The Good Life February 2019

FUN IN THE SNOW STORIES Y EVENTS CALENDAR

WENATCHEE VALLEY’S

NUMBER ONE MAGAZINE

February 2019

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Contents

page 38

Independence... Choices... It’s about You!

THE FUN OF GROUNDHOG’S DAY DELIVERS YEAR AFTER YEAR

Features

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Let’s snowshoe

Snowshoe instructor Joe Anderson suggests you strap on and head out into the glories of backcountry winter

8 the story of echo ridge

Human passion and cooperation — along with the splendor of Mother Nature — opened up great vistas for cross country skiers

10 skiing white pass on the cheap

Outdoors writer Andy Dappen finds great downhill thrills — while not spending much money

Chuck and Barb Dronen Administrators

Phone: (509) 782-7600 • Fax: (509) 782-1821

Email: epledalen@kashmircc.com 809 Pioneer Ave.

Cashmere, Washington 98815

12 an introvert goes on a group vacation Renting a villa in Mexico with mostly strangers was outside her comfort zone, but once the waves starting rolling in, all was good

14 warming outside art with whimsy

Adding hats, scarves and even an ankle bracelet brings personality to outside sculptures during a gray winter

16 the old home place

Once the site of happy Norman Rockwell moments, now returning to the earth

18 hiking in hawaii

Trek along waterline leads to a tunnel into a volcano

20 An older home with a modern sense This “post-war modern” house in many ways is refreshingly contemporary Art sketches n Hammered dulcimer musician Julia Pinnix, page 28 n Potter Mijanou Fortney, page 32 Columns & Departments 6 A bird in the lens: Clark’s Nutcracker comes out in the cold 24 June Darling: How to make groups work better 26 The traveling doctor: Using our own body to fight cancer 27 Pet Tales: Boarding dogs in retirement 28-35 Arts & Entertainment & a Dan McConnell cartoon 36 History: Grand Coulee Dam was big, big, big 38 That’s life: The reoccurring fun of Groundhog’s Day February 2019 | The Good Life

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OPENING SHOT

®

Year 13, Number 2 February 2019 The Good Life is published by NCW Good Life, LLC, dba The Good Life PO Box 2142 Wenatchee, WA 98807 PHONE: (509) 888-6527 EMAIL: editor@ncwgoodlife.com

sales@ncwgoodlife.com ONLINE: www.ncwgoodlife.com FACEBOOK: https://www. facebook.com/NCWGoodLife Editor/Publisher, Mike Cassidy Contributors, Joe Anderson, Lief Carlsen, Molly Steere, Lisa Robinson and Kate Walker, Marlene Farrell and Kevin Farrell, Gary Larson, Dan Jordan, Travis Knoop, Jeanette Owens, Donna Cassidy, Jim Brown, June Darling, Dan McConnell, Susan Lagsdin and Rod Molzahn Advertising: Lianne Taylor Bookkeeping and circulation, Donna Cassidy Proofing, Dianne Cornell Ad design, Clint Hollingsworth Video editor, Aaron Cassidy 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 PO Box 2142 Wenatchee, WA 98807 For circulation questions, email: donna@ncwgoodlife.com BUY A COPY of The Good Life at Safeway stores, Mike’s Meats at Pybus, Rhubarb Market, Martin’s Market Place (Cashmere) and Dan’s Food Market (Leavenworth) ADVERTISING: For information about advertising in The Good Life, contact Lianne Taylor at (509) 6696556 or lianne@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 2019

by NCW Good Life, LLC.

Snow life

By Joe Anderson

T

he Clara Lake and Marion Lake areas next to Mission Ridge Ski Area offer breathtaking views of the snowy wilderness.

This view was captured in the early morning directly after a heavy snowfall before the creek froze over with snow and ice, blocking the majestic view.

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This is an easily reached area using snowshoes or backcountry skis with skins for those who seek adventure. With the upcoming snowfall, the trees, bushes and trails will be taking on a new life each time it snows.

It is always a safe idea to go with others. As the saying goes, “Go out as strangers and come back as friends.”

Joe Anderson leads snowshoe treks from the Mission Ridge area. See his story about snowshoeing on page 7.

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February 2019

On the cover

The boy in the statue enamored with aviation — named Wings — appears to appreciate receiving a scarf on a cold day.

Art fans Lisa Robinson and Kate Walker wrapped local outdoor sculptures with scarves and hats as a bit of art fun.

See their story on page 14.

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editor’s notes

MIKE CASSIDY

A good yarn: Art dressed for success his is the first issue ever of The Good Life not to feature a photo of a person on the cover.

Yes, that’s 140 issues of looking like a local People magazine.

But the fun photos of local outdoor art wrapped in scarves and hats demanded cover attention, and so we broke our tradition.

I don’t advocate warping art — such as putting a moustache on the Mona Lisa — yet looking at the yarned outdoor sculptures I saw colorful personalities emerge on pieces I had come to take for granted.

The red scarf on Captain Griggs creates a sense of motion, and as for the boy in Wings, his joy of flight is equalled by his mother’s good sense to make sure he’s dressed for the cold.

Lisa Robinson and Kate Walker, two local art fans who yarn stormed the art pieces, were inspired by the public’s interaction with Seattle’s sculptor Richard Beyer’s Waiting for the Interurban, which is almost weekly adorned with garb from political to comic, drawing from the zany energy of the Fremont district in Seattle.

By the way, Fremont describes itself at the “Center of the Universe.” Wenatchee is the center of Washington. Are we Fremont’s little brother? Naw... probably not. Still, zany is a great way to drive away the gray, whether caused by their presistent rains or our annual winter immersion.

See Lisa’s and Kate’s story on page 14.

still own a piece of it, I’ve thought one day I might retire to acreage and raise beef cattle. Butchering a couple of grass-fed steers every year could pay for some serious time in the warm south land.

(You have seen the price of beef in stores lately, right?)

Still, steers grow to be 1,5002,000 pounds and I’m not as nimble as I used to be and not as eager as I used to be to lug bales of hay. When my wife mentioned her friend started a retirement business by operating a dog daycare on her property, I thought that would be a fun idea to explore.

That’s how we came to go to Yvette and Dick Matson’s place outside of Cashmere. The Matsons have fenced their three acres, giving a place for the dogs to run, and the animals seemed happy.

I grew up with dogs and it was fun. I would need to build a fence anyway and dogs — while in their enthusiasm might jump on you with muddy feet — are not going to run you over like a broncing bull in a rodeo.

I liked what I saw at the Matsons, and was envisioning myself as a doggie vacation site host when offhandedly Dick said, “I built Yvette a wagon so when she goes outside, she can always be picking up the poop.”

Oh, that’s right: most dreams come with a poop wagon.

Maybe, I’ll move on from dog sitting to something else where the poop wagon is not quite so literal.

I have long held a fascination for side businesses and retirement businesses.

Since I grew up on a farm, and

Break a tradition or two... see life anew and enjoy The Good Life.

— Mike

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February 2019 | The Good Life

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column a bird in the lens

Clark’s Nutcracker: Weather change curtails habitat C

By Bruce McCammon

lark’s Nutcrackers inhabit higher elevation, mountaintop areas so you won’t see them in the lower valley zones.

They are worth the short drive to the top of Badger Mountain if you want to watch their antics.

With a wingspan of 18 inches and a length of 12.5 inches, the Clark’s Nutcracker Bruce McCammon is slightly is retired, colorlarger than blind and enjoys an American photographing the birds in north cenRobin. tral Washington.

Their gray body and size can be confused with Canada Jays at higher elevations.

The Clark’s Nutcracker is distinguished by its long, black bill, a black tail with white edges and black wings with white patches.

The Canada Jay (aka, Camp Robber) is slimmer and lacks white on the wings.

The Clark’s Nutcracker is a

species that may be adversely affected by climate change. As temperatures warm, the Nutcracker will find that its habitat has gotten a lot smaller. Going higher may not be an option since the bird needs coniferous forests in which to nest.

Groups like the National Audubon Society (www.audubon.org) and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (www.birds.cornell. edu) are studying the effects of climate change on birds. You can visit their websites to read more or find out how to contrib-

ute your valuable sightings.

The photo in this article was taken on Badger Mountain in January 2018.

If you are prepared for winter travel and want a chance to see these great birds sweep through the canopy, head up to the top of the Badger Mountain Road and explore some of the lesser traveled roads in the area.

Be prepared for snow and winter conditions.

Private land is common on Badger Mountain so viewing from the roads or using snowshoes or skis to travel down roads might be a good option.

Some people who live on Badger Mountain feed birds. If you can locate some feeders you have a great chance to see these birds gathering seeds or dining on suet.

Don’t forget your binoculars.

Good luck.

Don’t Be Afraid of a Little

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February 2019

Let’s snowshoe T

By Joe Anderson

he new year has arrived, and I am sure resolutions have been made to lose weight, get more exercise and to dust off the snow shoes in the garage or to use the new ones Santa left.

Snow is in the mountains and on our foothills, parks and streets.

I am anticipating about another huge snow year. It is so easy to drive a few miles, park the car and slip on the snowshoes and start burning calories.

I am already going to places to get a quick workout. Some good places are Horse Lake Road, Clara Lake, (remember to park to the left of the entrance into Mission Ridge across the street from the trail), Lake Wenatchee State Park and the Squilchuck State Park, but remember to show the Washington State Park Pass.

Most of these are close enough for a lunch break snowshoe trek. Remember, one hour of snowshoeing burns approximately 800 calories.

I want to share a few principles to follow when trekking: always check the weather forecast, wear proper foot gear and layered clothing, try not to wear cotton, take a pack with water, a bowl for the dog, energy bars and an extra coat.

If there is fresh snow check the avalanche forecast and go in a group. Snowshoeing is a social activity and is enhanced by company.

A guided trip will allow the guide to teach the finer tips of safety in the harsh winter environment. The guided trip will teach

The rising sun catches the Shadow Man above Clara Lake heading into the Mission Peaks area as a fellow snowshoe trekker disappears over the ridge, leaving a path less travelled.

about route selection, avalanche awareness and beacon use. The Twilight Snow Shoe Trek is offered each Saturday night at Mission Ridge with the added unique flavor of basic instruction, the starry night and Snoga, (yoga on snowshoes).

February 2019 | The Good Life

Enjoy the “Good Life” outdoors.

Joe Anderson is a snowshoe guide at Mission Ridge.

He is also a retired ski patrolman, high school English teacher and EMT with Chelan County Mountain Rescue and Ballard Ambulance.

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A skier at Echo Ridge takes in the view of a fog-covered Lake Chelan.

‘You’ve really got something here’ The story of echo ridge is one of passion, cooperation and the splendor of mother nature

I

By Lief Carlsen

n the winter of 1988, forestry technician Ken Dull considered himself a lucky man.

After 10 years of scraping by on seasonal work for the U.S. Forest Service, he was now a full-time employee with the impressive title of Wilderness and Trails Coordinator for the Chelan Ranger District. Icing on the cake, he had just received an assignment to scout possible locations for cross-country ski trails on the district.

Back-country hiking and skiing had long been his passions, Ken told me in a recent conversation, and now they were paying him to do just that.

With help from fellow Forest Service employee Dick Kendall, himself an avid skier, the two men checked out various areas around Chelan.

One area easily outclassed the others — a series of rolling ridges about eight miles north of town in the vicinity of Echo Peak. The area was just then recovering from the devastating Fourth of July Fire of 1968.

Dick was ecstatic when he and Ken skied through the area.

“You’ve really got something here,” he told Ken. The three necessities for a cross-country ski area, he explained, were: adequate snowfall, reasonable access and rolling terrain. Not only did this

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area meet those requirements but it was blessed with stunning vistas of Lake Chelan and the distant peaks of the North Cascades as well as blue skies much of the time — a rarity for Washington ski areas.

Ken wasted no time writing up a proposal. The Forest Service and the community quickly signed on.

“It was quite extraordinary, really,” Ken explained to me when I asked him about it. “From the beginning, everybody including the Forest Service, the Lake Chelan Nordic Ski Club, and the Lake Chelan Snowmobile Club was supportive and enthusiastic.”

The considerable job of mar-

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February 2019

shaling the various factions and submitting the necessary paperwork fell to Wilderness and Trails Coordinator Ken Dull but he said he was happy to be involved in a project that would be such an asset to the District and the community.

By 1991 enough grant money had been scraped together to construct 12 miles of trail and an access road. Echo Ridge, as it was named, was ready to receive visitors by the winter of ’92/’93.

The initial daily user fee was $5 per person.

Community support was crucial, especially in the early years.

Manson resident Wally Peterson volunteered to plow snow from the access road. The

I have skied at more than 20 Nordic ski venues over the years, including former Olympic sites, and I can honestly say that none outshines Echo Ridge — not for scenery, not for variety of terrain, not for price.

Nordic Club assumed responsibility for grooming the trails and bought a vintage Thiokol tractor and grooming sled for that purpose. The Snowmobile Club provided logistical support. Day-to-day operations and maintenance became Ken’s responsibility.

I believe Echo Ridge had become a textbook example of how the Forest Service and the community can work together to use national forest land for the common good.

But many are the projects that ride into existence on an initial burst of enthusiasm only to wither into extinction over the years for lack of a steady guiding hand. Ken supplied that steady guiding hand for Echo Ridge.

An additional 10 miles of trails were added in 2004 and many trails were widened to accommodate skate skiing. That same year a second parking lot and permanent toilet facilities were installed. State money purchased an enclosed-cab LMC grooming tractor. The Nordic Club erected a warming yurt with a wood stove.

In short, Echo Ridge has grown over the years from a rather primitive “classic” x-country ski hill to a first-rate venue.

I have skied at more than 20 Nordic ski venues over the years, including former Olympic sites, and I can honestly say that none

Ken Dull at Echo Ridge: ““It was quite extraordinary, really. From the beginning, everybody ... was supportive and enthusiastic.”

outshines Echo Ridge — not for scenery, not for variety of terrain, not for price.

In recent years, Echo Ridge has widened its appeal to an entirely different group of outdoor enthusiasts — mountain bikers.

When Paul Willard joined the Chelan Ranger District staff in 2013 he brought his love of mountain biking with him and he realized that there isn’t a lot of difference between a Nordic ski trail and a mountain bike trail (even though single-track purists may disagree.)

For those who insist on a shoulder-width channel through the vegetation, 10 miles of single track have been constructed over the last few years.

Echo Ridge opens after the first foot of snowfall allows for decent coverage (usually in December) and stays open until the spring sunshine exposes bare ground (usually late March).

The daily user fee these days is a bargain-basement $10 (17 and under free). Compare that with February 2019 | The Good Life

$19 for Leavenworth and $24 for Methow Valley. Season passes are $70. There is no user fee during the summer.

Special events include a Ski Loppet (Feb. 9), Winterfest Snowshoe Run/Walk (Jan. 27), Evergreen Trail Runs (June 15), and Mountain Bike Race (June 8).

But perhaps the greatest draw of Echo Ridge, certainly for me, is the serenity to be found on the trails. Visitors numbered over 4,000 in 2017 but when you stretch 4,000 visitors over 22 miles of trails and a 100-day season, your chances of encountering more than a handful of skiers on any given day falls to near zero.

Couple that statistic with the expansive views of the snowcovered Cascade peaks and the magical sight of Lake Chelan covered by a blanket of cloud that has to be a dead ringer for the long-ago glaciers that carved the lake and you’ve got a day you’ll never forget. www.ncwgoodlife.com

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And speaking of unforgettable moments — I’ll never forget a night Mary and I skied Echo under a full moon. The clear night sky was filled with stars and an occasional shooting star. The still air was crisp and so cold that my beard iced up with frozen breath. The moon shadows of pine trees were black etchings on the moon-lit snow.

And all of it transpired in near total silence. It was like a dream.

Ken Dull retired from the Forest Service in 2016. He still thinks of himself as a lucky man to have been paid to hike and ski and tend to his beloved forests.

I think the rest of us are lucky to have access to the wonderful ski trails of Echo Ridge that Ken and countless volunteers have nurtured over the last 30 years.

Lief Carlsen started Nordic skiing 45 years ago dressed in knickers and on wooden skis. These days he skate skis at Echo Ridge.

Ski fun for the frugal

White Pass on the cheap M

by Andy Dappen

ost journalists are not well paid. I, for example, benefit from rummaging through trash bins looking for aluminum cans whose shiny metals can double my earnings.

My skinny wallet existence means vacations are a challenge. A typical pitch to my wife is whether she wants to visit Othello or Prosser this year. Recently a friend mentioned that he had skied White Pass, on the cheap, thanks to the three “free” days of skiing allowed there if you’re a Mission Ridge Season’s Pass holder.

That had my antenna up.

“Free” lift tickets at a different ski area registered high on the affordability scale of an outdoor writer.

Before my wife could suggest a really expensive early-February mini-holiday to an exotic destination like the Tri Cities, I made a tactical first strike. “Why don’t we celebrate your birthday by skiing White Pass for a few days?”

Jan was delighted to do something new and White Pass sounded like Europe compared to the options I normally pitch.

A week later we drove a few hours to Yakima and then most of the way to the pass where I had booked an inexpensive

It’s not always white at White Pass. Every now and then there are blue skies to match blue helmets.

Photo by Jason Hummel

room just east of the ski area at the Silver Beach Motel.

We planned to ski the area on a Friday and Saturday, because the outdoor writer wanted a Jekyll-and-Hyde look at the mountain on a weekday and weekend.

Our Friday visit coincided with four inches of new snow.

Despite being a powder day on the mountain, the crowds were light and visitations may not have covered the ski area’s bills for the day.

This tragedy for the resort was good news for us as we enjoyed run after run down the Expansion Area on the backside of the mountain in Paradise Basin.

As a tree-hugger, I’m often

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Jan was delighted to do something new and White Pass sounded like Europe compared to the options I normally pitch. chagrined that Western ski resorts create their runs by clearcutting wide swaths of trees down their mountains. The result is a mountain that looks to be under siege by a colossal white octopus whose boneless arms sprawl downward from the summit.

Eastern resorts often employ

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February 2019

a more sensitive approach by thinning rather than extensively logging many of their ski runs.

White Pass adopted the Eastern approach in the Expansion Area. Some trees had been removed to open up the canopy and to keep skiers from becoming hospital patients, and yet the conifers here have been treated like valued elders of the hill.

The ski runs in the Expansion Area were of modest steepness yet the sensation of carving smooth powder turns around the trunks of hemlocks and canopies of spruce was serious fun.

Run after run our route through the forest would differ slightly, but each time threads of

Once again, even though the pitch of the terrain was modest, the exhilaration of skiing powder through the trees was not.

A skier enjoying powder turns in the Expansion Area (aka Paradise Basin).

fresh snow revealed themselves to us.

After hours of this, Jan’s legs wobbled. We broke for a late lunch (a sack lunch, of course) and then Jan opted to read her book in the day lodge beside the fireplace where trophies honoring the past winners of the Mahre Cup adorned the mantle.

White Pass was the home hill of the Mahre twins, two of the winningest ski racers in American history, so why not soak in their aura awhile?

I headed out to sample the steeper lines on the “old” side of the mountain.

As a college student I skied this hill occasionally and I wanted to reacquaint myself with Mach V, Execution, Hour Glass, Chair Run and Roller Cliff.

Even though aging is a game

of loss — lost strength, lost power, lost speed — it was rewarding to see better technique compensating for these losses.

Long ago during my Golden Years, I skied these lines faster and more aggressively, yet here I was during the Gray Years skiing these same runs more gracefully than before.

That added a glow to the day — not everything about the years sliding by was pointed downhill. +++ Saturday brought an altogether different energy to the mountain.

A good chunk of Olympia, Tacoma and Yakima had arrived to ski yet another four inches of snow that had fallen overnight.

The lodge and lifts all bulged.

Jan and I quickly left the crowded front side of the mountain looking for serenity back in the Expansion Area. Serenity was not to be found on the Couloir Express Chair we had spent hours skiing the day before.

This high-speed quad had sprouted 15-minute lines for a ride that lasted several minutes and a descent requiring seven minutes to complete.

We called that lousy math and February 2019 | The Good Life

went looking for better numbers.

The nearby Basin Chair serviced some of Expansion Area’s terrain, but because this fixedgrip chair felt painfully slow compared to the nearby express chair, the crowds ignored it.

The chair’s slow speed proved to be more illusion than reality. With no line, the six-minute ride to the top constituted good math. Furthermore the powder fields that the chair serviced had fewer skiers exploring them.

Once again, even though the pitch of the terrain was modest, the exhilaration of skiing powder through the trees was not.

We finished every run itching to reload the chair and get back to the top.

By lunch, Jan’s thighs were shot, so she took to her book again while I took to the steep runs serviced by Chair 4, an ancient contraption installed during the resort’s Paleozoic Age. Again, because impatient skiers were unwilling to suffer a slow chair, there were no lines and few skiers enjoying the adjacent terrain.

I took four laps through the trees, finding abundant fresh turns on every lap.

Others had found some of the same powdery bounty, but in www.ncwgoodlife.com

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the forest I kept happening upon sheets of untouched snow where I could scratch my signature.

Later that day, we made the three-hour drive back to Wenatchee and compared notes.

“Those were two really fun days of skiing,” I noted, “but I’m glad Mission Ridge is our home hill — it’s bigger and more diverse.”

Jan agreed. “Still, I sure loved skiing something new,” she emphasized. “Where are we going next?”

“Next?”

Panic seized me. How could the skinny wallet of my profession afford the decadence of more travel before the decade ended?

Then I remembered another perk and another ski hill connected to the Mission Ridge Season’s Pass.

“You know a little mini-vacation to the east side of state might be nice. I’ve heard the skiing at 49 Degrees North is way better than anything Switzerland has to offer.”

Andy Dappen is a local outdoor journalist who founded the WenatcheeOutdoors.org website. Prior to this he was a contributing editor to Powder Magazine for more than a decade. He has also been a frequent contributor to both Skiing Magazine and to SKI.

Helping newly-hatched turtles begin their scramble to the ocean was a trip highlight.

VACATION QUESTION: Could an introvert and her family find happiness sharing a private villa in Mexico with near strangers?

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A

By Molly Steere

fter several surgeries last year, including a total knee replacement, I was desperate for something to look forward to.

However, my husband, Toby, and I were trying to save money (I hear college is expensive these days) so I kept reminding myself that well-adjusted adults can get through a rough year without participation awards and head pats.

I almost believed it.

Then two things happened: a) Toby bought a dump truck and b) my friend, Amy, told me that the private villa she rented in Troncones, Mexico had room for us.

These entirely unrelated events triggered a cascade of internal justifications resulting in me immediately booking tickets for Toby, me, and our nine-year-old son, Roper.

We were going to Mexico! And we were going with 13 other people, most of whom we didn’t know. This was a bold move for a couple of introverts who actively avoid socializing.

Primarily a senior trip for Amy’s oldest son and four of his good friends, our merry band of travelers would also include a handful of parents, a couple of siblings, and us.

In typical fashion, I didn’t research the area and haphazardly packed at the last minute. My token bit of preparation was to buy a hideous skin-toned swimsuit printed with | The Good Life

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an unpleasantly hairy man’s torso. If I was going on vacation with a bunch of people I barely knew, I needed to quickly determine if they have a sense of humor.

Once there, I learned that Troncones is a relatively undeveloped beach town about 20 miles north of the Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo airport.

Once a small fishing and farming village, it is now an eclectic mix of dirt floor restaurants, shanty stores, boutique hotels, and surf shops along a stunning beach.

Expats have already discovered the sleepy town and it feels poised on the cusp of becoming a tourist hot spot.

For now, the area is still quiet enough that Eddie, our taxi driver from the airport, remembered Amy and her family from their visit almost two years prior. In another incredible display of small-world-coincidences, we learned that he had lived in Brewster for five years.

Eddie delivered us to our villa, Casa Delfin Sonriente, where a quick tour revealed a private pool, ping pong table, surfboards, boogie boards, and Beanie, a rambunctious kitten who eventually charmed us all.

Before the trip, Amy (our intrepid organizer) employed several mobile apps to ease the chaos of group travel.

She set up a shared Google Photos album for the trip, created a WhatsApp group for texting without international fees, and

February 2019

... the magic of Troncones really came out at sunset.

Spanish.

But the magic of Troncones really came out at sunset.

Late one afternoon, our group spied a pod of whales breaching and spouting in the distance. Watching them from the unspoiled beach with a hint of orange and pink of the approaching sunset as the backdrop gave the whole scene a movie set feel.

The trip’s highlight was releasing baby sea turtles into the ocean at sunset. At Roberto’s Bistro, volunteers rescue sea turtle eggs from the beach and bury them in an enclosed area to protect them from beach activity and predators.

Each of us carefully extracted seven drowsy, newly-hatched turtles from the packed sand of their marked nests. We deposited them into numbered tubs and then enjoyed a drink at the restaurant. When we were summoned to pick up our tubs, the turtles had gained strength and were scrambling around and over each other like tinyshelled puppies.

Roper plays on a boogie-board in the surf: His Simultaneously releasing our turtles, each absence of fear worried his mom, but his joy was one of us was fully present and invested worth the disruption of peace. in their journey as they scrambled toward the ocean. I watched proudly as each of my Sunsets around an unspoiled beach created a tiny charges reached the water, paused, was relaxing glow. lapped up by the next wave and (literally) card games, and always ending with a group swam off into the sunset. dinner at sunset.

Based on my emotional response watching I have shown zero talent for surfing over the turtles set off, I’m going to be a basket the years, but I love swimming. In the ocean, case when Roper leaves for college.

I was able to quiet my mind and temporarily When our last day rolled around, Roper stall the usual tornado of ideas, worries and was eager to get home to see his dog. questions.

Toby and I, however, were dreading leavdownloaded Splid, an app that tracks and That is, until I remembered that Roper has ing paradise and snuck out for one last swim splits group expenses. no concept of fear, or rip currents, and I’d in the ocean. Toby boogie boarded, while I Amy also organized yoga sessions at the bobbed beyond the break trying to absorb neighboring open-air studio, signed the guys spy him getting tumbled by the waves like laundry on the spin cycle. The grin on his as much warmth and calm as I could before up for surf lessons, and sniffed out which establishments had live salsa music, the best face every time he popped to the surface — a reentry into reality. slippery seal, ready to play — was worth the As I reflected on our experiences, I deviews at sunset, or served drinks out of a disruption of peace. cided that group travel as an introvert wasn’t VW bus converted into a bar.

Roper shadowed the older boys as something to fear — at least not with this I recommend packing an Amy on every they surfed, swam, played games and hung crowd. Everyone was easy-going and ridicutrip. out at the “internet cafe” (the one corner lously fun to hang out with (yes, they passed Toby and I have always planned our vacaof the villa with WiFi) and was delighted the swimsuit test brilliantly), but we also felt tions around activities like biking, skiing, comfortable opting out of group activities at or diving that consume large portions of the whenever they generously made room for their new mascot at their table, in their taxi, any time. day. or on their lounge chairs.

I left with a new appreciation for group We had no planned schedule on this trip, The area is relatively safe, which allowed travel, and an even bigger appreciation for but our days took on a relaxed rhythm that the boys freedom to move between activithe little beach town of Troncones. usually included eating, surfing, boogie ties, independent of the adults. The food was Molly Steere is a local freelance writer who loves boarding, playing in the pool, wandering amazing and the locals were friendly, kind, into town (Ignacio’s silver shop saw an upto explore the world. Her impulsivity often creates awkward situations while traveling. tick in sales with our group’s arrival), board/ and impressively patient as we practiced our February 2019 | The Good Life

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yarn MAGIC Hats and scarves add personality to outdoor artwork

I

By Lisa Robinson with Kate Walker

’ve always wanted us — Wenatchee — to embrace our Art on the Avenue sculptures like the one by Seattle’s sculptor Richard Beyer’s best-known and best-dressed public artwork, Waiting for the Interurban, which wears daffodils on early spring days and wool scarves in winter.

So, I texted my new friend Kate Walker: “Do you want to do something a bit crazy?” She answered: “Maybe?”

I posed my idea and the next thing you know we were at Sculpture Park, clad in black, carrying a Santa-like sack full of hats and scarves seeking out the wonderful sculptures in downtown Wenatchee.

We began the adventure by putting matching hats on the trio of women titled To Life. The monkey sculpture, Rock’n Roll on a Skateboard, couldn’t wear a hat so we gave it a scarf.

We didn’t think of bringing a ladder, so no scarf for the whale, but we adorned all the other water-themed sculptures: octopus, turtle and whale, with blue and white tinsel garlands.

The big foot titled Ped received an anklet.

We added some branches to

Ped in the top photo gets an anklet, while Coyote Reading a Candy Wrapper is warmed by a scarf, as is Captain Griggs — who is on his way to the waterfront where a river boat business once thrived.

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... as we headed back to the Sculpture Garden, we began to receive positive compliments from folks on the Loop trail. “Great idea!” the horse sculpture Resurrection in emulating Max, the Grinch’s dog in the cartoon How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Heading north along the Apple Capital Loop Trail, we warmed the boy with a plane titled Wings, and the Captain Griggs sculpture (an early Wenatchee pioneer who started a river boat business on the Columbia River back in the late 1800s), with scarves.

So far, some people had looked at us, but had not really said much.

But, as we headed back to the Sculpture Garden, we began to receive positive compliments from folks on the Loop trail.

“Great idea!” and “Thanks for doing this!” This feedback encouraged us to forge on up towards the museum.

We gave Coyote Reading a Candy Wrapper outside the museum a scarf, the Crouching Man a hat (actually, two hats since one was taken by the time we walked back through).

Walking around town, we had some more great interactions with people.

As we were wrapping Guppo the Clown’s cane with red and white striped ribbon, a tall, lanky man came up to tell us what a great man Paul Pugh a.k.a. “Guppo” was, the founder of the Wenatchee Youth Circus. The man’s son had once participated in this circus and he was thrilled we were bringing Guppo to light.

At the Convention Center, we wrapped a scarf around the The Great Blue Heron to keep its long neck warm.

Crouching Man gets a hat, while Kate Walker wraps red and white striped ribbon about Guppo the Clown’s cane.

A woman, who was contemplatively sitting in the plaza, approached us and said we had made her week.

She was a homeless woman who apparently owns a dog that is more well-known around town than she. “The bus drivers always called Sheba by her name, but I don’t think they know mine.” Anginia was her name. Her stories touched our hearts.

The sculptures seemed to take on a new personality and come to life. If people hadn’t noticed them before, perhaps they do now.

Lisa Robinson is a docent at the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center, a Wenatchee Naturalist, WSU grad and graphic designer and traveler born and raised in the Wenatchee Valley.

Kate Walker recently moved here from Idaho. Her background is in arts and natural resource management.

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The old home place now: Abandoned, the victim of falling dead trees, but still alive in family memory.

The old home place Once the site of happy Norman Rockwell moments, now returning to the earth

M

By Dan Jordan

the road runs gradually downslope toward Dutch Henry draw, an ancient glacial drainage ravine.

Four stonethrows away is the abandoned house where my grandparDan Jordan ents, ethnic Germans who long ago left a

y morning’s wandering has brought me to this quiet place in the farmland of the Waterville plateau.

I stop my car, get out and stand in the bracing cold on a particular country road. Toasty in my winter coat, I survey the fields surrounding me, dormant under a blanket of snow.

West of me the white expanse slopes gently upward to where the cloudless horizon seems within a mere mile or two of where I stand. I look east, where

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doomed settlement in Russia, raised eight kids.

Known to dad and his seven siblings in later decades as “the old home place,” the collapsing farmhouse stands unseen beneath the hoary overgrowth of trees that shield its decrepitude from the world.

I recall a black and white photograph of 1940’s-vintage cars parked at that house in days when extended family would gather now and again for meals, socializing and Christmas celebrations.

I imagine Norman Rockwell

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moments come alive; then I feel an inner tug, knowing dad and the others are gone now. Becoming forgotten.

And the old home place, veiled in peace beneath the encompassing trees, is imperceptibly drawn groundward into that same forgetfulness.

I look at the field to my right, its wheat bounty harvested so many times by generations of my family through most of the 20th Century to the present. I had been a city teenager privileged to help with several of those harvests and other farm

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work in the summertimes of the 1970s. This ground is imbued with the memory of my kinfolk.

I post-hole my way several yards into the field, stop and inhale the brisk and singular elegance of the morning. A copious fall of snow has come during the night, and no wheat stubble pokes through the fresh white expanse discovered by the dawn.

The sun is bright, belying the frigid chill pinpricking my face.

The sky is a striking azure, the air around me still, silent. I am fascinated by the white universe at my feet, with snow-crystal stars glittering dazzlingly in their millions, billions, as far afield as I look.

It is one of the few sublime moments of my life. Strange, even the music of this memory will be lost to time someday.

Still, something survives the moldering timbers of the old family homestead and the fading, precious history it repre-

In the 1940s, the old home place still was a place for the extended family to gather and renew their connections.

sents.

The many descendants of my grandparents have spread like dandelion seeds to the four winds. And while most of them may know nothing of the place where I stand dreaming, they have invisible roots that reach across time and distance back to this humble and, I think, place beneath the trees.

I linger awhile amidst the glittering stars.

“So many people have come and gone; their faces fade as the years go by.

Yet I still recall as I wander on, as clear as the sun in the [winter] sky.

When I’m tired and thinking cold,

I hide in my music, forget the day, ...and dream.”

— More Than A Feeling,

by Boston Dan Jordan retired two years ago from Chelan County Courthouse IT Department after 25 years, and was in the IT industry for about 35 years.

He lives with his wife, Gail, two dogs and a cat in East Wenatchee.

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TOP LEFT: The white PVC pipe exits a cave on the side of the volcano Mauna Loa to bring water to coffee farms and cattle ranches below.

BOTTOM LEFT: Here, the trail travels over a ravine directly under the irrigation pipe. The trail itself is a narrow section of aircraft gauge aluminum.

RIGHT: Among the unique obstacles encountered during the Ka’u Mountain Water District hike are cable suspension bridges where the hiker has to straddle the 12-inch PVC pipe during the crossing.

Finally: Hiking the waterline in Hawaii I

By Gary Larson

n the summer of 2017 during my two months of recovery and convalescence for a torn and repaired left knee Patella injury, I focused positive thoughts for future hiking endeavors for

2018.

The year 2018 was a very important year for me in that it would be my 50th year of hiking. I wanted to celebrate this achievement and my recovery by hiking sites that would be memorable.

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The adventure I set my sights on had taken me 10 years of planning and efforts to complete: to hike the Ka’u Mountain Water System. This hike is located in the Ka’u District in the southern part on the Big Island of Hawaii.

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February 2019

This hike is held only one day a year during the Ka’u Coffee Festival and is limited to 30 participants (cost at $45 each).

An additional 10 support staff enables this hike to maintain an aura of exclusivity with the challenges that intimidate each

participant. from its hard lava inteIncidentally and ironirior. cally for those of us in Water from the crater the Wenatchee Valley, of Mauna Loa is transthis festival is held at ported down to coffee the same time each year farms and cattle ranches as our Apple Blossom by 12-inch PVC pipe. HikFestival. You could call it ers are allowed to walk the Anti-Apple Blossom alongside and in some Festival since it encominstances straddle the passes the same two-week pipe over bridges. period.

At the end of the hike This hike is held high near the top, there is an above Pāhala town on extended break for lunch, the slopes of Mauna Loa rest and beverages in a and the coffee and cattle large meadow of herbs farms of the Ka’u Dislocated at the mouth of a trict of Hawaii. The hike tunnel cut into the lava explores a historical area rock. where many Chinese The hike down is also laborers toiled, working very taxing. I encounin dangerous conditions tered a large elderly man at very low wages cutting (my age and resident of into the lava rocks on the Hawaii) who was eating a During a stop in a clearing, the hikers heard from local experts about the history and nature slopes of Mauna Loa to banana and aided by his of this area of Hawaii. deliver water held within daughter. I recognized the mountain reservoirs. a possible electrolyte ups and downs, sideways and constructed mostly from wood.

Water is held in natural lava backwards, gaining and losing Because of the humidity and the impairment and I gave him a reservoirs held within the salt tablet to enable to complete traction on grass, mud and lava damp environment the wooden mountain itself. These are simithe hike without assistance. rock protruding from the moun- flumes and trestles supporting lar to basalt bottom lakes holdBananas have potassium but not tain. the water system easily rotted ing ground water and runoffs enough to make much differ(Descending from the mounand decomposed. like the lakes around Spokane ence. tain — which comes later — is After the successful compleand the Columbia Basin.

I can say that after this hike also testy and challenging.) tion of World War II, the ready The elevation gain of this hike When we reach our destinaavailability of non-corrosive alu- you will be wet from head to is about 3,000 feet and thanktion in a large meadow, we can minum from aircraft used in the shoes. My clothes and boots are fully half of this gained by the begin our final climb of 1,500 Pacific Theater was soon melted, still embedded with red and use of a mini bus, large van black clay from the slipping and feet by foot, covering the final milled, extruded and fabricated and 2-4WD double cab trucks sliding on the mud. four miles. into the flumes, trestles, supthat aid our climb up incredible Along this journey we are ports and bridges.

To register for this hike, contact green and verdantly wet slopes helped by ranch and support This hike is unique not only group leader Louis Daniele at the of the Mauna Loa Volcano. staff who assist us across numer- because it is held once a year Ka’u Coffee Mill, 808-936-5550 or at Climbing this 1,500 feet is no ous bridges and structures built but also because no other hike Mill offices at 808-928-0550. The cost easy task and provides many from WWII aircraft parts. in Hawaii offers the opportunity of the hike is $45. It is important to register early for this hike since it is thrills as our skilled drivers Prior to 1945-46, the Ka’u to access a volcano — Mauna limited to only 30 participants. negotiated with slips and slides, Mountain Water System was Loa — directly via tunnels built

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19

The curved glass wall, flat roof, deep eaves and distinctive siding give an iconic “post-war modern” air to the home. With brick and limestone walls and no wooden wall studs, the house is silent and solid.

What’s old is... still modern Here’s the kicker: This home was built in 1946. It’s 73 years old. Shaunna and Jake (only the second owners) have enjoyed it for a dozen years, and most revisions by them or the Lambsons — the original builders and owners — have been purely cos-

metic. Their “post-war modern” house in many ways is refreshingly contemporary, with some individualized vintage twists.

North and east light spills in from floor-to-ceiling windows, but a strategic street-side one is a distinctively curved glass

block wall. The master bedroom’s square walk-in closet is big — and lined in cedar.

The walk from the front door hese are a few of my through to the dining area to favorite things…” the back yard skirts a sunken Shaunna Larson’s favorites list living area with the first of the as she walks through the many home’s four fireplaces. Two rooms is a long one, patios and a pergola and she’s determined edge the quarter-acre to incorporate the fenced lawn; mature best of the Springwalandscaping softens ter Street house into the edges. the new one she and Now it gets interesther husband Jake will ing: A tall L-shaped soon build out of the open wood screen of city. leaves on branches, They’ve loved this carved by Walter older home — now Graham, helps delinthey’re listing it. eate the living area Among the must(Close call. Shaunna haves as they move said, “We were going on are features most to paint it white, but other homeowners then we thought… would value: natural nah.”) light, lots of storage, A waist-high barbeopen indoor plan, uscue pit fits comfortable outdoor spaces. ably into the luxuriToss in a working ously large dining fireplace, wood floors, area, itself a coungas range, big pantry terpoint to the more The Larsons added this shady pergola and extended the existing patio for outdoor living with a view. and you’ve described intimate breakfast The big fenced yard boasts a few huge gnarled trees and raised vegetables beds at the west end.

2019’s new-builds. nook, circular with

By Susan Lagsdin Photos by Travis Knoop

“T

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February 2019

diamond-paned windows. The completely resurfaced kitchen is untypically large, with room enough for, but no need for, a central island, and its walk-in pantry glows from an original stained-glass window.

Not just one but two staircases lead to the lower level with its media/recreation area (with pool table space befitting a community center) adjoining two carpeted guest bedrooms and a bathroom.

Nearby is a luxurious full-size

ABOVE: Light and more light fills the sunken front room, with its period vibe and pale elegance. Wrought iron railing and an artful decorative screen help subtly separate it from the flow of household traffic.

AT RIGHT: Jake and Shaunna Larson, with their three dogs, have enjoyed a dozen years in the Springwater Street house. They’ll translate several of their favorite architectural points into their planned new home.

}}} Continued on page 23

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LEFT: Shaunna said this circular nook has been the perfect spot for breakfast and coffee — small and tucked away from the bustle of the kitchen, it catches morning light with diamond-paned windows.

BELOW: Small enough for intimate suppers, large enough for holiday events, the sunny dining room feels like outdoors with its easy backyard access down twin steps and a built-in gas barbecue.

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February 2019

steam sauna with tiered wooden benches. The laundry room, large and modern, still sports a 1940’s pull-out ceiling-height drying rack that Shaunna happily demonstrated.

The two levels of 1,800-plus square feet each have allowed the couple room for themselves, three dogs, and lots of company.

Outside, the flat roof, deep eaves, structural curves and wrought iron fencing (“Kind of Frank Lloyd Wright-ish” we agreed) give the house iconic visual flair, and the solid limestone and brick siding give it security and silence.

The decorative front fence has an almost unnoticeable abstract flourish in the center that’s actually a capital L. “Lambson, Larson — we liked the idea when we figured it out,” said Shaunna.

“When we moved in, the whole place was totally immaculate, with lots of original fixtures — the Lambsons took really good care of it for years,” Shaunna said. Some of the changes made in the 1970 and 1990s needed an update, and the Larson’s choices during their stewardship of the house were congruent with the original design.

Green shag carpet became bird’s eye maple flooring and square desert-toned tiles. Pale creamy paint covered the original dark grained wood paneling.

“We kept the basement linoleum just for the rec-room look,” said Shaunna, who said the grandkids of the first owners have described how much fun it was to play in the house.

Kitchen changes included quartz counters, a chef ’s gas range and mid-century-look tiles. Shaunna said of the ceiling’s single large disc light, “We knew the current fad was lots of drop-down pendants, but this was such a simple solution, and it really fit the period.”

The two-car garage, Shaunna thinks, was original; then the owners added a 16-by-35 foot shop, deep enough for two more cars, tall enough for boat or

One of the home’s four fireplaces warms this big basement’s media center. Some décor is new, but the checkered linoleum floor is circa 1946.

RV storage. The Larsons use its space for storage and for Jake’s workshop.

Shaunna grew up in this neighborhood and clearly remembers passing, and admiring, the house on the way to Lewis and Clark Elementary. As an adult working as a real estate agent, she was able to spring into action when it first came on the market in 2006. “I couldn’t believe it was really available — I’ve always loved the look of it.”

Now, she’s not only its proud owner but its listing agent (through Laura Mounter Real Estate) and she’s shown it to several interested buyers this season. “I feel so connected that it’s kind of hard listening to people analyze it,” Shaunna admitted, “so sometimes I let them look inside by themselves on this one.”

Jake’s local roots are near Monitor, and their house-inwaiting will be built on property his family has owned.

That’s OK with Shaunna; she’s eager to help design and build their next place. But she does have her list of favorite things, so perhaps the ambience and sensibility of the new Larson February 2019 | The Good Life

home will sometimes remind them of the best of times on Springwater Street.

Travis Knoop is a local real estate photographer working in Central Washington. More of his work can be found at www.TravisKnoopPhotography.com.

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column moving up to the good life

june darling

Why some groups work better than others You want a prediction about the weather? You’re asking the wrong Phil. I’m going to give you a prediction about this winter?

It’s going to be cold, it’s going to be dark and it’s going to last you for the rest of your lives!

— Early in Groundhog Day, Phil Connors character (played

by Bill Murray)

Research supports the no-

tion that social interactions can and do affect us physically, emotionally, and cognitively.

If our relationships are offtrack it’s easy to predict our internal weather can feel cold and dark and seem like it will last forever. We don’t get much done either.

Recently I joined a group to do what I considered important work, but I consistently left the meetings feeling disappointed, disconnected, sad, and even angry at times. It never seemed to get any better.

To top it off, I was not at all sure we were doing good work together.

My own mind was more occupied with noticing everyone’s social behaviors than the work we were supposed to be doing. I couldn’t figure out exactly what was going wrong nor what to do about it. I simply resigned.

Shortly after my resignation, my son, Hoby Darling, sent an online article he and a colleague, Jessica Amortegui, had written for Forbes (3 Surprising Secrets of The World’s Top-Performing Teams). The article explained and emphasized the importance of belonging, bonding, and “believing in something bigger” for high team performance.

The article helped me sort out what went wrong for me.

The first thing, and probably the biggest thing, that hit me was I didn’t feel I “belonged.”

Let me be more specific. Human beings are wired to pick up tiny cues as to whether we

Belonging cues are more reliable at predicting a group’s success than intelligence, skill, or leadership! are “in” or “out” of the group.

Did you interrupt me? Did you look interested and energized when I spoke? Did you allow me to speak for an equal amount of time as others? Did you sit by me or closer to someone else?

These little behaviors are called by Dr. Alex (Sandy) Pentland “belonging cues.”

When members of a group are included, respected and connected; it’s clear on some primordial level that we are “in.”

When we sense we are safe, that we are “in”; then we are happier, we think better, we’re more resilient and we’re more engaged.

Here’s the biggie for perfor-

mance.

Belonging cues are more reliable at predicting a group’s success than intelligence, skill, or leadership!

Bonding builds on the importance of relationships by going deeper than safety toward becoming close allies. According to Jessica and Hoby, mutual vulnerability and authenticity are what take relationships to a more meaningful place. We get closer when we share our hopes, dreams, fears, and hardships.

We become more bonded when we openly and voluntarily do something human beings are loathe to do — when we say “I made a mistake” to each other.

“Believing in something bigger” is being willing to set aside our personal agendas and contribute our “blood, sweat, and tears” to something we all value.

For the most part, these big aims are unique ways to make a

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Let’s watch it one more time, the old Bill Murray movie that illuminates what Buddhists, Jews, Christians and philosophers all claim to hold the secrets to a good life. positive difference for others.

The three B’s — belonging, bonding, believing in something bigger than ourselves — go a long way toward making life worth living for human beings, social creatures that we are.

These are what I wasn’t getting and, unfortunately, not helping others in my group get either.

But luckily, life isn’t yet over for me. I have more chances to better work with my group relationships.

We all do — on our playgrounds and classrooms, in our clubs and churches, and with our families and communities.

As human beings, everywhere we go, there we are. Feeling mad and frustrated. Being left out or

leaving others out. Getting a bit more enlightened. Trying again, and again, and again… which gives me an idea.

If you, like me, would like to get better at how you do your group relationships, set this date. Feb. 2, Groundhog’s Day. Let’s watch it one more time, the old Bill Murray movie that illuminates what Buddhists, Jews, Christians and philosophers all claim to hold the secrets to a good life.

We’ll notice… again and again

and again, that it’s all about relationships — especially belonging, bonding and believing in a cause beyond our own small self.

When Chekhov saw the long winter, he saw a winter bleak and dark and bereft of hope. Yet we know that winter is just another step in the cycle of life.

But standing here among the people of Punxsutawney and basking in the warmth of their hearths and hearts, I couldn’t

imagine a better fate than a long and lustrous winter.

— Near the end of Groundhog Day, Phil Connors character How might you pay more attention to the 3 B’s of your group relationships and move up to The Good Life?

June Darling, Ph.D. can be contacted at drjunedarling1@gmail.com; website: www.summitgroupresources. com. Her bio and many of her books can be found at amazon.com/author/ junedarling.

Share your adventure Life needs a little adventure.

Whether you are finding yours around the corner or at the ends of the earth, The Good Life readers want to share in your passion.

Tell us what you are doing and we’ll help you tell a good story.

Suggest an idea Have you just heard of personal doings from a friend or neighbor that fascinated you? That made you think: “Boy, that would be fun to do”? Drop us an e-mail, and we’ll try to get that story into the pages of The Good Life.

>> RANDOM QUOTE

No matter what you’re going through, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel and it may seem hard to get to it but you can do it and just keep working towards it and you’ll find the positive side of things.

Demi Lovato

Write for us We encourage freelance writers to submit ideas and stories.

Perhaps the story is about you, or someone you know... help us make The Good Life the local magazine that readers eagerly look forward to each month.

Contact us at:

editor@ncwgoodlife.com

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column THE TRAVELing DOCTOR

jim brown, m.d.

The hope of Immunotherapy Enlisting the body’s own defenses as a Possible cancer treatment in the future

About 21,000 people in the

United States are diagnosed with stomach cancer annually.

Recently a relative very close to me was diagnosed with metastatic stomach cancer, which generally carries a poor prognosis.

He was first started on two standard chemotherapy drugs that didn’t appear to be effective. Subsequently a different treatment, Herceptin, was added to his treatment regimen.

Herceptin was approved by the FDA for treatment of a certain type of metastatic breast cancer and later a particular type of metastatic stomach cancer.

Herceptin is not chemotherapy or immunotherapy but instead attacks a specific protein on the surface of some cases of metastatic breast and gastric cancer.

My relative’s cancer receded dramatically, and soon his first two chemotherapy drugs were stopped, and he was declared to be in remission.

Currently, he has continued on the Herceptin as his only treatment.

He was told that if he relapsed, he would then be put into an immunotherapy trial. This

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stimulated my interest in the current state of immunotherapy for cancers of all types.

Immunotherapy is the treatment that uses one’s own immune system’s antibodies to fight disease including cancer.

This is also called biologic therapy.

This treatment sometimes can boost our body’s general immune system while at other times it might train the immune system to attack specific cancer cells.

At this time it is tried for certain types of cancers and used along with other forms of chemotherapy.

Our immune system generally attacks new substances like germs that it does not recognize.

It has more difficulty in attacking cancer cells since these cells originate in our bodies, and our immune system does not recognize them as “foreign.”

Researchers are trying to develop ways to help our immune system recognize cancer cells and increase its ability to destroy them.

President Jimmy Carter is a well-known example of effective immunotherapy.

Around 2015 President

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Carter announced that he had metastatic melanoma that had invaded his brain and liver. His prognosis was bleak at best.

Most physicians knew his prognosis was poor and short lived.

Later that year he was treated with a drug, Keytruda, which is a type of immunotherapy that had recently been approved by the FDA for treatment of metastatic melanoma.

It seemed like a long shot to me at that time.

In 2016, President Carter announced that he had become cancer free. This was truly miraculous.

Now in 2019 in his 90s, President Carter appears healthy, physically active and mentally bright.

Melanoma is a cancer in some ways is unique in that its cancer cells can be removed and studied in research laboratories. Currently only one in five melanoma patients treated with Keytruda seem to respond, but nevertheless this offers hope for future development of an immunotherapy approach to more cancers.

I might add that Senator John McCain’s brain cancer was a completely different untreat-

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October 2018

They finally arrived!

Brothers finish trek started 40 years ago

plus LLamas are an aging hiker’s best friend heart disease in women: more deadLy than breast cancer

Some of our favorite photos from 2018

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monsterlove art: letting the freak flag fly

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February 2019

ask the doctor

Are there medical topics you would be interested in knowing more about?

Send your ideas to: editor@ncwgoodlife.com.

able type than that of President Carter’s melanoma.

We are still a long way from immunotherapy treatment for most cancers.

There are about 300 kinds of cancers, according to Dr. Carl June of the University of Pennsylvania. There are many research and clinical trials going on now for the use of immunotherapy for several different cancers.

Currently, there are promising therapies being researched and hopefully developed or genetically engineered to target tumors in more ways than now are available.

To date, clinical trials at Memorial Sloan Kettering, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Pennsylvania have demonstrated a remission rate of around 90 percent in several advanced cancers of the blood and lymph system.

While not yet a cure, these studies are hopeful.

I think immunotherapy will continue to develop and someday will hopefully be the standard future treatment for the many cancers that we do not have cures for today.

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.

PET tales

Tells us a story about your pet. Submit pet & owner pictures to: editor@ncwgoodlife.com Yvette Matson with River, a lively Australian Shepherd she is caring for.

Dog boarding is ‘so much fun’ in retirement

By Donna Cassidy

Yvette Matson got into a

retirement business by accident —her “customers” were coming to her even before she knew she was in business.

Yvette and her husband, Dick, live on three acres up Nahahum Canyon, out of Cashmere.

Because she had space to play, friends and family often dropped off their dogs for Yvette to watch while they went out of town.

This happened so often that she decided to start charging people for their dog’s stay.

And that became so time consuming she quit her day job of managing apartments to do full-time dog watching.

Before a dog is accepted for boarding, Yvette walks it around the perimeter fence twice to see how the animal reacts with the other dogs. If they hang back or don’t join the pack, then they aren’t accepted to stay at Scooter’s Canyon Canines…. Can Rover Come Over. The ranch is named after their dog Scooter, a 7-year-old boxer mastiff mix.

A doggie-door lets the pets in and out of Yvette’s and Dick’s

“I love being outdoors. In warmer weather we go out for hikes.” home, and the dogs get to sleep indoors at night… and frequently hang out in the living room, which is the lower portion of the Monitor Barn house they built a dozen years ago. Dog hair is no problem, said Dick, as a robot vacuum cleaner patrols the cement floor.

Over the Christmas holidays Yvette cared for as many as 15 dogs at a time.

She is up at 5:30 a.m. each morning to walk the dogs twice around their fenced three acres.

The dogs have breakfast then it’s out for that twice three-acre walk again. Then it’s time for Yvette and her husband’s breakfast.

“We wear the dogs out so they sleep well at night,” said Yvette.

“I love being outdoors,” she said.

“In warmer weather we go out for hikes.”

Yvette said they even bought

February 2019 | The Good Life

an older car to cart the dogs to her favorite hiking spot just up Nahahum Canyon. “And the

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dogs love it.”

Yvette said, “ I love dog boarding. It is so fun to see the antics of each individual dog and how they interact with other dogs and people. So many dogs that were shy or reserved have really blossomed and become one of the pack. That is what it is all about, having fun, running, playing and being part of the pack.

“Also, I get to be home where I love to be and get to work in the garden and have the grandchildren and enjoy each moment…

I’ll go days, sometimes a week, not getting in my car and it is a treat.”

Julia Pinnix takes a break during a winter concert where she was performing on her hammered dulcimer, an instrument she has played since she was a teen.

In the bleak midwinter Comes a sweet song played on a hammered dulcimer

By Marlene Farrell

W

atching Julia Pinnix play her hammered dulcimer, it seems like musical magic coming from the intricate motion of her two handheld hammers, curved like wooden spoons.

To Julia, it’s second nature.

She is a self-described, “visual learner.” The music begins in patterns. The trapezoidal soundboard has two bridges and 23 sets of double strings. Playing a pattern yields a melody. Small white marks on the bridges help her track the positions of her

desired notes.

Throughout Julia’s adventurous life, which has oscillated from mainland U.S.A. to Alaska almost 20 times, music has been a mainstay. “We sang as a family as long as I can remember. I learned about harmony from my mom. She was an alto and would always harmonize to my dad’s tenor.”

She remembers clearly when her family brought home the hammered dulcimer, an early Dusty Springs built in the ’70s, its body made of Sitka spruce.

“My dad bought it when I was 14 at an instrument auction in

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“We sang as a family as long as I can remember. I learned about harmony from my mom.”

Olympia. I sort of took it over.

I would play two to three hours every night.”

The hammered dulcimer has a long history woven through many cultures. The name “dulcimer” derives from a combi-

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February 2019

nation of Latin and Greek, for “sweet song.” Various forms of the instrument can be found in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and in the last few centuries, the United States.

The name also refers to the fact that the musician strikes the strings with hammers. Julia’s are made of lightweight maple, giving a clean loud sound. She also has double-headed hammers, which have a wood side and a felt side for a more muted tone.

The first step to playing a hammered dulcimer is tuning it. “I use a tuning fork. You don’t

“Len and I would play at community get-togethers and now and then at the Fireweed Restaurant. It’s like having a conversation with a good friend. You never run out of things to say.”

Julia uses hammers shaped like spoons to draw music from the stringed instrument. Photos by Kevin Farrell

have to have perfect pitch,” Julia said. However, over the years, she’s developed her ear, enabling her to tune a few pianos. The strings are similar, just hidden from view in a piano.

Given the number of strings over two octaves, a hammered dulcimer can only be played in certain scales, excluding most flats. If Julia finds a song that’s written with flats, she simply transposes it into her preferred key.

The notes resonate and sustain, adding layers of sound underneath the flowing melody. In addition to melodies and chords, Julia can produce other sounds, including a drum roll and a slur

by sweeping the hammer across the strings.

Julia memorizes her patterns, so she plays without sheet music. She also improvises easily when jamming with other musicians.

In fact, the music creates a bond between Julia and other musicians she’s met over the years. “My brother, on trumpet, and I would jam and fool around when we were young. It was a lot of fun.”

More recently, there was an accordion player named Len Feldman in the small town of Haines, Alaska, with whom she played. “Len and I would play at community get-togethers and February 2019 | The Good Life

now and then at the Fireweed Restaurant.”

“It’s like having a conversation with a good friend. You never run out of things to say.”

Julia moved to Leavenworth in 2015 to be closer to her parents.

Her work in environmental education, like her music, invokes a passion for new challenges. She is the Visitor Services Manager for the Leavenworth Fisheries Complex, where she shares information through visitor orientation, tours, working with school groups and planning events and camps.

After so many years working primarily for federal agencies (Fish and Wildlife Service, Forwww.ncwgoodlife.com

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est Service and National Park Service) she still says, “I love it.

I’m learning every day, and applying what I learn.”

Julia found her musical “home” in Leavenworth when she joined Village Voices, made up of 40 singers. Village Voices celebrates and shares choral music and traditional Bavarian songs through five concerts each year as well as caroling during Christmas Lighting weekends.

Julia sings second soprano, and occasionally she gets to accompany the group with her hammered dulcimer. “This year, for the concert piece titled, In the Bleak Midwinter, I was singing and playing, which is more difficult.”

The song has a melancholy feel but also the warmth of a lullaby. “I like the emptiness and simplicity in that song,” Julia said. “It doesn’t have to be complex.”

Julia has joyfully dedicated her life to seeking meaningful pursuits. Being outdoors and connecting with nature is important. When she’s out hiking or picking berries, she experiences the same kind of emotions she has when playing music.

“There’s a feeling of being a part of something bigger than myself.”

She shares that feeling with her audience every time she plays.

fun stuff what to do around here for the next month NCW BLUES JAM, every second and fourth Monday. 7 – 10 p.m. Riverside Pub.

$125. Info: towntoyotacenter.com.

STEM club, 2/1, 15, 3/1, 15, 29, 3:30 – 5 p.m. Sign up to learn about coding and building robots. Wenatchee Library. Info: ncrl.org.

Homegrown Country Jam, every first and third Monday night, 7 to 10 p.m. Riverside Pub.

First Friday Events Include:

Upper Valley Running Club, every Tuesday, 4:30 – 6 p.m.

Check-in at the gravel lot across from O’Grady’s Pantry. Maps will be available for a marked 3-mile trail route, partly along Icicle Creek. Run or walk, by yourself, with a friend or with your family. Participate 10 or more times and earn an Upper Valley Running Club tech tee. Info: sleepinglady.com.

Wenatchee Paddle Club, every Tuesday, 9:30 a.m. open paddle, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6 p.m. novice kayak paddle group, Saturdays, 7 a.m. masters crew rowing.

Info: wenatcheepaddle.org.

1 million cups, every first Wednesday of the month. 7:45 a.m. sharp.

Entrepreneurs discover solutions and thrive when they collaborate over a million cups of coffee. Come join this supportive, dynamic community and hear from two businesses that are between 1 – 5 years old. Discover how we can help move them forward in a positive environment, fueled by caffeine.

Coffee provided by Mela Coffee Roasting. Wenatchee Valley Chamber office, 137 N. Wenatchee Ave. Shrub-steppe poetry podium, every last Wednesday, 4 – 5 p.m.

A free, poetry-only public reading. Read your own poems or the work of a favorite poet. The Radar Station, 115 S. Wenatchee Ave. Info: sfblair61@gmail.com.

Weekly Club Runs, every Thursday check in between 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. at Pybus Public Market south entrance. Either a 5k or 10k walk or run on the Apple Capital Recreation Loop Trail. Complete 10 weekly runs and receive a free shirt. Cost: free (other than a smile).

Writing for Clarity, every Thursday, 1 – 2:30 p.m. Bring a notebook and pen. Meet at Pybus Public Market in front of the community kitchen. Cost: free. Info: 393-6779 or 884-6955.

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

*Guided Art Tours for kids, 2/1, 9:30 a.m. These tours are designed for children and their caregivers seeking ways to explore interesting and fun destinations, which are easily accessed with Link Transit’s fixed-route system. All tours begin and end at Columbia Station. Make a heart shaped bird feeder then board the bus to the museum where you will design a Valentine’s card. Cost: free. Info: 664-7624 or sdanko@libnktransitcom.

Rustic reflections

*Guided Art Tours, 2/1, 5:30 p.m.

First Fridays with professional artist talks, mini lessons, and collector prints. All tours begin and end at Columbia Station. Tours help familiarize you with local art venues and artists. WVC’s Scott Bailey leads a short-guided discussion at The MAC Gallery of the landscape paintings of WVC student Sharatt Delong. Cost: free. Info: 664-7624.

Rick and Evelyn Williams are both retired teachers who have lived in Central Washington for 50 years.

Since retirement they have been pursuing their creative talents and interests, with Rick in photography and Evelyn in watercolors. Their photos and paintings of a rustic nature will be part of First Friday at Two Rivers Art Gallery, Feb. 1, from 5 to 8 p.m.

the Wenatchee Valley. Beginner lesson at the top of the hour followed by carefree social dancing. No partner necessary to join in the fun.

Dance style will be 1940s swing with a bit of salsa, blues, waltz or tango thrown in. Pybus Public Market. Cost: free. Info: pybuspublicmarket.org.

memoir: or fiction a short story or narrative. The short (1,000 words or less) entry may be complete as written or an excerpt. $1,200 in cash awards will be given to winners. Entry fee: $20 per submission or $40 per submission with three written critiques. Details: writeontheriver.org.

Game Night, every 4th Friday.

Board games, card games or any games you bring. Open to families and all ages. Hosted by Pacific Crest Church. Pybus Public Market.

Cost: free. Info: pybuspublicmarket. org.

Numerica’s Winter Ice Gala, 2/1, 6 p.m. “Under The Big Top” entrance will be transformed into a dazzling circus set with featured performers from Fabulous Feet.

Ladies and Gents will be awed by the contortionist and aerial silks artists. Plus, Wenatchee Youth Circus jugglers will light up the night.

Guests will be able to sip on champagne and taste scrumptious hors d’ oeuvres during the social hour.

The first course appetizers are an assortment of served crab and lime quiche (delightful, airy mini quiche with a hint of fresh-lime, roma tomato and crab), bacon-wrapped dates and Spanakopita Bites-flakey phyllo filled with spinach and feta cheese. Town Toyota Center. Cost:

Night Skiing, every Saturday during February, 4 – 8 p.m. Mission Ridge. Info: missionridge.com.

Jam at the Crow, 7 – 10 p.m.

Every first Sunday. The Club Crow in Cashmere, 108 1/2 Cottage Ave. Cost: free.

Write on the River Writers Competition, deadline is 2/15. Writers may submit nonfiction, such as an essay, article, or

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February 2019

*Two Rivers Art Gallery, 2/1, 5 – 8 p.m. Featuring Rustic Reflections by Rick and Evelyn Williams.

Rick and Evelyn are retired teachers from this area. Wines by Errant Cellars. Music by guitarist Lance Tigner. Complimentary refreshments.

102 N Columbia, Wenatchee. Cost: free. Info: 2riversgallery.com. *Tumbleweed Bead Co., 2/1, 5-7 p.m. Refreshments served. 105 Palouse St. Cost: free. Info: tumbleweedbeadco.com. *Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center, 2/1, 5. – 8 p.m. Ceremonial Closing featuring members of the Blue Sunset Singers of the Paschal Sherman Indian School and Wenatchi/ P’Squosa elder Randy Lewis.

Sharing traditions of dance, song, regalia and percussion – Lewis and the Blue Sunset Singers close out the Edward S. Curtis exhibit with a message of hope for the future of cultural retention. Light refreshments. Info: Wenatchee.org. *Lemolo Café and Deli, 2/1, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. 114 N Wenatchee Ave. *Mission Street Commons, 2/1, 5 – 8 p.m. 218 S Mission St.

>>

WHAT TO DO

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

*Robert Graves Gallery, 2/1, 5 – 7 p.m. Mike Delaney and his paintings. Sexton Hall at Wenatchee Valley College, Ninth St entrance. *MAC Gallery, 2/1, 5 – 7 p.m.

Sharatt Delong landscape artist.

Wenatchee Valley College Music and Art Center, 1300 Fifth St. *Ye Olde Bookshoppe, 2/1, 5 – 8 p.m. 11 Palouse St. *Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce, 2/1, 5 – 8 p.m. 137 N Wenatchee Ave. *RadarStation, 2/1, 4 – 9 p.m. 115 S Wenatchee Ave. *Pans Grotto, 2/1, 4 – 9 p.m. 3 N Wenatchee Ave. Ste 2. *Class with a Glass, 2/1, 5 – 8 p.m. 10 S Columbia St. *Mela, 2/1, 5 – 8 p.m. Nosh provided. Cost: free. 17 N. Wenatchee Ave. Cost: free.

Follies 70th Anniversary, 2/1, 2, 7 p.m. plus a 1 p.m. matinee on 2/2. A variety show featuring local talent, sponsored by local businesses and individuals and directed

by Jaime Donegan to raise funds for the Wenatchee Valley Follies Guild and Children’s Foundation. Numerica Performing Arts Center. Cost: $29-32. Info: numericapac.org.

Carmen: The Met Live in HD, 2/2, 9:55 a.m. Snowy Owl Theater. Cost: $22 advance or $24 at the door.

Info: icicle.org.

Guided SnowShoe hikes for families, 2/2, 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Learn the basics of walking with snowshoes on an easy snowshoe walk. Stop and read a snow themed book and learn about winter animals. Snowshoes provided by the City of Wenatchee. Bring water and snacks, dress warmly and wear sturdy waterproof shoes.

Squilchuck State Park. Cost: free.

Info: cdlandtrust.org.

KOHO’s chili cook-off, 2/2, noon – 1 p.m. This is your chance to taste and vote on the region’s tastiest chili from some of the top restaurants and chefs in NCW. Pybus Public Market. Cost: free. Info: pybuspublicmarket.org.

Inward bound, 2/4, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. Explore how our mind-body connection determines our behavior. Inward Bound supports a greater awareness of the correla-

tion between the physical body, habitual thought patterns, systems of beliefs, the mind-body connection, and the energy dynamics within us and around us. Cashmere Methodist Church, Cost: $395. Info: theripplefoundation.org.

Pybus University: Tackling Tax Reform, 2/5, 7 – 8:15 p.m. Learn the 10 things you should know.

Learn from the pros: Homchick Smith and Associates. Pybus Public Market. Cost: free. Info: pybuspublicmarket.org.

Arctic National Wildlife refuge and Coastal Plain - A visual conversation, 2/5, 7 - 9 p.m. Join North Central Washington Audubon members Susan Ballinger and Tim and Mary Gallagher as they share stories and photographs of caribou, grizzly bears, birds, and plants from their adventures to the remote reaches of the coastal plain and Beaufort Sea of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Additionally, at the Wenatchee and Leavenworth presentations, Mark Oswood will share his work studying the ecology of Alaskan fresh waters.

Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center. Cost: free. Info: wenatcheevalleymuseum.org.

Movie on the big screen: The Big Lebowski, 2/6, 6:30 p.m.

Numerica Performing Arts Center.

Cost: $3. Info: numericapac.org.

Red Barn Event, 2/6, 6:30 p.m.

Join locals, Susan and Paul Ballinger, Tim and Mary Gallagher, as they share stories and photographs of caribou, grizzly bears, birds, and plants from their adventures to the remote reaches of the coastal plain and Bering Sea of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Local, Mark Oswood will share his work studying the ecology of Alaskan fresh waters. Wenatchee River Institute.

Cost: free. Info: wenatcheeriverinstitute.org.

Arboriculture Short Course, 2/7, once a week each Thursday through 3/21, 9 a.m. – noon. Confluence Technology Center. Learn tree management and ISA Certified Arborist Exam material. This week: tree nutrition and fertilization.

Cost: 12 week course $110 or $10 per week. Info: 667-6540 or email Paula Dinius: pdinius@#wsu.edu.

Snowshoe Tour, 2/7, 10 a.m.

– noon. Join naturalist guides for a snowshoe stroll along the river front trail in Leavenworth.

Snowshoes provided. Wenatchee River Institute. Cost: free. Info: wenatcheeriverinsititute.org.

February 2019 | The Good Life

Sustainable cooking for young adults, 2/7, 5 – 7 p.m.

Learn how to eat healthy and on a budget. Join Jen Retasket and learn how to prepare healthy and delicious meals. Ages 14 and up.

Wenatchee Library. Info: ncrl.org/ Wenatchee.

Holding Back Global Warming, 2/7, 7 p.m. The greenest corner of North America will play a critical role in determining the planet’s climate future. A lecture

by Eric De Place. Grove Recital Hall, Wenatchee Valley College.

Wenatchee Jazz Workshop presents The LA6, 2/7, 7:30 p.m.

These musicians have performed and recorded all over the world.

Numerica Performing Arts Center.

Cost: $10 - $24. Info: numericapac. org.

BNCW Home Show, 2/8, 9, 10, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Experts, ideas, innovations, inspirations covering ideas from building and remodeling and landscaping to finance and real estate. Town Toyota Center. Cost: $5. Info: buildingncw.org.

Movies at the library: the Lego movie, 2/8, 3:30 p.m. Free movie and popcorn. Wenatchee Library. Info: ncrl.org.

Wenatchee Jazz Workshop presents Student night, 2/8, 7:30 p.m. Over 150 local jazz students perform. Numerica Performing Arts Center. Cost: $10. Info: numericapac.org.

Robotics Tournaments, 2/9, 8:30 a.m. – 4:15 p.m. Elementary and middle school students compete in a teamwork challenge for a non-stop, action-packed day where they will compete with their custom-built robots using the VEX IQ system. Foothills Middle School.

Cost: free.

Inward bound, 2/9, 9 a.m. Explore how our mind-body connection determines our behavior. Inward Bound supports a greater awareness of the correlation between the physical body, habitual thought patterns, systems of beliefs, the mind-body connection, and the energy dynamics within us and around us. Cashmere Methodist Church, Cost: $395. Info: theripplefoundation.org.

Matters of the heart: heart dissection lab, 2/9, 10 a.m.

- noon. A team of local medical professionals work with students (9 years old and up) to conduct an

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The Art Life

// SKETCHES OF LOCAL ARTISTS

The sensory feel of clay

By Marlene Farrell

Serendipity started Mijanou

Fortney on her journey of teaching pottery classes and opening her business, MF Pottery.

She took a roundabout path to art. She grew up in Montana and majored in anthropology at Bates College in Maine, where she met her husband, Steve. It wasn’t until later, through some community college art classes, that Mijanou’s passion for pottery took hold.

Then, five years ago and new to Leavenworth, her children, Eli and Sally, began attending the daycare on the Tierra Village campus in Sunitch Canyon.

A friend told Mijanou about the unused studio space and art supplies, waiting to be used to further the vision of Tierra founder, Gracie Close.

“I wrote a proposal,” Mijanou said. “And it’s been growing ever since.” Her current studio, renovated less than a year ago and triple in space, accommodates that growth. Now more students can work at a time without bumping elbows.

She holds a few classes at any one time. The TRAILS (Tierra’s Recreational Arts and Independent Life Skills) Program students come once every two weeks, some for all four years the program has been in existence. “I used to have to walk them through a project. Now they come to me with their ideas.”

When she’s not teaching, Mijanou Fortney is busy building, firing, glazing and painting her own work. Photos by Kevin Farrell

Nicole Haskey, the TRAILS Day Program Director, spoke highly of Mijanou’s classes. “The participants are empowered with free choice of what they want to create, and that’s pretty powerful for a group of adults who have, for most of their lives, been told by others what to do and when to do it. The clay itself provides wonderful sensory opportunities.”

Andrew Holm, general manager at Tierra, said, “Mijanou is a cornerstone of Tierra, in her new corner space. Lots of people seem to gravitate her way as she displays an easy inclusiveness.”

Mijanou finds working with kids and adults refreshingly different. “Kids will prototype.

They’ll make three versions of a mask and smash them all before making their final one. It’s nonattachment, and it keeps them from getting frustrated.”

Adults come because they

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“Kids will prototype. They’ll make three versions of a mask and smash them all before making their final one.” want to use the potter’s wheel.

“The wheel does the work. At first students want to force it, muscle it. I try to explain, ‘it’s a feeling.’ I teach them the steps, but they won’t really know until they get that feeling.”

When she’s not teaching, Mijanou is busy building, firing, glazing and painting her own work. Most of her pottery is dishware, but also includes oil and vinegar containers, sake sets, trays and soap dishes.

Her clay of choice is a mix of

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February 2019

stoneware and porcelain. Stoneware is stronger and firmer, while porcelain is buttery. “I know just how it’ll look with my glazes. Customers expect a certain look to my work.”

Nature and the outdoors come out as a theme in a lot of Mijanou’s work, because it’s important to her family. “Steve and I hiked the PCT in 2005, before kids. When the kids were little, we’d backpack with them on our backs. We’ve taken a lot of canoe trips and gotten all the car camping supplies. Now we’re ready to do more backpacking with them again.”

One of her signature pieces is a cup with a mountainscape, offered in several hues. For each one, she builds, trims, paints, and cleans up excess paint.

Then she carves stripes on the cup as it rotates on the wheel again, and draws the mountains freehand.

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WHAT TO DO

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

}}} Continued from page 31 exploration of hearts in a dissection lab setting. Included in the day’s activities is an opportunity to create a take-home heart valentine.

Registration is required and limited.

Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center. Cost: $25. Info: wenatcheevalleymuseum.org.

Summer Camp Fair, 2/9, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Learn about summer camps available in NCW. Over 20 organizations will be on hand to provide info. Sponsored by Icicle Creek Center for the Arts and Wenatchee Mom Blog. Pybus Public Market.

Cost: free. Info: pybuspublicmarket. org or Mike Caemmerer 548-6347.

Mijanou sometimes creates straight edges and square handles: “Some would call it minimalist. I think the square handle feels better.”

Near her studio is a large patch of lavender, providing a steady supply to accent her trays. “I roll the lavender into the clay. I pull it out, but it leaves a depression.”

One product speaks loudly for this artist with a quiet demeanor. “To me, the ‘RESIST’ mug is one small way to raise awareness through my art,” explained Mijanou. “It’s a reminder to stand up, speak out, vote, march, protest, do something to fight for the earth and the marginalized populations who don’t have a voice. It helped me convey my shock and outrage after the 2016 election.

“The fist has been a symbol of unity and solidarity throughout history and today is part of pop culture. It’s an everyday reminder to fight the good fight. It is also my best-selling item.”

Mijanou steps out of the studio to help keep arts education alive in Leavenworth. “I’m bummed that art doesn’t get more funding in the schools,” she said.

For several years, she worked in the local elementary school teaching Late Start Art, and now she’s on an advisory board for Cascade High School’s CTE department. In addition, every year she joins forces with other local potters to contribute to the Leavenworth Empty Bowls Festival, either throwing or firing bowls.

Mijanou’s work has a distinct look to it, with mostly straight edges and square handles.

“Some would call it minimalist.

I think the square handle feels better.”

As her business ramps up and her studio’s shelves fill with dishes, she feels ready for it. “It’s not overwhelming. The studio is my refuge from house projects.”

Mijanou will continue journeying on this artistic path because pottery suits her, the calm quiet, the meditative detail work and the satisfying creation of things both functional and beautiful.

February 2019 | The Good Life

Echo Ski Loppet, 2/9, 10 a.m.

A loppet is a great gathering of skiers who ski on a specifically groomed trails, either classic (diagonal stride) or free (skating technique) of various distances.

The Echo Ridge Ski Loppet is a noncompetitive, timed event. Three loops will be available to choose from: 1) Novice 5 KM, 2) Best Echo Skate 15 KM, and 3) Best Echo Classic 10KM or complete all three loops for the 30K Echoathon. Hot homemade soups, fresh bread and warm refreshments available at the yurt. Echo Ridge Recreation area trailhead. Cost: $25 adults plus a $10 ski pass for non-season pass holders. Kids free. Info: lakechelannordic.org.

An Artful Evening, 2/9, 6:30 p.m. Fun, food and fundraising. All proceeds go to Roots Community School. Drinks, silent auction, dinner and live music and dancing!

Lake Chelan Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center. Cost: $50. Info: rootscommunityschool.com.

Wenatchee Valley Symphony Orchestra presents Sweetheart Musical soiree, 2/9, 7 p.m. Valentine-themed musical soiree. Evening includes wine and desserts in a lovely decorated setting. Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center. Cost: $50. Info: numericapac.org.

Cold Winter Nights Comedy Series: Kurt Braunohler, 2/9, 7 p.m. Kurt is a comedian, actor, and pod caster who has committed his career to inserting absurdity into stranger’s lives to make the world a better place. Numerica Performing Arts Center. Cost: $22. Info:

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numericapac.org.

Red Wine and Chocolate, 2/9, 10, 16, 17. The Lake Chelan Wine Valley celebrates with romance, limousine rides, library wines, chocolate, wine. Info: lakechelanwinevalley.com.

Scientist Speaker Series: Water!, 2/12, 6 p.m. Robert Parrish from USFW, will talk about the Wenatchee Valley Beaver Project.

Wenatchee River Institute. Cost: $100 or $80 for all four nights. Info: wenatcheeriverinstitute.org.

Pybus University: Learn to knit, 2/12, 7 – 8:15 p.m. This class will teach a basic cast-on and the knit stitch, the cornerstones of all knitting. Using these skills, attendees will be able to make a colorful coaster during the class.

The instructors are members of the NCW Knitter’s Guild. Pybus Public Market. Cost: $10, materials included plus get a $5 Pybus coin.

Info: pybuspublicmarket.org.

Holland America Cruise event, 2/13, 5:30 – 7 p.m. Come discover the joy of cruising with Holland America Line and Seaborne. AAA Wenatchee. Cost: free. RSVP: 6656299.

Get lit! Soldering stained glass workshop, 2/13, 6:30 - 9 p.m. Learn how to use design and construct your own personalized stained glass piece along with the basics of soldering. With the knowledge you gain from this class you will be able to make your own stained glass at home and apply your new soldering skills to any number of projects. Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center.

Cost: $20. Info: wenatcheevalleymuseum.org.

Red Barn Event: Digital Landform tour of Eastern Cascades, 2/13, 6:30 p.m. Join Karl Lillquist PhD, Central WA University Professor of Geography, for a digital landform tour of the Eastern Cascades. Wenatchee River Institute. Cost: free. Info: wenatcheeriverinstitute.org.

Arboriculture Short Course, 2/14, once a week each Thursday through 3/21, 9 a.m. – noon. Confluence Technology Center. Learn tree management and is ISA Certified Arborist Exam material. This week tree soil and water relations. Cost: 12 week course $110 or $10 per week. Info: 667-6540 or email Paula Dinius: pdinius@#wsu.edu.

}}} Continued on next page

>>

WHAT TO DO

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

}}} Continued from previous page Snowshoe Tour, 2/14, 10 a.m.

– noon. Join naturalist guides for a snowshoe stroll along the river front trail in Leavenworth.

Wenatchee River Institute. Snowshoes provided. Cost: free. Info: wenatcheeriverinsititute.org.

PJ Masks Live: Save the Day, 2/14, Live musical production. PJ Masks series follows the thrilling nighttime adventures of three young friends who transform into their dynamic alter egos, Catboy, Owlette and Gekko, when they put on their pajamas at night and activate their animal amulets.

Together, they embark on actionpacked capers, solving mysteries and learning valuable lessons along the way. Town Toyota Center. Cost: $25. Info: towntoyotacenter.com.

Moonlight snowshoe stroll, 2/15, 5 – 7 p.m. Watch the sun set and walk along the Wenatchee River by light of the moon. Guided

by Wenatchee River Institute naturalist field guides, experience our natural world at dusk on snowshoes. Reservations REQUIRED. Snowshoes available, hot cocoa to warm your bellies. Wenatchee River Institute. Cost: $10, $5 kids 12 and under. Info: wenatcheeriverinstitute.org.

Rails and ales Festival, 2/15, 5:30- 8 p.m. Closing of lower Orondo Ave and Mission Ridge is bringing the mountain literally. Snow and terrain park features form a mountain for an epic evening of skiing, snowboarding, music and fun. Live music and local craft beer.

Foot of Orondo. Ave. near Badger Mountain Brewery. Cost: free. Info: pybuspublicmarket.org.

Full moon Ski, 2/15, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. Grab a headlamp just in case and come out to the Icicle River trails to join Barb, one of our board of directors, for a ski and hot cocoa.

Icicle River Trail Head. Cost: free.

Info: skileavenworth.com.

Coyote’s Corner free art class: René Magritte, 2/16, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. René Magritte was a Belgian surrealist artist who became well known for a number of witty and thought-provoking images. He wanted to challenge viewers to think about what they were looking at and to ask themselves, “What does this painting

mean?” Children (ages 4 and up) and their guardians will join our Artist in Residence, Rick Adams, to draw an image inside the eye which reflects something you like to look at. Wenatchee Valley Museum Cultural Center. Info: wenatcheevalleymuseum.org.

Wenatchee Heart Breaker 5k, 2/16, 9 a.m. This run and walk event is held during Heart month to raise awareness about heart disease and ways people can commit to a healthy lifestyle. Presented

by Confluence Health. On the Apple Capital Loop Trail. Pybus Public Market. Cost: $20. Info: runwenatchee.com.

Samson et Dalilia: The Met Live in HD, 2/16, 9:55 a.m. Snowy Owl Theater. Cost: $22 advance or $24 at the door. Info: icicle.org.

Be the Hero-Auction for the animals, 2/16, 5 – 9 p.m. Dinner, boardwalk-style games, themed cocktails, extensive silent auction, live auction. Fundraiser for Wenatchee Valley Humane Society.

Wenatchee Convention Center.

Cost: $65. Info: wenatcheehumane. org.

Empty Bowls community painting party, 2/17, 1 – 6 p.m.

Pybus Public Market. Info: pybuspublicmarket.org.

Winter break snow camp, 2/19, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Snowshoeing, learn to use a bow and arrow, track wildlife and use scientific tools in this exciting 4 day winter camp. Grade k – 5. Wenatchee River Institute.

Cost: $200. Info: wenatcheeriverinstitute.

Scientist Speaker Series: Water!, 2/19, 6 p.m. Jason Lundgren from CCFEG will talk about the history of salmon and their decline in the Columbia River. Wenatchee River Institute. Cost: $100 or $80 for all four nights. Info: wenatcheeriverinstitute.org.

Franzen, an idiosyncratic trombone technician, and a septuagenarian bird-tour leader are among the lively cast of characters in this charming, lyrical documentary that transports the viewer to the dazzling, hidden world of America’s most famous park. Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center.

Info: wenatcheevalleymuseum.org.

TEDXwenatchee live stream, 2/20, noon – 5 p.m. A live stream event at Wenatchee Public Library.

With a list of 18 local speakers talking about education. Cost: free.

Info: ncrl.org/Wenatchee.

TEDXwenatchee live stream, 2/20, noon – 5 p.m. A live stream event at Pybus Public Market. With a list of 18 local speakers talking about education. Cost: free. Info: pybuspublicmarket.org.

Pybus University: Foot Pain: a step in the right direction, 2/19, 7 – 8:15 p.m. Dr. Kevin Morris explores the miss-perception that foot pain is a normal part of life.

Pybus Public Market. Cost: free.

Info: pybuspublicmarket.org.

Snowshoe Tour, 2/21, 10 a.m.

– noon. Join naturalist guides for a snowshoe stroll along the river front trail in Leavenworth.

Snowshoes provided. Wenatchee River Institute. Cost: free. Info: wenatcheeriverinsititute.org.

Birders: the central park effect, 2/19, 7 - 9 p.m. Birders: The Central Park Effect reveals the extraordinary array of wild birds who grace Manhattan’s celebrated patch of green, and the equally colorful New Yorkers who schedule their lives around the rhythms of migration. Author Jonathan

Arboriculture Short Course, 2/21, once a week each Thursday through 3/21, 9 a.m. – noon. Confluence Technology Center. Learn tree management and is ISA Certified Arborist Exam material. This week tree identification and selection.

Cost: 12 week course $110 or $10

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per week. Info: 667-6540 or email Paula Dinius: pdinius@#wsu.edu.

Movies at the library: how to train your dragon 2, 2/22, 3:30 p.m. Free popcorn and a movie. Wenatchee Library. Info: Wenatchee@ncrl.org.

Andre Feriante and Troy Chapman, 2/22, 7 p.m. Journey through the history of the world according to the guitar. Andre Feriante and Troy Chapman present their personal collection of musical instruments from around the world. All are relatives of the Guitar. From the ancient Oud and Tar, to the small but mighty Ukulele and Charango.

This duo of virtuoso musicians will present a selection of music that corresponds to the origins of each instrument. Canyon Wren Recital Hall. Cost: $22 advance or $24 at the door. Info: icicle.org.

Saxsational, 2/22, 7 p.m. Rob explores the new generation of popular music with a regional school band or community jazz ensemble and performs a repertoire of swing era classics along with trendy pop, rock and R&B songs. Parents and presenters are proud to see their children in a professional concert setting. Rare saxophones and crowd-pleasing swing. A Wenatchee Community Concert Association event.

Wenatchee High School. Cost: $70.

Info:wenatcheeconcerts.org.

>>

WHAT TO DO

Washington Nordic Cup #4, 2/23, 11 a.m. Cross-country ski race. Plain Hardware. Info: ncwcup. org or skiplain.com.

People of our past, 2/23, 6 p.m.

Celebrating the 100th year of the Apple Blossom Festival. A themed dinner. Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center. Cost: $35 members, $40 non members. Info: wenatcheevalleymuseum.org.

Mission Creek Players presents Lip Sync Live, 2/23, 7 p.m.

Contestants 18 and up will show off their lip syncing abilities with musical numbers, competing for prizes.

Wenatchee Convention Center Ballroom. Cost: $12 advance or $15 at the door. Info: numericapac.org.

Fly Fishing Film Tour, 2/23, 7 p.m. With an emphasis on the people, places and fisheries that help make up the vast world of fly fishing, the 2019 F3T will take you from Alaska to Florida, South Dakota to French Polynesia, British Columbia to the coast of Australia and more. Snowy Owl Theater.

Cost: $15 advance or $17 at the door. Info: icicle.org.

Scientist Speaker Series: Water!, 2/26, 6 p.m. Jeremy Cram from WDFW will talk about the new and emerging fish population trends in the Wenatchee River.

Wenatchee River Institute. Cost: $100 or $80 for all four nights. Info: wenatcheeriverinstitute.org.

Pybus University: Annual Family Art night, 2/26, 7 – 8:15 p.m. Art night goes 3D sculpture is taught by artist Terry Valdez. Pybus Public Market. Cost: free. Info: pybuspublicmarket.org.

WDA Annual banquet, 2/27, 5:30 – 8 p.m. Dinner and awards.

Wenatchee Convention Center.

Info: wendowntown.org.

Red Barn Event: In the temple of wolves, 2/27, 6:30 p.m. Rick Lamplugh lives in Gardiner, Montana, at Yellowstone’s north gate.

He writes to protect wildlife and preserve wild lands. ‘In the Temple of Wolves: A Winter’s Immersion in Wild Yellowstone’ is an Amazon bestseller about the wolves and ecology of Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley, as well as Rick’s experience of living and volunteering there for three winters. Rick will share his experiences and imagery.

Wenatchee River Institute. Cost: free. Info: wenatcheeriverinstitute. org.

Lip sync contestants will complete for prizes during a fund raiser for Mission Creek Players, Feb. 23, 7 p.m. at the Wenatchee Convention Center Ballroom. Info: numericapac.org. for a snowshoe stroll along the river front trail in Leavenworth.

Wenatchee River Institute. Snowshoes provided. Cost: free. Info: wenatcheeriverinsititute.org.

Arboriculture Short Course, 2/28, once a week each Thursday through 3/21, 9 a.m. – noon. Confluence Technology Center. Learn tree management and is ISA Certified Arborist Exam material. This week tree soil and water relations. Cost: 12 week course $110 or $10 per week. Info: 667-6540 or email Paula Dinius: pdinius@#wsu.edu.

Take it on the road, 2/28, 6:30 p.m. If you’ve been crafting a story, memoir or poem, maybe creating another chapter of a novel, how about taking it on the road? Find out what fellow writers think of your latest literary outpouring at Write On The River’s winter open mic event, “Four Minutes of Fame.”

Read your writing (published or in-process, any theme or genre, poetry or prose) to local writers and enjoy an evening of socializing, sharing your work and gaining a little insight into your craft. It’s easy, it’s casual, and it’s free. Bob’s Burgers & Brew in East Wenatchee.

Sign up: marlene@team-farrell. com.

Wenatchee Valley Symphony Orchestra Presents Astronomy, 2/28, 7 p.m. Featuring the thunderous movie-soundtrack feeling of Holst’s The Planets.

Wenatchee’s Appleaires perform in the Neptune movement. Numerica Performing Arts Center. Cost: $21$40. Info: numericapac.org.

Snowshoe Tour, 2/28, 10 a.m.

– noon. Join naturalist guides February 2019 | The Good Life

The Shrub-Steppe Poetry Journal is aiming for publication in May.

Submissions sought for new Central WA poetry journal Checks should be made A new print journal featur- ment.” out to Shrub-Steppe Poetry. ing local poets and their work is targeted for publication in May 2019. The Shrub-Steppe Poetry Journal is now accepting submissions.

“The purpose of this project is to gather the many poets of Central Washington under one literary roof, to highlight the value of poetry in our culture and in our daily lives, and to offer the chance for publication to new and/or developing voices,” said Susan Blair, creator and editor.

“It fills a gap: there is currently no such publication.”

Send one to three original, previously unpublished poems (one poem per page, five pages max) to Shrub-Steppe Poetry Journal ATTN: Susan Sampson, P.O. Box 238, Malaga, WA 98828.

Include a cover letter with your name, mailing address, phone number, email address, poem title(s) and brief bio. “We are asking for a $10 donation per entry to help defray costs,” said Susan. “Contributors will receive a copy of the journal as paywww.ncwgoodlife.com

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Deadline: March 15.

Writers must live in Central Washington (in Okanogan, Chelan, Douglas, Grant, Kittitas, Yakima, Benton or Klickitat County).

“This Journal will represent and reflect the residents of Central Washington, so please send us your best poem(s),” said Susan. “You choose the topic: nature, family, politics, science, life issues, etc.”

Electronic submissions may be sent to sfblair61@gmail. com, with “Shrub-Steppe Poetry Journal” in the subject line and poems in .doc format attachment.

Send donations to above post office box. More info: sfblair61@ gmail.com.

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

>>

column those were the days

rod molzahn

‘8th Wonder of World’ was big, big, big “Coulee Dam… A Spec-

tacle… Big Cogs, Big Machines…

Big, Big, Big… The Biggest Thing On Earth.”

Hu Blonk, longtime writer and editor for the Wenatchee Daily World, wrote those words in an extended article on the continuing progress at, “The biggest construction site in the world” in a special April 26, 1939 Daily World edition.

The Saturday Evening Post had just declared the dam, “The eighth wonder of the world.”

Everything about it was big.

The gravel and sand pit — conveniently located by nature — was on a hilltop directly above the dam site. It was the world’s biggest open pit gravel excavation.

The operation included a 70-ton rock crusher that could reduce a five-foot diameter, ice age boulder to pieces. Other crushers broke the pieces down further. Nothing over six inches was allowed in the dam’s concrete mix.

The rubble was moved down to the dam site on a continuous 10,000 foot long, gravity powered rubber conveyer belt, “The longest in the world.” The belt was four feet wide, moved at 700 feet per minute and delivered 1,500 tons of gravel and sand each hour to the gravel screening and washing plant.

The plant was “The biggest on earth.” It used 20 million gallons of Columbia River water daily. Fourteen million of those gallons were cleaned, filtered, recycled and added to the six million pumped each day from the river. Four sizes of gravel and three sizes of sand were screened and stored for different concrete mixes used throughout the dam.

The concrete mixing plants

A house is burned by WPA to clear area in preparation for inundation by Lake Roosevelt. About 1941 Courtesy UW Special Collections (DAM013)

were, “the biggest ever constructed” and could mix 16,000 cubic yards of concrete in a normal workday. That’s one yard every five or six seconds, a world record.

It took 10 million yards of concrete to complete the dam.

That used 270 million gallons of water, 15 million yards of gravel and sand and 10-and-a-half million barrels of cement. The cement storage silos were “Unheard of in size.”

A high construction trestle, “The largest span of its purpose ever used,” crossed above the dam from end to end. On its deck huge cranes rumbled about, 365 feet in length and 10 stories high with an arm on each side that reached out half the length of a city block. They lifted buckets of concrete weighing 11 tons each from the delivery trains that also ran on the deck surface then delivered the buckets to where ever they were needed.

By the end of construction 21,000 men had a part in building the great dam.

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Three thousand of them, however, never set foot on the dam or had a hand in the construction. They were the crew tasked with clearing the land behind the dam to turn it into the bottom of Lake Roosevelt. Today the bottom is smooth. Not so in 1939.

The lake is 151 miles long with a width varying from one mile to six miles. In all, the reservoir covers 89,000 acres.

Workers from the federal government’s WPA (Works Progress Administration) took on the largest WPA project in the nation; clearing the basin of anything that could come loose and float to the surface later and any rocks that could become unseen hazards to boats when the water rose.

It was a long list that included sage brush in the thousands, trees large and small, fruit orchards, huge rocks, over 5,000 houses, barns and business structures, 227 miles of roads, 26 miles of Great Northern railroad track, 14 bridges, numerous native fishing sites and villages,

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February 2019

10 towns large enough to have a post office and multiple grave yards, native and white.

The surface elevation of Lake Roosevelt was set at 1,290 feet above sea level. The federal government acquired all the land in the basin up to the 1,310 feet elevation, 20 feet above the planned lake surface. The land cost the government $10 million.

Surveyors marked the 1,310foot line around the basin. If your land and buildings were below that line you had to vacate. If you were above the 1,310-foot line you stayed with the promise of lake front property when the water rose. The average payment to the flooded property owners was $3,000.

Total cost to clear the land was $9 million.

Clearing crews started working from Camp Lincoln just above the dam. It was the first of six camps established up the basin, each one built as the previous one was inundated. Men fanned out on both sides of the basin armed with hand tools, fire and dynamite.

The small town of Peach was the first to go. Most buildings were torn down or burned.

Some were relocated to higher ground. The town of Peach was not rebuilt.

Seven miles above the dam the three-house hamlet of Plum quickly fell to the clearing crew.

The riverbank crews worked along side the free-flowing Columbia until it slowed and crept up the banks towards the men.

As dam construction progressed the water level in the growing lake rose several inches a day.

Most days the men stayed ahead of the slow motion flood but some days they fell behind

and were forced to do their work in knee-deep water.

At many places along the river, steep cliffs made access to the bank impossible for the land based crews. In those places an attack from the river was the only option.

The WPA built a small tugboat christened the Paul Bunyan and four barges.

Two sleeping barges had room for 75 men each, a mess hall barge and a smaller blacksmith barge for tool making and repair made up the fleet.

The Paul Bunyan towed the barges to a work site and un-

loaded the men. At the end of the day they ate in the mess hall barge and slept in the bunkhouse barge. During the night the barges could be towed to the next work site, always racing the rising water.

Men on all the crews were paid $5 a day with .50 deducted for room and board. They reported the food to be “excellent.”

More small towns fell. The village of Daisy had never been large enough to be included in a census but was relocated to a spot along the new lakeshore.

Marcus, population 600, was relocated but saw its popula-

tion drop below 200 and never recovered.

Kettle Falls, the most productive salmon fishery on the upper Columbia, disappeared under 30 feet of water as did its native village. The white town of Kettle Falls moved up to join the smaller burg of Meyers Falls.

The town of Keller, at the mouth of the San Poil River, was founded by a native fisherman named “Baby Ray” Peone. At its peak the town boasted a population of 3,500 and a minor league baseball team. After the town was moved to a new location 18 miles north of the Columbia,

inside the Colville Reservation, it floundered as the population fell to 234 at the 2010 census.

The clearing was completed as the dam was finished and the great reservoir filled. It was the longest still water in the U.S. west of Lake Superior and the largest manmade lake in the world.

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

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the back page: that’s life

The reoccurring fun of Groundhog’s Day I

By Jeanette Owens

celebrate Groundhog Day each year. It is just plain fun.

The holiday is not driven by Hallmark or American Greetings or any other commercial venture. In fact, it is hard to find items to decorate with and cards are nonexistent. Most of the souvenirs I have are from Punxsutawney, Penn..

My husband, David, and I made special memories for our children, Thomas and Patricia.

When they were young, I used a groundhog cookie cutter as a template to make cards as well as cookies. Patricia remembers that those sugar cookies were the only ones we ever covered with chocolate frosting.

We would listen each Feb. 2 to hear if Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow.

It didn’t matter if this prognosticator proved right or wrong. We all enjoyed seeing the furry fellow lifted high in the air at Gobbler’s Knob as a man in a top hat read the official statement as to whether Phil had indeed seen his shadow or not.

Every year I read a Scholastic book titled It’s Groundhog Day that explained the holiday. Some years later, I purchased another book to read. These stories became part of our tradition.

Phils waves “Hi” from Punxsutawney.

In the 1990s, the area where Fred Meyer and Hobby Lobby are now was home to quite a colony of groundhogs. People would watch these animals and many would take carrots to feed them.

Since the animals were not afraid of humans, the groundhogs would approach without fear.

One day we went to a bench in that area to observe for ourselves taking donuts for a treat for us. David put his donut on a napkin and laid it down on the bench. In a flash, a groundhog stole the confection much to the surprise and delight of our children.

After fleeing with the donut, the groundhog stopped, turned around and looked at David as if to say, “Thank you for the donut today!”

Why the fascination with this holiday?

My mother told me stories from as far back as I can remember. She graduated from Punxsutawney High School in 1939. As years went by, my mother would recognize some of her classmates among the men in top hats. The town

has always embraced the festival and the locals would bundle up to see Phil make his weather Jeanette Owens predications. is a retired paraeducator from the We have made trips to Eastmont School District. She has Pennsylvania been married to to visit my David Owens for 41 family and years and lives in East Wenatchee. have stopped in Punxsy — which is what my mom always called it.

It is a smaller community and has the best downtown park with large trees, walkways and benches. Off to one side is the public library and the burrow of our friend, Phil. He can be viewed from outside as well as from inside the library. Children and adults enjoy seeing him.

Each Feb. 2, Phil is escorted to Gobbler’s Knob a couple miles out of town to make his predictions.

David rolls his eyes sometimes about my groundhog fascination, but he helped me find a small statue for our yard that looks as much like a groundhog as we could find. As always, we will celebrate the day with a smile.

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February 2019

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