Good Life January 2012 by The Good Life

WHY TRAVEL IS HEALTHY FOR YOU Y EVENTS CALENDAR

WENATCHEE VALLEY’S

NUMBER ONE MAGAZINE

January 2012

Open for fun and adventure

stacked Rock on — Finding beauty in balancing rocks

Price: $3

plus Dave Graybill on the secret fun of ice fishing Andy Dappen on why go snowshoeing

OPENING SHOT ®

Year 6, Number 1 January 2012 The Good Life is published by NCW Good Life, LLC, dba The Good Life 10 First Street, Suite 108 Wenatchee, WA 98801 PHONE: (509) 888-6527 EMAIL: editor@ncwgoodlife.com sales@ncwgoodlife.com ONLINE: www.ncwgoodlife.com FACEBOOK: facebook.com/pages/ The-Good-Life

On a clear day, you can see forever W

enatchee photographer Travis Knoop sent along this photo taken atop Mission Ridge. Here’s his story: “One of the best things about Mission Ridge is the lack of crowds (shhh, don’t tell anyone!). “On this particular day, it felt like I had the whole mountain to myself. “Normally I have a group of friends I like to ride with but this day I was solo. Sometimes

those days are the best as you strike up conversations on the chairlift, meet new friends and make connections you wouldn’t otherwise have made. Other times when I am out alone, I enjoy exploring different corners of Mission Ridge, searching out runs still holding powder days after a storm. “On this day, I hiked from Windy Ridge, the Microwave Towers and Bowl Four to Mission Peaks and the Bomber Cliffs, looking for the elusive powder turn. The views of Mount Rainier, Mount Stuart, The Enchantments, Glacier Peak and even Mount Baker were all impressive, but my favorite

image of the day was from the summit, looking back down to the Wenatchee Valley. “It’s pretty amazing to have a place like Mission Ridge right in our backyard.” For other photographs Travis has taken while out and about, visit his website, www.travisknoopphotography.com.

On the cover

Toby Johnson oh so carefully builds a rock stack along the Wenatchee River. “River rock is so much harder to stack because they have rounded edges,” he said. Photo by editor Mike Cassidy.

Editor/Publisher, Mike Cassidy Contributors, Travis Knoop, Lisa Bradshaw, Leanne Wylet, Dave Graybill, Andy Dappen, Chris Rader, Toby Johnson, Donna Cassidy, Bonnie Orr, Alex Saliby, Jim Brown, June Darling, Dan McConnell, Susan Lagsdin and Rod Molzahn Advertising sales, John Hunter and Donna Cassidy Bookkeeping and circulation, Donna Cassidy Proofing, Joyce Pittsinger Ad design, Rick Conant TO SUBSCRIBE: For $25, ($30 out of state address) you can have 12 issues of The Good Life mailed to you or a friend. Send payment to: The Good Life 10 First Street, Suite 108 Wenatchee, WA 98801 Phone 888-6527 Online: www.ncwgoodlife.com To subscribe/renew by email, send credit card info to: donna@ncwgoodlife.com BUY A COPY of The Good Life at Hastings, Caffé Mela (Wenatchee and East Wenatchee), Eastmont Pharmacy, Martin’s Market Place (Cashmere), A Book for All Seasons (Leavenworth) and the Food Pavilions in Wenatchee and East Wenatchee ADVERTISING: For information about advertising in The Good Life, contact advertising at (509) 8886527, or sales@ncwgoodlife.com WRITE FOR THE GOOD LIFE: We welcome articles about people from Chelan and Douglas counties. Send your idea to Mike Cassidy at editor@ncwgoodlife.com

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Contents

page 38

editor’s notes

MIKE CASSIDY

Overcoming pain & rocking our world

venturing out for winter fun

A self-made businessman

Features

UPDATE: DON’T WAIT

inching her way back

Lisa Bradshaw takes a book tour where she meets people who didn’t wait to take on the challenge of living a meaningful life A car accident left Leanne Wylet in pain, but she wasn’t going to accept her athletic days were over

10 secret joy of ice fishing

Fishing Magician Dave Graybill doesn’t put away his equipment just because winter has frozen over the lakes — rather he grabs his hole-making auger and continues wetting a hook

14 WHY SNOWSHOE?

Instead of skiing downhill or struggling cross-country on sticks strapped to your fee, why not try buckling on a pair of snowshoes

17 hike year around

You say the trails are muddy, icy, snowy and slippery? Andy Dappen has just the earth-gripping solution for you

18 rock on

Calling his work natural graffiti, rock stacker Toby Johnson tries to create awe and beauty with towers of stone

20 one jazzy volunteer

Gina Jans started volunteering behind the scenes at the Wenatchee Jazz Workshop when her son was still in school. Now, he has graduated and she has moved up to coordinator of the cool event

22 what’s new with past homes?

Owners of five featured homes tell us of updates they have made and resolutions they have for 2012 Columns & Departments 13 Alex Saliby: Nearly floored by a one-two punch 26 Bonnie Orr: Winter soups smell of summer 27 June Darling: Who are you hanging out with? 28 The traveling doctor: Travel is healthy for you 30-35 Events, The Art Life & a Dan McConnell cartoon 36 History: Wenatchee’s first woman doctor

| The Good Life

once conferred his wisdom to me like this: “Plan your work and work your plan.” I attempted to follow his advice for years, and then one day it occurred to me: Life seldom goes according to plan. Life seems to be more like this analogy from the sporting world. You’re watching a basketball game where one team seems to have the momentum when a player from the other team steals the ball, races down court and slams home a dunk. Life is constantly stealing the ball and slamming home a dunk against me. But I don’t feel bad because I’m not alone. Life is not so much about making stuffy plans, but adjusting and adapting on the run. Or, as book author Lisa Bradshaw — who returns this month for an update to her cover story in the September 2011 The Good Life — writes on her website: “... it is about prevailing and finding true happiness, not in spite of what happens to us but because of what happens to us.” A person who had life score a dunk against her is Leanne Wylet. Leanne was humming along when an accident that didn’t seem all that serious crippled her body and left her in pain. But instead of letting the pain defeat her, she designed a rehab program and… but why should I tell you the ending of her story when you can read it yourself starting on page 8. However, let me say this: From adversity, Leanne found a strength she is now sharing with others, like in this story

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| January 2012

she tells about a 42-year-old local man who had chronic pain because of a ruptured disc in his spine. “When I first tested him,” said Leanne, “he could only lift onepound weights and his body was almost completely locked up. After a year and a half, he can lift 16-pound weights, is more flexible and able to bend, stoop and reach with moderate pain. He has more endurance and has had many day-to-day activities that we take for granted restored to his life. “I am excited about his progress and determination to have a full active life,” said Leanne. Enough about pain, how about some beauty? We in the media love to talk about bad people and bad things that happen to normal people (and frankly, we do it because our audiences tell us they will buy more newspapers and watch more TV when the news is bad. In other words, like every business, we strive to give customers what they want) but beauty that is just eye-catching cool, well that’s low on the daily news budget. That’s why I waded across a stream and spent an hour photographing Toby Johnson stacking rocks along the Wenatchee River on a freezing Saturday. Someone who is trying to make the world a little more wondrous deserves some positive ink. See his story, page 18. As long as you stay in the game, you can enjoy The Good Life. — Mike

UPDATES

On the road: finding people who didn’t wait Editor’s note: Lisa Bradshaw was The Good Life cover story for the September 2011 issue telling how she had written Big Shoes, a book about the loss of her husband, and how she had started The DON’T WAIT Project®, which urges people not to give up on their life plans.

By Lisa Bradshaw

got in my car to leave for The DON’T WAIT Project® Big Shoes book tour on the morning of Saturday, Oct. 8, immediately following the first of two baseball games my son Hunter would play that day. Having the car wrapped with the DON’T WAIT® message proved to be valuable in my effort to share the project along my journey from Wenatchee to Los Angeles. A young couple in a small gas station in Oregon asked me about the car and what it meant, so I told them all about my book, Big Shoes, which is not just a story of death and loss, it is about prevailing and finding true happiness, not in spite of what happens to us but because of what happens to us. I also told them the project was the epilogue of the book and an idea I came up with encouraging readers to revisit people, places, dreams and ideas that may have long been forgotten. Even the man who inspected the trunk of my car (packed full of copies of Big Shoes) at the agricultural check between Oregon and California liked

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}}} Continued on next page January 2012 | The Good Life

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UPDATES

In Sacramento, after seeing my appearance on a popular morning television show, a woman drove 100 miles to meet me after recently leaving an abusive relationship. }}} Continued from previous page the project on Facebook after I passed through on my way for my first stop in Redding, Calif. I chose not to do book signings in bookstores because I wanted to do more than ask people to stand in line for me to sign a book, only to feel rushed by the next person waiting in line. Instead, I did book signings in wine bars and downtown boutiques in cities throughout California because I wanted to interact with people and hear their stories.

In Redding, one woman traveled over 200 miles to attend the book signing and she had already read Big Shoes. She came to support Lisa Bradshaw wrapped her car with the DON’T the project and had WAIT message. her own story of strength and fortitude to share. ther one of them would change After years of she and her hus- a single thing about the family band trying to have a child of they have today. their own, they ultimately had a In Sacramento, after watchbaby through surrogacy. Their ing my appearance on a popubeautiful daughter was born lar morning television show, a with downs syndrome, but neiwoman drove 100 miles to meet

me after recently leaving an abusive relationship. She said the DON’T WAIT® message was one she desperately needed to hear. After most of the crowd left, she and I talked in a corner of the winery over a glass of wine for over an hour about how she needed to begin to understand her own value and not letting someone else steal from her the hopes she had had for her life. She deserved a second chance and so did her children. In San Jose, I spent time with a family that had reunited after years of separation following a closed adoption. Each of them looked alike, talked alike, and loved each other so deeply one would never know of the years they had spent apart. The grandmother said she had always felt enormous sadness and guilt for making her daughter give up her child for adoption. Finding the child,

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DON’T WAIT Living the best we can live now a grown man with a family of his own, finally gave her and the rest of her family peace and made them all grateful for never giving up when it seemed impossible they would find each other. In San Francisco, the first woman to approach me was a widow who had lost her husband more than 10 years ago. She was at the winery having dinner with her new husband. She was happy and felt healed in her new life, but she had read about the Big Shoes book signing in the local newspaper and still felt the need to come share her story. In Los Angeles, I spent time with a young woman who has had custody of her two young nieces for five years, after her drug addicted sister was neglecting her children. She saved them and gave up whatever plan she had had for her own life to take care of the two girls who needed her to survive and have a chance of becoming women who would one day know their own worth. She is nearing graduation from college with a degree in social work. Her own path changed and took added years to develop but, ultimately, she will have an impact on the lives of many children in need, including the lives of the unexpected family she now nurtures. I asked her, “At what point did you know you would be giving up your own plans for your future to raise your sister’s daughters?” “When she told me she was pregnant,” she plainly answered. Along the way, I learned more about the plight of others. I learned that we all have a story. Most of us, at one time or another, have hoped for wonder-

ful things for our lives that did not come to fruition. Instead, something else took its place. Maybe there was a divorce. Maybe there was an unexpected pregnancy. Maybe our education fell short. Maybe we lost a job we worked hard to keep. Maybe someone died who we fought hard to save. Maybe we just woke up one day and no longer recognized our reflection in the mirror and decided it was time to go in search of the person we had hoped we would become. The DON’T WAIT Project® truly does mean different things to different people. It means more to me now than it did when I got in my car and traveled 2,700 miles in eight days, determined to tell everyone who was willing to listen about the importance of living the best life we can live, no matter the obstacles. Because of the tour, awareness about the Project has grown and we have received numerous messages through our website and Facebook page from people who are making positive changes in their lives because of the project. One woman wrote that she made four doctors’ appointments that she had been putting off for a year — one with her dermatologist about a suspicious mole she had been trying to ignore. The mole was precancerous and her doctor told her if she had waited any longer, she would have been dealing with a cancer diagnosis. She said the message of the project helped save her from getting cancer. A young father told us he signed up he and his sons for Tae Kwon Do and quit smoking, a 20-year habit for him, realizing he could not keep up with the class if he did not quit. He credits the project with getting him to finally sign up for the class, something he had been promising his sons but had not gotten around to doing. The message is spreading, and January 2012 | The Good Life

I intend to continue helping it along. This spring, I will set out on my second DON’T WAIT Project® Big Shoes book tour, including returning to UAB Hospital in Birmingham, Ala., where Wesley received his double lung transplant nearly eight years ago. The project is about making the decision to move forward in our lives and not letting what must heal in our lives to get in the way of who we want to become.

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Returning to UAB won’t be easy, but it is part of my own journey to being the person I am meant to be, healed and capable of not only surviving the loss of Wesley but thriving after all I have learned from the experience. Lisa Bradshaw is a mother, radio talk show host, author and philanthropist eager to share what can be gained when one is willing to learn from the unimaginable. Big Shoes: A Young Widowed Mother’s Memoir is available at www.dontwaitproject.org and in bookstores.

guest column // Leanne Wylet

Inching along — a triumph against the odds In a flash of a second, the

course of my life changed when the car I was driving was rearended on a warm fall day in 2009. The resulting seat-belt injury twisted my hips to the left and my rib cage to the right. At first, I thought my injuries were not too serious. Soon, though, my body began to deteriorate and I was in constant pain. I didn’t have use of my left arm or hand and I couldn’t raise my right arm above shoulder level. It was hard for me to dress myself, prepare food for meals or even feed myself unless the food was cut into small pieces for me to pick up with my fingers. My range of motion decreased as scar tissue formed and tendonitis in both arms forced me to wear braces. It was not until I slipped on ice, pulling my hip muscles, that I consulted a physical therapist who told me the braces had been left on too long. His diagnosis was permanent

partial disability because of bilateral frozen shoulder, a twisted skeletal frame and bent elbows. Yet, I was determined to regain full use of my body because prior to the accident, I had started exercising with kettlebells — which are weights shaped like cannon balls but with a handle. I had found that the kettlebells had been building up my body and I had developed a passion to be more physically fit. I had even thought about becoming an instructor for kettlebells. It took four months of stretching the tendons in my arms day and night before I could do even one push-up and many months later before I could extend my arms with elbows locked over my head. The accident taught me to accept my pain as a part of life — working around and through it instead of letting it defeat me. This was challenging because the pain made it hard to think clearly. There were times I was so weak and sick it was hard to sit in a chair to do research on how to rebuild my body. But still I

| The Good Life

Leanne Wylet found that resistance work with such items as kettlebells helped rebuild her body.

persisted. I designed a flexible rehab program. Besides kettlebells, I started training with a 30-foot, 15-pound rope, Indian clubs, a sledge hammer, barbells, dumbbells, jump rope, gymnastic rings, a 175-pound tractor tire I would flip over and whatever I could find in the environment.

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| January 2012

I was excited when this weight resistance work began reshaping my body, increasing my core strength, flexibility, endurance, integrity of connective tissues, ligaments/tendons and reinforcing correct movement patterns. The kettlebells also helped to get the tendons in my bent elbows straight again.

But, just as I thought the worst was over, I was wrong. In addition, for the last three years, I’ve taken Tai Chi Chuan (exercise, not martial arts application) to help bring my body into balance with its slow, flowing, gentle moves. Deep tissue therapeutic massages have released muscle restrictions and helped my body’s muscles learn how to work again. Gradually joint mobility returned and what had been lost was regained. But, just as I thought the worst was over, I was wrong. My strength gain started subsiding, my muscles became so weak I could hardly move and I had sharp shooting pain throughout my body. My thinking became foggy. The diagnosis was heavy metal toxicity from old mercury dental fillings. My dentist never saw such a bad bacterial infection from old fillings before. My face was swollen and an infection came through the tear ducts of my eyes and through the pores of my skin around my mouth.

After the fillings were gone, I went on a treatment plan to help my body’s immune system repair the damage done to my nerves, blood, organs and tissues of the body. As of March this year, my body’s immune system has been totally rebuilt. My athletic body is now restored. I no longer have frozen shoulders. I can lock my arms out over my head while holding weights, my twisted skeletal frame is now straight, I can now squat, lunge, hinge at my hips, I can keep my arms in their sockets when doing kettlebell moves, and can perform daily activities with ease with energy left over at the end of the day. I can even cut up my own food at dinner. These life-changing experiences so inspired me I wanted to share with others what I’d learned, so I obtained two personal trainer certifications to instruct others in how to design a safe, effective exercise program.

Along the way, a number of people helped me — my family, friends and health care providers. But one close friend sticks in my mind. She gave me a sticker with a picture of an inch worm, and wrote to keep “inching” along because she knew I’d make it. When two other friends heard of this gift, they each gave me an inch worm. One rainbow colored inch worm was ceramic and the other a soft Beanie Baby appropriately named “Inch.” When I was presented with these gifts I was told to keep on inching. Inch worms are now part of my business logo with kettlebells behind them. Under the logo is my motto, “Inch by inch fitness is a cinch.”

Leanne Wylet calls herself the Kettlebell Lady and offers personal training for individuals and groups from all walks of life and level of fitness. She has an in home studio and travels to her client’s home or business within the greater Wenatchee area.

>> RANDOM QUOTE

Difficult times have helped me to understand better than before, how infinitely rich and beautiful life is in every way, and that so many things that one goes worrying about are of no importance whatsoever... Isak Dinesen January 2012 | The Good Life

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The secret joy of ice fishing Standing out in the bitter cold, watching your rod for a bite is fun — really! More anglers are trying their luck on a frozen-over Fish Lake, though a jug of hot chocolate and a bowl of chili are a guaranteed good catch on a cold day.

By Dave Graybill

I still get funny looks when

I mention that my plan for the weekend is to go ice fishing. Most folks just don’t get it. How could standing around a hole in the ice on some frozen lake be a good idea? I just don’t care. While most

people are watching the Seahawks get thumped in their cozy homes, I am out in the bitter cold, watching my rod for a bite. I must admit when I first started taking my wife Eileen up to Fish Lake we pretty much had the lake to ourselves. We weren’t set up the way we are now. I just took my standard tackle, and used pretty much what I did fishing for trout in the spring

| The Good Life

and summer. Now I have all the specialized gear; a short rod, lots of jigs and tiny spoons made for ice fishing and a few other items that make me more of a true ice fishing angler. I have matured as a “hardwater” angler over the years. I learned by trial and error, and through more experienced fishers how to better enjoy my time

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| January 2012

on the ice. I have fished with natives of Michigan and have even traveled to Georgetown Lake in Montana to see how it’s done on this popular winter lake. The little tricks and techniques make our trips to frozen lakes more comfortable and successful. I mentioned that I used to use my standard trout fishing gear, which means a rod over eight feet long. I caught fish, but

learned the disadstill eagerly anticipate vantages of such a the chill of winter, and long rod. hope for a solid cap of One time I was ice on the lakes in our fishing with my wife region. and D. Fred (Dan) I am not alone. I Kuntz, who you may mentioned that my be familiar with as a wife and I used to have voice on KPQ Radio. Fish Lake pretty much I had talked him into to ourselves during the drilling the hole, winter. Well, not any claiming some sort more. of injury. He cut a big On any given Januhole so all three of us ary weekend you will could drop our lines find the ice covered in. Not a good idea. with ice anglers. There At one point Eileen are large groups of reeled a fish to the friends and families surface and we all gathered around watched it jump warming heaters and straight up, spit the are enjoying their own hook and go straight sort of tailgate party. back down through They are feasting the hole and swim on hot chili and hot away. I now cut small chocolate and if they holes, and get up catch some fish, that’s close with a short just a bonus. rod. I don’t lose very The same scene is The Cook family grandkids enjoy ice fishing on a sunny day on Fish Lake. More and more families are many fish now. repeated on several discovering the fun of a gathering on the ice in the winter. Another thing I lakes in our region. learned is not to Roses Lake near she found a sure way to cut the turn your back on your rod. I chair. I was busy with my auger Manson is a popular spot. I was was setting up Fred Harvey, of making another hole when Fred trip short. My brother Rick was a frequent visitor when I lived drilling the holes while I tested the Cashmere Pioneer Village yelled. I turned around just in in Chelan, and even conducted and Museum. We were waiting time to watch a fish pull the rod them by dropping bait through a “tagged fish” derby there in them. He worked his way ahead for a film crew to show up and tip down and my new set up January for a couple of years. of us, drilling as he went. When capture the ice fishing action at disappear through the eightPatterson Lake near Winthrop Whitney decided to run and Fish Lake. We got there early to inch hole! is one of my favorites. There are catch up with Uncle Rick she find the fish and what they were It’s amazing how six- to eightsome big perch in the lake and biting on. inch holes in the ice can become immediately stepped through we often catch rainbow of 15 one of the freshly cut holes. How inches through the ice there. I had drilled a hole and put invisible, especially to youngher boot fit through it is still a a baited hook down to where I sters. Moses Lake was very good last mystery. She got wet, and that thought I’d find a fish and set The first time I took my year, with lots of “jumbo” perch the rod and reel I had purchased daughter Whitney, who was four was the end of our adventure. of 13 inches taken. A surprisIn spite of all these mishaps I just the day before on a folding years old at the time, ice fishing }}} Continued on next page

January 2012 | The Good Life

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}}} Continued from previous page ing number of big walleye was pulled through holes in the ice. The marina at Coulee City is one of the better perch fishing spots in the winter. The fish typically aren’t very large, but there is an abundance of them. A lake to visit this year would be Rat Lake, just up the hill from Brewster. Trout fishing was very good this past season, and it should be an excellent ice fishing spot this winter. Some of these lakes are open year-round and have standard limits for perch and trout, while others have special winter seasons. It is a good idea to check the Department of Fish and Wildlife regulations before heading out. I can’t talk about ice fishing without mentioning safety on the ice. I have been lucky and have only experienced a wet boot or two over the years. I did once meet a couple of anglers at Fish Lake who had a boat cushion with 50 feet of rope

A couple of young fishermen look for fish in the holes they have just drilled at Patterson Lake.

wrapped around it close beside them. When I asked what it was for they told me one of them had broken through the ice at Roses Lake the week before. Now they keep this rig handy.

| The Good Life

To be safe, there should be four inches of ice on the lake you choose to fish. If there are other anglers present that’s a good sign, but always approach the ice with caution.

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| January 2012

When I go ice fishing now, I am layered up and have a good pair of warm boots for the occasion. I take a chair and a carpet sample to put my feet on which really helps keep my feet warm. I have a propane heater so everyone in my party can get their hands warmed after removing a fat perch from their hook. All the gear fits on a plastic sled that makes getting it out on the lake a breeze. I ignore those funny looks I get when I mention ice fishing. Those that don’t get it just aren’t part of the “club” of those in the know about the fun of punching holes in the ice to catch fish. I will be watching the temperatures drop and hoping for a long, cold winter. That will mean lots of opportunities for ice fishing fun. Dave Graybill is a writer and broadcaster of fishing information for central Washington. You can learn more about him and the activities he covers by logging onto www.FishingMagician.com, and you can e-mail questions to him at fishboy@nwi.net.

column ALEX ON WINE

ALEX SALIBY

Taken a punch but up for another round I was not a good student

in high school; truth is, I was a short, skinny, big-mouthed comedian always seeking center stage attention. Because of my mediocre grades and my lack of finances, I joined the U.S. Air Force after high school graduation. It was either that, or accept the job my mother’s boss had offered me at the factory in Newark. In the Air Force I met a young kid from Maryland, and we soon became good friends. After finishing basic training, we were sent off to Aircraft Electronics Tech School together, where, because we had finished one and two in our class respectively, we were assigned to follow-on training together. Again, we finished first and second in our class of Autopilot and Compass Systems Electronics. We were an awesome team. Orders came, and we were delighted to learn we were both assigned to the same squadron at the same base in the middle of Missouri. At the base in Missouri, my friend talked me into joining the base boxing team. I had never boxed, but I had watched a few Hollywood films about boxing. It looked like fun, so I signed on with him. We trained; we exercised — which consisted mostly of running and sweating a lot — and we were given instructions on the bags in order to develop both style and power. Then came the practice boxing bouts. We sparred, three rounds at two minutes each, with a 15 second rest between rounds. I loved those rest periods. I tell you now, first hand: two minutes in a boxing ring trying to escape from a man who’s try-

ing to punch your nose through the back side of your head takes a lifetime of energy out of you. Doing that three times in a boxing bout is an energy drain impossible to describe in polite company. All that, however, was training; the real competitive bouts were not against our sparring partner, teammates and friends, but against heavy-knuckled guys who, above all else, imagined themselves boxing champs. These guys hit for real, intending to knock you on your backside for the count. My friend stayed with his boxing for the remainder of his enlistment. He married and moved out of the barracks to offbase housing, so we saw far less of each other as our enlistments wore on. He moved up the ranks in his weight class and enjoyed some boxing status. Me, I opted out of boxing. I enrolled in the local college as my other activity. I mean, I couldn’t see any sense staying in that ring getting beaten physically when I could let some English professors beat me up intellectually. Fast forward 52 years. So, there I was at home on a Monday morning, following a simple colonoscopy procedure at

January 2012 | The Good Life

our Cascade Medical Center the preceding Thursday. The phone rang: it was the doctor bearing the news, “Biopsy reports are back — you have cancer.” That statement, “You have cancer,” from the doctor was the hardest I’d been hit since I took a right cross to the jaw in the second round of my first, last and only official boxing bout. I remember being dizzy with blurry vision following the hit of the right cross. That’s pretty much how I felt after hearing the doctor’s news: a bit staggered, still on my feet, still somewhat coherent, but dazed. That young man who delivered the right cross to my jaw was no slacker. He followed that hit with a left to my midsection. That was the hit that dropped me to my knees. I lucked out, the bell sounded and the round was over. I lost that fight, but I’ve long credited that defeat as the reason behind my greater victory. I went on to college, graduated and became, of all things imaginable, a high school English teacher. But back to the parallel of the cancer story: as it turned out, cancer dealt me a one-two punch as well. Not only was I going to have to have surgery to

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remove my colon cancer, but I was also going to have my right kidney removed because it, too, was cancerous. Those hits were more devastating than any blows to my body had ever been. Soon, thanks to the combined skills of Wenatchee Valley Medical Center’s physicians Dr. Jeffrey T. Monson, MD and Dr. Travis Clark, MD, the ogres lurking in my body were successfully removed. For a few weeks I was exhausted, feeling as if I’d just done a fresh three rounds and lost again. But here, too, I ultimately won, having received a very positive prognosis. I will enjoy another glass of wine tomorrow, and hopefully, for a great many tomorrows to come. Look in again next month when I’ll be back to the subject of wine, featuring a noted local winemaker. Until then, I’ll enjoy my time out of the ring and off the operating table. 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.

WENATCHEE OUTDOORS

WHY SNOWSHOE? Because it’s a simple, cheap way to hike through winter’s beauty

STORY AND PHOTOS By Andy Dappen

ovember snows had blanketed the region and many of us were anxious to ski. But my conscience was giving me lip, “Wait,” it argued, “Don’t hurt yourself and miss the whole season like…,” It was six years ago in early season that my skis came to a fast stop as they ground across ground and I launched forward into a fall that broke my neck. Wrestling with these unsettling vibes, I exercised a rare instance of wisdom and substituted what seemed most fun for what seemed smart – I bailed from one group headed out to

ski and joined another going snowshoeing. Saturday morning five of us arrive at the Tronsen Road parking area situated a mile below Blewett Pass. As we unpack it’s the first time I appreciate how easily five of us can fit into a car without needing ski racks or ski boxes. Our

“The great thing about winter is that you can go anywhere. The landscape becomes so much bigger.” 14

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packs, boots, poles, and snowshoes have no trouble slipping inside the car. I also get reacquainted with how little “extra” gear this endeavor requires over threeseason hiking. All of us already use the packs, clothing, boots and walking poles we have along for other outdoor endeavors. The only specialty gear accompanying us is the snowshoes themselves.    With very little gear fondling, we strap snowshoes onto the hiking boots and we’re off in the wake of Fred Stanley who’s fastest to get going. In fewer than 100 steps Fred leaves the boredom of the snowed-over road, climbs up the road bank on our left (that is so steep skiers on skinned skis

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Sarah and Mark Schaffer, and their hound, Tana, snowshoeing on Tronsen Ridge, approach the high point of the outing in stormy weather.

would be backsliding miserably), and bee-lines up the fall line. Rather than following an uninteresting road that climbs slowly at a low-angle pitch designed for sustainability rather than efficiency, Fred climbs through a pretty forest of ponderosa pines following a nononsense angle upward.   Mark Shipman is far happier blazing this direct cross-country route through the forest than wandering an inefficient road system. “The great thing about winter is that you can go anywhere. The landscape becomes

need added balance, Mark is currently completely confident in the bite of his snowshoes (MSR Lightnings) and is not at all concerned about falling. If skis were the only option for enjoying the winter landscape, Mark wouldn’t be with us — the chance of falling is just too high. At the 4,400-foot level we start climbing steeply up a small ridge system. The combination of pitch, pines and saplings would be troublesome to climb on skinned skis — there are none of the long open traverses that skis need for efficient travel. On snowshoes, however, the going is easy. We move straight up the fall line by kicking the shoes into the hill as if we were front pointing. Each kick builds a snowy platform underfoot and, almost as if we were walking up stairs, we move upward.   We intersect Bojangle Ridge and follow this ridge upward toward Tronsen Ridge.

If skis were the only option for enjoying the winter landscape, Mark wouldn’t be with us — the chance of falling is just too high.

What? No place that’s higher than this? Mountaineer Fred Stanley stands atop the high point of the trek along Tronsen Ridge.

}}} Continued on next page

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so much bigger,” said Mark. Indeed, even in these early winter conditions, the little snow we’ve received is beating down shrubs and bushes and covering fallen logs. It’s far easier to pass through here now than in summer and it will get easier still as more snow arrives. As we move upward, I evaluate the terrain we’re panning from a skier’s perspective. The snowshoes are frequently scraping dead branches, fallen logs, underlying rocks and shrubbery. This is not a problem for snowshoes — they’re built for this kind of abuse — but it would be a huge problem for skis that were slicing through the snow at speed to encounter all this hard matter. Furthermore the exposure of these slopes (west and southwest facing) are wind and sun hammered throughout the winter and would, more often than not, offer poor skiing conditions. There are dozens of places like this off the Blewett Pass Highway and in the foothills of Central Washington where snowshoes facilitate travel through interesting terrain that’s not very skiable.   We climb onward, our snowshoes frequently grinding the underlying ground, with Mark Schaffer walking polelessly in our midst. Mark broke his right wrist mountain biking this summer and can neither grip a pole with that hand nor afford to fall. Although he does carry one pole strapped to his pack should he

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“Getting out here is what it’s about — who cares what you’ve got on your feet.” }}} Continued from previous page Bojangle is an undulating affair that climbs but also has its share of dips. When I’ve skied this ridge, each of those dips is a nuisance — skinned skis make for sketchy sliding when going down these dips and, on the return trip, unskinned skis are tediously slippery as you sweat to climb back up them. On snowshoes these undulations don’t give us a second thought, we just keep walking. Eventually we intersect Tronsen Ridge and follow it upward to a 5,900-foot bump of a summit situated a few miles north and east of Diamond Head. We snack as clouds and mist swirl around us. It’s an atmosphere full of frozen crystals and veiled views. The sun tries to vaporize the clouds and occasionally its outline burns through the gray canvas above. Today, however, the moisture off the Pacific outstrips the fires of the sun.    We start our return trip and, given the soupy weather, I don’t miss the strain of skiing downward through terrain the eyes can’t interpret. Farther down the visibility improves and I mention how fun this ridge is to ski in February when the snowpack plumps up. One of the snowshoers with us is Sarah Schaffer, a Montana transplant, who in summer is an

Know of someone stepping off the beaten path in the search for fun and excitement? E-mail us at editor@ncwgoodlife.com

Snowshoeing this same route on a different day when fair weather gives the long views of Mount Stuart and the other sentinels of the Cascades out to the west. In storm or in sun, it’s fun to experience the varying moods of winter.

active hiker and climber. Sarah has been wondering about the whole backcountry skiing issue. Should she take it up? What type of skis and bindings would suit her interests best? Would she even like skiing? These are questions she really doesn’t want to get wrong when gearing up for some form of backcountry skiing (alpine touring system, telemark system, fat skis, lightweight skis) will easily set her back $1,500.   Sarah is about 30 years old and didn’t grow up skiing. She loves to hike and climb but taking up skiing as an adult is a slow learning curve for most. It will require several dedicated seasons of practice to negotiate routes like this one without face planting in the variable snows or eating bark in the tighter glades. With snowshoes she can enjoy the physical and aesthetic rewards of getting out in winter

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without much thought about technique and with only a few hundred dollars investment.   Shortly before reaching the car, Mark Shipman is in his usual life-is-good state of wellbeing. Many of us joke that the good doctor prescribes mood enhancers for himself but we’ve never caught Mr. Feel Good popping little pink uppers. We’ve concluded that something about outdoor adventures — that combination of exercise, excitement, and exploration — simply juices his happy hormones.    Mark loves backcountry skiing but he’s happy to switchhit and don whatever footwear matches the snow conditions, terrain, or the companions of the day. Which means he snowshoes a fair bit for a skier. “Skiers have this attitude of ‘Why would I ever snowshoe when I could ski?’” Mark tells me. He mentions terrain, snow conditions and heavily vegetated

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slopes where snowshoes outperform skis. But to Mark it still boils down to the basics, “Getting out here is what it’s about — who cares what you’ve got on your feet.” Why snowshoe? Because snowshoes are a simple, lightweight, inexpensive all-terrain wintertime tool. They open up the whole winter landscape and handle low snow, heavily wooded and/or rocky terrain better than skis. You can ascend or descend tight places and unobtrusively slip them into a pack when you don’t need them. They don’t take years of practice to master. Most importantly they’ll get you outside and have you loving the snowy winters of Central Washington. This story also appears on Wenatcheeoutdoors.org — the site covers such topics as hiking, biking, climbing, paddling, trail running and skiing in the region.

Hiking all year By Andy Dappen

he surprised me. Susan Ballinger, normally a devout anti-gearhead, was singing the praises of the Kahtoola MicroSpikes as if she’d had a religious conversion. She had started using these traction devices for the feet on the Saddle Rock trails over a year ago. And she liked them. A lot. Now a believer, she used the spikes regularly to walk in the hills when the paths were frozen and to avoid those times when the trails were partially thawed and muddy times when walking actually damaged the trails. She used them frequently in places around the Methow Valley on get-away weekends. She used them in March to descend into the Grand Canyon when the trails at the rim were frozen and treacherous. “They make all the difference in your willingness to walk in winter.” Just the other day, she told me, friends had dropped by her home located near the Saddle Rock trails. The trails were frozen and slick, and the couple had gone but a short distance before abandoning their walk. Susan lent them two pairs of MicroSpikes and sent them back out. “They were amazed how good the traction was and how secure they felt. I suspect there are two

How to bite into the slippery outdoors

the hang of.” She didn’t blow me off for what I was — a proselytizer selling my own brand of religion. Instead, knowing what MicroSpikes had done for her willingness to get out walking in the shoulder seasons, it made sense that one more tool in the kit MicroSpikes: Grip the snowy, icy and muddy trail. would accommodate year-around walking. “That’s a great idea,” more MicroSpike owners now.” she said. For a few years now, the Of course good ideas are often WenatcheeOutdoors website has slow to take root. been advocating two products Usually our “aha” moments that make all the difference for come through personal experihiking all year long. ence rather than through the Susan had found half the adoption of what others preach. formula and it felt right to push Still, as Susan was now encourher toward total conversion, so aging others to use MicroSpikes, I told her, “I’ve been wondering I encouraged her to think about why your women’s hiking group snowshoes once the hills were knocks off during winter. If whitewashed. everyone in the group owned a As for you, Dear Readers, you pair of MicroSpikes AND, if you may not be a believer either each had a good pair of snowuntil you learn through personal shoes, you’d be hiking all year experience that, with the right long.” footwear, winter walking is I mentioned that good snowamazingly beautiful, illogically shoes were just as versatile and entertaining and inanely easy. easy to use for snow-covered So borrow a pair of miground as MicroSpikes were for crospikes and snowshoes and frozen ground. “And snowshoes see if I’m not spewing truth. take about half an hour to get

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Once you get going on yearround hiking, anyone with either an aesthetic or adventurous streak is in danger of becoming a Susan-styled believer.

Where to Go

There’s no shortage of nearby places to keep walking throughout the autumn and winter when you’ve got MicroSpikes or snowshoes in the quiver. Use whichever footwear is best suited for the day — MicroSpikes for frozen ground, snowshoes if there’s more than boot-top snow on the ground. Near Wenatchee, visit the trails around Saddle Rock and Dry Gulch, use the roads and trails on Twin Peaks, walk the Horse Lake Road, or use the Clara Lake Trail. Near Cashmere, walk along Butler Ridge. Near Leavenworth use the Icicle Ridge Trail, Freund Canyon roads, Ranger Road, Penstock Trail, or Snow Creek Trail. Near Chelan, walk the trails and roads of Chelan Butte. The WenatcheeOutdoors Hiking Guidebook and Snowshoeing Guidebook have over a 100 other regional walks to try. This story also appears on Wenatcheeoutdoors.org — the site covers such topics as hiking, biking, climbing, paddling, trail running and skiing in the region.

Rock on! By Toby Johnson

What if you could

make the world around you more beautiful? About four years ago I saw a YouTube video about a guy who likes to stack rocks. He did it in random places and left them for others to enjoy. Just after that, I noticed a beautiful stack of river rocks in the middle of the stream up Blewett Pass. I thought, “Wow, that’s so pretty.” A year later, I saw that video again and, while camping with my family at the beach, I decided to try it. What I found was something I could do rather easily and so many people enjoyed those stacks by the beach.

Inspiration is a funny thing, it’s like an idea, once it’s out there, you can’t stop it. I have a lovely wife and three wonderful children so I often stack the rocks either really early in the morning or late at night when everyone is in bed. A couple of times, when I stacked them at a park, it worried me that a little child might push them over and have a rock land on them, so I try to stack them in places where no children would be... along the highway, at an exit or on-ramp. So, why take the time to pull over and stack a few rocks? I supposed it is my way of making the world a little more beautiful. Sort of a natural graffiti. One friend suggested I use something to hold the rocks together such as adhesive caulk,

Some of Toby’s creations: Look quickly before they are gone.

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Toby Johnson oh-so-carefully sets a big rock on a smaller river rock. “I know the wind may knock them over, or some kids, but that’s all right, I knocked over things when I was a kid, too.”

but a big part of the fun is to see how long they will stand up. When the next big windstorm, or rascal who wants to push them over, comes along, then I do it all over again. Some of the stacks have been standing for over a year — even through last winter. Only once have I seen a rock stack in the Wenatchee area that wasn’t mine, but I’ve heard there are more and more popping up. My dad asked me just yesterday if I had done the ones in Rock Island — nope. But maybe I passed that beauty on to someone else. Find out what you love, and share it with the world. Bring a smile to others, bring beauty to the world around you. Toby Johnson lives in Cashmere and is a seventh grade teacher at Foothills Middle School in Wenatchee.

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Volunteers

One jazzy problem solver From selling doughnuts to coordinating the pro, Gina Jans puts the music in Jazz Week By Chris Rader

he Wenatchee Jazz Workshop is not only a training ground for aspiring young musicians, but also a lab where adult volunteer peons can morph into CEOs. At least that’s been the experience of Gina Jans, who took over the leadership of the annual program from founder Jeff Sandberg, Sr. three years ago. “I started out putting up posters for the concerts in 2001,” she said. “Each year I took on a little more and a little more: distributing tickets to sales outlets, helping with refreshments, communicating with parents, asking restaurants to donate meals for the pros who came to town to work with the kids. There’s so much to do!” Gina now chairs the steering committee that presents the annual Wenatchee Jazz Workshop, thought to be the only program of its kind in the U.S. It brings six professional jazz musicians to town for five days to work with jazz band students from Wenatchee and Eastmont middle and high schools. After informally demonstrat-

Although he’s played with Paul McCartney, Elton John and Quincy Jones, Los Angeles trombonist Ira Nepus is just one of the guys (and gals) in the Wenatchee High School jazz band rehearsing for a performance that capped off the February 2011 Wenatchee Jazz Workshop. Photographer was Laurie Flarity-White

ing techniques while sitting right in the sections with the kids, the pros present two public concerts: one by themselves and one featuring the students they’ve been jamming with all week. Gina first took an interest in the workshop when her son Greg, now 24, was a band student at Foothills Middle School in 2001, the first year for WJW. “He was pretty excited to be playing with drummer Joe LaBarbera, and I was thrilled with what I saw at the concerts,” she said. “The pros were great, of course, but the student night blew me away. To see all those kids, having worked so hard with these star musicians all week and then playing with such enthusiasm — it was wonderful.” When Greg entered jazz band

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at Wenatchee High School, Gina offered to help Jeff Sandberg promote the two concerts. She got to know other parent volunteers like Debbie Williams, whose son Kevin is now a music teacher in Woodinville. “You make friends when you get involved with a cause you care about,” she said. “Debbie and I worked well together.” Over the following years the two women took on more responsibilities. As more schools signed on and the workshop grew, so did the need for fundraising — and Gina stepped up. “We sold doughnuts, got people to donate for auctions, set up benefit concerts and held spaghetti feeds,” she recalled. “Loretta Cayton got Sons of Italy to make spaghetti at the middle school one year, and we gathered lots of auction items. www.ncwgoodlife.com

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Another year I watched in awe as Selina Danko cooked vats and vats of pasta, along with loaves and loaves of bread, at First Methodist Church. Church members enjoyed the dinner and helped us with their donations. “These were a lot of work considering the money we raised, but it all helps!” The WJW, now in its 12th year, primarily depends on contributions from local businesses and individuals to support the $35,000 budget that Gina tracks throughout the year. Hotels, restaurants, car dealerships, printing companies and others make in-kind donations that ease the burden of raising cash, she said. She and fellow jazz fan Mike Choman (whose son Sam is an ace on jazz saxophone, clarinet

“Some people are thinkers and some are doers. Thank God Gina is both.” and guitar) have written several grant applications — and she leads a cadre of six or seven other volunteers in pounding the pavement each year in search of friendly donors. Although her own kids have graduated from high school (her daughter Karen participated in the jazz workshop too; daughter Ingrid played in the orchestra), Gina is hooked on the Wenatchee Jazz Workshop and doesn’t see quitting anytime soon. “I’ve always loved to be behind the scenes organizing and problem solving,” she said. “Years ago in Seattle I worked for a big law firm as a paralegal. I enjoyed tying loose ends together using outlines and ‘to-do’ lists, tabs for binders and three-by-five cards. My friends tease me about my outlines and lists but I like to make order out of chaos.” “Some people are thinkers and some are doers,” WJW music and education director Erin Smith observed. “Thank God Gina is both.” Gina works closely with Erin to schedule five days of practice time and bussing to Wenatchee High School for six band sections from each of six schools.

Jazz workshop and performances Feb. 6-10 This year’s Wenatchee Jazz Workshop is Feb. 6-10, led once again by Tom Peterson, saxophone; Clay Jenkins, trumpet; Ira Nepus, trombone; Rich Eames, piano; Jeff d’Angelo, bass; and Dick Weller, drums. The public is invited to both concerts at the Performing Arts Center: Jazznight with the Pros Thursday, Feb. 9, 7:30 p.m. and Jazznight with Students and Pros Friday, Feb. 10, 7:30 p.m. See www.wenatcheejazzworkshop. com for photos and more information.

Gina Jans: Making order out of chaos.

She also makes flight and shuttle arrangements for the visiting pros; negotiates contracts and hotel accommodations; oversees publicity, printing and a myriad of other details down to stocking up on water bottles; and even throws a party for the pros and volunteers at the end of the week. “Then there’s the anxiety over the guys’ return to L.A. or New York,” she laughed. “Will they be able to fly out of Wenatchee? How low is the cloud cover? There’ve been several years where we’ve had to rent them a large SUV, give them a map and send them over the mountains to SeaTac to make their connect-

ing flights.” The first time Gina met saxophonist Tom Peterson, who has taught jazz band students in Wenatchee for 13 years (even before the jazz workshop took its present form), she was awe-

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struck and nervous. Now, she looks forward to greeting Peterson and his cohorts and spending a week with them. “The pros are part of why I keep doing this,” she said. “They’re the nicest bunch of guys! I love driving them around, listening to them talk about who they’ve been playing with, where they’ve been. They’re old friends but have their own careers and don’t play together often, so they like coming to Wenatchee to hang out with each other — plus they really like our valley and the setup of the workshop.” Gina says volunteering to coordinate a large program has many rewards. One is the friendships that develop with other volunteers. It’s also satisfying to work toward a common cause that has tangible community benefits. “And maybe the best part,” she said, “is the great feeling after it’s all over when people tell you, ‘That was so cool!’”

Good solutions & New Year’s

re-solutions Story by Susan Lagsdin, Photos by Donna Cassidy

ust because fine homes are featured in a magazine article — like the ones chosen each month for The Good Life — doesn’t mean they are complete. Oh no, people being people, sometimes their needs change and sometimes they need change. Here is a look back at five homes that we’ve featured in the past with some work that has already been done as well as some “re-solutions” for 2012. Maybe these owners’ homey ambitions, really just “to do lists” shared with readers, will inspire some of your own fix-up, re-do, get-er-done House Beautiful projects. You may remember the clean lines of Steve and Claudia Anderson’s home on Eagle Rock in our June issue 2011, and their carefully selected, deliberately sparse décor. What you purposefully weren’t shown in that feature was a photo of the existing fireplace, which they had disliked, just a little, since it was built. This fall, they went retro and replaced their gas fireplace with a wood burn-

ing one (albeit a state-of-the-art insert). Steve says, “It is very efficient and much more satisfying on cold, dreary days.” They added a redwood mantle, and the stucco surround was replaced with granite squares. Besides mitering the corners with a water jet (“Just to improve the look,” he says), they challenged their tile-setter with an unusual request for no grout. The total effect is shown in a recent photo at right.

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The Tudor-traditional home in Leavenworth (aka ”Snow White’s House” to some) was covered in winter white when you saw it featured last February. See photo above. While the weather was good — a long time this year — the Blackburn’s extended their lawn

and built a fire pit for family and company cookouts. (The pergola that was to accompany it, postponed by cold weather, has already been relegated to 2012’s to-do list.) However, there was some good indoor construction — Rick expanded the use of the little craft room off the upstairs master bedroom. He constructed an-

other desktop and shelves on the west wall to mirror the ones on the east wall, plus made another narrow-depth hanging shelf for the north wall. Jill, who will benefit most often from the new shelving, says, “We had to stop there, because the south wall is all windows!”

NCW Home Professionals

>> RANDOM QUOTE

In between goals is a thing called life, that has to be lived and enjoyed. Sid Caesar

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For 24 years Joyce O’Neal has lived in relative harmony with the sturdy, functional concrete block garage at the end of her driveway on Castlerock Avenue. She’s dressed it up recently with nicer windows than it was given at birth, even installed new automatic garage doors with windows. But the overall look just doesn’t go with her tall, stately Victorian house. (See photo below from the past October’s issue.) A builder friend was willing

The home featured at the start of The Good Life’s “At Home” series in August 2010 was built by Randy Wessman, and just missed inclusion in that year’s Home Tour. See it above. It since had the pleasure of accommodating not only the Jenkins family of Edmonds — who all delight in seasonal NCW sports — but numerous friends who’ve generously been invited

to stay and play. The first addition was a storage shed (congruent with the home’s architecture) and a fire pit with dual propane/wood heat. They complemented the interior with a few new items of furniture, décor and kitchen goods. In the future, they’d like to enhance the outdoor living area of their Icicle Creek Road home, while maintaining a unified look throughout the property. Plans include re-roofing a graceful old

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barn near their back meadow and creating at least a semi-enclosed living/picnic space in it, and adding a barbecue, hot tub, and pool to the closer-in backyard area. A resort in Utah gave Kristi and Tim another good idea. “We plan on sinking hammock supports into the ground to create some spots to hang a hammock and read,” he says. “Also a detached support probably made of logs, to hang a chair swing for two.”

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to do it but got busy every year. “Finally,” she said, “he looked at my budget and said: ‘How about if I do it for less than that?’ He was on!” The big change should come at last this spring: all new siding to match the main house — fish tail scallops on the top, with a base of vertical tonguein-groove. “We’re even going to put scaled-down shutters on it, with the same cut out pine trees” The garage, not huge but visually prominent, will soon be a congruent part of the traditional look that Joyce loves.

Fred Dowdy built a great new house (pictured above) for Willis and Michelle Flood on the banks of the Wenatchee River outside of Leavenworth, and you saw it in our October 2010 issue. Since the original article on the house, says Willis, “We have

relocated the garden and built a picket fence, gate and arbor — and had a great harvest of tomatoes, carrots and beets!” They also built a storage shed behind the garage for garden tools and scrap lumber. Currently they are hard at work building “mezzanine shelving” above the main floor level in their exist-

ing garage and workshop area to extend the storage space. In 2012, they envision going up even farther — they plan to finish the attic with insulation, drywall and shelves, a great way to accommodate more family fun.

NCW Home Professionals

>> RANDOM QUOTE

Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life. Buddha

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column GARDEN OF DELIGHTS

bonnie orr

Soups as beautiful as they taste W

hen gardeners get together to admire each other’s flowers and vegetables, the talk soon moves toward cooking. Why grow vegetables if you haven’t the zeal to cook them? In summer, my neighbor Tom Bergstrom will saunter into my garden with his springer spaniel, Bentley, to see This beef and barley soup has a little spicy twist, and served with homemade bread, can how the beans brighten a dark winter day. are progressing 3 large carrots sliced and to ascertain if frozen ones from the grocery 1 cup small mushrooms sliced my tomatoes are ripening faster store. If you use canned veg2 cups corn than his. etables, be sure to add the liquid 4 cups diced tomatoes Tom tells me that he is a masfrom the can. 1 cup black beans ter soup maker. He loves to cook All the prep for the soup can 1/3 cup of raw barley soup, which nourishes his fambe done a day or so in advance. 1 tsp of sugar ily and stimulates his creative Store the prepared meat and 1 bay leaf cooking all year round. veggies in the fridge, and it is a 6 drops of Frank’s Red Hot Sauce or In the summer he uses fresh snap to assemble the soup. other liquid pepper sauce. vegetables and in the winter preUsing a crock pot allows you 2 tsp. Hoisin sauce served ones. His soups look as to go off and ski or hike for the 1/2 tsp. of fresh ground black pepbeautiful as they taste, and they day and come home to your fraper 1 teaspoon each dried basil, thyme include a peppery accent. grant house and merely sit down and chives. January is soup weather. Soups to eat. If you do not have a crock 5 cups beef broth are easy, carefree and make the pot use a large, heavy soup or house smell wonderful. sauce pot and simmer the soup 1. Cook the meats in the oil until In addition, for me, hearty on low for several hours but they begin to brown. Then add the soups bring back the taste of don’t go off and leave it cooking onions and celery to brown. summer. If you have not preunattended. 2. Put all the ingredients in a large served some of the vegetables crock pot. from your garden, use cans or 3. Cook for 4-6 hours or until the >> RANDOM QUOTE

Being on the tightrope is living; everything else is waiting. Karl Wallenda

Tom’s Beef & Barley Soup with a Twist

1 lb. of sirloin steak cut into 1-inch chunks 4 Jimmy Dean sausage patties 1 tablespoon oil 3 stalks celery diced 1 cup pearl onions 2 cloves garlic, chopped

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aroma drives you so hungry you just have to eat. Tom says his second soup is rich and hearty. This soup is a bit more complicated to make, but the barbecued chicken gives the soup a marvelous richness. The Bergstroms barbecue on their deck all year round, and if you

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do as well, this recipe is a must try. (The spice mixes Tom uses can be purchased at Fred Meyers.)

Tom’s Barbecued Kick’n Chicken Creamed Soup 3 medium-sized chicken breasts 1 tablespoon Weber’s Kick’n Chicken spice mix Olive oil 2 strips pepper bacon 1 cup onions diced 3 stalks celery diced 1 cup sliced mushrooms 3 potatoes peeled and diced. 4 carrots diced 1 zucchini diced 2 cups diced tomatoes 4 cups chicken broth 2 teaspoons each dried basil, thyme, oregano and chives 1/2 tsp ground pepper 1 cup half-and-half Fire up the barbecue. Coat the chicken with the Kick’n Chicken spice mix and cook until nicely browned, and the meat is no longer pink inside. Mist or brush with olive oil each time you turn the chicken on the grill. Cut the chicken into small cubes Cook, drain and dice the bacon strips. Brown the onion, celery and mushrooms in a teaspoon of bacon drippings. Add all the ingredients to a crock pot and cook for 4-6 hours. Half an hour before serving, stir in the half-and-half. Do not allow the soup to boil again.

Serve either of these soups with a hearty bread or homemade biscuits. Bonnie Orr — the dirt diva — gardens and cooks in East Wenatchee.

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june darling

A resolution for 2012

Hang out with better people We worry about the kids

our young people are hanging out with because we know how easily they can be swayed by their peers. What we don’t realize is how easily we, too, can be influenced by our social group to conform. We can use the power of positive peer pressure to achieve our goals effortlessly this coming year. Yes, it’s January — time to get psyched up to set some new goals. Do I hear some groaning out there? If so, it no longer surprises me. After spending many days of goal-setting myself, I have a greater appreciation for some people’s pain, suffering and sheer boredom around goalsetting. Many people don’t know what they want. They don’t have an exciting vision. The whole process is stressful and can turn some cheerful, spirited folks into grumps or narcoleptics. If you are one of the many who has problems with goal-setting, not to mention goal achievement, positive peer pressure is especially for you. Some highly respected researchers believe it’s even more effective than our usual goal-setting techniques specifically because it is largely unconscious. To understand how and why positive peer pressure can work for you, start by remembering the famous conformity experiments in social psychology conducted by Dr. Solomon Asch in the 1950s. At the time his research shocked nearly everyone including Dr. Asch himself. As you may recall 75 percent

of the participants in Asch’s experiments agreed at least once with group members who were clearly wrong about something everyone could see with their own eyes (such as the length of two lines). Human beings, it seems, are highly vulnerable to the opinions and behaviors of others. Other recent social scientists have theorized about why this happens. The answer is pretty simple. We’ve probably all seen it and succumbed to it. People of both genders and all ages actively seek acceptance of and avoid rejection by their social group. Dr. Wendy Treynor outlines this dynamic in her book, Towards a General Theory of Social Psychology: Understanding Human Cruelty, Human Misery, and, Perhaps, a Remedy: A Theory of the Socialization Process. Dr. Treynor says that we naturally and mostly unconsciously adjust ourselves internally and externally to be like others. We slip into a new identity consistent with our social group. This is exactly the force we can use to our advantage with the positive peer pressure method of goal achievement. The basic idea is that if you want to significantly, successfully and easily change who you are, then change the group you’re hanging around with. Look around for a group that you respect. It could be a church group, a service club, or special interest group. Most of these groups are easy to get into. Tell yourself, “I’m going to allow these esteemed people to rub off on me.” Dr. Ken Dychtwald, a noted authority on living the good life, started volunteering with January 2012 | The Good Life

Habitat for Humanity some years ago. He speaks of the “good people” he met who were “frankly a better lot” than he was previously associated with. Dychtwald credits his positive peer interactions with helping him become a much better version of himself. Dychtwald suggests that we, too, experiment with hanging out with better people to change ourselves. Here are some specific suggestions. Find what seems to be a good role-model group. Check them out by spending time with them. See if they are thinking and behaving in ways you regard highly. If they are not who you want to be, perhaps you’ve gained

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valuable clarity on your values and aspirations. Find a new group. If you do admire what you see and hear, allow the power of positive peer pressure to naturally push you toward becoming the person you want to be. How might you move up to The Good Life by hanging out with better people? 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.

column THE TRAVELing DOCTOR

jim brown, m.d.

On the road again, happy to be alive I

am awed by the speed of travel where we can leave Wenatchee at 6 a.m. and in less than 14 hours be eating in a restaurant half-way around the world, trying to decipher a menu that we cannot read and enjoying food we have never heard of before. I find all that very exciting. There are many reasons why people love to travel. Most people enjoy new experiences, experiencing an entirely different environment from their daily lives, seeing sights they have only previously read about, and meeting new people whose lives are so different from theirs. Mark Twain said, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow- Zion Park: A beautiful canyon with red colored mountains and steep cliffs. minded thinking.” Paulo Coehlo, a Brazilian are passing by faster nowadays author, says it better. “When you than they used to? Each additravel, you experience in a very tional unit of time is a smaller practical way, the art of rebirth. portion of our total experience. You confront completely new For a newborn baby its first year situations, the day passes more is the sum total of its life. For a slowly, and on most journeys 10-year-old it is one tenth of his you don’t even understand the life, and for a 50-year-old time language people speak. Since is passing five times faster still, all things are new, you see only and a year is but two percent of the beauty in them and you feel his life. A whole year for him can happy to be alive.” actually consume less conscious When Lynn and I travel, time time than did four days when he does seem to slow down for us. was one year old.” We marvel at how much we have If I can, mentally at least, slow Park. Nevertheless, it was a good seen and done in what was a this process down, I want to do choice. relatively short time. As you get it. Travel does that for us. St. George is a nice city of older, the slowing of time is a Recently Lynn and I took a 80,000 in a beautiful setting special gift. driving trip to Zion and Bryce with many excellent restaurants Guy Merchie, in his wonderNational Parks, which we had and art galleries. We like to stay ful book, The Seven Mysteries of never visited before. We decided at B & B’s when possible because Life, talks about the acceleration to base our trip in St. George, they offer a chance to meet new of time with age. Utah before we realized that it people — the innkeepers and He says, “Have you ever nowas a three-hour drive to Bryce the other guests. ticed that the years of your life Canyon and one hour to Zion We stayed at the Seven Wives

When Lynn and I travel, time does seem to slow down for us. ... As you get older, the slowing of time is a special gift.

| The Good Life

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| January 2012

Inn owned by a young couple who had moved there in 2004 from Los Angeles to escape their hectic freeway lifestyle. The Inn is located in the heart of the historic district across the street from Brigham Young’s winter home. Edmund Willy, who built the Inn in 1873, hid polygamists in the attic after polygamy was outlawed by the U.S. government in 1882. One of the men he hid did have seven wives, hence the name of this Inn. In 1981 the house was renovated and became the first bed and breakfast registered in the state of Utah. Zion National Park welcomes 3 million visitors annually from throughout the world. The park elevations range from 3,600 to 8,700 feet with a wide variety of environments. The park entrance fee is $25 per car or free if you have a Golden Age National Park Pass. Lynn and I took several hikes along the way and spent the day in this beautiful canyon with its red colored mountains and steep cliffs. The next day we left early for the three-hour drive to Bryce Canyon. To get there on high-

After our enjoyable conversation as she served our coffee, she said, “There you have it. My life in a nutshell.” way 14, we went over a 9,700 ft. pass where, at 32 degrees, it had started snowing. This was midOctober. Once we got to Bryce which is located at 10,000 feet, it was quite chilly. You can take a shuttle bus for the 17-mile rim drive or drive your own car, which I would recommend. There are numerous overlook stops with spectacular views. Bryce is filled with hoodoos, which are pillars of rock with fantastic shapes formed by erosion. In 1923, President Harding proclaimed part of this area as a national monument. Later it became a national park. Each year 1.5 million people visit this magical natural scenic park that is open year-round. Our last full day was spent enjoying St. George as well as Snow Canyon, one of Utah’s 43 state parks that is only 20 minutes outside of St. George. The state park ranger described it as a “mini Zion park.” It was lovely with many enjoyable hiking trails. The red rock was a beautiful contrast to the blue green and golden foliage. We also drove to nearby Kayenta, which is a new desert community development. Homes are all one-story built low to the ground to blend into the environment. There are no streetlights. The tiny village of Kayenta has several art studios where one can interact with the artists. Having never spent much time in Utah before, we found a new appreciation for its beauty, and we have only scratched the sur-

face of what Utah’s parks have to offer. Driving home through sparsely populated southern Idaho, we were looking forward to having a latte. The closest place shown on our phone app “Yelp” was 40 miles away in Burley, Idaho. Alice’s Coffee and Espresso and Bookstore had five stars. We discovered it to be a tiny and somewhat funky spot. Inside were thousands of used books and a number of people squeezed around small tables enjoying coffee and conversation. Alice, herself, was very interesting. When she learned we were from Wenatchee, she told us that she and her husband were youth pastors 35 years ago in Chelan at the Assembly of God Church. She later returned to college for a PhD. in counseling. After preaching in several towns in southern Idaho, she and her husband retired 15 years ago and opened the coffee shop. They both still frequently fill in preaching in the area. After our enjoyable conversation as she served our coffee, she said, “There you have it. My life in a nutshell.” What could be more interesting than meeting new people and making connections? It only takes a few questions and an honest interest. Most people are happy to share their experiences and we always feel enriched by them. Correction: A Good Life editing error in Jim Brown’s December article about traveling in the Dolomites incorrectly said President Merkel of Russia was scheduled to address a conference on world peace. Angela Merkel is the Chancellor of Germany.

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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.

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WHAT TO DO

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Writer’s Competition. Write On The River is now accepting entries for two prose categories: Fiction and nonfiction. Each submission must be no more than 1,000 words. Cash prizes for first – third places ($300 $200, $100). Cost: $20 entry fee or $40 for entry with written critique from judges) for each submission. Postmark deadline 2/10. Info: writeontheriver.org.

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Space is limited. 509-665-8195 or www.nchba.cc

Wenatchee Blues Jam, 1/2, 7 - 10 p.m. Open blues jam every first Monday of the month. Bring your own instrument or voice. Drums and PA provided. Caffe Mela. Info: Tomasz Cibicki 669-8200. Mission: Improv, 1/5, 7 p.m. every Thursday. Free open workshop, theater games for novice and experienced players. Fun and casual. Riverside Playhouse. Info: www. mtow.org. Gallery 4 South, 1/6, 5 – 8 p.m. Meet the artist, enjoy the art, conversation and hors d’oeuvres. Cost: free.

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| January 2012

Wenatchee First Fridays, 1/6, 5 p.m. – 8 p.m. Walk downtown for art, music, dining and entertainment. Downtown Wenatchee. Winterfest Fire and Ice Festival, 1/6 – 8 & 1/13- 15. Ice sculptures, live music, beach bonfire, polar bear splash, Winterfest Wine Walk and fireworks. Downtown Chelan. Info: lakechelanwinterfest. com. 2 Rivers Art Gallery, 1/6, 5 – 8 p.m. Featured artist Martha Flores, wine and refreshments, live music by Suzanne Grassell. 102 N Columbia, Wenatchee. Cost: free. Winter Sports in the Wenatchee Valley, 1/6, 5 – 8 p.m. Exhibit includes items and photographs from the museum’s collection as well as Bill Asplund’s collection. Also, through the efforts of Georgia Bakke-Tull memorabilia, photographs and equipment will be on display from the Ancient Skiers of the Pacific Northwest Ski Museum, the Leavenworth Ski Hill Heritage Fund, and the private collections of Carl Stingl of the 10th Mountain Division, Jackie & Robin DeGroot, and Kjell Bakke. Refreshments. Part of First Friday.

WHAT TO DO

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Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center.

ing the trees, scaring away the evil spirits and inviting the good spirits to reside and bless us with a good crop, bonfire, good food and fellowship. Orondo Cider Works. Info: lakechelan.com.

Latin Food Cooking Class, 1/7, 2 – 4 p.m. Pork with green chile Verde, shredded beef enchiladas with red chipotle adobe sauce, chicken with a chocolate Mole sauce, finished with banana flan. Chateau Faire Le Pont Winery. Cost: $45. Info: 667-WINE.

Vineyard Snowshoe and Dinner, 1/7, 1/14, 1/15, & 1/28, 4:30 p.m. Journey into a breathtaking winter wonderland with a guided vineyard snowshoe trek with winemaker Don Wood. Ending with fireside dinner at log home winery by Smokeblossom. Icicle Ridge Winery. Cost: $65. Info: 548-7019.

Wassailing Party, 1/7, 2:30 p.m. Wassailing traditions include singing parade into the orchard, bless-

Ski for Health Day, 1/8, noon - 3 p.m. Receive free ski equipment, trail passes and Nordic lessons.

January 2012 | The Good Life

Outdoor retailers and fitness experts on site. Icicle River Trails. Cost: free. Info: 548-5477. Cajun Mama Cooking Class, 1/10, 5:30 p.m. Bayou Cajun popcorn shrimp with a tangy remoulade sauce, crab salad, black eye peas and gumbo, red beans and rice, sweet potato casserole, New Orleans style bread pudding with bourbon sauce. The Ivy Wild Inn. Cost: $40. Info: theivywildinn.com. Wally Peterson Memorial Snowmobile Drag Races, 1/14, 10 a.m. The MA-8 Gold Course at Mill Bay Casino. Info: blamar@nwi. net.

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Vin du Lac’s Winterfest Winemaker’s Dinner, 1/14, 5 p.m. Social hour, local jazz musician Chris Frue, dinner at 6 p.m. Four course dinner with wine pairings. At 8 p.m. fireworks. Vin du Lac Winery, Chelan. Cost: $60. Info: vindulac. com. Bad Boys of ArenaCross, 1/13 – 1/14, 7:30. See riders compete on a Supercross style motocross track with double and tripe jumps sending riders flying over 70 feet through the air. Town Toyota Center. Cost: $15, $20 or $25. Info: towntoyotacenter.com.

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WHAT TO DO

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

}}} Continued from previous page Skirennen Citizen Race, 1/14, 8 a.m. Mass start Nordic races for 10, 2, 1 km. Leavenworth Golf Course trails. Cost: $8 - $25. Info: skileavenworth.com/events. Apple City Roller Derby Bout, 1/14, 7 p.m. All female skaters. Sportsplex, Fifth St. Cost: $10. Info:

applecityrollerderby.com KOHO Radio’s Chili Cook Off, 1/14, noon. Professional chefs battle it out. Leavenworth Ski Hill. Cost: free. Info: skileavenworth. com/events. Family ArtVentures: Japanese Puppetry, 1/14, 10 a.m. – noon. Celebrate Japanese culture by creating a Bunraku-style puppet, a form of puppetry that was an outgrowth of competing Kabuki theaters in the 1600s. This unusual technique features large puppets walking freely through the set, with the help of human assistants, instead of staying within the confining walls of the puppet stage. Susan Heminger will help students learn traditional Bunraku performance techniques during the workshop. Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center. Cost: $5 adults, $4 seniors and kids. Bavarian Ice Fest, 1/14 – 15. Play day with contests, snow sculpting, smooshing, entertainment, fireworks and more. Downtown Leavenworth. Cost: free. Info: 548-5807. Night at the Lab Sleepover, 1/14, 6 p.m. Young scientists can participate in their own experiments, take a flashlight tour of museum secret spaces and collections, try out some food from our test kitchen (guaranteed to be delicious!), and watch daring scientists perform their own chemical trials on the silent screen with the accompaniment of talented organist Brad Miller, who has been playing the Liberty Theater Pipe Organ since its installation at the museum in 1989. Preregister at 888-6240. Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center. Cost: $30 for kids 7 and up and $25 for adults. Winter Piano Festival, 1/14 & 1/15. Featuring Oksana Ezhokina, Seth Knopp and Christina Dahl on

Saturday. On Sunday there will be a young artist concert. Icicle Creek for the Arts, Leavenworth. Ice Fest’s Snowshoe Demo & Relay Race, 1/15, 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. MSR and Atlas snowshoe demo with relay races. Winners receive a tube park pass. Leavenworth Ski Hill. Cost: free. Info: skileavenworth.com/events. 21 Days to Transformation, 1/16 – 2/3, 6:30 a.m. – 7:30 a.m. This 21-Day Transformational Yoga Class Series is a complete program designed specifically for deepening our relationship with our selves and the world around us. It is for letting go of limiting patterns and beliefs and setting into motion new ways of thinking and living; for strengthening our core, hardening our bodies, and softening our hearts; and for establishing healthy routines in our daily lives that include yoga, meditation, and mindful nutrition. Snowcreek Yoga, Leavenworth. Info: snowcreekhealth.com. Environmental film: Vanishing of the Bees, 1/17, 7 p.m. Filmed in the U.S., Europe, Australia and Asia, this 90-minute documentary examines the alarming disappearance of honeybees and the greater meaning it holds about the relationship between mankind and Mother Earth. Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center. Harvey, 1/19-21, 26-28, 2/2-4, 7:30 p.m. & 2 p.m. matinee on 1/28. Music Theatre of Wenatchee presents Harvey. When Elwood P. Dowd starts to introduce his imaginary friend, Harvey, a six-and-a-half foot rabbit, to guests at a society party, his sister, Veta, has seen as much of his eccentric behavior as she can tolerate. She decides to have him committed to a sanitarium to spare her daughter, Myrtle Mae, and their family from future embarrassment. Problems arise, however, when

Veta herself is mistakenly assumed to be on the verge of lunacy when she explains to doctors that years of living with Elwood’s hallucination have caused her to see Harvey also. Riverside Playhouse. Info: mtow.org. Bakke Cup, 1/21, 11 a.m. Alpine race, ski jump competition and Nordic race. Leavenworth Ski Hill. Cost: $10 or $25 family. Wenatchee Winter Wine Gala, 1/21, 6 – 9 p.m. Stroll the halls of the museum while sampling the flavors of the region, which include samples from the best chefs and winemakers in the area. Listen to music by a trio of the Wenatchee Valley Symphony and classical guitarist Charlie Solbrig. This immersion in the Wenatchee Valley’s culinary, enological, artistic and cultural heritage provides an elegant evening that benefits the programs and services of the Wenatchee Valley Museum. Food, wine, live music and good company make this the ultimate event of the season. Cost $40. Info: wvmcc.org. Tropics Cooking Class, 1/24, 5:30 p.m. Mango tango chicken salad, Caribbean cobb salad, pineapple-coconut rice, spicy tropical gazpacho, mango-mustard glazed chicken, Gold-Coast grouper with Mojo marinara, pineapple-run bread pudding. The Ivy Wild Inn. Cost: $40. Info: theivywildinn.com. The Music of Abba, 1/25, 7:30 p.m. Music lovers will be able to turn the clock back 30 years to the time when the Swedish quartet swept the disco scene. Performing Arts Center. Cost: $45 adults, $42 seniors, $35 students 16 and under. Info: pacwen.org. Nissebakken Telmark Race, 1/27, 6 p.m. Giant slalom race. Proceeds benefit the Junior Alpine Team. Leavenworth Ski Hill. Cost: $20-$25. Info: skileavenworth.com/ events. Films in the Barn: Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time, 1/27, 7 p.m. The first full-length, high-definition documentary film ever made about legendary environmentalist Aldo Leopold, “Green Fire” highlights Leopold’s extraordinary career, tracing how he shaped and influenced the modern environmental movement. Leopold remains relevant today, inspiring projects all over the country that connect people and land. The Barn at Barn

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The Art Life

// SKETCHES OF LOCAL ARTISTS

dancing painter turns sadness into sensuous canvases T

he painting of the zebra head looks naturalistic until you realize the neck stripes are actually elongated female figures, black on white, that seem to dance sinuously. “I love music, and I love to dance… I love form itself,” artist Martha Flores says. “In anything organic there’s form, and dancing seems to go right with it.” Her liveliest art is an unscripted performance. The zebra painting and others were completed in a full day at the NuArt Gallery at The Wenatchee Valley Mall last month, where Martha set up a mini-studio in the storefront. Swirling and smiling her way around a canvas, she replicated musicality and movement in paint. Just being around Martha can make a person feel that any art is possible, that art is a natural part of a full life. Martha — vibrantly, colorfully 64 — sees the arts as a harmonic whole. She dances, writes poetry, does theater, and especially cultivates her most well-recognized art form: painting. And over the years she’s also incorporated those arts in her other respected profession: counseling. Helping abandoned children, adults on the edge of despair, the mentally ill, gang members and orphans, Martha has long used her love of visual art to help ease the pain. “With some of those angry kids — I could say ‘I know you’re hurting — show me with your art. Paint it.’” Grade school kids use natu-

“I love to paint big. There is more color, more shape, more of everything!”

Martha Flores: The emerging woman is a theme.

ral forms like trees, grass, rock and river to eagerly paint selfportraits in her “The Earth Is Me” project. Homeless men engrossed in sculpting clay tap into a forgotten creativity. Martha’s work is founded on serious study of art and science. Raised in Guatemala and El Salvador, she completed a fine arts master’s degree in California. That demanded proficiency in all media, so beyond oils, she became equally adept with clay and bronze sculpture, pencil and pastel, ink and acrylics. Successful in teaching art, but wanting to touch lives even more closely, Martha went on to a second masters in counseling psychology.

January 2012 | The Good Life

Her work demonstrates that the pain in an artist’s personal evolution can become a public blessing. “I turned sadness in my own life into more creativity — it was good fuel for me,” she admits. After a long-ago divorce, her paintings bloomed with sensuous color and dynamic abstractions. Years later, a deeper sadness, the loss of more loved ones, impelled her to the major art theme in her life, The Emerging Woman. You can see it still in the stylized floral forms of females swirling out of shadow, in the deep knowing eyes of women and girls in portraiture. On a trip through the Northwww.ncwgoodlife.com

west in 1992, she and husband Rod felt pulled to the landscape. “I applied for a job in Wenatchee — they (Chelan-Douglas Mental Health) needed a bi-lingual counselor like a desert needs the rain, so we figured this was the right place to be!” Now retired from private counseling, Martha stays intensely involved in a rich palette of arts activities: teaching in all media, hosting soirees, exhibiting in galleries, promoting arts awareness, leading school activities. “I love to paint big. There is more color, more shape, more of everything!” Her artwork is bold jewel tones bursting off the canvas, soulful eyes and languid poses, globes and contours of hot orange, purple, and turquoise — all intimate and primal. It spills from the studio of her sunny hillside house in East Wenatchee where the walls upstairs and down glow with dozens of high-energy and hopeful paintings. — by Susan Lagsdin

WHAT TO DO

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

}}} Continued from page 32 Beach Reserve, Leavenworth. Cost: $5. Northern Departure, 1/28, 7:30 p.m. Get your bluegrass blood flowing. Cashmere Community Coffeehouse. Cost: $3 at the door and pass the hat. Info: cashmerecoffeehouse.com. Chicks on Sticks, 1/29, 8 a.m. Women only, skate, classic ski or snowshoe. Benefits breast cancer research. Leavenworth Fish Hatchery. Cost: $13-$25. Info: skileavenworth.com/events. Styx, 2/1, concert 7 p.m., pre-party 5:30 p.m. Come Sail Away with an ’80s rock music party prior to the Styx concert. It will be a grand illusion as you enter the Town Toyota Center transformed to ’80s décor ready to rock the house. Guests will receive a dinner buffet, a drink ticket of choice, group photos, an opportunity for early entry and a VIP parking pass. Dress in your

’80s best and be ready to rock. Town Toyota Center. Info: towntoyotacenter.com. Lion’s Club Crab Feed, 2/4, 5 p.m. Over 1,400 pounds of Dungeness crab will be primed for cracking at the 21st annual all-you-can-eat crab feed. Cost: $35 per person. Lake Chelan Eagles, 209 E. Wooden Ave. Info: lakechelan.com. Have-A-Heart Auction, 2/4, 5 p.m. Dinner, drinks, auction, entertainment and dancing. St. Joseph’s Kuydendall Hall. Cost: $30. Living History: People of Our Past, 2/4, 10 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Interact with local actors portraying real people from Wenatchee-area history. This year’s characters are Fern Prowell, first Apple Blossom queen; A.Z. Wells, hardware store owner and philanthropist; Dr. Minnie Simmons, early female physician; Conrad Rose, early apple marketer and shipper; and Pete Wheeler, controversial sheriff. Each character appears in a historical setting throughout the museum. Listen to their stories and ask them questions about their lives. Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center. Cost: free.

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Pie for Dinner Cooking Class, 2/7, 5:30 p.m. Braised short rib, stout beer and potato with puff pastry, shrimp and andouille, green-curry chicken with pyllo, minestrone with Parmesan biscuit, shepard’s pie; lamb and mashed potatoes, Lobster and Fennel topped with toasted buttered bread. The Ivy Wild Inn. Cost: $40. Info: theivywildinn.com. The Jacket, 2/8, 7:30 p.m. NANDA combines tightly choreographed acrobatics, dance, juggling, music and Kung-”Faux” into an extremely high-energy blast of action and humor. Performing Arts Center. Cost: $22 adults, $19 seniors, $17 students 16 and under. Info: pacwen.org. Jazz Nights with the Pros, 2/9, 2/10, 7:30 p.m. Six world-class jazz musicians will perform in a concert that tops off the annual Wenatchee Jazz Workshop, where the pros work for a week with jazz band students from Wenatchee and Eastmont high and middle schools. Honored guests are Tom Peterson, saxophone; Ira Nepus, trombone; Clay Jenkins, trumpet; Rich Eames, piano, Jeff d’Angelo, bass; and Dick Weller, drums. On Friday the students perform with the pros. Performing Arts Center. Cost: $24 adult, $22 senior, $10 student. Both nights: $30 adult, $28 senior. Richard Hug House Writers Retreat, 2/10 – 2/13. Along with author and teacher Ryan Boudinot, spend four days writing in private cabins and studios or exploring your alpine surroundings with afternoons and evenings devoted to

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| January 2012

workshops, readings and outings. Icicle Creek Center for Arts. Cottonwood & River of Time: On Trees, Evolution and Society, 2/10, 7 p.m. Dr. Reinhard Stettler, Professor Emeritus of Forestry at the University of Washington, comes to the Barn to give a presentation featuring his book, Cottonwood and the River of Time. The presentation looks at how scientists have unraveled the puzzles of the natural world. With a lifetime of work in forestry and genetics to guide him, Dr. Stettler celebrates both what has been learned and what still remains a mystery as he examines not only cottonwoods, but trees in general, their evolution and their relationship to society. The Barn at Barn Beach Reserve, Leavenworth. Cost: free. NCHBA Home Show, 2/10 – 2/12. Workshops, free ice skating, master gardeners, discount coupons from participating sponsors and vendors. Town Toyota Center. Info: 665-8195. Family ArtVentures: American Folk Puppetry, 2/11, 10 a.m. noon. Explore the rich tradition of American folk puppetry during this two-hour puppet-making workshop led by Mary Ellen Kerby. Use common materials to construct a traditional American folk puppet and then bring it to life with fun scripts from the American folk tradition that inspired the likes of Howdy Doody, Sherri Lewis and Lamb Chop, the Muppets, and Sesame Street. The class is geared to all age levels; no experience is necessary and materials are provided.

The Art Life

// SKETCHES OF LOCAL ARTISTS

“It’s a great service job — being the guy they love to see coming up the drive.”

a talent for coaxing out musical beauty W

hen Mike Hibbett stepped up to conduct Wenatchee’s 70-member Columbia Chorale in a sold-out holiday concert at the Performing Arts Center in December, he knew every note and pause of the complex program. He knew which veteran members would subtly lead the less seasoned through difficult parts, and which lively young voices would ring out strongest at his cue. He also knew that a certain exhilarating brassy passage of the The Magnificat might stir the audience to tears, and that the much-extended chord at the end of White Christmas would probably bring a softly whispered ahhhhhh from the house. Mike has a doctoral degree in choral conducting and a 30year career leading and teaching community groups and his church’s music ministry, so he’s savvy about every sound he draws out, and its effects. He sees himself an interpretive artist, like any dancer, actor, or musician who respects the composer but brings his own understanding to the work. Though every singer has an (vocal) instrument to play, he has the whole group. He says, “In conducting, the choir becomes

Preregister 888-6240. Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center. Cost: $5 adults, $4 seniors, $2 kids under 6. Red Wine and Chocolate, 2/10 – 12 & 2/17 – 19, noon to 5 p.m. The list of wineries include: Jones of WA Winery, Beaumont Cellars, and White Heron Cellars of Quincy; Saint Laurent and Malaga Springs

Mike Hibbert: “In conducting, the choir becomes your instrument.”

your instrument.” Mike speaks in hushed tones of that magic moment when the internal response of each individual in the audience is suspended, and commonality prevails. “It’s a very special shared experience. . . often that last cutoff — sometimes it just rings in the room.” Suddenly, together, the listeners feel one ecstatic emotion, one that’s shaped deliberately by the singers. The Columbia Choral is open to any singer who can stand up

to the rigor. “I never audition. Usually I can tell just from talking to someone if they’re ready for this kind of music,” Mike says. “And we’ve got everyone from complete novices to voice teachers, ages 16 to 76.” This mixed gender and classically oriented group, unique in the region, has expanded (almost doubling) and thrived under 11 years of his direction. It’s his passion and his avocation. Mike’s day job, too, is amply rewarding. He tunes pianos. First enlisted 10 years ago by a

in Malaga; Martin-Scott Winery in East Wenatchee; Stemilt Creek Winery, Bella Terrazza Vineyards and Chateau Faire le Pont Winery, Waterville Winery, Horan Estates and Crayelle Cellars in Cashmere, and Baroness Cellars, Bella Terrazza Vineyards, Stemilt Creek Winery, and Silvara Vineyards in Leavenworth and the Wenatchee Valley Visitors Bureau Tasting

Room. Some wineries may have a nominal charge for food. Info: wenatcheewines.com.

January 2012 | The Good Life

Sweetheart Chamber Soiree, 2/11, 7 p.m. Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center. Icicle Creek Piano Trio & Friends Showcase: Dreams, 2/17. Cellist Sally Singer, Pianist Ok-

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local tuner (“He was swamped — he wanted someone to take the pressure off, and it came at a perfect time in my life.”), he now has his own loyal clientele. Mike brought his lifetime with music, an ease with people, and considerable technical acumen to the job. Driving to Oroville, Cle Elum, Winthrop and all over the region to homes and halls, he’s a field technician — he goes to the pianos; they don’t come to him. “It’s a great service job — being the guy they love to see coming up the drive,” he says. Mike does tuning, repair and also regulation, an often-neglected piano therapy which, he explains, “adjusts the action of every single part that moves, so you get the intended calibration every time you press a key and the hammer hits the string.” As an artist, he realizes it’s a rare blessing to blend a family-supporting career with an engrossing avocation, and finds pleasure in refurbishing a baby grand or coaxing out the beauty of a Bach contata. “This is a great combination — I am so grateful for the fact I can spend all day with people who love and care about music.” — by Susan Lagsdin

sana Ezhokina, and Clarinetist Sean Osborn present a lush program of romantic masterworks ranging from Brahms to Tchaikovsky to Miles Davis. Icicle Creek Center for the Arts, Leavenworth. Cost: $10 $20. Info: 548-6347.

column those were the days

rod molzahn

First woman doctor was a Wenatchee girl Everyone in town called her

Doctor Minnie. She was the first woman doctor in the Wenatchee Valley and was still the only one when she died in 1945. Born on Dec. 25, 1883 in Halfway, Missouri, she was named Minnie Lee Simmons. The “Lee” was to honor Robert E. Lee, an old family friend from Virginia. Minnie’s Uncle Dave Simmons fought for the Confederacy and Minnie grew up in South Wenatchee where her father kept a signed picture of General Lee on the dining room wall. Minnie recalled that she “loved to look at the picture.” Minnie was two-and-a-half in 1886 when her parents, Harmon and Mattie Simmons, homesteaded 160 acres in South Wenatchee including the present location of the Appleyard rail sidings. They built a fine, two-story house near Boodry Street and South Wenatchee Avenue and planted their farm with alfalfa, peaches, apples and Moorpark apricots. People called it the “showplace of the valley.” Minnie and her younger sister, Babe, rode their horses into Wenatchee to attend Stevens School. Minnie graduated from

She married one of those men, Alex Siebert, in 1905 immediately after their graduation. After a oneyear residency at the Barnes College hospital they started practice in the small town of Des Loge, Missouri. Minnie treated women and children and delivered babies — lots of babies. Between January and June of 1909 she delivered 15 newborns in Des Loge with its Minnie Simmons, photo from the Simmons’ family per- community of sonal collection in care of Jill Simmons. Photo courtesy Hungarian imof Jill Simmons migrants. In one of her journals from that time she ineighth grade at Stevens in 1899. cludes a list of Hungarian words She was 16. The next year she needed to ask patients medical entered Vashon College and questions. finished two years later with a She and Alex bought a piano. Pharmacy degree. That same year, 1902, at age 19, They paid it off at $8.40 each month and played duets with Minnie began studies at Barnes Alex on piano and Minnie on Medical College in St. Louis, guitar. But Minnie missed Missouri. She was one of four Wenatchee and in 1911 she and women in a class with 60 men.

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Alex moved back. In 1912 they set up a joint practice in the Griggs building in downtown. Alex specialized in general medicine and the new field of xray medicine. Minnie, their sign said, specialized in “Diseases of Women and Children.” By 1918 their marriage was failing and Minnie filed for divorce. Alex left Wenatchee and enlisted in the Army, serving as a medic in France. The divorce was finalized while he was still in the service and he never returned to Wenatchee. Minnie was so shaken by the difficult divorce she committed herself to a short stay in Eastern Washington State Hospital. When she returned she continued her growing practice in both Wenatchee and South Wenatchee where she lived with her parents. Her son, Preston Harmon Simmons was born Aug. 3, 1922. No father is named on the birth certificate. Preston grew up in the same home where his mother was raised. Minnie doted on him. In 1925 the great Squilchuck flood tore through South Wenatchee. It spared the Sim-

It was said that no other doctor in the valley did as much in that terrible time. mons house but killed 16 people, including eight children, and injured many others. Houses, cars and buildings, including two hotels were destroyed. Dr. Minnie worked tirelessly through the disaster helping her friends and neighbors – people she had grown up with – and

they did not forget. She gave a room in the Simmons home to, at least, one injured child, 13-year-old Martha Ernst. It was said that no other doctor in the valley did as much in that terrible time. It was also said in a recollection from a patient years later, that Dr. Minnie considered morphine to be an efficacious, lifeending treatment for advanced dementia patients when they could no longer speak, recognize people or respond. The daughter of one such patient gave permission saying, “It would probably be a good thing.” There were also rumors that

Dr. Minnie sometimes performed abortions. On Oct. 14, 1945, Minnie Simmons was driving to Seattle with her cousin, Sadie Meyers. On the way down the west side of Stevens Pass their speeding car passed a line of stopped traffic and nearly hit a flagman before striking a large paving machine. The collision had such great force that it threw the paving machine up onto the dump truck in front of it. Minnie was killed instantly. Her cousin died at the scene soon after. One hundred families, individuals, businesses and organizations from the Chelan

County Medical Society, and the sisters of St. Anthony’s to superior court judge W.O. Parr, sent flowers and packed St. Joseph’s church for her services. Dr. Minnie, the only female doctor the valley had known, was greatly loved, respected and appreciated by all her friends and neighbors.

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

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1325 Princeton Ave N, Wenatchee Senior Insurance Services of NCW, llc is an independent insurance agency. A sales agent will be present at these sales and education events. Restrictions on enrollment may apply.

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FUN STUFF // check out these activities

5 reasons to venture out H

ey, what are we talking about? The headline above says “venturing out,” but this time of year “out” is cold, it gets dark early, the roads are often questionable and did we mention “cold?” Yet, many of us live here for the four-season climate. Winter is one of those seasons, and it’s no time to bury ourselves under blankets. We can still play outside. So, onward and outward, let’s look at a few ways to play when the white stuff is all around:

A walk on the snow — Our friend and

sometimes The Good Life contributor Joe Anderson is again leading snowshoe hikes this winter. In a note to us promoting these outside events, he writes: It is January already and there is snow in the mountains. It is cold outside and there are places to go and people to visit and what better way to do that than on snowshoes.

You can also burn Center that includes many unwanted calories items and photographs and complete your New from the museum’s colYear’s resolution about lection as well as Bill becoming active and Asplund’s collection. making new friends. Also, memorabilia, phoAll your dreams can tographs and equipment come true by going will be on display from snowshoeing and there the Ancient Skiers of the are many great places Pacific Northwest Ski to go. Museum, the LeavenThe Wenatchee Parks worth Ski Hill Heritage Department will be Fund, and from various offering a snow shoe private collections. Friprogram called, Guided day, Jan. 6, 5-8 p.m. Snowshoe Hikes for Families. It is learning to snowshoe that lasts about two hours and is guided by me and sevHere’s a winter activity eral others. The cost is you likely have never Photo from Wenatchee Valley Museum #86-24-843 minimal, snowshoes are done before. provided, but there is a For more information and It’s a wassailing party — the limit of 20 trekkers. The treks reservations, call Mission Ridge wassailing tradition includes a start at 10 a.m. from Squilchuck. at663-6543. singing parade into the orchard, For more information call 888blessing the trees, scaring away 3284. the evil spirits and inviting the Mission Ridge will be hosting Ice good spirits to reside and bless twilight snowshoe treks each sculptures, live music, beach us with a good crop, along with Saturday night starting at 5 p.m. bonfire, polar bear splash (bra bonfire, good food and fellowfrom Hampton Lodge. r-r-r!), wine walk and fireworks ship. 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. These are wonderful 1.5 mile happen in downtown Chelan 7. Orondo Cider Works. Info: treks. On a clear night it seems during the Winterfest Fire and lakechelan.com. as if the stars are touchable and Ice Festival Friday through Venus is crystal clear. Sunday, Jan. 6-8. Info: lakechelEach trek is led by me and my anwinterfest.com. fellow ski patrolman and guide, Women only, skate, classic Marco. If ski or snowshoe. Benefits breast Join us and then stop at the you like to enjoy your winter cancer research. 8 a.m., Saturlodge for a fantastic meal and sports while being inside, check day, Jan. 29. Leavenworth Fish listen to the music of a live concert. It is a romantic twilight out an exhibit at the Wenatchee Hatchery. Cost: $13-$25. Info: Valley Museum and Cultural skileavenworth.com/events. evening with all the trimmings.

Let’s go wassailing —

Fire & ice —

Freeze frame —

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