Living
Issaquah
Winter Guide 2015
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“No lectures, no guilt. Even we don’t floss every day.”
Dr. Ron Sherman
Dr. Rob Keever
Visiting the dentist might never be what your family considers “fun”, but that hasn’t stopped us from trying. For over 25 years we have focused on making our patients feel welcome, relaxed and positive about their dental health. We think it’s why our patients keep coming back, year after year. And why they’re usually smiling when they walk in. We would love to make your first appointment today.
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Issaquah
Living BACON SALT
INSIDE
PAGE 24
Everything tastes better with bacon. Just ask people around the world who have bought into a local invention.
XXX UP CLOSE SUPER FAN PAGE 4 Michael Eng loves the Seattle Seahawks. Come along for his game-day transformation.
PAGE 28
Learn the behind-the-scenes stories of some of those many items at the Triple XXX Rootbeer Drive-In.
BLACK ANGUS WALKING MAP
PAGE 10
PAGE 30
Take a walk through the businesses of the Issaquah Highlands.
Issaquah is home to an award-winning cattle ranch, and the place is basically a one-man show.
CUT LOOSE CABOOSE
STILL THE STREET OF DREAMS
PAGE 12
All aboard to share a local man’s dream of cutting hair.
PAGE 36
Debra and Rick Smith are the only original owners on this famed street.
Joe Heslet
MANAGING EDITOR Kathleen R. Merrill
WRITERS Dan Aznoff Christina Corrales-Toy Tom Corrigan Sherry Grindeland David Hayes Neil Pierson
Greg Farrar
This city councilman is an admitted science nerd and an innovator on a global scale.
CHAD MAGENDANZ PAGE 42
THINGS WE LOVE
WINERIES
PAGE 22
GENERAL MANAGER
PHOTOGRAPHER
TOLA MARTS PAGE 18
425 Magazine lends a hand to enumerate what we love about our fair city.
STAFF
See if you can keep up with this politician with a full plate.
PAGE 46
Stop and smell, and taste, the local rosé.
BUSINESS DIRECTORY
PAGE 54
PAGE/COVER DESIGN David Hayes
ADVERTISING STAFF Neil Buchsbaum Michelle Comeau Deanna Jess Sandy Tirado
PRODUCTION Jessy Smith Molly McWilliams
PRINTING Rotary Offset Press
COVER PHOTO
‘Affection in the Rain,’ by Luke Fu, was the first-place photo in the People category of The Issaquah Press 2012 photo contest.
A SPECIAL PUBLICATION OF
By Spencer Beck
A man and a boy watch the ducks swim along the shoreline in the evening light at the Pine Lake Park fishing dock.
P.O. Box 1328 Issaquah, WA 98027 Phone: 392-6434 Fax: 392-1695 www.issaquahpress.com
ISSAQUAH LIVING 4
Super fan
GAME FACE Issaquah is home to the ‘Supercharged Seahawks Fan’
ISSAQUAH LIVING 5
By Greg Farrar
Michael Eng sizes up himself and his long hair in the mirror as he starts his transformation from Costco employee and dad to ‘Supercharged Seahawks Fan’ for the NFC Championship game against the Green Bay Packers at CenturyLink Field. By Christina Corrales-Toy A peaceful calm enveloped the Issaquah valley in the early morning hours of Jan. 18. The streets were dead at 5 a.m. on a Sunday, and a heavy darkness overwhelmed a few powerless neighborhoods as the area emerged from yet another windstorm. At that hour, all that was left of the powerful gusts were darkened streetlights and a soft, but manageable wind. Most Issaquah families were sleeping comfortably in their homes at 5 a.m., but not Michael and Lizz Eng. Nope, the couple who calls Talus home was wide-awake, restless and ready. It was, after all, Seahawks game day, and in just seven hours, the duo would join the legion of Hawks fans gathered at the Church that is CenturyLink Field to witness
By Greg Farrar
Eng uses several squeeze tubes of styling gel and spiking glue to prepare his hair for just one game.
ISSAQUAH LIVING 6 one of the greatest comebacks in NFL history.
By Greg Farrar
Michael Eng stiffens his 2-foot spike with a hair dryer before doing his face makeup and colored-hair spraying to complete the transformation to ‘Supercharged Seahawks Fan.’
Go big or go home The Eng family home is difficult to miss. Not a holiday goes by when Michael doesn’t “go big or go home,” as he decorates his Talus abode. He goes all out with lavish adornments on Christmas, Halloween and during the Seahawks’ season, seemingly a holiday in its own right. During January and early February, the house is all about the Hawks, embellished with large lighted displays of Michael’s own creation. The Seahawks logo immediately greets visitors, hung just above the home’s entrance. A large 12th Man flag waves mildly in a brisk wind, while green and blue lights adorn the front yard. The decorations are so bright, Eng family friends say you can see them all the way from the Issaquah Highlands. It stands out like a blue beacon amidst the shadowy, forested hill.
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The Engs have a good relationship with their neighbors across the street, a good thing since the elaborate displays shower a wall of blue light into their home. “All of the neighbors love it,” Michael said. Let’s get crazy The Engs’ decorations are truly extraordinary, but they aren’t the most impressive expression of the family’s true Seahawks fandom. That materializes every Seahawks Sunday during Michael’s pregame ritual. It’s why, at 5 a.m. on Jan. 18, Michael was up, armed with a blowdryer, a sink full of hair gel, cans of blue and white hair spray, face paint and his Richard Sherman jersey. You see, before every Seahawks game, Michael transforms into something that not even he can describe. Through a three-hour process, the longtime Seahawks season-ticket holder literally becomes a different person. The Costco employee goes from a fan with an unassuming ponytail to a face-painted fanatic with a 2-foot-tall blue spike atop his head, fashioned from his very own hair. Michael’s game day uniform is much more than throwing on the jersey of his favorite player, it’s a look he has crafted and perfected through more than a decade of game attendance. “It started as more of dare. My buddies said, ‘Let’s just get crazy this game,’” Michael said. About 10 years ago, while strolling through the CenturyLink Field Event Center before a game, Michael decided to get his face “painted up” by a local vendor. He has painted his face and constructed the hair spike himself ever since. Crafting “the spike” The transformation is by no means an easy process, but it’s now a necessary one, Michael explained. “I’ll get grief if I don’t paint up,” he joked. He doesn’t usually have to start his routine at 5 a.m., but a rare noon Seahawks game has him awake and alert, ready to begin the transformation in his bathroom.
ISSAQUAH LIVING
By Greg Farrar
Remy Eng, 9, helps her dad get his game face on by shaking two canisters of hairspray to get his 2-foot spike to stand up straight and tall.
It all starts with a shower. Then, before he begins the arduous process of making his hair stand straight up in the air, Michael puts his Richard Sherman jersey on, because as he put it, “Once the spike goes up, it’s really hard to get anything around it.” Fashioning “the spike,” as he calls it, is the most time-consuming step. He uses a mixture of gel and hair spray to repeatedly massage his hair upward. “Some days it goes up really easily, some days it doesn’t,” he said while standing in front of the mirror, brushing out his long mane. On a drizzly, moist day like today, the spike isn’t as cooperative as he would like, but Michael endured through the process. The spike is currently the tallest it’s ever been. Michael hasn’t cut his hair for about three years now. “It’s just a part of what he does,” Michael’s wife Lizz said while preparing for the game herself, before adding, “but the hair does get a little crazy sometimes.” Once the spike is up, Michael uses
Find Yourself
a blow dryer to stiffen and strengthen it. Today, it’s a bit wobbly. “We’re not out of the woods yet,” he said as he examined his work in his bathroom mirror. Once it’s up, he begins applying the blue, green and silver face paint. This part is a breeze compared to building the spike. Michael paints a silver stripe down the center of his face. He fills in one side with green and the other with blue. His eyes pop out, though, as he surrounds them in black, going for a Joker-like look. “Black eyes add a little craziness,” he joked. After the face paint is done, the finish line is in sight. All that remains is adding some color to the spike, which he does with the help of his daughters Remy, 9, and Alexis, 5. The two have the important job of shaking out the paint canisters before Dad sprays the spike blue. With the early start, though, today it’s just Remy lending a hand, while a sleepy Alexis stays in bed. Michael does the transforma-
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ISSAQUAH LIVING 8 checking to make sure everything looks the way it should. With the tall spike, getting to the game takes a bit of care. Sometimes, he lies down in the car with the passenger seat fully extended; other times, he takes the bus, where the roof isn’t an issue.
By Greg Farrar
Lizz Eng threads the ticket-holder lanyard over husband Michael’s hair spike as daughters Remy, 9, and Alexis, 5, look on. tion himself, though wife Lizz, who by contrast sports only a jersey and
temporary Seahawks tattoos for the game, serves as “quality control”
‘Supercharged Seahawks Fan’ For all the work he puts into it, the spike only usually lasts into the third quarter of the game before gravity eventually takes over. Michael doesn’t mind, though, it’s all part of the process. “If it gets messed up, that’s just part of the game. I don’t care,” he said. “It’s fun to get messy once in a while.” The spike has earned him quite a bit of notoriety. With front row seats on the 10-yard line, he’s hard to miss, and media cameras often capture him in the stands. He also won a PEMCO Insurance contest in which the company sought the region’s most “Supercharged Seahawks Fan” to feature as one of its Northwest Profiles. It resulted in an ad campaign that prominently features Michael’s painted face on buses and the insurance company’s social media channels. “The Metro buses actually pass Issaquah Valley Elementary when my daughter’s outside playing,” Lizz said. “Her friends always point it out now and say, ‘Remy, there’s your dad.’” He gets recognized before games, too, and the stares of awe follow him throughout the season. “I don’t mind that he does this for game day, but I wouldn’t let him walk around like that,” Lizz joked. On that misty Sunday, the spike didn’t have much of a chance to endure through the Seahawks inexplicable overtime win against the Green Bay Packers. Of course, it didn’t matter, not when there was a second-straight Seahawks Super Bowl appearance to celebrate — even if the team failed to bring home the ultimate prize this time. “It’s fun,” Michael said of his Hawks fandom. “Everyone in the stadium has the same boisterous mentality. It’s why we’re the 12th Man.”
“I don’t mind that he does this for game day, but I wouldn’t let him walk around like that.” Lizz Eng
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Lizz, Alexis, Remy and Michael Eng, all Seattle Seahawks fans to varying degrees, pose on the porch of their Talus home after dad’s alter ego is ready for the game.
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ISSAQUAH LIVING 12
Caboose
SH
CR
OS
ER
SI
RB
NG
BA By Greg Farrar
The big red Cut Loose Caboose Barber Shop stands at 240 N.W. Gilman Blvd., on a remaining short piece of track that was part of the old rail bed running next to the Gilman Station clock tower.
OP
ALL
ABOARD
Barber Maurice Singer is living his dream of giving haircuts inside the Cut Loose Caboose
ISSAQUAH LIVING 13 By David Hayes Barber Maurice Singer knows Issaquah is a crowded market for stylists. From behind his chair, he can see from each window in his shop a new salon that has popped up over the years, each with at least four operators. However, Singer also knows his one-man operation has something the others don’t — a caboose. Built in September 1941, the Cut Loose Caboose actually ran the rails for the Great Northern Railroad, until the bright red rail car was retired in February 1965. It has had many tenants over the years as a repurposed office in the corner lot at 240 N.W. Gilman Blvd., most recently a vitamin supplement shop. In the 15 years Singer cut hair at his prior location on Front Street, he developed a vision for his next locale. “I traveled to Canada, and when I returned, along the way, I found a caboose in Blaine. At the time it was a P.O. box. I came up with the idea that’d be a very unique barber shop,”
Photos by Greg Farrar
Above, Tony McIntosh (left), a Mountain Park Boulevard resident, and Phil Schneider, of Providence Point, read magazines and chat in the waiting room at the back of the caboose before they each have their turn in the barber chair. Below, Branden Kelley, of Klahanie, closes his eyes as Maurice Singer clips the hair on his forehead. he said. “At one time, I cut for special-education children and thought that’d be great for them. And I really thought about having a specialized
children’s barbershop.” There seemed to be a slew of retired cabooses throughout the region, but none available. There was one dou-
ISSAQUAH LIVING 14
By Greg Farrar
An electric model train sits on the bookshelf mounted along the ceiling of the Cut Loose Caboose as Maurice Singer cuts Jim McTighe’s hair in the vintage caboose on Northwest Gilman Boulevard. bling as a tobacco shop in Bellingham. Others existed in North Bend, Snoqualmie, Woodinville and Issaquah. Maurice Singer, P.H.D. Singer decided to bide his time in Frank’s Barber Shop, named after the previous proprietor, who sold it to him when he retired. Singer has been cutting hair for three decade now. “And I’m still practicing,” he said. “I learn something new every day. Like a doctor. Only I’m a P.H.D. — professional hair dresser, and I practice more barbering than hair dressing.” He had been pretty much cutting hair since high school, but while attending then-Bellevue Community College he had an epiphany. “I was majoring in art in college when I decided to carry on with barbering instead of getting ‘new agey,’” he said. “I’ve never looked back.” Since then, he’s cut hair in Kirkland, Bellevue, the Snoqualmie Valley and Redmond, before finding a
permanent home in Issaquah. One of his earliest customers, Jim McTighe, of Fall City, likes to get his hair cut like Anderson Cooper, the CNN reporter. It was actually a close call whether he’d ever come back to Singer after seeing him cutting a popular style at the time. “I was sitting there watching him for the first time out there in Fall City, cutting the pro from Mount Si golf course,” McTighe recalled. “I swear Maurice put a bowl on his head and cut his hair. I wanted to speak up. I told Maurice, ‘You do that to me, I won’t be back.’” Singer said he doesn’t do the bowl
cut any more. “It’s out of fashion now. That was one style I didn’t care for,” he said. Another cut that Singer was glad to see abandoned? The Buhner Buzz. It was a total shave being given for free back in the ’90s when Jay Buhner, who was bald, played for the Seattle Mariners. “It kept business away for a long time,” Singer said. “Even some of the ladies had a Buhner Buzz some of the time.” The most common request he gets these days for his mostly male clients is from their wives. “The wife wants me to leave it fuller on top,” Singer said. “Problem is, there isn’t enough inventory up there to work with.” Dream come true Four years ago, Singer’s dream scenario came to fruition. The caboose became vacant at the same time his lease was up at his old location. The space was in good shape, requiring Singer to add only clippers,
ISSAQUAH LIVING 15 combs and a way to sanitize all his professional gear. McTighe reminded him he cleaned it up a little more than that. “You painted and put in the lining, too,” he said. “That I did,” Singer conceded. Most of the interior decorations are donations from his customers, from a hand- drawn sketch of a train pulling into the old train depot to an electronic train whistle that triggers each time a customer walks through the door. There’s even a space above the coat rack where his Pomeranian, Daisy, sleeps. Singer can be seen carrying her everywhere he goes around town, including nursing homes. “They really love my dog. She brings out a smile on their faces they can’t get any other way,” Singer said. “Unfortunately, there are a lot of lonely people in nursing homes.”
Jim McTighe, an Issaquah-Fall City Road resident, sits down for his haircut as Maurice Singer wraps a tissue around the collar of his shirt to keep hair from falling down his back.
Old-fashioned appeal Singer said when customers walk into the Cut Loose Caboose for the first time, they’re usually surprised by
how much bigger it is on the inside than it looks from the outside. Singer also brought both chairs from the Frank’s location, giving the Cut Loose
By Greg Farrar
a further old-fashioned appeal. “One chair is from 1948, the other 1984. There’s an ashtray in the chair there,” he said pointing at the empty
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ISSAQUAH LIVING 16 one while cutting McTighe’s hair. “It kind of dates it.” Another sign of the passage of time is how much he charges. When Singer first started, haircuts were $7. Now, they’re $25. “What do ya think, Maurice?” McTighe asked him. “Is it because of inflation or survival?” “Survival,” Singer answered. “What with permits, licensing and, of course, taxes.” Speaking of which, Singer isn’t sure how many regulars he has these days, but he likes to joke, “But I bet the IRS knows.” If you want to become a regular, Singer only has a few rules. He doesn’t shampoo, so you better come in with clean hair. And he doesn’t take appointments. It’s walkins only. “That way, I can take my time and not be rushed,” he said. “Every haircut is different.”
Maurice Singer laughs while cutting and combing hair as he shares a joke with customer David Reynolds, of Sammamish.
Right decision When he was just shy of turning 30, Singer said he knew he’d made
the right decision to become a barber. That was when he became more mature in the business, realizing
By Greg Farrar
he could pay the bills with what he enjoyed doing. Now that he’s been at it for 30 years, he’s happy he has kept at it all these years. “I really enjoy the association with people and the artistic factor of it,” he said. “Every head is different, with their contours and hair structure.” Perhaps the only downside he sees is he might be too much like the bartender everyone tells their secrets to after a few too many drinks. “I’m worried about giving away too much information about barbering. I’m worried about the politically correct mess of offending,” he said. “I know if I wrote a book, I’d be shot. Many, way too many, secrets. Like to a bartender, spilling secrets. But most of the time, they’re not intoxicated when they come here.” But they are happy when they leave. And Singer knows whether it’s in three weeks or five months, they’ll be back, the train whistle announcing their arrival each and every time they enter the Cut Loose Caboose.
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FAVORITE SPECIALTY DINING Asian Fine dining Healthy Italian Mexican Breakfast Lunch Burger Doughnuts Pizza Happy hour Bakery
Mandarin Garden Jak’s Grill PCC Natural Markets Tutta Bella Agave Issaquah Café Zeeks Pizza Five Guys Top Pot Doughnuts Zeeks Pizza Pogacha Forest Fairy
Overall Restaurant Mandarin Garden FAVORITE SHOPPING Clothing store Groceries Meat/seafood market Home improvement Jewelry Kids store Home decor Shopping center
Chico’s QFC Fischer Meats Home Depot Nault Jewelers White Horse Home Goods Gilman Village
FAVORITE SERVICES Automotive/repair Fitness training/workout Dentist Physician Law firm Newspaper Hair salon Veterinarian
Morgan Motors Gold’s Gym Dr. Ron Sherman / First Impressions Dr. Sigrid Barnickel O’Brien Law Firm The Issaquah Press Sorella Salon and Spa Issaquah Veterinary Hospital
Business with Best Customer Service Morgan Motors
Best
ah of Issaqu
s! Winner
Congratulations to the winners of our drawings! $500 Costco gift card Doug Rosenoff
Donated by Dr. Ron Sherman
$50 Sip wine bar gift card Stacy Sullivan 2 Village Theatre tickets Tracey Munno $25 gift certificate to Agave Joanne Pearson
ISSAQUAH LIVING 18
Tola Marts
Tola Marts stands in his flight jacket beside the unmanned Charon lowaltitude test vehicle, which he helped complete the design for, on display in the Charles Simonyi Space Gallery at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. By Greg Farrar
Mission accomplished Seattle museums highlight innovative contributions from Issaquah councilman
ISSAQUAH LIVING 19 By Dan Aznoff Issaquah City Councilman Tola Marts stands side by side with some of the greatest innovators of his generation. Not literally. The councilman is not posed shoulder-to-shoulder with Microsoft founder Bill Gates or with Joe Sutter, the chief engineer of the Boeing 747. But examples of his engineering prowess are currently on display at the Museum of History and Industry and the Museum of Flight in Seattle. The Passive Vaccine Storage Device that Marts helped develop that delivers life-saving serums to battle diseases in Africa will be on display until September as part of the “What’s Next in Global Health” exhibit at the Bezos Center for Innovation at MOHAI, while his Charon low orbital test vehicle is part of the permanent exhibit at the flight museum near Boeing Field. Marts quickly admitted he was a science nerd long before he decided to run for a seat on the Issaquah City Council. He was first elected to the council in November 2013. “Being part of the Bezos exhibit at MOHAI was exciting because it represents the advancements made against diseases that had plagued African nations, like Senegal in West Africa, for too many years,” Marts said. “The advancements in medical care were made clear last year when Ebola broke out in the neighboring countries and Senegal reported relatively few cases of the deadly disease.” The “What’s Next” display includes narrative panels explaining the scope of the project; a video clip of a “60 Minutes” interview with Bill Gates talking with Charlie Rose about the goals of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; a global map showing the reach of the project as well as the cutaway of the vaccine storage device; the impact of the device and a video clip of how vaccines are stored within the device. The Passive Vaccine Storage Device was manufactured by Intellectual Ventures Lab. Marts currently serves as manager of the Devices Platform Group at IVL.
At left, a clip from ’60 Minutes’ playing at the Museum of History and Industry shows Bill Gates and reporter Charlie Rose, looking over the Passive Vaccine Storage Device that Tola Marts and other Intellectual Ventures Lab engineers developed. By Greg Farrar
By Greg Farrar
The wall display at the Museum of History and Industry shows the five design stages, the fourth working prototype, plus a cross section and the final configuration of the Passive Vaccine Storage Device.
ISSAQUAH LIVING 20 Vaccine storage was an essential element in the billion-dollar investment by the Gates Foundation to eliminate diseases on the continent. Marts said he is grateful he has been able to play a small role in the elimination of disease. Jackie Durbin, with MOHAI, described the exhibit as “enlightening.” She said visitors to the museum never ceased to be amazed at how much innovations developed in the Seattle area have impacted the quality of life around the world. The vaccine device is an advance in science that would normally go unrecognized by the public. “This area is so much more than Amazon and Microsoft,” Durbin said. “The IVL and the Gates Foundation will save countless lives over the next few years. And all under the radar without exhibits like the one at MOHAI.” Go west, young scientist Marts moved from his home in White Bear Lake in northern Minnesota to become the lead engi-
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By Greg Farrar
Tola Marts’ mission flight patch shows embroidered images of Charon (pronounced ‘karen’), the ferryman of Hades in Greek mythology, who transports the souls of the dead across the river Styx, and the Charon test vehicle.
neer on the low-altitude test vehicle that was under development by Blue Origin in Kent. He laughed at the irony of the medical device being part of the Bezos exhibit because he first moved to Washington to work on the Charon vehicle for a company funded by Bezos. He remembers the prototype vehicle was more than 75 percent
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complete when he joined the design team. He was brought onto the team to address one major flaw. “The goal of the project was to have a reusable vehicle that could reduce the cost of delivering supplies to manned spacecraft, like the International Space Station,” Marts said. “The thrust from four engines met the requirements to deliver supplies to vehicles in low orbit around the Earth. The problem was bringing the Charon back to the ground without being destroyed upon impact using thrust from the same engines.” Marts described the first successful test of the Charon at the test grounds near Moses Lake as the “fourth best day of my life,” ranking directly behind the day he married his wife Tracy and the birth of each of their two children. The test vehicle reached an altitude of 316 feet and landed softly on the dry lakebed in Eastern Washington. The four-legged vehicle has become the model for subsequent reusable rocket-powered craft. The Charon consists of a welded aluminum frame that holds four Rolls Royce jet engines for vertical takeoff and landing. From theater to science The councilman’s professional journey began back in high school when his ambition was to be a theater major and play supporting roles that called for a large, soft-spoken man. “As an outgoing, rambunctious teenager, I saw myself as an actor. That all changed one day when my mother was called to school for a parent conference,” Marts said. His mother sat down with her son’s high school math teacher, who warned her that her son had a mathematical mind and would be unhappy if he did not pursue a career in math or science. “I did not think Mr. Mackey even liked me because I was a real loudmouth in his class,” Marts said. “But he apparently knew me better than I knew myself at that age. My professional ambitions changed that day when my mother came home and
ISSAQUAH LIVING 21 explained what Mr. Mackey had said.” Marts earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota in mechanical engineering. He began his professional career on the software side of engineering, but soon found his personality was a better fit for the hands-on engineering side of innovation. There are times he thinks about where a career in the theater may have taken him, but in the long run Marts agreed with his high school teacher and is thankful for his teacher’s insight. “I could see myself playing the muscle behind the bad guy on screen in movies like ‘Guardians of the Universe,’” he said. “I am a big guy and can be very intimidating, but thankfully there is no need for that on the Issaquah City Council. We are much more civilized than that.” ‘A better place’ Both of his children are following in the footsteps of their father, but each in their own way. Marts describes his son Aiden as a computer whiz who has built his own computer and knew more about high-tech gadgetry than his father did before the age of 12. “He knows how every serial bus operates with the CPU and dozens of other important factors that are way beyond my area of expertise,” Marts said with a smile. His daughter, 17-year-old Sophie, has followed her father’s lead in community involvement, serving on both the Issaquah Youth Advisory Board and as the youth representative on the city’s park board. Not to be left out, Tracy Marts serves as a member of the Issaquah Schools Foundation and has spearheaded bond and levy campaigns to fund public education. As far as his own political ambitions, Marts said he decided not to run for mayor in his first campaign because he did not want to compete with his friend, Fred Butler, who he considers “immensely qualified.” He said he would consider running for another position if the post offers an opportunity to improve lives within his own community. His dual responsibility gives Marts the oppor-
By Greg Farrar
A video plays on a monitor at the Museum of Flight showing the Charon test vehicle’s one and only vertical launch and landing test flight, which Marts witnessed at Moses Lake on March 5, 2005. tunity to find rewards each and every day. “I’ll do whatever I can to make the world a better place for my neighbors and my family.”
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Dan Aznoff is a freelance writer based in Bellevue who specializes in capturing the stories of past generations. His website is www. DAJournalist.com.
ISSAQUAH LIVING 22
Love... Mayor Fred Butler’s picks — “Every fall, we host more than 150,000 friends and neighbors for the Issaquah Salmon Days Festival. It’s a great opportunity to discover — or rediscover — what’s special about our community and, of course, see salmon in Issaquah Creek.”
How do we love Issaquah? In almost nine years of creating 425 Magazine, the staff members there have met interesting people, had amazing experiences and tasted delicious bites on their adventures. In honor of Valentine’s Day, the staff, with shout-outs from 425 readers and contributors, compiled a “425 Reasons to Love the Eastside” list. Here are the ones about Issaquah: q There is a nudist camp on the side of Tiger Mountain where the Bare Bun Fun Run takes place, and it makes people giggle like sixth-graders. q 150,000: the number of visitors who attend the Salmon Days Festival q Microsoft (which has a campus in Issaquah) changed, and continues to change, the way we work, and it has pumped millions of dollars and thousands of smart people into the Eastside. q Costco (with its headquarters in Issaquah) treats its employees well and has $1.50 hot dogs. What’s not to like? q He might sing about faraway places like Jupiter, but Train’s lead sing-
Issaquah Salmon Hatchery: Historic Olde Town Issaquah includes the 77-year-old Issaquah Salmon Hatchery. The most-visited hatchery in Washington state is the centerpiece of our iconic Salmon Days Festival each October and the destination for thousands of returning fish each fall. Gilman Village: A shopping destination and Issaquah tradition now celebrating 40 years, Gilman Village is a collection of unique restaurants and boutiques operating in preserved bungalows and farmhouses built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Issaquah Alps: Issaquah is nicknamed Trailhead City for its setting amid the Issaquah Alps — Cougar, Squak and Tiger mountains. Opportunities for outdoor recreation include paragliding from Poo Poo Point — 1,650 feet off of Tiger Mountain — hiking in our verdant forests and mountain biking at the world-class Duthie Hill Park. Boehm’s Candies: Set amid the Issaquah Alps, the alpine chalet
of the Boehm’s Candies chocolate factory produces handcrafted chocolates made in the Old World style of founder Julius Boehm, an Olympic athlete who fled Nazi tyranny in his native Austria. Cougar Mountain Zoo: Namesake cougars, reindeer and even rare Bengal tigers call Issaquah’s Cougar Mountain Zoo home. The zoo also boasts the largest collection of bronze animal sculptures of any zoo nationwide. Village Theatre: Village Theatre forms the core of Issaquah’s downtown arts district. The nationallyrecognized theater consistently delivers Broadway caliber performances. Works created at Village Theatre have gone on to win Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Gilman Boulevard Edible Landscape: In the spring, summer and fall, you can actually eat the lush landscape along Northwest Gilman Boulevard. On both sides of the street, about 25 varieties of edible plants bear a variety of delicious produce — from apples to nuts. Pickering Barn: Our community rallied to preserve historic Pickering Barn on the homestead of Washington’s first territorial governor. Now, Pickering Barn is a premier site for wedding ceremonies and other special occasions, as well as the seasonal Issaquah Farmers Market.
er Patrick Monahan lives in Issaquah.
q Chirico Trail (Poo Poo Point)
q Issaquah startup PetHub, because pets should be safe when you’re away
q Eastside Baby Corner
q Getting into your dream college can hinge on your application essay, and Issaquah startup Essay Mentors is helping kids write the best ones they can. q “I love the new Regal Cinema movie theater in the Issaquah Highlands and taking my son, Hudson, to see Big Hero 6!” — Matt Brown, 425 Magazine, sales
q The Behind the Badge Foundation, headquartered in Issaquah, supporting those who served q The Sun and Surf Charity in Issaquah and its Comfort and Care bags for children in hospitals or foster homes q The 25 spice level at Noodle Boat in Issaquah
q Central Park in Issaquah is the perfect spot for a picnic. q The King County Library System q ArtEAST in Issaquah is a primo spot to shop for local art.
Certified Residential Specialists CRS agents are committed to helping their clients and customers be successful in completing a home sale or purchase. Each CRS member has completed rigorous education and training.
q Village Theatre because it makes Cory Brandt Barbara AndersenCindy Hamman people fly, literally John L Scott RE/MAX Integrity John L Scott RE/MAX Integrity
Barbara Andersen Greater Eastside
Barbara Andersen Cindy Hamman Barbara Andersen
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RE/MAX Integrity John L Scott RE/MAX Integrity John L Scott Eastside CommunityEasts Spec GreaterEastside Eastside& Seattle Greater Greater estate agents in theEastside nation.
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(206) 419-2679 q Tim Lincecum, pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, and Liberty High School grad
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RE/MAX Integrity Eastside Community Specialist Eastside Community SpecialistGreater Eastside Greater & Seattle CRSEastside agents are among the top
(206) 419-2679
Certified Residential Specialists
q The Issaquah Farmers Market
CRS agents are committed to helping their clients and customers be successful in completing a home sale or purchase. Each CRS member has completed rigorous education and training.
q Super-soft casual basics at Opal Boutiques in Issaquah
q Designer Paychi Karen Guh, of Issaquah, because she’s so fussy Debbie Kinson Kathy Lee Debbie Steve Honnen Steve Honnen Debbie Kinson Kinson Steve Honnen Kathy Lee Kinson Coldwell Steve Honnen D Steve Honnen Windermere Coldwell Banker Bain Windermere Coldwell Banker Bain Banker Bain about her cashmere that Debbie her sweaters Windermere Coldwell Banker Bain Coldwell Banker Bain Greater Windermere Coldwell Banker Bain Coldwell Banker Bain Greater Eastside Eastside Greater Eastside Greater Eastside & Sammamish Greater Eastside & Sammamish CRS agents are among the top real estate agents in the nation. Greater Eastside Greater Eastside & Sammamish Greater Eastside & Sammamish are softer than puppies Greater Eastside (206) 819-6166 Greater Eastside (206) 948-6581 Greater Eastside & Sammamish(206) 948-6581 (206) 819-6166 (206) 465-7062 (206) 465-7062 (206) 948-6581
(206) 948-6581
(206) 819-6166
(206) 819-6166 (206) 819-6166 To learn more, visit www.crs.com.
The stylists at Sorella Salon (there’s one in Issaquah), because they fly to Paris Fashion Week to style hair for runway shows — #NoBigDeal
Certified Residential Specialists
q Jak’s Grill in Issaquah is a local CRS agents are committed to helping their clients and customers favorite for steak.
be successful in completing a home sale or purchase. Each
q The tequila selection at Agave CRS member has completed rigorous education and training. Name: 11329/ Cocina and Tequilas in the highlands Bev Parsons Lorrie Schleg Bev Parsons Jeanne Stilwell Bev Parsons
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On Page: 21
q The Triple XXX Rootbeer Drive-in –Jerry Rippeteau, AssociatePage: Broker, CRS Request CRS 0 Washington State Chapter q Boeing’s first wooden seaplane was built by Issaquah employees and AlsoType: try us atDisplay the CRS web site Also try us at the CRS web site took off from Lake Sammamish. Color: Black www.crs.com
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Cory Brandt Cindy Hamman Coldwell www.crs.com plus one Banker Bain Cindy RE/MAXHamman Integrity Greater Eastside RE/MAX Integrity Greater Eastside & Seattle File Name: (206) 948-6581 (206) 465-7062 (206) 819-6166 Greater Eastside Snoqualmie Valley Greater Eastside & Seattle (206)and 419-2679 (425) 392-1211 (425) 442-4942 425-830-7650 (425) 442-4942 :11000q In 2013, the mayor of Issaquah 11999:11300officially declared that the city would “Fewer than 4% of the Realtors in the nation 11399:11329be known as Fishaquah during the have their CRS designation but they account The Grange Salmon Days Festival. for 24% of all the transactions. Do the math. Maybe it’s time to call CRS!” Supply q Because public art beautifies the Size: 9.25 in –Jerry Rippeteau, Associate Broker, CRS entire Eastside
q You can learn to paraglide off Poo Poo Point.
Barbara AndersenSteve Honnen
Debbie Kinson
Kathy Lee
Windermere Coldwell Banker Bain Don Bleha RE/MAX Integrity John L Scott Greater Eastside Greater Eastside & Sammamish RE/MAX Integrity Eastside Community Specialist Greater Eastside
CRS Washington State Chapter
Also try us at the CRS web site
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q Watching the wind bend the Kathy Lee Debbie Kinson Lorrie Schleg Jeanne Stilwell Steve Honnen Bev Parsons trees on a blustery fall day in the RE/MAX Integrity Coldwell Banker Bain RE/MAX Integrity Windermere Coldwell Banker BainColdwell Banker Bain Issaquah Highlands Great Eastside Specialist Great Eastside and Seattle Greater Eastside Greater Eastside & Sammamish Greater Eastside & Seattle Greater Eastside (206) 819-6166 (206) 972-0649
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ISSAQUAH LIVING 24
Bacon Salt
stes a lot like baco a t s s e c c n Su A national craze to make everything better with bacon originates in a Klahanie kitchen
Contributed
Friends Justin Esch (left) and Dave Lefkow combined their business acumen and their love of bacon to develop the first run of Bacon Salt — peppered, hickory and original.
ISSAQUAH LIVING 25
By David Hayes
A long time ago (in 2007) in a galaxy far, far away, (well, a kitchen in Klahanie), two rebels, Dave Lefkow and Justin Esch, struck a victorious blow for pork against the evil empire of beef — they invented J&D’s Bacon Salt. Riding a wave of a 40 percent increase in bacon consumption between 2002 and 2007, the two
“Bacon Salt — I put that sh*t on everything! Even Marshmallow Peeps. Don’t knock it ’til you try it.” friends wanted to translate their love of the pork product into something that would make everything taste better. “Our goal was making something that tasted like bacon frying on a Sunday morning,” Lefkow said. With little experience in product research and development (Lefkow was a former member of a professional services team for a software company and Esch had experience in sales), the pair’s initial efforts were far from successful. “We first tried mixing bacon grease with sea salt together,”
Lefkow said. “It just tasted like fat and salt. It wasn’t very good at all.” He admits that through trial and error they made some pretty terrible things in that Klahanie kitchen, where his family lived at the time. But with the help of some chefs and some food industry guys, Lefkow said they finally arrived at the right combination of spices that became Bacon Salt. Their product could attract any taste bud, as it
“When the Baconnaise hit my taste buds, I’m pretty sure the Earth moved and angels sang.” had zero calories, zero fat, was low in sodium, all natural, and fit for both vegetarians and the gentile. “We did kosher just to see if we could,” Lefkow said. “First, I called a rabbi and said, ‘Hey, I’ve got this product we’d like certified kosher. It’s called Bacon Salt.’ The phone line went really silent. You could just hear his mouth go really wide. Then, the rabbi finally said, ‘Bacon could never be kosher.’ We had a good laugh about it when I explained it was vegetarian.” Combining resources saved from
Favorite recipe Bacon Salt scrambled eggs q 6 eggs q 2 tablespoons butter q 1 tablespoon Bacon Salt (plus more to taste) q Splash of milk Optional ingredients: q Diced fresh tomatoes q Fresh arugula or spinach q Grated sharp or white cheddar cheese q Fresh ground black pepper Instructions 1. Mix 1 tablespoon Bacon Salt with eggs and milk, and whisk thoroughly. 2. Add butter to nonstick pan, and preheat. If you like your eggs slow-cooked, turn the heat on medium low. If you like your eggs cooked more and faster, turn the heat to medium or medium high. 3. Add eggs to the pan. Add a little more Bacon Salt to the top, if desired, to ensure even coverage. Don’t mix or turn until the eggs start to set. 4. Once eggs are about a quarter of the way done, add spinach/arugula, white or sharp cheddar and diced tomatoes. 5. Cook until desired doneness, serve with additional Bacon Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste, and enjoy the best tasting eggs you’ve ever had! Source: www.jdfoods.net/recipes
ISSAQUAH LIVING 26 their previous jobs, the duo was never short of funds to produce their new product. However, further divine intervention may have helped indicate they were heading in the right direction. Lefkow had recently filmed his son in the backyard swinging a bat at a Wiffle ball, when one of the swings successfully sent the ball’s projection straight into Lefkow’s face. Sensing an opportunity, he sent the footage to “America’s Funniest Home Videos.” The clip never aired on the show, but Lefkow was surprised to receive a $5,000 reward for the funny video, which went to fund his new, burgeoning company. “It was like money from heaven,” Lefkow said. “I guess some divine driving force wanted us to make this product.” They produced an initial run of 6,000 jars, to be shipped from his garage. But they miscalculated — by a lot. “In five days, we sold it all, in 12 countries and 25 states,” Lefkow said. “We were hiring high school kids to pack boxes, 200 orders a day. It was sort of a frenzy right away. We grossly underestimated America’s love of bacon.” The first three flavors of Bacon Salt — original, hickory and peppered — soon expanded to include cheddar, applewood and jalapeño. Then came other products infused with bacon flavor, starting with Baconnaise, a bacon-flavored mayonnaise. (They’ve since added Cajunnaise). The two just kept asking themselves, what next? “We love food. We’ve now made products with a number of tastes, just things we love,” Lefkow said. “Our goal is to make things people love so much that they’d drive for miles to get it.” That included Black Truffle Crisps, bacon croutons (including blue cheese and tomato basil flavors) and popcorn. Word of mouth about their products grew and soon the duo was making appearances on national television, from “Good Morning America” to “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” to international magazines
By J&D Foods
Dave Lefkow (left) and Jason Esch get dressed up to make a video promoting their company’s bacon-themed casket.
On the web J&D Foods lists the following products, among many, at their website www.jdfoods.net: q Bacon salt — Original, hickory, peppered, jalapeno, cheddar, applewood q Other salts — Bacon Rub, Malt Salt, Ketchup Salt q Spreads — Baconnaise and Cajunnaise q Popcorn — Bacon Pop, Sriracha Popcorn and Cajun Pop q Croutons — Bacon, blue cheese and tomato basil q Black truffle crisps q Bacon Ranch dip q Sriracha Candy Canes (German Financial Times) and newspapers, including a two-page spread in Ireland. Who needs commercials when your company has had 3 billion media impressions? Sometimes, word of mouth wasn’t enough. That’s when they came up with a mascot. “We have a man, Codie, who dresses up in a giant strip of bacon, who hands out samples of Bacon
Salt,” Lefkow said. “He’s gone to tailgaters, big events. Trying to be nice to people.” One of the funniest incidents with the mascot bacon suit came when Lefkow himself donned it, while attending a football tailgate party at Penn State University, outside the 100,000-plus capacity stadium. “People see you dressed as a giant strip of bacon, they want to get you drunk. They’re drunk themselves and think you’re the second coming,” Lefkow said. The kids coaxed him atop the roof of an RV to do a keg stand. After successfully drinking from the keg while upside down, Lefkow started to climb back down off the RV when disaster struck. “In the bacon suit, you can’t see your ankles while walking,” he recalled. “I tripped and literally fell through the roof of the RV, through one of those little windows, landed on a couch, dressed as a giant strip of bacon, right next to this kid’s dad watching TV. He looked at me and said, ‘You’re paying for that.’ And I said, ‘Yes I am.’ The most memorable entrance and appearance for the company, ever.” In addition to their food-centric product, J&D also has what Lefkow calls their “weird products.” One of
ISSAQUAH LIVING 27
Top 5 products of the weird 1 — Bacon coffins 2 — Naked Bacon Cooking Armor 3 — Bacon scented pillowcases 4 — Bacon lube 5 — Bacon flavored mmmvelopes the first that took off in popularity was bacon-flavored lip balm. They’ve since sold hundreds of thousands of tubes of it. He and Esch realized there appeared to be no ceiling to what bacon-related product people would be willing to purchase. “It’s almost like bacon is a meat with a sense of humor,” Lefkow said. “People embrace the quirkiness of it. It’s like a nuclear arms race, to see who can make the silliest product.” Just when they thought they’d topped it last year with a baconscented pillowcase, J&D then released Naked Bacon Cooking Armor this year. “We learned people like to cook naked. So, we wanted them to be safe while frying up bacon,” Lefkow said. “It’s all just part of a joke. Bacon is fun. We’re embracing that, and making products that make people laugh.” Lefkow said one of the campaigns he’s most proud of is Operation Bacon Salt, where the company ships free samples to troops stationed overseas in “porkless” countries. “It feels good to do it. We get a lot of thanks,” he said. “Bacon has been good to us this year. The customers have really supported us for a long time. So, we give back some of that love.” Limited only by their imaginations, the two rebels have seen their little idea grow into its own empire. But there’s definitely nothing evil about something that tastes so good.
By J&D Foods
Dave Lefkow is about to try the first batch of bacon lube his company J&D Foods developed.
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ISSAQUAH LIVING 28
XXX
XXX up close
José Enciso shares some of the more interesting curiosities you can find within his Triple XXX Rootbeer Drive-in Photos by Greg Farrar
A Texaco Fire Chief coaster bike, which two custom bikes ever made, for a Texa in the Pacific Northwest, stands betwee
Above, a donated vintage Elvis Presley collectors’ lunchbox tin in the shape of a 1950’s television hangs from the ceiling over Table 4. At right, a guitar poster, giant guitar pick wall clock, original LP cover and a color publicity photo are all signed ‘To XXX’ by members of the classic instrumental rock band The Ventures, including founding band member and Sammamish resident Don Wilson. Below right, A miniature toy truck on a collection of vintage glass mugs says ‘Drink Triple XXX Root Beer Today — XXXtra Creamy… XXXtra Delicious… XXXtra Good.’
Top left, every table has a Seeburg Wallomatic 100-song selector, complete with 1950’s rock ‘n’ roll playlists, which could once send requests to the jukebox. At bottom left, one of several hubcaps from 1940’s Chevrolet pickups are hung on walls throughout the Triple XXX. At right, a photo of a now-deceased longtime Triple XXX customer and car show fan is hung at the table where he used to enjoy sitting. Other families have donated similar photos. Customers wait for this table to open so they can sit there and order food.
Enciso says is one of only aco service station owner en customer booths.
ISSAQUAH LIVING 29
At left, a customer-donated toy cowboy gun holster, popular in the 1950s along with TV westerns, hangs on the ceiling above a table. Above, a donated service station display of oil and gas additives is hung on the ceiling with garage attendant coveralls and a gas pump nozzle.
Above, a napkin left for a waiter, signed and kissed by a customer, is laminated and taped to a shelf of old Triple XXX root beer bottles. Enciso laminates and posts throughout the store many signed napkins. Above right, Howdy Doody pokes his head out of the original box to watch Triple XXX customers enjoy their burgers, fries and root beer floats. At bottom right, an all-way, four-way stoplight, which was no longer needed when an intersection got multiple signal lights, makes a colorful chandelier above a table.
Angus
BREEDING A BETTER BULL
ISSAQUAH LIVING 30
Raising Black Angus south of Issaquah is a one-man show for Charlie Stewart
ISSAQUAH LIVING 31
By Greg Farrar
Above, Charlie Stewart walks around the fence beside one of his favorite Black Angus cows, Little Orphan Annie, as she gets a drink from her watering trough at the Blue Drifter Ranch. Stewart bottle fed her from the moment she was a newborn. Below, Stewart leafs through the pages of the 2014 Blue Collar Bull Sale catalog showing his offerings last March at the Toppenish Livestock Auction. By Tom Corrigan Travel just a few miles and a few minutes by car from downtown Issaquah and you quickly can find yourself in the middle of hilly, very quiet and very green open spaces. There is, in fact, little around to remind you that a modern urban city is only a short distance away. And while rural uses might be slowly disappearing, there are still spots such as Charlie Stewart’s Blue Drifter Ranch, where Black Angus cattle still roam across 26 Issaquah acres tucked near the base of Squak Mountain. In the early 1970s, when Stewart purchased those 26
acres, he never intended to end up with one of the city’s last cattle ranches. In fact, the way he tells the story of what became the Blue Drifter Ranch, he never really intended to have a cattle ranch at all. To this day, Stewart seems to consider himself first and foremost a restaurateur. He said he was simply looking for some property to buy for himself when he came across the land that is now the Blue Drifter. “Day in and day out’ When he was a youngster, his father had a dairy farm, but that really wasn’t what motivated the younger Stewart into putting some 25 head of cattle
ISSAQUAH LIVING 32 on his property. “When I bought the land, I had all this pasture,” Stewart said. “You’ve go to put something on it.” A friend thought up the name “Blue Drifter.” “It was kind of catchy, so we stuck with it,” Stewart said. Stewart says he had no special training or teaching in how to raise cattle. “You just sort of pick different things up as you go along,” he said. Stewart obviously has picked up a lot during his time at the Blue Drifter. Over the years, he has won numerous awards for his cattle. Most recently, the American Angus Association named the Blue Drifter one of the top 10 ranches in Washington for 2014 in terms of the number of registered Angus cattle that are on the ranch. In 2013, two Blue Drifter animals took home top awards at the Washington State Fair. The list of awards could go on for quite a while. Besides the Blue Drifter, Stewart owns a much larger ranch in Ellensburg, where he hosts about 100 cattle. A partner runs that ranch. At a very youngish 72, Stewart still runs the Blue Drifter pretty much on his own. The daily chores start with breakfast for the cattle. “It’s day in and day out,” he said. “There’s no exceptions.” Breeding stock Stewart raises strictly Black Angus cattle and then only breeding stock. He does not milk his stock or sell it for beef. The cows are artificially inseminated, mostly with breeding material Stewart purchases. Artificially impregnating his cows seems to be one of the very few tasks Stewart doesn’t take on himself. For that process, he brings in a specialist. The cows are placed in a tight stall so they cannot move as the process is completed. “The biggest part is getting the cows in there and settled down,” Stewart said. The gestation period for cattle is nine months, just like humans. The Blue Drifter saw the arrival of 11 calves in 2013, 13 in 2014. The animals are born in the spring and weaned away from their mothers
By Greg Farrar
As Charlie Stewart sits in the driver’s seat of his John Deere gator, Sylvester and his half-sibling, Antie Flo, walk up and nibble on the hay bales in the flatbed. after a few months. Young males and females must be separated fairly early on, as the females can go into heat
while still a mere 6 or 7 months old. Eventually, Stewart sells his cows as breeding stock at the three or four
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ISSAQUAH LIVING 34 might hit 2,400 or more. For cattle to be sold as Black Angus, they must be registered with the American Angus Association. Each animal receives a tattoo and special number designation. Stewart further has names for all the animals he keeps on the Blue Drifter. One of his favorites is undoubtedly 3-year-old Sylvester. “He’s just a big pet. That doesn’t happen very often,” Stewart said.
By Greg Farrar
Charlie Stewart, owner of the Blue Drifter Ranch off Southeast May Valley Road, strokes the chin of his ‘big pet’ Sylvester, a 3-year-old Black Angus bull. Black Angus shows he attends every year. He holds a bull sale about once a year.
Most of the animals are worth $3,000 to $5,000. Cows weigh in at 1,700 to 1,800 pounds, while a bull
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Birthing ‘babies’ Sylvester won’t be for sale any time soon. Should artificial insemination fail with one or more of the cows, Sylvester gets to woo them the oldfashioned way. He gets that honor for the reasons you might think: his temperament, breeding and looks. Stewart points out Sylvester’s overall muscle tone as well as his thickness. Stewart said helping his cows give birth is the hardest part of running the Blue Drifter. He attends each birth himself and only calls a veterinarian should some problem develop. Stewart talks calmly about having to manually help out a calf that was coming into the world backwards. He only recently had to bottle feed a calf dubbed Little Orphan Annie when her mother rejected her. The cow had given birth to twins and for “Issaquah's whatever reason decidedFamily it wasRestaurant” only going to take care of one. “It was a real bad situation,” Stewart said.
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Dreams
ISSAQUAH LIVING 36
By Greg Farrar
Rick and Debra Smith and Madrona, their golden retriever, go for a walk at their home south of Issaquah. The white birch trees have grown considerably since their home was one of five featured on the Seattle Street of Dreams in 2003 (below).
DREAMLIVESON Debra and Rick Smith are the last remaining original owners after being the first to move into a Street of Dreams home on their block
ISSAQUAH LIVING 37
By Greg Farrar
Carpenters work in February 2003 on a 5,650-square-foot home named ‘Stonecrest,’ built by MacPherson Construction & Design. It was one of five featured homes on the Seattle Street of Dreams south of Issaquah. By Sherry Grindeland Debra Smith was dreaming of a house in a good school district, a house she and her family could call home. Smith and her husband Rick had sold their home in Lake Tapps and were camped in a Bellevue apartment with their high school-aged daughter and son. Timing was critical. It was summer and school would begin in a few weeks. “When I walked in the house, I knew this was the one,” Smith said. “This one was unique. It had color and texture.” Adding to the appeal, the house would be available after Aug. 17. That’s when the 2003 Street of Dreams closed. When she found it, Smith’s house
By Greg Farrar
In 2003, Scott Brent (left) works on an outdoor fountain featuring 9-ton boulders, while Stephen Metcalf sets up a ring of fire fountain at ‘The Astoria,’ one of the five Seattle Street of Dreams homes south of Issaquah.
ISSAQUAH LIVING 38
“When I walked in the house, I knew this was the one. This one was unique. It had color and texture.” Debra Smith
ISSAQUAH LIVING 39 was one of five on display that year in a small neighborhood of exclusive homes about a quarter-mile south of Cedar Grove Road. Each summer for 25 years, starting in 1983, real estate developer John Heller’s Street of Dreams Co. hosted a month of tours at a new, highend development — the majority of them on the Eastside. Issaquah and Sammamish were venues for three: Montreux in 1991, Treemont in 1999 and The Highlands at Tiger Mountain in 2003. The show had been an annual event from 1983 to 2007 with one exception — because of the economic downturn after the 9/11 terrorist attacks that brought down the World Trade Center in 2001, Heller didn’t hold a 2002 show. Daydreams for sale Streets of Dreams tours were popular events. More than 100,000 people toured the Napa Northwest home before the Smiths took possession. When it was running, the Streets of Dreams raised money for charities. Builders created the custom houses in new developments on speculation — hoping to sell what they had built and entice contracts with other customers who liked their work. Landscapers sprinkled the outside settings with plants in elegant, terraced scenes. Decorators lavished the interiors with color, texture, high-end furnishings and accessories — all for sale after the show. And those 100,000 people who attended annually — they all paid for the privilege to gawk and daydream and walk away either inspired to do a bit of redecorating or at least clean out a closet or two. Daydreaming was all many visitors could do considering the size of the houses on the one-acre lots and the cost. In 2003, the houses were: q The 4,300-square-foot Grand Cottage, listed at $1.429 million q The 4,835-square-foot Villa Arezzo at $1.495 million q The 5,250-square-foot Astoria at $1.895 million q And the 5,650-square-foot
Stonecrest at $2.150 million Rick and Debra’s Napa Northwest was a cozier 3,300 square feet, listed at $1.289 million. The “2003 Seattle Street of Dreams Magazine” described it as “The not-so-big-house with low-maintenance living.” ‘It’s a good house’ Debra said the size was just right for their family. Rick Smith agrees with the low-maintenance part. Even after living there since 2003, the only maintenance has been minor and, Rick Smith said, that’s to be expected in any home. “We’ve had no issues,” Debra said. “It’s a good house.” She admits to a wee bit of worry when she talked to some of the contractors and laborers who worked on her house. They told her about the last week before the Street of Dreams opened, when they worked around-the-clock to get the houses completed. “They said they were working right on top of one another at times,” she said. “But the house has
been just fine.” Rick described it as fundamentally solid. “We have cement floors, heated cement floors,” he said. “We had to sign a gazillion forms when we bought the house about things like the cement floors because it cracks. But that’s the nature of cement. “We think it looks fine, even with the cracks.” The Smiths were the first to purchase in the neighborhood and the first to move in. For the first month or two, they were the only ones who lived on the private, dead-end street. The first winter was tough. It was a winter with snow and The Highlands at Tiger Mountain lost power for six days. There were five houses completed for the show. Since then, an additional seven houses have been added, bringing the total in the neighborhood to 12. The homeowners association maintains the common grounds and street, including getting a private company to plow the hill leading up to the neighborhood.
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By Greg Farrar
The Smith family’s game and TV room brings the wood and earth tones from the outdoors. On Page 38 is the great room, with high fireplace, heavy metal wood beams and cathedral ceiling. The only original owners Today, the Smiths’ home is the only one that hasn’t been resold at least once. Inside the house, the Smiths have changed little in the design. When you walk in the front door, you still see a view of the valley beyond through the broad wall of windows that face west. The hall to the right leads to the master bedroom suite, with a wall of windows sharing the same view as from the living room/kitchen.
Turn to the right, away from the view, and a door leads to the master bathroom and beyond that an oversized walk-in closet. In the bathroom sits one highlight people still remember from the 2003 Street of Dreams — a free-standing copper bathtub. But the nearby glassed-in shower gets more use, Rick Smith said. However, the tub isn’t just a showpiece. Rick grinned and explained that’s where they wash Madrona, the family dog.
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Back in the living room, a large ficus tree grows in one corner. It is one of the few interior furnishings the Smiths purchased from the decorator. Another piece they bought is also in the living room — a giant armoire that hides the television. The living room opens into the kitchen with an eating area near the wall of windows and a breakfast bar on the kitchen island. Across the hallway from the kitchen is an office with a two-sided built-in desk. Rick Smith (who owns a moving company in Kent) and Debra (who is in real estate) sometimes work from home. “This office could be used as a bedroom,” Debra Smith said. “But we’ve always used it as an office.” Upstairs there are two bedrooms, a big storage area over one of the two garages, two bathrooms and a large media room. Numerous things to like One of the big selling points for the house when the Smiths purchased it in 2003 was the garage setup. There are two two-car garages. Rick Smith collects cars. Another selling point was the proximity to get to ski areas. Their daughter and son were ski racers in high school, and Rick and Debra both ski recreationally. “We’re one and a half hours from Crystal Mountain,” Debra said. “That was a big plus.” Outside, the couple made some changes in the patios — expanding them. They made up for what they didn’t purchase from the interior decorations on the exterior. “We bought every (flower) pot,” Debra Smith said. The couple toyed with selling the house a few years ago, even putting it briefly on the market. “We had someone interested in buying it, but we ended up taking it off the market and staying,” Debra said. “We really like the house.” Another plus, they both said, was the storage. There are built-in shelves and cupboards throughout the house. Location, location, location On the day of the interview, the
ISSAQUAH LIVING 41
By Greg Farrar
One of the features people may still remember from the 2003 Street of Dreams is the free-standing copper bathtub in the master bathroom and the beveled leaded-glass window. two had spent the morning cleaning one of the two garages and the shelves behind cupboard doors were practically empty. The location of the house has been another reason they have stayed in their dream home. By taking back roads, they can avoid heavy traffic getting to
their offices — Debra’s is in Kent, too. Ironically, the reason for purchasing a house rapidly in August 2003 turned out to be a nonfactor. While their daughter and son started at Liberty High School, because they were both athletes and skiing so much, they ended up going to
private school. Today, both young adults live in out-of-state. “Back in 2003, when I was looking for a house,” Debra said, “I envisioned us somewhere in Bellevue. I’m glad we ended up here. It is beautiful, it is a good house and we’re comfortable here.”
ISSAQUAH LIVING 42
Politics
Chad Magendanz A politician with a full plate
C
had Magendanz doesn’t have time to eat. The second-term Republican state representative from Issaquah is scurrying around his office like a whirling dervish, having just finished a short video shoot for his 5th District constituents, and he only has a few minutes before the House education committee meets.
ISSAQUAH LIVING 43
Washington State Legislature
Washington Virtual Academies presents awards to Sens. Steve Litzow and Kevin Ranker and Reps. Eric Pettigrew and Chad Magendanz during Digital Learning Day at the Washington State Capitol on Feb. 20, 2014. By Neil Pierson So Magendanz, 47, grabs an energy bar from his private stash in the bottom of a file cabinet, eats quickly and starts whirling again. It’s only the 16th day of the 120-day legislative session, but the calendar is deceiving. Magendanz is the primary sponsor of 10 proposed House bills, and is a secondary sponsor on about 100 more. Time is not his friend as he attempts to get things done. Working on breakfast Inside one of the spacious meeting rooms of Olympia’s John L. O’Brien Building — the center of activity for the 98 state reps — a crowd has gathered for a hearing on Substitute House Bill 1295, an updated version of a plan that would create Breakfast After the Bell programs in all of the state’s “high needs” schools, a definition generally met when 70 percent of students qualify for free or
reduced-price meals. While many schools offer breakfast before school, Breakfast After the
Bell allows students to eat during instructional hours, provided that educational activities are being held
Contributed
State Rep. Chad Magendanz addresses members of the Washington State PTA during a rally on the steps of the capitol building in Olympia.
ISSAQUAH LIVING 44 concurrently. Two-thirds of the House approved a similar bill last year, but the plan died in the Senate. Now Magendanz and other lawmakers are trying to revive it, despite criticism that Breakfast After the Bell isn’t cost effective: Of the 271 Washington school districts currently using it, only 38 are making money. Supporters cite research that shows, nationally, Breakfast After the Bell programs have much higher participation rates than their traditional before-school counterparts. “I argued that Breakfast After the Bell is not only fighting child poverty, but also neglect,” Magendanz said. Rep. Zach Hudgins (D-Tukwila), the primary sponsor of SHB 1295, tells education committee members that everyone generally agrees with the premise of keeping children well-fed. The friction comes from the associated costs, and who bears them. In the updated bill, the state would provide one-time start-up costs of up to $6,000 per breakfast program, but the money wouldn’t be part of basic education obligations. That’s important since lawmakers are trying to raise billions of dollars for basic education following the controversial McCleary decision in 2012, a court case that ruled the state wasn’t fulfilling its constitutional obligation to fund education. “I went out and visited a number of programs,” Hudgins says. “I watched how they worked. I saw kids eating in the classroom. I had a principal tell me that he had no hungry kids in his school. I think that’s a great goal.” From equal teacher pay… Earlier in the day, Magendanz has other educational issues on his mind. The former Issaquah School Board president meets with Julie Salvi, a compensation lobbyist with the Washington Education Association, to discuss ways of making teacher salaries more equitable across all districts. Many teachers, but not all, can supplement their base salaries with Time Responsibility Incentive payments, or TRI pay, which compensates them for duties performed
Contributed
State Rep. Chad Magendanz (middle) provides feedback during a public meeting of the state House of Representatives’ education committee. outside the regular school day. Magendanz is looking at ways to mandate fair salaries so unions don’t have to negotiate them. One of his ideas is to update the statewide salary schedule. House Bill 1854 would do away with step increases for teachers with advanced degrees. Pay raises would instead
be based upon demonstrated classroom performance as defined by the ProTeach and National Board certification standards. Magendanz says research shows little evidence that advanced degrees improve the quality of teaching. He also prefers giving teachers bigger pay raises at younger ages.
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ISSAQUAH LIVING 45 “We have problems retaining talented young teachers after they start a family,” he says. Magendanz is also proposing two wage index changes that would adjust pay based on regional labor market differences and statewide cost-of-living figures. The state’s current salary schedule for instructional staff – which includes teachers, librarians, guidance counselors and healthroom specialists – doesn’t factor in local living costs. Median household incomes vary wildly throughout Washington: King County’s is $68,000, while Whitman County’s is $32,000. …to hydroelectric projects Magendanz’s time is doled out in bite-sized chunks: Salvi gets 15 minutes, and then an aide helps whisk him off to a House technology and economic development committee meeting. This morning’s chief topic is HB 1352, an adjustment to the state’s voter-approved Energy Independence Act of 2006. Proponents like
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The Magendanz family, including (from left) Duncan, a Liberty High School NJROTC seaman, his brother Quinn, a NJROTC senior chief petty officer, their mother Galen and father Chad, a veteran and state Senator, attend the Veterans Day observance Nov. 11 in the Issaquah Highlands. By Greg Farrar
Magendanz want to allow federallyfunded hydroelectric projects to receive the same energy credits as state-funded projects. For example, public utility districts in Chelan County and Grant County that operate dams on the Columbia River can receive financial credits for conserving energy, but dams operated by the Bonneville Power Administration cannot. “If there’s a hydro efficiency (credit), it ought to be the same for everybody, no matter whose dam is used,” says Rep. Terry Nealey (R-Dayton). “We need to level the playing field.” Diana Carlen, a representative of Tacoma Power, tells the committee that changing the rules would benefit a lot of low-income households. Her company purchases 75 percent of its power from BPA, and recently invested $28 million in efficiency upgrades at one of its powerhouses. “The cost of these improvements are borne by Tacoma and other BPA customers, but we’re not able to get the credit under the current law,” Carlen says, adding that Tacoma Power estimates up to $9.6 million in savings over the next 15 years if it receives credits. Time for family During legislative sessions, Magendanz often puts in 12-hour days, and it’s not uncommon to see him at the office for additional committee meetings on Saturday evenings. Legislators were paid $42,106 last year, an amount adopted by an independent citizens’ salary commis-
sion. After listening to several hours of testimony in various meetings, Magendanz is taking a bit of personal time. He rents space in a Lacey home during the week, and then heads back to Issaquah for family time on the weekends. However, on this particular Tuesday, he’s making the drive north to watch his oldest son, Quinn, assume command of Liberty High School’s Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps unit. After graduating this spring, Quinn plans to join the U.S. Navy. It’s surely a point of pride for his father, who served as a Naval officer for 12 years, before settling in Issaquah and landing with Microsoft as a software developer. With Quinn and younger son Duncan likely leaving home within the next few years, Magendanz says he expects his commitment to state politics to grow, but he doesn’t express any aspirations beyond becoming chairman of the House education committee. His whirling dervish act is something he has taken many years to perfect. “Having spent so much time advocating for education in Olympia before being elected, I was pretty well-prepared for life as a legislator,” he says. “I enjoy the hectic pace and the fact that there’s always so much more to learn, but I was particularly lucky that I arrived with skills and experience that were highly valued in my caucus.”
ISSAQUAH LIVING 46
Wineries
Local vintners want you to stop and smell the rosĂŠ
ISSAQUAH LIVING 47
By Greg Farrar
Above, Rod and Dona Ahrens, Issaquah residents and owners of Twin Cedars Winery, stand with cases of wines in the tasting room next to the home on their Tiger Mountain property. Below, the 2009 Merlot and the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon were two big medal-winners at the 2011 Tri-Cities Wine Festival for Twin Cedars Winery. By Tom Corrigan Of two well-known local wineries, one slowly is making its way out of business, while another continues to grow, only recently adding a wine club and still offering a successful tasting room. But even if the Tiger Mountain and Twin Cedars wineries are headed in two directions, they started out in similar ways. “I’d always liked wine,” said John Girt, of Tiger Mountain Winery. “But I never had really thought about making it.” Like Girt, Rod Ahrens, of Twin Cedars Winery, was a wine fan. And one day, while sipping a vintage, he said he just wondered out loud how hard it would be to make his own. “I really wanted to find out what it would be like,” Ahrens said.
On the web Tiger Mountain Vineyards q tigermountainwinery.com q 562-4205 Twin Cedars Winery q twincedarswinery.com q 392-0453 “We just really took it slow,” Ahrens’ wife Dona added. Rod Ahrens and Girt eventually made up their first vintages and had enough positive responses to give it another go. For the Ahrenses, the first batch was 30 gallons of merlot made in 2007. “He got a lot of compliments on it,” Dona said.
ISSAQUAH LIVING 48
By Greg Farrar
Above, John Girt and his wife Tracy Maher, owners of Tiger Mountain Winery, stand among some of the French oak barrels in 2008 that took up most of the garage space of their South Cove home. Below, bubblers let fermentation gas out and keep air from reaching the wine. Skills differ Today, housed in a small building near their home at the base of Tiger Mountain, Twin Cedars Winery boasts 19 production barrels and produces some 320 to 350 cases of wine yearly. The name comes from the two large cedar trees that sit right in front of the home that Rod Ahrens, a retired carpenter, built himself. He said he intended to use the name Tiger Mountain for his wine, but discovered that was already taken. And as it turned out, he and his wife really like the Twin Cedars name, in any case. For his part, Girt has pulled back from wine making, brewing his last vintage in 2012, though it aged in barrels until the following year. He used to work from his garage, but he said the time had come to move on to a better facility or give up the grape. In the end, Girt and wife Tracy
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ISSAQUAH LIVING 50
These two large cedar trees sit right in front of the Tiger Mountain home that Rod Ahrens, a retired carpenter, built himself. They also inspired the name of the Twin Cedars Winery. By Greg Farrar
ISSAQUAH LIVING 51 Maher decided they would invest in their retirement and travel rather than expanding the winery. Many grape factors While Girt learned his winemaking skills largely on his own and from volunteering with a winery in Woodinville, Rod Ahrens completed the two-year Northwest Wine Academy, an evening program held at South Seattle Community College. So, what does it take to make wine and how does one go about creating the many different varieties of wine possible? The first ingredient is, of course, grapes. Girt and the Ahrens said obtaining good fruit is vital and they quickly can rattle off short lists of their favorite vineyards. And, as wine fans undoubtedly know, it’s not just the type of grape used that determines what type of wine is produced. When the grapes are harvested, the weather that year and numerous other factors all play a part.
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By Greg Farrar
Wine paraphernalia and a price sign adorn the Twin Cedars Winery tasting room on Tiger Mountain. Once the hundreds of pounds of fruit arrive, crushing and destemming grapes becomes a huge
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ISSAQUAH LIVING 52 Girt jokingly complains his daughter Kitty once had the gall to be pregnant with twins at exactly the wrong time for wine making. “I told her, ‘If you’re going to have kids, plan it around harvest time,’” he said. The crushed grapes are split into unfermented juice, also known as must. The latter includes some juice and grape skins. Those skins are what give red wines their color. If red wine is the goal, the must is put through a wine press; otherwise, it is often discarded. As the process continues, yeast is added to the juice or processed must and the liquid begins to bubble and ferment. The bubbling liquid is stored in barrels of various types for various amounts of time. By Greg Farrar
John Girt talks about the pleasure he has enjoyed in the years he produced his Tiger Mountain Winery vintages from the garage of his South Cove home.
Barrels matter, too As you might expect, the type of barrel used and the length of time the wine is allowed to age help determine the type and flavor of the wine. On his website, Girt talks about trying different kinds of barrels for a cer-
tain type of wine before settling on an American oak barrel with French oak barrel heads. One key is to keep air out of the barrels as the wine ages. The tops of Ahrens’ barrels are equipped with bubblers. The devices allow carbon dioxide given off by the wine to escape while not letting in any oxygen. “When you first put the wine in, they are popping like a percolator,” he said. As the wine process continues, he talked about watching the sugar content, the PH, and numerous other factors that all play into the final taste of the wine. Girt said he has about 100 cases of his wine left, and he still travels to tastings and events, such as Issaquah’s recent downtown Wine Walk. Thanks to Twin Cedars’ new wine club and the tasting room, Ahrens said his wine is at least paying its own bills. “I never was under any illusions we were going to make a lot of money,” he said.
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ACTIVITIES AND RECREATION Sammamish Family YMCA ............ 425.391.4840 4221 228th Ave SE, Sammamish City Church Campus We’re for youth development, healthy living and social responsibility. www.seattleymca.org APARTMENTS - LUXURY Bentley House............................... 425.505.3792 2700 NW Pine Cone Drive, Issaquah The residences at Bentley House were built with custom finishes and appliances that will exceed your expectations. www.bentleyhouseliving.com ARTS AND CRAFTS Gossypium Quilt ...........................425-557-7878 355 NW Gilman Blvd #102 Issaquah, WA 98027 Custom quilting and home decor www.gossypiumquilt.com ASSISTED LIVING/SENIOR CARE Era Living University House .......... 425.654.1485 22975 SE Black Nugget Road; Issaquah www.eraliving.com Red Oak ....................................... 425.888.7108 Quality Service • Quality Care Trained Staff • Spacious Apartments www.redoakresidence.com Regency Newcastle ..................... 425.453.1508 7454 Newcastle Golf Club Rd, Newcastle www.regencynewcastle.com ATTORNEYS Beth A. McDaniel ......................... 425.251.8880 Elder Law, Medicaid, Guardianship, Probate and Trust Administration Law Firm offering Championship Service with a quality outcome. mustangholt@yahoo.com www.bethmcdaniel.com O’Brien, Barton, Joe & Hopkins, PLLC ..................... 425.391.7427 175 NE Gilman Boulevard, Issaquah Criminal Defense • Personal Injury • Family Law Wills • Estate Tax Planning • Probate Real Estate Transactions • Traffic Tickets www.obrienlawfirm.net R. M. Holt, Inc. P.S. ....................... 425.392.5335 195 NE Gilman Blvd. Issaquah Estate Planning – Probate –Business Entities – Insurance Claims mustangholt@yahoo.com www.holtlawwa.com AUTO REPAIR Klahanie Service Center ............... 425.313.3057 4598 Klahanie Dr SE, Issaquah Auto Repair • Chevron fuel www.klahanieservicecenter.com Morgan Motors ............................ 425.391.3600 Voted Best Auto Repair 9 years running. Free Loaner Available info@expertautocare.com www.expertautocare.com The Taj Collision Center ................ 425.557.7993 60 NW Gilman Blvd, Issaquah, WA 98027 http://www.tajcollisioncenter.com/
BANKS/FINANCIAL PLANNERS Lilian Bergsma .............................. 425.922.6855 Coldwell Banker Bain Broker, Realtor® Residential and Relocation Specialist Certified International Property Specialist, CIPS 8862 161st Ave NE Ste 103 Redmond, WA 98052 www.bergsma.net CANINE TRAINING Riverdog Canine Coaching ........... 425.427.5958 info@riverdogk9.com www.riverdogk9.com CHIROPRACTOR Alpine Chiropractic ..................... 425.888.6846 118 Downing Ave N, North Bend Chiropractic services and therapeutic massage www.alpinechiropracticcenter.com DANCE INSTRUCTION Dance with Miss Sue ................... 425.443.5737 21333 SE 20th, Sammamish Ballet • Tap • Tumbling • for ages 3 to 7 Pine Lake Community Center DENTISTS First Impressions Dental Care Dr. Ron Sherman DDS ................... 425.391.4964 5825 221st Place SE, Suite 100, Issaquah General & Cosmetic Dentistry for Adults and Children frontdesk@drronsherman.com www.drronsherman.com DENTISTS - PEDIATRIC Eastside Pediatric Dental Group... 425.392.4048 185 NE Gilman Blvd., Issaquah www.eastsidepediatricdentalgroup.com DOG TRAINING/DAYCARE Riverdog Canine Coaching .......... 425.427.5958 Positive, balanced training for your dog Classes • Daycare • Training C.A.M.P. Puppy Programs • Problem Solving • Shampooch FITNESS/HEALTH Issaquah Jazzercise ...................... 425.985.9652 301 Rainier Blvd S., Issaquah jcls.jazzercise.com/facility/jazzercise-issaquahcommunity-center issaquahjazzercise@gmail.com FLORISTS Down to Earth Flowers & Gifts .... 425.831.1772 8096 Railroad Avenue, Snoqualmie, WA 98065 http://www.myfsn.com/downtoearth/ GLASS Issaquah Glass .............................. 425.392.5333 30200 SE 79th Street, #30, Issaquah 800.562.8292 (Exit 22 off I-90 at Preston Business Park) Professional glass replacement and repair. Serving Issaquah since 1945 HAIR SALONS Acacia Hair Salon......................... 425.396.7036 7721 Center Blvd SE, Snoqualmie A full-service professional salon offering hair services and facial waxing. www.acaciahairsalon.com
HOME AND GARDEN King and Bunnys..............................425.277.0600 4608 Northeast Sunset Boulevard, Renton, WA 98059 http://www.kingandbunnys.com/ HOME IMPROVEMENT Bellevue Paint and Decorating .... 425.454.7509 13120 NE Bel-Red Rd, Bellevue, WA 98005 Sammamish ................................. 425.836.5484 612 228th Avenue NE Sammamish, WA 98074 www.bellevuepaint.benmoorepaints.com MM Comfort Systems .................. 425.318.4900 18103 N.E. 68th, Redmond Heating, Air Conditioning, Water Heaters, Energy Audits and Indoor Air Quality. Celebrating 35 years of service. Comfort and Efficiency from Friendly Experts. www.mmcomfortsystems.com Chapin Painting ...........................425-888-2496 Interior and exterior painting. Exceptional, prompt and courteous service. Free estimates. Since 1983. HORSEBACK RIDING Red Gate Farm Day Camp ............ 425.392.0111 Summer Camp Riding Lessons • Winter/Spring/Fall Sammamish Plateau www.redgatefarmdaycamp.com HOTELS/MOTELS Holiday Inn .................................. 425.392.6421 1801 12th Ave NW, Issaquah www.ihg.com/holidayinn/hotels/us/en/issaquah/ seaiq/hoteldetail INSURANCE State Farm Insurance – Issaquah .. 425.391.7377 240 NW Gilman Blvd Ste 3, Issaquah www.kathyjohnsoninsurance.com JEWELERS Nault Jewelers ............................. 425.391.9270 1175 NW Gilman Blvd, Issaquah Best of Issaquah • 15 years! Town & Country Square LIQUOR AND TOBACCO Capco Beverages .............................425.313.1817 1175 NW Gilman Blvd. Issaquah Liquor store featuring over 2,300 different liquors. Very large selection of scotch, bourbon, minis, liquors and wines from local distillers. capcobevisq@comcast.net www. capcobeverages.com
LUMBER Issaquah Cedar & Lumber ..............425.392.3631 5728 East Lake Sammamish Parkway S.E. One of a kind for more than a century! www.cedarexperts.com MEAT & SEAFOOD MARKETS Fischer Meats .............................. 425.391.1365 85 Front St. N, Issaquah .....................425.392.3131 Choice Meats and the Freshest Seafood! www.fischermeatsnw.com
MEDICAL/HEALTH SERVICES Balance Physical Therapy Inc. .......425.391.6794 730 NW Gilman Blvd Ste C-108 Restore strength & balance to your body www.balancept.org Bellevue Ear Nose & Throat. .........425.454.3938 510 8th Ave NE #300, Issaquah We are a premier group of ENT physicians with locations in Bellevue and Issaquah. www.bellevueent.com Overlake Medical Center ............. 425.688.5488 Issaquah ....................................... 425.688.5777 5708 E. Lake Sammamish Pkwy. SE, Issaquah Overlake Med — We Think About You. Primary Care & Urgent Care Clinic www.overlakehospital.org/services/medical-clinics/ MEETING SPACES / BANQUET HALLS Pine Lake Community Club ........... 425.392.2313 Rent for Parties, Meetings, ................425.392.4041 Weddings & Receptions MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS Henry Bischofberger ......................425.822.0717 Violins, LLC 5807 114th Ave NE, Kirkland Violin, viola, cello and bow sales in all price ranges, expert instrument restoration, appraisal and repair, and well-crafted, high quality rental instruments. henry@hkbviolins.com www.hkbviolins.com NEWSPAPERS Newcastle News .......................... 425.392.6434 Serving Newcastle since 1999 www.newcastle-news.com Sammamish Review ..................... 425.392.6434
Founded in 1992
www.sammamishreview.com Snovalley Star .............................. 425.392.6434 Serving Snoqualmie Valley and North Bend since 2008 www.snovalleystar.com The Issaquah Press .........................425.392.6434 Founded in 1900 www.issaquahpress.com NUDIST PARKS Fraternity Snoqualmie ..... 425-392-NUDE (6833) Family Nudist Park 24050 SE 127th, Issaquah FS is a 40-acre family nudist park nestled on the side of Tiger Mountain three miles outside Issaquah, owned and run by its members since 1945. pr@fraternitysnoqualmie.com www.fraternitysnoqualmie.com NURSING FACILITIES Providence Marianwood ............. 425.391.2800 3725 Providence Point Dr. SE, Issaquah WA 98029 Offering skilled nursing and rehabilitation in a tranquil setting on the Sammamish Plateau. ORTHODONTISTS Sammamish Orthodontics ........... 425.369.0366 336 228th Ave NE, Ste 300, Sammamish Highest quality orthodontics www.sammamishortho.com
PICTURE FRAMING Phoenix Art Restoration ............... 425.677.8789 & Custom Framing 317 NW Gilman Blvd #33, Issaquah Custom framing, fine art and object restoration.The only independent frame shop in the Issaquah area. ray@phoenixartrestoration.com www.phoenixartrestoration.com PLASTIC SURGEONS Lake Washington Facial Plastic .... 425.454.3938 Surgery and Skin Rejuvenation Center 510 8th Ave NE. Suite 300, Issaquah Providing the most advanced care in the Northwest for facial rejuvenation. www.lakewashingtonfacial.com PLUMBING Schuerman Plumbing .....................425.392.2850 Owned/Operated since 1979. Serving Issaquah,Bellevue,Sammamish, Snoqualmie Ridge. Repair • Faucet • Sink • Water Heater • Remodel schuerman@comcast.net www.schuermanplumbing.com REAL ESTATE Cindy Hamman, CRS .................... 425.442.4942 Remax/Integrity ........................... 206.631.1066 Managing Broker, Realtor 371 NE Gilman Blvd., Suite 160, Issaquah Specializing in Buyers and Sellers in the Issaquah/ Sammamish area. cindyhamman@remax.net www.hammanhomes.com RESTAURANTS/BARS Tutta Bella Neapolitan ...................425.391.6838 Pizzaria – Issaquah 715 NW Gilman Blvd., Issaquah The Northwest’s first celebrated authentic Neapolitan pizzeria. www.tuttabella.com/issaquah Montalcino Ristorante Italiano ..425.270.3677 15 NW Alder Place, Issaquah www.montalcinoristoranteitalino.talkspot.com/Home RETIREMENT LIVING Era Living University House ..........425.654.1485 22975 SE Black Nugget Road, Issaquah Perhaps Issaquah’s best kept secret. Senior living, beyond your expectations. www.eraliving.com RV PARKS Issaquah Village RV Park ............. 425.392.9233 50 1st Ave NE, Issaquah 4 Star Rated. 60 full hookup sites. Clean friendly atmosphere. Approved by Big Rigs Best Bets – Reservations recommended. SCHOOLS Cougar Mountain Academy ..........425.641.2800 For Children with High Expectations Grades Pre-K-5 www.cougarmountainacademy.org Forest Ridge School .......................425.641.0700 of the Sacred Heart 4800 139th Ave SE, Bellevue All-girls, Catholic, private Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart has served the Puget Sound area since 1907. www.forestridge.org
Hillside Academy ..............................425.844.8608 26423 NE Allen St., Duvall Hillside is a private Christian school that cultivates future innovators through a project-based learning approach emphasizing academics, problem solving, creativity, social skills, faith and character development. www.hillsideacademyduvall.com In The Beginning ................ 425.392.0123, ext. 3 Preschool 3924 Issaquah Pine Lake Road, Issaquah Nurturing and educating with Christian values from ages 20 months – 5 years old. inthebeginning@faithunited.org www.inthe beginningpreschool.org Sammamish Childrens’ School .....425.313.9000 207 228th Ave SE, Sammamish Nurturing children & enriching families www.sammamishschool.com Sammamish Spanish Preschool ... 425.836.0212 22809 NE 25th Way, Sammamish ......425.898.7831 We love to teach and we teach with love. www.sammamishspanishpreschool.com Snoqualmie Springs School ..........425.392.1196 25237 SE Issaquah-Fall City Rd Pre-K – 2nd Grade Foundation Education www.snosprings.com The Bear Creek School ..................425.898.1720 8905 208th Ave NE, Redmond A leader in classical education in the Pacific Northwest for grades Preschool – 12. www.tbcs.org THEATRES Village Theatre ...............................425.392.2202 303 Front Street N, Issaquah Box Office Hours: Tue-Sat 11am-7pm www.villagetheatre.org/issaquah VETERINARIANS VCA Animal Hospital ......................425.392.8888 888 NW Sammamish Rd, Issaquah Primary, urgent and emergency care www.vcaalpinewa.com WINDOW AND GUTTER CLEANING GHB Window Cleaning ...................425.250.1044 Services Inc. 12356 Northup Way #112, Bellevue office@ghbwindows.com www.ghbwindowcleaning.com ZOOS Cougar Mountain Zoo ...................425.391.5508 19525 SE 54th off Newport Way Threatened and endangered species; unique teaching zoo. www.cougarmountainzoo.org