Mountain bikers win Port Gamble competition Page 8
Your locally owned newspaper, serving North Bend and Snoqualmie, Washington April 16, 2015
Tow truck procession to honor Dennis Todd
Open house showcases new Valley hospital By Sherry Grindeland Like a bride, the new Snoqualmie Valley Hospital has something old, something new and something blue. The community will get a chance to look at the new, old and blue during an open house from noon to 4 p.m. April 19. The preview is just that — there are still finishing details and inspections to be completed before patients will be moved into the 70,000-squarefoot building May 6. The new is everywhere — from the latest technology to a fresh logo, from sparkling patient rooms to thoughtfully planned therapy spaces. The old will be the things the hospital does best — the patient care and the swing bed program that has drawn rave reviews from around the Northwest. The blue is both old and new. The stained-glass window in the chapel, a small room on the east side of the two-story building, is mostly blue in color. For many years, this stained-glass window was a focal point in the chapel in the old hospital. Artists Robert and Jill Hill designed and created it in 1985. The community raised the $13,000 the window cost. A couple of sections of the stained glass were damaged over the next decade or so. Then, the old hospital outgrew its space. The chapel gave way to the demand for more patient care space and was turned into an operating room. The window
By Greg Farrar
Above, an archway welcomes visitors and patients to the Snoqualmie Valley Hospital building, which will have an open house for the public April 19 at Southeast 99th Street off of Snoqualmie Parkway. Below, artist Robert Hill and his wife Jill (not pictured) created this stained-glass window in 1985. The window was in the old hospital. It was repaired and moved to the new building last month.
If you go Snoqualmie Valley Hospital Community Open House ❑ Noon to 4 p.m. April 19 ❑ 9801 Frontier Ave. S.E., Snoqualmie ❑ Prizes, tours, giveaways and family activities ❑ 831-2300 ❑ www.snoqualmiehospital.org.
By Jill Green/Snoqualmie Valley Hospital
See HOSPITAL, Page 6
Park free at state parks on Earth Day
The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission is offering a free parks day on April 22, Earth Day. Visitors will not need to display a Discover Pass for day-use visits to state parks then. Free days are in keeping
with legislation that created the Discover Pass, a $30 annual or $10 one-day permit required on recreation lands managed by Washington State Parks, the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife and the state Department of Natural Resources.
The Discover Pass legislation provided that State Parks could designate up to 12 free days each year when the pass would not be required to visit state parks. A Discover Pass is required to access WDFW and DNR Lands on State Parks free days.
A procession of tow trucks will drive through North Bend and Snoqualmie between 1 and 2 p.m. April 18 in honor of Dennis Todd. Todd, who owned and operated Todd’s Towing, died March 16. About 60 tow trucks will gather at the Washington State Patrol scales at the intersection of Interstate 90 and state Route 18 at 12:45 p.m. The trucks will drive east to Snoqualmie Pass, where they will turn around. They will head west to exit 34 by Truck Town and proceed west on North Bend Way. The drivers will turn at Bendigo Boulevard and drive into downtown Snoqualmie for the 2 p.m. memorial service at the Snoqualmie Eagles Club. Snoqualmie police officers will direct traffic at the intersection of North Bend Way and Bendigo Boulevard and again at Meadowbrook and Highway 202. “Dennis Todd was a longtime supporter of law enforcement and always willing to lend a hand when needed,” Snoqualmie Police Chief Steve McCulley said. McCulley recalled that when he was a new Washington State Patrol sergeant assigned to the North Bend and Snoqualmie Pass area in the early 1990s, Todd was so dependable that even heavy snowstorms couldn’t keep him away when he was needed at collision sites. “He will definitely be missed by Valley residents,” McCulley said. Staff from the Washington State Department of Transportation will also assist with traffic control during the procession and be stationed near the freeway exits. Prsrt Std U.S. Postage PAID Kent, WA Permit No. 71 POSTAL CUSTOMER