The Good Life December by The Good Life

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December 2010 n Cover price: $3

RangerS FOR A SUMMER

Working vacation in a national park

When Indians first met the white man

OPENING SHOT ®

Snow in the distance This photo of late autumn

Year 4, Number 12 December 2010 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 E-MAIL: editor@ncwgoodlife.com sales@ncwgoodlife.com

with a glimpse of snow was taken by Al Piecka from the Johannesburg campground at the end of the Cascade River Road. Al writes: “The road leaves State Route 20 at Marblemount and travels 23 miles to the campground and trailhead for the Cascade Pass. “This is one of the most scenic and accessible areas I have found for families, including kids. The scenery is unbelievable with the mountain peaks, snow fields and hanging glaciers. I was even fortunate enough to photograph one of the glaciers calving.” More photos may be seen on Al’s website at alpieckaphotography.com.

Editor, Mike Cassidy Contributors, Al Piecka, Alan Moen, Nancy Warner, Donna Cassidy, Florence Robinson, Andy Dappen, Lief Carlsen, Jim Brigleb, Susan Lagsdin, Bonnie Orr, Alex Saliby, Jim Brown, June Darling, Dan McConnell, Rod Molzahn and NCW Events Online Advertising manager, Jim Senst Advertising sales, John Hunter and Mike Moore Bookkeeping and circulation, Donna Cassidy Proofing, Jean Senst and Joyce Pittsinger Ad design, Rick Conant TO SUBSCRIBE: For $25, ($30 out of state) 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

On the cover

Florence Robinson took this photograph of her husband, Bob, during a visit to Water Holes Canyon near Lake Powell in Arizona. The Robinsons volunteered for 12 weeks as park rangers at Bryce Canyon National Park during the summer, with one goal to visit other parks in Utah and Arizona during their stay.

To subscribe/renew by e-mail, send credit card info to: donna@ncwgoodlife.com or phone 888-6527 BUY A COPY of The Good Life at Hastings, Caffé Mela, Eastmont Pharmacy, Martin’s Market Place (Cashmere) and A Book for All Seasons (Leavenworth) ADVERTISING: For information about advertising in The Good Life, contact Jim Senst, advertising manager, at (509) 670-8783, 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

December 2010 | The Good Life |

Contents

editor’s notes

MIKE CASSIDY

Good people and characters, too Nancy Warner writes this

page 22

Sweet bungalow hasn’t forgotten its past

Features

5 AN EYE FOR CHARACTER

Monte Dodge of Entiat hikes the outdoors with his camera ready

8 reviving douglas

When Walt and Marilyn Gearhart retired and moved back to Douglas, they caught the restoration bug

11 RANGERS FOR THE SUMMER

The summer was a walk in the park for Bob and Florence Robinson — and many hours helping visitors at one of the most interesting sights in America

14 skiing jove

Andy Dappen tries an early season backcountry ski trip — but could the powder ever match his imagination?

16 REOPENING THE LITTLE HOUSE SAGE

A man revisits Laura Ingalls Wilder’s world and remembers how the books enlightened his young world

month on Walt and Marilyn Gearhart, who have for years been restoring and revitalizing the small town of Douglas, just east of Waterville. Nancy has a special interest in building successful communities as the coordinator of Initiative for Rural Innovation & Stewardship where the goal is to create healthy, thriving communities in north central Washington. In explaining how she came to write her story, Nancy said: “They were some of the first people we met when we moved here in 2000... Their family had just donated some land to The Nature Conservancy on Badger Mountain, and we learned that they also raised golden retrievers. “We became friends instantly when we met and we began to learn about their interests and passions related to community

18 my daughter, a lamb among wolves

Daughter’s work with the poor and displaced has a father amazed and not a little worried

21 jewelry for a good cause

Ellen Lester loves to make jewelry, but what to do with the profits from her yearly sales? Give them away, of course, to a good cause

22 At Home with The Good Life • Sweet Cashmere bungalow • Favorite things with Bernie Schell • A cool and easy-to-build wine cellar by Alex Saliby

Columns & Departments 30 The traveling doctor: France by boat and B&B 33 Bonnie Orr: Get crackin’ on this yummy walnut recipe 34 June Darling: Back to the gold standard 35-39 Events, The Art Life & a Dan McConnell cartoon 40 History: When the Indians first met the white man 42 Check it out: This year, try Leavenworth Lighting Festival

Annie and her owner, Nancy Warner: A passion for golden retrievers shared with Walt and Marilyn Gearhart.

and remodeling and restoring buildings. “We ended up buying a house in Wenatchee that we began to remodel right away. Walt and Marilyn recommended the

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contractor we used — it was the same person/company who did work on a church building in Douglas. “So I’ve admired their work as a friend but also as a member of the larger NCW community for some years. I’ve been particularly impressed at how they just quietly go about things and how they get so much satisfaction along the way. “Just think if others did this all over rural communities in the area. Many people could not afford to spend as much as they have on their own. But if they team up with others in their communities, it is exciting to think about what they could accomplish.” Entiat writer, editor and wine maker Alan Moen sent us a proposal a couple of months ago for a story on photographer Monte Dodge, saying: “He has taken many great photos of the Entiat Valley in particular and the people who live here. He’s quite a character, too.” I was hooked at the last sentence — but then Alan added in a later e-mail that Monte had taken a picture of him as part of a “Beards of wild men of the West” collection. Or, maybe it was “wild beards of Western men.” Anyway, here is Monte’s photo of Alan — you be the judge. Be wild, be altruistic. Enjoy The Good Life. — Mike

ABOVE: Monte Dodge at work shooting photos along the Mad River near Ardenvoir. Photo by Alan Moen RIGHT: Purple Creek in Stehekin.

Monte Dodge: On track with a camera “section man” who checked and repaired tracks and switches. But after Monte was laid off in 1977, he decided to get off the onte Dodge has literally rails and onto the trails. From been working on the railroad, all April until October that year, he the livelong day — for 34 years, became one of the first people in fact, ever since he got out of in the U.S. to hike the entire high school. Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico Now 53, Monte grew up in to Canada. The 194-day journey Tenino, an historic railroad took him through wilderness, town in Thurston County whose a desert where he had to carry mysterious name has often been his own water for 58 days, and thought to come from the 10-9-0 suspicious small towns at a time numbers on a railroad car or a when those who traveled such survey stake (neither of which long distances by foot were has ever been found). Monte’s fa- regarded as misfits rather than ther was a railroad worker, too, a the socially-approved trekkers of

By Alan Moen photos by monte dodge

today. “Some people thought I was part of the Manson family,” Monte laughs. “It was like being in the first Rambo movie, where they wanted you out of town as soon as possible.” Nowadays, Monte says, so many hike the PCT that there are many “travel angels” along the way who let hikers sleep in their yards and take showers. Now hikers wear running shoes and carry light packs as well. “In the old days, my pack was the weight of a small Honda,” Monte remembers. And an entire subculture

December 2010 | The Good Life |

of PCT hikers has developed, Monte says, who have their own trail names (his is “Mad Monte”). Even people in their 70s make the 2,500-mile trek. Hikers have created a kickoff party for the journey every year that draws some 700 people to a spot 22 miles north of the Mexican border. Back then, Monte hiked the trail mostly alone after a buddy going with him quit after 11 days. But he met a Canadian photographer along the way who opened his eyes to the world of photography.

}}} Continued on next page

Monte Dodge

“Billy Goat” is a living hiking legend. He backpacked more than 35,000 miles in his 20 years of hiking, mainly along the Appalachian Trail, Continental Divide and Pacific Crest trails.

}}} Continued from previous page “I really got the photo bug going then,” he says. “I learned the basics — aperture, shutter speed and film speed. I was hooked.” Afterward, Monte started shooting with a borrowed Ricoh 35mm camera, using Kodachrome 64 slide film, then graduated to a Nikon F. Now he mostly uses a Canon 5D digital SLR and takes photographs on all his hikes, climbs and travels. In 1980, Monte got a job again with the railroad as an engineer on the Burlington-Northern Line, one of the youngest men to ever do so. He later moved to Kettle Falls to work on the line there, got married and ran a river rafting business on the side.

October is always a nice treat in the Enchantments even if the weather isn’t so great.

But when the line was sold in 1989, Monte had to move on again in order to stay with the railroad, this time back across the Cascades to Centralia. Now divorced, he eventually decided

to use his railroad seniority and bid for a job in Wenatchee, having enjoyed his time previously on the dry side of the state. In 2006, he got the position, and with “a job and a jeep” settled in

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the Entiat Valley at Ardenvoir. “My engineer job requires that I live within 30 miles of work,” Monte says, “and I’m exactly 29.4 miles from Wenatchee.”

An old farmhouse window near Douglas gives a view of those who lived a generation before.

Entiat Valley. “I’ve never regretted taking a picture, but there are many pictures I regret not

taking,” he says. “Photography is like being Babe Ruth — you strike out much more than you hit a home run, but the more you swing, the more you connect.” In addition to maintaining his vast portfolio of photographs, Monte is an avid collector of antique cameras, camp stoves, lanterns and climbing equipment. He regularly cruises yard sales in the area. Monte’s home, a small house

that was once owned by a man known as “Sailor Tom,” has plastic pink flamingos in the yard. Inside is a live-in museum of mementoes and curiosities, including old ice axes, crosscountry skis, a medal commemorating his Pacific Crest Trail journey and an autographed picture of Jim Whittaker at the top of Mount Everest. What’s next for this engineer/ hiker/climber/photographer? Time will tell, but wherever his travels take him, you can bet that Monte Dodge will be there, camera in hand. Alan Moen of Entiat, who never travels without his own digital camera, shares Monte’s love of landscape photography and is proud to be included in Monte’s photo gallery “Beards of Wild Men of the West.”

Molly Hogan, M.D. Dermatology

Now with six weeks of paid vacation every year — “none of it involving trains” — Monte spends a lot of time hiking, climbing and traveling all over the country, taking his cameras as companions. He now has his own photo website (www.pbase.com/ mad_monte1/profile) with 204 galleries and over 8,300 photos to view, which he sells for about $350 each to magazines, commercial and private clients. One recent sale involved photos of dog sled teams for Alaskan Airlines’ in-flight magazine. Monte loves nature photography, but he’s taken many portraits, too, including shots of friends and neighbors in the

Wenatchee Valley Medical Center welcomes Molly Hogan, M.D. to its Dermatology Department. Dr. Hogan graduated magna cum laude from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota where she was Phi Beta Kappa and competed in track, cross-country and swimming. She graduated from the University of Washington with her Doctorate of Medicine and as a Junior was selected for Alpha Omega Alpha, the medical honor society. Dr. Hogan did her Internal Medicine Residency at the University of Washington and her Dermatology Residency at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Hogan and husband, Shane, enjoy travelling and cooking together and spending time with friends. She also enjoys biking, running and skiing.

Physician-owned and patient-centered since 1940

820 N. Chelan Avenue • 663-8711 • www.wvmedical.com December 2010 | The Good Life |

REVIVING DOUGLAS A Different Brand of Retirement FOR COUPLE WHO RETURNED HOME

By Nancy Warner

fter full careers in health and social services in Olympia, it was “the space and the pace of life” that led Marilyn Gearhart and her husband Walt to retire in Douglas. This little town with the big white church on Highway 2 is home to her — a place where she grew up in a family that has farmed wheat, raised animals and enjoyed community life for four generations. It’s also a place that Walt had grown attached to beginning with his first visit in 1956 when he and Marilyn were dating. So in 1993 it seemed like a good move for the couple to

Walt and Marilyn Gearhart worked with neighbors to restore the Lutheran Church — a landmark sight in Douglas.

sell their house in Olympia and move into Marilyn’s family home to enjoy the seasons, morning sunrises, and one of their favorite hobbies — raising and showing champion golden retrievers. As people who, according to their daughter, “are always in

motion,” Walt and Marilyn’s retirement plan soon grew to include what could be described as rural community development, restoring landmark buildings such as the old parsonage and church in Douglas, reconnecting traditions and strengthening community along the way.

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“It’s kind of evolved,” Walt chuckled, “with one project growing into another.” Marilyn, who grew up with a stewardship ethic of saving and reusing things as much as possible, agrees. “You see the deterioration of buildings and things and ask yourself — can you improve it? Or should you burn it down?” The historic parsonage, or “manse” next to the family’s home, was the first project to claim their time and energy. It was in rough shape and in need of a foundation. The couple considered tearing it down to make way for other options, such as an agility course for the golden retrievers. But Walt had caught the restoration bug. “It’s hard to explain,” he said. “I guess I just like making things look nice and bringing them up to standard and have fun doing that.” To him it’s a rewarding process that also provides a touchstone for future generations. “Just imagine all of the people who have come and gone and all of the changes that have taken place in the community. And this house is still here.” Besides being the largest and fanciest house in its day, the manse has served as a place for people, including Marilyn’s aunts, to change into their wedding clothes over the years — weddings that traditionally took place in the beautiful Lutheran church across the way. An opportunity to reconnect those traditions came in 2005 when the Gearharts worked with

The restored church is used for meetings, special events and weddings.

Walt and Marilyn: Caught the restoration bug.

their neighbors to acquire the property and restore the church. Like the manse, the church holds great personal meaning for the Gearharts. It was a center of community activity when Marilyn was growing up. Walt recalled that on his first visit to Douglas, “One of the things I really enjoyed was

restoring and were delighted at what they found. “The two of them crawled all the way up to the top of the church and were just amazed at how solid it was,” Walt said. “And they thought it would be great to go ahead and bring it up to date.” The restoration of the church was completed in 2007 and

Sunday morning and just walking out of the house and up the pathway to the church.” The couple married in that same village-like setting in 1959, Marilyn flinging her bouquet from the church’s porch. In 2005 they hired an architect and structural engineer to make sure the church was worth

December 2010 | The Good Life |

the Douglas Community Historical Association, which owns the property, began making it available to the community for meetings, special events and weddings. “The community has been very appreciative that the church is available,” Walt said.

}}} Continued on next page

Reviving Douglas }}} Continued from previous page Marilyn agreed, adding that, “It’s fun too when there’s a wedding at the church and we can offer the manse for people to change clothes.” The rest of the time the Gearharts use the manse as a guesthouse. So how has their commitment to restore two of the landmark buildings in Douglas contributed to the larger community? It has provided a way for them to pass on some of the love they have of this place, their family and the community. In a larger sense their work is also reinvigorating this little community one project at a time and spinning

ABOVE: Marilyn Gearhart tosses her wedding bouquet from the steps of the Douglas Lutheran Church in 1959. Historic photos from the Gearhart’s family album. UPPER LEFT: The manse, or parsonage, shortly after it was built. LOWER RIGHT: The restored manse, now used by brides during weddings and as the Gearhart’s guest house.

off benefits that will play out over a period of years. “We’re just pleased that down on Douglas Creek Road there are two new houses,” Walt said. One of those houses belongs to the first couple to be married at the restored church. The other one belongs to the person who is doing the farming for the Gearharts. “You need four or five new family homes to make the switch from a small town on the

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decline to one full of life —we’re getting there. That’s the hope.” Nancy Warner has more than 25 years of experience in creating and managing projects that bring people together around place. Her background ranges from teaching and radio production to facilitating and managing community-based conservation programs. Her career has centered on building relationships needed to cooperatively conserve natural systems and species, enhance social and economic goals, and build leadership capacity in rural communities.

COVER STORY

Park rangers for the summer WORKING VACATION TAKES COUPLE to a natural wonder in the southwest

ABOVE: This Natural Bridge located on the southern end of Bryce Canyon out of the main amphitheater is an example of erosion by freeze/thaw cycle. The park has only a small amount of precipitation, which varies from 12 to 16 inches a year.

By Donna Cassidy

Bob and Florence Robinson,

LEFT: Bob and Florence Robinson pose in front of their fifth wheel where they lived for three months — in 260 square feet of living space. On their first day at work, they were given the hats and were loaned the shirts — the rest they had to provide. The RV space and utilities were free and located just a 10-minute walk from the rim of Bryce Canyon.

Wenatchee, spent three months this past summer as volunteer rangers in Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah. Both said it was a fun learning experience. The Robinsons had visited Bryce Canyon in 2009, when, on a hike, Bob saw a guide wearing a volunteer patch. “I asked him what experience he had. I

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Rangers at Bryce Canyon }}} Continued from previous page thought he must be well qualified with a good background. He said he had been a computer programmer, so I said, ‘I can do this.’” When the Robinsons returned home, they e-mailed for information then applied to be volunteers and were selected. Bryce Canyon National Park, at more than 8,000 feet elevation, is on the edge of the

Paunsaugunt Plateau in southern Utah. Erosion has carved colorful Claron limestones into thousands of spires, fins, arches and mazes. Bob said the park is 34 miles from beginning to end and “extremely beautiful with a wonderful climate. Other parks in that area are too hot.” The park provides lodging for volunteers. The Robinsons opted to bring their own RV and the

park provided the electricity, water and propane. They each worked 26 hours a week and spent extra time hiking. After a couple of hours of training, their main job was working in the interpretive center for half a day, following by roaming the park for half a day. Bob said he liked being in the office — although he was asked the same questions hundreds of times. Florence found standing on her feet three and a half hours a day in the interpretive center too much. So, she reorganized the park’s library. “I sorted, cleaned, referenced and touched 500 books,” she said. On one roaming day, Florence said, “Two young good looking men in their middle 30s sought me out and wanted my picture. They took my picture and followed me asking more and more questions. I guess they wanted a personal tour guide. That made me feel good.”

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A moonlit rock on Navajo Loop Trail, taken at 10:30 pm. Volunteers bring telescopes to the park several nights a summer to offer public viewings as the skies are so clear.

The park has many amenities and specialties. Moonlight hikes are offered two days a month. There was a rocket day where an expert from NASA showed tourists how to make rockets and on astronomy nights volunteers brought telescopes to the park for public viewings. Bob said almost half of the park’s visitors were Europeans, both young and old and many families. Many of the volunteers were young people. One half of the park staff was comprised of volunteers. Florence said she got a charge out of taking pledges and handing out badges to the youngsters. When it came time for the youngsters to recite their

This young girl with her parents had dedicated their summer to visiting many of the National Parks and earning the Junior Ranger badges. Working with children was one of the major duties for interpreters at the visitors center. Thor’s Hammer is located on Navajo Loop Trail on Sunset Point at Bryce Canyon National Park. Canyon is a misnomer because Bryce Canyon is formed by the constant freezing and thawing, which happens on an average of 200 days a year. Canyons are normally formed by erosion of moving water.

pledge — such as: “I promise to appreciate, respect and protect all national parks. I also promise to continue learning about the landscape, plants, animals and history of these special places” — everyone at the visitor’s center would go quiet in honor of the ceremony. Both Bob and Florence said the best part was learning so much. “It was a wonderful, exhausting experience,” said Florence, who quickly added: “I’d go back. To learn more on being a volunteer park ranger at a national park, visit www.nps.gov/volunteer.

December 2010 | The Good Life |

WENATCHEE OUTDOORS

Jove Peak

The Imagination Tour

Jove Peak, several miles east of Stevens Pass, is an excellent early-season backcountry ski tour. This is an account that Andy Dappen wrote last year about skiing Jove in early December.

by Andy Dappen

emented minds, like great ones, think alike. Early December weather has melted the early-season powder, then rained upon that melted powder, then frozen that rainedupon melted powder. Tom Janisch and I know from last week’s experience, as well as the reports of other skiers that north-facing slopes will be too variable (breakable crust) and that forested slopes will be cratered (frozen death cookies). Tom and I go through the same thought processes and, given the sunshine forecasted for Saturday, have both imagined that the conditions on the south face of Jove Peak could be purrrfect. Early Saturday morning as we

The rapture of setting dinner plates in motion.

able crust on open slopes and rock-hard conditions in the forests. On the descent of Union Peak’s northern ridge leading toward Jove Peak, we survive the tricky snow through deft use of snowplows, sideslips, and jump turns. Ugly skiing gets us through the minefield and onto the southwest ridge of Jove Peak. Through all this our faith Tom Janisch climbs the southwest ridge of Jove Peak with north ridge of Union Peak behind. is firm. We can see Jove’s steep ski up Smithbrook Road, our a few miles, we leave the road southern slopes and they’re inimagination is still intact, this and follow compass bearings clined steeply toward the sun. despite the fact that the frozen through the steep forests leadIn our imagination, solar snowmobile track we’re following up Union Peak. As expected, energy will have melted the ing is an icy luge course. After we find a combination of breakbreakable crust and we’ll be

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conglomerate of pits and hummocks formed by ice blocks falling from the limbs of giant hemlocks. A short nightmare in the woods drops us onto the road system leading back to the car. In the end, reams of forgettable skiing are needed to harvest the miniature reward of our imagination. And that bothers us not one bit. Often the experiences that shine brightest are like rays of sunlight that stream from cracks between banks of black clouds.

The Arctic air that has settled over the region is fricken freezing and is frosting our fingers.

sinking ski edges into several inches of consistent snow. In our imagination, the 40-degree slopes that sometimes rip free into massive avalanches will be positively safe and perfectly skiable. We top the mountain To see more pictures of this and enjoy its views of the ski tour, see this slideshow: bumpy Cascadian skyline. http://picasaweb.google. com/WenOut/JovePeakI Despite the blue skies and maginationTour#slidesho Tom Janisch tours over the top of Union Peak en route to Jove Peak, which can be seen white sunshine, however, w/5412512689462866930. we don’t linger. The Arctic behind and left of Tom with the enticing slopes below the summit. air that has settled over the This story also appears on of Tom, he flies past singing his are short lived. region is fricken freezing and is Wenatcheeoutdoors.org — the site theme song for the day, ImagWe bag about 1,000 vertical frosting our fingers. covers such topics as hiking, biking, climbing, paddling, trail running and ine by John Lennon. feet of memorable skiing before Still we imagine that when we skiing in the region. The dreams of imagination entering forests that are a frozen slide off the summit and onto those southern steeps slathered with sunshine, rapture will be ours. Rapture begins with a surface crust that’s softened but not dissolved. Each turn breaks apart plates of armor that topple down the slopes before us. “The conditions are almost there,” we tell each other. We imagine that 10 turns lower, the slopes will be just enough warmer that nirvana will be ours. After 10 turns, nirvana is still 10 turns lower. We keep descending deploying ungainly but forceful hops that jackhammer the crust under foot. And we keep imagining better turns to come. Imagination and reality merge about halfway down the slope. Suddenly skis slice easily through a papery crust and glide smoothly through several inches of sugar snow. I slalom among sprigs of saplings and around the humps of boulders. When I stop to snap pictures December 2010 | The Good Life |

Returning to the little house on the prairie By the Shores of Silver Lake, a man revisits his private teenage affair

By Lief Carlsen

his was not a pilgrimage. We had not come to South Dakota to visit the girlhood home of Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the “Little House” series of children’s books. At the exact moment when we saw the sign informing travelers on Interstate 90 that DeSmet, the town that had been the reallife setting of the famous Little House on the Prairie, was 60 miles to the north, I was gleefully monitoring our truck’s onboard computer which, thanks to a jaunty tailwind, was displaying fuel consumption in the 20- to 25-mpg range. In still air, our lumbering camper averages only half that. Mary, my wife, was more concerned with safety than mpg. As each successive gust increased our mpg and transported me to new heights of penny-pinching ecstasy, her deadpan response to my shouts of “Twenty! Twentytwo! Twenty-five!” was “Just keep your eyes on the road.” We were four days out of Chelan that sunny October afternoon, on our way to visit our son, Nicholas, and his wife who live in Virginia. Caught up as I was in the excitement of scudding before the wind, my initial reaction to the sign was that by turning north we would lose our tailwind. Unwilling to forfeit such good fortune, I drove on past the designated exit. But as we sped eastward, the unmitigated joy of 25 mpg was gone, adulterated now by childhood memories of long hours spent curled up with Little

The little house of Laura Ingalls Wilder has long since rotted away, but a copy has been built on the original site.

House in the Big Woods and On the Banks of Plum Creek. The books’ memorable illustrations by Garth Williams began to surface too as the miles sped by. Within 10 miles of passing the sign, I decided that tailwind or no tailwind, I needed to see where little Laura Ingalls had lived. Laura Ingalls Wilder lived from 1867 to 1957. During the 1930s and 1940s she wrote a series of eight books (Little House in the Big Woods, Farmer Boy, Little House on the Prairie, By the Shores of Silver Lake, On the Banks of Plum Creek, The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, and These Happy Golden Years) for juveniles in which she recounted her life as a pioneer girl in Wisconsin and Dakota Territory. The series, often called the “Little House books,” has sold many millions of copies and is still widely read. A long-running television series starring Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert aired during the 1970s and 1980s. I had no idea I had stumbled onto a literary phenomenon in

I had no idea I had stumbled onto a literary phenomenon in fourth grade when my brother left a copy of Little House in the Big Woods on our living room floor. fourth grade when my brother left a copy of Little House in the Big Woods on our living room floor. I picked it up, read a few pages and was soon captivated by the warm, richly-detailed account of pioneer life. It was probably the first book I ever read for pleasure and may well have had much to do with my advancement from the slow reading group to the fast reading group about that time. Not until junior high school when I saw a copy of By the Shores of Silver Lake on the library shelf was I aware that Little House in the Big Woods

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was part of a series. In one marathon week of summer reading, I completed all the remaining books. My fascination with Laura’s story was a private affair, books telling a story from a girl’s point of view not being common fodder for conversation among 13-year-old boys. By the time the television series came along, I was an adult and the books were a distant memory. I watched a few episodes but it wasn’t the same. There was obviously some remnant of my childhood fascination with Laura’s life, however, as I drove into DeSmet — I had forfeited a perfectly good tailwind and backtracked 20 miles of interstate highway, after all. DeSmet is a small farm town of a few thousand people and perhaps 20 square blocks. Like all farm towns in the Dakotas it is scrupulously tidy. The houses are well kept, the streets are litter-free and the town park is a manicured and inviting place for tourists to picnic or camp. Mammoth tractors towing 20-blade plows share the main

The walls were one-inch pine boards lined only with paper — no insulation. No wonder Laura was cold during the Long Winter! street with pickup trucks. DeSmetians are proud of their most famous former citizen. Their children attend Laura Ingalls Wilder Elementary School. Landmarks from the Little House books are well marked and a self-guided tour map is available for free at just about any establishment. The Ingalls’ homestead lies about half a mile south of town on a small knoll. The original buildings have long since rotted into the ground but facsimiles have been meticulously reconstructed in their original locations. A museum and gift shop adjoins the parking lot. The parking lot was empty when we arrived, causing me to fear we had arrived too late in the day. No, the hostess informed me, it was just that the tourist season was over. Or perhaps, I thought, the Little House cult is dwindling after all these years. Alone (Mary was incapacitated by recent foot surgery), I wandered through the grounds remembering all the hours I had spent as a boy, oblivious to

She told me that Silver Lake had been drained in the 1940s because of “the mosquito problem” but that recent heavy rains may have partially filled the area. When we drove to the Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books have sold millions location she of copies and are still well read today. had described we found that my surroundings, caught up in Silver Lake was indeed full. Laura’s tale of pioneer life. A concrete plant now occupies In addition to the Ingalls’ the north shore of Silver Lake house the homestead grounds but the lone employee at the feature a poultry barn with a plant had no problem granting roof of hay (lumber was scarce a meddlesome tourist access for on the prairie), a larger hay barn, a sentimental photo. As I looked a covered wagon exhibit and a across the lake, I tried to imagdugout like the house on Plum ine where Laura might have ridCreek. den the pony in Garth Williams’ Most memorable to me was evocative rendering for the cover that the “Little House” was of By the Shores of Silver Lake. indeed little — an “L” shape perhaps 12 feet across. The walls were one-inch pine boards lined only with paper — no insulation. No wonder Laura was cold during the Long Winter! Between the homestead and town was a wetland of bulrushes covering perhaps 100 acres that Laura referred to as The Big Slough. Laura and her sister, Mary, had walked past the Big Slough each day on their way to school. I asked the town librarian where I might find Silver Lake.

December 2010 | The Good Life |

DeSmet has thoughtfully provided RV parking complete with electrical hookups for a modest $8 at their city park. We spent a comfortable night. I took an extended walk through the neighborhood and business district in the morning in case I had missed something the day before. Halloween decorations were plentiful and elaborate. The locals were uniformly friendly and happy to chat with an old guy like me who had come to pay his respects. But don’t visit DeSmet looking for Little House magic because the town is nothing special. I left DeSmet convinced that the magic I felt as a boy when I read those books had not emanated from DeSmet but from Laura’s delightful perception of her world and her extraordinary talent for rendering that experience into words. Lief Carlsen lives in Chelan. When he isn’t writing, Lief earns spare cash building stone retaining walls as Rockman.

Dad worried and amazed lamb of a Daughter iN the den of wolves, Loving the World — One Person at a Time

by Jim Brigleb

rom the time Beka was a little girl, her mother and I knew she was destined for something other than a “normal” life. Normal, to us, meant doing well in school, going off to college, falling in love with your future spouse, determining what career lay ahead, and having children. Growing up through the Wenatchee school system, Beka followed the normal path for her childhood, getting a good education, enjoying the Dan Jackson dynasty of choral music, thriving in the theatrical opportunities at WHS, and proceeding into Wenatchee Valley College. Then came YWAM. Youth With A Mission, or YWAM, is a Christian-based, international institution that sends missionaries into areas of the world not reached by most outreach organizations. Their specific focus is to go where others do not. While YWAM’s primary goal

is to provide the opportunity to learn about Christianity, there is no agenda to convert people. Rather, their objective is to fulfill the commandment of Jesus to love one another — Beka Brigleb visits a Burmese refugee who lives by sorting garbage at a dump in Thailand. whether the “another” happens to be yellow, wolves lived. Beka wanted black, Muslim, Hindu, Budto make whatever sacrifice dhist, atheist, or whatever. necessary to fulfill the Great Rate of pay? Uh, YWAM Commission. And Walt Dismissionaries must raise their ney wasn’t going to provide support, to the tune of $800 the script. OMG. per month. During her first year, Beka Beka takes her faith very went to Thailand and China. seriously and wanted to be a In China, missionaries are part of this. not allowed to verbally share This worried me. their faith; they are limited Of all the people I’ve ever to fulfilling roles of governknown, Beka is the most ment perceived needs. likely person to come out of a One day, in the province Disney movie — Ariel, Belle, of Kunming, Beka and two Aurora, Cinderella, you name of her YWAM cohorts witit. What I mean by that is nessed a disturbing event. Beka embodied innocence, A young Chinese woman delicacy, gentleness, vulnercaused a collision with a Chiability. nese young man while both Beka washes and bandages the feet of BurMy point? My little lamb were riding motor scooters. mese children at the dump — their home. wanted to go to where the The female was hurt, bleed-

| The Good Life | December 2010

They’ll set up shop on a street corner, engage the locals in dancing and perform skits that depict the human tragedy of the prostitution slave trade or drug trafficking.

courage of Ariel? YWAM is an international organization with participants from many countries. Missionaries Beka has now led include people from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Holland, Germany, France, England, Brazil, Switzerland, Sweden and Norway. While not in the Third World, the missionaries spend time in the ghettoes of inner city Los Angeles — the home base for YWAM. Not living up to the traditional image of handing out tracts or preaching hellfire and

damnation, their goal is to relate to people on a local level. Beka and her team have taken training in hip-hop dance and creative dramatics. They’ll set up shop on a street corner, engage the locals in dancing and perform skits that depict the human tragedy of the prostitution slave trade or drug trafficking. Another YWAM team provides entertainment and lessons in skateboarding tricks and stunts. Through all this, love is spelled T-I-M-E; the YWAM team is there providing a positive,

ing, and the team (directed to stay together at all times) ran to purchase some form of comfort/ aid, while passersby moved in to help (at least that’s what the YWAMers thought). Having secured water bottles, the team returned to find a large crowd surrounding the scene, jeering and laughing — among them, two uniformed policemen. When Beka and her cohorts pushed their way through, they found the young man, enraged by the young woman’s carelessness on the scooter, raping the semi-conscious victim who he had stripped. Beka and her partners weighed in, at the same time, a Chinese samaritan pulled the attacker off, and the three girls escorted the victim to shelter, where they comforted and nursed her. There had been no preparation nor training for this type of event. Was a Biblical verse or proverb in the cards? No, it was pure and simple love. A humanitarian act of kindness and protection afforded to one of the least of these. When Beka relayed this story to me later, I sat stunned. “What were you thinking, Beka? You may have been arrested in a communist country, and we would have never been able to reach you through the red tape of some trumped-up charge.” “Dad,” she replied gently, “you would have done the same thing.” I sat chastised. But would I have? Do I have the December 2010 | The Good Life |

alternative to the hopelessness so invasive in a culture without clean role models. Yeah, but isn’t there an agenda to convert these people? Isn’t there an ulterior motive? There is no scorecard, never a plan of manipulating a person’s will. If asked why they are doing this... if asked what’s the difference, the YWAM staff happily share their faith. But it’s never assumed — it’s just available if others hunger for something they see which has hope.

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Beka humbles me, as do her fellow missionaries. I get annoyed when the air conditioner or garbage disposal malfunctions. }}} Continued from previous page After three years in the mission field, where is Beka’s favorite place in the world? It’s a garbage dump in Thailand — in the province of Mae Sod. It is there where Burmese refugees live who have escaped the religious persecution of their homeland. Men, women and mostly children who crossed the mountains with Thailand being one of the few countries which would accept them. In order to stay, the Burmese must do something productive

in exchange for Thailand’s hospitality. Accordingly, the group which Beka’s team goes back to literally lives on top of a garbage dump, in tarp tents, where daily, they sift through the garbage in search of reclaiming something of value which can be used as a resource, as well as finding food to feed themselves. Like many Third World environments, children under 10 are left in charge of the younger children. It’s normal to find 4-year-old orphans carrying babies in their charge for the day. On her last trip, Beka took a suitcase filled with bandages, antibiotic cream and hydrogen peroxide in hopes of providing some relief for the ever-present cuts and scrapes the children have. As she began gently working on the raw heel of a five-yearold boy, she sensed more people arriving. Looking up, she was faced with a long line of children silently waiting for their turn. No crowding, no demanding, no

Beka spends some of her time teaching children.

color nor culture barrier — just one human accepting the mercy and help from another. As a parent, I sometimes worry about my daughter, whether she’s in the States or abroad. She really wants to lead a team into Thailand’s rampant

red light districts to share hope and love for the child prostitutes kidnapped or given by an impoverished parent to handlers. These adolescents and young teens often then have infants who literally sleep under the bed their mother is using to service men — groomed for a life of the same. And my daughter wants to enter that domain. How safe is that? It’s one thing that she’s been hospitalized overseas without our knowledge for GI bleeding, lives in mire, and eats maggots when offered, but aren’t there limits? None of this was in a Disney movie. Beka humbles me, as do her fellow missionaries. I get annoyed when the air conditioner or garbage disposal malfunctions. My daughter forgoes privacy, sanitary conditions and her own dignity to live what she believes God wants her to do. She wants to reach a hurting world. And she means it. Jim Brigleb taught in Wenatchee School District and currently is developing resources for those interested in American History. Visit his website: http://jimbrigleb.com. Beka maintains a blogsite: http:// bekabrigleb.blogspot.com. If you would like to learn more about her story and/or make a donation to support her efforts, visit her blog.

| The Good Life | December 2010

VOLUNTEERS

She creates lights-out jewelry — and then gives away the profits E

By Donna Cassidy

llen Lester loves to create jewelry — in fact she makes so many pieces she holds an annual sale. Yet she gives away all her profit. “I’m not comfortable making a profit from my friends,” said Ellen. So she has decided to donate the profits she makes from her Onna Whim Designs jewelry to the Wenatchee Women’s Resource Center. Over the past 14 years she has donated around $7,000. Ellen says she likes knowing “I did something good” for the community. “When the Women’s Resource Center moved into the Bruce hotel, some of my relatives and I redid one of the rooms. It was very rewarding and I felt like I was doing something for women and children in our area.” By December, Ellen will have more than 700 pieces of jewelry ready for sale. “I like to do home shows. I can sell most all of my pieces in just a few home shows,” said Ellen. “All my pieces are definitely a statement and a work of art.” Ellen makes necklaces, bracelets and earrings. Each piece is handcrafted using gem stones, fresh water pearls, sterling silver and vermeil. She said her jewelry is a piece of art and one of a kind. She describes her jewelry as clunky, elegant and sometimes simple. Two years ago on the first and

Ellen Lester, left, makes jewelry during the year she sells around Christmas — and then donates the profits to the Women’s Resource Center.

busiest night of Ellen’s show the power went out in her home. With three hours left of the four-hour show, pitch black, she was scrambling to find every flashlight and candle she owned. However, she said it didn’t seem to stop the eager shoppers, they continued buying with candles, flashlights and even cell phones to light their way. “It didn’t seem to faze them at all. The next year when I sent out invites, several responded asking if they should bring their flashlights,” said Ellen. Phoebe Nelson, executive director of the Women’s Resource Center said, “Ellen has been a

good friend of the Women’s Resource Center and of our Bruce Housing Program. The proceeds this year from her annual jewelry show go to make the holidays a little brighter for

December 2010 | The Good Life |

the many homeless and hungry families we serve at our food bank and at the Bruce. Ellen’s next show of her Onna Whim Designs jewelry is Dec. 2, 3 and 4 in her home. For more information contact Ellen at onna-whim@charter.net.

Sweet bungalow Once all the rage, this little home tucked above a park in cashmere still touts its period style

Story by Susan Lagsdin Photos by Donna Cassidy

he house at 420 Cottage Avenue, in demure gray and with a gabled roof, perches on The Terrace, a neighborhood name for that short row of tidy early 20th century homes above the city park in Cashmere. What it has in common with its fellows — besides the idyllic parkside location buffering car and foot traffic — is a tangible link to an American architectural phenomenon. The home is an archetypical bungalow, a style popularized during the height of the Arts and Crafts (also called Craftsman) movement starting in Pasadena around 1906, then moving to the Northwest, all the rage and gaining distinctive

characteristics through the early 1920s. The owners of 420 Cottage Avenue for the last 25 years, Rich and Annette Gilmer, are proud promoters and stewards of that tradition. Annette, one of the first female Rotarians in the region, used her considerable community connections and sleeves-up hard work with many allies to honor Cashmere’s history. By 2002, full blocks of Cottage Avenue, 68 structures from the bridge to downtown, were enrolled in the Washington Office of Historic Preservation (whose director was amazed at the quantity and quality of intact vintage homes) and then in the National Register of Historic Places. Bureaucracy and paperwork aside, it was a labor of love now boasting a self-guided

walking tour and an accompanying booklet that highlights the simple elegance of the period in layman’s terms, but from an architectural historian’s perspective. The Gilmer’s home, built in 1926, is part of a larger tract that was originally a dairy pasture. The landowner, E.C. Long (who built the blue 1897 house on Parkhill Street) donated the park land to the city after years of enjoying family picnics there. Annette is pleased to share her

| AT HOME WITH The Good Life | December 2010

own knowledge of the Craftsman era in Cashmere, but she’s even more pleased to walk through her own period-appropriate home and point out its singular attractions. Its features are so typical of the genre that in many ways it can speak for the others on Cottage Avenue, both sides of the street. The view of the front shows the symmetry of the porch’s brick piers and stucco pillars, the original brass handled door, and carriage lamps. The big

Inside and out, the bungalow home in Cashmere is a step back in time with a tulip pattern leaded glass on the front door, pedestal sink in the bathroom, a kitchen nook that can squeeze in five people (with a chair added to the end) and furniture to fit an earlier era.

windows’ panes are separated by wooden muntins painstakingly beveled by Italian workmen. A tulip pattern leaded in glass, very Stickley, very 1900, graces the front door and is replicated inside on bookcase doors and even a backdoor window (the last a surprise gift from a contemporary craftsman who applauded the Gilmer’s eye for detail). Original stucco on the living area walls and halls, arched doorways and coved ceilings are emblematic of the era. The period’s regard for family comfort, rather than social class, shows in the open flow of

More lights, less energy

living room to dining area (very anti-Victorian) and a five-foot by seven-foot enclosed kitchen nook designed to bring people close together, literally. Annette said, “When the girls were small (her daughters were age 2, 4, and 5 when they moved up from California), we had to pull a chair over to the end of the table, but we all sat in here!” The original floors were grayed with wear and grime at move-in, but a professional refinisher uncovered a whole first level of dazzling golden oak. Well, all except for the 1920s

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Let’s celebrate

Switch to LED holiday lights. Energy efficient Cool to the touch Long-lasting Cheaper in the long run

Learn more about LED holiday lights at www.chelanpud.org December 2010 | AT HOME WITH The Good Life |

Sweet bungalow

The former “dungeon” in the basement is now a comfortable living room for guests.

}}} Continued from previous page Armstrong kitchen linoleum in a ubiquitous asymmetrical multi-brick pattern, which the

Gilmers have carefully replicated. Upstairs, the original floors are soft pine (“I think they

Annette Gilmer has kept the furnishings and décor in line with the style of the home.

spent their money where people could see it — these floors were splintery and needed carpets,” Annette said.) The couple’s of-

NCW Home Professionals

| AT HOME WITH The Good Life | December 2010

fice fills what was probably a screened sleeping porch. Two bedrooms, now frequently housing grandchildren, have a vintage look with quilts, flowered wallpaper, raked ceilings and the typical mullioned windows. Personal décor is minimized, in the spirit of the clean lines of the period, but it is poignant. As travel agents for several years with Crossroads offices in Wenatchee and Cashmere, the Gilmers had an opportunity to see the world, and realized the best bargains (and easiest to bring home) were drawings and paintings available at airports around the globe. So their walls are graced with framed memories of distant landscapes and cities, while some more exotic mementos on shelves are the gifts of satisfied clients. Deep downstairs is what the family dubbed “the dungeon,” originally a dark unknown, but these years it holds a cozy living room, wood-paneled and low ceilinged — comfortable for guests, cool in the summer. Old-time touches are the insulated fruit cellar with its thick door, the painted concrete floor and the huge blackened cross

Take a walk on the cottage side To enjoy a self-guided discovery of the historic homes, pick up “A Walking Tour of Cottage Avenue: Cashmere’s Historic District.” The Questers, a group of history buffs that maintains the Weythman cabin at nearby Cashmere Museum and Pioneer Village, 10 years ago generously reprinted the little beige booklet. In it, you’ll find the address (numbered from 208 to 509 Cottage Avenue), the style (from Bungalows to Mission to Tudor Revival), the year built (1908 to 1928), and some fascinating brief facts about the homes’ past inhabitants. What the booklet does not indicate is the current authenticity of the homes. In historic preservation law, a contributing property is “any building, structure, object or site within the boundaries of the district which contributes to its historic associations, historic architectural qualities or archaeological qualities…” Some Cottage Avenue houses were built in the period and have the look, but may have been remodeled over the years beyond precise standards. “Contributing” homes, like 420 Cottage Avenue and many others, have been carefully maintained with period materials or acceptable replicas. (The Cashmere Museum has the booklets but is closed for the season until March 1. Another place to pick up the booklet is the Chamber of Commerce, 101 Cottage Avenue — check for times: 782-7404.)

An arched passageway offers easy flow from the living room to the dining room — a typical bungalow feature. Original oak flooring was discovered under years of grime when the Gilmers moved in.

bered “Oh — you have to come out and see the chimney — it is such a Craftsman touch!” The trek to the outside of the house revealed not only pure cedar lap siding but a russet brick chimney, six-feet wide tapering to a narrower rim at the top with artfully criss-crossed brick. Distinctive black grout sets it off. “You never see that kind of mortar now,” Annette said, “They put such attention to detail everywhere in those days.”

Annette and Rich love their well-constructed house just the way it is, and it’s changed very little in the 85 years since it was built. It has housed their family, large and smaller, in sickness and in health, through Rich’s Liberty Orchard career, their travel agency and retirement — tucked away above the wedge of lawn and trees where visitors to Cashmere first exclaim at the quaintness of the town.

beams. Annette knows they are strong. “My builder came in just to touch them — he said ‘I’ve never seen the whole tree used before.’” Tour and talk almost concluded, Annette suddenly rememDecember 2010 | AT HOME WITH The Good Life |

{

Favorite Things } Clocks for keeping fruity time Cider: Three ciders are made locally, including this hand-crafted hard cider from the Snowdrift Cider Co. of East Wenatchee

T-shirt: A name says it all Apple box label: An old sailing ship might seem a stretch for a brand name for inland-grown fruit, but his label from Wells and Wade fruit company â&#x20AC;&#x153;is my favorite,â&#x20AC;? said Bernie

| AT HOME WITH The Good Life | December 2010

Ideas for the home from local merchants and artisans

SELLING LOCAL “I like to work with local artists, local wineries and local fruit businesses — basically, this whole business is built around helping local people,” said Bernie Schell in explaining the items in the gift portion of his business, Pak-itRite in downtown Wenatchee. The Pak-it-Rite gift store started to ship local fruit, then expanded to now sell and ship local wines, locallymade goat cheese from The Good Shepherds’ Farm in Squilchuck and local apple ciders — along with other Washington products and home décor items. Local artists are represented along one wall — with cards, books, calendars and prints depicting north central Washington from artists such Bernie Schell and Cougar Gold Cheese: For WSU as John Marshall, Kerry Siderius, Jan cheese lovers Cook Mack, Wendy Raatz and others. “People want something of this area to send to friends who aren’t here,” said Bernie, “and we have lots of things to show off this area.”

December 2010 | AT HOME WITH The Good Life |

Gift box: local fruit and locally packed In a Wenatchee-made Johnson fruit box

column ALEX ON WINE

ALEX SALIBY

A cool, easy-to-build wine cellar Some wines need to be

drunk before you drive them home from the local Safeway stores. Other wines, the great ones, often don’t show their true qualities until they’ve rested for a few years. In considering aging potential, we all need to recognize that wine marketers are prone to tell customers their wines will cellar for decades. Remember, wineries and stores want to sell wines, this vintage and every vintage. Cellaring wines is still a questionable activity for most of the wines on the shelves at the local retail shops, and for that matter, even at the local winery shops. We have a small cellar space for our wines. The cellar was not

planned. It grew more or less out of the accident of our remodeling project. We bought a small twobedroom place, some 1,100 square feet in total, intending to remodel from the very beginning. We added a living room, a master bedroom/bath, and as it turned out, a basement room under the addition. It was that unintended basement room that allowed the creation of our wine cellar. The addition was to have been built on a crawl space, but as excavation proceeded and the excavator kept uncovering unstable fill materials and sawdust from a prior sawmill on the property, we soon ended up with an eight-foot hole in the ground instead of a two-foot

crawl space. That newly developed basement meant we needed a way to and from the space, and that meant stairs. We already had stairs planned to get from the living room up to the bedroom. Now we needed stairs down to the new basement, which would serve as an office. The thing about stairs is they take up lots of room: 128 square feet of the total 1,088 square feet we intended to add as basement. That’s just a shade under 12 percent loss of living space because of stairs. Bummer. Out of this loss grew the plan to turn the basement space under the stairs into a wine cellar. True, this was a last minute plan, but it was a plan that would work.

NCW Home Professionals

| AT HOME WITH The Good Life | December 2010

The underthe-stair system probably wouldn’t have worked nearly so well had we not been building our new addition on a concrete foundation using two-foot by 10-foot treated lumber studs as the wall supports for the entire building above ground. Those studs, on 12 inch centers, provided a perfect space between them for housing the short, three three-inch diameter electrical conduit pipes I intended to use to hold wine bottles. I purchased some 20-foot sections of this conduit pipe and had the sections cut into 10inch pieces. Three pieces of the conduit fit snugly side by side in the space between the wall studs. The cellar is small and “L” shaped, with a slanting ceiling and a concrete floor, but against the outside walls I have space for housing 376 bottles of wine. Along the three finished walls of the space (and they were finished because the county building inspector insisted on that), there is room for wine racks. I have three installed, and collectively they shelter another 148 bottles of wine. It’s not a great wine cellar and certainly not a showplace, but it is a perfect storage place. We installed an insulated fire door for the entry, and because the place is underground, the temperature swings are moderate: 58 degrees F in winter and 62 degrees (if I remember to keep the door closed) in the heat of our summers. In fact, the warmest it has ever been that I know of in the space was 66 degrees F one summer when the outdoor temperature reached 107 degrees and I left

the fire door to the room open. We keep everything in that cellar: white wines that will be gone in less than a year, and reds, some of which have been down there since 1996. We have nothing older remaining. It’s not that by keeping all the wine in the cellar we expect our daily drinking wines will improve. It’s rather that wine is safer at that basement temperature, and even those $6 bottles will die less quickly, should we forget they are there. TGW (aka The Good Wife) note: until last week we had a 1992 Tennessee (yes, Tennessee) blackberry wine and a 1994 California Cabernet down there, and they were in prime condition when opened and drunk. Proof positive that cellar temperatures help keep wines alive… it’s the heat that kills the wine. If your wine is sitting in one of those near-the-ceiling kitchen cabinet racks, let me suggest that you use that space to shelve

your vases and empty bottles of stuff from past special occasions. Put the full wine bottles you want to drink in the future down low, out of the sun and away from the heat of the stove and oven. 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.

Lengths of conduit pipe stacked between studs in a basement room made a high-capacity — and inexpensive — wine cellar.

December 2010 | AT HOME WITH The Good Life |

column GARDEN OF DELIGHTS

bonnie orr

Get crackin’ to make this walnut delight dried tomatoes crumbled. 1 cup mozzarella finely chopped Black pepper. The ham and olives and cheese contain salt.

I plant a garden that con-

tinues to produce throughout the entire fall and most of the winter. I have stored my potatoes in a deep hole in the soil where they will not freeze nor sprout. Spinach, kale, Swiss chard and Brussels Sprouts grow slowly. The onions, leeks, beets, carrots and radicchio are mulched to prevent the ground from freezing, and the snow will become another layer of mulch. It helps me to put stakes in the ground to mark the rows because the snow obscures the landmarks that I thought would point out exactly were the carrots were sleeping, etc.

Late Garden Comfort

20 minutes prep. 30 minutes baking at 325 degrees Serves 4 To limit the amount of liquid in a recipe, I often use my dried tomatoes. INGREDIENTS 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 cup chopped mushrooms 2 finely chopped shallots 1 chopped red bell pepper 6 cups chopped de-stemmed Swiss chard leaves (or Spinach) 1/2 cup green pitted olives chopped 1 cup prosciutto or ham chopped 1 tablespoon flour 1 cup tomato sauce or 1/2 cup

DIRECTIONS 1. In a large frying pan that can go directly in the oven brown the shallots and mushroom in the olive oil. 2. Add the bell pepper and the Swiss chard and cover for two minutes until steamed

Sugared WALNUTS

Makes about 1/2 gallon Takes 30 minutes, provided that the walnuts are cracked 2 tablespoons butter 5 cups walnut pieces — entire or broken halves. Some will break as you stir the mixture. 2 cups white sugar 1 cup water

1. Ahead of time, prepare a surface on which to pour the hot nuts. You can butter cookie sheets. I butter either my counter top or my large cutting board. 2.Use a very large pot because the boiling hot sugar can burn you. 3.Boil the water and sugar until the sugar dissolves. Stir in the nuts. Continue to boil and stir the mixture until there is no more moisture on the bottom of the pot. 4. Pour the mixture in a thin layer on the buttered surface and break apart the clumps with two forks. 5.Next before it cools and dries, add your favorite spices. I sprinkle on powdered vanilla. If you like hot, use chili pepper, salt, cumin, Worcestershire sauce or drizzle chocolate. After the nuts are cool, store them in cans that have very tight lids that take some effort to remove — or you will eat them all immediately.

Relish your days To subscribe: Send $25 ($30 out of state) to: The Good Life 10 First Street, # 108, Wenatchee, WA 98801 or, e-mail: donna@ncwgoodlife.com 30

| The Good Life | December 2010

3. Mix the flour into the tomato sauce and layer it on the vegetables or scatter the dried tomato on the top of the vegetables. 4. Layer on meat and olives 5. Top with cheese. Cover with a lid and slip the pan into the oven to bake Serve over rice

Do you have those walnuts cracked yet? This Sugared Walnuts recipe is a quick, easy and yummy. Be sure to give them all away so you will not be tempted to nibble on them in January. Some people complain that walnuts irritate their mouth tissues. The irritant is juglans acid, which all walnuts contain. To remove most of this acid and make smoother flavored nuts, bring three gallons of water to a boil. Drop in a gallon or so of nut meats, let them sit in the hot water for five minutes. Then pour the nuts into a strainer, and throw out the dark brown water. To dry the nuts, spread them on cookie sheets at 150 degrees for 25 minutes. The nuts will roast. Watch them to be sure they do not burn. Bonnie Orr gardens and cooks in East Wenatchee.

column THE TRAVELing DOCTOR

jim brown, m.d.

Slow trip through France by boat and B&B Last year when child-

hood Nebraska friends of my wife asked us if we would join them and another couple from Colorado on a riverboat trip in France this fall we said YES! The plan was to get a boat from Le Boat that would sleep three couples and spend a week cruising down the River Lot, which is about the size of the Columbia River. This river has numerous locks that were built to allow commercial navigation to bring agricultural goods and wine from Dordogne to Bordeaux. Over the centuries in France, many villages grew up on the various French rivers. At night we moored at some of these villages, got provisions, and frequently walked into town for our evening meals. The rest of the time we cooked and ate on our boat. We got very proficient manning the locks and could get through them in about 20 minutes, depending on boat traffic. When we were moored for the night, we met other boaters including a group from Britain that we became friends with

ABOVE: A group from Holland moored next to us, giving an impromptu concert. RIGHT: We take our boat through a lock.

over the week. One evening on the boat moored next to us, a group of Dutch musicians who had brought their instruments played an impromptu concert, which we enjoyed while sitting on our boat having a glass of wine. It was much fun. After our week together we departed and went our separate

ways. Lynn and I rented a car and spent time exploring the lovely green French countryside in Dordogne and the Loire valley with its beautiful small preserved villages. We think driving is the best way to see France and get a glimpse into French life as long as you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to drive through cities, which can

December 2010 | The Good Life |

be quite confusing. French drive on the same side as we do, and their highways and roads are very good and well marked. Major motorways are frequently high-speed toll roads, so we tried to avoid these whenever possible. Rural roads are excellent, and once we figured out the signage, we had no problem. Roundabouts are a driverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s friends as long as you remember to yield to the cars coming from your left. If you miss a sign or a turn, you can just continue around again until you get it right. In addition, roundabouts eliminate stoplights so traffic continues moving. We found the French people to be friendly, courteous, and very helpful. They truly made us feel welcome wherever we went. Even in areas where no one spoke English, we were able to get our needs across with miming and pointing at maps for directions. There are obviously many reasons to enjoy France, but for me the history dating back centuries is truly remarkable. Visiting towns, castles, chateaus, fortresses and churches

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I have decided the most popular past time in Paris, besides walking, is sitting in the plethora of sidewalk cafes having a coffee, beer, or glass of wine and, unfortunately, often smoking a cigarette. that were built over 900 years ago is fascinating. French cooking is wonderful and the wine hard to beat, although Washington wines are fast catching up and even passing them up in some cases. We loved the boulangerieres and patisseries where everyone goes each morning to get their fresh bread and pastries as well

Visitors check out a famous Jewish restaurant in the Marais district in Paris

People crowd the grounds around Notre Dame on Sunday.

as picking up two small quiches and some cookies for lunch. Even though French cooking is rich with butter, cream and duck fat, neither of us gained any weight. Lynn made reservations at some B&B’s before we left but not for every night. Since it was off-season we didn’t think we would have any trouble finding a place to stay when necessary. We first stayed at a chambres d’hote (the French term for a bed and breakfast) in historic Sarlat in Dordogne. An English couple had sold everything, moved to France, bought this home, and convert-

ed it into this B&B. As it turns out, many English, Dutch and German residents have second homes in France or have moved to France as their primary residence. Another chambres d’hote where we stayed in the tiny town of Jarnac was also owned by Brits who had sold their home in England and bought property in Jarnac about seven years previously. Finally we stayed for four nights in our favorite town, Chinon, in a chambres d’hote that had been an abbey in the 15th century. Our French hostess spoke good English and served

| The Good Life | December 2010

superb breakfasts. We enjoyed everything about Chinon, especially the huge, colorful outdoor market held every Wednesday. Most residents seem to get all their fresh fruits and vegetables, fish and meats at these markets. Leaving Chinon, we turned our car in at the city of Tours and took the high-speed train into Paris for our last three days. Paris is one of the world’s favorite cities. Lynn had booked a great little hotel on the right bank within walking distance of everything we wanted to see. The crowds walking on Saturday and Sunday in this area on both banks of the River Seine are amazing. I have decided the most popular past time in Paris, besides walking, is sitting in the pletho-

“...we only have so much time left, and we need to do these things no matter the cost.” ra of sidewalk cafes having a coffee, beer, or glass of wine and, unfortunately, often smoking a cigarette. Thank goodness smoking inside restaurants is now banned in France. Paris highlights for my wife Lynn included walking around the two large round rooms in the Musee l’ Orangerie, where the famous huge water lily paintings of Monet are shown, four to a room. The atmosphere is quiet and almost worshipful. The first time Lynn saw these, it brought tears to her eyes. Her other favorite, and one of mine too, is the Musee d’Orsy which is a large left bank museum in a former train station. There we enjoyed paintings of the French impressionists, particularly the pastels by Degas. My favorite Paris experience was attending a Sunday evening strings concert in Sainte Chapelle. The music was outstanding, made even more remarkable by the setting. The chapel was finished in 1248 just after the façade of the Notre Dame cathedral had been constructed a block away on Isle de Cite. Sainte Chapelle has soaring stained glass windows depicting over 1,300 biblical scenes. It is a place of awe. On our final day I wanted to walk though the historic Marias district and through the Jewish quarter. I was anxious to taste again an authentic fallafel, a typical Mideastern sandwich. I had remembered it as being delicious, and I was not disappointed. One of the best parts of foreign travel is meeting people

from all over the world, from all walks of life. In France this often takes place in restaurants as they are usually very small, and the tables are so close together it is almost like sitting at the same table as your neighbor. Sitting next to us in a small Bistro in Paris was a younger couple from Ireland. They indicated their economy was suffering hard times now. Several years ago their economy was booming as there was much technology outsourcing to Ireland from the states, but that has dried up now due to the recession. Another memorable conversation was with a man about my age from Bucharest, Romania. He spoke good Slavic-accented English. He had studied engineering for a year in California. He was retired now but owned his own agricultural equipment business. I asked him if he felt Paris was an expensive place to visit, and he said, “Yes, and that goes for Rome and London too, but we only have so much time left, and we need to do these things no matter the cost.” My sentiments exactly. When I asked him how things were going in Romania, he said it is very difficult. He told me the change from 50 years of communist socialism to capitalism has not been easy for most residents there. He felt that 90 percent of the population now missed the old days when everyone was equal, and they knew what to expect and what benefits the country would provide. Now some are getting rich and doing well but the majority is suffering and hasn’t adjusted well. Change is difficult. On the day before we were scheduled to depart, we found that a general strike throughout France had been called by the transportation unions to protest the government’s plan to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62. This was the second such

strike in our three weeks there. A proprietor in a restaurant in Sarlat, not happy with the strike, told me that the unions not only oppose this change, but that the strikers also did not want their taxes increased to cover their universal medical care or their social security. In the past they had protested over the President’s comments that France needed to increase its workweek to more than the 35-hour week they now enjoyed. Our young shuttle driver to

December 2010 | The Good Life |

the airport said, “Eh, French are never happy.” From my brief experience there, they seem to enjoy themselves and their lifestyle a lot. This might be our last trip to Paris but who knows, Paris is like a magnet that keeps pulling you back. Jim Brown, M.D., is a semi-retired gastroenterologist who has practiced for 38 years in the Wenatchee area. He is a former CEO of the Wenatchee Valley Medical Center.

column moving up to the good life

june darling

Ancient truth may be real secret to life A strange conglomerate

seems to be lobbying for a return to the gold standard. Karen Armstrong, religious historian; Dr. Donald Pfaff, neurobiologist; Colleen Barrett, retired CEO of Southwest Airlines; Jeanne Bliss, customer service consultant, and Dan Koffman, Camano Island artist, are just a few of the thousands of people who are leading this global revival. They’re calling for solidarity, for fresh appraisals and research, for new applications and for activism. But it’s not what you think. This gold standard is an ancient prescription found in some form in every known civilization. It’s a powerful recipe for global peace, solid families, thriving businesses, rewarding friendships and the good life (it’s said to contain the whole of the Torah). Yet, it’s so short, you can say it while standing on one foot. Some people heroically practice it. Remember Wesley Autrey? Autrey is the construction worker who waiting with his two daughters at a Harlem subway station when he noticed a young man, Cameron Hollopeter, hav-

ing a seizure. Autrey and several others attended to Hollopeter until he said he felt fine and stood up. Unfortunately, Hollopeter wasn’t fine. After he stood up, he stumbled, and fell onto the subway tracks just as the train was approaching. Autrey immediately jumped onto the tracks, pulled the man into a space between the rails and held him as the train passed right above their heads. The gold standard, the ancient prescription, is, of course, what we refer to as “the golden rule.” We usually hear it as, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” We understand it as part of the Judeo-Christian heritage, but it’s also known as the “universal ethic” (and is sometimes quoted as “do not do unto others what you would not want done unto you.”) We may have heard it so often we consider it hackneyed. But something interesting happens to other people who witness people like Wesley Autrey practicing the golden rule. We smile, we clap, sometimes we choke up and even cry. We are elevated. (If we’re Donald Trump, we send him $10,000 and if we’re the president, we

invite him to Washington, D.C.) Neuroscientists, like Pfaff, say that our brains are “wired” to approve of those who practice the golden rule. If we’ve been raised in relatively humane, healthy environments it’s not too hard for us to understand our own feelings, imagine the feelings of others, and come to their aid. Armstrong and Koffman say we must focus as individuals and nations on living the golden rule — on being more compassionate, fair and empathetic if we are to survive. We must become aware of procedures, policies and polemics that thwart our compassion and pump up our greed, fear and aggression. Hard-nosed business people like Barrett and Bliss say that high performance organizations that serve consumers exceptionally well are built on the golden rule. The golden rule percolates throughout the culture. Everyone in the workplace becomes attentive to other’s needs and wants. Employees who practice the golden rule feel happy; those they work with and serve feel happy. If we agree with the ancients and with the contemporary golden rule activists, that practicing the golden rule is the way to the good life and a better world, what should we do — jump in front of a subway train? Here’s what I’m doing. I’ve simply started wearing a little rubber band bracelet that I bought from Dan Koffman, the Camano Island artist. It says “Golden Rule Activist.” Coaches might call this an anchor or structure. It’s a reminder to me of my own values and intentions.

| The Good Life | December 2010

Some people go online and sign Armstrong’s charter for compassion. They join the ranks of the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Sir Richard Branson. Some business people like Isadore Sharp, the founder and chair of the Four Seasons, and Andy Taylor, the CEO of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, construct consumer and employee surveys that address satisfaction. They think the surveys keep them focused on practicing the golden rule at work, which they believe is the reason they’re successful. You may want to experiment during this holiday season — perhaps a smile for a stranger or two, a dollar for the bellringer, a few touches or words of encouragement or appreciation. The writer Aldous Huxley wrote, “It is a bit embarrassing to have been concerned with the human problem all one’s life and find at the end that one has no more to offer by way of advice than ‘try to be a little kinder.’” Could it really be true… that the path, the gold standard for the good life is not such a secret, and surprisingly, perhaps even embarrassingly, short, simple and accessible to all… to do unto others as you would have them do unto you? How might you move up to the good life by practicing the golden rule? June Darling, Ph.D., is an executive coach who consults with businesses and individuals to achieve goals and increase happiness. She can be reached at drjunedarling@aol.com, or drjunedarling.blogspot.com or at her twitter address: twitter.com/ drjunedarling. Her website is www. summitgroupresources.com.

WHAT TO DO

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

Christmas Tree Lighting, 12/2, 6:30 p.m. Christmas carols, tree lighting, refreshments and pictures with Santa. East Wenatchee City Hall. Info: events @east-wenatchee. com or 886-6108. Open Blues Jam, 12/2, and every first Thursday of the month, 7:30 p.m. Bring your voice and or instrument. Mojo’s, 102 Aplets Way, Cashmere. Info: Tomasz Cibicki 669-8200.

Holiday Spice, 12/2, 7:30 p.m. Fourth annual concert of the area’s best performers featuring holiday music and the Holiday Spice Big Band under the direction of Glenn Isaacson. Performing Arts Center. Cost: adults $18, seniors and students $15. Info: www.pacwen.org. Backcountry Film Festival, 12/2, 6:30 p.m. Deeper is a film that follows legendary snowboarder Jeremy Jones and other top riders as they forsake helicopters, snowmobiles and lifts to venture deep into untouched terrain under their own power. Desert River is a beautiful ski adventure into Alaska. Whitebark Warrior chronicles the decline of 1,000-year-old whitebark pines

due to climate change and efforts underway to save these iconic high alpine trees. Cashmere Riverside Center. Cost: $10 at the door, door prizes and free coffee and dessert. Info: www.backcountryfilmfestival. org. Rodney Carrington, 12/2, 7 p.m. Town Toyota Center. Info: towntoyotacenter.com. First Friday at Two Rivers Art Gallery, 12/3, 5-8 p.m. Featured artist Ken Duffin will be on hand to share his oils and watercolors. Food, wine and live music by harpist Suzanne Grassell. 102 N Columbia in Wenatchee. Cost: Free. Journey to Bethlehem, 12/3

December 2010 | The Good Life |

– 12/5, 6:30 p.m. – 9 p.m. This Christmas Season, experience the town of Bethlehem, as it was the night the Christ Child was born. The journey begins indoors with live Christmas music, a local Bethlehem resident will guide you to many shops, scribes, tax collectors and an inn keeper. Ponder with the Wise Men as they follow the Star and see the shepherds and the manger where the Christ Child was born. Living nativity with a baby camel, sheep, goats, donkeys, cows and chickens. Wenatchee Valley Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Fifth and Western, Wenatchee. Info: www.j2bwenatchee.org.

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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 Crochet Gift Workshop, 12/3 – 12/4, 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. What do a giant crochet hook, an old bed sheet, and a few basic crochet stitches add up to? A basket, rug or chair pad, and lots of fun! Bring your own bed sheet (woven, not jersey knit) to this beginner’s workshop and learn the basic crochet stitches to make a unique present for the

holidays or for yourself. Hooks and patterns will be provided. Preregistration required. WVC Wells Hall Room 1057. Cost: $49. Info: 682-6900. Sugar Plum Tea, 12/3, 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Dress up in your Sunday finest and come enjoy a wonderful afternoon of tea, scrumptious cakes and snacks, beautiful music and wonderful entertainment. Sit back and enjoy the music, dancers and costumed characters. Look for some surprises for everyone who attends. 1312 Maple St. Wenatchee. Cost: $10. Info: 662-7036.

Christmas Lighting , 12/3, -12/ 5, 12/10- 12/12, 12/17 – 12/19. Nationally acclaimed Christmas Lighting Festival returns for an emotional visit to a turn of the century Bavarian Christmas, Holiday personalities and a ceremonial lighting of the town. Downtown Leavenworth. New for 2010: Lights on Friday nights! Christmas in the Mountains Choral Festival, 12/3, 12/4, 12/9, 12/10, 7:30 p.m. Annual Christmas concert series. Church of the Nazarene, Leavenworth.

| The Good Life | December 2010

Cost: $12 general, $10 senior and students. Info: 548-9797. Barefoot Hike for our heroes, 12/4, 9 a.m. Troy Yocum, an Army veteran of the Iraq War, is walking 7,000 miles across the country to help raise $5 million for military families. Troy and volunteers will be walking one barefoot mile at designated stops. Community members are invited to shadow walk with Troy at the Eastmont Junior High School track, 270 Ninth St. NE, East Wenatchee. Donation: $20. Info: Amanda, (509) 470-7545.

WHAT TO DO

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

Christmas Family Fun Day, 12/4, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Catch the holiday spirit with family crafts and activities. Take an interactive holidaythemed tour of museum exhibits where you can make reindeer rope, buy penny candy in the General Store, have your picture taken with Santa, write a letter to Rudolph, and hear a magical woodland story in Coyote’s Corner. Make crafts including beaded snowflakes, popcorn-cranberry garlands, evergreen swags, picture frames, refrigerator magnets, pine cone bird feeders and more. You can also enjoy refreshments and Christmas music, and browse through the Museum Store. Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center. Cost: $5. Info: 888-6240. Haiku, 12/4, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. David Ash’s haiku are witty, insightful, inspiring and sometimes just plain silly. Book signing at A Book For All Seasons. Cost: free. Info: abookforallseasons.com/events/2010_ ash/. Cantwell Community Connection, 12/4, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. The staff of U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell’s offices will be available for one-on-one consultations to help Washingtonians access federal programs and navigate the federal bureaucracy. North Central Regional Library, 16 N. Columbia St. VA/military and SSA specialist available. Info: 1-888-648-7328. Ride the Miniature Train, 12/4, noon – 4 p.m. Families are welcome to ride the 10-inch-gauge train as it winds along a miniature course with trestles, bridges and rails beside the Columbia River in Riverfront Park. 155 North Worthen St. Cost: $2 kids, $3 adults. Flake Festival, 12/4, 3 p.m. Lighted parade on Wenatchee Avenue at 6 p.m. followed by Santa lighting the Christmas tree and Christmas carols at the Stanley Civic Center fountain plaza. The Snow Globe, 12/4, 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. A heartwarming holiday treasure of love and laughter, magic and miracles, friendship and coming home. Author Sheila Roberts. Book signing at A Book for All Seasons. Cost: free. Info: abookforallseasons.com/events/2010_ roberts3/.

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The Art Life

// SKETCHES OF LOCAL ARTISTS

the ‘queen of more’ finds plenty of fun in a gallery W

hat’s an uprooted and transplanted visual artist to do in a totally new town? Work in isolation in her athome gallery? Yearn for the old friends she left behind? Charleen Martin, on a helpful suggestion (one that her encouraging husband assumed was a longshot), decided upon arrival last year to open Gallery 4 South in downtown Wenatchee. She was first welcomed, then wowed, by local enthusiasm for a new art venue. Her own “sisters” collection — vivid and symbolic depictions of women — is Charleen’s best-known work, and when a fan recognized it on the wall and exclaimed: “Oh, look! I’m so glad you’re carrying her — is she local?” Charleen deadpanned (proudly), “Yes, she is now. And you’re talking to her.” She can’t remember a time when she wasn’t doing something creative. Cooking, home design (and maybe someday more writing) all use her imagination. Her study of visual art has progressed from drawing in pen and ink to watercolor, to oils and acrylics with a side step to paper jewelry, then to 3-D collage. “Mixed media mosaic collage” is her current favorite genre. Intricately cut hand-painted paper is drenched in rich colors, then applied to a textured surface, usually wood. Charleen also does beadwork, fashioning glossy stone pendants and necklaces, each a titled artwork. She said, “If I were to turn to something different in art, it would be back to the fine drawing I did in ink. My

Charleen Martin looks through a teleidoscope — a wooden kaleidoscope-like piece made by a Montana artist. “The lens sees what you are actually looking at, and mirrors reflect that image, creating a beautiful pattern of repetition and color that changes as you move the scope around,” said Charleen.

“Sometimes there’s a good idea in my brain, but I can’t pull it through the ‘mind clutter!’” professors called me ‘The Queen of More’ because I just loved adding all the details!” A wealth of experience, a world of ideas. But every artist has their own little demon. Charleen’s right now is time. “Sometimes there’s a good idea in my brain, but I can’t pull it through the ‘mind clutter!’” Gallery obligations and the lure of her own art studio are tough contradictions, but she’s confident she’ll learn to balance them to her satisfaction. She likes getting to know the people who stroll in and shop, and she’s pleased to showcase

December 2010 | The Good Life |

local artists and craftsmen. Charleen conscientiously supports downtown’s “First Friday,” hosting curious art aficionados with extra pizzazz. With just an occasional twinge of a New York accent after years in the West, Charleen chats about her art and life. She finds the city just the right size, relishes the subdued colors and especially the varied textures of the landscape, and exclaims over the friendliness of the people. About 1,000 children trickor-treated this Halloween for a gallery open house, and she said “I have never seen so many children, so well-behaved!” An especially nice compliment from this grandmother of 10 for her new town, a comfortable home for her art and her art gallery. You can find more information about Charleen and the gallery at www.charleenmartin.com. by Susan Lagsdin

WHAT TO DO

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

}}} Continued from previous page Common Bond 5, 12/4, 2 p.m. & 7 p.m. Sounds of Christmas. Performing Arts Center. Cost: $15 advance, $18 at the door. Info: www.pacwen. org. Wenatchee Valley Symphony Orchestra Concert, 12/4, 7 p.m. Annual holiday concert under the direction of Conductor Nikolas Caoile. Wenatchee High School Auditorium. Info: www.wenatcheesymphony.org. Holiday Gift Bazaar & Gift Basket Classes, 12/4 & 12/11. Tasting Room at the Old Firehouse, Chelan. Info: 687-3700. Holiday Bazaar, 12/4, 9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. 18 artisans and crafters along with raffle for a lap quilt. Cinnamon rolls and lunch. Chelan Senior Center. Info: 682-5224. Holiday Cooking for a Crowd, 12/5, 2 p.m. Join Chef Mike Ables for fun and creative cooking, learn new techniques and ideas. Receive recipes and eat what you’ve

learned to cook. Chateau Faire Le Pont winery. Cost: $45. Info: www. fairelepont.com or 667-9963. Spirit of Christmas, 12/5, 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. This book takes the reader through a magical journey, embracing all the moments we love during the holidays. Author Nancy Tillman. Book signing at A Book for All Seasons. Cost: free. Info: abookforallseasons.com/events/2010_ tillman/. Marlin Handbell Ringers, 12/5, 2 p.m. Cashmere Riverside Center, 201 Riverside. Cost: $3 at the door, pass the hat for the performers. Info: www.cashmerecoffeehouse. com. Two Author Book Buzz, 12/8, 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. Join authors Jane Porter, Chelan, and Christina-Marie Wright, Seattle, for refreshments, prize drawings and gifts. A Book For All Seasons. Cost: free. Christmas in the Mountains Choral Festival, 12/9, & 12/10. 7:30 p.m. 9:30 p.m. Church of the Nazarene, Leavenworth. Cost: $12, seniors and students $10. Info: 548-9797. Holiday Sing-Along, 12/10, 7 p.m. Get in the spirit of the holidays by

singing along with local musicians. All voices welcome. Picture the Musician: portraits of Musicians by NW Artists exhibit in the Main Gallery. Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center. Cost: by donation. Christmas with Mousekins,

12/11, 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. A book filled with crafts, recipes, poems and stories. Author Maggie Smith. Book signing at A Book For All Seasons. Cost: free. Info: abookforallseasons. com/events/2010_smith/. Apollo Club Holiday Special, 12/12, 7:30 p.m. Wenatchee’s all male choir finishes up its first 100 years with holiday music. Performing Arts Center. Cost: $15. Info: www.pacwen.org. Columbia Chorale Family Christmas, 12/17, 7:30 p.m. Holiday choral music concert with piano and orchestral accompaniment. Performing Arts Center. Cost: adults $14, seniors and students $8. Info: www.pacwen.org. Next Step Dance Studio, 12/18, 7 p.m. Join students from preschool age through adults as they perform various dance styles in this annual Christmas program. Performing Arts Center. Cost: adults $16, seniors and children under 12 $12. Info: www.pacwen.org. Polar Opposites, 12/18, 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. Winthrop children’s author and illustrator Erik Brooks will be at A Books For All Seasons for book signing. Cost; free. Info: abookforallseasons.com/events2010_ brooks_eric/. Clint Black, 12/18, 8 p.m. Town Toyota Center. Info: towntoyotacenter.com. Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree, 11/18, 7 p.m. Presented by Next Step Dance Studio. Preschool age to adults will perform various dance styles in this Christmas pro-

| The Good Life | December 2010

WHAT TO DO

The Art Life

// SKETCHES OF LOCAL ARTISTS

Luke Boyce just can’t stop clowning around Picture a tall, muscular al-

Lilly, a young camel born on Easter day, will be a part of the Journey To Bethlehem Christmas season experience at the Wenatchee Valley Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Fifth and Western, Wenatchee, starting at 6:30 p.m. 12/3-12/5. Lilly, who is about five and a half feet tall at the hump, will be part of the living nativity. See listing, page 35. gram. Performing Arts Center. Cost: adults $16, seniors and students $12. Info: www.pacwen.org. Joy to the World: A Christmas Concert, 12/19, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. Icicle Creek Piano Trio and Leavenworth’s Marlin Handbell Ringers will ring in a joyful brand of holiday cheer. Enzian Hotel Banquet Room, Leavenworth. Cost: $16.99. Info: www.brownpapertickets.com or 1-800-838-3006. Joy to the World: A Christmas Concert, 12/19, 7:30 p.m. Featuring the Noel Ensemble, the Marlin Handbell Ringers and the Icicle Creek Piano Trio. Featured winery: Horan Estates. Canyon Wren Concert Hall, Leavenworth. Cost: $20, seniors $6 and students $10. Info: www.brownpapertickets.com or 1-800-838-3006.

most 30-year-old athlete getting ready for work. Black shoes and trousers, vest, crisp shirt… then it gets strange. On comes the make-up: huge eyebrows with white accents, a dogbone grin, a bulbous cherryred nose. Several times a year, in some small improvised dressing space, with his show music (Disney movie themes) on the CD player, Luke Boyce spends a concentrated hour lowering his heart rate and getting in the zone. He gradually leaves the commonplace behind and transforms himself into his alter ego: L-Bow The Clown. In the old days, you’d need to have a trunk full of wanderlust and travel far to “run away and join the circus.” But The Wenatchee Valley Youth Circus offered that opportunity to 12-year-old Luke Boyce and he never left home. He spent six years audaciously juggling, tumbling and doing heart-clutching high wire work. A parallel and slightly tamer life included years of drama, football, track, excelling in choir and band, and keeping a high GPA at Cascade High School. Luke aimed at a few colleges and a few careers, but life in the Wenatchee Valley stayed full and busy enough for him. Work ethic intact and strong, he’s now a full-time plumber, but transforming himself for the public into L-Bow The Clown is what he loves to do. He is a performer. The art of clowning, though a decade of its rigors has been tough on the physique, is as natural as breathing.

Luke Boyce: It’s about the smiles.

It’s what he does best, and what he craves. Unabashedly, he admitted, “I love making other people happy, and seeing their faces… and the laughter. And, maybe I like the attention.” He smiled quizzically, with a shrug — a subtle gesture that could carry to the back of an auditorium but suits an easy chair just as well. The character he portrays, LBow The Clown (with his invisible dog Waldo), is a bumbler, a low-key and sometimes grumpy doofus who can, it turns out, adroitly ride a unicycle, conjure balloon animals, juggle flames. At parties, school assemblies, fairs and company picnics — even gigs in Africa and France — wherever he performs, positive audience reaction comes in exactly the places this consummate clown expects it because Luke’s timing and reactive skills (like pratfalls, pauses, shrugs and double takes) are carefully

December 2010 | The Good Life |

honed. At streets fairs and festivals (like Leavenworth’s Maifest, Autumn Leaf and Octoberfest) the corner crowds often gather thickly around him, changing from a few couples slowing down to a ring of 100 people packed shoulder to shoulder, adults and children laughing with delight. So… does Luke want to be an old clown? He considers the odd concept of not being L-Bow anymore. Almost sad. But then comes the smile again. He realizes that some day he may have to tamp down the physicality, ratchet up the nuances, but for the conceivable future, Luke Boyce, a professional clown, has found his love-work, the art that sustains him. For more information about Luke and his clowning, see www.L-BowtheClown.com. by Susan Lagsdin

column those were the days

rod molzahn

When Indians first met the white man T

he first meeting between a white man and a Wenatchi Indian might possibly have happened in the late 1770s. Trade routes across the Cascades had existed for generations before the first European sailing ships appeared along the Northwest coast. Even if there had been no meeting, word of those white men and their ships must have crossed the mountains or followed the Columbia up from the ocean. Surely news of a party of white men traveling down the lower Columbia would have made it to all the tribes along the upper river. Lewis and Clark knew there was a northern river called the Wenatchee. Indians from the area now known as the TriCities had drawn them a map showing the upper Columbia and its tributaries. But it would be six more years before the Wenatchi people came face to face with a white man. Canadian explorer and map maker, David Thompson, with a small party of French paddlers and Indian translators, followed the Columbia down from its source in Canada to the Pacific in July of 1811. Thompson made no mention of the Wenatchee confluence in his journals or of meeting Indians there, but he did stop at Rock Island to meet the village of Sinkiuse Indians living there. Following Thompson’s arrival at the mouth of the Columbia, an expeditionary party of eight men led by David Stuart left the Pacific Fur Company fort at Astoria to explore the upper Columbia for a new trading post location. They camped at the

PHOTO FROM THE WENATCHEE VALLEY MUSEUM & CULTURAL CENTER

John Harmelt in 1931 — he was the last chief of the Wenatchiis, one of only a handful of Wenatchi Indians who refused to move to the Colville Reservation, staying instead on their traditional lands in the upper Wenatchee Valley.

Wenatchee/Columbia confluence on Aug. 24, 1811 and Alexander Ross, a clerk in the party, described the Wenatchi Indians in his journal as friendly and happy and said the party, “passed the night without keeping watch.” They continued north and established a post at the Okanogan River. That and Thompson’s journey signaled the beginning of the fur trade in North Central Washington, and the Columbia River quickly became the main highway carrying furs and trade

Trappers and traders passed up and down the Columbia through the 1840s ... goods between western Canada and the ships at Astoria. Trappers and traders passed up and down the Columbia through the 1840s and the Wenatchiis kept a mostly friendly posture toward the white

| The Good Life | December 2010

men. In 1841 the United States government sent its first military expedition into North Central Washington. Lieutenant Robert Johnson, leader of the party, reported the Indians at the Wenatchee confluence to be friendly and described potatoes being cultivated in raised beds on the meadow where deer grazed. Captain George McClellan and his party of mules and men came through the valley in 1853 in search of a rail route over the north Cascades. They traveled the Cascades from Naches Pass to the Canadian border. McClellan reported back to Territorial Governor Stevens that there was no suitable pass. McClellan went on to become a Civil War general and ran unsuccessfully for president after the war. By the mid 1850s a new group of white men began arriving in the Wenatchi lands. Gold seekers passed through the valley on their way to new strikes in the Colville area and British Columbia. When those fields panned out, many of the men returned to placer mine along the Columbia and Wenatchee rivers and up Peshastin Creek. Chinese miners soon joined them and by the early 1870s far outnumbered the white men. These early contacts had little immediate impact on traditional Indian ways, but they marked the beginning of growing pressure on the hunting and gathering life style of the Wenatchiis. The fur trappers, soldiers and gold seekers came and left but in the late 1860s that changed. John McBride and Jack Ingram opened a trading post in a tent at Rock Island and “Dutch John”

Settlement was slow through the 1870s. Some of the early men left after a few years. Galler and his Indian wife started a farm on land near Malaga. By 1870 the trading post had been moved to the confluence and soon the first white settlers were claiming land on the Wenatchee Flat. The Perkins family settled below Saddlerock. Philip Miller bought them out in 1871 then claimed additional land. He was followed by John Morris, Pete Butler and Richard Thompson in 1872. A Mr. Axiom, Doc Battoe and John Murphy came the next year. Settlement was slow through the 1870s. Some of the early men left after a few years. In 1883, when the Blair family arrived, Mamie Blair could only count a half dozen settlers in the valley. That began to change quickly through the 1880s. In 1881 Alexander Brender became the first white man to settle on Wenatchi land in the upper valley. Eighty years after the Wenatchiis met with Alexander Ross at the confluence, the Great Northern Railroad laid its tracks through the valley bringing new growth not only to Wenatchee but to all the upper valley towns as well. As those towns grew and people settled the land, the game, fish and traditional foods in the surrounding rivers and hills began to diminish and the lifestyle of the Wenatchiis disappeared.

1st Choice Collision Center...............................8 1st Choice Collision Center.............................31 Aaron Adult Family Homes..............................41 Academic Tool Box............................................3 After Hours Plumbing & Heating......................28 American Quality Coatings..............................24 Apple Valley Honda.........................................19 Bio Sports Physical Therapy . ........................ 32 Blossom Valley Assisted Living Community.... 44 Brenda Burgett Century 21.............................28 Cascade Autocenter.......................................14 Central WA Hospital Family Physicians........... 36 Central Washington Hospital Laser.................17 Central Washington Water.............................. 29 Chelan County PUD ...................................... 23 Collins Gifts & Women’s Fashions...................17 Complete Design ...........................................24 Cordell Neher & Company ............................ 20 D A Davidson & Company . ............................13 Dr. Steven Harvey DDS...................................25 Eagle Transfer Company ................................31 Epledalen Retirement & Assisted Living............2 First Choice Floor Coverings............................21 Fred Dowdy Company Inc..................................2 Gallery 4 South.................................................6 Golden East Restaurant................................. 35 Golfer’s Edge....................................................6 Hearthstone Cottage......................................27 Homchick Smith Associates CPA.....................15 Iwa Sushi & Grill............................................ 35

Karie Rolen, John L. Scott Real Estate............24 KCSY – Sunny FM............................................10 Legends & Legacy..........................................27 Lemon Grass Natural Food Market................. 34 Local Tel Communications............................. 44 Moonlight Tile & Stone....................................28 Mt. Stuart Physical Therapy..............................8 Noyd & Noyd Insurance Agency .....................24 Products Supply Northwest.............................24 Performance Footwear................................... 32 Products Supply Northwest.............................24 Real Deals on Home Décor............................ 44 Reflections Healing Studio..............................21 Ryan Patrick Vineyards.................................. 29 Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort .................... 35 Sports & Fitness Outlet................................. 12 Sue Long Laura Mounter Real Estate & Co.....28 Telford’s Chapel of the Valley & Crematory......26 The Gilded Lily..................................................9 The Town Toyota Center.....................................2 The WRAC.......................................................42 Tracey Franklin, John L Scott Real Estate........28 Valley Tractor & Rentals..................................18 Wenatchee Apple Sox.................................... 38 Wenatchee Business Journal...........................26 Wenatchee Downtown Association................. 33 Wenatchee Natural Foods . ..............................5 Wenatchee Valley Medical Center.....................7 Western Ranch Buildings................................25 Wok About Grill.............................................. 35

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. December 2010 | The Good Life |

CHECK THIS OUT // TASTY PLACES AND FUN EXPERIENCES

SUNDAY NIGHT LIGHTS IN THE LITTLE TOWN OF LEAVENWORTH I

By Mike Cassidy

grew up with a view of Mount Rainier out of our kitchen window and Mount St. Helens (pre-eruption) out of our bathroom window. Did my family ever take a trip to either mountain? No. Well, once we started on a Sunday trip to Mount Rainier when our vehicle blew a tire. My dad replaced the flat with the spare and then disgustedly piled back into the driver’s seat, turned the vehicle around and took us home. No more trips to the mountains for us. My wife grew up in East Wenatchee, but did she ever ride the Lady of the Lake up Lake Chelan to Stehekin? No, not until just a few years ago after our own kids had left home. My point is this: Just as hometown people have trouble believing any one of us could be a hero, we have trouble appreciating that any local attraction can be all that great — even an attraction that thousands of out-

of-towners travel miles and miles to see. Which brings me to a change — and an opportunity — at Christmas Lighting in Leavenworth this year when the little Bavarian downtown transforms itself “into a virtual snow globe of Christmas magic,” as the chamber advertises. “Typically our guests have driven into Leavenworth to find the lights A snowy morning in the snow globe town of Leavenworth. Photo by Brian Munoz off on Friday in town in anticipation of the lighting on Saturday ing ceremony, with cars, 100 cluding the Lighting Ceremony and Sunday nights,” reports leased buses and a passenger starting at 4:30 when the entire Sherry Schweizer, media person train bringingseveral thousand Village and trees in Front Street for the Leavenworth Chamber of people to town anxious to take Park come alive with lights and Commerce. part in the lighting. color.” “(But,) this year we will have “On Saturday and Sunday, the The crowd thins out a little some lights on Friday night. We aroma of roasting chestnuts, on Sunday, which might be the have added 5,100 lights so the gingerbread, and holiday detime for locals to watch the total display will be close to a lights fill the air as holiday mulights come on. quarter million lights!” sic echoes through town while The Christmas Lighting CerSherry goes on to say: “Saint children sled in the park. Warm emony happens the first three Nicholas arrives in Leavenworth yourself by an open-air burn weekends in December. on Friday evening by carriage to barrel as snow lightly falls,” said So, whether it’s a hint of lights the gazebo in Front Street Park. Sherry. on a Friday night, or the whole The children and families wait“The opening festivities begin transformation into a magical ing to greet Saint Nicholas are with Father Christmas, Saint wonderland of lights, as Sherry rewarded with presents of fruit Nicholas and Santa Claus arsays, on Sunday night, perhaps and a sneak peek at some of the riving in town at noon. Visitors this is the year to treat yourself park’s lights.” enjoy live music and entertainand your family to a remarkable Saturday is the big lightment all day until 8 p.m., inhometown attraction.

| The Good Life | December 2010

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