and family who live in the Bay area of California. We decided to drive. We spent four days driving in the car down and back.

I kept track of our expenses including gasoline costs, three nights in motels and meals while traveling.

I compared that total to the cost of round trip flights for two from Wenatchee to San Jose, CA. We actually spent about $200 more driving as well as roughly three-and-a-half days driving compared to flying.

I think we will fly next time.

In the end, despite the discomforts — the crowded airports, flight delays, missed connections, and lack of food and cramped seating on airlines, air travel still remains the fastest and safest way to travel.

Jim Brown, M.D., is a retired gastroenterologist who has practiced for 38 years in the Wenatchee area. He is a former CEO of the Wenatchee Valley Medical Center.

February 2015 | The Good Life

>>

WHAT TO DO

We want to know of fun and interesting local events. Send info to: donna@ncwgoodlife.com

Writers’ Competition. Write On The River writers’ competition includes categories: non fiction (essay, article or memoir, on any theme or subject) and fiction (short story on any theme or subject), each with a 1,000 word limit. All submissions must be postmarked

by Feb.18. First place in each category is $300, second place $200 and third place $100. For complete guidelines, plus entry form: writeontheriver.org.

Pybus Public Market, every Thursday night is locals night, 5 – 8 p.m. Live music, cooking demonstrations and local vendors.

NCW Blues Jam, every second and fourth Monday, 7:30 – 11 p.m. Columbia Valley Brewery, 538 Riverside Dr, Wenatchee. Info: facebook. com/NCWBluesJam. Live Music, every Monday night, 7 – 9 p.m. Vino Prost Wine Bar, Leavenworth. Cost: free. Info: vinoprost. com.

Live Music, every Friday night, 6 – 9 p.m. Wednesday nights 7 – 9 p.m. Leisure nights, every Tuesday for fun and games. Icicle Brewing Company. Cost: free. Info: iciclebrewing.com.

Live Music, every Friday and Saturday nights, 7 p.m. Baren Haus, Leavenworth. Cost: free.

Karaoke and Dance party, every Friday and Saturday nights, 9 p.m.

Cost: free. Ducks and Drakes, Leavenworth. Info: ducksandddrakesrestaurant.com.

Weekend Wine Flights from Around the World, every weekend, 4 p.m. Taste three different wines from around the world. Vino Prost Wine Bar, Leavenworth. Cost: $10. Info: vinoprost.com.

2 Left Feet, every Thursday, 7 – 9 p.m. 2 Left Feet is a loose organization of local dance enthusiasts who would like to see more dancing in the Wenatchee Valley.

Beginner lesson at the top of the hour followed by carefree social dancing. No partner necessary to join in the fun. Dance style will be 1940s swing with a bit of salsa, blues, waltz or tango thrown in.

Pybus Public Market. Cost: free.

Info: pybuspublicmarket.org.

Apple Invite Ski Race, 2/1, 9:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. U8, 10, 12 14 ski racing

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at Mission Ridge. Info: missionridge.com.

Chicks on Sticks, 2/1, 9:30 a.m.

8km women’s only event. Proceeds go to The Wellness Place, providing direct services for breast cancer awareness. Icicle Trail at Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery. Info: skileavenworth.com.

Pybus University: Intro to Knitting, 2/3, 7 p.m. Knitting expert Mary Ann Corning and members of the NCW Knitters Guild will teach the basics of knitting. Bring size 7, 8 or 9 pair of knitting needles. Yarn and print material provided. Pybus Public Market. Cost: free. Register online: pybusmarket.org.

Film Series: A Streetcar Named Desire, 2/5, 7 p.m. Snowy Owl Theater. Cost: $10 advance or $23 at the door. Info: icicle.org.

Jazz Night Pro Night, 2/5, 7:30 p.m. Numerica Performing Arts Center. Info: numericapac.org.

Jazz Night Student Night, 2/6, High schools, junior high and middle schools perform alongside visiting professional musicians.

Numerica Performing Arts Center.

Info: numericapac.org.

Our Town, 2/5-7, 7:30 p.m. Music Theatre of Wenatchee presents an inspiring play about the transience and beauty of human life. Riverside Playhouse. Info: mtow.org.

Go Red Heart and Soul Walking, 2/6, noon. Kick off to National Heart Health Month. Walk at: Pybus Public Market, Wenatchee Valley Mall, Confluence Health and Wenatchee Valley College. Info: pybuspublicmarket.org.

Eden Moody, 2/6, 7 – 9 p.m. Eden describes her music as “sweet’n spicy country-pop with a South American twist.” Eden is a singersongwriter ... a blonde with a brunette’s brain, a red’s intensity and colored soul; American citizen, culturally Brazilian; part woman, part honey badger. Pybus Public Market. Cost: free. Info: pybuspublicmarket.org.

Home Show, 2/6, 7 & 8. Home builders show with vendors and displays. Town Toyota Center. Tickets and info: www.Building NCW. org.

Free Winter Life Snowshoe Tours, Friday, Saturdays and Sundays until 2/22. Tours are given by trained volunteer naturalists.

These 2-hour explorations are at

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WHAT TO DO

We want to know of fun and interesting local events. Send info to: donna@ncwgoodlife.com

}}} Continued from previous page the Leavenworth Hatchery’s Icicle River Nature Trail. Group size limited to 14. Register at:www. friendsonnwhatcheries.org If the tours are full please feel free to visit the hatchery, open daily. Also snowshoes rentals are available locally and there are many places to explore.

Wenatchee First Fridays ArtsWalk, 2/6, 5 - 8 p.m. Check out Wenatchee’s arts scene. Venues and exhibits change monthly.

Self-guided. WVC Campus and Historic District. Cost: art-walk free, after-events may have admission fees. Monthly info: wenatcheefirstfridaysartswalk.tumblr.com. The following businesses participate: n Two Rivers Art Gallery, 2/6, 5 – 8 p.m. Featuring the annual members show. Professional and emerging artists will be present to exhibit their works of Art. Meet the artists of NCW Washington. Discover the wines of Gilbert Cellars poured by Jamie Huber of NW Pub-

lic Radio. Music by Connie Celustka on the hammered dulcimer. and complimentary refreshments. 102 N Columbia, Wenatchee. Cost: free.

Info: 2riversgallery.com. n Merriment Party Goods, 2/6, 5 – 8 p.m. Floral arrangements

by Tennille. 23, S Wenatchee Ave. Cost: free. Info: facebook.com/merrimentpartygoods. n.Tumbleweed Bead Co., 2/6, 5-7 p.m. Martha Flores a surrealist painter, sculptor, poet and motivational/inspirational speaker is the featured artist for February.

Refreshments served. 105 Palouse St. Cost: free. Info: tumbleweedbeadco.com. n Small Artworks Gallery, 2/6, 5 p.m. 13 local artists’ works will be on display at the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center. Info: wvmcc.org.

Tubbs Romp to Stomp Snowshoe Series, 2/7, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Snowshoe on beautiful trails with free use of Tubbs snowshoes. 3k and 5k walk, 3k run and ‘Lil rompers dash. Stevens Pass Nordic Center. Info: tubbsromptostomp. com/WA.

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Waterville Plateau Field Trip, 2/7. Observe the special wintering birds with Dr. Dan Stephens. Info: dstephens@wvc.edu.

Enchantment Under the Sea, 2/7, 5 p.m. St. Joseph School annual Have-A-Heart Auction. Silent auction, dinner by Two Chef’s Catering, live auction, beer, wine and liquor.

Kuykendall Hall. Cost: $35 per person. Tickets: 663-2644.

All You Can Eat Crab Feed, 2/7, 5 - 8 p.m. Fresh crab, tangy coleslaw, baked beans and dinner rolls.

Bring your crab cracking devices and your appetite… stretchy pants optional. Lake Chelan Eagles Club upstairs. Cost: $40. Tickets from any Lion’s member, at Lake Chelan Mail Boxes, Kelly’s Hardware or at KOZI radio.

Twilight Snow Shoe Trek, 2/7, 14, 28, 5 p.m. This fun and educational trek will have you burning calories while learning about avalanche awareness, vegetation and wildlife. Meet outside Hampton Lodge Rental Shop, Mission Ridge.

Info: missionridge.com.

Mountain Music Festival, 2/7, 5:30 – 9 p.m. Ski under the lights and then listen to live music. Warm up act at 5:30 p.m. Daniel Kirkpatric performs at 7 p.m. Mission Ridge. Info: missionridge.com.

Broadway’s next HIT musical, 2/7, 7:30 p.m. Master improvisers gather made-up hit song suggestions from the audience and create a spontaneous evening of music and humor. The audience votes for its favorite song and watches as the cast turns it into a full-blown improvised musical – complete with memorable characters, witty dialogue and plot twists galore.

Numerica Performing Arts Center.

Cost: $25-$29 adults, $21/$25 seniors, $19/$23 youth. Info: numericapac.org.

Pybus University: In love with wine, 2/10, 7 p.m. Instructor Rhett Humphrey of Jones of Washington will lead an evening of learning the basics of wine terminology and wine appreciation. Pybus Public Market. Cost: free. Register online: pybusmarket.org.

Women’s Escape, 2/12, 9 a.m.

– 12:30 p.m. A day of skiing or snowboarding, socializing and professional coaching for women only.

Mission Ridge. Info: missionridge. com.

Lincoln Day Celebration, 2/12, 7 – 9 p.m. A presentation detailing the life of Abraham Lincoln featur-

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February 2015

ing Leon McKinney as Lincoln. Proceeds to benefit WVC scholarships and Hope For Kids. Grove Recital Hall, WVC. Cost: $5/$10. Info: evenbrite.come/Lincoln-day-scholarship-benefit-tickets-150011699 Singin’ in the Rain, 2/12, 6:30 p.m. This 1952 film is a spoof of the turmoil that afflicted the movie industry in the late 1920s changed from silent to sound, starring Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds. Numerica Performing Arts Center. Cost: $5. Info: numericapac.org.

Film Series: Sound City, 2/12, 7 p.m. Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighers directorial debut takes the audience to the famed studio where Nirvana recorded their biggest hits. Snowy Owl Theater. Cost: $10 advance or $13 at the door. Info: icicle.org.

Rails and Ales, 2/13, 6 p.m. Downtown Wenatchee.

Great Backyard Bird Count, 2/14, 9 a.m. – noon. Join biologist Phil Archibald for the bird count at Entiat Stormy Preserve. Sign up and more info: cdlandtrust.org.

Opera Series: Iolanta/Duke Bluebeard’s Castle, 2/14, 9:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. (The Met: Live in HD).

Snowy Owl Theater. Cost: $20 advance or $24 at the door. Info: icicle.org.

Mountain Music Festival, 2/14, 5:30 – 9 p.m. Warm-up act starts at 5:30 and The Michael Carlos Band starts at 7. Mission Ridge. Info: missionridge.com.

Valentine’s Day Love Songs for your sweetheart, 2/14, 6 – 8 p.m.

Erin McNamee performs. Pybus Public Market. Cost: free. Info: pybuspublicmarket.org.

Sweetheart Musical Soiree, 2/14, 7 p.m. Chamber music by Wenatchee Valley Symphony, wine tasting and light fare. Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center.

Tickets at PAC box office.

WVC Valentine’s Dinner and Concert, 2/14, 7 p.m. WVC Chamber Singers and the Wenatchee Swingin’ Big Band will perform.

WVC Campus Theater. Cost: $30.

Info: wvc.edu/anniversary/default. asp.

Opera Series: The Merry Widow (Encore), 2/15, 2 – 5 p.m. (The Met: Live in HD). Snowy Owl Theater. Cost: $20 advance or $24 at the door. Info: icicle.org.

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WHAT TO DO

We want to know of fun and interesting local events. Send info to: donna@ncwgoodlife.com

Introduction to Winter Waterbirds, 2/17, 19, 22. North Central Washington Audubon Society’s Jenny Graevell and Wenatchee Naturalist Susan Ballinger have co-designed this course to increase your observation skills in a collaborative setting. This hands-on course will use field guides, bird study skins, presentations, apps and optics. The Saturday half-day field trip will be at Walla Walla Park and the Horan Natural Area where participants will practice birding skills under supportive guidance of the instructors and local Audubon members. Info: ncwaudubon.org.

Pybus University: Food Intolerance, 2/17, p.m. Dr. Lara Pleacher will lead a discussion on food intolerance and chronic inflammation as the underlying cause of most chronic diseases and conditions. Pybus Public Market.

Cost: free. Register online, pybuspublicmarket.org.

Environmental Film Series: Return of the River, 2/17, 7 p.m. The film captures the tenacity of individuals who would not give up on a river, mirroring the tenacity of salmon headed up stream to spawn. The film features people and perspectives on all sides of the Elwha debate, reflecting the many voices o f the Elwha valley.

Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center. Info: vwmcc.org.

Ladies Winter Chill, 2/19, 6 - 10 p.m. Complimentary appetizers, no-host cocktail ice bar, door prizes and dancing. Cocktail attire. Town Toyota Center. Cost: $25. Into: towntoyotacenter.com.

Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival, 2/19, 7 p.m. Snowy Owl Theater. Info: icicle.org.

Mike Bills, 2/20, 7 p.m. Mike performs a wide variety of music on standard and slide guitar while singing and playing percussion with his feet. His musical tastes range from jazz to pop, delta blues to country, reggae to funk. Pybus Public Market. Cost: free. Info: pybuspublicmarket.org.

Columbia Chorale, 2/20, 7:30 p.m. The Columbia Chorale presents: English Masters at the Grace Lutheran Church. Cost: $15. Info: numericapac.org.

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column the night sky this month

Peter Lind

Here comes the king planet Venus and Mars make a

brilliant evening pair all month.

Winter evenings are fast to arrive in February, and as the sun slips below the Western horizon, Venus hangs in the fading sunlight all month long. It shines at magnitude -3.9, the brightest point in the night sky.

Aim a telescope or powerful binoculars at it and it will be a nearly round disk. On Feb. 20, Venus and Mars appear about a thumb’s width of each other, and a two-day crescent moon stands nearly beside the pair.

Binoculars or small telescope at low power will give a spectacular view of the trio. Keep your eyes on them for the next couple of days.

Jupiter, king of the planets, is our next object to visit.

The king rises above the eastern horizon shortly after dark and stays up all night. February brings the opposition of Jupiter and, from our view, Jupiter and the sun are opposite each other.

This also means that Jupiter is highest in the sky at midnight.

It also appears largest at opposition, as it is as close as it will get to earth this year.

Saturn sits just to the north of Scorpius the scorpion. It is prominent by 4 a.m. in the Southeast sky.

By month’s end, Saturn will clear the Eastern horizon by 2 a.m. On the night of the 12th, the last quarter moon points to Saturn. The next night the waning moon sits right next to the ringed planet.

We will be visiting Saturn later in the springtime when it’s close to opposition.

The final planet we will visit in February seems almost like a footnote compared to the unique views of Venus, Jupiter and Saturn.

February 2015 | The Good Life

Mercury reaches greatest elongation Feb. 24, which means from our view its orbital position is farthest away from the sun. It climbs just about a fist’s width at arm’s length above the Southeastern horizon less than an hour before sunrise. You will need binoculars to find it in the beginning glow of morning.

Interestingly, two very large asteroids will swing through earth’s night sky. One, Asteroid 3 Juno, is a potato-shaped rock about 170 miles in diameter. You will need a decent telescope to see it.

Because Jupiter reaches opposition this month, a few facts about the king of the planets might be interesting.

Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system. It has more mass than all the other planets combined and is large enough to hold 1,300 planets the size of earth.

Ancient astronomers named the planet after the king of the Roman gods. It is the fifth planet from the sun, past Mars and the asteroid belt. Jupiter has the shortest day of any planet in the solar system. It rotates so quickly that days are only 10 hours long. In fact, Jupiter appears squat because the fast spin accentuates the bulge at the equator.

The great red spot on Jupiter is a storm that has been raging for over 300 years. You could fit 100 earths into the giant red spot.

Jupiter has a faint ring system just like Saturn and Uranus. The planet has over 60 known satellites (moons) but most of them are extremely small and faint.

Jupiter’s four well-known moons, called the Galilean moons, were discovered by Galileo. The largest of the moons, Ganymede, is the largest moon in the solar system and is larger www.ncwgoodlife.com

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than either Mercury or Pluto.

Unlike any other planet, Jupiter sends out a strong radio radiation that can be detected on earth. Still, little is known about the radiation.

Jupiter is one of the most dynamic objects to view through a telescope, even through a decent pair of binoculars it holds wonders that never seem to get tiring.

So the next clear night this month grab your binoculars or telescope and go see what there is to discover out at the king of the planets.

Peter Lind is a local amateur astronomer. He can be reached at ppjl@juno.com.

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WHAT TO DO

We want to know of fun and interesting local events. Send info to: donna@ncwgoodlife.com

}}} Continued from previous page Winter Ice Gala, 2/20. 6 p.m.

Starring Ryan Bradley, U.S. figure skating champion, Jean-Luc Baker and Kaitlin Hawayek, 2014 world ice dance champions, Wenatchee Figure Skating Club, Miss Washington 2014, Kailee Dunn and Miss East Cascades 2014, Ashley Lowers and the Glenn and Friends Trio.

Town Toyota Center. Info: towntoyotacenter.com.

Moose Dewlap Citizens Trek, 2/21, all day. An all day Nordic ski trek throughout Lake Wenatchee, Meadow Creek area outside of Leavenworth. Info: skileavenworth. com.

Mountain Music Festival, 2/28, 5:30 - 9 p.m. Warm up act starts at 5:30 and The Soul Proprietors perform at 7. Mission Ridge. Info: missionridge.com.

Auction for the animals, 2/21, 5:30 p.m. Auctioneer John Curley, dinner, live and silent auctions, balloon pop and wine pull. A benefit

for the Wenatchee Valley Humane Society. Wenatchee Convention Center. Cost: $45. Info: wenatcheehumane.org.

NU-BLU, 2/21, 7:30 p.m. Cashmere Community Concerts. Nu-Blu brings its lively version of Americana-bluegrass across the nation and daring enough to bring a fresh sparkle to contemporary acoustic music that lands them squarely in the forefront of bands blazing the trail in acoustic entertainment.

Cashmere Riverside Center. Cost $3 at the door and pass the hat. Info: www.cashmereconcerts.com.

Ladies of the 50s, 2/21, 8 p.m.

CASAs ATEEM hosts a fundraising night out just for the ladies of our community. Eagles Auxiliary. Tickets: cdcasa.org/ladies-50s/.

Pack Walks, 2/22, 3/22 and 4/26, 3 p.m. Bring your friends and dogs on leashes and walk the riverfront trail. Meet on the loop behind Pybus Market at the boat launch. Info: wenatcheefido.org.

Pybus University: Essential Oils 101, 2/24, 7 p.m. Instructor Bev Sandhop will talk about using essential oils for first aid, staying healthy, mood enhancement and

cleaning. Pybus Public Market.

Cost: free. Register online, pybuspublicmarket.org.

Tartan Terrors, 2/24, 7:30 p.m.

Mixing rock’s energy with traditional folklore, dance, humor, classic pipes and fiddle, driving drum tones and signature guitar styles, Tartan Terrors is a premier Celtic event. Numerica Performing Arts Center. Info: numericapac.org.

Downtown Appreciation Dinner, 2/26, 5:30 p.m. Wenatchee Convention Center. Info: Linda@ wendowntown.org.

Film Series: Chasing Ice, 2/26, 7 p.m. National Geographic’s 2014 Emmy winner for best nature documentary includes stunning imagery of the earth’s changing climate.

Snowy Owl Theater. Info: icicle.org.

Winter Olympics, 2/27. Opening ceremonies at Town Toyota Center.

Special Olympics, 2/27, noon.

More than 1,500 Special Olympic athletes will be in Leavenworth for cross-country ski events. Icicle Trail at Fish Hatchery. Info: skileavenworth.com.

Wenatchee Valley Symphony, 2/28, 7 p.m. John Williams, maestro of the movies will be the theme of this performance. Numerica Performing Arts Center. Tickets at PAC box office.

Cinderwerewolfe and the

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three little pigs, 2/28, 7 p.m.

Local actors ages 10-18 will arrive at Icicle Creek for a Sunday audition, rehearse with professional actors all week after school and present a rollicking musical on Saturday evening at Snowy Owl Theater. Two twisted versions of fairy tales with singing, dancing and comic characters. Cost: $20 advance or $24 at the door. Info: icicle.org.

People of our past, 2/28, People of Our Past lineup includes awardwinning artist Robert Graves, WVC Dean Helen Van Tassell, WVC faculty member and author John A. Brown and Kenneth P. Sexton.

Sexton was involved in the founding of the college and the museum.

Tracy Carlson portrays Van Tassell, Bob Stoehr is Sexton, Don Collins is Graves and Bill Murray takes on the part of Brown. Each actor will perform 3 times, 10 a.m., 2 p.m. (by donation) and 6 p.m. ($35 non members). Themed hors d’oeuvres, live music and mingle with the characters following the performance. Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center. Info: 888-6240.

Book Buzz, 2/28, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Think local authors first. Multiple local authors will be present to showcase their books, sign autographs and talk about their profession. Win prizes. Pybus Public Market. Cost: free. Info: pybuspublicmarket.org.

The Art Life

// SKETCHES OF LOCAL ARTISTS

writing’s honest truth?

Sometimes success — big success — comes after 99 rejection slips

Dan Gemeinhart, a 36-year-

old Cashmere resident and gentlemanly teacher/librarian and father of three, is a genuinely humble man.

He admits sometimes it’s hard to be humble when a limo with driver whisks you from the airport to the conference center in New York, Chicago, San Francisco or Los Angeles and back to your nice hotel.

It’s hard to be humble when the novel you’ve pitched to an agent in a casual conversation suddenly gains FOR THE FIRST TIME the attention of a major publisher and rockets to five-star, gotta-buy-it book lists around the country.

The American Bookseller’s Association names it one of 2015’s 10 best kids books by debut authors; Apple says it’s one of January’s 10 best novels — the only one written expressly for children. It’s been translated into nine languages.

The Honest Truth is Dan’s middle grade book (for grades 4-9, a notch younger than high schoolers’ “YA” books), published by Scholastic. It’s an adventure story with survival at the center.

Featuring a dog, a boy and their significant encounters, the novel is an amalgam of Dan’s

Dan Gemeinhart: A wild ride from writing to seeing book published.

mountain-climbing friend’s life and death with cancer and his own intimate knowledge of kids’ reading habits and intellectual capabilities.

The book deal was a wild ride (“Still absolutely surreal…” said Dan) from July 2013 to this Jan. 27 when it’s officially available, but that came after eight years of hard labor.

That’s de rigueur in the writer’s life: you learn what works, you hone your craft, you make the queries and gather the rejection slips — Dan has collected 99 of them. And then the right book at the right time catches on.

Dan is candid about the impetus, years ago, to write his very first novel. Basically he was embarrassed; he got tired of hearing himself say, “I want to be a writer” all the way through high school and college while he dabbled halfheartedly at short stories and poetry.

So, once he gained a little wisdom (and settled into a marriage and a teaching job) he actually

February 2015 | The Good Life

disciplined himself to sit down and start writing a novel.

For eight long years he wrote, carving out quiet time in the late evenings.

Three books found their way to endings. The first was the throw away that most novelists admit writing so they can get to the second. The next two were better, but not publishable.

Dan credits two events as contributors to his success.

First, his wife Karen urged him to attend his first Write On The River conference at Wenatchee Valley College about five years ago, where he learned 1) he was not alone — writing needn’t be a solo sport; 2) fiction writing is a an art with rules, like violin and ballet and watercolor; and, 3) taking writing workshops can actually make you a better writer.

The second event was serendipitous. As a WOTR board member/volunteer at the 2013

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conference, Dan was saying goodbye to the guest agent, whose appointments he had scheduled.

She politely asked him, “Do you write?” “Nah, well, you don’t… kind of… yes I’ve got a book…”

“Tell me about it.”

Then, “Send it to me.” Golden words from an agent.

The Honest Truth, the book he sent and which Scholastic eventually bought, grew out of multiple re-writes over one and a half years.

“I couldn’t find the voice — I kept throwing away 50 page chunks of it…”

Dan said.

But he’s obviously getting the hang of it; one more novel he’s since written has been accepted, and he’s confident that the third will be well regarded also.

Book promotion, even with a generous publisher, is tough work.

Finding time to write is the most troublesome problem now — but even balancing his author responsibilities, his Mission View Elementary job, his full family life and his civic commitments, Dan is determined to keep a daily appointment with himself.

He knows that, “I want to be a writer” doesn’t mean book-signings and the occasional royalty check.

It means logging lots of late hours at the computer.

— by Susan Lagsdin

>>

column those were the days

rod molzahn

White settlers in… Indians out The white settlement of cen-

tral Washington Territory from the Columbia River north to the Canadian border took 26 years and successfully completed a plan set in motion by territorial governor Isaac I. Stevens in 1855; to remove all eastern Washington Indians from traditional lands to reservations.

Most Indians were reluctant to sign the treaties Governor Stevens insisted on at the 1855 Walla Walla conference. As part of the inducements and threats made to the tribes, Stevens promised that no lands would be opened to white use until congress ratified the treaties and surveyed the reservations, something they did not do until 1859.

Stevens, however, didn’t wait.

As he left the treaty council grounds he sent word to newspapers west of the Cascades that all of eastern Washington was immediately open to settlement.

Indians were angry. Yakama chief Kamiakin was furious that, in spite of Steven’s promise,

white men were crossing his lands in search of gold. Several groups of miners were attacked and killed by Yakama braves.

The army responded and three years of war took the place of treaties.

It wasn’t until 1859 that Governor Stevens’ hoped for white settlement began.

That year settlers, including Moses Splawn and F.M. Thorpe, packed their wagons in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, crossed the Columbia at The Dalles and claimed land in the Klickitat Valley near the present day location of Goldendale. In the next year, they were joined by 10 other families settling in the area. F.M. Thorpe had seen it before in the Willamette; a crowd of neighbors.

In February of 1861 Thorpe loaded his household goods on pack horses, his wife and nine children on saddle horses and crossed the Simcoe Mountains through several feet of snow.

They followed Indian trails down into the Yakama Valley

and on to the Yakama River.

They crossed the river near present day Union Gap and settled in the lower Mox-see, east of the future site of Yakama. That made Thorpe and his family the first settlers in two central Washington valleys.

Starting in the summer of 1862 a steady flow of settlers followed Thorpe into the Yakama Valley and by 1870 the busy little settlement of Yakama City was taking shape.

Three years earlier the Kittitas Valley got its first white settlers when two German immigrants on their way to Puget Sound camped for a night in the Kittitas. Looking over the valley on horseback the next day, they found it to their liking and settled near Menashtash Ridge.

The following spring they packed up, crossed the Yakama and re-settled just down river from what would become Ellensburg. That summer, as other settlers began to arrive, one of the Germans, “Dutch John” Galler, followed an Indian trail

across Colockum Pass into the Wenatchee Valley. He liked what he saw and by the next spring Galler had said goodbye to his friend, Fred Ludi in the Kittitas and won, for the second time, the honor of first settler when he staked out a squatter’s claim and built his cabin in the Malaga area.

That year “Dutch John” was joined by Jack Ingram and John McBride who opened a trading post at the Wenatchee/Columbia confluence. John McBride claimed 160 acres on the flat below Saddle Rock and began digging an irrigation ditch to the land from Squilchuck Creek.

Only months later a Mr. and Mrs. Perkins arrived in the valley and bought McBride’s claim.

They lasted less than a year before selling out to the newly arrived Phillip Miller.

Two or three other single men had settled on the Wenatchee Flat by 1872 when Ingram and

Marketplace Coins

Animal Talk

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Eat Local

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February 2015

Insurance

In April of 1879 the “Columbia” or “Moses” Reservation was created, then expanded the following year to include all the land from Lake Chelan to the Canadian border...

McBride sold the trading post to Sam Miller and the Freer brothers. The population stayed about the same for 11 years until the first white families, the Blairs and the Rickmans, arrived in the fall of 1883.

The Colockum Pass trail had been widened to accommodate wagons in 1880 and the road from the mouth of Colockum Creek to the Wenatchee/Columbia confluence was built in 1884. That marked the start of a steady flow of homesteaders into the Wenatchee Valley.

1883 saw the first homesteaders on the Waterville Plateau.

Platt Corbaley and others staked out claims on April 8 but made no improvements on the land until they returned with their families two months later.

In the meantime Ole Ruud, a single man, found the plateau and claimed his land on May 16, 1883. He immediately turned up furrows of soil with his plow and hauled timber from Badger Mountain to build his cabin, barn and fences. He was the first settler to accomplish those critical tasks on the plateau.

In April of 1879 the “Columbia” or “Moses” Reservation was created, then expanded the following year to include all the land from Lake Chelan to the Canadian border and from the crest of the Cascades east to the Okanogan River, land the government considered unfit for homesteading.

This huge swath of land was

closed to whites until the northern strip was opened to mining.

The government soon saw the error of their ways and under pressure from white settlers and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Chief Moses relinquished the Reservation back to the government.

In 1886 it was formally opened to white settlement. Before the end of the year homesteads dotted the country from Lake Chelan to the border with Canada.

Mining flourished and the towns of the Methow and Okanogan valleys began to take shape supplanting Indian villages as native people reluctantly gave up their traditional lifestyle and moved to the Colville Reservation.

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Historian, actor and teacher Rod Molzahn can be reached at shake.speak@frontier.com. His third history CD, Legends & Legacies Vol. III - Stories of Wenatchee and North Central Washington, is now available at the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center and at other locations throughout the area.

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column ALEX ON WINE

ALEX SALIBY

Traveling with state wines in the trunk This year we celebrated

Christmas and brought in the new year with family and friends in Georgia.

We packed mostly clothes for wearing in warmer climate — a mistake — and, since we drove, we took some top quality Washington state wines in an insulated case along for the ride with us… a wise decision.

Firstly, the prices of Washington wines available in Georgia shocked me a little. Two, the selection of Washington wines on the shelves everywhere disappointed me immensely.

I knew from prior visits our local wineries’ products were not available out of the state; heck, most aren’t available out of NCW. We traveled only with the local stuff for just that reason.

However, I did expect to see a considerably broader selection of Washington wines on the shelves. Even two of the metro Atlanta area Costco stores had what I’d have to call a non-existent supply of the wines from our state. That, for me was a double disappointment. Costco is, after all, a Washington state corporation. I expected more from them.

We did get to enjoy the holiday meals with some of our

Ryan Patrick’s 2013 Reserve Chardonnay goes well with clam chowder.

favorite wines, and I’m really happy to report they all traveled well without suffering any timewarp shock from the travels.

You all know by now that I’m an unskilled photographer. I did take some pictures of the meals with family and with friends, but, alack and alas, most of the photos were fuzzy and out of focus… no snide comments please about my ability to hold the camera steady at these

times… and some of the really delightful photos would probably involve me in lawsuits were I to allow them to be viewed by any others. Pity, because I have some really wacky shots I’d love to share.

Oh well… on to some of the details. Christmas Eve was a kind of friends and family party with dinner of ham and chicken and way too much good food.

We were true to our roots and opened a white and a red. Both were well received and appreciated; neither was outstanding with the food. What we needed was a Rosé and we failed to pack one.

Christmas dinner was an immediate-family-only event, and a bit quieter and far less noisy than Christmas Eve, although equally delightful.

Our daughter-in-law had prepared an Ina Garten recipe for slow-roasted filet of beef served with sides of au gratin potatoes, but with a twist. The potatoes were layered with sliced sauteed Portobello mushrooms and thinly sliced onion. YUM. We opted for two local beverages for this meal: a Pinot Noir from Eagle Creek winery because of the mushrooms, and a 2010 Wedge Mountain Malbec because we like that wine so

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February 2015

much and were having beef.

There were raves all around, both for the wines and for the meal, which was a wonderful success. And let me add: Pinot Noir and Portobello mushrooms were made to pair together.

As for the photographs, I have none of either of those delightful meals. I did manage a decent close-up of a clam-chowder meal though, and while the picture of the bottle of wine lacks that professional touch I’d like it to have, it does at least show the label of the wine clearly.

I voted a decided “Yes” to the question: “Does the 2013 Reserve Chardonnay from Ryan Patrick Vineyards pair well with a bowl of creamy New England style clam chowder?”

But then, all the wines we shared with these Georgia folks were equal to the occasion and the meal; pity we couldn’t have purchased them from their local shops. Perhaps soon.

Alex Saliby is a wine lover who spends far too much time reading about the grapes, the process of making wine and the wines themselves.

He can be contacted at alex39@msn. com.