Storyteller keeps tradition alive
Issaquah man celebrates rare leap year birthday
Issaquah boys basketball bows out of regionals Sports,
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Grape Escape returns
Community,
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THE ISSAQUAH PRESS
Wednesday, February 29, 2012 • Vol. 113, No. 9
Locally owned since 1900 • 75 Cents
SPECIAL DELIVERY
City, chamber of commerce honor innovators
Issaquah chef prepares pizza for president to eat aboard Air Force One By Warren Kagarise Issaquah Press reporter The unusual delivery order originated far from the Tutta Bella Neapolitan Pizzeria restaurants in Issaquah and Seattle — 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, D.C. The call from the White House to restaurant founder Joe Fugere occurred late Feb. 15, days before President Barack Obama left the capital for a fundraising jaunt to the West Coast. The tight deadline left Fugere and the Tutta Bella team less than 72 hours to overcome culinary, logistical and security challenges to deliver 40 pizzas to Air Force One. North Bend resident Michael Cisneros, a chef at the Issaquah restaurant, and other Tutta Bella chefs prepared the pizzas for Obama in a loaned outdoor oven beneath a tent on the Paine Field tarmac. “‘The president won’t be able to stop at Tutta Bella, but if you can bring Tutta Bella to the president, we’ll make it happen,’” Fugere recalled from the White House call. The team decided to use a 4,000-pound oven at Paine Field to ensure the pizzas reached the president as crisp as possible — rather than after a 30-minute trip from Seattle to Everett. The setup to cook for the customer-in-chief posed hurdles to Fugere, Cisneros and the other chefs. “We’ve been making pizzas for years now, and when it comes to the execution of the pizzas, so long as you’ve got your dough right and the oven temperature right and you’ve got all your ingredients there, we all have the skills to make pizzas quickly,” Cisneros said. “Whether it be inside or outside, it’s the same technique.” The plans for the special delivery started to coalesce Feb. 16. Fugere set up a command post at the original Tutta Bella in Columbia City to create a menu and address the logistics. Joyce Morinaka, director of operations for Tutta Bella, did some research and learned Obama is keen on spicy foods. Executive Chef Brian Gojdics created a pizza using local ingredients — pickled peppers from Seattle-based Mama Lil’s and sausage from Seattle-based
By Warren Kagarise Issaquah Press reporter
COMING SOON
The most innovative businesses in Issaquah manufacture fasteners for airliners, use technology to treat autism, and rely on a tiny-but-talented staff to create slick productions. Issaquah Chamber of Commerce announced the Innovation in Issaquah honorees — Marketing Masters, Lakeside Center for Autism and Impact Studio Pro — at a Feb. 22 ceremony and luncheon. The carbon-neutral community zHome also received a nod as the most innovative public-private partnership. The city spearheaded the 10-unit townhouse development from concept to completion. Leaders from the chamber and City Hall recognized the entrepreneurs’ accomplishments through the Innovation in Issaquah contest, a showcase for local businesses offering unique services. Honorees demonstrate innovation in product development, services, systems or strategies. Before the chamber and city announced the honorees, outgoing chamber Chairwoman Kristi Tripple said the contest presented a chance for Issaquah leaders to focus on accomplishments rather than economic doom and gloom. The top choices in the contest represented a broad cross-section of businesses in Issaquah. Organizers considered more than
PHOTOS BY TOM SCHABARUM
Above, Michael Cisneros (left) and Dan Piecora Jr. prepare pizzas on the Paine Field tarmac. Above right, Michael Cisneros (clockwise from left), Dan Piecora Jr., Brian Gojdics, Joe Fugere and Emily Resling stand on the steps of Air Force One. At right, Il Presidente, a pizza created for President Barack Obama, is slid into the oven. Below, Mini Coopers line up near Air Force One to deliver 40 pizzas to the president and White House staffers.
Starting March 7, The Issaquah Press will feature the top businesses in the Innovation in Issaquah contest — Marketing Masters, Lakeside Center for Autism and Impact Studio Pro — in a three-part series called Issaquah Innovators.
30 nominees for the honors. “I’m glad I didn’t serve on the committee to have to select these award winners, because it must have been tough,” City Administrator Bob Harrison said. The chamber announced the 2012 honorees before a crowd of more than 100 business and government leaders during a luncheon at Holiday Inn – Issaquah. The honoree in the large business category, Marketing Masters, creates composite fasteners for Boeing and Airbus planes at a facility in the Issaquah business district. “They provide the fundamental building blocks — the fasteners in every single Boeing and Airbus airplane,” Harrison said at the ceremony. “So, in short, what’s manufactured in Issaquah each day in a small light manufacturing facility See INNOVATORS, Page A5
Community disaster response training is available Registration is open for Community Emergency Response Team training in Issaquah. CERT training is designed to prepare residents to help family members and neighbors during a catastrophic disaster. The training is important because professional emergency services personnel cannot help everybody immediately, so citizens can use CERT training to protect and save lives. CERT courses include disaster
See PIZZA, Page A6
USA Today spotlights Issaquah Alps trails Issaquah Alps peaks and trails garnered national attention Feb. 21 after USA Today featured the Eastside mountains in a travel piece. The feature outlines trails and points of interest on Cougar, Squak and Tiger mountains — including the long-defunct Nike Ajax missile installation on Cougar Mountain and the paraglider launch site on Tiger Mountain. “Hiking through Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park, on to Squak Mountain State Park Natural Area and into Tiger Mountain State Forest adds mileage but provides a scenic route,” the guide notes. The piece is the latest national recognition for the Issaquah Alps
and the mountains’ namesake city. Runner’s World magazine last year named Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park among the 25 best places for trail running in the United States. Issaquah, long lauded in the Puget Sound region for trailheads and salmon, earned a spot on Outside magazine’s Best Towns 2011 list for abundant outdoor recreation opportunities. “Issaquah hasn’t been totally yuppified,” Outside noted in the October 2011 cover article. “The biggest party of the year is Salmon Days, a two-day festival in October celebrating the return of the spawning fish.”
EFR honors late volunteer firefighter By Warren Kagarise Issaquah Press reporter Colleagues remember longtime Eastside Fire & Rescue Volunteer Battalion Chief John Waltosz as a firefighter committed to the agency and public service, even as the landscape and the fire department changed. Waltosz, 83, died Feb. 19 after a long career in EFR and, earlier, in a rural fire district and future EFR partner. “He had tremendous respect for the fire service, and he wanted to make sure that everyone else who joined the fire service had that same sort of respect for the job, service to the public, service to the customers,” EFR Battalion Chief
Opinion . . . . . . A4
Classifieds . . . . B7
Police blotter . B7
Community . . . B1
Schools . . . . . . B6
Obituaries . . . . B3
Sports . . . . . . B4-5
Dave McDaniel said. Wa l t o s z imparted a respect for the agency on fledgling members as the United States Army veteran recruited and John Waltosz trained residents to respond to fires and other emergencies. “When new volunteers came into the agency, he always took them under his wing,” McDaniel said. “He really set them in the direction of what the fire service is as a volunteer, this is how it’s going to run.
QUOTABLE
INSIDE THE PRESS A&E . . . . . . . . B8
first aid training, disaster preparedness, basic firefighting, light search and rescue, and damage assessment skills. Participants can also learn how to turn off utilities and about the psychology of disaster response. The training program is $35. Learn more, and register for the CERT course, at the Issaquah Citizen Corps Council website, www.issaquahcitizencorps.com/ cert/cert-class. CERT training courses typically fill up quickly.
“I would have liked to have met Obama, but I started to think to myself, ‘A lot of people met Obama that day, but very, very few were actually on the steps of Air Force One.’”
— Michael Cisneros A chef at Tutta Bella Neapolitan Pizzeria in Issaquah (See story above.)
He was just a stickler for that.” Waltosz lived near Station 78 — in the Coalfield area near Renton city limits — and responded to calls in the Coalfield, Lake Kathleen, Maple Hills and May Valley areas before retiring in November 1998. Waltosz started as a Fire District 10 volunteer firefighter 33 years earlier in January 1965. (Fire District 10 later joined EFR as a partner organization.) “John will be missed for his devotion to his family, his neighbors and community service,” EFR Chief Lee Soptich said. Waltosz built a strong relationship between volunteer and career firefighters in the area. “He was very well-respected by the fellow volunteers and by the
career firefighters,” McDaniel said. “A lot of the career firefighters in the agency either had a direct or indirect relationship with him.” Despite the serious role, McDaniel remembered Waltosz as a genial man dedicated to family and firefighting. The longtime volunteer firefighter also made up nicknames for colleagues as a friendly gesture. “He had a great deal of influence on a lot of people,” McDaniel said. “He was just a great guy to be around.” In December 2007, EFR leaders established the Volunteer Battalion Chief John Waltosz Inspiration
See FIREFIGHTER, Page A5
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