The IssaquahPress
Section
B
Community
Wednesday February 26, 2014
MYSTIFYING MAGIC
King County conservation program honors local schools
Magician Jeff Evans conjures up illusions for a captivated audience
Above, Cameron Aaselund, a Cougar Ridge Elementary School third-grade student, is surprised to discover that while peanut butter and jelly jars moved between two tables, they turned two plain slices of bread in his bag into a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Photos by Greg Farrar
Magician Jeff Evans shows giant playing cards to his young sitting-room-only audience and puts in a plug for library cards as well, during his free Amazement Magic Show Feb. 11 at the Issaquah Library. At right, Kate Johnson, 9, of Maple Valley, is astonished when the paper napkin she tore into pieces and wadded into a ball is whole again when she unwraps it.
SLIDESHOW Find more photos from magician Jeff Evans’ performance at www.issaquahpress.com.
Above, Abigail Barquist, 7, and Evans can’t seem to find her card in his shuffled deck, both oblivious that he is holding in his teeth the card she marked. At right, Vincent Liew, of Sammamish, securely ties Evans’ wrists and legs to a chair, but within five seconds behind a curtain, the magician escapes.
Next best in show
Association for Catholic Childhood hosts online fundraising auction
Local dogs bring home top prizes from Westminster show By David Hayes dhayes@isspress.com To quote a famous Highlander, “There can be only one.” For the Westminster Kennel Club’s 138th annual dog show Feb. 10-11, that one Best in Show was Sky, a wire fox terrier. But that doesn’t mean Westminster didn’t have plenty of other awards to hand out, especially to three local dogs. The two Norwegian buhunds entered by Vali Eberhardt and John Bradstreet, of Sammamish, walked away with “Best Opposite Sex,” for the male Chewie, and “Select” for Binna, essentially a second place for the females in the breed. Eberhardt said that prior success unfortunately played no part for Binna — she is the reigning AKC grand champion for Norwegian buhunds — at this year’s Westminster. Eberhardt has been showing the rare breed since 2007, when she and her husband started showing Binna’s grandparents in Canada, where they established their own pedigree, winning Canadian championships. Many shows under their collars Eberhardt said many people have hardly heard of the herding dog that rarely makes it to family
dog status. “These types of dogs really need to be out running on a farm,” she said. “They’re originally used herding sheep in Norway.” Binna actually lives in Monroe with her handler, Amy McLaughlin. Eberhardt said the living situation is ideal for both parties, as McLaughlin helps train Binna while Binna works as a sort of service dog for Amy’s mom, who is handicapped and can’t see. Back in Sammamish, Eberhardt lives with Chewie and Binna’s sister, Bergitta, whose official name is CH Jotunn Gnipa Bergitta. Eberhardt said they had planned to enter Bergitta at Westminster, but a last-minute scheduling conflict got in the way. Her husband, Bradstreet, is the one who handles Chewie, full name Jotunn Cheval Bayard, at shows. “But he likes entering the agility competitions more,” Eberhardt said. They enter the dogs at least once a month, with Binna having accumulated the most success at 24 placements. Last week, Binna — whose show name is GCH Jotunn Bella Binna — was already off to another competition in Canada, while Chewie and Bergitta were off to another in Oregon. Although Binna and Chewie came away with ribbons, it was another dog
Seven King County schools, including four from the Issaquah School District, were recognized this month by the county’s Green Schools Program for having successful conservation practices. Students and staff at the seven schools embraced waste reduction, recycling and other conservation actions, program manager Dale Alekel said in a news release. Three Issaquah elementary schools — Cascade Ridge, Challenger and Endeavour — were given Level 2 recognition for energy conservation, waste reduction and recycling practices. Pine Lake Middle School was the lone Level 3 honoree, which includes water and energy conservation, waste reduction and recycling. Pine Lake received a rainwater collections and drip irrigation system for its gardens from Cascade Water Alliance. In addition, the school promoted water conservation practices through signs and announcements, and achieved a 75-percent recycling rate. Cascade Ridge, which has decreased its energy use every year since 2010, incorporates energy conservation lessons into its fifth-grade curriculum. Challenger has designated “Power Rangers,” students who are responsible for turning off classroom lights and computers at the end of the day and when rooms are unoccupied. Endeavour staff members have been saving energy by using natural light as much as possible, and by turning off computers at the end of each day.
By Jack Grassa
Irish water spaniel GCH MBIS BISS Whistlestop’s Riley On Fire won first place in the Sporting Group and competed for Best in Show. that nearly stole the show. Riley takes two top categories Riley, an Irish water spaniel, co-owned by Tom and Bethany Urban, of Issaquah, was in the final group, having already won Best in Breed and Best in Sporting Group, that finished in the top five overall. It was quite the finish to a whirlwind two years for the Urbans and Riley. What began as a pet companion for their daughter Madeline ended up as the most decorated Irish water spaniel in history. “For us, we’ve done in four years what most people do in a lifetime,” Bethany Urban said. Before 2009, added Tom Urban, the closest they’d ever gotten to the WestSee DOG
SHOW, Page B6
The Association for Catholic Childhood has kicked off an auction of a number of fun and unique items in its annual fundraiser Labor of Love Auction. The auction, which runs through 7:59 p.m. March 2, benefits many programs for children in need in Western Washington, from Bellingham to Aberdeen. Cash donations are taxdeductible. The Association for Catholic Childhood, a volunteer organization, provides funding and advocacy for Western Washington children and families in need, regardless of race or creed. Learn more at http://bit. ly/1hChe1T.
OPENING THE ARCHIVES AN ONGOING LOOK AT MEMORABLE IMAGES FROM ISSAQUAH’S PAST
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Opening of Snoqualmie Pass p54, #81 Arcadia book caption: The trip [that the Tibbetts and Goode Families took to Florida in 1916] was probably a triumphal march as much as it was a family visit. George W. Tibbetts drafted the bill for a Snoqualmie Pass highway and pushed it through the state Legislature. The resulting gravel highway was the first to cross the Cascades. This postcard commemorates its opening in 1915. With the opening of the pass, Issaquah became a landmark on the path through the Cascades.
The Issaquah History Museums take requests regarding what people would like to see in the Digital Collection. Roughly quarterly, volunteers have a data-entry day and prep a bunch of records for upload. If there is a particular name, place or item you’d like to see more images of on the website, email Erica Maniez at erica. maniez@issaquahhistory. org. If you have a photo or subject you would like to see in this feature, email editor@ isspress.com.
The IssaquahPress
Sports
B4
Wednesday February 26, 2014
By Greg Farrar
The Issaquah High School swim team, including coach Laura Halter (center) jumps, claps and yells as the team is given second place in state 3A with a score of 171 points.
EAGLES SOAR TO RECORD HEIGHTS Issaquah takes second at state swim meet behind win in 200-relay By Christina Corrales-Toy newcastle@isspress.com Four members of the Issaquah High School swim team approached coach Laura Halter at the beginning of the season and told her they were going to do something special this year. Gabe Florsheim, Ben Nussbaum, Henry Pratt and Jason Klein informed her that they would
win the state’s 200-yard medley relay, and they’d do it in dramatic fashion. “We looked at what the times were, what the record was, and we figured, why couldn’t we do it?” Pratt said. “Why not us?” Even with the advanced warning, Halter was overcome with emotion when her boys did win it at the 4A state swimming championship Feb. 22 at Federal Way’s King County Aquatic Center. They even broke the meet record, swimming the race in an All-America consideration time of 1 minute, 35.91 seconds. “When I saw their time, I fell down and started crying because
I was so proud of them,” a tearyeyed Halter said. The race, the first one of the day, was quite the way to kick off the meet, Halter said, but it would only get better from there. The Eagles rode that momentum for the rest of the tournament, culminating with a final spot on the podium as the state’s secondplace team. Issaquah came in fourth at last year’s meet, and this year finished just behind conference foe Newport. “I wouldn’t want to lose to any other team besides Newport,” Nussbaum said. “Most of the guys on our team that swim year round
train with those guys. We’ve basically grown up together.” After the 200-medley relay, the Eagles didn’t win another race. It was the top-to-bottom depth that ultimately set the team apart. Issaquah earned a pair of second-place finishes in the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 100-yard butterfly. Nussbaum, Florsheim, Pratt and Klein combined again for the second-place relay finish in 1:28.08. Florsheim also won an individual medal with his second-place performance in the butterfly. See SWIMMERS, Page B5
State titles elude local wrestlers Eagle Torre Eaton’s third-place finish is top local medalist
By Neil Pierson npierson@ sammamishreview.com
By Greg Farrar
Tyler Gibson, Issaquah High School junior guard, goes up to score two of his 17 points as Garfield senior guard Deeshawn Tucker defends, late in the fourth quarter of the Eagles’ 65-83 KingCo 4A championship loss Feb. 21.
Garfield ‘tornado’ blows away Issaquah, 83-65 By David Hayes dhayes@isspress.com The Issaquah High School boys basketball team had hoped things would turn out differently than 2012, when they last played for the KingCo title against Garfield.
In front of a packed gym Feb. 21 at Juanita High School, KingCo’s two top squads were set to decide the rubber match. Unfortunately, like two years ago, it was all GarSee BASKETBALL, Page B5
For Issaquah High School senior Torre Eaton, his final trip to the Mat Classic state wrestling championships was an historic one. Eaton had made two previous trips to the state tournament, but had yet to earn a medal as a topeight finisher. He flipped that script last weekend, earning the third-place medal at 113 pounds in Class 4A, and he wound up being the only medalist among Issaquah’s four qualifiers to Mat Classic XXVI, held Feb. 21-22 at the Tacoma Dome. Among the highlights of Eaton’s tournament was a thrilling, tripleovertime victory over Moses Lake sophomore Jose Garcia in the quarterfinals. Eaton trailed 2-1 entering the third period, but earned an escape with a minute left to send the match to extra time. Both wrestlers nearly got the winning takedown in the first overtime, but their strategies changed after that. Eaton escaped in the second OT, and Garcia followed suit to tie the score, 3-3. In the third OT, though, Garcia couldn’t get loose from the bottom position, and that gave Eaton the win and a berth in the state semifinals. Eaton hadn’t trailed much this season, but did it quite a bit as a junior, he said after beating Garcia. “It made me learn how to fight, because I didn’t have a really great record last year,” he said. “I had a good record, but never placed in state. I worked my butt off, and now
By Greg Farrar
Torre Eaton (right), Issaquah High School senior, lifts Yelm sophomore Thomas Munoz off the mat as he works to get control in his first-round, 113-pound match Feb. 21 in the 4A state wrestling tournament at the Tacoma Dome. Eaton won the match, 5-2, and finished third at his weight in Mat Classic XXVI. I’m going to place in state, and it’s amazing.” In the semifinals, Eaton lost 7-0 to Lake Stevens sophomore Michael Soler, who went on to win the championship.
But Eaton didn’t falter again. In the consolation bracket, he pinned Central Kitsap’s Josh Criollos and See WRESTLING, Page B5