DOCTOR ASKS: DO ‘BRAIN ENHANCERS’ REALLY WORK?
WENATCHEE VALLEY’S
NUMBER ONE MAGAZINE
March 2021
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Seeing life from a different angle now Sold the house, left the jobs, bought an RV and hit the road
plus REMEMBERING PARENTS IN THEIR GLORY YEARS TALES OF HORRORS AND HOPE IN OLD FAMILY LETTERS
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Contents
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Diving among the fishes Features
7
LET THERE BE A LIGHTHOUSE
Flashing beacon on Maple Street is a replica of famous lighthouse built early in the Republic
8 REMEMBER THE GLORY OF THE PARENTS Obituaries – They’re really NOT for the dead
10 LOOKING AT LIFE FROM A DIFFERENT angle
Brenda Pickering and Rich Barrington were fully committed to saving money and working to the normal retirement age, and then cancer and the coronavirus struck
12 WHAT A KICK TO BE A ZEBRA, OR When making the call is your calling
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CANARY
14 tales of horrors and hope in letters Saved family correspondence puts a very human touch on the events so long ago
16 keeping family connections alive
Personal visits to faraway children and grandchildren have been ruled out by COVID-19, but clever use of computers allow the sharing of good times and conversations
18 GOING DEEP WITH DAN FEIL
He used to sell boats, now he jumps off them for underwater vistas in warm climates
20 A HOME WITH HISTORY
Solid Craftsman bungalow shows a little “Gothic, Egyptian and Swiss” architectural influences Art sketches n Photographer Travis Knoop, page 26 n MTOW chair of the board of trustees Nita Paine , page 28 Columns & Departments 6 A bird in the lens: Varied Thrush is a looker 24 The traveling doctor: Do ‘brain enhancers’ really work? 25 June Darling: Tweaking values to boost happiness 29 The calendar and a Dan McConnell cartoon 31 Pet Tales: Meg is a 53-pound lap dog 32 History: Those Blair girls 34 That’s life: Superstitions run wild March 2021 | The Good Life
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OPENING SHOT
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Year 15, Number 3 March 2021 The Good Life is published by NCW Good Life, LLC, dba The Good Life 1107 East Denny Way, Apt. B-7 Seattle, WA 98122 PHONE: (509) 888-6527 EMAIL: editor@ncwgoodlife.com sales@ncwgoodlife.com ONLINE: www.ncwgoodlife.com FACEBOOK: https://www. facebook.com/NCWGoodLife Editor/Publisher, Mike Cassidy Contributors, Marc Dilley, Yvette Davis, Andy Dappen, Sebastian Moraga, Dale Foreman, Linda and Ken Reid, Dave Graybill, Susan Sampson, Mike Irwin, Bruce McCammon, Donna Cassidy, Jim Brown, June Darling, Dan McConnell, Susan Lagsdin and Rod Molzahn Advertising: Lianne Taylor Bookkeeping and circulation, Donna Cassidy Proofing, Dianne Cornell Ad design, Linda Day TO SUBSCRIBE: For $30, ($35 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 subscription services 1107 East Denny Way, Apt. B-7 Seattle, WA 98122 For circulation questions, email: donna@ncwgoodlife.com EVENTS: donna@ncwgoodlife.com BUY A COPY of The Good Life at Safeway stores, Mike’s Meats at Pybus, Martin’s Market Place (Cashmere) and Dan’s Food Market (Leavenworth)
Emerging from the fog By Marc Dilley It was one of those dimly lit mid November days in the upper Icicle Valley, where wispy clouds would roll in, blot out the sun and then, like a wave on the beach, recede then repeat the cycle. The fiery red and brilliant yellow leaves of October had finally
given up, now shades of brown. It was early afternoon and I was scrambling around my favorite granite slabs in the mouth of the Icicle Canyon, hoping to find dynamic light in this changeable fog. Some brilliant person once said “Luck favors the prepared.” Maybe it was Edna Mode, I forget. It takes me about 10 trips out to shoot one image that I really like. This day was trip No. 10. I scrambled towards a large granite slab that I had explored for more than a decade. The fog/
clear air interface was the middle elevation of the slab. I could move up or down elevation at will to control the amount of fog density I wanted. Now shooting pictures, at first I rushed, struggling to shoot as many good exposures as possible before the fog dissipated. But the fog did not move! For hours! One of the best creative afternoons ever. And right in my backyard. Marc is a Leavenworth photographer who has been shooting for about 45 years. More of his work can be viewed at marcdilley.com
ADVERTISING: For information about advertising in The Good Life, contact Lianne Taylor at (509) 6696556 or lianne@ncwgoodlife.com
On the cover
Brenda Pickering always
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
finds the light wherever she roams and these days, she is roaming more as she and Rich Barrington gave up their old lifestyle to embrace the adventure of the road. Here, she is exploring the big rocks while at Vedauwoo recreation area in Wyoming.
The Good Life® is a registered trademark of NCW Good Life, LLC. Copyright 2021 by NCW Good Life, LLC.
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editor’s notes
MIKE CASSIDY
A home is a store house of memories I smiled when the story
on the featured home for this month came in, as it is the house on South Cleveland Street we owned in the 1990s. We had been looking for a house in Wenatchee to buy and my wife saw it first. She liked the neighborhood of historical houses and was a frisbee throw to her beloved grandmother’s home and had bedrooms for each of our three kids and us. Walking in, I instantly fell in love with the beamed ceilings in the living room, the historical vibe and the fact it appeared to be a “mechanic’s special,” that is an old home needing updating. That scratched an itch in me, because for the previous five years, we had been renting and my need to cut, saw, hammer and basically make a sawdust mess had gone unsatisfied. So, we bought it. The first night, after tucking the little darlings in bed upstairs, I came down the narrow, steep stairway, and slipping near the bottom, bounced, bounced, bounced my way to the bottom. Ouch! And ouch for several days to come. I am sure I later read in a history piece an early Wenatchee mayor had taken the same fall down the same stairs, but died from his tumble. (This anecdote seems to live more in my brain than any historical document, but my brain won’t give it up.) Being an old house, and the site of a violent death, I wondered if the house might be haunted. But ghosts, really? Ha-ha. We started filling the house with some antiques — such as on old upright school piano — and the odds and sods that come
with a young family. Being close to downtown gave us easy walking access to Grannie, the library, the Plaza Super Jet market and parks. Maybe too easy, because one day, our daughter came home with a kitten, saying someone at Memorial Park was giving away a wagon full of them. Has any father ever looked into the eyes of his pleading daughter holding a kitten and said, “No.” Once she had a cat, the boys got kittens to make it “even” and we became a cat house, even though I was raised with dogs. So, the ghost. My wife and I were asleep one night on our waterbed (this was the 1990s, right?) when we heard the tinking of piano keys coming from the front room. What the heck? I fumbled from the sloshing bed, grabbed a tennis racquet leaning against the wall in case there was a musical burglar in our house, and ever so slowly opened the door from our bedroom adjoining the front room, fully expecting to see either a thief or an apparition at the piano. Nope. Instead it was a cat walking across the piano’s keys. Cats — creatures who like to play at night. A few years later when we had the house on the market, I came home to the darken house for lunch. We owned The Wenatchee Business Journal then and the latest issue contained a story about a local Realtor who was accused of financial shenanigans. We didn’t usually write investigative stories, but felt this was a situation where we needed to alert readers who had done March 2021 | The Good Life
business with this individual, or were thinking about it, to know what they might be getting into. Parking in the driveway, I opened the back door onto the kitchen when this very same individual stepped out of a dark hallway right towards me. My. Heart. Stopped. I would say visions of every bad slasher movie flashed through my head, but in truth, my mind was stunned into blankness. After an eternity but really a second, he said, “We have a client who might be interested in your house, Mike. I just wanted to look around.” Whew! That’s home ownership for you: sometimes painful, sometimes scary, and often full of family memories. Stay home, stay safe, and enjoy The Good Life. — Mike
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column a bird in the lens
Varied Thrush: Making a bold statement G
By Bruce McCammon
lobally, the thrush family contains 169 viable species; three other thrush species are now extinct. Eight of the 169 species are commonly seen in north central Washington (American Robin, Hermit Thrush, Mountain Bluebird, Western Bluebird, Swainson’s Thrush, Townsend’s Solitaire, Bruce McCammon Veery, and is retired, colorblind and enjoys this month’s featured bird, photographing the birds in north centhe Varied tral Washington. Thrush). Thrushes are medium-sized birds that typically inhabit densely wooded areas. The American Robin may be the most recognized thrush in our area but the Varied Thrush makes a bold statement when seen. The rust-colored belly and throat of the Varied Thrush are eye-catching. The male has a slaty gray back, a black breastband, and a black mask across the eye. The female shows a lighter, grayish band and eye stripe. Wings of the Varied Thrush are strongly patterned with rust-colored bars on a black background. The flanks of these birds show a fairly strong, dappled pattern. Varied Thrush feed on insects during the summer and then switch to berries and seeds during the winter months. When ground-feeding, the birds will
The Varied Thrush is a medium-sized bird that often inhabits densely wooded areas.
frequently grab a leaf and move it aside to discover what bugs were hiding underneath. Known as altitudinal migrants, they prefer higher elevation, dense forested areas but, on occasion, descend to lower elevations during the winter. The year 2019 saw an abundance of Varied Thrush along the Columbia River in north central Washington. People were fortunate to have frequent observations of this normally elusive bird during this irruption. The photo that accompanies this article was taken near the Apple Capital Loop trail in Wenatchee in February 2019. Mountain ash berries always entice a wide variety of berryeating birds. I was fortunate to be able to set my tripod up near two trees full of berries. I stood there for over an hour, the afternoon sun on my back, as I watched and photographed Varied Thrush, White-crowned Sparrows, American Robins,
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Known as altitudinal migrants, they prefer higher elevation, dense forested areas but, on occasion, descend to lower elevations during the winter. Northern Flicker and Cedar Waxwings as they arrived to get their share. I just stood there taking photos and chatting with people passing by on the trail. I consider this type of experience to be “good work” and appreciate these opportunities when I get them. The Varied Thrush likes dense, cool, wet areas to breed and their breeding range covers
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Alaska and tapers as it extends into northern California. They nest in mature forest areas and build their nests about 10 feet above ground. They are still fairly common but their population has declined 76 percent between 1966-2014 (www. allaboutbirds.com). The Varied Thrush population is considered to be “common but in steep decline.” Habitat fragmentation and loss are among the primary causes of the decline. The lesson I learned from this disappointing status is that we should not miss opportunities to see and enjoy these beautiful birds. If you can, plant some berryproducing native plants to support a mix of local bird species. Grab your binoculars and camera and go for a walk or hike. Watch for these richly colored birds along your path. Good luck.
Bringing a glow to the night W
By Yvette Davis
ho says outside lights are just for Christmas time? Drivers on Maple Street in Wenatchee will now see lights year-round. Greg Johnson, a plumber with Day & Night Plumbing in Wenatchee, has always loved a nautical theme. He’s been particularly fascinated by lighthouses. Luckily for him, the prior owner of his home — R D Campbell — left behind something special in the backyard: a light fixture made in Germany of copper and bronze that was just perfect to go atop a lighthouse. Greg just needed to build the base, but finding the time and parts was a process that took him nearly 25 years. Finally he settled on plans to replicate a one-to-13 scale facsimile of the original Cape Henry lighthouse in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Built of stone in 1792 at a total cost of $17,700, the lighthouse was the fourth built in the nation, and the first one commissioned by the new United States under its fledgling constitution. Lightening damage to the brick and mortar structure prompted a second one to be built in 1881, but the original still stands today. Instead of bricks, Greg used 2x4’s and 2x6’s for the frame, and hardy board for the sides. He poured six bags of concrete for the base, and ran conduits underground for the wiring to run the lights. A 40-watt bulb adds the warm glow to the windows on the sides — four on one side and three on the other — just like
Greg Johnson with his lighthouse replica during the day, which flashes its beacon at night.
the original. The remainder of the power runs the light that rotates eight times every minute and flashes like a real lighthouse would. During these dark winter nights, the light’s brilliance radiates for all to see. With over 100 hours into the project, Greg is pretty proud of his artwork. March 2021 | The Good Life
He’s tried to make it as realistic as possible, adding steps and hand railings, and plans a faux door to complete the picture. But that won’t complete his yard, he said. He will continue to add driftwood, netting and Japanese glass floats, and is even considering a miniature tugboat. Ahoy mateys! www.ncwgoodlife.com
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The bucket list Have you recently crossed out an item on your bucket list — that list of goals you want to reach before you kick the bucket? Send us an e-mail — with pictures if possible — to: editor@ncwgoodlife.com
Visiting the glory years of our parents Obituaries – They’re really NOT for the dead
I
By Andy Dappen
f you want to remember loved ones — who they were and what they stood for — write their obituaries. I learned this lesson 12 years ago when my father died. While the tangles of Alzheimer’s disease slowly strangled his brain, my mother took a first stab at his obituary. Upon Dad’s death, however, Mom was grieving. She shoved what she had written into my hands, “You’re the writer, why don’t you finish this?” My mother was actually a superb writer and her draft was crisp, funny and unique. It was written in first person as though Dad had penned it so that, for once, he would have the last word. What a marvelous portrayal of our family’s dynamic — Dad hollered a lot when things didn’t follow his designs, but it was Mom’s design that mattered. She was the true captain of the family ship. Which made Dad’s obituary a perfect construct: It was Dad’s last words … according to Mom. I looked through old photo albums depicting the breadth of my Dad’s life and, this had me remembering my father’s quirky personality traits and classic family stories rather than the final years and the slow deterioration of his mind. I worked in new sentences and paragraphs that were consistent with my mother’s framework but revealed more about who my father was and what he believed. Then I sent my draft out to the rest of the family. My mother was happy and my
brother was too busy to criticize. My sister, however, felt our father was being misrepresented. “This tells an entertaining story about his cheapskate antics and quirky personality but it misses so much.” She elaborated how he was cheap with himself but not with his family and buttressed this statement with many examples. She said he had exceptionally high moral fiber and explained how this contributed to his prickly nature. We talked for an hour remembering stories, anecdotes and quotes that captured traits not mentioned in the obit. It was funny. And it was enlightening to hear my sister’s “take” on who my father was. In a few instances she gave me an entirely new perspective on my father’s behavior that I hadn’t considered. I wasn’t sure how to handle this new content but I called my brother to capture his stories, anecdotes and memories. While we talked, I had the “Aha!” moment of how I would incorporate some of this new content into the obituary. After the initial portion professing Dad was writing his obituary so he would finally get the last word, I segued to the kid’s addendum where I stated Dad never got the last word in our family and that tradition would not be changing now. Then off I went discussing his many strong qualities that couldn’t be discussed in the initial construct without making Dad sound like a braggart. I told how others might have seen him as cheap but how he sent all his children to expensive colleges and some to expensive graduate programs without a
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Andy Dappen and his mother, Glady. At left is Andy’s dad, “Dap.”
This is how we remember our parents, in the final years, watching them wind down and fade out peep of complaint. He gave us below-market-rate loans so we could buy homes. He helped pay the college tuition for some of the children of his friends. I also told the story of how, as the general manager of the pulp plant where we lived, national headquarters ordered him to lower payroll by laying off a half-dozen employees. The plant was operating profitably and he refused. “If you want to lower payroll then you start by firing me — I’m the highest paid employee at the plant AND the one most able to find another job.” He was not fired but neither did he rise to a higher executive
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level within the company. As I wrote about these qualities I found myself alternating between laughing out loud and wiping my eyes. Before inheriting this task I was mainly remembering the final chapters of my father’s story as he grayed, wrinkled, stooped and forgot who he was. The obituary reconnected me to the entire book of his life. A decade later my mother was in her early 90s and had been telling her children for years, “‘This’ is the year I’m going to head out among the stars to find your father.” After five years of false predic-
tions I told my mother, “You obviously don’t know when you’re going to die, so put a lid on it. Try living this year instead of hoping for the end.” She didn’t re-engage with life but the predictions stopped. Of course, had she made her well-worn prediction in 2020, she would have FINALLY gotten it right. In early December my mother suffered a stroke. Over the course of a week, her condition deteriorated and a few days before Christmas she received what was for her a cosmic gift. Similar to how I felt when Dad died, her passage elicited more relief than grief. Maybe this was because the process of her decline had taken so long. Year after year she was more wrinkled, more stooped, and more disinterested in life. Every year she was less able to remember the family stories, less able to hear the conversations around her, less willing to engage in anything but her books. And then there was the grimness of Mom’s final week as she became bed bound and comatose from her stroke, gasped for air, and moaned as if in pain. She lay in bed, barely more than skin covering bone, with her eyes hidden in dark skeletal sockets. Often your strongest memories are the final ones and these would have been terrible ones to carry my memory of my mother’s story. Fortunately I had an obituary to write. I pulled out old photo albums and letters and thumbed through them. There she was with her parents — their only child and their princess. There she was at her piano recitals and I could actually hear her playing. I remembered the serene mood of our living room as she played. Somehow I jumped to my six-year old self and remembered her playing Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring for the first time and the goose-
Pictures offer the benefit of looking back into your parent’s life to see the expanse of family members’ lives, remember younger (and better) years
bumps that music produced. I asked her to play it again… and then again. Other pictures took me down different rabbit holes. Her college snapshots had me recalling how, during her sophomore year at Grinnell College, government recruiters arrived on campus and enticed her to work as typist at a secret war effort in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. It was here at the Manhattan Project that my parents first met, and dated for a year. I looked at the photo of these two young people on a bear skin rug during a retreat, and wondered what other mischief these two pursued on that rug. But that also had me remembering something she had told me 30 years earlier, “I suppose a big reason why we got married when I was only 20 was so that we could have sex.” Later in life my mother devoted much of her free time to give others governed by such sexual impulses better choices than marriage, luck, or unwanted children. Mom was a staunch supporter of Planned Parenthood and a crusader for family planning, women’s right to control the reproductive fate March 2021 | The Good Life
of their bodies, contraception, improving the emotional and mental health of women and, even abortion if necessary. Because of these beliefs and her desire to support the organization financially, she organized every aspect of local rummage sales. This included the finding, collecting, cleaning, sorting, setting up and selling of handme-down items. Over a 10-year period she rallied her friends to run these sales and raised over $100K for the organization. Many pictures I thumb through show her house set up for these sales. And then there are a few pictures of Mom sitting at her manual Hermes typewriter. This woman was a gifted and prolific writer and her art form was the humble letter. She stayed connected to dozens of people she loved through the many letters she wrote each week. These letters told funny, satirical stories about the family’s life and no one (especially her brood) was safe. Watching complete stories stream from her brain through fingers tapping madly on the typewriter — devoid of grammatical mistakes or typographiwww.ncwgoodlife.com
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cal errors — was to witness a miracle in the creation of each letter. As happened with my father, writing about these salient memories had me flip-flopping between laughter and tears. I sent a draft of what I had produced to my siblings and they added memories of their own. Our collective effort resulted in a record that replaced Mom’s depressing denouement with a story capturing her spunk and vivacity until, well, her tank simply ran dry near the finish line. All of this has had me pondering my own life and its inevitable end. Should I follow Dad’s example I’ll die in about 20 years in a slow fade that has me losing my mind. And if I’m like Mom, I’ll die 30 years hence with an absence of purpose. While I hope I exit with a functioning brain and still fully engaged in life, family history indicates my final years could be a depressing swirl into the depths of the cosmic toilet bowl. Which is why in the death instructions left for my daughters I’ve included this note: “Write my obituary together — it will remind you of who I was.”
Bout with cancer, plus pandemic made couple wonder: Why wait to really live? By Yvette Davis Work. Save. Plan for retirement. That’s what most of us do. But retirement can seem so far away it becomes more of a dream than a reality. The temptation to buck the system is great. Meet one couple who did just that. Brenda Pickering and Rich Barrington started their planning over five years ago. Their dream? To travel the United States and live in the great
Looking at life from a different angle now outdoors. Both are camping and hunting enthusiasts, and enjoy being in nature more than in a cubicle. “We spent all our weekends and off-work time camping and knew it had to be part of our retirement plan,” said Brenda. Their scheme allowed for Rich to retire at 60 and Brenda at 55. They might have stayed on that timeline if it hadn’t been for two unforeseen setbacks: cancer and coronavirus. Five years ago, a breast cancer diagnosis threw their schedule
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off track. “When I was diagnosed with breast cancer five years ago, that shock and the following surgeries and trauma both physical and mental really made us reassess what was most important to us,” said Brenda. “It was during this time that we really started penciling out what it would take to retire early in terms of money and time,” she said. They took the next steps of preparing to sell their 2,850 square foot home with a 1,200 square foot garage, and down-
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Setting off on an adventure for Brenda Pickering and Rich Barrington meant letting go of the old and embracing the new.
sizing their possessions to fit in a 25-foot travel trailer, a Toyota Tundra and a 10-foot by 20-foot storage unit. Brenda can attest to the work involved. “Downsizing, what a job! The good thing is that we are not really ‘stuff’ people. I have always looked at something and if we haven’t used it in the last year or two I would get rid of it. I went room to room several times and reevaluated.” The couple held a large yard sale and listed the remainder of their goods on Facebook marketplace. Their plan had been to sell their home and live in an RV/trailer for a couple more years entirely debt-free to stockpile their income. They went ahead and listed the house for sale. Then, Brenda was laid off
From woods to desert to water Rich and Brenda fully enjoy nature’s beauty.
from her full time job in March of 2020 due to COVID-19. The home sold three months later and they became full-time RVers on June 1, 2020. Brenda and Rich most often boondock in their RV — also called dry camping, or off-grid camping, meaning without the amenities usually found in a campground — which allows them to live very inexpensively. With Rich still working at that time, the pair settled into their new lifestyle easily, ready to coast for two more years. Perhaps it was being out there in the woods, seeing their freedom so close they could smell it and touch it every day that made the couple again reexamine their goals. They started discussing moving up the timeline last summer. Their reasoning again stood the “normal” retirement plan on its
head. Brenda said, “We were both so tired of living the life that we are supposed to live because this is what society tells us we should be doing. I finally just said, what is two more years really going to do for us? Let’s do what we want to do and stop planning and talking about it! Let’s just do it!” Rich agreed. He left his job in August 2020 at age 55 to join Brenda, then age 50. As Rich explains it, “We can always make more money but we can never make more time!” Brenda said there’s a chance she may be rehired at her employer if the economy improves. Rich plans to work as a camp host, and both jobs would help rebuild their savings each year. But their plans of March 2021 | The Good Life
working nine to five until 65 or 67 are definitely over. They call themselves semi-retired and are loving it. Readers can learn more about their nomadic lifestyle and its pros and cons at their RB Outdoors NW YouTube page. They currently have 513 subscribers and the site is growing. On it, they shared details about their “home” — a Blackstone Titanium series trailer outfitted with solar panels, lithium batteries, two 40-gallon grey water tanks, one 60-gallon black tank and one 80-gallon fresh water tank — in the video, “Amazing First Two Weeks Off Grid” published in June, 2020. The main focus of the channel is to share their knowledge, but subscribers are currently getting www.ncwgoodlife.com
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treated to some wonderful travelogue footage from Death Valley and Arizona. The couple set out on a three month tour of the southwest in their 6-by-10 travel trailer they’ve dubbed the “Enola B,” leaving the heavier and more gas guzzling Blackstone parked for the winter. While we are all shoveling our driveways, they are checking out desert bars. With the world changed after COVID-19, the tiny home type living may become a new trend for more and more of us. Brenda said it’s definitely doable, with the right strategy. “People are realizing that they can work remotely or not at all, and selling everything to go out and enjoy all that our beautiful world has to offer. You just need to have the right mindset and ability to do without a bunch of possessions. This is a sacrifice with big rewards!” The best part of it all she sums up in one word. “Freedom!”
It’s a kick to be a zebra — or a canary When making the call is your calling
E
By Sebastian Moraga
ver wanted to be a canary? How about a zebra? Well, a few years back, Ed Navarro of Wenatchee and Steve Simonson of Cashmere made the decision to become such creatures. Steve in 1980 and Ed about 10 years ago, added a striped black and white shirt — in Steve’s case and a yellow one for Ed — to their wardrobe on a semi-permanent basis. They became referees, with Ed reffing soccer games and Steve basketball games. Steve, a teacher in Cashmere, just thought it would be a cool part time job back then. He was 19 and had enrolled at Wenatchee Valley College, when a WVC coach who reffed on the side asked his team whether anyone might want to give the zebra shirt a try. Never did he think he would be at it after 40 years. “I kind of fell in love with it,” Steve said, later adding, “I just went from one season to the next.” The love of the game, coupled with the ability to help people and the chance to be part of a team, all drew Steve to keep trotting up and down the hardwood. Ed got the reffing bug while coaching his children’s rec games and seeing that the refs were few and far between. “I could see the need for more referees,” Ed said. “Everywhere you went.” He liked getting exercise watching the sport he loved, and the paycheck — modest as it may be — did not hurt. He went
from rec games to high school and college games all around the Northwest. In addition to reffing for college and high school, Steve and Ed have served as mentors to several refs. Steve serves on executive committee of the Washington Officials Association and counts among his onetime mentees Quincy’s Nate Harris, last seen calling some pretty big-time games at the NCAA Division 1 level in basketball. Steve refs mostly boys’ games, with some girls’ games sprinkled in. There’s no difference in his approach to either game, he said. “A block is a block, a foul is a foul and a travel is a travel,” he said. Ed’s experience has been a little different when reffing boys’ soccer and girls’ soccer. He’s a reffing instructor and has had to reiterate that boys and girls react different to being fouled. “We tell our refs: Boys retaliate right away. Girls hold it in, and when you least expect it, boom, they strike.” Furthermore, the Mexicanborn Ed said, games between mostly Hispanic teams or between a mostly Hispanic team and a mostly Anglo team differ from a game between two teams of white kids. Games involving Hispanic kids tend to be prone to escalating rough play, while two teams of white kids tend to be more respectful. Their experiences, may differ, their sports may differ but just like Steve, Ed has shared reffing duties with some familiar faces, namely, their sons. Both Luke Simonson and David Navarro have reffed along-
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Referee Ed Navarro works a game: “I’ve been at games where the young refs coming up in the ranks walk off the field crying...”
side their dads. While David will likely continue the family tradition and travels to ref in tourneys with his dad, Luke and Steve have probably seen the last of each other inside a basketball court in matching shirts. Luke is a criminal justice major at CWU, but he’s more into hunting and fishing more than reffing, Steve said. Refereeing, Steve said, is hard, and mistakes are part of the learning curve. The old saying about refs having to be perfect on Day One and then get better, is true, Steve said. “When I’m on the court, I can’t be thinking about anything else,” he said. The good refs know to take the game one play at a time. It’s an emotional game for players and coaches, so it’s essential for refs to remain calm and work together, he said. “We are the third team out there, and a lot of times we gotta be better than the other two teams,” he said. Ed said it’s important to stay even-keeled and consistent, reminding oneself that it’s impossible to please everyone. While Steve does no Cashmere games (“Because I like working here,” he joked,) Ed still has to
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do games where his hometown team plays. “It is harder to ref locally because people (in the stands) know you, ‘C’mon, Ed!’” said Ed, who works in Chelan for Chelan Fruit. “Then, of course, the outof-town team thinks. ‘Well, they know the ref, that’s why they are getting those calls.’” For Steve, who says he still gets butterflies prior to every game, key is key. Or rather Francis Scott Key is key. “I love the National Anthem,” he said. “That dials me in, like ‘OK, I gotta do this reffing thing, and I’m going to do it the best I can.’” And when the crowd boos, it helps to remember “they are booing the (striped) shirt, not Steve Simonson,” he said. Ed also admits to butterflies prior to games. In fact, he recommends them. “I tell the younger refs, once you stop feeling that, you’re going to fail, because you’re overconfident. And that’s when things go downhill,” Ed said. Both Ed and Steve agreed that reffing is hard, sometimes on the body and on the spirit, but almost always on the family calendar, with a lot of traveling involved. It helps a lot when
the family is supportive, Ed said, while Steve confided that sometimes he took his family to games he reffed. Not having them there is what made him stop reffing college games. “All the driving,” he said when asked about the culprit “And above all, all the driving alone.” Reffing is hard, and getting harder, with 80 percent of potential lifers quitting before three years, and the average age of sports official skewing older rather than younger, Steve said. People are turning out to ref, but getting them to tough it out through the abuse hurled from parents and fans in the stands is what’s proving to be a challenge. Ed pointed to the verbal and sometimes physical abuse laid upon referees nowadays as one of the main reasons for the nationwide shortage of referees among high school and college sports. “I’ve been at games where the young refs coming up in the ranks walk off the field cry-
ing because the coach yelled at them or the parents yelled at them. And this is during rec games,” Ed said. Ed said that his progeny has experienced some of that, too. Coaches can get pretty pointed with their remarks, too, bringing up his relationship to David as the only reason the younger Navarro was reffing. “You need a thick skin and not take things personal,” Ed said. Still, he looks forward to reffing some more, especially if David is following in his footsteps. Turning 60 in February, Steve said he’s on a “year-to-year contract with myself.” Of course, going without sports for almost a year due to the pandemic has only sharpened his desire to wear a whistle again. “I’m ready for this season, whenever it may be,” Steve said. Sebastian Moraga is a freelance writer from Cashmere who could not play dead in a western, let alone play ref.
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Loving letters from long ago
Saved family letters tell of war horrors, peacetime hopes and dreams T
By Dale Foreman
his is what the doctor told him, he had a choice, amputate his leg or die. He refused to let the old Sawbones cut off his leg and the doc told the nurse, take him into the dead tent. As Smith Foreman lapsed back into unconsciousness he dreamed about what he could say to his family, what would his last words be? Would he be able to tell them that he loved them, that he did not want to die? He was a young soldier from Pennsylvania fighting the Rebs in Virginia. It was 1862. Miraculously he lived and he wrote a letter to his sister that told an amazing tale. A few weeks earlier he had been fighting Johnny Reb in a farmer’s field in northern Virginia. He was shot with some large bore rifle and it nearly took his right leg off. He lay unconscious for hours and in the dusk, when the shooting had stopped and both sides were picking up their wounded, a big burly male nurse found him and loaded his bleeding body into a horse drawn wagon. They bumped over rocky roads until they arrived at a hospital tent. There, the doctor, already exhausted from a day of cutting off shattered limbs and binding up wounds, told him it was amputate or die. Smith was a young man of 20, he was a farmer and
Top: A few of the envelopes exchanged among family members showing addresses, years and stamps. Lower left: A letter from a Union fighter, and lower right: the pepper box pistol that prevented a leg from being cut off.
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knew that without both legs he could never plow a field or shoe a horse, find a wife or support her. He would rather die. The doctor reached for his saw and Smith reached down into his boot. He kept a pepper box pistol in his boot and he pulled it out and pointed it at the old army surgeon. “Sir, I would rather die than live without my leg. If you try to cut it off I will shoot you.” That’s when the doctor turned to the nurse and said, “take this man to the dead tent.” And as the doc walked away to his next patient, Smith Foreman put the pistol back in his boot and fell into a deep sleep. The pistol now belongs to Clyde Foreman in Wenatchee, along with the love letter young soldier Foreman wrote to his family. This is the story of that letter, and a dozen others from the 1870s, 1890s, 1907, 1911, 1914, 1922, 1933 and 1954 that arrived in Wenatchee in a bundle in 2018. The letters had been saved for generations from the Civil War, from missionary hospitals in Natal, South Africa and Yeotmal, India, from the Suez Canal in 1914 and the ruins of post war Japan. Letters from Uncle Herbert, who worked at the U.S. Department of the Treasury in 1907, letters about the great influenza pandemic of 1918, the mini depression of 1921, the crash of 1929 and the Great Depression of the 1930s and of course both world wars. Uncle Roland Foreman, custodian of the memories, crossed over in 2017 at the age of 100 years. His wonderful family divided up the cabinet full of old letters and sent a packet out to the next generation. Each small letter in the original envelope tied in a packet with a frayed ribbon and sealed with love. The stamps only cost 1,2 and 3 cents. The people wrote of struggling with unemployment, trying to
get a job at Goodyear Tire in Akron, Ohio in 1922 and of trying to get a $15 per month raise as a telephone operator in Pennsylvania in 1954. These were often poor folks, renting out an upstairs room for $2 a week to “keep the wolf away.” Some of them knew hunger, others lived poverty. Many of the old letters ended, “Sending you whole bushels of love.” That is the secret sauce that binds a family and a nation together in hard times, whole bushels of love. These letters are a recipe for that secret sauce. In March 1933, Grandma Foreman wrote to her son Clyde in California. He was laid off at Goodyear Tire in Akron and had moved with his young family out west looking for work. He wanted to be a house builder. Grandpa died in January of that terrible depression year. Grandma wrote a letter to her son: “I am out of bed again, I stayed in almost two weeks. We miss Daddy very much. I can hardly realize he is gone forever. Sometimes when I hear something good I’ll say I have to tell it to Pa, I can’t help but think he is still in his room upstairs. “He did not leave us with much money to live on unless we can sell some lumber. He owes quite a few bills that we’ll have to pay. So we are living on hopes that times will be better.” She closed the letter: “hope you are all well and you will get that house to build. With love to all. By-by, Mother.” Clyde Foreman did get that house to build, in Beverly Hills, for a wealthy Hollywood movie director, and he kept building houses all through the depression. But that is another story. Dale Foreman is a lawyer and orchardist in Wenatchee. He served as Majority Leader of the State House of Representatives and Chairman of the Washington Apple Commission and the US Apple Association. March 2021 | The Good Life
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Keeping family ties strong Twelve months of COVID makes for a long year away from kids and grandkids
W
By Linda Reid
hen restrictions and shutdowns were first officially announced in March of last year, I remember listening to Governor Jay Inslee on the radio in the car. It was one of those “frozen moments” for me where I felt a paradigm shift. Not yet as dramatic as the assassination of President John Kennedy or the tragedy of 9/11, but the feeling of uncertainty about where COVID-19 would take us was unmistakably jarring. This past year has indeed taken us on “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.” One of the most challenging consequences of this pandemic (other than the profound impacts of the disease itself) for many people has been managing long-distance relationships with loved ones. I confess I have come to the realization that I have always felt entitled to see my daughter and grandchildren twice a year. That has been the case for 15 years, until 2020 came along. We managed our biannual visits when they lived in France, in
Grandma and Grandpa Linda and Ken Reid in East Wenatchee play Yahtzee with Emma and Sam in South Florida over FaceTime. Grandcat Rusty observes it all.
Hawaii, and Florida, where they have been for the past five years. We always had that much-needed dose of quality time together, and we have become dependent on it. This past year has humbled me and made me even more grateful for the previously guaranteed anticipation of in-person hugs and snuggles with Emma (now 15) and Sam (12). As the months went by, the reality of when it would be safe to travel to Florida, or for them to come here, began to form a dark cloud on the horizon. We had our good-bye hugs on Jan. 8, 2020, so we passed the one-year mark almost two months ago. In looking back, I have been asking myself how we have been able to keep those critically important family bonds strong and thriving without our biannual time together. I have compiled a list of some of our favorite activities that
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have helped to keep our remote relationships with our grandchildren flourishing. Keeping “the good life” of grandparenting alive and well until it is safe to travel again is a high priority for many seniors. n FaceTime is the foundation of most of these ideas. Just being sure to connect on FaceTime each week has been so important to us all. Sometimes it is a whole family event and other times Emma and Sam each have time with us with no interference from others. Our threehour time zone issue does make that a little tricky sometimes. n There are times when the kids don’t feel like talking, so we have fallen back on the old tried and true “show and tell” where they each have a chance to share something they have created (such as sketches, origami, Lego creations, completed puzzles, schoolwork) and receive our raves and affirmations. (We can
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share, too.) n Snail mail through the post office has been useful as we send cards, hand-written notes, and sometimes receive Emma’s and Sam’s original drawings. It will never be out-of-date for me to send or receive a tangible sign of love via the USPS. n Virtual game time has been a more recent activity for us. Our favorites so far are: Yahtzee, Scattergories, Family Feud, Bingo and some more informal word games like categories and taboo. We have lots of laughs and enjoy the (mostly) friendly competition. n Cat chats are extremely popular, especially with the youngest and most entertaining of their “three cool cats.” Rusty loves the attention and is often a consistent presence on Face Time. Phoenix usually runs and hides as soon as he hears our voices, and Princess Polly, age 15, is deaf but makes good eye
Virtual yard and garden tours are always a hit. It is fun to see what is happening in each other’s yards. We see the Muscovy ducks waddling around their yard and bird of paradise and hibiscus in bloom. They see snow and gold finches and sparrows flocking around our bird feeders. contact with us. n Virtual yard and garden tours are always a hit. It is fun to see what is happening in each other’s yards. We see the Muscovy ducks waddling around their yard and bird of paradise and hibiscus in bloom. They see snow and gold finches and sparrows flocking around our bird feeders. n Other virtual tours have included virtual walks, Christmas light tours, watching New Year’s Eve fireworks, a “trip” to the Miami Zoo, and a gondola ride down from the top of Crystal Mountain. n Sharing family time on Christmas and birthdays at virtual parties, complete with gift-openings, is fun for everyone, especially when we loop in Uncle Jason and Aunt Emily. I am attempting to give Sam some virtual piano lessons since they recently got a piano keyboard. He wants to learn to play a particular piece and I’m trying my best to help make that happen. n Story time is always a low-key way to connect. We are a bookish family and I have always been the matriarch of bedtime stories. Occasionally we still do that. Sometimes I even read them a story from The Good Life I have written. n Our favorite FaceTime activity yet is… baking together. We make the same recipe at the same time, even syncing when we put our creations into our ovens. We did Christmas cookies (Spritz and Mexican Wedding Cakes), peanut brittle, and our family Julekaka (Nor-
wegian Christmas bread) all with delicious outcomes. That is an impressive accomplishment considering we are 3,000 miles apart. It was so much fun we recently baked orange bread together and made French toast with it the following morning. We plan to keep this up! n Just texting photos back and forth is such a wonderful way to stay involved in each other’s lives. Emma is becoming quite the nature photographer and we love to see her photos. When we take photos and send them, especially in “real time,” it almost feels like we are together. We have all learned some hard lessons this past year. I have come to understand that the opposite of entitlement is gratitude. Anticipation is positive, but if you depend on something too much it can lead to disappointment. When relationships are a priority in our lives, we find creative ways to stay connected. If we look carefully, we might even find blessings in our deprivation. When everyone in the family, from grandparents to parents to grandkids, is determined to have multigenerational bonding, it will succeed. I am living with hopeful anticipation that we can find a way to have some in-person time with our Florida family this summer, but 2020 has proven that time and distance can never take away what we have. Linda is a regular contributor to The Good Life and makes her home in East Wenatchee with her husband, Ken, who arranged the photos for this article. March 2021 | The Good Life
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Dan Feil plays in an underwater world.
Going deep with Dan Feil Warm crystal clear water, incredible fish, spectacular scenery, why not jump off a boat in the tropics?
A
By Dave Graybill
s the son of Bob Feil, founder of Bob Feil Boats and Motors in East Wenatchee, Dan Feil spent much of his life around boats. He helped thousands of people enjoy boating, as he did himself. Dan is also a pilot and has traveled throughout the U.S. attending meetings related to the business. He loves seeing things on the water and from the air, but his latest interest takes him under the water. Dan Feil has discovered scuba diving. It didn’t just occur to him one day that it looked like fun. It started when he and his wife Sally were in Hawaii. While relaxing on one of the beaches he decided to rent a mask, snorkel and fins. He found exploring the near shore reefs and seeing the incredible vari-
ety of fish fascinating. He found that the reefs off Kona, Hawaii were even more spectacular than on most of the islands. It was at his Rotary Club that he saw presentations on excursions to destinations known for their reefs and wrecks that attracted people from all over the world. These attractions were explored by scuba diving. The fact that these destinations were in areas with warm climates and crystal clear water added to the appeal of the adventure. The best times to visit these locales is in the winter. While our temperatures hover around freezing the water he would be diving in averaged 80 degrees, even at depths of 80 feet. Dan was soon a regular at the Orca Dive Center here in Wenatchee, learning about scuba diving. Owner Van Ford is a member
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of the Professional Association of Dive Instructors and could provide the training needed to learn to dive. In addition to having all the equipment Dan needed, Van also offered excursions to the best diving destination all over the world. Joining these excursions made travel to these destinations very easy. Having all the details taken care of really added to the pleasure of the travel experience. He learned that he could travel with a minimum of gear. A regulator equipped with his own gauge and a dive computer he straps on his wrist would do. He learned that he didn’t even need a wet suit, as the water would be so warm. Some light “rash” shirts (to avoid scrapes from coral) were part of the essentials. Having a properly fitted mask is important for a good diving experience.
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The Dutch Caribbean island of Bonaire, which is just north of Venezuela, is one of the most famous and attractive diving destinations. Its coral reefs and wrecks are inhabited with over 470 different species of fish. This looked like an ideal place to start Dan’s diving adventures and he joined a group that traveled there, staying at the Buddy Dive Resort. Every morning groups of divers would board one of the boats that would deliver them to one of the dive sites. Dan said it was like jumping into a huge, saltwater fish tank. The variety and color of the fish, corals and other creatures is amazing. He bought a book of fish species of the Caribbean Sea and mentioned that many people would photograph each different fish they saw and then log it into a book to check them off. Much like those who are
bird watchers. The resort also offered night dives. These were of particular interest as many species of fish only appear at night. He said it is quite and experience being under water and viewing only what your dive light illuminated. Seeing the colors of the fish and corals appear out of the dark is spectacular. Underwater photography, which most people learn when they become divers, can require very elaborate equipment. Some travel with expensive cameras enclosed in waterproof and pressure proof housings with powerful lights and strobes. Dan found that he could take excellent photos with a Go Pro mounted on a simple light bar with a couple of filters to compensate for the overall blue tinge of the environment. He also used a very compact underwater model of a camera made by Fuji. Dan’s next diving adventure took him to the tiny island of Guanaja, Honduras. The island is 44 miles from the mainland and is just 12 miles long. There are no roads the only way to get around is by boat. Dan’s group was delivered to the Dunbar Rock Resort. This picturesque resort is actually built on top of a huge rock in the bay. Once again the group could dive each morning or schedule additional dives throughout the day or take night dives. As much as Dan enjoyed the diving, there are other things to see and do. He explored the island’s colorful residential and business districts and since he was up early each morning
ABOVE: The beauty of diving isn’t all below water — dive locations hold their own tropical wonder.
LEFT: Dan Feil displays two important pieces of gear he travels with. One attaches to the regulator on the air tanks, the other he straps on his wrist.
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got to know the resort’s staff. He even became acquainted with the resort owner. Dan visited his home and lush property. He enjoyed photographing the vibrant flowers of the natural gardens of this property as much as the fish on the reefs. Just a little over 70 miles from Guanaja is the island of Roatan, another of the world’s most famous dive destinations, that Dan visited. This island is larger than Guanaja and has roads from one end of the island to the other, but like Guanaja you can only get here by boat. By now Dan knew some of the people who were in his dive group, and part of the fun was meeting the new people who he would dive with and meet for dinner every day. There were those who had been diving all over the world for many years, and others much like Dan were just starting their diving adventures. Dan said you can be as ambitious as you like to become a scuba diver. You can dive every day while on an excursion or take your time to see the area you are visiting. Seeing how people live and go about their business can be as interesting as what you see under water. There are so many destinations all over the world that offer scuba diving adventures, and Dan hasn’t decided where he will go next. He was sure to mention that he is lucky to be in good health so he can enjoy the experience of diving — and he has a wife who supports this new interest.
The solid Craftsman bungalow holds some exotic details that indicate early 20th century interest in revival. Historic District records indicate “Gothic, Egyptian, and Swiss” architectural influences.
A house with history And it shows in style and craftsmanship
T
Story by Susan Lagsdin Photos by Mike Irwin
he early 1990s was a time of transition for Jody Downes after her life hit a sad, rough patch. Widowed and a mother of six kids, she left the Snohomish area to join her family, who had newly moved to Wenatchee. She worked hard at making a fresh start, opening a popular deli at what is now Link’s Columbia Station. Ostensibly dropping in for coffee and a sandwich, Fred Padoshek, whose own very extended family has filled the area since 1886, winked at, wooed and won her, and in due time
Jody gained a new life partner and an old house. Both have been steadfast factors in her life for 25 years. Jody recalls that, restless after living on his Malaga ranch with Fred and three of her kids for a year or so, in a fit of pique she declared, ”I’m going in to town to buy a house.” She’d had enough of rural and sometimes crowded living and wanted lots of rooms, old-world charm and sidewalk streets for a stroll downtown. And a house on Cleveland Avenue, platted in the Grandview addition in 1903 and built — official records vary — either in the 1910s or in the early 1920s,
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Jody said when the game’s on the living room TV, this family dining room with its vintage arch and beams hosts a variety of board games for their grown and still-growing extended family.
became the Downes-Padoshek family home. The 1995 sellers, Mike and
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Donna Cassidy — now owners of The Good Life (see Mike’s column in this issue) — had
The cheery red and white kitchen, remodeled carefully to preserve a vintage look, opens out to three areas of patio, deck and terrace in the compact backyard.
Fred Padoshek and Jody Downes have enjoyed their years in the historic Cleveland Avenue house that Jody first purchased for its century-old charms and the easy sidewalk stroll to Wenatchee’s downtown.
raised their own young family there for a while and were ready to move on, so once more the old house’s many rooms were filled and busy. Fred, for years a local chef,
had become a career roofer; Jody was a para educator for the school district. Over a quarter of a century, the couple’s blended family, seven kids total, grew up there or sought solace there and moved on. And they come back when they can, youngsters in tow. March 2021 | The Good Life
Jody and Fred still enjoy the traditional interior of the house, which was never remodeled into the popular great room/openplan style, because it allows for separation. With 3,700 square feet on three stories, there’s always that coveted “away space” somewhere. www.ncwgoodlife.com
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The kids call it The House of Doors, with seven doorways in view from the kitchen, but Jody defends the old style. “It’s great, especially when the house is full, “ she said. “People can be watching a football game in the living room and everybody else is playing some board game in the dining room. Or they’ll be in the kitchen.” Fred added, “And I can always get down to my man cave,” a big, paneled basement family room with a tidy woodworking area and sleeping quarters — though he admits it’s actually anybody’s man cave when the house is full. This lively house is pedigreed, listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Features from its long past, including family history memorabilia, give it personality, and it’s bookended by coincidence. The Coys, owners of The Restaurant (the Jody’s and Fred’s now-defunct favorite walk-to watering hole from the early years) live right next door. And on the other side? Fred
}}} Continued on next page
LEFT: The back lawn gave way over the years to no-maintenance patio areas; with the firepit, at the left bottom, as the most recent improvement. In warm weather, ivy covers the privacy fence for a sense of seclusion in the city.
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has come full circle; after a long life with travels and travails to match he can look out the north end of their front porch to the exact room at the former St. Anthony’s Hospital, now Christopher House, where he was born. Each level of the house shows the craftsmanship of another era. Beams, doors, wood flooring, original linoleum, built-ins, wood-framed and multi-paned windows, high ceilings, deep trim, arches and, yes, even steep staircases are all part of the original structure. Jody and Fred have taken care to respect their home’s roots with vintage or vintage-look furnishings and accessories. A squint of the eye in most rooms can bring you back to Wenatchee’s early days. Jody is particularly fond of two features. Fronting the home is
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The warren of rooms in the basement once temporarily housed priests from the old St. Joseph’s... a wide, glassed-in front porch furnished with white rattan, a perfect sitting area for most seasons and a buffer from the slight sounds of the city.
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And she likes the look of the separate main floor “water closet,” probably a luxury when it was added on, which she retrofitted with wood walls to look a little more rustic. It adjoins an up-to-date master bath. The warren of rooms in the basement once temporarily housed priests from the old St. Joseph’s, and Fred believes it benefited from their skills. A furniture maker and restorer in his retirement, he said, “they seemed to have time on their hands. This whole place is filled
with handcrafted They have famtongue-in-groove ily and friends far pine.” enough away for One gradual change adventure, and they over the years was figure they can hapturning the grassy pily live a year or two backyard into a multiin transit, in close use space where pavcompany, in a little ers, gravel and rock house on wheels. boarders lend definiThat sojourn may tion. No more expenserve as a bridge to sive water, no more their next acquisition. mowing. And, thick Though they’ve ivy on the fence cremade a good life in ates a private outdoor their big old house, family room. they have no fear of A pergola shades an change; being toinformal dining table, gether and in touch a much-used sitting with their loved ones area features a double matters most. swing, and the fire Will they be ready pit is a focal point for to trade the romance evening gatherings of the past for the (or for pandemic-time The sociability of a city sidewalk, plenty of sunshine and cool breezes are features of the glassed porch practicality of the gatherings in the present? Fred figures that fronts the house. In one hundred-plus years several families have likely enjoyed themselves here. winter). that their next nonIt’s time for another family to friend, realtor Jonathan Corning invested in a 31-foot RV a few mobile house, city or country make full use of the Cleveland (The Johns Real Estate Corpora- years ago, and now they are but still in the area, will possiAvenue house, so Jody and Fred tion). primed to hit the highways for a bly be one-story, open plan and have listed it with long-time In their early 70s, the couple long-anticipated road trip. brand new.
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column THE TRAVELing DOCTOR
jim brown, m.d.
Are ‘brain enhancers’ effective? I
am sure all of us have seen ads for so-called “brain or memory” enhancers like Prevagen hundreds of times on television. I have been skeptical of these claims and concerned at how effective the manufacturers have been in selling this blockbuster product to unsuspecting — often elderly — buyers. There is no doubt these ads are effective, as consumers have paid over $165,000,000 for this product since its launch in 2007. Their official website calls Prevagen the number 1 brain performance product, although there is no proof of its effectiveness anywhere. If nothing else, it shows how effective clever advertising can be to the unsuspecting public. So what is this product and
what does it really do? It contains one component, a protein called apoaequorin that originally came from a specific type of jellyfish that glows. This protein is now manufactured and recommended as a dietary supplement. Many similar so-called brain enhancers are packed with fillers and other low quality ingredients that also have not proven to be effective and many of which have unpleasant side effects. Dietary supplements can include vitamins, minerals, herbs, botanicals, enzymes, amino acids and other dietary ingredients. Manufacturers are not required to test these products for safety or effectiveness. The U.S. Food and Drug
Administration does regulate dietary supplements but treats them as foods rather than medications, which would have to show they are safe and effective. The FDA sued the marketing of the nationally advertised memory supplement Prevagen based on a study showing it worked no better than a placebo. The director of the Federal Trade Commission said the marketers forgot to back their claims with real scientific evidence. After seeing the claims repeatedly on television made by the Prevagen manufacturers, I felt compelled to investigate if there were any basis for the efficacy of this product. As you can see, there isn’t any scientific basis supporting their claims.
I feel sad to see so many unsuspecting, hopeful and trusting seniors shelling out an average of $60 monthly for a product that has been proven to be essentially worthless. There are many other socalled brain enhancers on the market that have not been proven to be effective. Consumers, please be wary of over-the-counter medical product claims that seem “to good to be true.” Talk to your doctor or neurologist about your concerns first. Jim Brown, M.D., is a retired gastroenterologist who has practiced for 38 years in the Wenatchee area. He is a former CEO of the Wenatchee Valley Medical Center.
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june darling
Change of values, change to happiness ‘’I don’t know what to do! I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a school-boy. …. Whoop! Hallo!” — Scrooge, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Despite snarky politics,
COVID-19 and its variation, March mud and muck; some people are happy most of the time. Researchers claim when all is said and done, it comes down to values. Values guide choices. They provide answers to our dilemmas. Should you take that job for more prestige and money? Move to L.A. to live with cool people? Join the Peace Corps and teach in Mexico? Values are what we think is important for the good life like … money, fame and fortune or friendship and family. Our values are based on beliefs about what is bad, good; right, wrong; ugly, beautiful and what will make us happy or unhappy. Those beliefs and values come from our family, our friends, the places we live, the stuff we read, the experiences we have. I was raised in East Tennessee. As far as I could tell we all were scraping for a bit of power and prestige, but we could never act uppity. It was okay to go to college, even buy a Cadillac. Not okay to look down on the folks in the hollers. Can we judge others’ values? Can we say that some values are better than others? Researchers simply say that it seems that certain values lead to certain outcomes. If my values are all about me, what makes me look good, what builds my ego, then my life will
If my values are more oriented toward helping others... then I will be one of those people who feels happy for longer periods of time … even when things seem to be going to pot. be made up of some great days and some awful days. Unsurprisingly, my good days will be when I am winning first prize, getting what I want to make me look good. My bad days will be all those other days when I am losing. Those days will be filled with anger, jealousy, resentment and depression. Researchers refer to these types of values as self-enhancing. They lead to fluctuating happiness. If my values are more oriented toward helping others — making a better world, moving toward harmony, understanding, connection, compassion, then I will be one of those people who feels happy for longer periods of time … even when things seem to be going to pot. Researchers label these type of values, self-transcendent or selfless. People who follow these values seem to have inner peace, a sense of plenty. These values appear to lead to authentic-durable happiness. Now, I certainly have a lot of questions about all this. For example, can we have some self-enhancing values or even a lot of self-enhancing March 2021 | The Good Life
values and be sustainably happy if we have ways of dealing with negative emotions? And would it make sense to try to change our values — after all our values are our values. If we wanted to change our values, how would we do it? Some guesses come to mind, but not solid research. It might be fun to let us all ponder our questions together for a while. We can take some time to examine the two paths, see how and when they seem to diverge and where they seem to lead. We can notice ourselves, our dilemmas, our values — try to figure out where they came from and if they might be ready for a make-over. Maybe it is because I’m getting older, maybe it’s because of COVID-19, maybe it’s the pensiveness that pervades my brain as March blusters blow out the winter dark and cold to usher in the new life of spring; who knows, but I do feel a sense of … change. I find myself reading obituaries a bit more carefully. I cannot help being impressed by the long ones with incredible accomplishments. I imagine what their day-to-day life was — what were their struggles? When were they happy? Lately, a short obit comes >> RANDOM QUOTE
The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why. Mark Twain www.ncwgoodlife.com
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to mind. After the required mention of dates, place of birth, and family members, followed one little sentence, “She always had a cup of coffee ready for anyone seeking company, conversation and consolation.” It touched me. March, this in-between-time of not winter, but not yet spring, is a great time for lattes, reading, thinking, noticing how our own and others’ values pop up … and imagining where they ultimately lead. We might consider the young science that supports the ancient wisdom on happiness. And, if we feel an urge to change toward more selfless values, toward authentic-durable happiness, and need a bit of inspiration, we can remember Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. How might we take March to move up to The Good Life by examining values and where they seem to lead? June Darling, Ph.D. can be contacted at drjunedarling1@gmail.com; website: www.summitgroupresources. com. Her bio and many of her books can be found at amazon.com/author/ junedarling.
What Are You Laughing At? We’re looking for fresh, true stories from local people that’ll bring a chuckle to our readers.
Limit yourself to 500 to 1,000 words and send to: editor@ncwgoodlife.com
Clean shots For real estate photographer, the art is in the uncluttered details
“I
By Susan Lagsdin
remember one of the first houses I photographed professionally,” Travis Knoop recalled. “[Realtor] Kathy Emerick, liked my work but picked out one shot and said, ‘Oh no! I can’t believe you didn’t see the tag on that bath towel.’” That was all he needed. His photos now help market homes in Wenatchee and across north central Washington, and he has gained a reputation for assiduous attention to detail. “That’s good and bad,” Travis said. “I think sometimes Realtors tell homeowners, ‘Don’t worry about a thing; the photographer will make this room look great.’” That has meant, on occasion, a little strategic housekeeping for him — neatening a rumpled duvet here, picking up a dog bowl there, removing refrigerator magnets galore. Travis has no ambitions to be a gallery photographer, though his landscapes and outdoor rec photos (on his website and on Chelan County Commons) are stunning. But he does seek perfection in his craft — or as close as he can come in a reasonable amount of time. His career in real estate photography is an amalgam of two skills he perfected independently: knowing his way around cameras (“I’m a self-admitted tech geek,” he said) and knowing from first-hand experience how and why people purchase homes. Travis has always enjoyed chronicling hikes, snowboarding, wake boarding and
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Travis Knoop, seen here at the window of his north Wenatchee home, may be one of the busiest photographers in town. He works year-round for several real estate professionals who trust that his photos and 3-D videos will help home buyers see prospective properties at their best. Photo by Mike Irwin
other outdoor adventures. “I remember my first digital camera was the size of a brick and just as heavy, but it had a cool little screen,” he said, “and there was instant gratification!” He was later gifted with a better one, a Canon 20d that was meant for taking pictures of his kids for their grandparents. But he also took it to work. His work was selling real estate, relatively lucrative employment when he started in 2005, and less so when the market troughed in this area six years later. For those years, he’d enjoyed working with clients and found that taking pictures of his listings was a good way to showcase them. Soon, he started taking house photos as a favor for colleagues. It was his wife Sarah who initially encouraged him to make real estate photography a separate but equal profession, so in 2011 he started his business, and he’s been at it full time — and what feels like more on some days — for 10 years. 2019 was crazy busy, Travis said, with 800 appointments, but he typically photographs probably 500 to 600 properties year-round. That includes taking still photos with his | The Good Life
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Sony a7RIII, FAA licensed drone shots of acreage, and the latest in multi-view imaging, a Matterport camera system for 360-degree virtual walk-throughs like those seen in his BNCW Home Tour portfolio. The latter synthesizes designated scan points throughout and can create with surprising accuracy a 3-D dollhouse effect, as well as a floor plan, of any structure. “I was surprised at how much I enjoy the structure and rigidity of shooting spaces, lining up horizontals and verticals and composing images, and with a real purpose — drawing people into a house,” Travis said. Ironically, when times are good in the real estate business (“Who needs them?”) and when times get tighter (“Can’t afford them”), demand for his photos may slip, so Travis values especially agents who want to give all levels of homes excellent exposure, whatever the market conditions. His prices are mostly based on a home’s square footage, $250 being a typical invoice, and he prefers to shoot two assignments a day to maximize his time in the house, in his truck, and at the computer. Travis is in a niche profession that’s not too
March 2021
Some real estate photos present technical challenges, like this complex design in single color tone with few shadows. The interior of this Icicle Creek beauty posed an untypical problem, but Travis was able to create a pleasing scene that showcased the builder’s craftsmanship.
Travis’s landscape photos, many of Cascade terrain, are a diversion from his regular real estate work. He was caught by the almost tropical colors in this photo of the four-mile long Chelan River, taken near the old Chelan Falls bridge.
crowded and is happy to share some ideas. Owner/sellers or individual Realtors can of course opt to take their own photos. These first two universal rules work for a photo shoot or an in-person showing; he also shares the last three he discovered by trial and
error. n Declutter drastically: Cull and compact the four-generation graduation and wedding photos, the teddy bear collection, packing boxes, religious icons, jammed closets, hobby projects, cleaning supplies, dresser detritus, magazine March 2021 | The Good Life
stacks. n Don’t over stage: Decorators are often the culprits here. Shabby chic, old west, Victorian, nautical or lodge accessories can add pizazz, but even in an immaculate house, overloading with pillows, knick-knacks and generic wall art steals focus from the home’s best qualities. n Strive for attractive accuracy: dramatically magnifying the dimensions of a room can lead to disappointment. High, abovethe-head angles give a spy-cam look. Avoid room shots where you’ve backed into a deep corner where no human ever stands. n Let there be light: take advantage of ambient natural light or all bulbs burning, whatever it takes to avoid a murky, dungeon-like look. Open the drapes, use a flash, but be careful of bounce-back. n Show what needs to be seen: Buyers want a home to call their own and will appreciate the whiteness of a master bathroom, the depth of a basewww.ncwgoodlife.com
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ment rec room, the burnished wood floors. Avoid your personal favorite spots like a cozy recliner with a lamp, a wall of art, your begonias. Travis admits to being quasiOCD, likely to lose the big picture while he perfects the camera’s focus. Recently, he said, he was set to click on a carefully-lighted, painstakingly composed shot in the kitchen of a million-dollar property when the listing agent popped in to ask, “Hey — did you want me to get all my stuff off the counter?” He said COVID had an unintended good consequence for the Knoops: he reined in an instinct to please and learned to say no to reduce the number of shoots he does. “Our daughters are growing up way too fast and I want to be available for them,” Travis said. “I decided this wasn’t the time to squeeze every moment from the day working.”
The Art Life
// SKETCHES OF LOCAL ARTISTS
Nita Paine ‘I love that we provide an outlet to people to express themselves, to find out who they are’
T
By Susan Lagsdin
he thousands of peoplehours needed to create community theater productions in our region are gladly donated by hundreds of volunteers. Generally, they’re unpaid but professional, in the spotlight but often humble, ambitious but content to stay here. This story highlights just one of the many: Nita Paine, the chair of the board of trustees of Music Theatre of Wenatchee. First, go back in time a year or so, pre-pandemic: picture an evening at the Riverside Playhouse. You sip a glass of wine in the lobby, scan again the photos of past plays, then find your place in the chatty, semi-lit theater and peruse your program. You may ooh and ahh at the waiting sets. At an invisible signal, the
Riverside Playhouse, which houses Music Theatre of Wenatchee, is familiar territory to Nita Paine, who’s been connected to the group both on and off stage for most years since 1978.
house darkens and conversation stops. Perhaps an orchestra plays the show’s overture. Two actors slip quietly onto stage, a spotlight haloes them and the world changes. A playwright’s words become a suspended reality. That moment is what theater lovers love most. And in our own downtown, repeated dozens of times a year, that moment has been happening for Music Theatre of Wenatchee (MTOW) since 1961. It’s supposed to look and feel like magic for the audience. But it’s work, and as are so many arts enterprises, it’s a
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labor of love. Nita was at first reluctant to do this interview. “I’m not really an artist,” she demurred, “And there are people who know a lot more about this theater than I do.” Well, possibly. But because she has been instrumental, active and involved in MTOW’s continuous success for over four decades, it seemed like a good bet. “I look back at all the years I’ve been coming down to the theater and it’s flabbergasting,” she said. She’s in awe of her past
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March 2021
mentors from years ago from the legendary Keith Sexton and up to Don Fox, and current compatriots like Cynthia Brown, the Maussers and the Atwoods (and — sorry — dozens of others you’d see repeatedly on your play program) who seem to dedicate their whole lives to theater. “I could never give it that kind of energy…” Au contraire. She’s given her energy and more to the group as actor, singer, dancer, light hanger, stagehand, concessionaire, odd-job volunteer and often board member.
‘I look back at all the years I’ve been coming down to the theater and it’s flabbergasting’ The two jobs Nita finds really daunting she’s adroitly managed to stay clear of: directing and producing. (One homemade definition of those is the director works with actors on the stage and the producer makes everything else happen; she visibly shuddered at the responsibility involved.) Any other role, large or small, she’ll take. Her first time on the MTOW stage she played the mother-in-law in 1978’s Pippin, which she remembered at the time as being risqué and risky. It was “way too much fun,” she said. And she was hooked. Nita later played Nellie Forbush in South Pacific, then took smaller parts in musicals like Oklahoma, Annie and A Chorus Line. Her last singing and dancing role was 2009’s Steppin’ Out. She said the only precedent for her community theater life, which started in earnest here in Wenatchee after college, marriage and the Peace Corps, was playing Mrs. Paroo in her Seattle high school’s production of The Music Man. Her teaching career with Eastmont schools and raising a family kept her close to town during most of the theater’s September-May busiest seasons. Now in retirement, unless she’s traveling with her husband Bob, she’s still helping in some way to put a show on the boards. Nita was proud to point out this is the 60th anniversary of MTOW. Its inception was a tiny black-box space in a repurposed garage on Benton Street. By 1991, with the purchase of Riverside Playhouse, the annual production calendar had grown; it now includes two dramas and a musical, as well as Short Shakespearians and occasional sum-
mer shows. MTOW’s popular Apple Blossom musicals, sold-out blockbusters that some would expect only in bigger communities, used the Wenatchee High School and later the Performing Arts Center stage (Annie in 2001 was the first of that longstanding joint venture, Newsies in 2019 its latest.) but though the seating space is smaller, Riverside Playhouse can still host quality musical productions. Nita, in her latest starring role as Board chair, has been handling two big challenges recently. The first, of course, is the pandemic. The 2020 Apple Blossom musical, Mama Mia, was cast and accounted for when the director wisely closed the curtain on it a year ago. The theater went dark for 2020 and remains so into the new year. In Zoom board meetings, creative suggestions for a possible virus-free fall abound, Nita said. Among other ideas, “There’s talk of a special reward for members, an ‘Apple Harvest’ musical, maybe a Halloween event.” The second challenge is geographical. Riverside Playhouse is situated at the southern edge of a tract of buildings and parking lots owned by the Chelan P.U.D, which is relocating its operations to Olds Station. As the acreage faces sale and development, MTOW needs to consider continued access and parking, perhaps expansion for the playhouse. Fruitful discussion is ongoing, and Nita and the MTOW board — creative problem solvers — feel positive that after 60 years of inevitable ups and downs and changes, “the show will go on.” It has great incentive to do so. Nita said, “I love that we provide an outlet to people to express themselves, to find out who they are. “And that we produce plays for some people who might never see them, or even see theater, anywhere else but here.” March 2021 | The Good Life
fun stuff what to do around here for the next month
We want to know of fun and interesting local events. Send info to: donna@ncwgoodlife.com
Please check all events to make sure none has canceled. Mission Ridge is open 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Info: missionridge.com. 1 million cups, every first Wednesday of the month. 8 a.m. Entrepreneurs discover solutions and thrive when they collaborate over a million cups of coffee. Come join this supportive, dynamic community and hear from two businesses that are between 1 – 5 years old. Discover how we can help move them forward in a positive environment. Zoom link: 1mcwenatcheevalley. eventsbrite.com. Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center is closed however, the retail spaces, Gift Shop and 90th Anniversary Women Painters of Washington art gallery are open by appointment five days a week, Tuesday-Saturday. Info: wenatcheevalleymuseum.org/re-
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opening or call 888-6240. GWATA Virtual Tech Talk: Rebekah Bastian, 3/2, 5 – 6 p.m. Entrepreneur, writer, artist, tech executive, mentor, wife, mother and aerial acrobat Rebekah Bastian. Rebekah is the CEO and co-founder of Own Trail. Prior to founding Own Trail, she was the vice president of product and vice president of community and culture at Zillow. Register: gwata.org. PYBUs University: Survival to Thrival: a conversation on assisting small businesses, 3/2, 7 p.m. Join us for a conversation with Meredith Hilger and Linda Haglund from the Wenatchee Downtown Association about what small businesses in our community can do to move from a state of survival to thriving during this challenging time. Learn about some of the best practices shared from small businesses and the small ways you can make a big impact for your business with simple modifications and messaging. Zoom
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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 class. Info: pybuspublicmarket.org. Covid Vaccine Question and answer series, 3/3, 17, 31, 2 - 3 p.m. Ask questions about the covid vaccine with local health officials. Info: wenatcheevalleymuseum.org. Two Rivers Gallery celebrates is 12th anniversary, 3/3-25. Over 50 local and regional artists showing their chosen artworks. Wed.-Sat. 11a.m. - 4 pm., sunday 1- 4 p.m. Virtual Chamber Banquet, 3/4. Hosts for the evening will be Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Shiloh Burgess and Board of Directors President Tod McLaughlin of Apple Valley Honda. The program will include the announcement of the Business of the Year and NonProfit Business of the year for 2020 with highlights presented on each finalist. Info: wenatchee.org. Wenatchee Riverfront Rail-
way, 3/6, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Home of the Nile Saunders Orchard mini train. All train runs are weather permitting. Wenatchee Riverfront Park. Cost: $2. Info: facebook.com/ thewenatcheeriverfrontrailway. Virtual Lecture Series: New frontiers with immunotherapy, 3/6, 10 a.m. Learn how these agents are used and common side effects of treatment for cancer. Ease Cancer Foundation. Cost: free. Register: easecancer.org. Icicle Creek Songwriters Circle, 3/6, 7 p.m. Live-streamed from Icicle Creek Center for the Arts. Info: icicle.org. PYBUs University: Feel to Heal, 3/9, 7 p.m. Join us for a generative discussion on how we can leverage the power of music in our everyday lives to help us feel, heal and thrive. This session will include an immersive sound bath meditation to experience the power of sound healing in practice with Ada Ketchie and Nathan Getzin of Wakes. Zoom class. Info: pybuspublicmarket.org. Marie Suize Pantaloon: Itinerary of a pioneer, 3/10, 7 p.m.
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This virtual documentary tells the story of Marie Suize, who traveled from France to California in 1850 during the Gold Rush and was a successful gold miner and winemaker. She was arrested many times for wearing men’s clothes, and thus earned her nickname “Marie Pantaloon.” Local expert Susan Butruille and other historians describe her singular life in this documentary directed by Francois Gaillard. Film is 30 minutes long and Q & A after with Susan Butruille. Cost: $5/$10/$15 pay what you can. Info: icicle.org. Wild Ideas: The Salamanders of Central Washington, 3/11, 6 p.m. Join Torsten Watkins, local 14-year-old herpetologist (person who studies reptiles and amphibians), as we explore the secretive but fascinating and beautiful species of salamanders when exploring wet pockets of our arid landscape. Zoom. Must register. Info: cdlandtrust.org. Regional High School Art Show, 3/12. The Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center sponsors the annual Regional HIgh School Art Show in cooperation with the North Central Educational Services District and Office of \ Superintendent of Public Instruction. This opportunity showcases student’s creativity and talent district wide and state wide. Museum visitors view artwork from students in Chelan, Douglas, Grant and Okanogan counties, with winners recognized in seven categories, as well as the popular people’s choice awards. Virtual Exhibit: wenatcheevalleymuseum.org. Introductory Series to Wildlife Tracking, 3/16, 4/20, 6 p.m. Explore the art of inquiry and engaging curiosity in the natural world, learn basic wildlife foot physiology and morphology, learn clear print identification, concepts in behavior and wildlife sign interpretation and how wildlife interacts with landscapes in the three part Zoom series. Wenatchee River Institute. Cost: $15 per class or $40 whole series. Must register: wenatcheeriverinstitute.org.
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Know of someone stepping off the beaten path in the search for fun and excitement? E-mail us at editor@ncwgoodlife.com
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March 2021
PYBUs University: Why honey bees matter, 3/16, 7 p.m. Learn about the importance of bees to our valley and the world’s food supply. Presenter McGregor Farms. Zoom class. Info: pybuspublicmarket.org. Made in Wenatchee: Spirits Tasting with Blue Spirits distillery, 3/17, 7 - 8 p.m. Details and registration: wenatcheevalleymuseum.org. Wild Ideas: everything you wanted to know about pacific salmon but never thought to ask, 3/18, 6 p.m. Why do salmon travel hundreds of miles from freshwater to the ocean and back to complete their life cycle? Why are there seven species of Pacific salmon but only one Atlantic salmon species? How do salmon find their way home? Is there really such a thing as a sabertoothed salmon? Join fish ecologist and conservation biologist Tracy Bowerman for the answers to these questions and more. Must register. Info: cdlandtrust.org. Virtual Lecture Series: Yoga and lymphatic massage, 3/20, 10 a.m. Reduce the physical effects of stress on your body and lymphedema risk. Ease Cancer Foundation. Cost: free. Register: easecancer.org. Wenatchee Riverfront Railway, 3/20, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Home of the Nile Saunders Orchard mini train. All train runs are weather permitting. Wenatchee Riverfront Park. Cost: $2. Info: facebook.com/ thewenatcheeriverfrontrailway. Emely Phelps and Oksana Ejokina, 3/21, 1 p.m. Virtual event, live-streamed from Icicle Creek to your home. Cost: complimentary, please buy a free ticket. Info: icicle. org. PYBUs University: brewing 101, 3/23, 7 p.m. Learn about the history of beer, origins of certain styles, ingredients used and the basics of the brewing process. Zoom class. Info: pybuspublicmarket.org. PYBUs University: Dahlias 101, 3/30, 7 p.m. Members of the NCW Dahlia Society will talk about which dahlias grow well in this climate and will show you how to prepare your garden, plant your tubers and tend your plants throughout the growing season. Zoom class. Info: pybuspublicmarket.org.
PET tales
Tells us a story about your pet. Submit pet & owner pictures to: editor@ncwgoodlife.com
We weren’t planning on
getting a dog. It just happened. Our neighbor, Jim, got a labradoodle puppy, Meg. After a year Jim’s circumstances changed which found Meg home alone in the garage. With Joel and I retired and out in the garden most days, Meg was given permission to hang out with us. Wanting Meg to have the attention she deserves, Jim decided he needed to re-
T
his photo was taken on a desert hike near Quincy in the winter. Randall Dinwiddie and his 10-year-old West Highland Terrier named Zuzu are stopping for a snack. Zuzu was a Christmas puppy and gets the name from the movie A Wonderful Life with Jimmy Stewart.
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home her. Three years later, Meg is keeping us active with two walks or hikes a day and lots of love. She thinks she’s a lap dog, all 53 pounds of her. Meg continues to have a great friendship with Jim. Lots of love to go around. — Debbie Lhamon
>>
column those were the days
rod molzahn
Those Blair girls: An adventurous bunch George and Margaret Blair
rolled into the Wenatchee Valley in October of 1883 with a fourhorse team, Margaret’s 15-yearold son, Charles Davis, and a wagonload of little girls. The gaggle of girls included 9-year-old Mary Irene (Mamie), 8-year-old Grace, 7-year-old Pearl and Alice who was 2 years old. They had reached the end of a yearlong journey west from Nebraska. Seattle was their original destination but in Ellensburg, where they rested for five days, George Blair heard stories about the Wenatchee Valley to the north. He crossed Colockum Pass to have a look and liked what he saw. When he returned to Ellensburg he brought fresh apples and grapes, persuasive arguments for changing destinations. During the five-day layover in Ellensburg the girls discovered someone who taught them some Chinook Jargon words. Chinook is a melting pot language that combines English, French and Native Indian languages. The girls practiced the words during the five-day slog over Colockum Pass and continued using Chinook as they grew up on the Wenatchee Flat. Mamie recalled later that by the time Alice was four or so she spoke Chinook better than English. Alice was also dark complected with brown/black eyes and “raven black” hair. Family lore includes the story that George and Margaret feared that Indians might take Alice because of her appearance and Chinook skills. George once hid her under a turned over cauldron when he saw a group of unfamiliar Indians riding towards their home.
The Cooper/Blair/Stevens families around 1907. Photo courtesy of the Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center, 012-51-4095
The Blair girls were an adventurous bunch and none more so than Mamie, the oldest. As a young girl she loved to dance and would ride horseback with friends to the Saturday night dance at a home high on Stemilt Hill. They would dance through the night then ride back home at dawn Sunday morning. The girls made up nearly half the student body of Wenatchee’s first school, a one-room log building at the corner of what are now Washington and Miller streets. It opened in 1885 as a “subscription” school funded by the student’s families. A year later it became Wenatchee’s first public school and was taught by the Blair girl’s half brother, 18-year-old Charley Davis. That was good for a start but George Blair, a member of the first school board, wanted a “real” teacher, someone who had a state normal school degree. He found that teacher in Ellensburg, a young man named Charles Cooper. Blair convinced him to come to Wenatchee. Twenty-three-year-old Charley
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In October of 1890, at age 16, Mamie married 33-year-old Orpheus (“Si”) France. Their wedding present from George and Margaret was 20 acres from the family homestead... Cooper took over a school room that included all four Blair girls; Mamie, age 12, 11-year-old Grace, 10-year-old Pearl and 5-year-old Alice. In 1885, George Washington Blair partnered with his neighbor, Christopher Columbus Rickman, to run a stagecoach line from Ellensburg to Waterville, a distance of 150 miles. They made two roundtrips a week. The Blair home in Wenatchee was the halfway rest stop. Margaret Blair would
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cook a meal for the passengers served by Grace and Pearl. Mamie washed the dishes. The Wenatchee Valley was full of bachelors. In 1888 Deak Brown told the unmarried Bromiley brothers to look for homesteads someplace else because the Wenatchee Valley already had too many bachelors. In the valley of bachelors, the Blair girls got a lot of attention. In October of 1890, at age 16, Mamie married 33-year-old Orpheus (“Si”) France. Their wedding present from George and Margaret was 20 acres from the family homestead fronting on Western Avenue between Fifth Street and Orchard Avenue. Si and Mamie built a house (still standing) and developed a fine apple orchard. Si was a self-taught horticulturalist and Mamie did some fruit growing research on her own. When the codling moths were filling everyone’s apples with worms Mamie consulted a grower who was experimenting with spraying techniques. Mamie brought the science home. Si objected to the “new-fangled notions.” Mamie insisted and Si finally gave in. The new crop of Winesaps was “vastly improved.” Along with the apples Mamie and Si France raised three sons: Herbert, Joe and Pete. Wendall Stevens, also in his early 30s, was a friend of Si France from the east. In 1889 he opened a mercantile store in “Old Town” and claimed a homestead on Lower Sunnyslope. The next year, a month after Si and Mamie’s wedding, Wendall Stevens married 15-yearold Grace Blair. They also were
When Alice and Ed married they got their 20-acre wedding present. It’s not clear where their land came from on the homestead but it is clear that Ed had no interest in farming. given 20 acres, probably on the north side of the Blair homestead facing Fifth Street. It’s not clear if they built a home on that land. They might have lived on the Lower Sunnyslope property where Stevens raised alfalfa. Wendall and Grace raised a son, Wendall, and two daughters, Ruth and Vera. In 1892, 29-year-old Charles Cooper married his ex-student, 16-year-old Pearl Blair. When he wasn’t teaching school, Charley Cooper worked for Sam Miller overseeing Miller’s ranch, cattle and crops. In 1898 Pearl and Charley began developing their 20-acre wedding present fronting on Washington Street. They cleared sagebrush, planted an orchard of Winesaps and built a fine home. Lindley Hull said the mature orchard “was a showplace of the valley.” Over the years Rachael, George and Charles Jr. joined the family. Charley and Pearl also owned the first automobile in the valley, a Reo. The orchard business was productive and profitable for the sisters and their families. Si and Mamie were, likely, the valley’s first “snow-birds” spending most winters vacationing in California. Some years they were joined by the whole family, including George and Margaret, the Stevens and Coopers and Alice. They all did a multi-car drive
to Yellowstone in 1912, the subject of family stories for years. Sometime, probably about 1900, Alice Blair married Ed Ferguson. It did not go well. They had met as students at Stevens School. Ed came to Wenatchee in 1894, the year of the monstrous flood and enrolled in school. He was 15 years old. Alice was 13 that year and the only Blair girl still unmarried. When Alice and Ed married they got their 20-acre wedding present. It’s not clear where their land came from on the homestead but it is clear that Ed had no interest in farming. Ed had a small house on the corner of King and Cleveland streets. His primary interest was the entertainment business. By 1905, he was operating the Wenatchee Theatre and by 1910 Ed’s theater was showing the first versions of silent films. By then crowds were filling the theater. Ed and Alice were divorced and Ed had married Louise Hollenbeck, a classically trained pianist from New York who accompanied Ed’s silent films. Alice moved to Seattle and remarried. She returned occasionally to Wenatchee for Blair family celebrations as Alice Fry. Historian, actor and teacher Rod Molzahn can be reached at shake. speak@nwi.net. 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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the back page: that’s life
Omens for the ides of March W
By Susan Sampson
hen I turn the page on my wall calendar to March, it looks pretty bleak. I see no national holidays or religious events to celebrate. Sometimes Easter falls in March, but not this year. I do see St. Patrick’s day on March 17 — wear green, or I get to pinch you. Some of my paternal FinnishAmerican relatives observe St. Urho’s day on March 16, the day before. They claim that St. Urho ridded Finland of grasshoppers, saving its wine industry. (St. Urho is totally a fictional excuse to party. He was created in northern Minnesota in 1950.) My maternal relatives descended from Germans, and that included my grandmother Edith Goers, whose birthday was March 25. She’d be 120 years old this year. She held a headful of lore that she passed on to my mother, some of which still trickles down through the family even yet, like a bad gene. Grandmother taught her girls that, Whistling girls and crowing hens always come to some bad end. Also, if your nose itches, you are going to kiss a fool. If you
What Are You Laughing At? We’re looking for fresh, true stories from local people that’ll bring a chuckle to our readers.
Limit yourself to 500 to 1,000 words and send to: editor@ncwgoodlife.com
“To get rid of your warts, steal your mother’s dishcloth and bury it in the back yard,” she taught her own daughter, my mother. slop water down your front when you wash dishes, you are going to marry a drunk. “Be careful,” she warned. “If you break a mirror, you’ll have seven years of bad luck. If you knock over the salt shaker and spill some salt, toss a pinch of salt over your left shoulder, or you’ll have bad luck.” (I remember a Dagwood comic where Dagwood spills some salt in a restaurant. When he tosses a pinch over his shoulder for luck, he hits the diner behind him.) “Be nice” she said. “If you step on a crack, you’ll break your mother’s back.” My mother injured her back carrying me, but that was before I was walking, so it wasn’t entirely my fault. Grandmother knew her omens. “Red sky at morning…” but everybody’s granny knew that one. Did you take a sudden chill that made you shudder? Somebody just stepped on your grave. Does the fuzzy bear caterpillar have broad stripes? Then we’ll have a hard winter. (My mother claimed that her hair was thicker before a cold winter, too.) Grandmother’s lessons were endless. “Take care of yourself. Clean your dinner plate to make it a good day tomorrow. Besides, think of the starving Armenians. Don’t make faces or your face will freeze that way. Don’t walk barefooted — that will make your feet too wide.”
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We lived on the sandy Oregon coast where it was too cold to go barefooted unless the sand was too hot to step on, but my feet turned out short and wide anyway. That works fine for flip-flops and huaraches, not so much so for pointy-toed shoes with spiked heels. “To get rid of your warts, steal your mother’s dishcloth and bury it in the back yard,” she taught her own daughter, my mother. Mom did that, and it worked, but when my brother got warts on his hand, she took him to the doctor. There’s no sense in wasting a good dishcloth, I guess, or teaching your son to steal. “Be lucky. If you see a white horse, make a wish, dab your thumb on your tongue, make a fist, and smack your fist into your other palm. Is it your birthday? Make a wish, then blow out the candles on your birthday cake in one breath.” (That horrifies my son who holds a Ph.D. in public health. He’s been concerned about droplets since before COVID-19.) If you can find chicken meat with a breastbone intact, scrape off the meat, dry the bone for a day, then find somebody to pull the wishbone with you. According to Grandma, when the bone breaks, whoever is left with the larger piece will be lucky. But my husband Jerry, aeronautical engineer (retired) that he is, applies some quick structural analysis to the bone, tugs it sharply, and always breaks it into three parts, sending the lucky tip flying across the room, so nobody wins. On the other hand, to my surprise, Jerry was insistent upon obeying the cautions of one particular myth, not one of Grandma’s. We were visiting the Big Island of Hawaii, walking on the
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beach, when I found a rock studded with small crystals of green peridot. We’d visited the Volcanoes National Susan Sampson Park the day retired with before, where her husband to park rangers Wenatchee in 2009 warned that if after practicing anybody took law in Seattle for 35 years. rocks from the park, they’d bring down the wrath of the goddess Pele, who would shower them with bad luck. I love crystals, not for their auras or soothing influences or medicinal values, but for my fascination with their molecular structures. But at Jerry’s insistence, I left the rock on the beach. I’ve come to think that he just didn’t want to help me carry it. “An owl in your household brings good luck,” Grandma said. I think she meant in your eaves; nobody wants owl pellets in the attic. A week or so ago, I heard a Great Horned Owl in the night. Then, three nights ago, as Jerry sat in a darkened living room watching the night sky, he saw a large bird fly up to the house and perch on the roof. We sneaked outside in the dark, then shone the beam of a flashlight up on the roof for just a second so as not to disturb it. There it was, a Great Horned Owl, looking down on us with huge eyes. Will we be lucky? Grandma would tell us to keep our fingers crossed. Fingers crossed or not, the calendar promises that spring arrives March 21.
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