September 2014 issue

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WENATCHEE VALLEY’S

NUMBER ONE MAGAZINE

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September 2014

Open for fun and adventure

An amazing journey to transform inside and out

running to save my life

Price: $3

r y e o v u o r c s P i UD d e R Free fun for all ages!

River Ramble Sept. 5-6, 2014

Friday - 5-8 p.m., Saturday - 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.

We’ll learn together about the collective knowledge of wildlife and plants that’s been passed down from the vibrant peoples who’ve thrived along our rivers • Meet renowned Native American artists • • • •

•

and local educators Storytelling - “Introduction to the Indian Way” with Wendell George Hear about Native American customs and the PUD’s stewardship of local wildlife and habitat Set up a tipi Learn how Northwest indigenous people made tools and household items out of natural materials and try your hand at making one yourself Take part in Native American tribal sports based on traditions of fishing and hunting

• Play Native American tribal games

involving skill and chance • Experience a Native American long tent — a mobile community gathering place • See the Reptile Man • Enjoy Native American music and dancing Questions?

Call us at (509) 663-7522

facebook.com/ VisitRockyReach

ROCKY REACH VISITOR CE NTE R

September 2014 | The Good Life

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OPENING SHOT

®

Year 8, Number 9 September 2014 The Good Life is published by NCW Good Life, LLC, dba The Good Life 10 First Street, Suite 108 Wenatchee, WA 98801 PHONE: (509) 888-6527 EMAIL: editor@ncwgoodlife.com

sales@ncwgoodlife.com ONLINE: www.ncwgoodlife.com FACEBOOK: facebook.com/pages/ The-Good-Life Editor/Publisher, Mike Cassidy Contributors, Michael Bendtsen, Dominick Bonny, Suzanne Sorom, Maureen Luis, Anna Milner, Peter Nelson, Ruth Parsons, Mary Lou Guerrero, Andy Dappen, Dave Graybill, Donna Cassidy, Bonnie Orr, Alex Saliby, Jim Brown, June Darling, Dan McConnell, Susan Lagsdin, Peter Lind and Rod Molzahn Advertising manager, Terry Smith Advertising sales, Lianne Taylor and Donna Cassidy Bookkeeping and circulation, Donna Cassidy Proofing, Dianne Cornell Ad design, Rick Conant TO SUBSCRIBE: For $25, ($30 out of state address) you can have 12 issues of The Good Life mailed to you or a friend. Send payment to: The Good Life 10 First Street, Suite 108 Wenatchee, WA 98801 For circulation questions, email: donna@ncwgoodlife.com BUY A COPY of The Good Life at Hastings, Safeway stores, Walgreens, Caffé Mela, Mike’s Meats at Pybus, Martin’s Market Place (Cashmere) and A Book for All Seasons (Leavenworth) ADVERTISING: For information about advertising in The Good Life, contact advertising at (509) 8886527, or sales@ncwgoodlife.com WRITE FOR THE GOOD LIFE: We welcome articles about people from Chelan and Douglas counties.

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

The Good Life® is a registered trademark of NCW Good Life, LLC. Copyright 2014

by NCW Good Life, LLC.

Crepuscular rays

By Michael Bendtsen

T

his image was taken along the banks of the Columbia River on the East Wenatchee side of the Loop Trail on Aug. 3.

The cloud formations and colors in our sunsets have been spectacular all summer long and this night was no exception.

As the sun began to set behind the Horse Lake foothills in Wenatchee these sun rays filled the sky.

At sunset it can be common to see rays or beams of light radiating from the sun such as this — these are called crepuscular rays.

They are actually parallel beams of light and not diverging as they appear. This is an illusion caused by perspective.

readers’ comments

“...I began to realize that when I looked forward to my dental visits just so I could read your magazine, we should just get it at home so I don’t have to hurry through it! Always a great read!”

— Barbara Have a comment? Send it to: editor@ncwgoodlife.com 4

| The Good Life

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| September 2014

The sun is so far away that the light reaching the earth is fairly well collimated and obstructions such as clouds or mountains can cause bright beams of light, or dark shadows, in the atmosphere which are very close to parallel and just appear to converge or diverge.

The further away something is, the smaller it looks. This is what causes edges of a straight road to look like they converge in the distance.

If you would like to see more images from the Wenatchee Valley and place we like to call “Paradise,” visit McGlinn’s Public House Facebook page for live daily photo posts and images captured throughout this amazing place.

On the cover

The Good Life editor Mike Cassidy took this portrait of Mary Lou Guerrero as she paused on her run up the Saddle Rock trail in Wenatchee as dawn was breaking over Badger Mountain.

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Contents

Compassionate professional care in a serene setting

page 19

home & landscape go easy on the earth Features

8 charley goes to africa

Local video maker travels to Africa to find out how the better coffee beans are grown and handled

11 student exchanges

Enriching for the student, fun for the host family

13 running to save her life

TuscanyCottageWenatchee.com 2490 Golf Drive, Malaga (509) 888-2736 Owners: Kent & Yolanda Lenssen (509) 679-5141

Call for a tour:

When Mary Lou Guerrero couldn’t even enjoy a walk because of her weight, she decided to make a run at transforming her life

16 bad travel advice

Usually, we look for the good, but in these cases, it’s fun to read about the misadventures of others

22 Mr. trout unlimited

Bob Stroup has been a force for improving fishing on local waters... and he’s also a force on the working end of a rod

24 drysiders at heart are home at last Couple escapes the wet with a stylist home on the east side

29 featured homes on the tour

See some of the homes featured on this year’s Home Tour, and the builders and subcontractors who did the work.

ART SKETCHES

n Photographer John Marshall, page 40 n Art quilter Kay Hall, page 47 Columns & Departments 34 June Darling: Set your own course 36 Bonnie Orr: Use all that celery 37 Pet Tales: Tank and Leo 38 The traveling doctor: Lighthouse Ministries 40-47 Arts & Entertainment & Dan McConnell cartoon 45 The night sky: Longer nights mean better viewing 48 History: What Indians bought at the trading post 50 Alex Saliby: Nice guy, beautiful wines September 2014 | The Good Life

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fun stuff a full LISTING of what to do begins ON PAGE 41

let’s go on tour S

eptember is the month to go on tour — all the while staying close to home — with four tour events of local homes and gardens.

First up is the Sustainable Living and Farming Tour on Sept. 13-14 featuring 15 destinations in the greater Leavenworth area showing various aspects of sustainable living. See story, page 19.

Also in Leavenworth on Saturday, Sept. 13, is the Cascade Medical Foundation Home and Garden Tour, with seven unique homes. All proceeds go to support and enhance the quality health care service that Cascade Medical provides. Info: cascademedicalfoundation.org.

Then, the following weekend, nine local builders will be showing off their creations during the annual Building North Central Washington Home Tour and Remodeling Expo Sept. 19-21 (with a special Chef ’s Tour of select homes on Sept. 18). See stories of featured homes, starting on page 24.

Also on that Saturday is the

Wenatchee River Salmon Festival Sept. 20, Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery.

Harvest of quilts at the Town Toyota Center Friday and Saturday, Sept. 12-13.

13th annual Home Tour and Art Sale at Lake Chelan by the Lake Chelan Community HospitalGuild B. Five homes will be open for view, plus art will be for sale at Tsillan Cellars. Proceeds go to help Guild B buy equipment for the hospital, including this year orthopedic surgical equipment and new state-of the-art patient beds. Info: lakechleanhometour. com.

Here are a few more fun events selected from this month’s list of What to do: Harvest of Quilts, 9/12-13, Friday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Town Toyota

Center.

Cost: $5.

Info: ncwquilt.org.

Pearls and Paws,

Southwest style meets Northwest setting — one of the homes from the Guild B Home Tour in Chelan Sept. 20.

9/19, 6:30 – 9:30 p.m. Wenatchee Valley Humane Society’s fundraiser.

Enjoy the breathtaking views of Lake Chelan while enjoying a delicious dinner by Sorrento’s Ristorante and Fromaggio Bistro paired with local wines provided

by Tsillan Cellars, Mellisoni Vineyards and Tunnel Hill Winery. Tsillan Cellars. Cost: $100 per person. Info: wenatcheehu-

mane.org/pearls-and-paws or 662-9577.

Wenatchee River Salmon Festival , 9/20, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Celebrate the return of Pacific Northwest salmon to their native spawning grounds. Fun and educational. Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery. Cost: free.

Info: salmonfest.org.

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| The Good Life

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editor’s notes

MIKE CASSIDY

One rabbit, three rabbits...?

Growing up on a farm, I de-

veloped an early love of nature.

Not so much chores, though.

Lugging heavy bales of hay through a drizzling rain, slipsliding in mud and being bullied by hungry, mooing cows was a primary motivation to pay attention in school.

Today, I have the perfect situation — nature in the form of wild animals traipse through our yard all year around, and except for the occasional bird seed block we put out in winter, I can enjoy Mother Nature’s beasts with a cup of coffee in my hand while standing in the controlled atmosphere of my home.

Ahhh… sweet!

Deer come by in the winter to nibble on the rose hips on our back hedge, raccoons have brought their babies over, a mother duck swam past on the canal a few weeks ago with three of her ducklings, birds of many feathers swoop and dive around our trees (bats even come out just after twilight to pluck bugs from the air). We had what appeared to be a marmot travel through one year, and yes, much to my wife’s displeasure, a few bull snakes have slithered into the garage.

Now, we have a new resident.

Actually it was last summer when we first noticed a rabbit hanging out around our neighbor’s juniper bushes. He was awfully cute, hopping around on our lawn, dining on grass and dandelions. Nature’s weed eater.

He was a small bunny that grew into an adolescent, but when winter came, he went away. (Did I mention we have raccoons — possibly hanging out in the same junipers? Per-

haps they had bunny over for dinner.)

And then, early this summer, a bunny was back, and a few days later, we noticed he had company — two smaller companions.

The three furry amigos.

So I was surprised at the animosity such cute creatures evoke when I mention our new living yard ornaments to friends.

“Trap’em!” said The Good Life contributor and master gardener Bonnie Orr. “If you want to keep a garden, the rabbits have to go.”

Another friend, upon hearing of my bunnies, generously wrote: “I happen to have another 30 to 50 little rabbits hopping around if you would like a bunch more. I am trapping them and taking them to the Humane Society, but they seem to be multiplying faster than I can trap them!”

I suggested to my friend she write a light-hearted story for The Good Life, to which a few days later she responded: “You are SO FUNNY! If I had to tell the whole story, it would not be so funny.”

It seems she had just received a citation for “shooting rabbits with a pellet gun” and when she explained she didn’t own a pellet gun, the unrelenting man with the citation book said the next time, there would be the possibility of being arrested and facing a fine of $5,000.

Ouch!

Those little bunnies… so furry and cute. But apparently, a menace to garden and wallet.

509.665.7600

Appreciate the wild side. Enjoy The Good Life.

— Mike September 2014 | The Good Life

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UPDATE

looking for the perfect shot of coffee Editor’s note: The Good Life first ran a story on Charley Voorhis in June 2011 shortly after he finished Harmony Field, a nature-themed work, and was still a teacher at the Wenatchee Valley Technical Skills Center. Since then, he Charley Voorhis shows some coffee workhas completed more films and started his own ers what they look like in the camera. business.

AT RIGHT: Charley in The Good Life in 2011.

By Dominick Bonny

I

first got to know Charley Voorhis about three years ago, while freelancing locally.

Of the stories I covered, his was the most interesting.

Charley popped up on my radar when I saw one of his videos, Merry Christmas: The Gift of Light. I was impressed. This guy created an experience that captured all the winter magic Leavenworth purports, in just three minutes.

So I called him up.

We’ve since become friends and colleagues, working frequently in tandem on creative projects and videos. I’d like to report since meeting Charley that I’ve been a witness to his cliche “meteoric rise,” but Charley’s tale is still just taking off…

Just one chapter is a recent trip to Rwanda and Burundi, in Africa.

If you recall, one of these two nations have

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had a less-than-sterling reputation when it comes to the “progressive” idea of human rights in the not-too-distant past. But Charley being a skinny, bespectacled Pacific Northwesterner with camera gear strapped to every available limb helped differentiate him from the locals, I’m sure.

Charley was hired/invited to accompany Oliver Stormshak, proprietor of Olympia Coffee Roasting Company in (you guessed it) Olympia, to buy micro-lot coffee from selected producers in Africa.

It sounds simple, but it’s a painstaking process. Oliver has a sterling reputation for buying the best beans, thus allowing Olympia Coffee to roast some of the best coffee in the Pacific Northwest.

And let’s face it, if you make the best coffee in the Pacific Northwest you’re basically making the best coffee in the world.

They left from Seattle and flew to Amster| The Good Life

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dam, and from Amsterdam to Kigali, Rwanda. Fun fact: Amsterdam has a population of 779,801. Kigali? Nearly 1 million. I found that interesting.

They spent two days in Kigali, which Charley reports was quite pleasant. They had indoor plumbing and electricity, even wifi.

From Kigali they headed to their destina-

| September 2014

... thousands of hands cull the defects, sifting through millions of beans to weed out the bad ones. tion: Bukeye, Burundi. But first they had to stop at the border to acquire visas and cross on foot, just so they could join up with another ride on the other side.

“There’s kind of like this middle ground, where we went through this gate into an area that wasn’t quite Rwanda and not quite Burundi,” Charley said.

“It was about a 50-yard ‘purgatory’ zone.”

When in Burundi, their real work began.

“That’s when we met Jake. He’s an intern at Long Miles Coffee Project, he was assigned to guide us around and show us the ropes of Burundi. He was driving the quintessential African Land Rover. It was pretty cool,” Charley said.

They drove (via chic Land Rover) to the first of two coffeewashing stations owned by Long Miles Coffee Project. Long Miles CP, aka Americans Ben and Kristy Carlson, work with rural farmers to process and sell coffee to high-end buyers like Oliver and Olympia Coffee. This allows Long Miles to maintain extremely high standards, which

A worker takes a break after unloading bags of coffee from the delivery truck. Photo by Charley Voorhis

in turn allows them to charge a premium price.

To us the difference between a quality coffee and bad coffee is a yuck face. To the coffee farmers of Burundi, quality coffee means the difference between a living wage and a subsistence-level lifestyle.

The first washing station is only half finished, but already covers a vast swath of land. In this underdeveloped, heavilypopulated region, human hands are still the main machinery that get everything done.

Coffee grows on bushes and is

September 2014 | The Good Life

picked like cherries. After harvest, the berries are taken to a washing station and de-pulped.

Then they are washed and laid on drying beds. Both before and after this process thousands of hands cull the defects, sifting through millions of beans to weed out the bad ones.

“Geographically, this region has everything going for it to be one of the best coffee growing areas of the world,” Charley said.

“But they are faced with a lack of education. Specifically, how to deal with the Antestia Bug, also known as the Potato Bug. It’s a

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huge problem that destroys 20 to 30 percent of the coffee harvest each year. It burrows a hole in the cherry and sucks all the juices out, leaving a hole, which allows mold to grow inside. One bad cherry can ruin an entire pound of coffee by giving the coffee a rotten potato taste.”

It’s the skill and attention of the farmers and sorters that ensure the high quality that Long Miles, and in turn, Olympia Coffee, has to offer.

So, Charley’s set out to document them and their jobs.

}}} Continued on next page

THE PERFECT SHOT OF COFFEE }}} Continued from previous page But daylight at the washing station was fading fast. They got what they could and left for the night. Unbeknownst to Charley, he would be spending that first night in Burundi alone, at an orphanage.

“We hopped back in the car and drove to a small orphanage in the town of Bukeye. Oliver left me overnight with a Burundi man named Picasso,” Charley said. “He and I hung out for the night.”

Okay well he wasn’t completely alone, but I sure wouldn’t want to be left for the night with a guy I’d just met, in a country I’ve never been to, on a continent I usually see on CNN accompanied by the headline:

Charley Voorhis photographs women — some tending children — cultivating land for sweet potatoes.

BREAKING NEWS. But that’s just me. Thankfully (and not surprisingly) peril did not befall Charley that night, or any night for that matter. In the morning they set off on the backs of motorcycles to the washing station once again.

After a full day of shooting, dusk was once again setting in and they decided to take a tour of Bukeye.

“Picasso took me through the town. Apparently it was very important that he go with me because I couldn’t have gone through the town safely by myself with all my gear,” Charley said. “It was night. People were following us because they were so excited. There was a dirt soccer field where kids were playing soccer. So I filmed them for a while. I wasn’t able to speak to anyone but many of them continually shouted, ‘Muzungu!

Muzungu!’ Then, when I’d look over at them they’d pose for a picture. ‘Muzungu’ translates to: ‘White man.’”

That evening Oliver returned.

They made plans to go back to the Long Miles washing station

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| The Good Life

the next day.

They rose early and headed out to the station. This day was even busier than the last. The workers were happy and excited to be filmed.

“It was on a hillside, there was a gorgeous stream running through it. All of the hill is just soaked in the sun all day long,” Charley said. “Next to it was a field full of women planting sweet potatoes and next to the stream there were a bunch more workers transporting bricks, from up the valley where they were made.

“Adults and even kids were carrying excessively large stacks of bricks on their heads and stacked them in piles for a truck to come and pick up. I was baffled and impressed with their ability to balance such heavy loads for such long distances.”

Their time in Africa drawing to a close, Charley did all he could to get as much footage as possible. But he said, even with nine full days of travel and shooting he would have liked two more days in Burundi to get

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| September 2014

the job done right.

This is the second coffee documentary Charley and Olympia Coffee have created together. The first is called From The Source and Hillary Clinton showed it to the U.N. I kid you not.

I will leave you with the encouragement to take a look at Charley’s photo blog from the trip at voortexproductions.com and check out Long Miles Coffee Project’s blog at longmilescoffeeproject.com, I found both very interesting.

I also beseech you to buy coffee from businesses that support fair business practices. To us it’s a slightly larger price tag and a superior product. To farmers in rural agricultural regions it could mean the difference between a full belly or an empty one.

Dominick Bonny is a writer, photographer and digital media strategist who owns Strategically Social and handles social media for the Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce, Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center, Caffe Mela and many more.

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guest column // suzanne sorom

student exchanges were a smart idea for family I

n August, my son, Abraham, and his wife, Denise, and their three children welcomed a new family member to their Wenatchee home.

Her name is Marie Evensen, pronounced like Maria, and she is an exchange student from Norway, sponsored by Youth for Understanding.

By bringing in this “big sister” for Theron, age 8, Haakon, age 6, and Anna, age 2, Abraham and Denise are continuing a family tradition.

My story begins in 1956 in the small farming community of Lanesboro in southeastern Minnesota. It was also August when my family welcomed Else Johansen, from Denmark, as the first foreign exchange student to our home and to our town of 1,100 people mainly of Scandinavian decent.

Else was very outgoing and it was not long before everyone knew her. That autumn Else was chosen as the homecoming queen, which was great fun for her but the female members of her class were not so thrilled.

Else’s exchange program was with The American Field Service, a 65-year-old program that today is called AFS-US. AFS was founded after the first World War by volunteer ambulance drivers. The story goes that Model T Ford ambulances were sent from the U.S. to France during the war and American volunteers drove

the U.S. Two years after Else, an energetic young man named Hugo Baumann, from the German speaking part of Switzerland, arrived in Lanesboro as the second exchange student.

Like Else, Hugo was outgoing, fun loving and charming. My girl friends and I were all smitten by his dark brown eyes (a rarity in our scandinavian town) and his ability to sweep us off our feet at the high school dances.

Hugo also was chosen as the homecoming king Exchange student Marie Evensen, left, from Norway, is joining the family of Denise but this time it was as an and Abraham Sorom. honorary king along side wars was for people to get to his senior classmate. the ambulances and evacuated know one another on a personal Since both my husband, Terry, thousands of wounded soldiers level.

Student exchanges foland I grew up in this small town from the battlefields. lowed with students primarily we both became lifelong friends Upon returning to the U.S., coming from Europe and spend- with Else and Hugo. Else’s these volunteers felt strongly ing a week on a ship to arrive in }}} Continued on next page that one way to avoid future

What is Barrett’s?

Beginning in September, Confluence Health will offer a new treatment option for patients suffering from Barrett’s Esophagus: Radiofrequency Ablation.

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

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

and can lead to cancer of the Esophagus.

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

September 2014 | The Good Life

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confluencehealth.org

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Student exchange

more ways to exchange

}}} Continued from previous page

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daughter, Birgitte, and Hugo’s daughter, Andrea, both lived with our family for a school year and attended Wenatchee High School.

When we arrived in Wenatchee in the early ’70s there was already an active AFS program and it wasn’t long before we were volunteering for this program along with Pat Rasmussen, Janice and Bill Asplund, Joyce Fisher and many others.

During these years we often hosted students before they could move to their permanent family or on a rare occasion for a longer period when their family situation did not go as planned.

At last count we had hosted three full year students and 13 for shorter periods.

Our positive family experiences with exchange students left an impact and all four of our sons chose to become exchange students for the year following graduation from high school.

Our first son, Martin, learned to speak perfect Spanish from ages 2 to 4 when in the 1960s Terry was a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force and we were stationed in Panama during our two year stay.

Martin studied Spanish in high school and then chose to go on exchange to Spain with AFS. When he returned he attended Pacific Lutheran University and majored in Spanish.

His language skills have served him well for his years teaching at Lincoln school and now with his school, New Friend School, a Spanish/English Montessori school.

During Martin’s year in Spain our family hosted Eric LeClerc, 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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| The Good Life

When my husband, Terry,

joined Rotary International in the 1980s our family discovered another significant student exchange program.

District 5060, which includes 60 clubs from Yakima to Kamloops, B.C., began the student exchange program in 1974. Today more than 70 students from all over the world have been hosted in this district and about 100 American and Canadian students have gone abroad.

Melissa Castrellon Hernandez, from the Wenatchee downtown Rotary, is a member of the Student Exchange Committee this year. Melissa is well qualified to work with this program since she was an AFS student in a French Canadian from Montreal.

My fondest memory of Eric was how he would come home from school and sit on the kitchen counter and tell me all about his day — my sons just said, “Hi Mom” and headed for the cookie jar.

When Eric returned to Montreal, there was a definite void in our home and it felt rather like a death in the family. We continue to visit and connect with Eric and his family.

Our second son, Jeb, chose to study German with Jennifer Burke, the German teacher at Wenatchee High. Jennifer had a successful exchange program with Germany so we hosted German students and Jeb spent a few weeks in Germany with a home stay. Jeb went on a private exchange with Hugo’s family in Switzerland for a year followed by college study in East Germany.

Our twin sons, Abraham and Theodore, decide they also wanted to live abroad and defer their entrance to college. AFS placed them in Italy in two different cities. Abraham returned

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| September 2014

1986-87.

She met Jesus Hernandez, currently the President of the Downtown Rotary and long time member of the Wenatchee School Board, while both were at Wenatchee High School.

Melissa returned to Wenatchee in 1991 to visit her host mother but found a reason to stay when Jesus proposed to her.

It is quite rare for a foreign student to return and live in the community that hosted them but in the case of Melissa and Jesus, Wenatchee has been rewarded by two young citizens who give their many talents to make our schools and community stronger.

— Suzanne Sorom to Italy for his junior year of college and studied at an Italian University in Milan.

Our sons would all say that their year abroad was not easy.

The first hurdle was getting comfortable with the language.

The second was finding their way through different family styles and cultural challenges.

They all emerged with a strong second language and a global perspective, which has served them well in their adult life.

The Wenatchee Valley has many opportunities for sharing our daily lives with foreign students. We hosted Richard, an Australian student through Terry’s Rotary club.

Our family has had short hosting with our past sister city, Tynda, Siberia, and with the Misawa, Japan visitors. Wenatchee Valley College has Korean students come for a summer and they organize a weekend with a local family for these students.

I would encourage all families to broaden their lives by hosting a student. Contact the counselors at your local high school for more information.

Running to save my life

Story by Mary Lou Guerrero as told to Andy Dappen

W

hen I couldn’t even complete the 10-mile walk around The Loop Trail, I knew I was in trouble.

The inability to walk 10 miles drove home the sad state of my condition. I was 5 feet tall, weighed 216 pounds, and morbidly obese. I was 33, depressed, and had no clear path of who I wanted to be or where I was going.

Any brightness that was inside me had gone terribly dim.

Much of this pertained to weight.

As an obese person, I lived every day with pounds of physical evidence that I was failing at what I really wanted. I didn’t like the way I looked and, now, I hated how weight limited what I could do.

In the past whenever I tried to lose weight it was for the show of looking better for an occasion. Adding how limited I was physically, how numb I felt, and my general state of unhappiness, it was clear things had to change. I wanted to look, feel, and be healthier.

I had read an article in Runner’s World about a morbidly obese man who used running to make himself well, and his plan was so simple I thought it might work for me.

Jeff Le weighed 300 pounds when he had a lucid dream about running. In that dream he felt at peace, happy and free.

He took this as a sign to do something about his weight and in the spring of 2008 he used a treadmill for the first time.

Mary Lou Guerrero runs up the trail to Saddle Rock just before sunrise on a workday morning.

On Day 1 of his personal program, Jeff ran for five minutes and was so spent he vomited on the shoe of the woman next to him.

It was hard to come back to the gym for Day 2 after so many people at the gym witnessed his humiliation, but he did come back and his plan was to add one or more minute per day to his run.

September 2014 | The Good Life

Just a few months into his training plan, Jeff had run two 10-kilometer races. Eighteen months later he qualified for the Boston Marathon, an achievement some distance runners never reach.

Furthermore running helped Jeff lose 130 pounds while resculpting his body, altering his mental health and re-engaging him with life.

In essence running made him well.

“I can do that too,” I told myself.

I needed a similar plan, so I bought a gym membership in www.ncwgoodlife.com

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September 2011. My first treadmill run at the gym lasted seven minutes. Most people wouldn’t celebrate, but I was so excited.

I hadn’t vomited and I beat my role model by two minutes.

I came home and built a spreadsheet. I decided to commit one hour to running/walking five days per week. I would keep adding one minute per day to my first run and would walk the remainder of the hour.

I put the spreadsheet on the refrigerator and every day checked off another run. When I actually started covering more than a mile on my runs, I kept track of time and pace. I never pushed it, I just ran at a comfortable pace and stuck to the plan.

Displaying that spreadsheet was vital to tracking progress and keeping me motivated. A month into it, even my boyfriend was starting to track my progress and making remarks like, “Wow you’re up to 40 minutes — how many miles is that?”

His support really mattered.

After two months I was running an hour.

Close to the same time I decided I would run the Seattle Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon in June. Putting goals on the table, like the spreadsheet on the refrigerator, was vital in keeping me motivated.

As I worked on my base fitness for a few more months, I bought Hal Higdon’s marathon training guide. Everything I read about first-time marathoners I took to heart. This meant no longer just using the treadmill but getting

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but that first trail run was so amazing. Ten miles on trails that are uneven, test your lungs going up, and pound your legs going down is so much harder than street running.

Still, this was also so much more beautiful than street running. There were gorgeous mountain views and fields of flowers we ran through. I felt privileged to see such places.

And when I pushed through my hurt and kept running even though my legs and lungs wanted to stop, it was so empowering.

When you win such a gutlevel struggle, you know there are many easier battles you can push through.

Because of that race, I found the courage to start running other local trails.

RUNNING to save my life }}} Continued from previous page outside to run. It also meant I should tell everyone I was training for a half marathon.

Deb Miller was one of the people I shared my goal with.

Deb was an endurance runner and I was fascinated by her adventures. At the time, she was training for a 50k ultramarathon. I didn’t even know what an “ultra” was.

She told me it was any run longer than a marathon. I thought you had to start out as a kid doing such things, but Deb was celebrating her 50th birthday by doing her first 50k.

It really had an impact on me to see someone taking on big, new challenges as an adult. I still did not understand what my body could do if I just did the work and stuck to the training plan.

Deb was with me when I did my first 10-mile run around the Loop. That was a special moment in my life — I was going to run the same Loop I couldn’t even walk around before. I told Deb I didn’t know what to expect, but that I was very nervous.

She explained it could be a form of PTSD, but that every milestone from this moment on would be a new experience for my body. She said it would be tough, but my body would adjust to the longer miles. She was right. Every new distance has been tough, but I’ve recovered, gotten stronger, and progressed.

Soon after the Loop run, I decided I didn’t want to do a half marathon anymore — I wanted to prepare for a full marathon.

So that’s how I trained. I was still heavy (I did my first marathon weighing 190 pounds) and I was slow (it took me 6.5 hours to complete that run) but I finished.

Nonetheless, trail running by myself scared me.

Mary Lou runs the Seattle Rock ‘n’ Roll marathon in June 2012 — a painful six-and-a-half hours.

Preparing for my first marathon, I began to realize how numb I had become.

Running was making me feel alive. And it was making me feel physically and mentally strong.

Once you feel that strength, it’s a totally different motivation to want to keep running and not lose the ground you’ve gained.

After the first marathon I was frequently asked if I would run another marathon. My immediate answer was, “Yes!” After all the hard work I wanted to retain my strength, but I needed to lose more weight.

Running the Seattle Rock ‘n’

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Roll Marathon was painful at my weight.

I cut out fast food for good and used my Fitness Pal to track calories. I lost 40 more pounds and kept my marathon training up.

For my second marathon my goal was to break 5 hours. I didn’t quite make it but was still happy with my time of 5:05.

Getting into trail running and then into ultramarathons were two activities I hadn’t foreseen.

This started because I was doing the Thursday evening ClubRuns organized by RunWenatchee and they were putting on their first-ever run around the Horse Lake Reserve above Wenatchee.

I didn’t know what to expect

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| September 2014

Cougars, snakes, bears, coyotes, other humans — I was worried about them all.

I remember reading a story of a solo climber, Alex Honnold, in Yosemite and how he dealt with fear when a fall meant death. He said, “Nip it in the bud, or fear can compound itself quickly.”

So when I was out in the hills and started stressing about cougars or snakes, I worked on nipping things in the bud. I thought about how small the odds of a problem really were.

Furthermore, if a cougar attack was to be my fate, wouldn’t I rather die this way than by the far more likely scenario of dying in a car crash or dying from the complications of obesity? Why not die embracing what I loved and what was giving me life?

Changing my life so drastically has had me wrestling with these fears as well as with many obstacles I’ve created for myself.

But running and surrounding myself in nature has also been therapy because I have so much time to think on a long run.

The activity and setting give

me opportunity for emotional releases.

Sometimes when I’m out on a long run I suddenly find myself crying because I’m physically and mentally fatigued.

But I know I can’t quit out there — I might have 10 miles to go and I’m the only person who can do the work to save myself.

It’s such a good analogy of life.

At some point during the course of these emotional releases, my body takes over and I enter a state of being so much stronger.

In normal life you rarely get the opportunity to test yourself in such an elemental way and to affirm how strong you really are.

Last summer friends took me hiking to Minotaur Lake. This was my first hike to a mountain lake and the beauty of that walk made me see the appeal of hiking. I spent many more weekends hiking to different lakes.

Last year I also decided I wanted to try some ultramarathons so I signed up for a few.

I ran the Badger Mountain Challenge (50k) in March, the Sun Mountain 50k in May, and will run the Deception Pass 50k in December.

I’m still very slow and come in at the end of the field. By the time I finish, the pizzas and snacks have all been eaten and the spectators have all left. It’s mainly just the course organizer’s waiting for the stragglers to finish.

But the personal reward of being able to finish a 31-mile course when I know where this journey started is so large.

Currently I’m running 50 to 60 miles per week to train for these ultras.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays I run 10 to 14 miles. On Wednesday I run about six miles but at a higher intensity. During the weekend I’ll spend five to sixhours covering a distance of 20 to 30 miles.

All that leaves my schedule pinched. I get to bed by 9 p.m. each night and at work I often close my office door at lunch and take a nap under my desk. On weekends my boyfriend, who has taken up hiking and who has lost 100 pounds since doing that, will often head into the mountains with me. We might hike together for a while before I split off to run.

Trail runs, hikes, ultramarathons, they’ve all given me a passion and a purpose that I build my days and weeks around. I love the races because they provide a goal and they test me. But I also love being with these people. It’s very comforting to be part of a community that understands what this is about and why we do it.

Running started this amazing journey for me that changed me inside and out.

I had grown up eating junk food and watching movie marathons. My parents didn’t do any of this stuff —­they were just trying to earn a living.

I had excuses why I didn’t do active things. As a receptionist I told myself I needed a higher income to do outdoor sports or only people with more education did these things, or I needed a certain body type to be a runner or a hiker.

I had a hundred excuses keeping me inactive, keeping me eating poorly, and keeping me numb.

Now I’m 36 and weigh 148 pounds. I’m not skinny and I’m OK with that — endurance runners come in many shapes, weights and body types.

As an endurance runner, I need to eat well and eat enough to stay strong. But I feel strong.

Most importantly, I feel alive.

Read more about Mary Lou’s journey at her blog, Begin the Distance (http://www.beginthedistance.blogspot.com) September 2014 | The Good Life

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A contest:

Bad travel advice The next morning we boarded a boat whose deck was loaded with drums of gasoprovide their stories of bad travel advice they had received. line. Whenever we passed another boat, all A pair of engraved wine glasses was to serve as the four of us tourists were ushered into the tiny downstairs cabin. It was full of fumes, airprize for “the most outlandish” contribution. A big thank you to all who submitted pieces, they were a blast to read. less, tight and had my husband terrified.

We finally landed and were handed off to The following are the ones we thought were the best of the “naturalist guide” and joined his group. the group and we saved the winner for last.

We did find the giant Galapagos Tortoises Due to space constraints, I had to pare some of them and it was truly a thrill. down a bit but did my best to preserve as many of the But the vibes were uncomfortable and authors words as possible. So, enjoy, cringe and laugh. clearly, we didn’t belong there.

— Maureen Luis, contest coordinator We re-boarded our dilapidated boat and again, same routine: ushering us downstairs at the sight of another vessel.

Number 1 We were returned safely but had learned a lesson about things we wound NEVER do again.

And it was worse than we thought. This “pirate ship” was totally illegal. We were not registered to visit the island turtles, were not originally accompanied by a licensed park guide, and this boat was not legally carrying From Beth: tourists.

All was reported to the Park officials who any years ago in a flea market, a ventreated us kindly when they came to our dor I did not know learned I was going to Ecuador and gave me her advice about going hotel where we filed a detailed report of all that had transpired. to the Galapagos Islands.

Learn from our bad advice. If you want to She said we didn’t need to book one of those really expensive excursions and could really experience the Galapagos Islands take an official tour. Protect the islands, their simply fly to San Cristobal Island, which wildlife and yourself. was so small that we would be met by all (Editors Note: The Galapagos Islands are a the local taxis. Among those, we would find National Park of Ecuador. No one is allowed Jorge who would find us a place to stay and to go there without an official tour or permisbecome our guide to the island. sion, and while there is a range of financial Not sure why I found this advice from a perfect stranger so credible but I added it to options, none is cheap.) our guidebook.

We flew from Quito to the airstrip in Number 2 San Cristobal. It was very small and all the “taxis” were there, but, “no Jorge driving or guiding on this island.”

We climbed into the back of an open pickup truck (a taxi) and the driver found us a lovely room for the week right on the ocean.

It was time to see the giant tortoises so we asked around to see how this could be done.

From Anna Milner of Leavenworth We made a connection and were told that a boat captain would contact us at the hotel. few years after we were married, my I found another couple to join us and share husband and I planned a bike trip to France, the expense. Now I was the one offering bad just the two of us. travel advice.

We would fly to Belgium, take the train to

In our July issue, we ran a contest asking our readers to

Seeing the turtles from a pirate ship

M

Tires and tribulations

A

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A pleasant man pointed out the International Terminal: Bad advice #2.

Paris, visit my friend there, and then continue on to Burgundy where we would bike through the hills and vineyards.

We had met a couple that had biked extensively in Europe who shared their advice.

First, they said we would have to deflate our bike tires to conform with airline regulations and take off the pedals to fit the bikes in a cardboard box: Bad Advice #1.

We flew the first leg of our trip to NYC where we discovered that since the bikes were oversized, we had to pick them up in baggage claim and then make our way to the International Terminal. But no cab would take the giant boxes, so, we had to unpack them, and with no inflated tires or pedals, we could not ride them but had to push them along.

A pleasant man pointed out the International Terminal: Bad advice #2.

With purpose, we pushed and cajoled our lame two-wheelers across busy airport roads and giant grass circles to finally arrive at another building, but it was NOT the correct terminal.

The International Terminal, a cabby pointed out, was caddy-corner in the opposite direction. By then, time was running out. With wallet open, we convinced the kind cabby from Africa that he could fit the bikes in the back (now free of their cumbersome boxes).

He looked over his shoulder to spy any airport authorities, then reluctantly hoisted them into the back leaving the trunk open.

Off we went on our 5 minute high-speed ride.

At the correct International terminal, we quickly proceeded to our check-in desk.

Why, they asked, had we let the air out of the tires? There was no such regulation.

So there you have it, and that’s just the bad advice part.

The trip continued to follow the principles of Murphy’s Law. But it does make for memories we’ll never forget.

| September 2014

Our experience in Tangier whetted our appetites for African bars. Now in Sub-Saharan Africa, our first chance came in Arlit, a dusty and remote mining town near the Nigeria-Algerian border.

It turned out that the Dutchman had better information than Mustapha. But that was OK. We had wonderful conversations with many interesting characters.

I hesitate to call it “bad” travel advice because if we had been given the full scoop, From Peter Nelson, who was visiting we would have avoided it altogether. And Wenatchee from Washington DC, saw our my still slightly homophobic 25-year old self publication and submitted the following (I’m now 49 and much more open-minded)

learned a good lesson. The best gay bar in e were excited and a little apprehen- Tangier can also simply be, the best bar in sive about taking the ferry from Algeciras, Tangier.

Spain to Tangier Morocco.

Our experience in Tangier whetted our Tangier was the first stop on our trans-Af- appetites for African bars. Now in Subrican trip and our Lonely Planet guidebook Saharan Africa, our first chance came in provided vivid descriptions of the alleyways Arlit, a dusty and remote mining town near and bazaars as well as the seemingly innuthe Nigeria-Algerian border. The guy at our merable ways we could be swindled out of all hotel advised us that we had to visit this one our money. nightclub — it was the best.

We had found a hotel in the book that We were greeted at the door by many fit our puny budget: it was run by a former women, very happy to see us. After drinking member of the British Royal Guard and half of a beer, they turned down the lights was described as, “Very English.” It had hot and told us they were “closing.” water, the best bar in Tangier, and quite a It took us two seconds of mental processliterary history — Allen Ginsburg, William ing: “Ah…. we’re in a whorehouse!” After all Burroughs and Paul Bowles had all stayed our refusals, one asked, “why are you here?” there. We didn’t stop to think what all those Reasonable enough. We told them we had no writers had in common. money and would return the next evening We made it to the hotel, hounded all the after a visit to the bank. The next morning, way by touts throwing about increasingly sa- we headed south. lacious charges about our chosen hotel. The door opened to a well-appointed Englishman Number 4 of about 80. “Come on in. We have the hottest water in Tangier and the best bar. Clean And the Lonely Planet Africa strikes again. yourselves up, the bar opens at 9.”

We went down at 9 and chatted with the bartender, a friendly, burly man named Mustapha.

The claims made about the bar seemed no exaggeration. It filled up with lively Moroccans and European ex-pats. I was talking to a fellow from the Netherlands and menBy Maureen Luis, as told to me by my hustioned that this was supposedly the best bar band, Carl Stivers in Tangier.

“Not just Tangier. This is the best gay bar y husband Carl and his friend Mark in all of Morocco.’ decided to cross the Sahara Desert in 1990.

Say what?

The Lonely Planet guidebook advised a “It’s probably the best gay bar in North way to do this that would cost the traveler Africa.” nothing: The tourist seeks should seek out Oh. a Northern African individual who wishes I asked Mustapha, “Is this a gay bar?” to sell a vehicle lucratively in Sub-Saharan “No! Not gay bar, English bar!”

Africa.

Number 3

The best bars

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Bright lights, wrong City

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September 2014 | The Good Life

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Since this is illegal for Northern Africans, the tourist assumes ownership of said vehicle, and all drive together across the Sahara. The vehicle is then sold and all benefit.

Right.

Crossing the Sahara is a fabled, sometimes fateful undertaking, that, when successfully completed, merits bragging rights. There are no actual roads. Too much blowing sand for that. There are sturdy markers along the route to guide those who dare to tempt the whim of the weather and endless sand, but even these sometimes succumb to the batterings of the relentless elements.

Between the oases, one must be selfsufficient, carrying enough food, water and fuel to make it to the next designated stop, factoring in getting get lost and/or breaking down.

The landscape and temperatures are as unforgiving as anywhere on the planet.

Nothing about this journey is for the faint of heart. You can’t bail out along the way and turning around only works up to a point. It is highly recommended that one only take on this adventure when one has complete knowledge of and confidence in one’s companions.

So, does it seem crazy to advise doing this with complete strangers?

Mark took ownership of a car from Jarmal and Rabat, and they did make it across the Sahara, despite many mishaps.

Nearing journey’s end, all were relieved to finally see the bright lights of the town of Agadez, in central Niger. Problem was, it wasn’t Agadez.

Carl and Mark surmised this fairly soon as Jarmal drove on, enthusiastically toward the ever brighter lights yelling, “Agadez, Agadez!” all the way.

Carl’s and Mark’s variety of protests included, “Stop!, Pas Agadez!, Arrete!, Not Agadez!” But all fell on deaf ears.

They made it to the entrance of the looming, ominous plant, where two Nigerian guards brandishing machine guns greeted them at the gate.

Now was a good time to be American, really American. So Rabat took it upon himself to smile from the backseat window and say

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I saw a raging brush fire quickly moving in Number 6 front of the house. Ulla and I rushed through the back gate to the road and pondered our And the winner is: next move.

Based on the fact that a gas station stood }}} Continued from previous page adjacent to the burning field and the wind to the guard with a friendly gesture, “OK, could pick up at anytime, we decided to thank you.” Apparently, the very dark subevacuate. I went back into the home, threw Saharan people can’t tell a blond, blue-eyed everything into my suitcase, and rolled it out From Ruth Parsons of Wenatchee Moroccan Tuareg from an American tourist. onto the road.

Harsh instructions were issued to leave At this point, Luz turned from watchronically, the worst travel advice I ever immediately and the fortunate foursome ing the fire and noticed us. “Donde va?” she received, was to stay put. turned around and drove to the real Agadez. called.

“Vamos!” I replied.

This entreaty came to me from my host Well, it was a free trip, but at the price of Luz’s advice: “No, no te vayas,” she called mother, Luz Marie, during my three week nearly being incarcerated in Niger, or simply stay in the mountain town of Boquete, back. “Los bomberos estan aqui.” shot.

An ancient fire truck with a small water Panama, where I traveled in mid-February, tank on its back lumbered into view at the 2014 to participate in a Spanish immersion side of the burning field, and a lone figure program.

Number 5 got out, uncoiled a small hose and began a Luz, a widowed older lady, opened her feeble dousing of the flames. bright yellow home as a guesthouse to I did not take the advice of Luz Marie, and Spanish language students from around the world. She spoke only Spanish and expected Ulla and I walked off in the middle of the night. Fifteen minutes into our walk, we a lot of understanding from me, which was passed the lackadaisical bombero and his daunting. now empty water truck, refilling at a hyTwo weeks into my stay, I learned that drant. another tall blonde woman was also Luz’s This contributor wishes to remain anonyWhen I returned to Luz’s house the next boarder. Her name was Ulla and we took our mous morning, I viewed an ashy field full of breakfasts and dinners together. smoking hot spots and a fire line which had Luz’s home was perched atop a dry, brushy, hen I was 18, I took my first trip to stopped 50 feet shy of the house. windy hill in Alto Boquete, a rural area Europe with a group of high-school stuI later learned that the fire had been dents, mostly girls, led by two female guides. about 45 minutes from downtown Boquete. I started by the town arsonist who ignites didn’t know enough about rooster science to Among their advice to us for the trip was fires in various places as his whim compels this: make sure you’re well equipped because know why it crowed at all times of day. But I needed sleep at night. I soon learned to tune him. Never jailed, it seemed that the policia your period will surely start on the plane out any distractions, including Luz’s having decided not to bother with a man driven to before the flight is over. boisterous neighbors over until late into the create flames — how could a bit of confineI was no gynecologist, but I was pretty ment douse a burning passion? night. sure that female hormones were not that One night I smelled a campfire, and added susceptible at altitudes of 35,000 feet under And there you have it. What adventures we have had. that as one more item to tune out — until I cabin pressure.

While all of these stories indeed qualify as poor travel I was prepared, as I always was, but did not heard an urgent knock on my bedroom door. advice, being told to stay inside a guesthouse that seemed It was Ulla. anticipate this event which never occurred. like it was about to be engulfed in flames takes the cake “Ruth, you need to get up — there’s a fire All this bad advice accomplished was eight – or in this case, the wine glasses. outside!” hours of worry for a bunch of unfortunate, I threw on my clothes, grabbed my money, Congratulations Ruth, and again, thanks to all of you for gullible girls. Where did they ever get such camera and passport, and rushed outside. an idea? your participation.

Bad travel advice

El Fuego I

Female hysteria at 35,000 feet

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>> RANDOM QUOTE

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.

Chinese Proverb

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| September 2014

A new American Gothic — with solar panels in the background, homeowners Lauren Johnson and Barbara Rossing smile over cornstalks raised by their friend and co-farmer, Zeke Reister,

A spiritual connection to the land Designing a home and a landscape with the idea of going easy on the earth

By Susan Lagsdin

Barbara Rossing, an or-

dained Lutheran minister, and Lauren Johnson, an ultrasound technician, met through Leavenworth’s arts retreat center, Grunewald Guild.

Both concerned for the earth and both Lutherans, they knew their world view and their faith were in synch and boded well for compatibility. And there’s nothing like building a sustainable home together to prove the truth of their theory.

While living in a downtown condo, in 2003 they purchased a two-and-a-half acre lot at the

Icicle end of East Leavenworth Road, determined to treat it respectfully and make it productive without the repetitive upkeep of suburban yardscaping — something Lauren had disliked in his former Briarwood home.

They spent a few years amending the soil with compost, while camping on and mulling over the land’s highest and best use.

“I didn’t want to just buy the lot, clear everything off it, then buy a tractor to maintain it,” Lauren said.

A friend’s son helped design their new house in 2010. Now settled in, they’re excited about the progress on their ongoing September 2014 | The Good Life

projects.

When they agreed to showcase their property in The Good Life to promote Leavenworth’s Sustainability Tour, Barbara stated simply, “It’s a spiritual value — we both believe in caring for God’s creation.”

Their concern for the land, informed by experiment, research and environment conferences, is shown by the efficiency of their two-bedroom house, the use of solar power, and a plan for both taking from and giving back to the soil.

Their 1,450-square-foot home has passive solar advantage on its south side for winter warmth, but they admitted to a www.ncwgoodlife.com

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slight angling of direction. “We couldn’t give up our view of the mountains, so it’s just little bit turned west,“ Lauren said. But other sensible aspects make up for that indulgence.

Tall view windows front the main living area and catch winter rays, while deep eaves outside are calibrated to keep sun off the walls in summer. The dark, terra cotta toned cement floors, even with eight inches of insulation underneath, provide an earth-cool barefoot feel in the summer and radiate waterpiped heat in the colder months.

Open windows circulate the night breeze, high ceilings trap

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Going easy on the earth }}} Continued from previous page

A weekend of sustainable living a simpler, more sustainable The Sustainable Living and for life, in partnership with the Farming Tour on Sept. 13-14 will feature 15 destinations in the greater Leavenworth area. Each location will educate on various aspects of sustainable living.

Some of the things attendees can expect to see and learn: n Alternative housing such as straw bale homes and a yurt n Solar-electric system that generates electricity for the homeowner as well as sells power to the PUD n A “closed loop” commercial organic farm that aims to provide all they need to produce their crops from on-site n Innovative home chicken raising n An organic farm that incorporates produce production, child care, forestry, and a home for the developmentally disabled n Bee keeping n A community garden n An alpaca and llama farm that spins and weaves its own wool n A sustainability-oriented you-pick berry farm The tour is hosted by Simply Living Farm, a shop in downtown Leavenworth that provides products and information

Wenatchee River Institute and warm air, fans push it floorward the Leavenworth Community in winter.

Farmer’s Market.

Intent on foregoing both (old) For more information visit incandescent and (newer) LED SimplyLivingFarm.com. To light bulbs, they went directly register go to WenatcheeRiverto installing (newest) compact Institute.org. fluorescent lights. Lauren was impressed with the lifespan.

“The whole house has these bulbs, and it seems they are… rances Moore Lappé, aueternal.” thor of Diet for a Small Planet Those in-house choices were relatively simple. But the big and 17 other books, headlines difference between their home the Eco Fair, which is on the and others that look similar same weekend as the Sustainfrom the street is an array of 38 able Living & Farming Tour. solar panels in the backyard.

Organic fruit and local sheep Their garage/guest space is cheese plates paired with roofed with 18 of them, and 20 regional wines will be availmore are installed on a separate able along with local vendors form (making something like a showcasing NCW’s sustainabillong lean-to, usable as a garden ity efforts at the Eco Fair, taking shed). place from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

In the summer the panSaturday, Sept. 13, at the Snowy els generate more electricity Owl Theater in Leavenworth. (which is sold to the PUD) than The fair opens at 6 p.m. Franthe household uses and a little ces Moore Lappé speaks at 7:30 less during the winter. Barbara p.m., drawing from her past explained, “Chelan PUD billing works and from her upcoming is ‘’net metering,’ so we accrue book, World Hunger: 12 Myths, money on our account and then to be published next year. spend it down.” Total electric Tickets are $15, students are cost for the whole year? About $10. For more info, contact the $250. box office: 548-6347 x47.

They are in the utility district’s S.N.A.P. program (sustain151 South Worthen Street, Suite 201 · (509) 664-9063 · (800) 664-9063 able natural alternative power), 2001. Barbara and Lauren are Not only do they enjoy their D.A. Davidson & Co. member SIPC · www.dadavidson.com which has been encouraging heartened by increasingly proac- energy independence, they are this kind of reciprocity since tive PUD and state policies. pleased that they chose not an

Eco Fair at Snowy Owl

F

Wenatchee Office:

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

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| September 2014

In the summer the panels generate more electricity (which is sold to the PUD) than the household uses and a little less during the winter. off-shore source of solar hardware but used an American company, Silicon Energy of Marysville. They also praised Leavenworth Electric’s Mark Karnofski, who overcame a steep learning curve to make Barbara and Lauren’s first go at solar sustainability a satisfying endeavor.

Because their experience was so positive (Lauren calls their total installation “a turnkey operation”) they then helped guide their church’s Icicle River School project, which in less than a year has masterminded the installation of 96 electricity-generating solar panels on the school’s roof.

Barbara added, “I know of four different families who have learned about our solar panels and want to have something similar installed.” Imitation is flattery, but she’s much more than flattered, she’s had her hope for the future reinforced.

Hope for the future in the seasonal sense lives down a path behind the solar panels in a half-acre fenced garden ringed

by a wildflower meadow. That carefully tended plot is a microcosm of evolved thinking about food production.

First, it’s not Barbara and Lauren’s garden.

The land is their land, but its bounty belongs to Zeke Reister, a retired teacher and church friend who lives in town but comes out most days to check on his watering system, weed and harvest.

In this fourth year of planting, he is still diligent about the first two tasks and tinkering with improvements, but the big and dependable crop of potatoes, tomatoes, corn, beets, onions, collards, chard, kale and even an aromatic patch of dill makes it all worthwhile.

“We don’t call it ‘sharecropping,’” explained Lauren. “We just want to see the space used well.” They are invited to reap occasional armloads of produce; the rest of the crop Zeke sells to other friends, alerting them by email when he’s picking something.

This year, an intricate array of hoses and valves provides a timed drip throughout (25 minutes three times a day) and rows of crimson clover form a weed barrier, to be plowed under in the fall for nitrogen. The soil, essentially sand, is liberally augmented with llama manure, and crop rotation is an ongoing experiment.

“This is a great garden location,” said Zeke. “Plenty of good sun and water. I’m probably out here an average of five hours a week, maybe just breaking even — but I really enjoy the work.”

The three friends find they have plenty of satisfying work in common.

Barbara, who writes about global stewardship, travels to Chicago where she teaches theology. Lauren, now retired, spends time perfecting a landenriching system called “bio char” which will likely become one more feature of their communal garden.

Ready to cut down some old

The house and the few acres behind it are chock-full of projects meant to eschew, save, repurpose and recycle resources. cottonwoods on the edge of their property, he investigated bio char and learned about Terra Preta, an Amazon basin region where natives have been enriching the soil for 2,500 years.

Burying trees burned into charcoal, he learned, sequesters carbon (keeps it out of the air). It also provides an organic structure that improves soil consistency — its porosity harbors good subsurface microorganisms and soaks up water.

Lauren’s operation is still small, but he has a dedicated burn area and adds the flakes and chunks of his charcoal to a larger and carefully tended composting station.

The house and the few acres behind it are chock-full of projects meant to eschew, save, repurpose and recycle resources.

Putting their principles into tangible action is satisfying for Barbara and Lauren, and though they realize their three-pronged approach to sustainability (house/energy/garden) can’t be replicated by everyone, they are ever optimistic.

Barbara said, “I see it in young people — not just following their elders into college and jobs, but some wanting to be on the land, be a part of the land.

We have a lot of hope.”

Know of someone stepping off the beaten path in the search for fun and excitement? E-mail us at editor@ncwgoodlife.com September 2014 | The Good Life

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Bob Stroup of Leavenworth

Mr. Trout Unlimited

By Dave Graybill

B

ob Stroup’s passion for fishing came from his father, who was no slouch when it came to catching fish.

Bob recalls watching his dad fill gunnysacks with spiny rays and was awed seeing him hook a steelhead.

Bob built on these early memories a legacy of dedication to the sport of fishing, and its conservation and enhancement in our local area. It is his sincere hope that the love of fishing that he passed on to his sons, they will also be able to share with their children, well into the future.

His father bought a place on the Icicle River that was known as one of the best fishing spots on the river. Some can remember it being called the “30-foot hole” because it was that deep, and preferred by the spring Chinook salmon that returned to the river each spring.

But as long as I can remember it has been called the “Stroup Hole,” and the success of the opening of the spring Chinook

season on the Icicle was measured by how many fish came from the Stroup Hole on opening day.

The cadre of anglers who were fishing here, either from driftboats or from the barge that has since been removed, was lead by Bob. He would shout encouragement or chastise them for their catch or lack of skill when they missed a strike from one of the big salmon lurking in this hole’s depths.

When the Icicle Valley Trout Unlimited Chapter was formed in 1982, Bob was a charter member. He has served as president of the chapter several different times and as an officer in every position available on the board.

Under his leadership and with his boundless energy he has helped make this chapter of Trout Unlimited a model for the nation in fish conservation and enhancement, and creating public access.

The group has many national awards to their credit.

The number of projects they have completed and the amount of money they have raised to fund them exceeds anything any

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Bob Stroup with one of the spring Chinook salmon that he landed while fishing on the Icicle River.

other chapter has accomplished west of the Mississippi.

Bob is humble and quick to point out the contribution of others in the group. However, everyone recognizes that without him the chapter could have lost its momentum and dwindled away. The Icicle Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited began with the required minimum of 12 members and now is 150 members strong.

Whether it was the construc-

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tion of a handicapped fishing platform on the Icicle, the creation of a kids fishing pond and later combined with a steelhead acclimation pond, you would find Bob right in the middle of the process, every step of the way.

From concept to recruiting partnerships, to raising the funds, or getting donations for the annual banquet, he would have a hand in it. The number of hours that he has spent in meetings, on the phone or working on the paperwork required to move a project forward counts in the thousands.

If you want to find Bob it isn’t difficult. You just have to know what is going on with fishing at certain times of the year.

He is a familiar sight on Fish Lake, near Lake Wenatchee. He has been lifelong friends with Scott and Nadine West, who own the Cove Resort on the lake.

If he isn’t out on the lake fishing for trout or perch, he will be in

He takes great pleasure from the joy he sees when someone’s first fish ever hits the net. the back room swapping stories.

With Bob’s influence the Wests have supported a wide range of events that have benefitted kids and special needs people from the upper valley.

If the perch are biting, Bob will make a stop at one of his favorite spots to gather periwinkles from the rocks on the river bottom. Perch love periwinkles.

When the spring Chinook season opens on the Icicle his attention shifts to this fishery for its duration.

Found in the middle of the Stroup Hole he will often be sharing his driftboat with a youngster, with the aim of get-

ting them their first salmon.

This is one of his favorite things.

He takes great pleasure from the joy he sees when someone’s first fish ever hits the net.

In the summer months, when the upper Icicle drops into wading shape, he pursues the small rainbow and cutthroat that inhabit the stream. Often accompanied by his son Jeff, he takes great pleasure watching these little trout swat the flies that he drifts through the riffles and pools. They will regale you with stories of how they caught a bunch of 9- and 10-inchers — really big ones!

When summer turns to fall he is back on Fish Lake, looking for big trout that have avoided the hooks of anglers through the year, and maybe one of the big triploids that the Wests have added to the lake to spice the action.

The beauty of the turning leaves and the trout that he catches and releases compel him to the lake.

Trout Unlimited Conservation/Military Banquet,

Saturday, Sept. 27, 5 – 8:30 p.m. Full prime rib dinner with live and silent auction and raffle, proceeds dedicated to local conservation project and Trout Unlimited Healing Waters. Leavenworth Festhalle. Cost: $50 pp. Reservations: 548-5522 or 548-7662. Info: icicletrout. org.

A little later, when the steelhead season opens, he chases these prized fish on the Wenatchee River near Leavenworth. He especially likes to fish the upper river, when it is open, as he has fond memories of fishing the holes in this stretch with his father and friends many years ago.

Bob was a teacher in the Cascade School District for 34 years.

There are thousands of people out there who are familiar with

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his skill in keeping the attention of students. Sometimes he did this with historic quotes or adjectives that made a point, and always delivered with the voice.

Everyone who knows Bob knows the voice. When he emcees at a banquet or speaks to a large meeting, there’s no need for a microphone. Everyone hears every word he speaks in the voice.

Although much of his life is dedicated to the upper valley and its fishing, he knows there is a bigger world out there. He travels with his wife Kathy. They have been to Egypt and recently to Norway.

They will be back before the Washington Huskies play, though. They hate to miss a game in Husky Stadium. Go Dogs!

Dave Graybill is a writer and broadcaster of fishing information for central Washington. You can learn more about him and the activities he covers by logging onto www.FishingMagician.com, and you can e-mail questions to him at fishboy@nwi.net.

For their retirement house high above East Wenatchee, Gregg and Linda Herrington added touches of the park lodge and mountain cabin look they’ve enjoyed on their vacations.

On the 2014 Home Tour

Drysiders at heart are home at last Story by Susan Lagsdin Photos by Donna Cassidy

A

fter one more perfect weekend hiking in the sundrenched Cascades, a 30-year habit, Gregg and Linda Herrington were driving north out of downtown Wenatchee, facing a six-hour drive back home. It

was Labor Day 2012.

Suddenly, they could no longer ignore the tickle of a long-term, deeply imbedded idea.

“HEY, We could LIVE here!”

Gregg described wheeling a sudden turn into the first real estate brokerage they came to, and the rest is house story.

The time was right: the sons were grown, retirement was imminent, westside wet weather

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ABOVE: The entryway shows two distinct design decisions — stacked windows to let in maximum light, and the informal peeled logs (complete with knots and stobs left on) as formal pillars.

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The addedon hanging cupboard, which holds several sets of beverage glassware, was first suspended above the island with steel cables, which are now inconspicuously wood wrapped.

was making them glum. That Christmas they looked at lots, and this summer they moved from Vancouver, Washington to East Wenatchee, celebrating Independence Day settling into what they vow is their best and last house.

The aphorism “man plans, god smiles” holds triply true in home building, but the Herringtons and their much-recommended, hand-picked builder Randy Gold raised the ante a bit by constructing this house long distance, with the owners able to visit only on school vacations.

Linda said, “This is the third house we’ve built, and every other one I’ve been on site every day, sometimes for hours.” Technology helped immensely to combat the distance.

Randy and foreman Tracey Armour knew that when the Herringtons decided to flip the original house design to fit their hillside, raise a garage door’s height for their RV, divide a bedroom into office and pantry, vault both the ceiling and the extended deck roof and push

RIGHT: Granite from Montana can be seen throughout the main living area — here some small slabs anchor the stove top venting system. The smaller etched art piece was found online.

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ABOVE: Originally, cross-room trusses were to complement the ceiling’s beams, but all concurred: cleaner structural lines open up the space. The ceramic floor tiles drove all other color choices.

RIGHT: One simple split log, a late thought that worked well, adds interest to the fireplace. The granite slab hearth was a special find; a similar bench edges the outside walkway facing west.

Home on the dry side }}} Continued from previous page out a nook, they would all need to communicate well and frequently.

Randy said, “I’ll bet I have 600 emails from them — we couldn’t have done it any other way.”

This one-story, 2,827-squarefoot house wasn’t generally difficult to build, though it presented some opportunities for creative problem solving, Randy admitted. But that’s what he

does.

Many rooms are angled, so the roof must be; heavy steel beams for wind shear protection dictated a doorway change; the clean lined beamed ceiling just missed having intrusive trusses instead.

They all remember the chal-

NCW Home Professionals

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lenge of installing a heavy glassware cabinet that hovers over the kitchen island, and cleverly re-installing the dining table’s off-center chandelier.

The three share a laugh (now) at v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y inching the RV through the made-to-specs garage entrance where a rubber flange barely whisks the vehicle’s rooftop air conditioner.

Not only did owners and builder (and craftspeople, landscaper, decorator) stay in constant contact, but Linda was able to zap ideas to them from her savvy Internet exploring, just as she had used it to research just about every interior item in the home.

“We realized I was the what of the building team; Randy and his crew were the how,” said Linda, “and Gregg only asked for veto power — in case I made some choice he couldn’t stand.”

Balancing budget and new house amenities presented no problem. “You learn after time what features really ‘live’ in your

“We really wanted to be as faithful as possible to the colors of this landscape...” house.” Said Linda, “What you need and what you don’t.”

For instance, a hot tub was superfluous, but the anachronistic clothes line a must. Only a few

essential spaces are plumbed with radiant heat, but hot tap water’s instantaneous. There’s not a blade of lawn grass on the shy half acre, but the raised garden beds are custom built, thigh high to the lady gardener.

Simple pull-down sunshades disappear into custom crafted valances. Sensible Corian counters meet a double wide stainless fridge and chef ’s stove. Tile is for all high traffic areas, while carpet is only in the bedrooms and sitting room. The “smart” sound system for music throughout

finished just in time for the Home Tour

The Herrington home in East Wenatchee will be one of 10 homes in the annual Home Tour by local builders.

The tour this year is Sept. 19 through 21. For more information and a list of homes, see the special Home Tour guide, starting on page 29.

was installed at the start.

Some of those everyday do-

mestic features are subtle, but coordinated colors and textures — the overall look of the home’s interior — was Linda’s fondest ongoing project. It’s carefully calculated, a visual feast meant to be enjoyed.

“We really wanted to be as faithful as possible to the colors of this landscape,” she gestured at dry hills and the hazy view across the river. “So we’ve picked up all the different browns, grays, cream colors — and just a hint of blue.”

}}} Continued on next page

These quality local subcontractors helped with Gold Construction’s 2014 tour home!

Congratulations Gold Construction On Your Tour Home.

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Home on the dry side }}} Continued from previous page There are nine earth-toned interior paint colors in her palette; the exterior is the same glowing ecru of the house they left behind in Vancouver.

But the driving color motif comes from the floor up, a mixed pattern of 16 different variegated tiles that symbolize to the Herringtons the cliffs and paths they’ve loved exploring here. The carpet, wall and upholstery colors followed their lead as well as the knotty hickory and alder woodwork.

Rocky Mountain granite hearth, sills, and a stove hood surround were found, dug out of Montana snow and fashioned

by Jim Norris of Image Interiors.

They pick up the gray tile tones and add rock-solid stability to the light-filled, vaulted rooms.

Golden peeled logs, and some whimsically left with bark-on, are strategic highlights.

Anticipating their new home in Wenatchee and confident in her artistic vision, Linda purchased many nature-themed décor items long before the first bulldozer made it up the hill.

Randy said boxes of light fixtures and drawer pulls, even patio furniture (ordered, returned, re-ordered) stayed over a year in his warehouse.

Randy teased Linda about her eagerness to build and move.

“We were supposed to start this

Untypically, smaller high windows line the dining room. But the view was the driveway (“Just cars.”) so these serve as a showcase for locallycrafted leaf and mountain themed stained glass.

March, but last October (2013) she called me, all excited — told me to get started. It was a scramble for permits, but we did it.”

Then came 10 months of construction, with the couple overlooking the building process conscientiously but from afar.

The house will be completed down to the last detail just in time for the 2014 Home Builders tour.

Gregg and Linda have lived in the Vancouver area for most of their marriage, where she was a teacher and counselor and he was long-time managing editor of The Columbian and later

Builder Randy Gold and owner Gregg talk some more about “their house,” now the Herrington home since July. Gregg’s wife, Linda, was the driving force as well as the design, detail and décor diva.

worked for the Battleground school district. There they enjoyed the luxury of several lovely homes, a few of their own design.

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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But this one is the favorite — as high, dry and handsome as they’d hoped, perched above the Columbia River facing Mission Ridge, the Wenatchee foothills and the tips of Cascade peaks.

No contest.

Linda said that on a recent red-sunset evening, relaxing on the deck they quipped, “Are we in heaven? No… we’re in East Wenatchee!” For them, it’s one and the same.

see these featured homes FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY, SEPT. 19 - 21

H & H Construction 1988 N. Devon St. East Wenatchee

Entering the awesome double doors you walk into WOW! A wall of alder wood wrapped windows, views of the Wenatchee Valley, and those dreamy sunsets.

As you move through the house you find everything moves together in a complimentary way.

First, you will see a full stairwell wall in light colored stacked stone to compliment and match the wood burning stone fireplace.

Second, high in the ceiling and outlining the room is dark stained Douglas fir beam work styled to match the stair posts, double entry doors, and beam work on the outside. Last, natural colored distressed white oak hardwood floors lead you into a clean lined kitchen.

Features include: n Home Theater Room n Surround Sound n Retractable Central Vac System n Distressed White Oak Hardwood Floors n Interior Stone Wall & Fireplace n Wood Burning Fireplace

Providing masonry, stone setting and other stonework

n Fun Lighting Accents n Functional Built-in Closets n Free-standing Master Bath Tub n Gorgeous Outside Exterior Look n Wood Looking Garage Doors n Alder Wood Hazelnut Cabinets

n Dark Stained Alder Wood Millwork Upstairs n Dark Painted Millwork Downstairs n Two (2) HVAC Units n Colored Concrete Basement Floors n Gorgeous Tile Work Throughout

Congratulations H & H Construction On Your Tour Home.

Thanks for letting us supply windows, doors, millwork and a lot more for your tour home

509-630-1434

Proud to have supplied garage doors, insulation, gutters and fireplace on H & H Construction’s Tour Home

509-393-1054

Proud to have done the concrete work for H & H Construction’s Tour of Homes house.

Thank you for making us part of the team!

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Home Tour & Remodeling Expo Sept. 19 - 21

Lenssen Homes

place to enjoy all this plus the serenity of golf course living.

2664 Falcon View Drive East Wenatchee Lenssen Homes is delighted to offer another finely crafted, intelligently designed and beautifully decorated custom home for the 2014 Home Tour.

This home offers not only a sense of elegance and peacefulness but also a measure of warmth, welcome and family-fun. It provides a wonderful balance of being a refuge, while still allowing for a gorgeous outlook of mountains and river.

The outdoor living spaces offer a scenic

Features include: n Majestic Golf Course Location n Fir Trim Doors and Casings n Custom Cabinetry n Granite Throughout n 9-Foot Ceilings n Extensive Hardwood Flooring n Covered Outdoor Living Area n Fir Beams n Stone Fireplace n Master Bath w/ Heated Floors n Walk-In Shower n Extensive Views

See Our Two Homes in the 2014 Tour of Homes

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Home Tour & Remodeling Expo Sept. 19 - 21 Mountain Vista Homes 472 Laurie Drive, Wenatchee

This year’s Mountain Vista Homes’ entry is all about well-appointed comfort.

The classic exterior is accented with custom stonework, a large covered entry with an eight foot, artisan glass paned door, and an appealing natural toned color palette.

Inside, a 2,306 square foot open-concept floor plan features custom millwork and hand-scraped oak flooring that continues throughout the main living areas.

The great room is inviting and warm with a soaring vault and stone fireplace with board and batt accents.

The focal point of the kitchen is the dark stained wood island with “Snowstorm” granite counters, and is complimented by painted perimeter cabinets and dark matte granite.

The large covered patio is perfect for entertaining or simply enjoying the sunset.

The luxurious master bathroom is complete with a walk-in tile shower, a six foot soaking tub with chandelier above, and large vanity with double sinks. A second bathroom and 2 bedrooms provide ample room for family and guests.

Proud to be a participant in the 2014 tour of homes

Features include: n Hand Scraped Solid Wood Floors n Custom Cabinets by Local Smith Custom Woodworking n Large Vaulted Great Room n Gourmet Kitchen w/ Large Island & Pantry n Large Covered Patios n RV Parking on the Side n Fully Finished Garage w/ Hot & Cold Water n Fully Landscaped w/ Irrigation n Luxurious Master Bath w/ Tile Walk-In Shower n 6’ Soaking Tub n His & Her Vanities in Master

Proud to have done the concrete work for Mountain Vista Home’s Tour of Homes house. Thank you for making us part of the team!

Thanks for trusting us to supply the fireplace, heating and air conditioning!

Thanks for choosing us to be a part of your tour home!

670-5215

509 665-6859

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Home Tour & Remodeling Expo Sept. 19 - 21

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Home Tour & Remodeling Expo Sept. 19 - 21

Hanson Homes

2793 N. Breckenridge Drive East Wenatchee Located in the beautiful East Wenatchee Breckenridge Development, this home comes with stunning views of the Wenatchee Valley.

When you enter this tri-level home, you will see that the main focus is the easy flowing and open floor plan. The great room, dining and kitchen create a space that is perfect for entertaining.

In the kitchen, the stainless steel appliances are highlighted by beautiful custom cabinets and millwork. Slab granite countertops and hardwood flooring tie it all together and create a kitchen any chef would love to spend time in.

For those precious family gatherings, this home has a family room where everyone can enjoy some time together.

When the day is over, you can retreat to the spacious master suite and relax in the soaking tub. Between the walk-in closet and the double vanity, space for two will not be a worry.

Each of our homes includes a Builder 2-10 home warranty.

Congratulations Hanson Homes On Your Tour Home.

House features include: n Open Floor Plan n Cathedral Ceilings n Custom Cabinets & Millwork n Slab Granite Countertops n Tile Baths n Hardwood Flooring n Gas Fireplace w/ Tile Surround n Large Laundry Room w/ Half Bath n Den/Office n Family Room n Oversized Garage n RV Parking n Stainless Steel Appliances

Proud to be a participant in the 2014 tour of homes

Thanks for letting us supply windows, doors, millwork and a lot more for your tour home

Congratulations Hanson Homes.

Proud to have supplied your custom doors and millwork on your Tour Home

670-5215

Where to find the homes on the tour Gold Construction 704 Upper Daniels Drive, East Wenatchee

Lenssen Homes 2664 Falcon View Drive, East Wenatchee

Real Homes Center Street, Lot-1, Rock Island

H&H Construction NW 1988 N. Devon St., East Wenatchee

Lexar Homes 1711 Toaimnic Drive, Wenatchee

Wessman Construction 8280 East Leavenworth Road, Leavenworth

Hanson Homes, LLC 2793 N. Breckenridge Drive, East Wenatchee

Mountain Vista Homes, LLC 472 Laurie Drive, Wenatchee

Lange Construction, LLC 3469 Ashwood Drive, East Wenatchee

Real Homes 1413 Center Street, Rock Island

REMODELING EXPO LOCATED AT SANGSTER MOTORS 912 N. Miller St., Wenatchee

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>>

column moving up to the good life

june darling

To thrive in life, set your own course Some years ago I had a

memorable conversation with a six year old.

I cheerily asked how her first day of school had gone. A tear rolled down her cheek. “Not very well,” she said. “I wanted to know how the world was made, but all we did was color.”

Since that day I have had thousands of conversations and read reams of research about learning. I’ve attempted to answer one question: What are the main conditions that support high quality learning and performance that lead to the good life?

Here’s the answer I believe is most empirically supported.

Human beings are most likely to thrive in learning and life when

they are more self-determined.

Here’s how it works.

At the most basic level, selfdetermination means having choices about what you do and what happens to you. Researchers point to studies showing that even infants and animals seem to enjoy having some amount of autonomy.

Motivational researchers, like Richard Ryan and Edward Deci, believe that self-determination is fostered when people have some say in setting their own goals or in choosing how they will show competence.

For example, students might choose to read either Moby Dick or Pride and Prejudice. Afterwards, students may choose to do either a written book report or an art project to show how

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Once intrinsic motivation is unleashed, people become more passionately engaged, curious, persistent, and self-regulated. well they understood the books.

Self-determination leads to intrinsic motivation. Once intrinsic motivation is unleashed, people become more passionately engaged, curious, persistent, and self-regulated.

These people are the ones most likely to achieve at high

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levels according to many researchers.

But, but, but, you say. This whole choice thing is not realistic. In the real world, people do not always have choices. There are simply some things people must do.

True. AND there are ways to help preserve other’s self-determination as well as your own even when there are no choices and the task is not inherently enjoyable.

Researchers have found that the small act of providing a rationale for why something needs to be done increases one’s feeling of being more self-determined.

Being clear that a task is im-

... researchers believe that we all have a natural will to learn, to grow, to challenge ourselves... portant also works. (This may be how the more controlling “Tiger Moms” are sometimes successful in “pushing” their children to achieve.)

Likewise, you can build your own motivation by providing what others’ do not. Instead of seething about a task that was thrown on your desk, build your own case for the rationale and importance of the task.

One large factor supporting self-determination and intrinsic motivation in addition to autonomy is relatedness. Human beings are much more likely to learn well, to live well, to do well when others care about them.

The support of other students, colleagues, mentors and teachers makes us feel safe and free.

When we feel safe and free, we ask questions we really care

about like: “Anyone have ideas about how the world got made?”

Self-determination researchers believe that we all have a natural will to learn, to grow, to challenge ourselves and that we are capable of much, much more if we are in a supportive environment.

Take Scott Barry Kaufman as an example. Educators didn’t think he was capable of much.

IQ tests and interviews resulted in labeling him as learning disabled. He was put on a strict learning regimen with little opportunity for autonomy and little social support. He found school intensely boring.

At 13, Scott, decided he’d had enough. He talked to his parents, found supportive mentors, started exploring what he was interested in, and turned his life around.

Scott is now Dr. Kaufman, a young, highly touted expert in intelligence and creativity.

He received his undergraduate degree from Carnegie Mellon Institute, studied at Cambridge, and received his Ph.D. in cognitive science at Yale.

As you might imagine, Kaufman is a strong proponent of

self-determination in learning and life.

Here’s the bottom line. If you want to be great at something, if you want to be passionate, if you want to be creative, if you want to overcome setbacks and failures, if you want to tap into your intrinsic motivation, if you want to live the good life, then think about how you might become more self-determined.

Think about where you can set more of your own goals. Think about what you really care about. Think about who might support you.

Similarly, if you want your children or those you supervise to be more motivated, then

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Rent our cruiser bikes and enjoy a beautiful scenic ride on Wenatchee’s Apple Capital Loop Trail

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think about how you can turn more of their learning and more of their life over to them.

Think about what choices you can offer them. Think about how you show them that you support them. If nothing else, at least give others a rationale for why they need to do what you tell them to do.

How might you use self-determination to move up to The Good Life?

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

>>

column GARDEN OF DELIGHTS

bonnie orr

Roots, stalks, leaves and seeds 4 servings; 10 minutes

Let’s face it. Celery stalks

are more than a flavored cream cheese platform or an afterschool snack filled with peanut butter.

Pretty much every cook keeps celery at hand. Celery is a most versatile vegetable because the leaves, seeds, stalks and roots each add distinctive flavor to a dish.

Because the stalks become bitter even with deep trenching and mulching, celery is difficult to grow in our hot summers.

The smaller stalk-less plants — called cutting celery or leaf celery — is easy to grow and has a muscular flavor perfect for stews and soups.

Often a celery bunch molders in the back of the refrigerator’s crisper because the stalk is larger than what a recipe called for. Definitely, the leaves can be removed, chopped and frozen ready to be added to soups and stews.

I buy a bunch of celery, which is all the stalks and leaves. It includes the stronger flavored outside stalks that are used in soups and broths. For those with more refined palates, the celery heart means that the stronger flavored outside stalks have been discarded, and you pay a premium price for buying just those center stalks.

The outside stems, by the way, are usually good in soup made with robustly flavored root vegetables such as turnips, onions, carrots and rutabagas.

Two tips to prepare stalks for cooking: Slice two-thirds of the way through the white, tough end of the stalk from the inside, turn the stalk over and pull up gently to rip the “strings” off the rest of the stem.

2 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon sesame seeds 1/2 cup finely sliced sweet onion 3 cups sliced celery stalks 2 tablespoons fresh chopped mint or 1 tablespoon dried mint leaves 1 tablespoon lemon zest 3/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth Salt and pepper Heat the oil and add the sesame seeds and onion. Stir for one minute.

Add the remainder of the ingredients.

Cover the pan, turn down the heat and steam for 5 minutes — until the celery is tender but still firm.

Baked Celery Subtle but not dull, this baked celery dish made with celeriac and celery stalks is a fine lunch or a change of pace vegetable dish for dinner. The dark green leaves are cutting celery from Bonnie’s garden.

Chop the celery in a food processor or make pleasing diagonal cuts across the stalk with a sharp knife.

If you happen to have the root of a celery plant, it can be peeled and cooked either whole, in slices or wedges; finely grated, it can be eaten raw. Cut into wedges and baked at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, the celeriac becomes sweet and nutty. Chopped, it is added to other either hot or cold dishes.

McCormick Seasonings popularized celery salt, which is ground celery seeds mixed with salt. Celery salt flavors coleslaw or potato salad. Whole celery seed tastes slightly bitter.

Celery’s main claim to fame is as the main ingredient in a mirepoix, the base for great meat dishes. The mirepoix takes about half an hour to create, so cooking this flavor enhancer in advance is a real time saver.

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It is a combination of 2 parts celery, 2 parts onion and 1 part carrot. Cook these chopped vegetables in oil over low heat until they are soft and the onion is translucent. Double the recipe and freeze portions for a head start on a cold fall-day stew.

My Godmother, Patricia, gave me advice as a bride. If you do not have dinner started because you have been out in the garden all day, make a mirepoix and the house will smell like something wonderful is cooking.

Savory Sauteed Celery If you need a vegetable to complete your dinner, consider celery as a side dish. This recipe is inspired by the Joy of Gardening Cookbook by Janet Ballantyne. When cooked at a low temperature, the stalks become sweet and still retain their crunch.

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| September 2014

This dish can be made with either celery stalks or the root. The flavor will vary depending on your choice.

Add it to the hot oven at the last 20 minutes as you bake chicken or pork chops.

Serves 4; 25 minutes 0ven 350 degrees 1 tablespoon oil 4 cups sliced celery stalks or peeled root 1/2 cup green olives pitted and sliced 1/4 cup chopped parsley 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil 2 tablespoons capers 2 teaspoons chopped chili pepper 1/4 cup lemon juice 1 -1/2 cups small curd cottage cheese, drained Salt and pepper Mix all the ingredients.

Spread in an oiled 9x9 baking dish.

Cover with foil.

Bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil.

Bake for an additional 5 minutes.

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

PET tales

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

T

ank is our first English bulldog. Leo is his father’s, Michael, and my firstborn. Leo loves chasing Tank around in his Ferrari walker. Tank is about three times the size of Leo weighing in at about 75 pounds, whereas nine-month-old Leo weighs only 25 pounds. Bulldogs make wonderful family pets with the right training. We love them so much. Photo by Kailey Shakespear Photography — Mikayla Rivera

M

oneyPenny shows her “unbridled-enthusiasm” that her master has left her in the goodcare of the “Crazy Uncle” and housesitter, me.

She knows it’s all fun-’n-games for her from here on out.

— Tom Spirals

September 2014 | The Good Life

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Wanted: Your favorite pet photos Submit a photo of yourself with your pet... and share in a few sentences what makes your pet special.

Send photos of pet and owner to: editor@ncwgoodlife.com

>>

column THE TRAVELing DOCTOR

jim brown, m.d.

The miracle of Lighthouse Ministries I have always been impressed

by how amazing accomplishments can occur due to one person’s idea or by a group of dedicated people who feel called to something greater than themselves.

It isn’t only the idea, but the passion, dedication and hard work they bring to it and by which they inspire others to join them in their goal.

Rev. Bob Rogers is such a person. The result has become the Lighthouse Ministries.

After teaching and preaching for several years in prisons in Africa, Bob felt that mission for him was ending. He felt called to start a local mission right here in Wenatchee and was led to start a soup kitchen.

As he looked around Wenatchee, he found a spot on south Wenatchee Avenue that years previously had been the Lighthouse Tavern and then had become for a while a Hispanic restaurant. The space was empty, in total disrepair and without any furnishings.

On faith Bob made an offer to lease this property. As people heard of his plans, they started showing up to help, including carpenters, plumbers and handy men and women.

Due to the 2008 and 2009 recession, several restaurants had gone out of business. He went to sales of used restaurant equipment, but none were suitable.

When he was getting somewhat discouraged, he received a call from someone at Parkside Nursing home, which had been closed. They had the equipment he needed, and it was all in excellent condition.

When Bob asked how much would it cost, the answer was “nothing.” It is a gift. This was

...every time afterwards I feel better and blessed to have been there. the first of many miracles to follow.

The Lighthouse Ministries now has a 501c3 non-profit status and is governed by a community board of directors. They do not receive any government funds.

I first became familiar with this ministry through the Lighthouse Soup Kitchen on South Wenatchee Avenue.

Our church members, along with many other Wenatchee area church members, have been volunteering at the Lighthouse on a regular basis. For several years each month we have been cooking breakfast two Saturdays and making lunches four days a month, feeding between 40-60 hungry people each time.

I generally cook breakfast one of the Saturdays. I have been grateful to be involved in this mission. Getting up early on Saturday morning is not my favorite thing to do, but every time afterwards I feel better and blessed to have been there.

The Wenatchee Valley communities are very generous.

Several local grocery stores provide food that is near its pull date and volunteers with pickup trucks arrive with loads of this food to stock the freezer and the large refrigerated cooler for immediate use.

In a country that is known to throw away and waste food that is near or at its pull date, I was proud to see this perfectly good food going to a good cause.

In June Lighthouse work-

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ers provided 12,719 servings of food. They average 10,000 meals monthly.

From a personal standpoint I think there is a societal benefit helping in this manner by seeing people who often feel invisible in our society. It reminds me, at least, that we are all fellow human beings who share this planet, this state and our own community of Wenatchee.

In addition to serving meals, the Lighthouse offers a food distribution ministry service. Since a large amount of food comes in from various grocers in the area, enough is leftover for a food distribution ministry, which distributes unprepared food in the neighborhoods of Wenatchee.

Teams of volunteers deliver food seven days a week to those who struggle financially as well as to shut-ins and other folks who have a hard time getting to a grocery store to shop.

I have gotten to know several people in my involvement with this mission.

“Jack” is now a supervisor at one of the five ministries under the Lighthouse Ministries umbrella. After four years in the Marines he fell into a life of drugs — using and dealing — which lead at times to assault charges resulting in many years spent in various prisons in the West.

When in Walla Walla prison, he said he accepted Jesus Christ into his life and was “saved.”

Whatever one might think about religion in general or Christianity in particular, there is no doubt that Jack was “saved” from a life of crime and prison to become an entirely new person.

I have gotten to know and trust Jack who has served at the Lighthouse for years working as

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a supervisor.

Another of the ministries, the Grace House is a faith-based transitional home for women and children located in East Wenatchee. Up to 40 women and children are offered affordable rent.

The goal at Grace House is to help women become self-sufficient and to develop in them a sense of empowerment. They are provided classes on cooking, meal planning, budgeting, organizational planning and given help to prepare them to find and keep a job.

In addition, there are nonmandatory Bible studies, classes on parenting as well as on how to develop healthy relationships with the opposite sex.

“Steve” had experienced 10 years of homelessness, drugs and living the street life. He came to the Lighthouse five years ago on the advice of a friend and has been involved there ever since.

He was prayed for and supported and was able to come off drugs. He is now a staff supervisor. He has become ordained through a special program of the Lighthouse Ministry.

“Steve” is an excellent example of the power of his commitment to Christ. He was “saved” from a life on a downhill spiral to become a very impressive young man whose life now has a higher purpose as the soup kitchen director, helping others change their lives for the better.

The Mission House on Number 1 Canyon Road is located on 12 acres of land and is for men committed to being clean and sober. These men have expressed a commitment to changing their lives from that of

“Mary” is a 62-year-old female who has been homeless for the last four years. dependency to one of freedom from drugs and alcohol.

At the same location is the Gospel Garden where they raise vegetables and chickens and collect their eggs. The organic waste products from the Lighthouse Soup Kitchen are used for fertilizer and chicken feed.

The Gospel House is a relatively new addition to the Lighthouse Ministries and is also located on South Wenatchee Avenue. It provides emergency housing for families and individuals who are in urgent need of housing.

Under one roof, they are able to house women, men, children

and families. People can check in from 6 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. every day. There is a nominal fee of $10 a night with rates for a half month or month as needed.

“Mary” is a 62-year-old female who has been homeless for the last four years. She was divorced and for many years separated from her family in the Midwest.

She was able to support herself working in retail sales, but when many jobs disappeared in the recession, she found herself out of work and homeless.

She relies on the Lighthouse for food and fellowship. She also is living at the Gospel House in South Wenatchee. The Lighthouse Ministries have been a “God send” to her in this time of difficulty.

“Jack” grew up on the Washington coast. He is on disability for reasons unknown to me.

Essentially he is living on the streets of Wenatchee, sleeping in his sleeping bag wherever he can find a spot. He told me emphatically, “But not on the river.

September 2014 | The Good Life

That’s too dangerous at night.”

I think the Lighthouse Soup Kitchen plays a critical role in his survival by providing nourishing meals as well as emotional support.

“George,” 25, grew up in Chelan County and since high school has held various jobs on and off. Having been born with fetal alcohol syndrome has allowed him some disability funds.

He was essentially homeless until he discovered the Lighthouse Soup Kitchen where he found a new direction for his life. He is now on the staff part time at the Lighthouse and has grown in many ways through the love and care he found there.

The newest Lighthouse ministry is the faith-based Lighthouse Medical Clinic operated by volunteers including physicians, nurses and medical staff. It recently opened in East Wenatchee at 858 Valley Mall Parkway.

Their goal is to provide basic medical services to the poor.

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They see themselves offering urgent care services, intending to connect patients who need on-going chronic care to local physicians in addition to helping these patients qualify for available heath care coverage they might be eligible for.

Dr. Carolina See, a pulmonary and critical care physician at Confluence Health, is the volunteer medical director. Plans are to add volunteer dentists to do dental extractions and some other services.

In a relatively short period of time, the Lighthouse Ministries have experienced a miraculous success providing help to the poor and homeless in our area.

This group of people are clearly living out their faith in a tangible way, and I admire and commend them for their efforts.

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.

Shooter in the wild John Marshall went into the mountains as a scientist but stayed as a photographer By susan Lagsdin

John Marshall’s high Sun-

nyslope patio faces west into the soft green of the Wenatchee River Valley and the mountains beyond. He uses it well.

“Any time of day, I can come out here, look in all directions and see just what the weather’s doing; then I can plan my strategy.”

For a nature photographer, the weather is everything. John’s subjects tend to stand still, but it’s the way the light reflects and refracts, the way that gray diffuses and sun forms contrasts, that helps him create memorable shots. And he’s been doing that for most of his life.

A stack of hardbound coffee table books, replete with his glossy photos of the beauty and bounty of the Northwest, particularly the mountains, is one kind of testament to John Marshall’s photographic genius.

To his commercial clients, John delivers photos that sell products and enhance a corporate image: controlled studio shots for catalogues, aerial views of construction sites and stock photos available to publications and ad agencies.

But John’s continuing passion is using photography to explain nature.

Raised in the sere reaches of southeastern Oregon and then moving with his family to Port-

These three young mule deer bucks, foraging one morning on an Entiat forest ridge line, wandered into John’s campsite and taught him a lesson in patience.

when he first sold a few prints, that photography could very well be his life work.

And it very well is.

John said, “My first really good sale was outfitting an entire IBM office in Portland with scenic photos. That was about 1978. It wasn’t until I got published in National Geographic with the Mount St. Helens pictures that I started thinking I could make a living of it.”

More recently, a five year Nature Conservancy contract lead him to explore and document the Manastash Ridge and the Simcoe Hills near Goldendale.

John Marshall: Nature photographer outside.

Commissioned by land, John sought wilderness the U.S. Forest Service, John again as a young man. His colprovided high resolution ground lege degrees in fish and wildlife level shots of the Umatilla Forlead him into the mountains as est. And he’s replicating views a scientist, and he has always from 1930’s fire lookouts to show had a camera in hand. the evolution of those mountain He knew by his early 20s, landscapes.

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But his most compelling ongoing project is a 20-year odyssey. Again with financial support from the USFS, he has been precisely documenting the area of the 1994 Tyee Creek fire near Entiat and its ecological rebound and will exhibit the series next year at the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center.

This July was a milestone for him, an anniversary month.

After 20 years of chronicling change at specific points in the burn areas, John finally took the “first of the last” photos in that chronological series.

The timing seems ironic. With much of north central Washington threatened or scorched by fire this season, John’s extensive understanding of the region’s ecology and his adamant trust in nature’s restorative power seem particularly poignant.

At 63, he now enjoys a reputation that enables him to work hard on assignments and commissions but also to veer off into new photographic territory, hunting the odd shot or the new site, and to finesse his considerable computer skills.

At home, using Adobe Photo-

1994

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WHAT TO DO

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

Slam poetry night, every Tuesday, 7 – 8:30 p.m. Clearwater Steakhouse and Saloon, 838 Valley Mall Pky. East Wenatchee.

Pybus Public Market, every Tuesday Deborah Strahm, personal chef cooks at the market. Info: pybuspublicmarket.org.

A large granite boulder, fractured as it cooled, lies among charred douglas fir trees on Mountain Home Ridge above the Icicle Valley near Leavenworth, following the firestorm of July 29, 1994.

2014

Improv/Acting Workshop, 7 p.m.

Every Tuesday night with theater games for novice and experienced players. Fun, casual and free. Riverside Playhouse. Cost: free. Info: mtow.org.

Country Western open mic/ jam session, 3-6 p.m. Every second and fourth Sunday. Clearwater Saloon, 838 Valley Mall Pky. East Wenatchee.

Village Art in the Park, every weekend until 10/20. Downtown Leavenworth. Info: Leavenworth. org.

Wenatchee Valley Farmers Market, every Wednesday and Saturday through Oct. 25, 8 a.m.

– 1 p.m. Come sample the world’s best fruits and vegetables, some fabulous flowers and crafts and coffee… all local vendors. Pybus Public Market.

A thriving plant community exists in this June 25, 2014 photo, including shinyleaf Ceanothus, which provides the nitrogen needed by young ponderosa pines to flourish.

shop, he said, “It’s like a musician working with a piece of sheet music — you can render the basic image 1,000 different ways.”

John admits his transition to digital photography was slow, but now he’s fully engaged in the technology. He also believes his early years manipulating focus and shutter speed on bulky film cameras (as well as rationing 4x5 film on his wilderness hikes and then mailing it to a developer) was actually good basic training.

He’s on the Humanities Washington speakers’ bureau and he conducts professional workshops up in the mountains, but John

is still a learning artist. When three mule deer bucks ambled into his campsite recently, after he cautiously picked up the camera he was instinctively eager to position himself perfectly, to grab the shot from his best vantage point.

But he countered that go-get’em instinct with restraint. John explained, “It was really tough to do nothing, but this one time I just let them wander in at their pace.

“I stood perfectly still. And those bucks came up really close to me, perfectly confident they were alone. I really like that shot.”

September 2014 | The Good Life

Leavenworth Community Farmers Market, every Thursday night, 4- 8 p.m. Local produce and crafts. Lions Club Park. Info: leavenworthfarmersmarket.org.

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

Lake Chelan Winery Tour, every Thursday, Friday and Saturday until 11/14/14, 2 p.m. Explore the vineyard, crush pad, and production facility with our knowledgeable staff.

Finish in our tasting room and sip on wine. Lake Chelan Winery. Cost: free. Info: lakechelanwinery.com.

NCW Blues Jam, every second and fourth Monday, 7:30 – 11 p.m. Clearwater Steakhouse, East Wenatchee.

Info: facebook.com/NCWBluesJam. Lake Chelan Winery Family Sunday in the BBQ, Sundays, 11 a.m. – 9 p.m. BBQ in the vineyard, activities for kids. Info: lakechelanwinery.com.

Organic Garden Tour, 2nd and 4th Saturdays through September, 4 p.m. Enjoy two acres of certified

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organic fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers. Join garden manager, Amy Cummings for a tour and learn about environmentally friendly gardening techniques. In addition to using natural fertilizers, and regular crop rotation to improve the soil, the staff attracts beneficial insects to maintain the health and sustainability of the garden. The tour will include a stop in the greenhouse, which extends the growing season providing the Sleeping Lady culinary team with fresh produce and herbs throughout the year. Sleeping Lady. Cost: free. Info: sleepinglady. com.

Happy Hour Paddle Boarding, 9/2, 9, 16, 23, 30, 5 p.m. Tuesday evenings meet at Pybus Public Market behind Fire and Ice and shuttled to launch point. Paddle down the Columbia from Walla Walla Point to Hydro Park where you’re shuttled back to Fire and Ice. Cost: $20 includes guide, shuttle and drink token. Info: Wenatchee. org.

Leavenworth Quilt Show, 9/3-7, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Meander throughout the Village Shops and enjoy

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}}} Continued from previous page antique quilts, wearable quilted art, wall quilts, table runners and new quilts. Festhalle. Cost: $5. Info: quiltersheaven.com.

Down River Guided Paddle Boarding, 9/3, 10, 17, 24, 5 – 7 p.m. A scenic river paddle down Icicle Creek. Includes guide, shuttle and a beer from Icicle Brewing Company. Osprey Rafting and Ski Shop, Leavenworth. Cost: $65. Info: ospreyrafting.com.

Introduction to Paddle Boarding, 9/4, 11, 5 p.m. Thursday evenings learn how to paddle board at Walla Walla Point Park. The lagoon offers perfect shelter to learn to paddle and explore the many channels in the wildlife estuary. After a beer token is given from Columbia Valley Brewery. Info: wenatchee. org.

CASA Open house, 9/4, 6 – 7:30 p.m. The event will focus on how to become an advocate for abused and neglected children and how

to become a mentor to an at-risk youth. Visit with volunteers, board members, a court commissioner and CASA staff. Chelan County PUD auditorium. Cost: free. Info: Wenatchee.org.

River Ramble, 9/5 - 6. Friday 5 – 8 p.m., Saturday, 10:30 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Meet Native American artists and local educators, storytelling, learn about Native American customs and the PUD’s stewardship of local wildlife and habitat, set up a tipi, play Native American tribal games involving skill and chance, see Reptile Man, Native American music and dancing. Rocky Reach Visitor Center. Info: facebook.com/ visitrockyreach.

Happy Hour Float, 9/5, 12, 19, 26, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. Guided stand-up paddleboard trip on the Icicle River with the Leavenworth Outdoor Center. Ends with live music and beer/wine at Der Hinterhof. Cost: $40 for two or $25 for one. Info: leavenworthoudoorcenter.com.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 9/5, 6, 7 p.m. A family-friendly, pared down, and wild version of the comedy classic by William Shakespeare as you’ve never seen it

Town Toyota Wings & Wheels Festival

before. Meadowlark Stage, Leavenworth. Cost: $10 adults, $5 youth.

Info: icicle.org.

Wenatchee First Fridays ArtsWalk, 9/5, 5 - 8 p.m. Check out Wenatchee’s arts scene. Venues and exhibits change monthly.

Self-guided. WVC Campus and Historic District. Cost: art-walk free, after-events may have admission fees. Monthly info: wenatcheefirstfridaysartswalk.tumblr.com.

Two Rivers Art Gallery, 9/5, 5 – 8 p.m. Nicki Isaacson is the featured artist. Wines by Maryhill Winery, music by guitarist Kirk Lewellen and complimentary refreshments. 102 N Columbia, Wenatchee. Cost: free. Info: 2riversgallery.com.

Merriment Party Goods, 9/5, 5 – 8 p.m. Merriment will feature Peruvian Sweet Cravings. Delicious cookies and chocolates crafted by local bakers in the traditional Peruvian style. 23, S Wenatchee Ave. Cost: free. Info: facebook.com/ merrimentpartygoods.

Tumbleweed Bead Co., 9/5, 5-8 p.m. Katie Holmes (Pomegranate Wood) focuses on using the most pure ingredients available as well as locally grown and produced ingredients in Washington State.

Her products are developed and inspired through and by the practices of yoga, herbalism, ayurveda and anthropology. Refreshments served. Rob Newsom (Boudreaux Cellars) will be on hand with some of his red wines. 105 Palouse St. Cost: free. Info: tumbleweedbeadco.com.

Armada/central washington hospital foundation Annual Golf Classic and Fundraiser, 9/8, 8 a.m. Desert Canyon Golf Resort, Orondo. Info: 509 784-1111.

Melissa Etheridge, 9/6, 8 p.m.

Live performance. Deep Water at Mill Bay Casino in Lake Chelan. Info: colvillecasinos.com.

Early Bird Float, 9/7, 14, 21, 28, 8 – 10 a.m. Start your morning off right with a guided nature float.

Learn how to stand-up paddleboard or kayak and see all that Leavenworth has to offer before any of the stores open. Leavenworth Outdoor Center. Cost: $40 for two or $25 for one. Info: leavenworthoutdoorcenter.com.

Wenatchee Community Concert Assoc. – Fernando Varela, 9/9, 7:30 p.m. Wenatchee High School Auditorium. Info: Arlene Jones 884-6835.

GWATA Tech Stomp, 9/11, 5 p.m.

Network with GWATA members and attendees while enjoying a complimentary glass of wine and appetizers. Door prizes, games, croquet, ladder balls and a hole in one competition. Ohme Gardens.

Cost: $10 for members, $20 for non-members.

WVC Knights Golf Classic, 9/12, 9 a.m. Putting and chipping contest. Shotgun start at 10 a.m. with a 4-person scramble. Info: wvc.edu/ directory/departments/athletics/ golftournament.asp.

Fabulous Friday, 9/5. Music, entertainment, food and free activities for kids. Downtown Chelan.

Cost: free.

Harvest of Quilts, 9/12-13, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Town Toyota Center.

Cost: $5. Info: ncwquilt.org.

Lake Chelan Shore to Shore Race, 9/6. 7 a.m. Marathon, half-marathon and 10k race. Info: runwenatchee.com.

Cascade Makers Market, 9/6, noon – 8 p.m. and 9/7, 10 a.m. – 2 pm. An open-air public market featuring hand-made goods with heirloom potential and Cascade | The Good Life

Boston, 9/6, 7:30 p.m. Live performance. Town Toyota Center. Info: towntoyotacenter.com.

Small Artworks Gallery, 9/5, 5 p.m. 13 local artists works will be on display at the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center. Info: wvmcc.org.

Plain Valley Farmer’s Market, 9/6, 13, 20, 27, 10 a.m. Local farmers sell fresh fruits and vegetables at the Plain Hardware patio. Cost: free. Info: plainhardware.com.

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Mountain character, created and curated by local artisans. Beer, wine and live music. Smallwood’s Harvest, Peshastin. Cost: free. Info: smallwoodsharvest.com.

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Quincy Valley Balloon Festival, 9/13-14. Hot air balloons. Info: partiesonthegreen.com.

Chelan ridge Hawk Migration Festival, 9/13, 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. Join the Methow Valley Ranger District, North Central Washington Audubon Society, and HawkWatch International this fall for the fifth annual Chelan Ridge Hawk Migration Festival! This family event combines free activities in Pateros Memorial Park with trips to the Chelan Ridge site to learn about and celebrate raptors as they journey to winter

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WHAT TO DO

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territories. The festival takes place in Pateros Memorial Park and will have vendors, live raptors, birding field trips, and projects for kids.

The trip to and from Chelan Ridge lasts 4 hours and includes seeing raptors as they are banded and released. Pre-registration is required.

Info: ncwaudubon.org.

Wenatchee Kennel Club Dog Show, 9/13-14. Noon. Chelan County Expo Center, Cashmere.

Info: wenatcheekennelclub.com.

Leavenworth Wine Walk, 9/13, noon – 6 p.m. Taste up to 60 different wines. Passport includes a bottle tote, walking map, discount coupons and prizes. Live music at the gazebo. Downtown Leavenworth. Cost: $40 pp/$70 per couple. Info: cascadefarmlands. com.

Leavenworth Music Festival, 9/13, noon – 10:30 p.m. Award winning artists: Lloyd Jones, Little Bill and the Bluenotes, Kirby Sewell, Sena Ehrhardt, Junkyard Jane, Vicci Martinez and The Delgado Brothers. Beer garden features cold beer from Icicle Brewery and wine from the Wenatchee Valley. Smallwood’s

Harvest, Peshastin. Cost: $25 adults, $15 youth. Info: leavenworthmusicfest.com.

Sustainable living and farming tour, 9/13-14. See and learn first hand how to lead a simpler more sustainable life. Listen to experts in the field, tour sustainable homes, farms and businesses including straw bale houses and yurts, off the grid buildings, organic farms and gardens, alpaca and llama farming, bee and chicken raising and more. Simply Living Farm Store, 925 Commercial St, Leavenworth. Cost: free. And Snowy Owl Theater for Eco Fair, 9/13, 6 p.m. Organic fruit and local

sheep cheese plates paired with regional wines will be available.

Frances Moore Lappé, author of Diet for a Small Planet and 17 other books will speak at 7:30 p.m. Cost: $15, students, $10. Info: simplylivingfarm.com.

19TH ANNUAL CASCADE MEDICAL FOUNDATION HOME and GARDEN TOUR, 9/13, noon to 5 pm. The Cascade Medical Foundation will hold their annual home and garden tour featuring seven unique and beautiful homes in the Leavenworth area. All proceeds go to support and enhance the quality health care service that Cascade Medical

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a delicious opening act Delight in a pre-show dinner at the Kingfisher Restaurant & Wine Bar at Sleeping Lady Resort. Savor gourmet cuisine crafted with locally grown organic ingredients. Reserve your table today at SleepingLady.com or call 509.548.6344.

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}}} Continued from previous page provides to Leavenworth and the surrounding area. Cost: $20. Tickets at the Cascade Medical Center admitting desk and will be available at the featured homes. Info: 509 548-2523 or www.cascademedicalfoundation.org.

Scare Crazy, 9/13, 6 – 8 p.m.

Scarecrow building workshop in Cashmere. Weed’s Café, 201 Cottage Ave. Hot cider and cookies served. Info: info@cashmerechamber.org.

Cascade Couples Golf Championship, 9/14, 8:30 a.m. Leavenworth Golf Course. Cost: $185, $195 for non-members. Info: leavenworthgolf.com.

Compassionate Friends, 9/15, 7 – 8:30 p.m. A grief support group that helps assist families dealing with a death of a child. Grace Lutheran Church, 1408 Washington St. Cost: free. Info: tcfwenatcheevalley.org.

GWATA’s Social Media Club – Tweeting 101 and intro to Twitter, 9/16, 8:30 a.m. Pybus Public Market.

Alzheimer’s Café, 9/16, 2:30 p.m.

– 4 p.m. Mountain Meadows Senior Living Campus hosts a cafe the second Tuesday of every month.

This is a casual setting for folks with Alzheimer’s, dementia, their loved ones and caregivers. Desserts and beverages will be served free of charge. Entertainment and activities for those wishing to participate. Join us to meet new friends and share experiences. Located at 320 Park Avenue, Leavenworth. Info: 548-4076.

Dinner in the Dark, 9/16, 5:30 p.m. Experience dining blindfolded presented by the Foundation for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Live auction after dinner. Wenatchee Golf and Country Club. Cost: $45 or two for $80. Info: samaras.org.

Wenatchee Naturalist, 9/1712/10. Discover the amazing natural history of the Wenatchee Valley with this 12-week course from the Wenatchee River Institute and Wenatchee Valley College. Wednesday afternoons, with four Thursday field trips, or Wednesday evenings with four Saturday field trips. Register through the Wenatchee Valley College Continuing Education Program. Info: www.wenatcheeriverinstitute.org.

Amberleaf Origins, 9/18-19, 2 p.m. A slapstick musical comedy for the whole family. Three superheroes looking for a case take on the task of discovering the story behind a long lost box of Amberleaf photos. As no one knows their actual origin, the heroes use their powers to infer-to uproarious end. Snowy Owl Theater. Cost: $10,

$8 students and seniors.

Trace Adkins, 9/18, 7 p.m. Live performance. Town Toyota Center.

Info: towntoyotacenter.com.

BNCW Home Tour and remodeling expo, 9/19 – 21. Ten homes.

Info: www.buildingNCW.org.

Adventures in Winemaking with Ray Sandidge, 9/19, 5 p.m. There

Coming attractions Concert

Art Gallery

Home Tour

The Wenatchee Valley Appleaires

GO COUNTRY!!!

An evening shared with Special Friends The Camerata Club from Yakima

Reserved Seating: Adults: $18; Seniors and Students: $15 10% Discount for Groups of 10 or more

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Chance Brothers, 9/19, 5:30 – 8 p.m. Live country/western music.

Pybus Public Market. Info: pybuspublicmarket.org.

NCW Dahlia Society Show, 9/20 – 21. All day. Pybus Public Market.

Cost: free. Info: pybuspublicmarket. org.

Pearls and Paws, 9/19, 6:30 – 9:30 p.m. Wenatchee Valley Humane Society’s fundraiser. Enjoy the breathtaking views of Lake Chelan while enjoying a delicious dinner by Sorrento’s Ristorante and Fromaggio Bistro paired with local wines provided by Tsillan Cellars, Mellisoni Vineyards and Tunnel Hill Winery. Tsillan Cellars. Cost: $100 per person. Info: wenatcheehumane.org/pearls-and-paws or 662-9577.

Black Diamond River Run, 9/20.

5k and 10k. Race begins at Pybus Public Market, takes in the Apple Capital Loop Trail along the banks of the Columbia River, and concludes at the Taste of Harvest Festival in downtown Wenatchee. Info: runwenatchee.com.

September 27, 2014 Concerts Times: 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm at The Numerica Performing Arts Center

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is always something to be learned from a winemaker. Class focuses on the art of grape growing and winemaking. Lake Chelan Winery.

Cost: $15. Info: lakechelanwinery. com.

| September 2014

Bird Walks, 9/20, 9 – 10:30 a.m.

Enjoy Saturday morning bird walks with leader, Heather Murphy, local

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WHAT TO DO

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wildlife biologist, nature journalist and artist. Over the past 25 years she has recorded 109 species of birds in the Sleeping Lady area, which is documented in the Citizen Science eBird program at Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Cost: free. Info: sleepinglady.com.

Wenatchee River Salmon Festival, 9/20, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Celebrate the return of Pacific Northwest salmon to their native spawning grounds. Fun and educational. Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery. Cost: free. Info: salmonfest.org.

Guild B Home Tour and Art Show, 9/20, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Tour five Lake Chelan area homes. Art show at Tsillan Cellars. Cost: $20.

Info: lakechleanhometour.com.

Gardening: not done yet!, 9/20, 10 a.m. - noon. Two talks: Growing Vegetables: Extending the Garden Season and When to Cut Perennials: Fall or Spring. Community Education Garden, 1100 N Western Ave. Cost: free.

Wenatchee Taste of the Harvest Festival, 9/20, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Beer and wine garden with up to 20 tastes of local award winning wines, food and artisan vendors, harvest market vendors, kids block activities, music at Centennial Park and more. Downtown Wenatchee.

Cost: free.

Getting Published, 9/20, 1 – 3 p.m. Local author Donna Lee Anderson will lead a class on getting published. Bring a notebook and one to two pages of an example of your work. Wenatchee Public Library. Info: 662-5021.

Mezcla Cuban All Stars, 9/20, 7 – 9 p.m. Latin jazz. Direct from Cuba, Pablo Menendez and the Mezcla Jazz All-Stars return to Icicle Creek for a fusion of Afro-Cuban rhythms. Snowy Owl Theater.

Cost: $20 or $24 at the door. Info: icicle.org.

George Thorogood and the Destroyers, 9/20, 8 p.m. Live performance. Deep Water at Mill Bay Casino in Lake Chelan. Info: colvillecasinos.com.

Be the Change: Ending the Cycle of Poverty, 9/23, 11 a.m.

Dr. Donna Beegle will share her inspiring stories of people and organizations across the nation who are

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column the night sky this month

Peter Lind

Longer nights to enjoy the stars September brings lon-

ger hours of darkness to the Wenatchee Valley and with it more time to enjoy the night sky.

Uranus and Neptune shine at their brightest almost all night long throughout the month. The highlight of the month comes on the 27th when Mars sits just north of the bright star, Antares.

But our planetary tour begins in the West during twilight.

Mercury hangs just above the horizon during most of September, especially for viewing on the east side of the river. It reaches greatest elongation from the sun on the 21st; this is when Mercury is furthest away from the sun from the Earth’s point of view.

Fortunately, Mercury is quite bright, so it will be visible even during early twilight. Look for a young crescent moon just above Mercury on the evening of Sept.

26.

Magnificent Saturn will seem to pause above the southwestern horizon after dark all month long. By the end of the month, Saturn will be low on the horizon and beyond the best views through a telescope so after this month we will wait until next spring to visit her again.

Mars is about an hour behind Saturn in the night sky, although the gap between the two planets will grow as Mars’ eastern movement relative to Earth is faster than Saturn’s.

Look to the high western sky close to the end of the month to see Mars and its mythological rival Antares, the main star working to end the cycle of poverty in their communities and beyond.

Wenatchee Convention Center.

Cost: $20 includes lunch followed by a workshop and two breakout sessions. Pastor Alex Schmidt of September 2014 | The Good Life

Look for the teapot in the southern sky.

in the constellation Scorpius.

Antares is Greek for “like Mars” or “rivaling Mars.” They will make a pretty bright pair in the night sky.

For those with a telescope, the best planets to view this month are Neptune and Uranus.

Neptune reaches opposition towards the end of the month, and is a fine target even with the smallest of telescopes. Neptune is in the constellation Aquarius; a good star chart on the Internet will pinpoint its location.

Uranus is just one constellation east of Neptune, parked in the stars of Pisces the fish, and about two hours behind Neptune in the sky.

For those of us who are up early in the morning, Jupiter and Venus will be waiting for us before dawns light comes. Jupiter will peek above the eastern horizon around 4 a.m. in early September. It resides just east of the Beehive star cluster (M44).

Binoculars would give an excellent view of both Jupiter and the cluster.

If you happen to get to a dark place in September that has a low southern horizon, look

high up in the sky and find the Milky Way. For those who may not know what to look for, it will be a bright band of stars and reflective gas clouds that extend from the zenith to the horizon in the south.

If you have a low southern horizon there will be a group of easily recognizable stars just above the horizon. If you look closely you will see that the group of stars forms the shape of a teapot.

Those stars plus a few more in the vicinity form the constellation Sagittarius. Sagittarius is visible during the summer and into the fall, and is one of the zodiacal constellations, the constellations that follow the same path as the Earth’s orbit around the sun.

The Teapot is known as an asterism, a group of stars that form a recognizable pattern. Just like the Big Dipper, the Teapot is not a constellation but is part of the Sagittarius constellation.

In Greek mythology Sagittarius represents the satyr Crotus, the half goat, half man. He was an excellent archer, musician and physician, and tutored the likes of Achilles, Jason and Hercules.

For all these abilities, he was in the gods’ favor and won a place in the heavens.

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

Leavenworth will also speak. Info: cfncw.org/bethechange.

enworth. Cost: free. Info: autumnleaffestival.com.

Autumn Leaf Festival and Parade, 9/26-28, all day. Grand parade 9/27, noon, downtown Leav-

Fall Used Book Sale, 9/26 – 10/5,

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}}} Continued on next page

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

}}} Continued from previous page 10 a.m. – 6 pm. Fridays and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday through Thursday. The Leavenworth Friends of the Library, 8th and Commercial Sts. Info: 5487018.

British Car Show and Shine, 9/27, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. Pybus Public Market. Cost: free. Info: pybuspublicmarket.org.

Grape Stomping for Lake Chelan CRUSH, 9/27 – 28, 10/4, 5, 11, 12, noon to 4 p.m. Be an observer or join in on the grape stomping fun to win prizes. Finish up with lunch in the vineyard and taste some wines.

Lake Chelan Winery. Cost: free.

Info: lakechelanwinery.com.

Trout Unlimited Conservation/Military Banquet, 9/27, 5 – 8:30 p.m. Full prime rib dinner with live and silent auction and raffle, proceeds dedicated to local conservation project and Trout Unlimited Healing Waters. Leavenworth Festhalle. Cost: $50 pp. Reservations: 548-5522 or 548-7662.

Info: icicletrout.org.

The 2014 Gala - A Sentimental Journey, 9/27, 5 – 9 p.m. Silent auction and music performances at 5 p.m. in the Snowy Owl Theater.

Dinner, live and silent auction and entertainment in the Meadow at 6 p.m. Swingin’ 1940s style wear encouraged or dress in your best cocktail attire, black tie optional.

The Riveting Rosies, a trio of sassy, vintage pin-up style crooners will sing Golden Age tunes. Cost: $100.

Info: icicle.org.

Just Plain Fun Run, 9/28, noon.

Three mile run and family walk.

Post race party and prize drawings.

Begins and ends at Plain Hardware.

Cost: $10 donation pp/$20 per family. All proceeds benefit the Beaver Valley School. Info: plainhardward.com.

Live Jazz, 9/28, 1 - 3 p.m. Every last Sunday of the month. Open Mic Nights every other Saturday. The Upper Eastside Coffee Co., East Wenatchee.

Wings and Wheels Festival, 10/2-5. Car show, food vendors, crafts, carnival, entertainment, kids activities and more. Eastmont Community Park and Pangborn Airport, East Wenatchee.

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| The Good Life

The Art Life

WHAT TO DO

www.ncwgoodlife.com

| September 2014

// SKETCHES

Old time craft, new time art

Following her voice as she lays her heart on the line

A

s a girl Kay Hall loved to sew and she loved to draw and paint, but she didn’t put the two skills together into the art of quilting until adulthood.

“If I’d known I could make pictures with fabric, I would have started much sooner,” she said.

Kay’s first crib quilts were conservative exercises, then during her working life she tentatively experimented with design and materials.

Now, seven years into a muchawaited retirement (after 30 years delivering mail), she has learned to let go. Traditional quilt patterns have their place, but Kay much prefers the artistic freedom of making highly individualistic fabric art, creating scenes or impressionistic images that are seldom planned.

And that’s how she works.

A wisp of an idea grows and changes, morphs into something unexpected, and she’s there to catch the moment in a kind of artistic freefall. She doesn’t sketch, ever. About her quilted designs, she says, “I see it, where it’s going to go. I work on it every day, and then the next, until there’s no more left in me…”

Her willingness to follow an image where it leads her is not pure whim. She’s a trained visual artist who taught others for a few years out of college, and she knows and follows traditional rules of line, form and color.

“But sometimes my intuition

S OF LOCAL ARTISTS

Autumn leaves flutter to a rest against a background of tree trunk in one of Kay’s free form but recognizable nature scenes.

Kay Hall smiles describing how she chose these brilliant quilt pieces: at random, to counter her art teacher instinct to follow color rules.

argues with the teacher in me — you have to know the rules well enough to know which ones to break, and how to break them.”

For instance, for a bed-sized African themed quilt, she realized she couldn’t choose juxtaposed fabric pieces by eye. “I was so ordered and cautious about matching those colors; I had to throw them in a sack and pick them one by one.” Vibrant and almost uncontrolled, the resulting design is totally fresh.

Kay understands that some quilters may not appreciate her abstract and embellished wall

pieces, but she’s seen a change over time in others’ attitudes. ”I can tell there’s more of a willingness to look at this as purely art.”

At the NCW Quilt Guild Show in September, alongside hundreds of more recognizable patterns, her work and that of other “art quilters” will be on display — creative designs that increasingly draw the eye of even the most traditional quilt makers and collectors.

Kay isn’t the first to push the boundaries of the craft, and she doesn’t work in a vacuum — as a September 2014 | The Good Life

small subset of the 300 member Guild, her art quilting friends meet regularly, and that camaraderie and communal energy fuels her.

And she doesn’t trust her eyes only. When she needs immediate feedback, “what works and what doesn’t,” she consults the screen of her tiny Canon pocket camera for a 2-D perspective that catches contrast differently than the human eye. Or she’ll hold up a mirror for a different view of the piece she’s puzzling through. Even “like/don’t like” from husband Larry, a non-quilter, helps.

Kay only makes art that has personal meaning for her.

Whether it’s a Dry Falls cliff, or boats in a storm or her Iowa family’s Underground Railroad saga, she’s writing in fabric a poem, a story or a novel. She knows it better be important, and it better be in her own true voice. “When you make art like this, you’re laying your heart on the line,” she said.

When she perceived a random smear of dye that formed a devil’s face in red cloth, and the faintest soft profile of an angel in soft gray (each like seeing faces in cloud formations) she followed her vision with quilting and overlays and framed www.ncwgoodlife.com

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NCW Quilt Guild Show

Harvest of Quilts — Friday and Saturday, Sept. 12 and 13, at the Town Toyota Center, Wenatchee. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Cost: $5. More info: www. ncwquilt.org.

them as two striking companion pieces.

And what she saw in her poignant snapshot of a young homeless couple snuggling for warmth on a park bench, she recreated in a large beaded piece that reads like an unfolding narrative open to interpretation.

Entangled arms, a moustache and a denim pocket are touches of reality; Kay leaves the rest of the story to the viewer.

One big project, to be presented soon as a wedding gift, she admits is not totally of her own artistic vision. “My daughter loves the art of Gustav Klimt, especially The Lady in Gold, and so I’ve researched his work and I’m designing a quilt for her with his motifs.”

The inspiration may be the German painter, but the exquisite handwork, the fanciful adornments and the artistic voice are pure Kay Hall.

— by Susan Lagsdin

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column those were the days

rod molzahn

Indians at the trading post: Add some sugar There were about 300 Na-

tive Americans living in the Wenatchee Valley in 1873, according to Father Grassi, the first priest to serve the Wenatsha people.

The Miller/Freer trading post ledger shows many of them, referred to only as “Indian” or “Siwash,” were paid by Sam Miller for the work they did for the few white settlers in the valley. The payments were added to the settler’s bills.

Only seven of the 300 were named as trading post customers. Five of them, including Wapato John, were notable personages in the valley and beyond.

Na-nim-kin (Miller’s spelling) or Na-num-kin (Splawn’s spelling) was an Entiat Indian about 50 years of age in 1873 when Frank Freer paid him $12.25 for unspecified work. He was an occasional customer of the store for two years.

As a young man he must have been prominent. He married one of Ow-hi’s daughters. Ow-hi

was the elder chief of the Yakima people and descended from the Weo-wicht clan, the ancestral founders of the Yakimas.

Na-nim-kin was part of the Yakima delegation to the 1855 Walla Walla treaty council.

He often dressed in warrior regalia and fought in multiple battles during the Yakima wars of the late 1850s. He was in his 30s when he fought with distinction alongside Moses, Quiltenanock and Qualchan in the battle of Union Gap. He was a man of compassion who cared for the warrior Lokout and his wife in their old age.

Jack Splawn wrote often of his 20-year friendship with Na-nimkin. The Indian saved Splawn’s life in 1861 when renegade Kawa-chins threatened to kill the 16-year-old boy and steal his cattle. In 1872 Na-nim-kin took Splawn’s brother, Moses, to Raging Creek, above the Chiwawa River, the site of an 1858 battle between Yakima warriors and army soldiers.

The Entiat chief, Chil-co-sahaskt, first traded at the Miller/ Freer store in February of 1873, about the time that Frank Freer, in his 40s, married Quin-meetsa, the eldest daughter of the chief and his youngest wife, Spo-ko-ka-lx. Chil-co-sa-haskt was a regular customer for the next 10 years. He bought a variety of goods from fish hooks and line to blankets, tools and medicine. He bought shirts, overalls and shoes, bacon, crackers, salt, tea, tobacco and many pounds of sugar.

Jack Splawn met Chil-co-sahaskt in December of 1865. The old chief was camped between Rock Island and Priest Rapids with a band of horses.

Splawn’s pack and saddle horses were exhausted from traveling in deep snow and Splawn hired fresh horses from Chilco-sa-haskt’s herd including the chief ’s favorite white mount.

The horse, loaded with a full pack, rolled backwards down a steep hill. When the cantankerous chief saw the cuts and

scrapes on his favorite horse he roared and demanded $100 in damages from Splawn threatening to kill him if he didn’t pay. The next morning he calmed down a bit and settled for Splawn’s saddle blanket in lieu of the $100.

Spo-ko-ka-lx appeared in the ledger in March of 1875 about the time her daughter, Quinmeet-sa, became pregnant with her first daughter, Mattie. A second daughter, Minnie, was born in 1877.

Spo-ko-ka-lx made regular trips to the trading post to visit her daughter and granddaughters. Like her husband, she always paid cash for her purchases. She bought scarves, shawls, combs, soap and blankets, apples, candy and pounds of sugar. For her husband she bought shirts, pants, gloves and occasional tools.

After Frank Freer’s death in the fall of 1877, Quin-meet-sa married David Freer and in

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Coins

| September 2014

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How-milt’s family in the Wenatchee Valley included the 8-year-old survivor of a band of Lake Wenatchee Indians that had been massacred...

1879 their son Johnny was born.

About a year later Quin-meet-sa died, still in her teens.

David Freer married another Wenatchee Indian woman and fathered two more daughters.

With her daughter gone and another woman looking after her grandchildren, Spo-ko-ka-lx made her final visit to the trading post in September of 1881.

Between June of 1873 and August of 1883 a Wenatchee Indian called How-milt traded sporadically at the store. He made 11 visits during those 10 years buying a scythe and whet-stone, needles and thread, a table cloth, pants, a hat, two shawls and a pair of coveralls. Food items were limited to salt, flour, coffee, tea and sugar.

Jack Splawn says that in 1861 How-milt guided Alfred Henson and his family from the Goldendale area of the Klickitat country over Blewett Pass to the confluence of Peshastin Creek and the Wenatchee River where Henson intended to start a store to serve the miners working in the area.

At the time How-milt’s family in the Wenatchee Valley included the 8-year-old survivor of a band of Lake Wenatchee Indians that had been massacred three years earlier by army troops on the White River.

The boy was tending horses on an adjoining ridge and was

unnoticed by the soldiers. After making his way down through the Tumwater Canyon and into the lower valley he told his story.

With his family gone the boy was taken in and raised by Howmilt and his people. He took the name John Harmelt and grew to be the last chief of the Wenatchee people.

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

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>>

column ALEX ON WINE

ALEX SALIBY

Nice guy, beautiful wines, artful setting Ed Rutledge is a winemaker,

and a good one.

He’s also my neighbor and friend, which is one reason I’ve not written about him and the Eagle Creek Winery before this.

I had some silly notion that readers would dismiss my comments as biased nonsense.

In a way, the readers would have been mildly accurate. I am biased in that I like well-made wine and I dislike badly made stuff. Ed’s wines are beautifully made.

Eagle Creek winery has two tasting rooms, one on the west end of Front Street in downtown Leavenworth. That tasting room is called d’ Vinery; it is opened daily year round. The other tasting room is at the winery itself some five miles out of Leavenworth up Eagle Creek Canyon.

It’s only open May through September.

Both the tasting facilities are competently staffed with delightful people, so it won’t matter which you favor, you’ll be pleased and happy.

However, I favor the tasting room at the winery.

At the winery, you may sit outdoors under the shade of the several trees Ed has carefully tended these past 22 or so years.

Ed Rutledge pours a white wine at his Eagle Creek Winery.

You get to sit and see the vines in the vineyard, and, if you like, you may take the tour into the winery’s cellar/barrel storage facility.

What matters, though, is not which facility you visit, because the wines will be the same.

Wine is, after all, the real reason to visit any winery. On that platform, Eagle Creek Winery has a full list of white and red wines to offer, and all are at reasonable prices nicely reduced for the wine club membership.

All the white wines are beautifully made.

I have two favorites: the Chardonnay and the Adler Weiss, a blend of several white wines including Riesling. This one is a tad sweet, but it’s important to tell you here, the wine at 1.5 percent residual sugar still qualifies to be called a dry wine.

Ed also makes six red wines: Merlot, Montage (blend of Cab Franc and Merlot), Cab Franc, Syrah and two Cabernet Sauvignon wines. Currently on the

list are the 2011 Bacchus Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2009 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.

They are tasting the new, 2012 Merlot at both tasting rooms at the moment, and I’m extremely pleased with the wine’s quality and characteristic structure.

This is a wine for dinner today, but in my opinion, this is also a wine for your cellar.

While all of the Eagle Creek Winery’s wines are well made, the Bacchus Cab really stands out, so get yourself to one of the tasting facilities and find out for yourself.

I can’t write about Ed’s winemaking without mentioning his other skills.

His tasting room on Eagle Creek is worth a visit for more than the tasting of his wines.

Ed’s artwork there is outstanding. His woodcarving on barrel ends and tasting bar and other places is magnificent, as is his work in the wine cellar. You have to see it. That’s all.

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

He can be contacted at alex39@msn. com.

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