Profile

MASON

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COUNTY

21976

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Table of Contents Introduction

Page 4

Wired for Success

Page 6

Harvesting Shellfish Where River Meets Canal

Page 12

No Claws About It

Page 16

Growing for the Future

Page 23

Not Your Average Small Business

Page 29

From Seed to Shore

Page 23

Family Farming

Page 38

A history of news

Page 42

Organizations

Page 47

Employment

Page 51

Population

Page 52

Libraries

Page 53

Cover: Carlos Barrios of Hama Hama Oyster Company collects oysters at sunset on Hood Canal.

Photo by Tom Hyde AT right: Two Tourists walk on oyster shells at Hama Hama Oyster Company in Lilliwaup.

Photo by Gordon Weeks

USPS 492-800 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Mason County Journal, P.O. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584.

Published weekly by the Mason County Journal at 227 West Cota Street, Shelton, Washington Mailing address: P.O. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584 Telephone (360) 426-4412 • www.masoncounty.com Periodicals postage paid at Shelton, Washington

Mason County Journal is a member of Washington Newspaper Publishers’ Association.

Owned and published by Shelton-Mason County Journal, Inc. Tom Hyde, publisher

Advertising: Dave Pierik, Sr. Acct. Executive Kathy Brooks, ad representative Lloyd Mullen, ad representative

SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $37 per year for Mason County addresses, $51 per year in state of Washington but outside Mason County, $61 per year out of state.

Newsroom: Adam Rudnick, editor Natalie Johnson, reporter Gordon Weeks, reporter Emily Hanson, sports reporter Kirk Ericson, proofreader

Front office: Donna Kinnaird, bookkeeper Reneé Chaplin, circulation Composing room: William Adams, graphics Profile - Page 3 Linda Frizzell, graphics

Introduction

I

nnovation is the name of the game in business these days, but there’s something to be said about sticking to what one knows.

In Mason County, we have a lot of both.

We have a utility that’s helping connect residents through its stateof-the-art fiber-optic network, but we also have a thriving shellfish industry that ships its products around the world.

On Harstine Island, we have a wild cat sanctuary that houses some of the world’s most magnificient felines. We also have one of the county’s oldest businesses, the Mason County Journal, which has been informing its readers since 1886.

But businesses can’t support themselves without a strong and economically viable community. In Profile, you’ll not only read about

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businesses that make Mason County distinctive — you’ll be able to see some of those statistics for yourself.

Experts seem to agree — the economy is slowly righting itself. We hope that businesses will continue to expand and diversify in Mason County, and we will continue to bring you their stories in our pages.

The majority of Mason County’s largest businesses added staff last year, according to the Economic Development Council of Mason County’s 2014 Top Employers of Mason County report.

We hope that trend continues.

On behalf of our staff, we’re pleased to bring you our annual Profile edition and hope you’ll learn something about Mason County’s business community.

Adam Rudnick Editor, Mason County Journal

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Profile - Page 5

Dale Knutson, telecommunications manager for Mason County PUD No. 3, is pictured at the Kamilche tower, an old AT&T cellular tower the utility bought in 2001 for $25,000.

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Wired for success PUD 3 fiber optic system connects Mason County community Story by Natalie Johnson Photos by Tom Hyde

A

ccess to high-speed Internet has become an indispensible part of life for many people, second only to having clean water and reliable power, said Mason County PUD 3 commissioner Linda Gott “It’s a fact of life,” she said.

A fast connection allows people, even in rural areas in Mason County, access to information, business opportunities and social networking

without leaving their community.

Service to isolated areas in Union, Lake Nahwatzel, Harstine Island and Collins Lake is made possible by Mason County PUD 3’s more than 400 miles of fiber optic telecommunication cables.

Without a public utility to provide wholesale access to fiber optic lines, many of these communities would be stuck with slow, unreliable dial-up Internet connections, Gott said.

“I don’t think that carriers would make that available,” she said. “There isn’t enough return on investment for them to go to Oak Park or Timberlakes.”

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Knutson explains the fiber optic network in the Mountain View colocation facility at Shelton. The facility is one of many fiber optic hubs across the state run by 10 public utility districts. Together they form the Northwest Open Access Network (NOANET) that sells wholesale fiber optic system access to retail service providers. Laser signals travel through extremely pure glass fiber strands to carry large amounts of data supporting services such as telephone, computer networking and video conferencing. ‘We shoot a laser from here all the way to Port Angeles,’ Knutson said.

Providing access to highspeed Internet in rural areas is an extension of the original purpose of public utility districts, Gott said.

“PUDs were formed because private companies didn’t want to build out to rural areas,” she said.

“Fiber’s kind of the same way — It’s an investment in your community.”

Growing the community Small businesses in Mason County would struggle to compete beyond their local economy without high-speed Internet services, Gott said.

“One of the primary things is economic development,” Gott said.

Two years ago, PUD 3 teamed up with Mason County and businesses on Lynch Road to string fiber optic cables along the road to companies such as Taylor Shellfish Farms, Inc., Walter Dacon Wines and Seattle Shellfish. All of the companies Page 8 - Profile

in that area, located southeast of downtown Shelton, were faced with losing broadband Internet after their provider decided to cease service in the area.

The project cost about $272,000, but retained 60 jobs, Gott said.

“Plus, it opened up the possibility of more jobs,” she said.

Mason County, the PUD and the businesses split the cost of the project.

Knutson said area companies added 21 jobs after the PUD strung fiber optic lines down Lynch Road.

Also, Mason General Hospital has been named one of the “Most Wired” hospitals in the country for six years in “Hospitals & Health Networks Magazine,” partly because of the PUD’s system, Gott said.

Gott said the Pioneer School District connected to the utility’s fiber network not long after the PUD strung a fiber line near it to a business near Agate Road.

“When the PUD first got into stringing fiber … we first planned to build out to big customers, the people who could use it,” Gott said.

When Pioneer switched, the school district saved $17,000 to $18,000, she said. Pioneer previously contracted for $20,000 per year for Internet access with the K-20 Network, which provides Internet access to schools through the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Gott said.

“I think it’s a great asset for the county,” said Dale Knutson, telecommunications manager at PUD 3. “I think we’ve enabled a lot of interesting companies and businesses to be successful in the area.”

Fiber — a faster, safer, reliable option Fiber-optic cables are often

the best way to facilitate communication in rural communities, Knutson said.

“You’ll see more fiber in rural areas,” he said.

This is partly because fiber optics are made of glass, and do not conduct electricity.

“That is far and foremost why utilities put it in,” Knutson said.

Telecommunications can be transmitted in three ways, he said: Copper, wireless (or Wi-Fi) or cellular towers, and fiber optics.

Wireless transmission has a very limited transmission distance, Knutson said. Copper lines also have a limited transmission distance without having a router repeat the signal.

Fiber optic cables can transmit telecommunications signals for about 100 miles without such a router, Knutson said, making them very practical in rural areas.

Fiber-optic cables also have

Mason County PUD 3’s fiber-optic coverage includes areas in Collins Lake, Belfair, Allyn, the Pioneer School District, Agate, Shelton, Dayton Airport Road, Lake Nahwatzel and the Matlock area, Lynch Road and the Port of Shelton. The utility hopes to expand its lines on Harstine Island in the future.

Map courtesy of Mason County PUD 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL OF MASON COUNTY 2948 Olympic Hwy N | P.O. Box 472 Shelton, WA 98584

www.masonedc.com | info@masonedc.com (360) 426-2276

The Economic Development Council of Mason County, in collaboration with our membership, fosters the economic health of our county by retaining and expanding existing basic employment and recruiting new employment opportunities.

Support of the EDC helps to facilitate the retention and expansion of basic employers that provide good paying jobs; improve industries that export goods and services outside of Mason County; attract industry that creates an increased tax base; and move forward projects that create the foundation required to retain, expand, and recruit business and industry such as infrastructure development, permitting, and planning.

MAJOR SUPPORTERS

Mason County Association of Realtors • Mason County EXECUTIVE MEMBERS Fire District #5 • Mason County Title Company • Alderbrook Resort & Spa • Bank of America • Brady Trucking Company, Inc. • Continental Floral Greens • McCarty & Associates • McComb Funeral Home • North Hiawatha Corporation • Hood Canal Communications • Mason Fiber Company, Inc. • Olympia Building Trades Council • Olympia Federal Savings • Olympic Mountain Kapowsin Air Sports LTD • Little Skookum Shellfish Millwork • Ornamental Stone, Inc • Pacific Mountain Growers • Manke Lumber Company • Mason County Workforce Development Council • Pacific Northwest Garbage • Mason County PUD No. 1 • Our Community Salmon Center • Port of Hoodsport • RE/MAX Top Credit Union • Peninsula Credit Union • ProBuild of Executives • Richard D Thornbrue, CPA • Robert W. Shelton • Sunlight Woodenworks, Inc •Timberland Johnson, PLLC • Roosters Restaurant • Sentry Mini Regional Library • Windermere Real Estate - Himlie Storage LLC • Mason County Journal • Shelton GENERAL MEMBERS Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine Clinic • Stephen Apartment Management Services • Arnold & Smith Johnson, Inc • Thermedia Corp • Tupper’s Floor Insurance Agency • Bakala Insurance Agency, Inc • Cady Coverings & Interiors, Inc • Verle’s • William J Busacca, Tree Farm • Cascade Natural Gas Corporation • DDS • Windermere Real Estate - Peninsula Properties Catherine Ann Wolf, CPA • Cushman Hydro Project • D.R. CORPORATE MEMBERS INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS Gardner, CPA • Graphic Communications Digital Belco Forest Products Inc • John L Scott Belfair Printing • Gray & Osborne • Hofert Family Trust • Hood Business Development Services • Creekpaum Electric • Dok & Associates •Edward D Jones & Co • • Little Creek Casino Resort Canal Evergreens • Hoss & Wilson-Hoss • Jack Johnson Norm Eveleth • Grimes & Kornmesser Optometry • North Mason School District Construction, Inc • Jarrell’s Cove Marina • Joe L Snyder, Clinic, Inc • Jim Penney • Port of Grapeview • Jim and Inc • John L Scott - Shelton • Kamin Excavation, LLC • • Olympic College Shelton Joan Reece • Richard Beckman Realty Group • Ron Kaugman Construction & Development, Inc • Key Bank • Shelton School District Sagerson • Douglas Sayan • KMAS Radio • Land Title Company of Mason County 21951

• Mason County • Mason County PUD No. 3 • Port of Shelton • Mason County Hospital District 1 • City of Shelton • Green Diamond Resource Company • Island Enterprises • Squaxin Island Tribe • Port of Allyn • Simpson Lumber Company • Taylor Shellfish, Inc. • Harrison Medical Center • Heritage Bank • Olympic Panel Products • Overton & Associates • Seattle Shellfish

• Skokomish Tribal Council

The EDC expresses thanks to our members for their generous support and commitment to success in Mason County!

Profile - Page 9

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In our past, Pete Vander Wal, who had a reputatiton as “the mechanic who could fix anything,” first worked on cars at the old Gilmore station, and founded Vander Wal’s Garage in 1942.

Before he passed away in 1985, Pete taught his son Don, the sixth of six children, everything he knew about auto mechanics.

Don and Pete, 1981

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unlimited capacity and are reliable and tolerant to electrical interference, he said.

“Most people would think it’s glass, it’s real sensitive,” he said.

“It’s tough.”

Knutson said the PUD has designed its fiber system to last.

“Infrastructure for us is looking out 50 years,” he said. “We want to make sure we’re not going to have to go out there in 10 to 15 years and start over. It’s a long-term investment.”

The PUD began installing fiberoptic cables in the county in 2000, along with the Northwest Open Access Network (NOANET).

NOANET is a nonprofit organization run by 10 Washington PUDs, including Mason County PUD 3, that maintains a public “open access” fiber-optic network, and sells access to its fiber-optic system at wholesale to retail service providers.

NOANET owns 1,831 miles of fiber-optic cables in Washington, serving 260,000 customers.

Gott, who is also vice president of the NOANET board, said the PUD began installing its own fiber optic lines after using them to connect each of its substations, allowing for remote monitoring and control of the stations.

“We started talking about what else we could do for the community,” she said.

PUD 3 also allows Internet and cable providers for a fee to use their system to deliver service to area users.

A return on the community’s investment PUD 3’s annual telecommunications budget is about $3 million. Gott said the utility has spent about $40 million on fiber optics since 2000.

“We actually figure it saves about a million a year,” she said. “It results in increased efficiencies in operations. The PUD having a seat at the table keeps costs down and keeps competition alive.”

The PUD makes $500,000 to $600,000 per year on wholesale rates for communications providers.

Knutson said the telecommunications department spends 70 percent to 80 percent on maintaining its internal system.

The PUD’s Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system links all of the utility’s substations through the fiber-optic system, and allows staff to monitor and control each station.

“It really helps us get quick information,” Knutson said.

Getting feedback from stations quickly means the PUD can relay information on outages to customers, he said.

Knutson said the utility strives to meet the “five 9s” standard, or to be online 99.999 percent of the time. When the PUD meets that goal, it has less than 5 hours and 26 minutes of downtime on its fiber optic system in a year.

The PUD’s fiber system also includes the Kamilche tower, an old AT&T cellular tower the utility bought in 2001 for $25,000.

“We have always been looking for a good radio communications site,” Knutson said. “We cleaned it up and developed some rates and policies.

Today, law enforcement and emergency service organizations use the tower to boost their radio signals and radio stations use the tower to transmit. The tower also provides a microwave Internet signal to the Mary M. Knight School District.

“It’s an amazing public asset,” Knutson said. “We’re very proud of it.”

A hub of cables runs throughout Mason County PUD 3’s Mountain View colocation facility at Shelton. The facility is one of many fiber-optic hubs across the state run by 10 public utility districts. Together they form the Northwest Open Access Network (NOANET) that sells wholesale fiber-optic system access to retail service providers.

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Harvesting shellfish where The river meets The canal

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Lissa James is the great-granddaughter of Helena and Harry Robbins, who launched the Hama Hama Company in 1922 at the mouth of the Hamma Hamma River on Hood Canal. ‘We’re really close to the elements,’ she said.

Family has operated Hama Hama Oysters for five generations Story and photos by Gordon Weeks

L

issa James didn’t eat raw oysters growing up along the Hood Canal, even though her family owned and operated Hama Hama Oysters in Lilliwaup.

It took a long time for people to recognize the delights of raw oysters on the half shell, even longer for Mason County residents, James said. She discovered raw oysters as an adult, and as a connoisseur and manager of sales and marketing for the family business, she said she likes to turn people on to both raw and fried oysters.

“Raw oysters are mysterious, wild, something that’s dangerous,” James said.

“A fried oyster fills your belly on a Tuesday.”

Hama Hama Oysters farms and conducts business where the Hamma Hamma River meets Hood Canal. The company states that 95 percent of the watershed is public forestland, and the company’s tree farm and small cattle operation is the only industry on the river.

Two new dining huts were introduced this spring.

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21985

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Hama Hama Oysters has 30 employees, and sells oysters and clams, “a couple million animals annually,” James said. The company has 41 shareholders, all descendants of Helena and Harry Robbins, who started the company in 1922.

The company’s trajectory reflects the history of the county, James said, starting out as mid-size logging company with a couple hundred acres of tide flats.

When the demand for timber dipped during the Great Depression, Harry Robbins sold cedar shake bolts and Christmas trees, and then added shrimp, James said.

“It was a no-brainer to start with oysters, if he’s running things into Seattle,” she said.

The company began selling clams and oysters in the mid-1950s. The store was erected in the 1970s.

The company ships oysters and clams throughout the country.

At age 13, James’ first job with the family business was picking single oysters off the tide flats. She started working in the retail store when she was in

high school.

“This job has many variables, like the moon and the tides … Weather is very important here,” she said.

James said she’s happy to be selling a healthy, high-quality product that’s “really rooted in place.”

Many of the company’s customers are driving the scenic route from Portland, Ore. to Port Townsend, James said. The campers and folks who have summer homes on Hood Canal stop by, and many Seattle residents travel to the site for events such as the annual Oysterama in April, she said.

“It’s part of people’s family vacation stories,” James said.

The company recently erected two dining huts outside, and was awarded a wine and beer license, James said. The company this spring begins serving clams, and raw and fried oysters outdoors for lunch; a dinner menu might follow if there is a demand, she said.

“We want to make sure there is a place on the Hood Canal that serves raw oysters,” James said.

Hama Hama Oysters employee Cyle Dalton harvests oysters. At the lowest tide, the flats extend almost 1 mile into Hood Canal.

Hama Hama Oysters has 30 employees, and annually sells ‘a couple million animals.’

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Shelleen Mathews, president and director of the Wild Felid Advocacy Center, greets Suri, a Bengal tiger.

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No claws about it Story and photos

by Emily Hanson

Harstine Island center cares for giant felines

W

alking through the Wild Felid Advocacy Center, Mark Mathews greets every wild cat by name.

All 43 of them.

Mathews, along with his wife, Shelleen Mathews, started the center in 2005 as a sanctuary and permanent home for wild cats.

In March 2010, the center moved from Olympia to Harstine Island, where 43 cats ranging in size from the only two Gordon’s cats in the United States (a subspecies of the European wildcat that is smaller than a house cat) to two Bengal tigers.

“We saw a need for sanctuary like this and Shelleen specializes in wild cats since she got her first bobcat in 1971,” Mark said.

Shelleen, a lifetime cat-lover, decided she wanted to own a bobcat and had Demetreus shipped to her from Texas when he was 6 weeks old.

“A bobcat is a hard one to deal with compared with other wild cats,” she said. “I had Demetreus for about 17 years. Back then, it was politically correct to run a sanctuary / breeding facility, but people have come to the conclusion that wild cats shouldn’t be bred in captivity.”

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Turbo, an African spotted leopard, is the only one of his kind at the Wild Felid Advocacy Center, on Harstine Island.

With that in mind, and the Animal Welfare Act through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Mathews run the Wild Felid Advocacy Center as a no-breeding sanctuary in the heart of Harstine Island.

The center covers 5 acres on a 25acre enclosed piece of land.

The animals live in groups of no more than three in their own enclosed spaces. Those that are strong climbers have tops on their enclosures, while others have nets and others have open tops. A few have electric fences to prevent the cats from climbing over the fences.

The enclosures are to prevent the wild cats from escaping, but are mostly to provide assurance to neighbors.

“Cats in captivity don’t want to be anywhere else,” Shelleen said. “You hear stories too frequently about a keeper being mauled. It’s always human error.”

Mark agreed, stating that problems only occur when a human

“When we do get visitors, they’re surprised how friendly the cats are” Mark Mathews, of Wild Felid Advocacy Center on Harstine Island keeper is rushing through their responsibilities and not being safe.

“When we do get visitors, they’re surprised how friendly the cats are,” he added.

Anyone walking with the Mathews through the center can see that friendliness.

The Bengal tigers, Suri and Tabbi, rub against the fence when Mark and Shelleen press their hands to it. Suri even licks Mark’s and Shelleen’s fingers when put through the fence.

The center, which doesn’t receive state or federal funding, is run by the Mathews and functions with the help of 31 volunteers. In the years they’ve been open, the Mathews said they’ve never been attacked by a wild cat in their care.

“We’ve worked with everything from tigers down to tiny wild ones,” Shelleen said. “There aren’t as many cats that need placement now because they’ve pretty much extinguished them in captivity with the Endangered Species Act.”

Most of the cats at the center were owned by humans before coming to the Mathews.

“We get cats from private owners who can’t keep them for whatever reason — health, death, laws change in their areas — it’s basically a cat that’s lost its home and needs a safe place to live,” Shelleen said.

She added that the friendliness depends on the individual cat and how it was raised.

“The wild cats are closer to their natural instincts than a house cat,” she cautioned.

Most of the cats at the center arrived after they were older than 6 years.

Among the 43 wild cats are eight hybrids, which are the result of breeding wild cats with domestic cats.

“It was something they started doing many years ago because people wanted a wild cat but couldn’t handle it or the laws where they lived didn’t allow full wild cats,” Shelleen said. “I think the full Profile - Page 19

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wild cats are easier to deal with than the hybrids, though.”

Mark explained that the hybrid cats have a lot going on in their heads with their wild, natural instincts conflicting with their domesticated influences.

“Generally, hybrids are not as fearful as domestic cats,” Shelleen said. “They have a more adventurous spirit than domestic cats do.”

Along with being a sanctuary for the wild cats, the center is set up for educational purposes, too.

“We try to educate people on how extremely endangered the cats are,” Mark said.

That education begins with the center’s name: “Felid” refers to any mammal of the cat family.

“We decided to educate with our name,” Shelleen said. “Wild cats in captivity do a good job of serving as an ambassador for their cousins in the wild. If a person sees how beautiful they are, they try to protect them more.”

The Wild Felid Advocacy Center is the only one of its kind in Washington. Although other

locations offer sanctuary to wild cats, the center is the only one following the laws to the letter in order to house cats that are cougarsize and above.

Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma, Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle and Northwest Trek Wildlife Park in Eatonville also house wild animals, but the center is the only one specific to wild cats.

“We really try to educate to the aspects of caring for wild cats that people may not be aware of,” Shelleen said. “We can often steer people in the right direction for behavior or health issues with their wild cats, too.”

The primary challenge for the center is the cost, Mark said.

“It’s not easy,” he said. “It’s continual daily monitoring and playing. We give them what they need. There’s always bigger roofs to build and decks to put up, enrichment to provide such as different scents, things to jump and climb on, and toys. There’s always something new.”

One personality trait wild cats share with their domestic cousins,

Shelleen said, is their love of a certain toy.

“Any cat, it doesn’t matter how big it is, loves a box,” she said.

Because the center receives no state or federal money, everything is purchased with private and business donations.

“We receive donations from those who believe in what we’re doing,” Shelleen said. “People will bring meat from their freezers and we have some people who fish specifically for the cats.”

The animals eat about 75 pounds of meat per day. To help with this expense, the center contracts with Landfill Diversion Innonvations, a company designed to keep usable products from ending up in landfills, Shelleen said.

“Every week, we go in to a big box retailer and pick up pull-date meat which is perfectly good, but can’t be sold to people,” Shelleen said. “That’s been a really great program. We pay for the insurance every month to go in and buy meat that way. It’s about $100 a month.”

Mark chuckled and added: “The

animals eat better than we do.”

Visitors are welcome by appointment at the center. Because the Wild Felid Advocacy Center is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, an entrance fee isn’t charged, but the center asks for donations of money, food or supplies.

Mark said some don’t — or can’t afford to — donate.

The visitors then go through the center with the Mathews, who educate them on each cat.

“It takes about an hour, depending on questions,” Shelleen said.

Mark added that groups with children go on a quicker visit.

“We’re so remote and the cats don’t like it that busy, so we don’t get too many visitors,” Mark added.

The center averages about 1,000 visitors a year.

Beyond that, the Mathews have become involved with the Harstine Island Community Club and attend group meetings throughout the county to educate people on the center and the cats.

“We just had to let people know we’re not goofy,” Shelleen said.

Wild Felid Advocacy Center voluteer Josh Burgess talks to Minh, a Savannah serval and domestic cat hybrid.

Maple Glen Senior Living staff and residents would like to thank all of the community members who have shared their time and talents with us.

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Whatever your interest and abilities may be, you can put your time, skills and abilities to good use. Call today.

1700 N. 13th Loop Road Shelton WA 98584 • (360) 427-0300 Profile - Page 21

The Mason County Journal al iss ns: available at these locations: Shelton

Agate Store Airport Grocery Arcadia Chevron Arco AM/PM Bayshore Store Brad’s Texaco City Center Motel Deer Creek Store Downtown Food Mart Fred Meyer Fresh Start Market James Food Mart Kamilche Trading Post Lake Limerick DJ’S Mini Mart Little Creek Resort/Hotel Lynch Creek Floral Mason General Hospital Gift Shop Medicine Shoppe Mickey’s Deli Olympic Bakery Olympic Food Mart Rooster’s Safeway Sage Book Store Shelton Cinemas Shelton Liquor & Wine Shelton Post Office Shelton Market Fresh Shelton Texaco Spencer Lake Grocery Steph’s Espresso Taylor Towne Store Urraco Coffee Walmart

Page 22 - Profile

Allyn

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Salish Seafoods manager Rod Schuffenhauer holds small single oysters. Salish Seafood Co. grows extra small, small and large single oysters.

Story and photos by Emily Hanson

G

rowing seafood isn’t for the impatient.

Salish Seafood Co. employees know that better than anyone.

Started in the 1970s by the Squaxin Island Tribe as Harstine Oyster Co., Salish grows single and cluster oysters, Manila clams and is in the middle of its first cycle with geoducks.

The growing cycle is a revolving door, manager Rod Schuffenhauer said.

In the deep waters of Peale Passage off the east side of Harstine Island, Salish grows its oysters,

Growing for the future Salish Seafood produces more than 8,000 gallons of oyster meat each year which take about two years per harvest.

The process begins with the purchase of larvae that is left in a swim stage for a few days in bags with empty oyster shells.

“Those bags are put into shell tanks and heated to 75 degrees for the larvae to set for three days,” Schuffenhauer said. “We drain the tanks and then take the larvae to the beach for about six months to grow from a dime to a quarter size still in bags.”

The oysters, now sitting on shells, are then spread out over the beach and left alone for 18 months to two years. This produces extra small oysters.

“One shell, a mother oyster, could have five

to six oysters set on it, or it could have 100,” Schuffenhauer said. “When there’s more, it breaks the shell and those create single oysters.”

Cluster oysters are shucked while single oysters are sold as live product.

Shuckers go through about two tubs a day of cluster oysters, which yields about 15 gallons of oysters.

Each year, Salish sells about 8,000 gallons of shucked oyster meat. The goal is to hit 10,000 this year.

About 80,000 single oysters are sold per year.

After 20 years of dealing with oysters and Manila clams, Schuffenhauer said Salish is branching into a new food: Geoducks.

Profile - Page 23

Jose Olivo rinses single oysters at Salish Seafoods so they are presentable for sale.

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Page 24 - Profile

A lot of bays get a lot of good food. It’s all about current and flow so animals grow faster and healthier.

Rod Schuffenhauer, manager of Salish Seafood Co.

“Geoduck is a five- to six-year turnaround for about 1 to 2 pound harvest,” he said. “They’re a slowergrowing animal. There’s very little food in the winter months, so they go dormant.”

For all of the seafood Salish grows, the earlier spring comes, the earlier the growing season begins.

“If fall comes early, the growing season ends early,” Schuffenhauer said.

Salish started its first geoduck cycle about two years ago.

Schuffenhauer said the company expects to do its first geoduck harvest in about 2 ½ years.

“We’re probably on the cycle of planning approximately 2 1/2 acres a year of geoduck,” he said.

“We’re hoping to increase that, but everything depends on the budget.”

He said geoducks are a good revenue stream.

Growing in food-rich waters The Peale Passage is a healthy place to grow seafood, Schuffenhauer said.

“A lot of bays get a lot of good food,” he said. “It’s all about current and flow so animals grow faster and healthier.”

For Manila clams, the tribe has an enhancement program on Squaxin Island, Schuffenhauer said.

“Clam seeds are bought from hatcheries and planted,” he said.

“The harvest is after 18 months to two years.”

Despite the similar growing cycle, oysters are entirely different than clams.

“Predators such as crabs and starfish will eat an oyster farm faster than you can plant it,” Schuffenhauer said. “Manila clams have a lot of predators, such as moon snails and ducks, and they will devastate a

farm.”

He said the trick to growing a clam harvest is to find a predator-free beach under the surface and then placing netting above the beach.

For single oysters, Salish buys small oyster seed, grows it until it’s big enough for a mesh bag and then places about 12 in a mesh bag to protect them from predators.

“Within 18 months, harvestable, single oysters are available,” Schuffenhauer said. “We take them out of the bag, the shall hardens and meat quality thickens, but it has to be placed on a predator-free beach.”

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Profile - Page 25

Bear Lewis places shucked oysters into half-gallon containers to determine the day’s take.

Page 26 - Profile

Veronica Rustrian slides a cluster of oysters from their shell after shucking it at Salish Seafoods.

Shuckers go through about two tubs a day, which is about 15 gallons of oysters.

Throughout winter, this is enough work for 12 full-time employees. In the spring and through the summer, an additional 15 to 20 workers are brought on.

The downfall for seafood growth is the rotating cycle of predators.

Salish workers take predators off the companies beaches and transplant them to other beaches. The predators get back into the water and the current brings them back to the Salish beaches.

Always demand for seafood Schuffenhauer said Salish always has demand for its products.

“All different nationalities eat the shellfish,” he said. “If you’ve got the product, there’s not a problem getting rid of it.”

Salish only ships within the United States, but when the company begins harvesting geoducks, Schuffenhauer said it will probably begin shipping internationally.

“Right now, we try to fulfill the local tribal casinos,” he said. “A lot of their demand is tribal products.”

A lot of Salish’s customers are locals. They live on Harstine Island and stop by to purchase fresh seafood.

The company also supplies the Kamilche Trading Post near Little Creek Casino Resort and Steamboat

Trading Post near Steamboat Island.

New technique for growing The company’s next significant growing step will be with its single oysters, Schuffenhauer said.

“With all the predators, we don’t have control so we’ll downsize a bit on the shucking and increase our singles operation for more revenue,” he said.

The main challenge with that is the difficulty in buying single oyster seed.

Schuffenhauer said large seed has largely become unavailable so all growing operations have had to come up with their own techniques of acquiring it.

Salish’s technique involves the FLUPSY — Floating Upweller System — operation it plans to buy.

“That’s how you grow your small oyster seed,” he said. “We should be able to increase singles out here in a year’s time.”

This increase will create about 1 ½ FTE positions, Schuffenhauer said.

Salish Seafood Co. wants to expand as much as it can, as fast as it can, Schuffenhauer said, but that kind of company growth takes time.

“It’s a team-building operation,” he said. “From tribal government down to the employees here, we feel this is the best team we’ve ever had.”

OYSTER FACTS: How do oysters breathe?

Oysters breathe much like fish, using both gills and mantle. The mantle is lined with many small, thin-walled blood vessels that extract oxygen from the water and expel carbon dioxide. A small, three-chambered heart, lying under the abductor muscle, pumps colorless blood, with its supply or oxygen, to all parts of the body. At the same time, a pair of kidneys on the underside of the muscle purify the blood of any waste products it has collected.

Are oysters male or female?

There is no way of telling male oysters from females by examining their shells. While oysters have separate sexes, they may change sex one or more times during their life span. The gonads, organs responsible for producing both eggs and sperm, surround the digestive organs and are made up of sex cells, branching tubules and connective tissue.

What is that tiny crab we see in the oyster?

It is a species of crab (Pinnotheres ostreum) that has evolved to live harmoniously inside an oyster’s shell. These dime-size crabs, much sought after by gourmands, are not abundant.

How do pearls get inside an oyster?

An oyster produces a pearl when foreign material becomes trapped inside the shell. The oyster responds to the irritation by producing nacre, a combination of calcium and protein. The nacre coats the foreign material and over time produces a pearl. n Source: SalishSeafoods.com Profile - Page 27

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Alphatest owner Pat Tarzwell looks at steel test probes through a microscope in the company’s inspection and assembly room.

Alphatest’s products help manufacturers of technology such as pacemakers and cellphones test electrical components of their products before they hit the shelves.

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Story and photos by Natalie Johnson Profile - Page 29

Toby Tarzwell runs a machine at Alphatest that makes fixtures for gold-plated steel test probes that allow manufacturers of electronic devices to test their products before they go on the market.

F

rom a distance, Alphatest’s smallest products look like dust or fine metal shavings.

Up close, or under a microscope, the dust becomes fine gold-plated steel needles, shaved by proprietary machines into coiled test probes.

These probes allow companies to

manufacture and test almost every type of electronic device on the market, including cellphones, car starters and pacemakers.

“We’re still supplying probes we supplied in 1991,” said Alphatest owner Pat Tarzwell. “Things don’t go away. They lose their luster but they don’t die.”

Alphatest’s probes are designed for

temporary contact with a computer chip or electronic circuit. When a company puts together a cellphone, Tarzwell said, it makes more sense to test each electronic part before finishing the phone.

If the phone is finished, sealed, then doesn’t work, the company loses money on the product. However, with Alphatest’s probes, the manufacturer

can test each component part without having a fully functional phone.

Tarzwell opened Alphatest for business in 1991, but he wasn’t always in the technology industry.

“I was a grocery store manager that got fired because I was robbed,” he said. “I took a job as a janitor.”

Tarzwell said he worked his way up at that company from a janitor to director of research and development, pioneering the use of his testing probes.

“I’m just lucky, I believe,” he said.

For 18 years, Alphatest operated out of Phoenix, but moved to Shelton for the weather, and a low cost of operating the business.

“My business partner was diagnosed with skin cancer and I said ‘get out of the sun,’ ” Tarzwell said.

“All we really need is FedEx.” Six years later, Alphatest makes its probes in a building at the Port of Shelton’s Sanderson Field property.

“They come in all kinds of shapes and sizes,” Tarzwell said.

All of the probes are tiny, but vary in size based on what kind of electrical circuit or computer chip they are designed to test.

“Real estate is a valuable commodity — it’s true on the chip itself,” Tarzwell said. “Everything gets denser and denser. That drives our product to be smaller.”

Alphatest’s inventory room, the size of a closet, can fit millions of the tiny probes.

About 10,000 of them can fit in a

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test tube, Tarzwell said. “When people try to sell me a pallet jack, I say ‘I wish I could use it,’ � he said.

Alphatest also manufactures the fixtures that its probes attach to. “We used to purchase all our probes and we started as a fixture company,� Tarzwell said.

However, after his probe supply companies were not able to meet a particularly large order, the company shifted to manufacturing the probes as well. “That caused me to get into inventive mode,� Tarzwell said. “We buy wire basically that’s very close to the right size and machine it.� “Inventive mode� is nothing new to Tarzwell. When he couldn’t find a the right machine to manufacture the probes, he made one himself. “It’s just what I do,� he said. “I searched the world for someone to make a machine that could make our parts.�

At its peak, Alphatest had 45 employees working around the clock in three shifts. However, because of a combination of decreased demand from overseas and competition from manufacturers in China, Alphatest’s business has suffered.

Now, the company is stable and employs eight people in Shelton, and ships to mostly domestic clients, Tarzwell said. “It’s nowhere near what we’d like it to be,� he said. “Sometimes I’m very optimistic that it’s coming back.�

Alphatest’s gold-plated steel probes fit into fixtures, such as this one, to allow manufacturers of technology such as computers and car starters to test their products’ electrical components.

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Profile - Page 31

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From seed to shore Oyster farmers expand to build their own FLUPSY operations at Oakland Bay Marina

Story and photos by Natalie Johnson

Troy Morris, owner of Calm Cover Shellfish, shows off oyster seed nearly ready to spread on a beach at his FLUPSY operation at the Port of Shelton’s Oakland Bay Marina. The FLUPSYies help oyster farmers grow seeds from 2 millimeters to a half inch or larger so they can be planted on a Profile - Page 33 beach.

Calm Cove Shellfish FLUPSY manager Tyler Goos, left, and owner Troy Morris stand in the company’s FLUPSY operation at the Port of Shelton’s Oakland Bay Marina. The operation grows oyster seed to sizes companies can plant on their beaches.

Page 34 - Profile

A

s oysters grow, they encase themselves in thick shells made of calcium carbonate, which seal out predators and allows them to cling to rocks and each other.

However, juvenile oysters, called oyster seed, are vulnerable to a number of external factors, including predators and water quality.

“Everything in growing oyster seed is a challenge —Every thing wants to eat oysters,” said Troy Morris, owner of Calm Cove Shellfish.

“There’s lots of variables … It’s Mother Nature.”

To take the vulnerable seed from the 2-millimeter size usually sold from hatcheries to the ½- or ¾-inch size the shellfish need to be to resist predators and grow on beaches, farmers have begun using floating upwelling systems, known as FLUPSYies.

“We just need to produce enough for ourselves,” said John Lentz, owner of Chelsea Farms. “These set-ups here, for those farmers that are doing it, are allowing them to keep farming. Without oyster seed, you’re not an oyster farmer.”

In response to demand for secure space for these operations, the Port of Shelton recently worked with the city of Shelton and the Department of Ecology to set aside 10 boathouses at the port’s Oakland Bay Marina for FLUPSYies.

“It’s showing respect for the recreational tenants down there,” said John Dobson, executive director at the Port of Shelton, about the 10-boathouse limit.

Dobson said the Oakland Bay Marina has traditionally been a recreational rather than a commercial site.

“It really is changing the dynamic and I’m concerned about that,” he said.

“We’re all about looking for businesses that are interested in working on port property.”

Four years ago, the Hamma Hamma Oyster Company was the first to inquire about renting room at the marina for a FLUPSY. Since mid-2012, Lentz, Morris and other growers have built FLUPSYies in boathouses at the marina.

Now all but one of the 10 commercial spaces is occupied. The port is in the process of filling the 10th available slot for a commercial boathouse.

Both Lentz and Morris said the boathouses presented a convenient alternative to an outdoor FLUPSY on their own properties because the port procured the necessary permits for the operations and provides power, fresh water and security.

“We’re not in the rain in the winter and we’re out of the sun in the summer,” Morris said.

Companies that use the boathouses for commercial purposes pay the same rent for their space as boat owners.

In order to increase oyster production, companies often plant oyster seed in bags or loose on their beaches.

The seed comes from oyster hatcheries, where oysters spawn and form seed. Most of the oysters raised in the South Puget Sound are Pacific oysters from Japan, Lentz said.

The Olympia oyster, which is native to the area, does not reproduce in large numbers in Oakland Bay and surrounding waters, Lentz said, partly because of pollution caused by pulp mills in the mid-1900s.

“When they first are fertilized and are floating around, within two or three days they start growing a shell,” Lentz said.

During this time, the oyster seed is vulnerable. Lentz said issues such as ocean acidification have led to less seed availability, especially in the larger sizes farmers need.

Farmers have recently begun purchasing smaller seed and nursing it themselves in FLUPSYies, he said.

“We had to do something to get … bigger stuff to put on our beach,” Lentz said.

A FLUPSY’s appearance may vary from owner to owner, Morris said, but all work essentially the same way.

“It’s all custom-made to our specifications and what we feel is best for our company,” he said.

As their names suggest, FLUPSYies float on the surface of the water. Oyster seed sits in partially submerged baskets with mesh bottoms and water pumps push the seawater past the oysters and through the mesh screens.

Depending on the size of the seed, the baskets can hold tens or hundreds of thousands of oysters.

Oysters are filter feeders, so the faster the water moves past them, the faster they can take in nutrients, and the faster they can grow, the farmers explained.

Profile - Page 35

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“It’s like an oyster buffet — they just get force-fed.”

Troy Morris, owner of Calm Cove Shellfish “It’s like an oyster buffet,” Morris said. “They just get force-fed.”

Depending on the weather and the amount of nutrients in the water, such as algae and phytoplankton, oysters can go from 2 millimeters to one-half to three-fourths of an inch, or beach ready, in about two months, Lentz said.

“It has to do not only with the nutrients coming down from the bay, but also the amount of sunlight,” he said. “When that stuff (algae) takes off and starts blooming

… then all the little oysters do really well.”

Morris said oysters grow best from April to October.

The operations can have both an economic and an environmental benefit to the area, the growers said.

Farmers can’t grow oysters for human consumption in the marina because of its proximity to boats and other sources of pollution.

Oyster seed is not considered a food product.

However, growing larger seed at

the marina can help clean up the water because oysters filter water, Morris said.

“It’s a really good thing for water quality,” he said.

Having FLUPSYies at the marina also provides an economic benefit.

The rent paid by oyster farmers helps the port do maintenance and improve the marina.

In the future, Dobson said the port is interested in putting in a separate commercial dock for all of its aquaculture tenants.

“There’s nothing that would stop you then from turning around and putting in open FLUPSYies (on that dock),” he said.

Dobson said the port would need to secure funding and permits for such an expansion.

“What this FLUPSY is going to do for my company, is it’s going to create jobs,” Morris said.

The FLUPSY itself provides 1 ½ full-time jobs, he said.

“This first year it’s going to create five more jobs,” he said.

Farmers buy oyster seed when they’re tiny, then nurse the bivalves at FLUPSYies, or floating upweller systems, until they are large enough to plant on beaches.

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Profile - Page 37

JR Hunter trims a clematis plant in the Hunter Farms greenhouse.

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Family farming

I

Six generations of Hunters have farmed for 125 years f William A. Hunter hoped to start a farm that would last for more than 100 years, his dream has come true.

Hunter and his wife, Olivia Woods Hunter, joined her father Issac W. Woods on his homestead in Mason County in the 1880s.

By 1889, Hunter Farms was in operation in the Skokomish River Valley raising cattle and crops.

It’s continued ever since, with the sixth generation of Hunters farming the land, now ranging across about 3,000 acres.

“Through the years, we just purchased other farms as people quit,” Bill “JR” Hunter said. “We’re diversified. We grow hay, row crops, cut timber, grow Christmas trees and sell a lot of cattle. We do direct farm marketing selling products from the farm to the public.”

JR heads up the fifth generation of Hunters with his brother, Paul.

Their father, 84-year-old Bill, still cuts timber.

When the farm began, it was just a few crops on about 40 acres.

The farm grew along with the family. They began a dairy farm that delivered milk to the logging camps and Lake Cushman Dam construction crews in the 1920s.

Shortly after that, Hunter Farms began delivering millk door-to-door in Bremerton.

Although the farming industry has its ups and downs, JR said Hunter Farms is on an even kneel.

“It’s diversified out so we’re not tied to any one market,” he said.

“The pumpkin patch has done real well. Cattle prices fluxuate, but timber prices are good now.”

The farm has grown outside of Mason County, also. The Hunters

own and operate land in Grays Harbor, Kittitas County and runs cattle farms in Eastern Washington.

JR attributed the family’s continuing business to one thing: “Pride in farming and pride in maintaining,” he said. “You have to have a family support group. The single purpose is keeping the farm together.”

Although the family works together as a unit, each member has his own area of concentration. Paul cuts timber with Bill Sr. while JR works in the greenhouses.

JR said a big part of wanting to keep Hunter Farms going is wanting to continue the agriculture industry.

“In Dad’s generation, most people came from rural or agricultural backgrounds,” JR said. “Nowadays, most people don’t have a clear understanding where the food comes from.”

Hunter Farms employs 15 to 20 people in Mason County, with only about half of them related to the family.

JR said he sees the farm continuing to grow because as more farmers choose to sell their operations, Hunter Farms continues to buy them.

“A lot of the things we do depend on peoples’ interests,” JR said. “The generation before this one was into Christmas trees, logging and milking cows. We’ve now gotten more into retail with beef cows, not dairy. We still do the Christmas trees and timber, though.”

No matter what the family decides to concentrate on, there’s always work to be done.

In late winter and early spring, the Hunters plant trees and work in the greenhouses. Outside crops are planted in late April.

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Profile - Page 39

Primroses grow in the Hunter Farms greenhouse.

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JR said the farm doesn’t work with early crops because the land is too wet to plant them in time for those harvests.

May and June are busy months for the greenhouses, while June through August is when the hay is harvested.

Planting is done April through June, with harvest work completed

by October.

Then, in late November and all through December, the farm sells Christmas trees.

“January and February are slow months, but there’s still cattle and maintenance things to take care of,” JR said.

The farm is also open for hunters during certain times of year.

“We allow bird and water fowl hunting,” JR said. “We work with wildlife to put up blinds for duck hunting and we’re a state-release location for pheasants.”

He said fishing season is a busy time for the general store off of state Route 106 because the Skokomish River is filled with anglers.

Although JR said he has no way of knowing what William Hunter’s wishes for the farm were in the 1880s, he said he hopes the farm is continuing the way William would’ve wanted.

“I don’t know if they ever

invisioned the extent of what agriculture is today with all the crops and different things you do with different equipment,” JR said.

An agave plant grows in a pot in the Hunter Farms greenhouse.

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www.gatewayrentalcenter.com Profile - Page 41

A history of news Newspaper has tradition of community journalism

N

Thomas C. Myers uses a linotype machine in the 1950s.

Myers was a typesetter for the Shelton-Mason County Journal.

ewspapers have sprouted and died in Mason County, 11 defunct dailies and three weekly publications that include the leftleaning Shelton Daily Sentinel, sprung in the spring of 1893 and died a few months later; the SheltonMason County Labor Bulletin and the Shelton Independent, which competed for readers during the 1930s; and the Hood Canal Courier, published from Hoodsport from 1932 to 1934 before becoming an outdoors publication and then fading away.

But the county’s first newspaper, the Mason County Journal, was launched in 1886 and has been compiled, printed and delivered weekly ever since. After years with “Shelton” in its moniker, the paper has returned to its original name while retaining its commitment to covering community news.

By Gordon Weeks

Early years The newspaper was born in December 1886 at Fourth Street and Railroad Avenue in downtown

Shelton. Grover Cleveland was the U.S. president. The statue of liberty and Pasadena’s Tournament also debuted in 1886.

The first volume, on Dec. 31, 1886, was published three years before Washington attained statehood.

The front page — six columns of copy, with no photos — included news under the headlines “Along the Coast: Devoted Principally to Washington Territory and California”: children dying of consumption, schooners running aground, cowboys killing cattle thieves.

Owner G.C. Angle addressed their first readers: “We have shown our good faith by coming here, and we confidently expect the people to show theirs by a liberal patronage …There is nothing that will help so much to build up a community as a local newspaper; one that will talk for you, write for you, and, if need be, fight for you; and the Journal can be depended upon to jealously guard the interests of Mason County at all times.

“There are many things that can be attained by united action by people

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Front: Anette Lanning, PTA, Physical Therapy Assistant; Barak Strahan, OTR/L, Occupational Therapist, Registered & Licensed; Libby Henderson, COTA, Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant; Lou Johnson, PTA. Back: Jamie Voelker, DPT, Doctorate of Physical Therapy; Jena Russell, MACCC SLP, Master Certificate of Clinical Competence, Speech-Language Pathologist, Rehabilitation Director; Jennifer Depew, SLP; Marjie Steed, OTR/L. Not pictured: Megan Breimeier, DPT; Paula Vaerewyck, COTA.

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Henry Gay Fairgrounds.

The Gay era In 1966, the Journal was purchased

by Henry Gay. Gay’s parents founded a newspaper in Monterey, Calif. in 1933. The family came to Washington when Henry and his father Milus bought the Buckley News Banner, recalled Henry Gay’s son, Charlie Gay. The Gays sold the Buckley paper in 1964, and Henry worked as the editor of the Central Kitsap Reporter for two years before purchasing the Journal.

“He liked the fact it wasn’t butting heads with a bunch of other papers

12026

of this county, viz: extended mail facilities, a just disposition of the large body of agricultural land now held by the Indians, and a fair share of the immigration that is pouring into Western Washington.

“Mason County is the least known of any county in the territory, but with direct steamboat communication with Olympia, Tacoma and Seattle, and the Journal to make its resources known to the world, the close of the year now just dawning will witness Mason County in the van of the progressive counties of Washington. Let us all pull together and success is assured.”

Two years later, the Journal moved to another building at Fourth and Railroad; in 1927, the newspaper relocated to Fourth Street between Railroad and Cota streets. The Journal has conducted business at its present location at the corner of Cota Street and Third Street since 1961.

The following year, Al Ford was hired as a reporter by publisher Bill Dickie.

He covered the county for about 30 years.

In a 1986 reflection piece, Ford recalled regular luncheons with the superintendent of the new Washington Corrections Center in the inmates dining hall, milking him for story ideas. He remembers covering the Mason County Commission in 1963 as it leased 40 acres from the Port of Shelton for the new site for the Mason County

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Profile - Page 43

Rik Puetz of Union searches his wallet for a dollar bill to buy a Journal from Renee Chaplain, the newspaper’s circulation manager. Visitors are constantly flowing through the door at the office on the corner of Third and Cota streets, the newspaper’s home since 1961.

Journal photo by Gordon Weeks

business and a fair newsroom,” Gay said.

But a firestorm erupted in 1985 by identifying the name of a 16-year-old high school student who has been raped. The identification was in keeping with the newspaper’s longstanding policy of using the names of those who testify, but the teen said the stories left her feeling victimized again. Readers urged the newspaper’s advertisers to force a change, picketers marched in front of the newspaper, and the staff received threats.

In an editorial, Henry Gay wrote, “When an innocent victim of a vicious crime is devastated because of what she fears society will think of her, society has failed her. In the case of rape is it time for society to right the wrong.”

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and media outlets,” said Charlie Gay, 61, now a resident of Seattle. “Forty-five years later, you’re up against the Internet and the car and real estate magazines, things that are stealing the revenue pie.”

At 14, Charlie Gay was developing halftone photos in the darkroom; the next year, he was photographing sporting events. By the time he reached high school, Charlie was the sports editor, making 15 cents per column inch and $1 for each photo.

Charlie Gay said his father worked 70-hour weeks, earned about 50 writing awards, and left “a tradition of pretty gutsy editorial writing.”

“He gave the community a good newspaper for the 33 years he ran it … He ran a fair

In a longer June 13 editorial, Gay wrote, “We don’t believe rape victims are ruined forever.

The term, damaged goods, is repugnant to us.

We won’t accept the description or the cruel premise on which it is founded. And we cannot understand why family and friends of the victim accept this atrocious damaging indictment which is the good old boys’ ultimate power play against women.”

The furor was national news, with the New York Times sending reporters and TV crews showing up at the paper. Current staff members still laugh over the fact that TV reporter Maria Shriver, a member of the Kennedy clan, used the paper’s (then) dilapidated bathroom.

But it wasn’t a laughing matter for the Gays.

“That was the most grueling thing about running a newspaper,” said Charlie Gay, who was by then the paper’s managing editor.

“Friends were upset with you because of the stand you were taking,” he said. “It was difficult.”

Donna Kinnaird, who was hired as the paper’s bookkeeper in 1991 and retains that position today, remembers Henry Gay as “one of those

Reporter Gordon Weeks works late in the Journal office, located on West Cota Street.

Journal photo by Tom Hyde crusty old guy, a curmudgeon. He didn’t suffer fools.”

Kinnaird remembers that when a reporter for the television show “A Current Affair” stuck a microphone in Gay’s face, he exclaimed, “Get out of my office, you son of a bitch!”

In the fall of 1998, Henry Gay discovered he had terminal cancer. He announced his retirement as publisher without disclosing the reason to readers. His son said he continued to write about 30 hours a week until be died in January 1999.

The Gays sold the paper to current owners, Robb Hicks and Tom Mullen, in 2008.

Publisher Tom Hyde, former owner and

publisher of the North Coast News in Ocean Shores, oversees a staff of 13.

The newspaper retired its aging press last year, and the issues are now printed by the Chronicle in Lewis County.

In her 23 years at the Journal, Kinnaird has seen owners, publishers, reporters, ad representatives and others come and go.

“We’re going back to more of a community newspaper,” she said.

“That was the most grueling thing about running a newspaper ...

Friends were upset with you because of the stand you were taking.

It was difficult.”

Charlie Gay, former managing editor of the Mason County Journal

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Profile - Page 45

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Page 46 - Profile

Organizations Animal Concerns Adopt-a-Pet.................................................................. 432-3091 Feline Friends.............................................................. 866-0599 Humane Society.......................................................... 275-9310 Kitten Rescue............................................................... 426-2455 Mason County Animal Control................................. 275-4467 City of Shelton Animal Shelter.................................. 427-7503 Arts and Shared Interests Amateur Radio Club..................................426-7486, 426-3018 American Truck Historical Society........................... 866-7716 Anna’s Bay Center for Music.................................... 898-5000 Christmastown Quilters............................................. 426-0439 ......................................... christmastownquilters@gmail.com Harstine Island Theatre Club.................................... 426-8823 Historical Society and Museum................................ 426-1020 Jolly Jesters................................................................... 426-6411 Library, Timberland Friends of the library ...................................................................Hoodsport 877-9339 .............................................................. North Mason 275-3232 ........................................................................Shelton 426-1362 Mason County Concert Association......................... 426-1842 McReavy House.......................................................... 898-1717 Peninsula Art Association.......................................... 426-1842 Sweet Adelines barbershop....................................... 426-1175 Towne Cruisers Car Club........................................... 426-9940 Yesteryear Car Club.................................................... 427-5579 Children’s and Youth Organizations 4-H Kathy Fuller...........................................427-9670 ext. 681 ........................................... or Dan Tuteberg 427-9670 ext. 686 Boys & Girls Club........................................................ 362-1855 Boy Scouts.................................................................... 275-4122 Girl Scouts.......................................................... (800) 541-9852 Cooperative Preschool................................................ 432-5410 Head Start..................................................................... 426-2898 North Mason Little League........................................ 710-9883 Mason County Youth Baseball.................................. 426-4582 North Mason Pee Wee Association........................... 275-6109 North Mason Youth Soccer........................................ 536-7089 Save Our County’s Kids (SOCK).............................. 432-0815 South Mason Youth Soccer........................................ 426-9791

Soccer Park................................................................... 432-0560 Community Organizations Allyn Community Association.................................. 275-9744 Grapeview Community Association........................ 275-5024 Harstine Island Community Club............................ 427-9516 Harstine Island Women’s Club................................. 426-8112 Hood Canal Improvement Club............................... 898-1282 Lilliwaup Community Club...................................... 877-2235 Little Skookum Community Club............................ 427-3926 Mason-Benson Community Club............................. 426-6824 Tahuya Community Club.......................................... 275-9865 Timberlakes Community Club.................................. 427-8928 Trails End Community Club..................................... 275-6995 Union Tourism Association............................visitunion.com Victor Improvement Club.......................................... 275-4139 Environmental Groups

Allyn Salmon Enhancement Group........................... 275-798 Great Peninsula Conservancy................................... 275-3920 ....................................................................................... 373-3500 Hood Canal Environmental Council........................ 275-5459 H.C. Salmon Enhancement Group........................... 275-3575 Local Government

Mason County............................................427-9670, 275-4467 City of Shelton............................................................. 426-4491 Skokomish Tribe.......................................................... 426-4232 Squaxin Island Tribe................................................... 426-9781 Political Involvement

Green Party.................................................................. 432-0272 League of Women Voters........................................... 427-1956 MC Democrats............................................................. 427-2731 MC Republicans...........................................................432-1111 Regional Promotion/Information

Hood Canal Visitor Center........................................ 877-2021 North Mason Chamber of Commerce...................... 275-4267 North Mason Visitors Information........................... 275-5548 Shelton-Mason County Chamber............................. 426-2021 Economic Development Council.............................. 426-2276

Senior and Health-related Groups Alcoholics Anonymous.............................................. 352-7344 American Red Cross................................................... 352-8575 Crisis Clinic 24-hour line............................................ 486-2800 Crisis Clinic from North Mason.......................(800) 627-2211 Faith in Action/Clearing House............................... 275-5403 Harmony Hill............................................................... 898-2363 Health-related support groups................................. 426-1611 Mason County Relay for Life/ American Cancer Society................................. (253) 820-4198 Mason General Hospital Foundation....................... 427-3623 275-8614 Mason County Senior Activities Center.................. 426-7374 Narcotics Anonymous................................................ 754-4433 Orthopedic Guilds...................................................... 275-1245 TOPS (Taking Off Pounds Sensibly)......................... 427-0803 ....................................................................................... 275-2179 Senior Services for South Sound............................... 526-3405 Behavioral Health Resources..................................... 552-2303 Sports and Leisure Back Country Horsemen............................................ 426-3771 Equestrienne of Mason County................................ 426-3001 Good Sam RV Club..................................................... 426-6028 877-5721 Nimrod Club................................................................ 426-8178 Shelton Drag Strip Association................................. 229-9309 Shelton Rifle & Pistol Club........................................ 427-1102 Shelton Rock and Mineral Society............................ 427-5255 Shelton Yacht Club...................................................... 426-1012 Veterans Organizations

40 et 8............................................................................ 426-5060 American Legion......................................................... 426-4546 American Legion Post 200......................................... 552-2303 Veterans of Foreign Wars........................................... 426-1805 Disabled American Veterans Chapter 22................. 552-2303 Service and Public Entities Economic Development Council–MC...................... 426-2276 Evergreen Rural Water of Washington..................... 426-9287

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Long time, LOCAL agents that know their stuff!

You will get the service you deserve.

Visit our website for more information, or to view all of the properties listed for sale in Mason County.

Stop in and meet one of our amazing agents, we’re conveniently located in the heart of Shelton.

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21986

This office is independently owned and operated.

John L. Scott Shelton

Jay’s Farm Stand

21982

Proudly serving Mason County for all your real estate needs!

Page 48 - Profile

Organizations Friends of the William G. Reed Library................... 426-1362 Habitat for Humanity–Mason County..................... 426-8134 LOVE Inc...................................................................... 426-5684 Mary Theler Community Center.............................. 275-4898 Mason County Literacy.............................................. 426-9733 Mason County Ministerial Association................... 426-2776 Mason County Senior Center.................................... 426-7374 Mason County Shelter................................................ 427-6919 Mason Transit Authority............................................ 427-5033 Olympic College Shelton........................................... 432-5400 Retired Senior & Volunteer Program..........943-2773, ext. 21 ShoreBank Enterprise Cascadia................................ 427-2875 Care Net Pregnancy Center of Mason County....... 427-9171 The Saints Pantry Food Bank.................................... 427-8847 United Way of Mason County................................... 426-4999 Washington Information Network 211.......... (425) 264-0300 North Mason Resources............................................. 552-2303 North Mason Homeless Advocate............................ 552-2303 Community Food Pantry........................................... 552-2303 WorkSource.................................................................. 552-2303 Fraternal and Service Organizations Daughters of the Pioneers of WA.............................. 426-3588 Eagles Club Shelton....................................................................... 426-0507 North Mason............................................................. 275-6885 Elks................................................................................ 426-2322 The Granges Agate.......................................................................... 426-9369 Matlock...................................................................... 426-8909 Skokomish................................................................. 426-2426 Harstine..................................................................... 426-5665 Twanoh...................................................................... 275-9646 Belfair Kiwanis............................................................ 229-9556 Hood Canal Kiwanis.................................................. 877-5381 Kristmas Town Kiwanis............................................. 426-5637 Pioneer Kiwanis.......................................................... 432-0136

Shelton Kiwanis........................................................... 426-0512 Mason County Optimist Club masoncountyoptimistclub.blogspot.com Union City Masonic Lodge #27................................ 427-1999 Mt. Moriah Masonic Lodge #11................................ 877-5964 Hood Canal Masonic Lodge #288............................ 275-4711 Moose Lodge................................................................ 426-6917 Hood Canal Lions Club.............................................. 898-4444 Morning Star Lions Club........................................... 432-5208 North Mason Lions Club........................................... 275-8421 PEO Sisterhood............................................................ 426-4700 North Mason Rotary......................................... (877) 278-8900 Shelton Rotary............................................................. 427-3478 Shelton Skookum Rotary........................................... 426-8597 Knights of Columbus.................................................. 275-3350 Churches Calvary Chapel............................................................ 866-0996 Faith Lutheran Church............................................... 426-8611 Gateway Christian Fellowship.................................. 426-2758 Grace Baptist................................................................ 462-1611 Hood Canal Community Church............................. 877-9688 Mt. Olive Lutheran Church....................................... 426-6353 New Community Church of Union.......................... 898-7855 North Mason Bible Church........................................ 275-4555 St. David Episcopal Church....................................... 426-8472 St. Edward Catholic Church...................................... 426-6134 St. Germain Episcopal Church ................................. 877-9879 Seventh-Day Adventist Church................................ 426-2776 Shelton Bible Church.................................................. 877-6176 Shelton Christian Church........................................... 426-4697 Shelton First Baptist.................................................... 426-8461 Shelton Presbyterian Church..................................... 432-8696 Shelton Rivers of Grace.............................................. 438-8531 Skokomish Community Church............................... 426-4079 Timberland Chapel..................................................... 275-3750 United Methodist Church.......................................... 426-4174

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Profile - Page 49

Over 100 Years of the World’s Best Shellfish H I G H W A Y

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Our family has been growing shellfish in the bays and inlets of Puget Sound in Washington for over 100 years. Our farms are in some of the most beautiful and nutrient-rich tidelands in the world where clean, clear waters provide the environment for growing some of the most bountiful and flavorful shellfish harvests to be found anywhere. We have farms and nurseries in Washington, British Columbia, California, a hatchery in Hawaii, a black pearl farm in Fiji, Fanny Bay Oysters in Canada, and Taylor Fine Foods in Hong Kong.

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18887

Pasta • Chicken • Curry Dishes

Employment TOP 50 Mason County Employers

Employees 2014 2013 Rank Employer

Rank Employer Little Creek Casino Hotel Washington Corrections Center Shelton School District Mason General Hospital Taylor Shellfish Inc. North Mason School District Mason County Walmart Squaxin Island Tribe Olympic Panel Products Simpson Lumber Co. Island Enterprises Fred Meyer Welco - Skookum Lumber Co. Fir Lane Health & Rehabilitation Skokomish Indian Tribe Mason County PUD 3 Alpine Way Retirement Exceptional Foresters, Inc. Alderbrook Inn Pioneer School District Safeway Shelton Health & Rehabilitation Green Diamond Resource Co. City of Shelton Our Community Credit Union Mason Transit

840 685 591 547* 440 352 315 304 287 283* 260* 160 140 136 135* 126* 120 115 111 110 102* 102 97 96* 93 92 85

788 647 594 547 350 276 338 297 287 283 260 175 124 125 135 126 116 115 90 101 102 94 103 96 96 87 82

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Lucky Dog Casino Stretch Island Fruit Peninsula Credit Union Manke Lumber Co. QFC Catholic Community Services Hood Canal School District Washington DSHS Sims Vibration Laboratory Belco Forest Products Techwood Fungi Perfecti Gillis Auto Center Shelton Post Office Hood Canal Communications Brady Trucking Mary M. Knight School Timberland Regional Library Continental Floral Hiawatha Corporation Lumbermen’s Prov. Sound Homecare / Hospice Grapeview School District

73 72 75 70 70 76 49 59 57 50 47 25 42 39 32 36 34 34 32 31 30 30 29

Editor’s note: Information provided by the Economic Development Council of Mason County. * 2013 number

SHELTON CINEMAS

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73* 72* 71 70 70* 65 60 59* 57 50 47 46 42 39 38 36* 36 34 32* 31* 30 30* 29*

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21988

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25.

26.

27.

Employees 2104 2013

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Population Mason County

City of Shelton

POPULATION 1900.......................................................3,810 1910.......................................................5,156 1920.......................................................4,919 1930.....................................................10,060 1940.....................................................11,603 1950.....................................................15,022 1960.....................................................16,251 1970.....................................................20,918 1980.....................................................31,184 1990.....................................................38,341 1991.....................................................39,719 1992.....................................................40,852 1993.....................................................42,443 1994.....................................................43,541 1995.....................................................44,902 1996.....................................................46,491 1997.....................................................47,277 1998.....................................................47,912

POPULATION

1999.....................................................48,513 2000.....................................................49,405 2001.....................................................49,600 2002.....................................................49,800 2003.....................................................50,200 2004.....................................................50,800 2005.....................................................51,900 2006.....................................................53,100 2007.....................................................54,600 2008.....................................................56,300 2009.....................................................57,846 2010.....................................................60,699 2011......................................................61,000 2012.....................................................61,450 2013................................................... *60,497 *Estimated

1900..........................................................833 1910.......................................................1,163 1920..........................................................984 1930.......................................................3,091 1940.......................................................3,707 1950.......................................................5,045 1960.......................................................5,651 1970.......................................................6,515 1980.......................................................7,629 1990.......................................................7,241 1991.......................................................7,330 1992.......................................................7,475 1993.......................................................7,633 1994.......................................................7,739 1995.......................................................7,863 1996.......................................................7,996 1997.......................................................8,123 1998.......................................................8,272

1999.......................................................8,343 2000.......................................................8,442 2001.......................................................8,470 2002.......................................................8,495 2003.......................................................8,545 2004.......................................................8,695 2005.......................................................8,735 2006.......................................................8,805 2007.......................................................8,895 2008.......................................................8,980 2009.......................................................9,222 2010.......................................................9,834 2011........................................................9,855 2012.......................................................9,870 2013..................................................... *9,800 *Estimated

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Libraries LIBRARY USE

HOODSPORT TIMBERLAND LIBRARY

n Circulation at libraries in Mason County (Shelton, Belfair, Hoodsport)

Librarian: Nancy Triplett

1999............................................ 469,173 2000............................................ 456,508 2001............................................ 410,453 2002............................................ 481,248 2003............................................ 494,138 2004........................................... 491,390 2005............................................ 512,446 2006............................................ 489,421 2007............................................ 532,104 2008............................................ 526,808 2009............................................ 520,011 2010............................................ 505,713 2011............................................. 451,451 2012............................................ 451,196 2013............................................ 434,814 All data collected do not include audio or e-books. The number of those have been on the rise, according to Dee Depoe, adult service librarian at the Shelton Library.

WILLIAM G. REED LIBRARY Shelton

Librarian: Patty Ayala Ross SizE: 16,000 square feet Staff: 15.425 full-time equivalent LOCATION: Seventh and Alder HOURS: Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Phone: 426-1362. To reach reference librarians: 704-4636 from Shelton; from elsewhere, 1-800-562-6022 toll-free Info: The five-county Timberland Regional Library leased a building built to its specifications in 1974 in the unincorporated area near Sanderson Field north of Shelton and called it the South Mason Timberland Library.

Timberland purchased the building in February 1985 in addition to three adjacent lots. The only incorporated city in Mason County, Shelton, had its own independent library. In May 1989, the city of Shelton began contracting with Timberland for library services. The city was in the process of building a new library at Seventh and Alder streets and Timberland provided a grant through its partnership program and a loan to the city to complete the building. The South Mason building was closed and the property sold. The Reed Library,

Size: 3,600 square feet Staff: 1.8 full-time equivalent Hours per week: 24 Location: 40 N. Schoolhouse Hill Road

which started serving South Mason and Shelton residents, is one of six large libraries in the Timberland system.

Circulation

in Shelton for past decade 2002............................................ 310,036 2003............................................ 319,543 2004............................................ 312,946 2005............................................ 323,269 2006............................................ 298,127 2007............................................ 336,855 2008............................................ 329,227 2009............................................ 328,327 2010............................................ 326,060 2011............................................. 288,515 2012............................................ 305,387 2013............................................ 301,009

NORTH MASON TIMBERLAND LIBRARY Belfair

Librarian: Victoria Rexford Size: 14,800 square feet Staff: 5.75 full-time equivalent Location: 23081 N.E. state Route 3 Hours per week: 41 Hours: Tuesday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Phone: 275-3232. For information from reference librarians: 1-800-5626022 toll-free

INFO: The North Mason library began in 1950 in Dorothy Newkirk Harper’s Belfair drug store. When the drug store was sold in 1966, the library was moved to leased space in the back of a TV shop.

In July 1976, it was moved to a slightly larger leased space across from Belfair Elementary School on state Route 3 until September 1979.

A new library nestled in the trees beside state Route 3 was opened in November 1979. The Friends of the North Mason Library purchased the land for the library building and deeded it to Timberland.

Timberland purchased additional land at the current site on which a new 14,400-square-foot library was built at 23081 N.E. State Route 3. The new $2.8 million building, featuring much more height and light, was opened in March 1998, and circulation immediately jumped. It had about four times as much space as the old library. The old Belfair library building was recycled and moved by barge up Hood Canal, where it reopened as the Hoodsport library in March 1997.

Circulation

in Belfair for past decade

2002............................................ 138,212 2003............................................ 139,054 2004............................................ 145,665 2005............................................ 152,611 2006............................................ 159,264 2007............................................ 160,027 2008............................................ 160,468 2009............................................ 154,596 2010............................................ 143,115 2011............................................. 128,779 2012............................................ 113,637 2013............................................ 102,921

Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Thursday, 1 to 7 p.m. Phone: 8779339. For information from reference librarians: 1-800-562-6022 toll-free INFO: A small Hoodsport library opened in a building on Lake Cushman Road near U.S. Highway 101 in September 1989. It was a leased storefront. Because of the need for a larger facility, Timberland Regional Library purchased 1.7 acres on Schoolhouse Hill for a library site.

An idea that began as a grassroots effort by library supporters and community members grew into a media event when the old North Mason library in Belfair was moved by barge up Hood Canal to the new site on a foggy morning in October 1996. The old library was destined to be demolished in Belfair until the recycling idea was hatched, and the building came down The remodeled building on the hill above Highway 101 opened in March 1997. The view from the library’s deck and east windows is a panorama of downtown, Hood Canal and the Tahuya Peninsula on the other side of the water. Wi-Fi is available from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week.

Circulation

in Hoodsport for past decade 2002.............................................. 33,000 2003.............................................. 35,541 2004.............................................. 32,779 2005.............................................. 36,566 2006.............................................. 32,030 2007.............................................. 35,222 2008.............................................. 37,113 2009.............................................. 37,088 2010.............................................. 36,538 2011............................................... 34,157 2012.............................................. 32,172 2013.............................................. 30,890

Profile - Page 53

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ADVERTISER INDEX Where to find the best products and services in Mason County

AAA Septic.......................................................... 18 Alderbrook Golf & Clubhouse............................. 45 Alpine Way Assisted Living................................. 13 Angle Agency Insurance...................................... 44 Annie’s Quilt Shoppe........................................... 30 Arnold & Smith Insurnace................................... 38 Beckman Group Realty........................................ 38 Boulder Equipment, Inc......................................... 5 Bowers DDS........................................................ 14 Chehalis Sheet Metal........................................... 46 Cooper Studios..................................................... 52 Cove Crystals & Gifts.......................................... 43 Cut Rate Auto Parts.............................................. 18 D&L Automotive................................................. 36 Denny’s Auto Service.......................................... 25 Economic Development Council........................... 9 Gateway Rental Center........................................ 41 Gillis Auto Center................................................ 40 Green Diamond Resource Co.............................. 24 Grimes Optical..................................................... 45 Hackney Family Dentistry................................... 12 Hama Hama......................................................... 54 Hunter Farms....................................................... 32 Hiawatha Corp..................................................... 32 Mason County Journal................................... 22, 55 Jarrell’s Cove Marina........................................... 46 Jay’s Farmstand.................................................... 48 Jim’s Auto Repair & Towing................................ 28

John L. Scott Real Estate..................................... 48 Kiwanis - Kristmas/Pioneer................................. 37 Little Creek Casino Resort..................................... 2 Lynch Creek Floral.............................................. 31 Manke Lumber..................................................... 47 Maple Glen Senior Living................................... 21 Mariano’s Fine Jewelry........................................ 39 Mason General Hospital...................................... 56 Mason Transit Authority...................................... 55 McKay Shrimp & Crab Gear............................... 28 Michael’s Meats & Seafood................................. 52 New Community Church of Union...................... 44 Nita’s Restaurant & Gallery................................. 28 Olesen, DDS........................................................ 54 Olsen Furniture.................................................... 32 Olympic College.................................................. 43 Olympic Stove & Spa.......................................... 41 Our Community Credit Union............................. 10 OysterFest............................................................ 48 Peninsula Credit Union........................................ 49 Peterson Chiropractic........................................... 40 Mason County PUD 3.......................................... 46 Roof Doctor......................................................... 30 Sage Bookstore.................................................... 32 Sew Now Studio................................................... 36 Shelton Cinemas & Skyline Drive-In.................. 51 Shelton Dental Center.......................................... 20 Shelton Health & Rehabilitation Center.............. 42

From Here to There,

Shelton Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine..... 54 Shelton-Mason County Chamber of Commerce.. 31 Skipworth’s.......................................................... 37 State Farm Insurance............................................ 51 Taylor Shellfish.................................................... 50 The Strip Steakhouse........................................... 25 Treasures Thrift Store, MGHF............................. 28 United Way of Mason County............................. 39 Vander Wal’s Garage............................................ 10 Walter Dacon Wines............................................. 43 Windermere Real Estate, Himlie, Inc.................. 54 Xinh’s Restaurant................................................. 50

Let us deliver you to your next adventure!

Bus service is fare-free within Mason County!

Relax and Ride!

Use our Friendly Bus Service viicee to access Beautiful Mason County— and beyond

For your next bus call 360-427-5033 800-374-3747 or visit MasonTransit.org

Profile - Page 55

MGH Ankle & Foot (360) 427-0366

MGH Oakland Bay Pediatrics (360) 426-3102

MGH Eye Clinic (360) 426-8717

MGH Olympic Physicians (360) 426-2500

MGH Family Health (360) 426-3862

MGH Shelton Family Medicine (360) 426-2653

MGH Hoodsport Family Clinic (360) 877-0372

MGH Shelton Orthopedics (360) 427-0663

MGH Mountain View Women’s Health (360) 426-0955

MGH Surgery Clinic (360) 426-4142 Mason General Hospital 901 Mountain View Drive, PO Box 1668, Shelton, WA 98584 (360) 426-1611, from Allyn (360) 275-8614, Toll free (855) 880-3201 www.MasonGeneral.com

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