Issaquah
LIVING
TAKE A WALKING TOUR OF ISSAQUAH ROB PICKERING SHARES LOCAL LEGENDS ENTREPRENEURS ARE HEART OF BUSINESS SPECIAL SECTION OF THE ISSAQUAH PRESS
RESIDENT GUIDE 2013
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Issaquah
LIVING HEROES
INSIDE
PAGE 26
Group researches Civil War vets buried at Hillside Cemetery.
WEATHER
PAGE 28
Issaquah residents keep up with the change in seasons.
BUSINESS PAGE 6 Four entrepreneurs leave their marks on the community.
GREEN AT HEART
PAGE 30
Salmon are important to Issaquah.
REAL ESTATE
VOLUNTEERS
PAGE 32
Neighbors rally to preserve Mirrormont Park.
WALKING TOURS PAGE 12 DIVERSITY IN FAITH PAGE 34
Discover art, edibles as you hike around town.
Hispanic church welcomes all.
PAGE 16 CLUBS
Boards allow teens to get involved in government.
PAGE 38
Find what interests you in the community.
LOCAL LEGENDS
THE PEOPLE PAGE 43 Issaquah’s population passes 31,000.
ISSAQUAH ALPS How did the three peaks get their names?
PAGE 24 BUSINESS DIRECTORY
PUBLISHER Deborah Berto
MANAGING EDITOR WRITERS Christina Corrales-Toy David Hayes Caleb Heeringa Warren Kagarise Michele Mihalovich Sebastian Moraga Lillian O’Rorke
PHOTOGRAPHER Greg Farrar
PAGE 18
Rob Pickering tells stories of Issaquah life.
STAFF
Kathleen R. Merrill
PAGE 10
Issaquah is a great place to work and play.
YOUTH
RESIDENT GUIDE 2013
PAGE 44
PAGE DESIGN David Hayes
COVER DESIGN Dona Mokin
ADVERTISING MANAGER Nathan Laursen
ADVERTISING STAFF Michelle Comeau Deanna Jess Jay Patterson Kori Valentine Syrianah Vance
PRODUCTION Breann Getty Dona Mokin
PRINTING Rotary Offset Press
A SPECIAL PUBLICATION OF
The sculpture ‘Salmon Cycle,’ by Charles Smith, can be found outside the Issaquah Valley Senior Center.
P.O. Box 1328 Issaquah, WA 98027 Phone: 425-392-6434 Fax: 425-392-1695 www.issaquahpress.com
6 BUSINESS
T
Independent
innovators he Pacific Northwest is home to some of the world’s premier entrepreneurs, where industry giants such as Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos turned ideas into billiondollar corporations. Issaquah, too, has its fair share of savvy innovators looking to make a mark in the community, the business industry and the world. Being an entrepreneur isn’t easy. It takes sacrifice, willingness and a determi-
Four Issaquah entrepreneurs make their marks on the business community
nation to do the job when no one else will. Yet, at the same time, entrepreneurs get to do something they are passionate about. If they’re lucky, they will cultivate a successful business that will support the community for generations to come. Issaquah residents Roberta Fuhr, Dennis Doherty, Bruce Johnson and Alan Patrick understand firsthand the ups and downs that come with an entrepreneurial spirit.
STORY BY CHRISTINA CORRALES-TOY Z PHOTOS BY GREG FARRAR
Experience Tea 195 Front St. N. www.experience-tea.com Roberta Fuhr used to be a “bank person,” but after more than 25 years in the industry, she was ready for a new challenge. “I think after 27 years, it’s time for a change, that’s all,” she said. “It served me so well for so many years, but it just wasn’t that enriching anymore.” Now, Fuhr is a “tea person,” having opened Experience Tea Studio, a relaxing, therapeutic space subtly nestled on Issaquah’s Front Street North. Fuhr, an avid tea drinker, didn’t want to create a retail company that simply sold teas from around the world. She wanted the chance to cultivate a deeper connection with each customer, guiding them on a journey to literally “experience tea.”
Roberta Fuhr, a certified tea specialist and owner of Experience Tea Studio, shows off her wall featuring tea varieties for her customers to learn about and choose from, as well as other tools of the trade.
“It didn’t come to me right away,” she said. “I really needed purpose. My daughter had graduated from college and she was on her own, and I just really wanted to do something where I felt it was much more contributive to the well-being of people.” Experience Tea is much more than a retail business. Its class offerings and an intimate customer service experience sets it apart from other tea places. “When customers come in, they don’t get hired help, they get me,” Fuhr said. “So, it’s just me, and as a Certified Tea Specialist, I’m able to really help them discover tea.” Fuhr offers intimate, eight-person classes, where she guides attendees on an exploration of “true tea,” which is so much more than what is found in a generic teabag. There is no greater experience than cupping good quality tea leaves, lifting the lid and inhaling the intoxicating scent of freshly steeped leaves, Fuhr said. “I am passionate about tea, and I’m really big about helping people empower themselves around it, so they understand it,” she said. “It’s about them just discovering everything that it has to offer and not shortchanging it by using a teabag and a cup in a microwave.” Experience Tea opened in late 2011, and Fuhr purposely set out to establish her business in Issaquah. “I knew for the long term, Issaquah was going to continue to grow. But also, I just liked associating this business with this little town,” she said. One of Fuhr’s bigger challenges in setting up the business was coming to terms with what exactly it was and wasn’t. Experience Tea is not a Starbucks where visitors can plug in a laptop and sit for hours, and that was exactly Fuhr’s intention. “What was really the most important was figuring out my business model and doing what I knew would
Accessories and books for sale elevate the making and enjoying of tea above the microwaving of a mug of water with a teabag to an experience shared by cultures around the world. be of most value to myself and my customers, and not trying to be everything,” she said. Another struggle for Experience Tea is getting the public to understand what exactly a tea class entails. “I think the biggest challenge for me is having people understand what a class means, because a lot of people just think of women in hats and I’m just going to teach them how to steep tea in a teapot, and nothing could be more different than what I do in my classes,” she said. To Fuhr, being an entrepreneur requires a great degree of focus, but it also allows her to express her creativity. “It’s fun and it uses a lot of intellectual skills,” she said. “You have to motivate yourself all of the time, but I get energy from motivating other people, too.” BUSINESS
ISSAQUAH LIVING WINTER 2013
7
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RescueVoice www.rescuevoice.com Issaquah resident Dennis Doherty has been saving people nearly his entire life. So, when the longtime paramedic retired several years ago, he wanted to find a way to continue to do so, even if he wasn’t out in the field. RescueVoice was born. RescueVoice is a voicemail system that allows individuals to record medical messages that can be accessed during an emergency. Users can leave critical information, such as medications they’re taking, medical history and contact information, on the secure network. Each member carries a unique membership card, or keychain fob. In an emergency, a first responder, or anyone, really, simply calls the number on the card to hear a recording outlining the patient’s important medical information. “We know from the paramedic world that diabetics have different messages than stroke patients have, than Alzheimer patients have,” Doherty
Dennis Doherty, the founder and owner of RescueVoice, devised a voicemail system that eases frustration responders had because they didn’t know patients’ medical histories in emergency situations. said. “Your message may just be that ‘I’m allergic to peanuts,’ which would mean the world to a first responder trying to figure out what’s going on.” It was an idea that had been percolating in Doherty’s mind since 2005, due to his experience as a paramedic, but it didn’t become a reality until 2009. “I was a paramedic for King County Medic One for 34 years, and it was always that we were always there to help and people were always grateful that we were there, but they never had their information, and it was just a giant problem,” he said.
Thank You Issaquah! Classes Loose-leaf Tea Tea Tools
Dr. Thomas R. Quickstad would once again like to thank his generous dental patients for their donation of old gold crowns. The gold was recycled and the proceeds were donated to the Issaquah Food Bank. This year’s donation totaled $1,474.00! If you are interested in our donation program or have questions please call Dr. Quickstads’ office at (425) 391-1331.
www.experience-tea.com
195 Front St. N, Issaquah WA 206.406.9838 Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 12-6
425-391-1331
In just the few years that the company has been in existence, Doherty said his customers have found a multitude of ways to use the product in nonemergency situations. For example, one user utilizes the product to let her mother know which trail she is taking before she departs on a 3 a.m. hike. Another customer, who suffers from memory loss, uses the service to immediately record what the doctor said to him after an appointment so his loved ones can stay abreast of his condition. In the future, Doherty envisions the service being beneficial during natural disasters, connecting people with their loved ones to let them know they are OK. Doherty said it’s been a struggle to get the word out about the product, as well as secure adequate funding, but coming from a family of serial entrepreneurs, he’s used to the roller coaster ride that is entrepreneurialism. “Everybody would love to have the next Microsoft, or something like that, but I think if you really look below the Microsofts and the Amazons and stuff like that, there are a lot of people doing wonderful things in small little pieces,” he said. RescueVoice has become a family affair for Doherty, whose daughter also works for the company. That’s just one of the many perks of entrepreneurialism, he said. “It’s nice to have a company that my daughter can work for,” he said. “But, I also appreciate the thrill of the hunt or the chase. It’s the thrill of coming up with an ‘oh, wow’ idea, which is a lot of fun.”
Field of Champions 8118 304th Ave. S.E., Preston www.fieldofchamps.com If being an entrepreneur is about daily engagement in one’s passion, then Field of Champions owners and instructors Bruce Johnson and Alan Patrick are definitely doing it right. Field of Champions is a yearround training facility where baseball and softball players can hone their skills, both mentally and physically, through private instruction and group clinics. The versatile facility offers space for batting cages, with enough room to work on defensive fundamentals as well. “Our love is baseball, and it’s all about passing along the right tools and the right mechanics to keep kids playing as long as they can and want to,” Johnson said. The idea for the facility came from Johnson’s experience playing and coaching at a baseball club in Melbourne, Australia, that helped mentor and teach athletes. Johnson used that model to open Field of Champions in 2001, when there was really nothing like it in the area. “The whole idea was to have a training facility right here for the kids on the plateau and Issaquah, and Snoqualmie was getting bigger,” he said. “I thought this could work and with a lot of support from the community, it’s really turned out to be something special.” It hasn’t always been easy for the Field of Champions guys, as they were forced to get creative while running a facility where the majority of its traffic comes during a specific five- to six-month period every year. But through trial and error, Field of Champions has managed to thrive for more than a decade. “It’s not easy to make this work because for probably four or five months of the year we wish we were double the size, and then for the other six, seven, eight months,
Groups of students work in two skill drills on the indoor astroturf court at the Field of Champions baseball and softball instruction facility in Preston.
we wish we were a third of the size because it’s hard to keep the business going in that regard,” Patrick said. Field of Champions has expanded its repertoire by offering a variety of coaching clinics, performance and agility training, and even birthday parties. Baseball was an integral part of the Field of Champions’ owner’s lives long before the facility opened. Johnson and Patrick played the sport all the way through college.
The passion runs deep for both, with Patrick crediting baseball for instilling in him various life skills, something he hopes to pass on to his students. When he’s not at “the office,” he wishes he was, in an occurrence that most businesspeople can only dream of. “I noticed that right away, if I take three or four days off, unless I’m actually at a beach somewhere else, I actually really wish I was at work,” he said. “Most people aren’t lucky enough to say that.”
10 REAL ESTATE
Signs of a recovery in housing prices makes Issaquah a great place to work, play
MARKET WATCH Year 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Home sales in Issaquah Units sold 884 807 756 797 1,088
Median price $433,000 $401,000 $420,000 $379,000 $389,000
Source: Northwest Multiple Listing Service
STORY BY CALEB HEERINGA Maybe it’s the great schools or the proximity to both the city and the mountains, but a look at recent real estate trends shows that Issaquah remains a desirable place to live. Issaquah did not escape the impacts of the housing bubble bursting in 2008, but it’s certainly showing signs of recovery, with record home sales in recent months. With relatively few homes on the market and the economy slowly but surely coming back from the dead, local real estate agents say there’s reason to believe that trend could continue. “We had a good 2012, and we have every reason to believe that 2013 and 2014 will be as good or better,” said Bob Richards, an agent with Windermere. Issaquah saw 1,088 homes and condominiums sold in 2012 — a 36 percent increase from the 797 sold in 2011. Home prices have only increased modestly, from a median of $379,500 in 2011 to about $389,000 in 2012. But high sales combined with a recession-related lag in new homes entering the market appears to have drawn down a housing inventory that had been flooded with foreclosed homes following the burst of the housing bubble. Northwest Multiple
Listing Service statistics show that the area encompassing Issaquah, Sammamish, Snoqualmie and North Bend had 349 homes for sale in December 2012, down from 641 in December 2011 — a 46 percent drop. Richards said the low supply and increasing demand is going to start reflecting on individual sales. “We’re seeing multiple offers on the same homes, which should make prices start to rise,” he said. Dan Faulkner Jr., an agent for John L. Scott Real Estate, said it’s hard to predict how all the variables in the housing market will behave, but he expects prices to continue to rise, simply due to the principles of supply and demand. “No one has a crystal ball, but a 5 to 10 percent rise in prices throughout King County can be expected,” he said. Mike Winkler, principal managing broker at Coldwell Banker, said
Issaquah is blessed with a wellfunded school system whose students continually perform well compared to the rest of the state. Issaquah also benefits from being simultaneously close to urban amenities and job centers like Seattle and Bellevue and outdoor recreation like Lake Sammamish, Snoqualmie Pass and the Mountains to Sound Greenway. “When you’re along the I-90 corridor, you can quickly get to Eastern Washington on one side or the Puget Sound in the other,” Winkler said. “As far as the ‘work-to-play’ factor goes, we’re one of the best spots in the country.” And while memories of foreclosures and underwater mortgages may still be on the minds of some prospective first-time homebuyers, Faulkner said he’s not seen clients scared away from home ownership. With interest rates still near record lows and the Eastside remaining an attractive place to live, home ownership is still appealing to many young families. “I see a lot of young couples who have been in their jobs for a couple of years and are just tired of renting,” Faulkner said. “It’s not for everyone. You have to be in the right phase of your life. But most first-time homebuyers have not been scared away by what happened.”
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Bringing You Generations of Smiles Three generations of the Finkelstein Family
Mark Germack, DDS
Voted Best Dentist in Issaquah & Seattle MET Magazine
450 NW Gilman Blvd, Suite 103 425-392-7541 Issaquah www.drgermack.com
WALK THIS WAY e
EXPLORE THE SIGHTS OF ISSAQUAH BY FOOT DOWN SOME BEATEN PATHS STORY AND PHOTOS BY LILLIAN O’RORKE Z
8 ISSAQUAH LIVING
MAP BY DONNA MOKIN
G
13 etting out and exploring Issaquah by foot is not only a relaxing form of exercise, but is also a great way to get to know your new town. And unlike neighboring Bellevue or Seattle, Issaquah is small enough that much of it can be walked in an hour or two. But don’t let it’s size fool you; this town has plenty of walking routes to tour.
HISTORY WALK
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Issaquah State Salmon Hatchery
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10 11 Issaquah Community 12 Center SE Bush St
A Century of Dairying The Dig Copper Clad The Pillars The Blue Door Valiant Effort Mill Street Logging Scene Linda Ruehle Bench
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At left, sculptured basalt monoliths make up ‘The Pillars,’ by Will Robinson.
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This is great for those who just moved to town and want to not only get the lay of the land, but also learn about the place they now call home. Issaquah History Museums Executive Director Erica Maniez leads walkers twice a year on a stroll through the community, with stops at buildings and sites that played a role in the history of Issaquah. “It’s a great option for people who are not necessarily museum types,” Maniez said. The tour begins at the circa 1889 Issaquah Train Depot and includes highlights such as the Alexander House. Painted a soft yellow with white porch railings wrapping around the home, the house was built in 1902 by Thomas and Caroline Alexander. It once sat on the east shore of Lake Sammamish, but was saved from demolition in the late 1980s and moved to its sliver between Northwest Gilman and Rainier boulevards, where it now serves at the visitor’s center. Other stops include the Grand Central Hotel and Issaquah’s second jail, which was built in 1914 after the town’s wooden jail proved too flimsy. Local legend tells the story of several drunken loggers, who were locked up for the night, kicking through the wooden jail walls to escape. Not every feature of the tour is a relic of the past. Some places are still in full use, like Fischer Meats, where after more than 100 years residents of Issaquah can still enjoy an old fashion trip to the butcher shop. “All of the spots where we stop and talk are not places where it’s obvious that there’s something special, and it’s exciting to reveal that to people,” Maniez said. “I always like telling the story of the Owl Cigar mural … it’s kind of cool picturing the trains coming into town, and obviously they have to slow down so all the passengers would get to see the advertisement.” The history tour covers about 2 miles of easy terrain and lasts about two hours. This year’s walks are planned for 10 a.m. June 1, June 29 and July 27. There is a suggested donation of $5. Advanced registration is required. Sign up for the tour by calling 392-3500 or email info@ issaquahhistory.org.
WALKING TOURS
9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.
Forest Carvings The Zephyr Pinnacle Father of the Issaquah Alps And Mithra Danced Watershed Tower Reaching Home
AN OUTDOOR ART WALK If it’s giant-sized works of public art, forged from stone, steel and pieces of old machine parts, that you’re after, then just take a stroll around downtown Issaquah. Much of the city’s works of public art can be found on or near the Rainier Trail; the 2.5-mile route follows the former railroad corridor through the downtown area. Picking up the trail at the intersection of Front and Northeast Dogwood streets and heading south is a great place to start. Before you even take one step, you’ll see the city’s first outdoor sculpture: “The Dig.” Commissioned to commemorate the centennial of the city’s incorporation as Gilman in 1892, the main piece of the sculpture is carved out of 15,000 pounds of granite and is meant to resemble the entrance to a mine. Continuing south down the path, you’ll come across several other pieces of art, including “The Pillars.” These individually sculptured basalt monoliths integrate varying textures that were meant, by the artists, to be touched. Further down, near Bush Street, is “The Zephyr.” The sculpture is made of several materials, including glass and metal; its top is kinetic and moves in the wind. “That’s definitely the most concentrated grouping of public art,” city Arts Coordinator Amy Dukes said about The Rainier Trail, especially the stretch between City Hall and the community center. Dukes’ favorite piece is the “Linda Ruehle Bench.” The lifesized tribute to the former city clerk of 30 years sits across from City Hall on Sunset Way. “I love that piece just because I see so many people using it throughout the year in different ways. There is just almost always somebody sitting there with her,” she said, adding that often people will put a hat on Ruehle’s head or flowers in her hand. “I think public art is so wonderful when it can be appreciated in a variety of ways.”
A local woodworker’s carving of an eagle grabbing a salmon in its talons was donated to the Issaquah Fish Hatchery.
Jason Dillon’s ‘Copper Clad,’ a life-sized horse made of old metal parts, stands 7 feet tall.
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ISSAQUAH LIVING WINTER 2013
WALKING TOURS
AN EDIBLE JAUNT DOWN GILMAN BOULEVARD
A pedestrian walks under ripening fruit on the city’s plum trees on Gilman Boulevard.
Public Health and our mothers tell us to eat five to nine fruits and vegetables a day. But, who needs a full day when a walk down the 1-mile stretch of Gilman Boulevard takes you past 25 varieties of fruit and nut trees? The edible landscape was planted on both sides of the street more than two decades ago by the city, which wanted to pay homage to Issaquah’s agricultural heritage. Today, by the end of the July, the boulevard is heaving with ripe, juicy fruit — all of it free and fresh for the picking. To take the self-guided edible tour, bring an empty stomach and head northwest on the walkway, which begins at the Issaquah Visitors Center near the junction of Gilman Boulevard and Front Street. While it is possible to climb some of the trees, the city suggests people bring a small step ladder, to avoid hurting themselves and the trees. The round-trip journey takes about an hour but could last longer if you decide to take advantage of one of the many benches and picnic tables along the route to sit while you chomp into a crunchy apple. Other yummy street treats include plums, prunes, cherries, blueberries, filberts, walnuts, pears and grapes.
OTHER CITY TRAILS Issaquah boosts 170 acres of developed and undeveloped parks, and more than 1,100 acres of open space that include a lot of walking routes. There is the Maple-Juniper Trail, which takes people east to west from 17th Avenue Northwest to the city’s historic downtown district. This mile-long route is a good, flat option for those who want to ride their bikes, jog or simply stroll. Newport Way Trail is also about one mile long and parallels Newport Way on its northeast side. Taking about a half-hour to walk, the path is a good option for making your way from the Issaquah Commons shopping area to the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery without being bombarded by traffic. The Pickering Trail takes you along the Issaquah Creek and through the land that used to belong to the fifth territorial governor of Washington. In summer, you can pick up the 3/4-mile trail from the Saturday farmers market, which gives you a great opportunity to view the creek and its riparian corridor. On its south end, the path connects to the King County East Lake Sammamish Regional Trail; on its north end, it leads you to the Sammamish Trail. A little more than a mile long, the Sammamish Trail provides walking and bicycle access to Lake Sammamish State Park and the many trails located within the park. Whichever route you choose to walk, don’t forget to pack water and be prepared to share the path with other walkers, runners, bicyclists and rollerbladers. WALKING TOURS
ISSAQUAH LIVING WINTER 2013
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16 YOUTH
LEADERSOFTOMORROW Boards offer opportunities for teenagers to connect, collaborate
STORY BY WARREN KAGARISE On a spring morning in early 2011, more than 40 teenagers gathered at the local Holiday Inn to spend a Saturday together. Only, rather than lounging next to the salmon-shaped pool or gorging on room service, assembled teenagers spent the day imagining a better future for younger children. Huddled at the hotel, as peers slept in or raced to soccer practice, participants at the Action Forum for Youth met community leaders and brainstormed ideas to keep youth active, engaged and — perhaps most importantly for the adults in the room — out of trouble. The forum, presented by the Issaquah Community Network, represented a slice of how some teenagers in the Issaquah School District contribute to the community. Through organizations sponsored by local governments and organizations, teenagers can participate in the political process long before turning 18 and earning the right to vote. “I think, for the most part, we don’t really see teens doing much around our community,” Skyline High School junior Sampurna Basu, a member on the Issaquah Youth Advisory Board, Sammamish Youth Board and the Issaquah Community Network. “I think the youth boards are a great opportunity for us to get involved in community service opportunities.” In Issaquah, a city-sponsored Youth Advisory Board includes representatives from every Issaquah School District middle school and high school, plus homeschooled teenagers and local private school students. The panel fosters advocacy, community service and youth representation on local boards and committees. Past projects include hosting a
TEENS WANTED The city-sponsored Issaquah Youth Advisory Board and Sammamish Youth Board, plus the Issaquah Community Network, hold regular recruitments for teenage members. Find more information and application materials at the organization’s websites: Issaquah Youth Advisory Board http://bit.ly/TtWBK3 Sammamish Youth Board http://bit.ly/qLbCsK Issaquah Community Network www.issaquahcommunitynetwork.com
daylong Issaquah Youth Summit, collecting more than 1,200 pounds of food for the Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank and organizing a middle school dodge ball tournament. “I saw it as an opportunity to get directly involved with other youth in our community,” said Issaquah High School senior Iman Baghai, a member on the Issaquah Youth Advisory Board and the Issaquah Community Network. “I thought it was an interesting door to open up, and it’s an opportunity that’s opened many other doors.” The arrangement in neighboring Sammamish is similar — a citysponsored Youth Board composed of members barely old enough to drive. The panel’s function and mission feel similar to other city boards, but the Youth Board targets a younger slice of the city demographic. Instead of discussing property taxes and storm water management plans as older municipal board members do, youth panel members in both cities arrange volunteer events, raise money for nonprofit organizations and plan outings. In Sammamish, members conducted community service projects,
fundraisers and a popular battle of the bands in the past. The goal is to engage teenagers and include the next generation in the cities’ cultural and social fabric. “Before I was involved in these organizations, I had no idea what was going on,” Basu said. “I feel like now I’m a more valuable member of the community, because I always know what’s going and I just know more about our community.” Like the city-sponsored groups, teenagers can serve as representatives to the Issaquah Community Network board. The state-funded organization is authorized by the Legislature to support initiatives for strong families, and healthy children and adolescents. The typical youth panel member is something of an overachiever, a good student capable of dividing his or her time among a packed roster of extracurricular pursuits. Some of the group’s members even hold seats on other Eastside youth boards. “The typical member would be someone who has a positive attitude and is ready to try new things and tackle anything that could possibly come up,” Baghai said. The youth organizations bring together students from different schools who might not otherwise meet. “Usually, Skyline students don’t mix with Issaquah High School students — there’s that rivalry going on,” Basu said. “The bond we form at the youth boards and the inter-school relationship is really good.” The collaborative atmosphere helps the group attract members, and often, membership grows through word of mouth. “I had heard great things about it from my friends who were on the board,” Baghai said.
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18 LOCAL LEGENDS
Rob and his wife Rae sit in the Issaquah home he built, at the kitchen table he made, with photos of their younger selves at about the time they met during World War II. They’ve been married for six decades.
P IONEER MAN Rob Pickering recalls a living history of Issaquah
STORY BY LILLIAN O’RORKE Z PHOTOS BY GREG FARRAR
Around Rob Pickering’s neck hangs a necklace made of turquoise stones and nails. Just like Rob, the hand-forged nails are rugged, made for hard work and belong to a way-of life that has long since passed. The nails came from Pickering Barn,
the 12,000-square-foot iconic structure that neighbors the Costco parking lot. Long before the shopping center went in, the barn and its surrounding 320 acres belong to the Pickering family, whose family tree grew up right alongside Issaquah’s history. Rob’s great, great-grandfather
“
All in the family
One day, I was in the barn and somebody said to me, ‘Rob, they got a stop light in Issaquah.’ I says, ‘You’re kidding me.’ I got on a horse and drove up town, looked at the stoplight on Front Street. Before, everybody just kind of went and here we were.
Esther Marie Pickering and Royal ‘Roy’ Robert Pickering Gordon, Drury, Wilbur and Rob Pickering
”
Rob Pickering
Naomi Rae Leffingwell
Two nails used to build Pickering Barn in 1878, salvaged during the moving and restoration, decorate one of the silver-and-turquoise necklaces Rob Pickering has made and enjoys wearing every day. LOCAL LEGENDS
ISSAQUAH LIVING WINTER 2013
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ISSAQUAH LIVING
LOCAL LEGENDS
WINTER 2013
William Pickering was the fifth territorial governor of the Washington territory and bought the land in the mid1860s for $1.50 per acre, about three decades before the city of Issaquah was born. The governor’s son, William Junior, eventually took over the family farm, passing the land down to his three sons: William, Royal and Ernest. The family started construction on the hay barn in 1878 and finally added the large dairy barn in 1906. “All that barn you see down there is all lumber off of the farm,” Rob said. “They cut the trees, blew the stumps, cut the lumber, had a big portable mill they brought in.”
Milking cows, raising livestock
By the time Rob, the oldest of Royal’s five children, was born in 1922, the Pickerings had about 100 dairy cows. They all needed to be milked by hand, twice a day. Rob remembers that he was 5 years old, and his brother Wilbur was 4, when his father taught them how to milk a cow. “So, he sat us down, and a cow’s big — maybe 1,200 pounds, 1,300 —
A framed photograph shows the then-116-year-old Pickering Barn in its original state in 1994, shortly before it was disassembled, moved and restored in the mid-1990s. give us a stool and a bucket, and we started. I got the hell kicked out of me and everything else,” Rob said. The Pickerings also grew fields of hay, tended corn and raised chicken fryers, which they killed a batch of once a week to sell. Twice a month, Rob said, they would kill four 180-
pound bull calves to sell as veal at Pike Place Market. To deliver the meat, the family would tie the carcasses to the front of the car and wind around Lake Washington, via state Route 900 as there was no Interstate 90. “Can you imagine — going down the highway today in an old car, with four
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dead calves hanging over the running board, over the fender? They’d probably throw me in jail,” he said, adding that things were really different then. “One day, I was in the barn and somebody said to me, ‘Rob, they got a stop light in Issaquah.’ I says, ‘You’re kidding me.’ I got on a horse and drove up town, looked at the stoplight on Front Street. Before, everybody just kind of went and here we were.”
ISSAQUAH LIVING WINTER 2013
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War and marriage
The only time Rob ever left Issaquah was during World War II, when he joined the Navy. After 19 months in the Pacific, stationed on a small island south of Guadalcanal, Rob’s squadron was sent to Patuxent River, Md., to train for an invasion of China. He never made it to China, as the atomic bomb was dropped and the war came to an end. Before he left Maryland, Rob met Naomi Rae Leffingwell. “She thought I was so weird looking. I had just got back from the Pacific. I was totally black and I had a mop of blonde curly hair. And she says, ‘Oh, I got to get a lock of your hair.’ So, she grabbed a pair of
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A photograph of Pickering Barn taken in the early 1900s showing (from left) the hay barn, feed silos and dairy barn, also features a man who may be Rob Pickering’s father Roy Pickering.
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scissors and came out of her room, cut a lock off,” Rob said. “I went down the street and says, ‘Damn, I should have asked her for a date.’” He did. A few burgers and movies, countless letters and long-distance phone calls, and one plane ticket to Seattle later, the two were married in the same Pickering house that Rob was born in. “I loved the farm. I was a city girl. But, I loved the farm,” said Rae Pickering, as she is now known. The couple lived for years in a little house on the farm where they shared their
Sometimes, I’d be out there baling hay, cows are out, parachutes are coming down and I’d hear them talking, ‘Hey, let’s land on that cow,’ and I’d yell up, ‘Don’t land on a cow!’
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bedroom with their three children. Eventually, Rob decided to build them a bigger house, on the 1.25acre parcel his father had given him. Working every night from 8 p.m. to midnight, Rob spent nine years clearing the land, framing the house and laying the brick, until their home was finally finished.
An interstate, planes and cows
Rob wasn’t the only one building in the area. A big change came in the 1960s, when I-90 went in, cutting through the Pickering property and the cows’ grazing area. At first, the family had permission to take the animals across the road. “Oh, I had a hell of a time,” Rob said. “We had to stand out in the middle of the road with a stop sign and try to stop people in their cars and they’re sticking their head out the window, ‘What the hell are you doing? Get them goddamned things off the road!’” The cows were also the cause of a lot of grief when part of the farm was used as the Issaquah Skyport. After being used as a military flight training facility during World War II, the Seattle Sky Sports Club
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leased the land in 1961 for parachuting, gliding and ballooning. “Sometimes, I’d be out there baling hay, cows are out, parachutes are coming down and I’d hear them talking, ‘Hey, let’s land on that cow,’ and I’d yell up, ‘Don’t land on a cow!’” Rob recalled. Part of the agreement was that Rob would let his cows graze until about 2 p.m. and move them so planes could take off in the afternoon. One day, while it was still the cows’ turn out on the grass, he said a man taxied one of the planes. “He just gunned it and cows were all over the runway and I thought, ‘Holy Moses, he killed five!’ He killed five of them, cut two of them clean in two in the propeller,” Rob said. “The plane went up in the air about 200 feet and nose-down crashed. He jumped out and took off running up the highway, and I’m running behind him about a quarter of a mile saying every word in the book. If I could have caught him, I’d a killed him.”
Things are different, the same The Skyport remained a recreational hub for 30 years until, just
LOCAL LEGENDS
ISSAQUAH LIVING WINTER 2013
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like the Pickering Farm, it fell prey to development. “There were nine farmers in this valley. On a nice day, when the grass was up, this whole valley was filled with Holstein cows all over. Now, you can’t even find a calf,” Rob said. “The farmers couldn’t make it anymore. Taxes. Taxes went up so high on the farm we couldn’t farm no more … so, we ended up having to get rid of the farm, and that was it.” Now, the only bit of Pickering Farm that Rob still owns is the 1.25 acres his father gave him, where he and Rae still live in the house that he built by hand. Occasionally during the summer, they go to the farmers market that takes place on Saturdays outside Pickering Barn, which is now owned by the city. “It’s different. I look at it and have sad feelings, and yet I am really happy that the city was able to take it over and, even though it cost them a few million, to redo it,” Rob said. “It is exactly the same way as it was when it was built in 1878. So, that makes me feel real good. It’s been a real asset for Issaquah.”
24 ISSAQUAH ALPS
The Issaquah Alps, consisting of Tiger, Squak and Cougar mountains (left to right), stand as three sentinels over downtown Issaquah as seen looking south from The Hamptons on Issaquah Ridge, the townhome development above Home Depot and Fred Meyer.
MYSTERIES OF THE MOUNTAINS How the three peaks that comprise the Issaquah Alps got their names
STORY BY MICHELE MIHALOVICH Z PANORAMIC PHOTO BY GREG FARRAR
If you’re new to Issaquah, you’re probably already aware of how often Tiger, Squak and Cougar mountains come up in conversation. People will tell you they hiked up Tiger Mountain, bought plants at Squak Mountain Greenhouse and Nursery, or visited Cougar Mountain Zoo. And don’t even get us started on Poo Poo Point. So, you’ve heard of them, but have you figured out which is which yet? There are a couple of good ways to get your bearings. First, we suggest a little drive to Hamptons Point at Issaquah Ridge up Black Nugget Road. That parking lot includes a little viewpoint that will really help put things into perspective — and it’s just an incredible view of the area. From that vantage point facing south, turn your head left and that big ol’ mound in the background is the infamous Tiger Mountain. You’ll notice a somewhat smaller ridge in front of that. It’s called Grand Ridge, but everybody around here just calls it
the Issaquah Highlands. But, going back to Tiger Mountain, follow its ridgeline to the right, and you’ll see how it dips down into a valley and another big ol’ mountain starts developing — that’s Squak Mountain. Keep the eyes moving right, and you see how it dips down and then Cougar Mountain appears. If you keep looking to the right, you’ll also glimpse the snow-capped Olympic mountain range (we told you the view was fantastic up there). Another great way to become more familiar with the local mountains is to go on hikes with the Issaquah Alps Trails Club. “A lot of people come on our hikes to do just that,” club president David Kappler said. “They are new to the area and want to learn about the mountains.” Go to www.issaquahalps.org to learn about upcoming hikes, as well as how to protect the cherished green giants. So, there you have it — Tiger, Squak, Cougar.
What? Now you want to know how they got their names? Well, that’s not as easy as it sounds because there is a bit of conflicting information, and in some cases, hardly any information at all. Let’s start with the least controversial — Squak Mountain. Kappler said “squak,” like the name Issaquah itself, are both corruptions of a Native American term. Laile Di Silvestro, program coordinator for the Issaquah History Museums, said the Sammamish Tribe used the word “ishquawh,” which meant “sound of water birds.” Kappler said Lake Sammamish used to flood into the Gilman Boulevard area and created a huge wetland where thousands of migrating birds used to stop. “It was a very popular place for Native Americans to net and catch birds,” he said. Pioneers came and settled the area, and about 1860 is when “ishquawh” started turning into Issaquah and Squak, Di Silvestro said.
She said the Squak Mountain name is the least contested, but she did find a 1948 Issaquah Chamber of Commerce map that indicated the name at one time was Mount Squak. Cougar Mountain has gone through several unofficial name changes over the years, Di Silvestro said. Some say it was called Newcastle Hill, and some say Newcastle Hills because there was a coal mining camp known as Newcastle back in the day, she said. She also found a book, “Coals of Newcastle: 100 Years of Hidden History,” by Richard and Lucille McDonald, that shows a surveyor’s notes from 1863 that said the area was called the Etta Cartneh Coal Range. At some point, a Doctor Russell purchased a lot of land in that area. And when he decided it was time to develop the area and sell lots, roughly in the 1950s, he decided the name Newcastle Hill, left over from the coal era, sounded a bit dirty and unappeal-
ing, Di Silvestro said. So, he started calling it Cougar Mountain, but didn’t really say why he chose that. Di Silvestro said this area has mountain lions, and not cougars, “but I guess a lot of people think they are the same thing.” So, the name stuck. Tiger Mountain — that’s kind of a mystery. That 1948 Issaquah chamber map listed Tiger Mountain as Mount Issaquah. Di Silvestro said she’s heard all kinds of theories over the years, which includes the tiger lilies found up there, to just another mix up regarding our mountain lions. Kappler said he was talking to one of the old-timers years ago who recounted hearing tiger screams at night on that mountain. “He didn’t call them mountain lions, he called them tigers. But I don’t know for sure how it got the name Tiger Mountain,” he said. And so, the mystery remains.
26 HEROES
NEVER FORGOTTEN
A SMALL GROUP OF DETERMINED CITIZENS WORK TO RECOVER INFORMATION ABOUT CIVIL WAR VETS INTERRED AT HILLSIDE CEMETERY STORY BY DAVID HAYES Z PHOTOS BY GREG FARRAR
Above, James B. Stevenson, born in September 1842 and died Feb. 25, 1917, saw fighting in the Civil War as a member of Company E of the 96th Illinois Infantry. At left, a flag placed on Veterans Day remains at the headstone of Harrison W. Ellis, born Dec. 19, 1842 and died Oct. 7, 1921, a member of Company B in the 33rd Illinois Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War. The Civil War fought between April 12, 1961, and May 13, 1965, remains the bloodiest conflict in American history with more than 650,000 soldiers killed. Seemingly, not a community was unscathed by the battles of North vs. South. More than 5,200 Civil War veterans are buried in Vicksburg National Cemetery alone. Dave Waggoner, commander of the Issaquah Veterans of Foreign Wars, always knew Issaquah had at least two Civil War vets buried in Hillside Cemetery. Although Issaquah itself was no more than a farming community of white settlers in the 1860s, it became the final destination for more than a handful of Civil War veterans. As a veteran of the Vietnam War, Waggoner wanted to know exactly how many were interred up on the hillside above Issaquah so they, too, could be honored at remembrances. In his role at the VFW, Waggoner ensures the gravesites at Hillside Cemetery of the 464 veterans of all conflicts are decorated for their service. He enlisted the aid of Barbara
Civil War veterans at Hillside Cemetery
Name Sylvanus Baxter John Berry Artimus Boyce Allen Day Harrison Ellis Thomas Gibson Clark Harris Howell Jones Peter Prillman Charles Smith James Stevenson Charles Swartwood Calvin Vowell Gilbert White
Date of birth Sept. 16, 1836 June 28, 1832 Oct. 5, 1839 October 1831 Dec. 19, 1842 Sept. 2, 1848 December 1849 Dec. 13, 1846 1938 Aug. 1, 1936 September 1842 August 1847 Nov. 18, 1844 July 14, 1848
Date of death Dec. 2, 1910 May 2, 1915 Oct. 31, 1916 Nov. 7, 1902 Oct. 7, 1921 Sept. 24, 1930 July 22, 1911 April 9, 1920 June 8, 1918 Feb. 12, 1919 Feb. 25, 1917 Feb. 25, 1917 Aug. 21, 1900 Sept. 7, 1918
Wood and Linda Hjelm, both members of the city’s Cemetery Board, in discovering additional burial sites of Civil War vets. “Barb and I, while working on another project finding all the vets at the cemetery in order to put a cross and flag on their grave on Memorial Day, started finding other, funny-looking headstones,” Waggoner said.
Unit assigned 93rd Ill. Infantry Regiment 30th Iowa Infantry 47th Ill. Infantry Reg. 43rd Wisc. Infantry 33rd Ill. Volunteer Infantry 105th Penn. Infantry 15th U.S. Colored Infantry 11th Penn. Calvary 8th Ind. Infantry 38th Ill. Infantry 96th Ill. Infantry 96th Ill. Infantry 1st Tenn. Volunteer Infantry 149th N.Y. Infantry
Those other headstones proved to be those dedicated to veterans of the Civil War. The total quickly went from two to seven. “We thought maybe there’s more,” Hjelm said. “So, we literally started walking up and down the rows, looking for these headstones that stood HEROES
ISSAQUAH LIVING WINTER 2013
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out.” Eventually, the total reached 14. They decided for complete records, simply a name and date of birth and death (if that) wouldn’t do. Armed with the most basic information, the trio enlisted the aid of Erica Maniez, executive director for the Issaquah History Museums. “I agreed it would be good to have all this information in one place,” Maniez said. Essentially, it would give Maniez and her staff another resource when compiling the history of Issaquah or a go-to reference guide when a community member came with a specific question from that era. They all began scouring records, from city to county, to state to national, backtracking documents to the men’s place of origin. Even old issues of The Issaquah Press helped close gaps in their findings. Many of those interred had connections to local pioneer families, such as the Tibbetts and Ericksons. Others had interesting back stories, such as Clark Harris, the only black Civil War service member buried in Hillside, who was a musician in the 15th U.S. Colored Infantry. Then, there was Charles Swartwood, who has proven to be the biggest mystery of the bunch. While they’ve found several documents with that name, none confirmed it was that Charles. They could find no official document to nail down how he ended up in Issaquah. Waggoner said their best guess is there was a Swartwood family around the turn of the century living in the Centralia area. When Charles died, they had no way of burying him there. So, likely, a distant cousin
The headstone, one of the earliest at Hillside Cemetery, is of Allen Day, born in October 1831, died Nov. 7, 1902, who was a member of K Company in the 43rd Wisconsin Infantry. living here offered to have him delivered for final interment at Hillside. While there is a thick binder now with all the information they’ve uncovered, their search took a setback over the holidays. Someone broke into Hjelm’s home and stole her computer, along with every digital record of their findings. That forced them to start over with much of their search. Luckily for the veterans, the search team are longtime residents of the area, dedicated to preserving its history. “This started as a passion,” Hjelm said. “I guess it turned into an obsession.” One of the roadblocks during their search in honoring the vets was determining what to do with the headstones in need of repair or simply nudging back to being upright.
“An ordinance says you can’t touch the headstone without the family’s permission,” Waggoner said. Only problem is, there’s no one left to ask for that permission. He plans to work with city officials to work around that arcane requirement. While Issaquah veterans from other conflicts from World War I to Vietnam are honored on a statue at Veterans Memorial Park, none from the Civil War are yet mentioned. That’s something Waggoner would like to see addressed. For now, they continue their search for any other nuggets of minutia to add to their notebook, should anyone need access to a ready resource with complete information. “As long as everybody shares this information, then we win,” Hjelm said.
What’s with the weather in Issaquah? Located less than 15 miles from Seattle and poised as the gateway to the Cascade Mountain foothills, the city of Issaquah experiences, for the most part, a typical Pacific Northwest climate. That means cool, wet winters and mild, pleasant summers. Every few years, the area is hit with a particularly harsh
winter, bringing snow, ice and occasional flooding. With the city’s varied elevation levels, one part of the area could see snow, while it’s just rain in another. Issaquah summers, though, are a thing of beauty, filled with sunshine and an average temperature of 70 degrees in July and August.
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30 GREEN AT HEART
STORY BY CALEB HEERINGA Z PHOTOS BY GREG FARRAR
Darin Combs, Issaquah Salmon Hatchery supervisor, lifts a screen to reveal a tray of 3,100 fertilized kokanee salmon eggs.
MAKING HEADS OR TAILS of the local salmon population Issaquah’s creeks run red every fall, just as they have for centuries. In one of nature’s more remarkable migrations, coho and chinook salmon, sensing the impending end of their lives, return from the oceans en masse to Lake Sammamish and up its tributaries to die. But first, they must lay and fertilize eggs, ensuring the cycle continues. That Issaquah residents can have a front row seat for such splendor is a blessing of living among the natural abundance of the Pacific Northwest. But the spectacle of the dying fish making their final journey to the place they were born might not be there if it weren’t for the hard work of countless volunteers and local leaders who came together to save the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery and keep the salmon runs healthy. “I think they’re a wonderful species,” said Richard Sowa, a frequent
volunteer at the hatchery. “It’s our responsibility to the land to preserve these salmon runs.” The hatchery, at 125 W. Sunset Way, was built in 1936 as a New Deal program. Impacts from logging and coal mining had nearly wiped out salmon returns along Issaquah Creek, prompting leaders to trap and bring in fish from the Green River. In the early 1990s, the hatchery fell victim to state budget cuts. Rather than let the facility close and leave the fish to fend for themselves, the Snoqualmie Tribe and a grassroots volunteer group stepped forward to take over operations. The group, which formed the nonprofit Friends of the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery, not only saved the hatchery but expanded it in the early 2000s, adding the Watershed Science Center and focusing on public education. Today, the hatchery is a regular
Friends of the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery Friends of the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery offers free tours of the hatchery on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. from Aug. 31 to Nov. 10 every year, when the salmon returns are most active. Reservations are not necessary; a $1 donation is suggested. Tours during other parts of the year require a reservation, which can be made online at www.issaquahfish.org. To volunteering at the hatchery, go to the website, email volunteer@issaquahfish.org or call 392-8025. Learn more about Save Lake Sammamish at www.scn.org/savelake. Join its email list by emailing info@savelakesamm.org. Learn more about the Bellevue/Issaquah chapter of Trout Unlimited at www.tu-bi.org.
female kokanee salmon
male kokanee salmon During a 2011 salmon release, Jessica Leguizamon watches kokanee fry swim away from her cup into Laughing Jacobs Creek as her sister Sabrina waits her turn and their grandfather, Gary Smith, looks on. stop for school groups and those who want to witness the journey of the salmon firsthand. Darin Combs, the hatchery supervisor, said the hatchery helps keep the community connected to a species that is part of the fabric of the city’s culture and history. Salmon Days, the first weekend of every October, is Issaquah’s signature event, drawing salmon enthusiasts and citizens from around the Puget Sound. “Having it right here in the middle of downtown makes it easier for people to get involved — they can see it when they walk by,” Combs said. “It’s gotten a lot of people passionate about salmon.” While there are dozens of factors involved in the size and health of a salmon run, Combs said the hatchery’s ability to monitor the returns and augment them by planting additional fry in local streams is invaluable. In recent years, Issaquah Creek returns have ranged from spectacular one year (13,812 adult coho in 2009) to dire the next (only 474 coho in 2010.) Fish populations appeared to be on the upswing in 2012, with 4,492 adult chinook and 9,612 coho, according to hatchery records.
Returns to the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery Year 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
adult chinook adult coho 13,431 3,272 3,007 4,175 2,046 13,812 3,107 474 2,954 4,967 4,492 9,612
In addition to regular runs of seafaring coho and chinook, Issaquah also shares an ecosystem with another breed of salmon that has seen dwindling populations in recent years — Lake Sammamish kokanee. The fish are a landlocked cousin of sockeye salmon that spend their entire lives in Lake Sammamish and its tributaries. Volunteers have counted as few as 100 returning fish in recent years. The hatchery is now raising fry that are planted in local streams to help get those numbers up, and advocates are teaming with local cities to remove man-made blockages in local streams. Last year was a bumper crop, comparatively speaking, with more
than 1,000 kokanee spawning up local creeks. Despite the good news, David St. John, who heads kokanee efforts for King County, said keeping those numbers up will be a continuing battle. Lake Sammamish has elevated levels of phosphorus — likely from increased runoff from development and land disturbance in the watershed. Large rain events and substandard storm water infrastructure can also lead to large flooding and erosion events that wipe out salmon eggs. St. John said it’s not just environmentalists who are concerned with the health of salmon runs — members of the local chapter of anglers’ group Trout Unlimited have been vital to conservation efforts. “You’ve got citizens that feel it in their hearts that as residents of the watershed they have a responsibility to protect these fish,” he said. “You’ve also got Trout Unlimited folks that want to fish. They don’t just want to catch a few fish, they want to catch as many fish as they can. And you’ve got folks that want to make sure they have clean water and want to be able to take their kids out on the lake.”
32 VOLUNTEERS
STORY BY CHRISTINA CORRALES-TOY Z PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
Frost forms on a fern (above) along the trails of Mirrormont Park (left). The park’s continuation is thanks to a partnership between King County and Mirrormont residents.
A neighborhood rallies to preserve passive-use park
Children race in burlap sacks on the meadow at Mirrormont Park during the recent 50th anniversary party of the Mirrormont neighborhood.
At the center of the Mirrormont community, just 10 minutes from downtown Issaquah, sits an 11-acre park with a vast, circular meadow surrounded by trees taller than you can imagine and a network of forested walking trails. In the spring, the meadow field, planted with environmentally-friendly Ecoturf, sprouts thousands of English daisies, conjuring up visions of a quaint British countryside. Mirrormont Park has become the heart of the 50-year-old community. Neighbors walk their dogs around the meadow’s gravel path, teenagers engage in games of flag football and families host picnics atop the comfortable meadow grass. Yet, just 15 years ago, the site was nothing more than tall grass, weeds, blackberry bushes and alder trees. Mountain bike enthusiasts used the space to build dirt ramps and tracks in the forest, while local teenagers built tree houses and conducted paint ball fights. The land was originally meant to house an Issaquah School District school, but after the area failed to grow enough to justify the school, the district sold the land to the King County Parks Division for the purpose of developing a passive use park in 2001. Just two years earlier, the Mirrormont Community Association sent its residents a survey, asking if they would support a park. It would go on to become the foundation of a unique partnership between the county and the neighborhood to cultivate and maintain Mirrormont Park. The park was one of the first in the area that benefitted from King County’s Community Partnership and Grants Program. In the program, the county contributes use of land and an improvement grant, while community partners devote time, energy and in-kind resources to help develop the site. “The community talked a lot about what we wanted,” said Miriam Culwell, a Mirrormont community member who helped foster the park’s growth. “Do we want a sports field, do we want bleachers, do we want lights, do we want toilets, do we want shelters?” The answer was none of the above. The community created a park that reflected the simple, easygoing
Volunteers spread a gravel path around what would be an Ecoturf meadow at the center of Mirrormont Park.
Mirrormont Park The park has two main entrances: one off 256th Avenue Southeast, Issaquah, just past the Mirrormont Pea Patch, and the other off Southeast Mirrormont Place, near the Mirrormont Country Club. The King County-owned park is open to the public.
nature of the Mirrormont neighborhood. “The reason that people said they moved here was peace, quiet and natural beauty,” Culwell said. “That’s why we did this. That’s why the park is as you see it today. It’s kind of a low-key neighborhood with a low-key park.” Other than benches, an informational kiosk and dog waste dispensers, the park is nothing more than a pleasant combination of grass, gravel, dirt, woodchips and trees. Ground broke on the park in 2005, when the community used grant money to hire a contractor to clear the overgrown meadow. While hired help did that, community volunteers got busy watering the meadow and clearing the trails to add bark and gravel. “The contractors did the big part of it, but in the beginning, we had small work parties to do different sections of it, like spreading the gravel around,” said Meg Wade, the Mirrormont Community
Association’s vice president of parks. As the years have gone by, the work parties have become less frequent, amounting to about one a year to spread bark or gravel on the trails. “We really don’t need the work parties as much because of the type of park it is,” Culwell said. “It just doesn’t need to be constantly maintained.” Now, once a week, a King County employee comes to pick up trash and walk the trails to make sure there are no hazards. The county also does seasonal mowing, Wade said. The King County-owned park is open to the public, but it is mostly used by Mirrormont residents. “When the weather is better, there is quite a lot of activity,” Culwell said. “I’ll come here and throw the ball with my dog. Part of the vision was for the park to be multigenerational so it could be used by everyone.” Still, the Mirrormont residents enjoy guarding the peaceful park as the neighborhood’s little secret. “We love our park and we’re happy to preserve the big trees, happy to preserve the natural part, because that’s why people moved here and they want their kids to grow up appreciating it,” Wade said.
VOLUNTEERS
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34 DIVERSITY IN FAITH
Voices of the
faithful
Regardless of the language, to Vida Abundante’s congregation the message remains the same STORY BY SEBASTIAN MORAGA Z PHOTOS BY GREG FARRAR The place is almost empty, but it’s rocking. The women, men and children in the pews barely break two dozen. In this Issaquah building that could easily fit six times that, this devoted Bellevue congregation makes this place sound much fuller. The group is called Vida Abundante, the congregation of a seven-year-old Hispanic church from Bellevue that for the past year has found a second home at Meadow Creek Church on Issaquah’s Front Street. About 100 people attend the church in Bellevue. The attendance in Issaquah averages about onefourth of that. Today, of the 25 or so people inside Meadow Creek, about 10 are children. In the pews, people are on their feet. Some of the younger members, not even taller than the pews, know the songs by heart. Some of the older members seem on the verge of tears, including Ramon Talamantes, the senior pastor sitting in a pew.
Youth pastor Isai Talamantes and other congregants lay their hands on and pray for the power of the Holy Spirit to minister to a member of the church who has responded to the altar call at the culmination of a Sunday sermon.
‘You don’t need to be too deep’ Talamantes arrived with his family in 2005, after 19 years as a Pentecostal pastor in the state of
Chihuahua, in northern Mexico. He started Vida Abundante that year in Bellevue. His nephew Tony is the lead singer of the church band and his son Isai has been the church’s youth pastor since 2009. “I started preaching when I was 12, but that was in Mexico,” the 21-year-old Isai said in a phone interview. “I didn’t do it often, just when my dad asked or when it was my turn. I’ve been doing it daily for the past three years, when I became youth pastor.” Isai’s sermons are simple, bordering on folksy, using Mexican vernacular like “ni modo,” (too bad), “orale” (all right, then) and referring to Delilah as “esa greñuda,” (that bushy-haired one). “You don’t need to be too deep,” Isai said. “By using common words, you let people know that the Bible God wrote is simple. He doesn’t want us to break our heads wondering if he exists. You don’t need to make people’s lives hard to get them to come to Jesus.” The band Tony leads also keeps it simple: three musicians, one guitar, one set of drums and Tony on keyboards and vocals, leading the faithful in song after song. Tony, 18, caresses each lead syllable of the song with a rock star’s inflection. “All the glory, all the honor,” Tony sings in Spanish, “receive, oh precious son of God.” Tony leads the crowd into every line of the next song, despite being flanked by two large screens showing the lyrics. Sometimes, the music stops and the singing continues, with Tony leading singalongs or improvising paeans to Jesus. People sing and sway with arms up and eyelids down. “It’s key for a service to have the impact we want the word to have,” Isai said, “that the songs we’ll sing show that the presence of God is there, and when God is there anything can happen.” The service lasts the better part of two hours, but the enthusiasm rarely dips. Some stay on their feet the entire time.
Fast-growing faith
A woman named Rosario Vega, the children’s pastor, takes the microphone from Tony and shares a story about bringing someone new
Senior pastor Ramon Talamantes prays from the pulpit with Pentecostal fervor. into the church. “My daughter is growing in the faith faster than I did,” she tells the crowd. “She says there’s a reason for that: ‘Mom, you had a Catholic mom.’” Vega then leads the group in prayer. Some in the pews start praying something else aloud. Nobody interrupts or shushes anybody. The more the merrier. Then, Isai takes the mic. This day’s sermon talks about Abraham and Sarah, their childbearing dreams and what it means to have faith. “I want you to learn this,” Isai tells the group, in his homespun
fashion. “So, nobody can take it away from you, not even with a corkscrew.” His narration sometimes takes perplexing turns, (“the conclusion is that we will host many Hispanic people in the city of Issaquah”) but the audience remains glued. “What’s your name?” he asks a man in the third row. “Aristeo,” comes the reply. “Aristeo,” Isai then turns to the crowd. “What do we say to Aristeo?” The crowd roars, “Bienvenido!” DIVERSITY IN FAITH
ISSAQUAH LIVING WINTER 2013
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Members of the Vida Abundante ‘Abundant Life’ church congregation raise their arms in praise during musical worship. (Welcome!) His words are optimistic, sprinkled with falsetto tones and capped almost unfailingly by an emphatic “Amen y amen.” No biblical reason for saying it twice, he said, just a habit. “Faith,” he tells the group, “is having certainty of what is unexpected and conviction of what is unseen.”
A privilege to preach
Preaching, he said in the interview, is not just fun, it’s a privilege. “It’s a total happiness that God allows you to impact people’s lives,” he said. “It’s the greatest satisfaction that a human being may have.” Vida Abundante, he added, has had a fantastic reception in Issaquah. Many Eastside Hispanics lead lives that entail little more than roundtrips between home and work, he said, so the church has had to knock on doors to make its presence known. “You have to tell them you are here,” he said. “When they open the door, they know that there’s a community, not just religious but Christian, where we promote values and people can come hear the word
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ISSAQUAH LIVING WINTER 2013
DIVERSITY IN FAITH
of God.” In five years, the church will have impacted the entire city of Issaquah, he predicted. “We will spread the word that the God we believe in is alive and has the answers for the problems people have today, especially Hispanics,” he said. “We will be changing the city in a positive way.”
Acts that are fully biblical
At the service, the mood changes from the charming sermon to something a little deeper. Tony holds one steely note on the keyboard and Isai closes his eyes, inviting people to join him near the altar. Two women walk up to him and kneel. He never ceases talking, invoking the Holy Spirit and placing his hands on their heads. Then, his Spanish disappears, replaced by something else. “Urrah kanda, sanda kanda rye-akanda,” Isai seems to say. “Speaking in tongues is evidence that God is giving us the power to pass on to another level,” he said. His voice barely overcomes the din from the small crowd, which interjects his elocutions with shouts of
“alleluia!” and “gloria a Dios,” (glory to God) and “asi es” (that’s it). Then, he speaks in tongues again. “It might be weird for some other people, some might say, ‘He’s crazy,’ or ‘He’s drunk,’” he said in the interview. “But, it’s evidence that God is giving us power to keep doing things the Bible says we must.” By placing his hand on women’s heads, he said, he is transmitting the Holy Spirit to them. Not a baptism, or a christening, but something “fully biblical,” he added. Tears begin to fall from a woman’s face. Without shouting, Isai’s voice still fills the room. “Declare your faith!” he says. “Let the devil hear you! Let hell tremble!” The woman falls to the floor, and a little girl no older than 5 stops and stares. She walks away, returns with a coat, and lays it on the woman, who never moves, opens her eyes or stops moaning. Isai then moves on to the next woman. “Urrah kanda, sanda kanda ryea-kanda,” he says again. “I’m a tree loaded with fruits. Many people follow me. I belong to the generation of leaders of nations of our time. If God said so, God will do it.”
DIVERSITY IN FAITH
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“Alleluia!” Ramon shouts from the pew.
God talked, people responded
Ignacia Armengol lifts her hands in praise as the congregation sings hymns.
Ramon sits in a pew with a chair next to him. On the chair sits a book titled “Biblia Paralela.” “It’s like a dictionary,” Isai explained. “You know how you have different versions of a dictionary: Webster’s, etc.? Well, the Bible is the same way. The Parallel Bible is a Bible that comes with more explanations, much more content. It’s still the same books, though.” Ramon leaves the Biblia Paralela behind and takes the microphone from his son. He bids the congregation farewell, reminds them of their next service in five days, and shares his thoughts on what has just transpired, in a style reminiscent of his son. Later, Isai will explain that what Dad meant was the service was marvelous: God talked, people responded. “Today,” Ramon said. “Many of us served ourselves with the big spoon.”
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38 CLUBS
JOIN IN!
A DEEPER WELL, CHRISTIAN DISCUSSION GROUP • 8 p.m. last Tuesday of the month • Sunset Ale House, 20 Front St. S. • 392-4169 • rdfletcher@oslcissaquah.org AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN • Meets monthly, dates and locations vary, September to June • issaquah@aauw-wa.org • www.aauw-issaquah.org AMERICAN RHODODENDRON SOCIETY, CASCADE CHAPTER • 7 p.m. the second Tuesday of the month • Bellevue Presbyterian Church, 1717 Bellevue Way N.E. • 391-2366 • www.arscascade.org ARTEAST AND UP FRONT STUDIO • 95 Front St. N. • 392-3191 • info@arteast..org • www.arteast.org BEAVER LAKE COMMUNITY CLUB • info@beaverlake.org • www.beaverlake.org CASCADE REPUBLICAN WOMEN’S CLUB • 11:30 a.m. the third Wednesday of the month • Sammamish Plateau Club, 25625 E. Plateau Drive • 861-7910 • dakotalarue@comcast.net DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, CASCADE CHAPTER • 10:30 a.m. the second Tuesday of the month • Bellevue Red Lion Inn, 11211 Main St. • 223-5392
Rod Johnson, known over the airwaves as Rod WE7X, operates a ham radio at Field Day 2011.
AMATEUR RADIO CLUB Did you know it’s possible to send a message around the world using less electricity than a nightlight? The members of the Issaquah Amateur Radio Club do. Ham radio operators are a growing community. There are more than 700,000 operators in the United States and 3 million worldwide. Many of the members of the Issaquah ARC also belong to the Issaquah Communications Support Team that reports to the Issaquah Police Department, and support Issaquah’s emergency manager with backup communications for the city when needed. In addition, amateur radio operators provide critical communication during wildfires, winter storms, tornados and floods.
• lanabeth@lanabethhorgen.com • http://on.fb.me/SXGjq5 EAGER EYE GUIDE PUPS • 6 p.m. twice a month, Sundays
But the ways to have fun via the airwaves are nearly endless, from tracking your friends, pets or wildlife to staying in communication when hiking or camping, from earning badges through Scouting programs to being a GeoFox signal sleuth, “Fox” hunting for hidden radio signals and GPS. Ham radios are less expensive than you’d think, and getting started with a beginner’s license is just a simple test away. Usually just $20 to join, membership is free for anyone 19 and younger. • 7:30 p.m. the first Wednesday of the month • Issaquah Valley Senior Citizens Center, 75 N.E. Creek Way • www.w7bi.com
• Issaquah Police Station Eagle Room, 130 E. Sunset Way • sjbonsib@aol.com or decorativeconcrete@comcast.net • http://eagereyeguidepups.com
EASTSIDE GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY • 7 p.m. the second Thursday of the month, except July, August and December • Redmond Public Library, 15990 N.E. 85th Ave. • www.rootsweb.ancestry. com/~wakcegs EASTSIDE INTERFAITH SOCIAL CONCERNS COUNCIL • St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church, 4228 Factoria Blvd. S.E. • Noon the second Tuesday of the month • 206-295-7803 • www.eiscc.net EASTSIDE NEW NEIGHBORS • 10 a.m. the first Wednesday of the month • Meeting and event locations vary • 868-2851 • jobarboy@comcast.net • http://newcomersclub.com/wa.html ELKS LODGE NO. 1843 • 6:30 p.m. the first and third Tuesday of the month • 765 Rainier Blvd. N. • 392-1400 • http://home.earthlink.net/ ~lk-samm-elks-1843 FRIENDS OF THE ISSAQUAH SALMON HATCHERY • 125 W. Sunset Way • 392-1118 • jane@issaquahfish.org • www.issaquahfish.org FRIENDS OF THE SAMMAMISH LIBRARY • 5:15 p.m. the first Thursday of the month • Sammamish Library, 825 228th Ave. N.E. • 868-3057 • www.sammamishlibraryfriends.org GREATER ISSAQUAH TOASTMASTERS • 6:45 p.m. Thursdays • Bellewood Retirement Community, 3710 Providence Point Drive S.E. • issaquahtm@gmail.com • www.issaquahtm.org HOPE ON THE HILL GUILD • the first Thursday of the month • info@hopeonthehillguild.org
Members of the Cascade Mountain Men wear period costumes from the 1800s at a recent club shoot.
CASCADE MOUNTAIN MEN Ask the president of the Cascade Mountain Men, Steve Baima, and he’ll tell you in light of current events, 98 percent of gun owners are responsible citizens being given a bad name by a few crazy people. He invites the curious to check out how the muzzle-loading community properly handles its firearms at monthly shoots at the Issaquah Sportsman’s Club. The competitive shoots, with members all the way up into their early 90s, usually involve two types of rifles — the flint lock and the cap lock — with most members owning a recreation rifle of the type used in the 1800s.
• www.hopeonthehillguild.org ISSAQUAH ALPS TRAILS CLUB • 392-3571 • www.issaquahalps.org ISSAQUAH BUSINESS BUILDERS • 7:30 a.m. the first and third Thursday of the month • IHOP Restaurant, 1433 N.W. Sammamish Road • info@issaquahnetworking.com • www.issaquahnetworking.com ISSAQUAH COMMUNITY NETWORK • 5:30 p.m. the first Monday of the month • Hailstone Feed Store, 232 Front St. N. • 391-0592 • issaquahcommunitynetwork-
To make their get-togethers more authentic, the club hosts the occasional “rendezvous” inviting members to a camp-out, dressing as period correct as they can, recreating when traders would gather in the 1840s to buy, sell and resupply. • Shoot (black powder, muzzle loading) is at noon the third Sunday of the month • Meeting is at 8 p.m. the second Tuesday • 865-8965 • www.cascademountainmen.com • Also check out the Washington Historical Gunmakers Guild on Facebook.
mindspring.com • www.issaquahcommunitynetwork.com ISSAQUAH EAGLES AERIE AND AUXILIARY • 7:30 p.m. the second and third Wednesday of the month • 175 Front St. N. • www.foe3054.org ISSAQUAH EMBLEM CLUB • 7 p.m. the first and third Wednesday of the month, except December and January • Elks Lodge, 765 Rainier Blvd. N. • 392-1400 • http://home.earthlink net/~issaquah503 WALKING TOURS
ISSAQUAH LIVING WINTER 2013
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ISSAQUAH ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL • 392-4908 • issaquahaction@gmail.com • www.issaquahaction.org ISSAQUAH GARDEN CLUB • 10 a.m. the second Wednesday of the month, September to June • Tibbetts Creek Manor, 750 Renton-Issaquah Road • info@issaquahgardenclub.org • www.issaquahgardenclub.org ISSAQUAH HAM RADIO SUPPORT GROUP • 7 p.m. fourth Monday of the month • Issaquah Police Station, 130 E. Sunset Way • talk-in at 146.56 MHz at 7 p.m., meeting at 7:30 p.m. • http://www.w7bi.com ISSAQUAH HISTORY MUSEUMS • Become a docent at the Issaquah Depot or Gilman Town Hall • Gilman Town Hall, 165 S.E. Andrews St. • 392-3500 • info@issaquahhistory.org • www.issaquahhistory.org ISSAQUAH MOMS GROUP • Meeting and event locations vary • www.meetup.com/issy-moms-group ISSAQUAH NETWORKERS • 7:30 a.m. first and third Wednesday of the month • IHOP Restaurant, 1433 N.W. Sammamish Road • 427-0800 • mallard@realtyexecutives.com • www.issaquahnetworkers.com ISSAQUAH QUILTERS • 10 a.m. to noon second and fourth Friday of the month • Issaquah Depot, 50 Rainier Blvd. N. • www.issaquahquilters.com • info@issaquahquilters.com ISSAQUAH SPORTSMEN’S CLUB • 23600 S.E. Evans St. • 392-3311 • www.issaquahsportsmensclub.com ISSAQUAH VALLEY GRANGE • 7:30 p.m. second and fourth Monday • Issaquah Myrtle Mason Lodge Hall, 57 W. Sunset Way • 392-3013
Eastside Camera Club members set up shots during a visit to the Bellevue Botanical Garden.
EASTSIDE CAMERA CLUB The Eastside Camera Club, founded in 1952, is dedicated to improving its members’ skills from handling to shooting with a camera and post-processing to printing. The club meets twice a month on the first and third Thursdays at an Eastside library from September to May (there are no meetings in December). There’s only one meeting a month in June, July and August. The month’s first meeting is always an education night, featuring a guest speaker or a member who will share a subject that he or she is familiar with. The second meeting of the month is print/ digital night, where each member brings prints
and/or digital images for review and critique. The club has left a lasting impression on member Bruce Williams. “It’s easy to see there is a great deal of energy in this group,” he said in a post on the group’s website. “This is due to good leadership. Their energy and enthusiasm is constantly passed on to the rest of the members. So many members are willing to offer suggestions and advice in a gentle, helpful manner. There is a genuine concern for one another.” • 7 p.m. first and third Thursday of the month • Eastside library locations • www.eastsidecameraclub.com
ISSAQUAH VALLEY ROCK CLUB • Last Friday of the month, juniors at 6:30 p.m., general meeting follows at 7 p.m. • Issaquah Senior Center, 75 N.E. Creek Way • Information@issaquahrockclub.org • www.issaquahrockclub.org
ISSAQUAH WOMEN’S CLUB • 9:30 a.m. the first Thursday of the month • Tibbetts Creek Manor, 750 17th Ave. N.W. • 391-5961 or 898-8030 • issaquahwomensclub@gmail.com • www.issaquahwomensclub.org
ISSAQUAH VALLEY SENIOR CENTER • 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday • 75 N.E. Creek Way • 392-2381 • www.issaquahseniorcenter.org
JUDAIKIDS HEBREW SCHOOL • 3:30 p.m. every Wednesday • Chabad of Central Cascades, 24121 S.E. Black Nugget Road • 427-1654 • www.chabadissaquah.com
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KIWANIS CLUB OF ISSAQUAH • Noon Wednesdays • Gibson Hall, 105 Newport Way S.W. • 392-4016 • info@issaquahkiwanis.org • www.issaquah.kiwanis.org KIWANIS CLUB OF PROVIDENCE POINT • Noon Fridays • Collin Hall, 4135-A Providence Point Drive S.E. • Guests are welcome, lunch $5 • 427-9060 • ferrinlauve@msn.com KIWANIS CLUB OF SAMMAMISH • 7 a.m. Wednesdays • Sammamish Hills Lutheran Church, 22818 S.E. Eighth St. • www.sammamishkiwanis.org LA LECHE LEAGUE • 10 a.m. the second Wednesday of the month • Sammamish Boys & Girls Club Teen Center, 825 228th Ave. N.E. • 677-8209 • LLL.sammamish@gmail.com • www.lllofwa.org/la-lecheleague-sammamish MYRTLE MASONIC LODGE NO. 108 • 7:30 p.m. the third Thursday of the month • Myrtle Lodge, 57 W. Sunset Way • http://myrtlelodge108.org MOMS CLUB OF THE SAMMAMISH PLATEAU • Third Friday of the month • Pine Lake Covenant Church, 1715 228th Ave. S.E. • membership@momsclubsammamish.org • http://momsclubsammamish.org MOMS IN PRAYER INTERNATIONAL • Times and dates vary • 369-2956 • lindaryee@comcast.net • www.momsinprayer.org OPTIMIST CLUB OF ISSAQUAH • 6-7 p.m. first Wednesday of the month (Shanghai Garden) • 5-7 p.m. third Tuesday at Issaquah Food Bank • getinvolved@optimists.org
A big draw for the Friends of the Issaquah Library is its annual book sale.
FRIENDS OF THE ISSAQUAH LIBRARY If you are a book lover who enjoys sharing your passion for history, adventure, biography, children’s stories, and all of the magic and information contained inside the walls of the Issaquah Library, then this is the organization for you. Friends of the Issaquah Library not only supports library programs, book sales and activities, but the group also coordinates the Book Shelf Program at the Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank. The Book Shelf Program has donated thousands of children’s and adult books to the food bank. Library “friends” converse with food bank clients and help them feel comfortable while
PARENTS, FAMILIES & FRIENDS OF LESBIANS & GAYS, BELLEVUE • 206-325-7724 • info@pflag-bellevue.org • www.pflag.org PUGET SOUND SMOCKING GUILD • First Saturday, September-June • Mercer Island Community Center • 391-2581 • www.smocking.org
browsing the shelves. Children at the food bank are encouraged to build a “book shelf” at home by taking home one book per week, and volunteers organize the donations by age group and language. The Issaquah Library needs volunteers for its upcoming three-day Spring Book Sale in April. • Friends of the Issaquah Library • 7 p.m. the second Wednesday of the month • Issaquah Library, 10 W. Sunset Way • davewettstein@gmail.com • www.issyfriends.org
REX (RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE) FOR THOSE WITH SPECIAL NEEDS • 1:30 p.m. the first Sunday of the month • St. Joseph parish hall, 220 Mountain Park Blvd. S.W. • 392-5682 • finneganrm@aol.com • www.sjcissaquah.org (search for REX)
ROTARY CLUB OF ISSAQUAH • 12:15 p.m. Tuesdays • Tibbetts Creek Manor, 750 17th Ave. N.W. • amodahl@ihmail.com • 295-2258 • www.issaquahrotary.org ROTARY CLUB OF SAMMAMISH • 7:15 a.m. Thursdays • Bellewood Apartments, 3710 Providence Point Drive S.E. • Info@SammamishRotary.org • http://sammamishrotary.org SAMMAMISH GARDEN CLUB • 9:30 a.m. the second Tuesday of the month (in members’ homes) • 836-0421 • cathywebst@aol.com • www.elwd.org/about.aspx SAMMAMISH HERITAGE SOCIETY • 7 p.m. the second Wednesday of the month • Pine Lake Community Center, 21333 S.E. 20th St. • 260-9804 • sammamish.heritage@hotmail.com • www.sammamishheritage.org SOCIAL JUSTICE BOOK GROUP • 10 a.m. third Monday at Bellewood Retirement Home • 3710 Providence Point Drive S.E., Issaquah • invasivesout@hotmail.com SUNSET HIGHWAY CRUISERS • 392-1921 • Triple XXX Rootbeer Drive-in, 98 N.E. Gilman Blvd. TAKE POUNDS OFF SENSIBLY • 8:30 a.m. Thursdays • Our Savior Lutheran Church, 745 Front St. S. • 253-845-8693 • carlenegary@comcast.net • www.tops.org VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS, POST 3436 • 7 p.m. the third Tuesday of the month • Issaquah Senior Center, 75 N.E. Creek Way • 837-9478 • davids@msn.com • www.vfw.org
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City’s population is on the rise Issaquah surpassed 31,000 residents in the past year, as population growth continues to inch upward after a decade of rapid expansion. Between the decennial censuses in 2000 and 2010, Issaquah ballooned by 170 percent — the result of construction-and-annexationfueled population growth. The population remains overwhelmingly Caucasian — 75 percent — as more
Asian and Latino residents settled in the city, according to the most recent data, collected during Census 2010. Asian residents comprise the largest minority group in the city at 17.5 percent or 5,322 people. Hispanic or Latino residents make up 5.8 percent, or 1,764 Hispanic or Latino residents. The percentage of black residents is 1.3 percent, or 422 people.
THE PEOPLE
Issaquah and Sammamish Business Directory ADVERTISING AGENCY Synchro Creative Communications . 425.885.5661 Ext. 1 Creative, strategic advertising & design that gets results. www.SynchroCreative.com ANTIQUES /COLLECTIBLES DESIGN Gilman Gallery .................................. 425.391.6640 Antique Collectibles Design 17,000 sq ft of Treasures Open Every Day 11-6 625 NW Gilman Blvd, Issaquah WA 98027 APPLIANCES King and Bunny’s Appliances ..........425-277-0600 4608 NE Sunset Blvd. Renton – Highlands www.kingandbunnys.com ASSISTED LIVING Merrill Gardens at Renton Center .. 425.235.6400 “A One-of-a-Kind Retirement Community” Voted Best of Renton 2009, 2010, 2011 www.merrillgardens.com Red Oak ..........................................425.888.7108 Quality Service • Quality Care Trained Staff • Spacious Apartments www.redoakresidence.com Spiritwood at Pine Lake .................. 425.313.9100 Assisted Living www.villageconcepts.com 3607 228th AVE SE, Issaquah 98029 ATTORNEYS O’Brien, Barton, Joe & Hopkins ...... 425.391.7427 Attorneys at Law Personal Injury • Family Law Wills • Estate Tax Planning • Probate Real Estate Transactions • Traffic Tickets 175 NE Gilman Blvd, Issaquah www.OBrienLawFirm.net Pearson Law ........... 425.831.3100 • 800.423.8473 EXPERT INTERVENTION MAKES A DIFFERENCE Auto Collisions*Insurance Claims*Work Injuries *Civil Litigation*Product Liability*Pharmaceutical Claims 35131 SE Douglas Street, Ste #103, Snoqualmie www.pearsonlawfirm.com AUTO LOANS Harborstone Credit . 206.382.1888 or 800.248.6928 Union A Better Way to Save & Borrow In Issaquah • for Washington Residents www.PrevailCU.com AUTO REPAIR Autosys Inc ........................................425-882-0630 18018 Redmond Way #19 Redmond WA 98052 www.autosysinc.com Voted Redmond’s Best 2010-2011 German Car Specialists, Inc. ...........425.644.7770 BMW • Audi • Mercedes Benz Service & Repair since 1979 Located in Factoria www.GermanAuto.com Klahanie Service Center ................... 425.313.3057 Auto Repair • Chevron fuel 4598 Klahanie Dr SE, Issaquah www.KlahanieServiceCenter.com
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Mark’s Auto Detail ............................ 425.392.5959 Cars, Boats, RVs, Motorcycles 90 NW Gilman Blvd, Ste B, Issaquah www.marksautomotivedetailing.com Mark’s Japanese European............... 425.313.9999 Auto Repair We service all cars! 90 NW Gilman Blvd, Issaquah www.marksjapanese-european.com Morgan Motors ................................. 425.391.3600 Voted Best Auto Repair 8 years running Free Loaner Available www.ExpertAutoCare.com TAJ Collision Center ......................... 425.557.7993 Issaquah’s 5-Star Auto Body Repair Shop Insurance, Restoration, Bikes & Custom 60 NW Gilman Blvd. Issaquah, 98027 www.tajcollisioncenter.com AUTO WRECKING Budget Auto Wrecking ....................253.852.6363 $$Cash$$ For Junk Cars ............206.244.4314, ext. 3 Autos & Trucks www.budgetautowrecking.biz AWARDS/TROPHIES Issaquah Trophy & Awards .............. 425.391.8158 Quality AWARDS – Great CUSTOMER SERVICE 1320 NW Mall Street - #A-2 Issaquah www.issaquahtrophy.com BOATING & ACCESSORIES Bakes Marine .....................................425-392-7599 6424 E. Lk Sammammish Pkwy SE Issaquah, WA 98029 Mon-Fri 9-6 Sat 10-4 • www.bakesonline.com BOAT REPAIR I-90 Marine Center ......................... 425-392-2748 280 NE Juniper St. Iss Wa 98027 i-90marinecenter.com A+ Rating with the BBB CHIROPRACTIC Issaquah Family Chiropractic ..........425.557.8787 6220 East Lake Sammamish Pkwy SE, Ste A Issaquah Gentle • Safe • Effective www.healthyissaquah.com Issaquah Highlands ........................425.427.0809 Chiro/Massage 1836 25 Ave NE Issaquah, WA 98029 Fast pain relief on your schedule www.issaquahhighlandschiropractic.com CHURCHES First Church of Christ, Scientist ...... 425.392.8140 9806 238th Way SE, Issaquah WA 98027 Reading Room – 415 Rainier Blvd N, Issaquah www.christianscienceissaquah.org CLEANING SERVICES Ge-o Clean, LLC ................................425-281-1708 Residential Housecleaning Licensed, Bonded & Insured www.geocleanllc.com CLOTHING Suburban Soul Clothing Boutique .. 425.391.8171 Beside REI • 735 Gilman Blvd (Gilman Village) A Store for Every Woman www.suburbansoul.net
COUNSELING Rebecca Turner, L.P.C. .......425.454.3863 (Bellevue) Solid Rock Counseling www.rebecca-turner.com rebeccahturner@msn.com CPAs Fleck Jurenka, LLP ............................ 425.961.0632 Certified Public Accountants Fresh Ideas & Continuous Tax Planning 360 Rainier Blvd North, Issaquah www.fleckjurenka.com Tate & Oellrich, Inc., P.S. .................. 425.392.5650 A Certified Public Accounting Firm Serving Issaquah since 1964 425 Rainier Blvd. N, Issaquah www.tateandoellrich.com Shanna L. Tomko, CPA ....................(425) 681-6416 Certified Public Accountant Quality personal service is our priority www.tomkotaxconsulting.com 1186 NE Park Drive, Issaquah CREDIT UNIONS Harborstone Credit . 206.382.1888 or 800.248.6928 Union A Better Way to Save & Borrow In Issaquah • for Washington Residents www.PrevailCU.com DANCE INSTRUCTION Dance with Miss Sue 425.443.5737 Ballet • Tap • Tumbling • for ages 3 to 7 Pine Lake Community Center 21333 SE 20th, Sammamish Gotta Dance ...................................... 425.861.5454 Tap • Ballet • Jazz • Hip Hop Lyrical • Ages 2 to Adult 17945 NE 65th, Redmond www.GttaDance.com DEMENTIA CARE Spiritwood at Pine Lake .................. 425.313.9100 Assisted Living www.villageconcepts.com 3607 228th AVE SE, Issaquah 98029 DENTISTS Mark Germack, DDS ......................... 425.392.7541 Voted Favorite Dentists in 2007-2012! Dr. Barry Feder • Dr. Mark Germack Medical Center of Issaquah 450 NW Gilman Blvd, Ste 103 www.doctorfeder.com Thomas R. Quickstad, DDS, PLLC .... 425.391.1331 Family Dentistry on the Plateau since 1989 3707 Providence Point Dr. SE, Suite E www.quickstad.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 www.riverdogK9.com DRUG AND ALCOHOL TREATMENT Lakeside-Milam ............................. (425) 392-8468 Recovery Centers 22605 SE 56th St., Suite 230 Issaquah, WA 98029-5289 Effective, Affordable Alcohol + Drug Treatment www.lakesidemilam.com
DRYWALL Summit Drywall, Inc. ..................... 425.369.1173 Over 35 years industry experience sdi@summitdrywallinc.com Lic. # SUMMIDIO33CE ELECTRICAL SERVICES Illuminate Contracting ................ 206.497.1961 Electrical and General Contractors 147 Front Street, Issaquah WA 98027 www.illuminatecontracting.com Greg’s Electric Services ............... 425.957.4630 Expert Residential Services Call Greg’s Electric – Greg will answer and he’ll be the one on the job! Issaquah, WA EYE CARE New Vision Eye Care .................... 425.392.2196 Dr. K. Moscovitz, OD • Dr. W. Penteost, OD Pine Lake Dental - Medical Center www.NewVisionEyeCare.com Sammamish Vision Center.............. 425.391.1116 Guiding you to better vision 3310 E. Lk Samm Pkwy SE #E www.SammamishVision.com FARM/GARDEN/FUEL The Grange Supply Store ............. 425.392.6469 Proudly serving the community since 1934 Offering organic lawn & garden products Natural/holistic pet foods & supplements Scouting clothing & supplies Adult shoes, boots, clothing & more Propane refills & ethanol-free fuel 145 NE Gilman Blvd, Issaquah www.grangesupply.com FITNESS/HEALTH Sammamish Family YMCA ............. 425.391.4840 4221 228th Ave SE City Church Campus We’re for youth development, healthy living and social responsibility. www.SammamishYMCA.org FLOORING Great Floors ................................. 425.455.8332 Serving Eastside Homeowners & Businesses 12802 Bel-Red Road in Bellevue www.greatfloors.com Email m.wisecarver@greatfloors.com FLORISTS Countryside Floral & Garden ........425.392.0999 1420 NW Gilman Blvd, #1 Issaquah •Weddings, funerals, fabulous designs! www.CountrysideFloral.com FURNACE REPAIR Dirk’s Heating ................................ 425-392-1937 Gas • Oil • Electric Service + Installation Serving the Eastside since 1966 GLASS Eastside Mobile ..............................425.391.7227 Auto Glass, Inc. All Auto Glass Repair & Replacement Preferred Provider for ALL Insurance 60 NW Gilman Blvd, Issaquah (in Issaquah Auto Mall) www.EastsideMobileAutoGlass.com Issaquah Glass .....425.392.5333 or 800.562.8292 Professional Glass replacement & Repair Serving Issaquah since 1945 30200 SE 79th St. #30, Issaquah Exit 22 of I-90 at Preston Business Park
HAIR SALONS Acacia Hair Salon ...........................425.396.7036 A Full Service Salon Pro Salon Services for Today’s Family Licensed Aesthetician for waxing, eyelash extensions, microdermabrasion and face peels 7721 Center Blvd SE, Snoqualmie www.acaciahairsalon.com Gina Mary Hair Design ....................425.313.8841 Best of Issaquah 9 Years Straight! 240 NW Gilman Blvd. #4 Issaquah www.ginamary.com HANDYMAN SERVICE Shirey Handyman Service ...............425.392.8301 230 NE Juniper St, Ste. 200 Issaquah, WA 98027 www.shireyhandyman.com Home maintenance, repairs & remodel HAULING SERVICES Residential Hauling ............206-715-1785 / James Services Help moving, dump runs, Goodwill runs, etc. Also serving Snoq & N. Bend HOME IMPROVEMENT Garage Door Co ................................ 425-503-7353 Residential • Doors & Openers Reidt Way Doors LIC # www.reidtwaydoors.com HORSEBACK RIDING Red Gate Farm Day Camp ...............425.392.0111 Summer Camp Riding Lessons • Winter/Spring/Fall Sammamish Plateau • See us on Facebook www.RedGateFarmDayCamp.com The Union Hill Ranch ......................425.868.8097 Full Care Boarding & Lessons Specializing in Beginners 6-10 yrs Summer & Show Program www.theunionhillranch.com INVESTMENT SERVICES Edward Jones ...................................425.557.2171 David Bleiweiss – Financial Advisor 45 Ftont Street North, Issaquah 98027 David.bleiweiss@edwardjones.com JEWELERS Nault Jewelers .................................425.391.9270 Best of Issaquah • 15 years! Town & Country Square 1175 NW Gilman Blvd, Issaquah 98027 LANDSCAPE CONTRACTORS Greener Dreams, Inc. ......................425.369.8133 Professional yard maintenance Experience in Issaquah, Redmond, Sammamish & Sno-Valley since 1991. www.greenerdreamslandscape.com Steve’s LandscapingSteve ..............425.214.3391 & Gardening Weed • Trim • Prune • Bark • New Sod Retaining Wall • Rockery • Paver Patio General Clean up LICENSING Alpine Licensing ..............................425.369.0409 Full service vehicle/vessel registration and licensing services Open 6 days a week! M-F 9-6 & Sat 9-3 1175 NW Gilman Blvd, Ste B3, Issaquah (btwn Rite Aid and Sports Authority) www.alpinelicensing.com
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LIQUOR AND TOBACCO Snoqualmie Tobacco ...................... 425-888-3071 & Liquor Store Drive Thru • Reservation Pricing Major Brands • Liquor • Smokeless Tobacco Next to the Casino • Open 7 Days a Week www.snotobaccoandliquor.com MARTIAL ARTS Kung Fu Club of ...............................425.392.4712 Fall City/Issaquah 32841 SE 47th Place, Fall City 98024 Real Skills, for Life www.KungFuClubIssaquah.com Kung Fu • Qi Gong • Meditation MASSAGE THERAPY Issaquah Highlands ........................ 425-427-0809 Massage and Chiropractic 1836 25 Ave NE Issaquah, 98029 Highlandschiropractic@yahoo.com Insurance paid for massage: Check with us first Moon Lodge ..................................... 425.392.4700 Organically focused, renowned massage 535 East Sunset Way, Issaquah www.VisitMoonLodge.com MEAT MARKET & SEAFOOD Fischer Meats and .............425.392.3131 Fischer’s Freshy’s Seafood ..425.391.1365 Freshy’s Seafood Choice Meats and the Freshest Seafood! 85 Front St N, Issaquah www.fischermeatsnw.com www.freshysseafood.com MEDICAL/HEALTH SERVICES Henri P. Gaboriau, M.D., FACS ....... 425-898-1228 ENT/Facial Plastic Surgery 22840 NE 8th Street, Sammamish www.sammamishfacial.com Overlake Medical ............................425.688.5777 Center Issaquah Primary Care & 24-Hour Urgent Care Clinic 5708 East Lake Sammamish Pkwy SE Issaquah, 98029 www.OverlakeHospital.org/issaquah Proliance Orthopaedics ..................425.392.3030 & Sports Medicine 510 8th AVE NE, Suite 200 Issaquah, WA 98029 F: 425.392.2564 www.pro-osm.com Snoqualmie Valley Hospital ........ (425) 831-2300 Local Emergency Care Professional & Personal Care 9575 Ethan Wade Way SE, Snoqualmie WA 98065 www.svhdh.org Open 24/7 UW Neighborhood ..........................425.391.3900 Issaquah Clinic 1455 11th Ave NW, Issaquah WA 98027 Fax 206.520.1399 www.uwmedicine.org/uwpn In Pickering Place shopping center Virginia Mason ................................425.557.8000 Medical Center Award-winning • Primary and Specialty Care 100 NE Gilman Blvd • Issaquah • 98027 www.virginiamason.org MEETING SPACE BANQUETS Historic Gibson Hall ....................... 425.392.4016 105 Newport Way SW, Issaquah, WA www.Issaquah.Kiwanis.org Rental Hall 900+ sq ft with full kitchen
Pine Lake Community .....................425.392.2313 Club ...................................................425.392.4041 Rent for Parties, Meetings, Weddings & Receptions. www.PineLakeCommunityClub.com MORTGAGE/HOME LOANS Harborstone Credit . 206.382.1888 or 800.248.6928 Union A Better Way to Save & Borrow In Issaquah • for Washington Residents www.PrevailCU.co NEWSPAPERS The Issaquah Press .......................... 425.392.6434 Founded in 1900; legal paper for City of Issaquah P.O. Box 1328 Issaquah 98027 www.IssaquahPress.com Sammamish Review ..........................425.392.6434 Founded in 1992 P.O. Box 1328 Issaquah 98027 www.SammamishReview.com SnoValley Star....................................425.392.6434 Mailed weekly to 11,000 homes in North Bend & Snoqualmie P.O. Box 1328 Issaquah 98027 www.SnoValleyStar.com NURSING FACILITIES Providence Marianwood .................425.391.2800 Skilled Nursing & Rehab A caring difference you can feel. 3725 Providence Point Dr SE www.Providence.org
Alicia R. Reid, Broker, Realtor ........425.466.0203 Coldwell Banker Bain, Redmond Eastside Specialist, Accredited Luxury Home Specialist sold@aliciareid.com www.AReasonToMove.com
ROOFING Miller Roofing Serving Issaquah/Sammamish since 1964 16637 Issaquah-Hobart Road SE 425.392.6121 • miller_roofing@comcast.net www.millerroofing.com
RECREATION YOUTH/ADULTS/SENIORS Sammamish EX3 Teen .....................425.836.9295 & Recreation Center & Redmond/Sammamish Boys & Girls Club www.sammamishex3.org www.rs.positiveplace.org Great Futures Start Here
RV PARK Issaquah Village RV Park ...............425.392.9233 4 Star Rated. 60 full hookup sites. Clean, friendly atmosphere. Approved by Big Rigs Best Bets Reservations recommended 650 1st Ave NE, Issaquah www.home.earthlink.net/~issaquahrv/
Sammamish Family YMCA ..............425.391.4840 4221 228th Ave SE City Church Campus We’re for youth development, healthy living and social responsibility. www.SammamishYMCA.org
SCHOOLS Cougar Mountain Academy ............425.641.2800 For Children with High Expectations Grades 1-5 • Kindergarten & Pre-K 5410 194th Ave SE www.CougarMountainAcademy.org
REMODELING/HANDYMAN Craig Smith Construction, Inc. .......425.392.4751 Quality Remodeling Servng The Community Since 1975 www.craigsmithconst.com
In the Beginning Preschool ... 425.392.0123 ext 3 Ages 20 mos. to Pre-K 9:30 am – 1 pm (M, T, TH & F) www.inthebeginningpreschool.org
Shirey Handyman Services ............ 425-392-8301 Total home remodeling + small repairs Home Maintenance Plan 230 NE Juniper St, Issaquah WA www.ShireyHandyman.com
PHYSICAL THERAPY Balance Physical Therapy, Inc. .......425.391.6794 Restore strength & balance to your body 730 NW Gilman Blvd, Ste C-108 www.BalancePT.org
Showplace, Inc. ................................425.885.1595 Remodeling • Design/Build • Interiors 8710 Willows Road NE, Redmond, WA www.showplaceinc.com
Peak Sports and Spine Physical Therapy Issaquah 425.391.9211 • Sammamish 425.391.2427 Factoria 425.653.7100 • Bellevue 425.450.9801 Snoqualmie 425.396.7778 Renton Highlands 425.235.9505 www.peaksportsandspinept.com
RESTAURANTS/BARS Agave Cocina & Tequilas ............... 425-369-8900 Contemporary Mexican Cuisine 1048 NE Park Drive Issaquah, WA 98029 www.agaverest.com
PLUMBING Schuerman Plumbing .......................425.392.2850 Owned/Operated, 1979 Serving Iss./Bellevue/Samm./Snoq. Ridge Repair • Faucet • Sink • Water Heater • Remodel schuerman@comcast.net www.schuermanplumbing.com
Issaquah Cafe ..................................425.391.9690 Your Family’s Favorite Comfort Foods! 1580 NW Gilman Blvd Meadows Shopping Center (next to QFC)
REAL ESTATE Centerra at Talus .............................425.391.5317 Beautiful 2 & 3 Bedroom Homes 2101 NW Talus Dr, Issaquah www.LiveCenterra.com Coldwell Banker Bain ...........425.391.5600 Office 1151 NW Sammamish Rd, Suite 103 Issaquah, WA 98027 Issaquah@cbbain.com www.CBBain.com/Issaquah
Montalcino ....................................... 425.270.3677 Ristorante Italiano 15 NW Alder Place, Issaquah 98027 www.MontalcinoristoranteItaliano.com Pogacha ............................................425.392.5550 NW Cuisine with an Adriatic Flair 120 NW Gilman Blvd, Issaquah www.Pogacha.com The Sammamish Café .....................425.242.1350 Comfort food at its finest! Saffron Center – North Plateau 22830 NE 8th St, Sammamish
Susan H. Gerend, CRS, GRI, ASP .....206.719.4663 Windermere Real Estate/East, Inc. Certified Residential Specialist Connected to the Pulse of Sammamish & Issaquah for over 32 years. www.SusanGerend.com
sip at the wine bar & restaurant ...425.369.1181 1084 NE Park Drive Issaquah, WA 98029 Fax 425.369.1194 www.siprestaurant.com Visit on Facebook & Twitter Private dining and catering available
Chris & Cris Nelson .............. Direct: 425.765.7006 John L. Scott Real Estate/Bellevue Main www.CCNelson.com Smarter Real Estate Thinking
Thai Ginger ... Issaquah/Klahanie 425.369.8233 Redmond Town Center ...................... 425.558.4044 www.ThaiGinger.com Factoria ............425.641.4008
Port Blakely Communities, Inc. ..... 425-391-4700 1011 NE Park Drive, Suite 200 Issaquah, WA 98029 www.portblakely.com www.issaquahhighlands.com
RETIREMENT LIVING Merrill Gardens at Renton Center “A One-of-a-Kind Retirement Community” Voted Best of Renton 2009, 2010, 2011 425.235.6400 www.merrillgardens.com
Our Savior Lutheran .............. 425.392.1201 Ext. 4 Preschool All faiths welcome. Ages 3, 4 & 5 Preschool1201@hotmail.com www.OSLpreschool.org The Overlake School Grades 5-12 Rigorous College Preparatory Classes Extensive Arts and Athletics 20301 NE 108th St. Redmond, WA www.overlake.org Sammamish Children’s School .......425.313.9000 Nurturing Children & Enriching Families 207 228th Ave SE, Sammamish 98074 www.SammamishSchool.com Sammamish Hills Lutheran ............425.698.5777 Preschool Where kids love to learn & learn to love. 22818 SE 8th St Sammamish 98074 kristine@shlc.org • www.shlpreschool.org Sammamish Spanish .......................425.836.0212 Preschool ........................................425.898.7831 We love to teach and we teach with love 22809 NE 25th Way, Sammamish, 98074 www.SammamishSpanishPreschool.com SnoSprings School ........................... 425.392.1196 Pre-K – 2nd Grade Foundation Education 25237 SE Issaquah-Fall City Rd www.SnoSprings.com Sunnybrook Montessori .................. 425.392.4087 School Academic program • Experienced Teachers 14 mos–6 yrs • Low Ratios • Extended Care 1005 5th Ave NW, Issaquah www.SunnybrookMont.org SOCIAL SERVICES Snoqualmie Indian Tribe ..................425.888.6551 Proud to Invest in Our Community Over $2 million donated in the past 2 years! 8130 Railroad Ave. SE, Snoqualmie WA 98065 www.snoqualmienation.com SPA Gaboriau Center Medical Spa .......425.898.1228 22840 NE 8th St, #103, Sammamish 98074 Medical spa & day spa services Please visit www.sammamishfacial.com
SYNAGOGUE Chabad of the Central Cascades ...425.427.1654 24121 SE Black Nugget Road Issaquah, WA 98029 Fax 425.642.8389 www.chabadissaquah.com THEATRES Village Theatre ............Box Office • 425.392.2202 303 Front St N, Downtown Issaquah Box Office Hours • Tue-Sat 11am-7pm www.VillageTheatre.org TOWING Clark’s Towing, LLC ...........................425.392.6000 Auto • Truck • Foreign • Domestic Family owned & operated since 1965 6003 221st Pl SE • PO Box 2107 Issaquah 98027 • www.clarktow.com TRACTOR WORK Mike’s Hauling & Tractor Work .......425.392.6990 Excavating, grading, mowing Delivery of gravel, rock, topsoil, bark www. mikeshaulingandtractor.com
TUTORING Huntington Learning Center ..........425.391.0383 Celebrating 35 years of Academic ......425.643.8098 Success 1460 NW Gilman Blvd, Issaquah 1915 140th Ave NE, Ste D3, Bellevue www.HuntingtonLearning.com Kumon Math & . Issaquah Highlands 425.369.1072 Reading Learning Center Snoqualmie 425.396.1700 Unlock you child’s true potential www.kumon.com Issaquah_wa@ikumon.com Mathnasium of ................................425.270.1054 Issaquah/Sammamish 4546 Klahanie Dr SE, Issaquah, WA 98029 Nobody teaches math like we do! www.mathnasium.com/Issaquah WEDDINGS & EVENTS Pine Lake .................425.392.2313 • 425.392.4041 Community Club Rent for Parties, Meetings, Weddings & Receptions. www.PineLakeCommunityClub.com
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WINDOW/GUTTER/ROOF CLEANING Interlake Window Cleaning ...........425.391.3024 Your Windows’ Best Friend Since 1989! Windows-Gutters-Pressure Washing www.interlakecleaning.com Reflection of Perfection ................. 425.922.3939 Window, Gutter and Roof Cleaning Satisfaction Guaranteed Call for a free estimate www.reflectionofperfection.net ZOO Cougar Mountain Zoo......................425.391.5508 Threatened & Endangered Species Unique Teaching Zoo 19525 SE 54th • Off Newport Way www.CougarMountainZoo.org
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