DELIVERING NEWS TO MID-COLUMBIA SENIORS SINCE 1982
SEPTEMBER 2021
Wine festival organizers pull plug on annual event
Retired federal employees group celebrates 50 years of advocacy and fellowship
By Senior Times staff
The Tri-City chapter of the National Active & Retired Federal Employees Association launched its 50th year with a return to form and, barring a cancellation, its first in-person event in more than a year. The local chapter planned to gather Sept. 1 at the Red Lion Hotel Kennewick Columbia Center – its usual spot – in a return to business after holding its far-flung membership together in online gatherings. The meeting had not been canceled as of the deadline for this publication. But even if it was, organizers are eager for Chapter 1192 to advance on its twin missions to offer fellowship to current and retired federal employees and to advocate for their benefits and health care in Washington, D.C., said Mary Alice Binder, public relations chairwoman.
The Tri-Cities Wine Society has permanently discontinued the annual Tri-Cities Wine Festival after being forced to cancel the 2020 event because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The society hosted the event for more than 30 of its 40 years. It typically attracted more than 1,000 attendees, bringing together wineries from throughout the Northwest. The society announced its decision in August. “Closing this chapter of the wine society’s history was a difficult decision for its board of directors, but we do so with a sense of pride and feelings of accomplishment as we reflect on the growth of the Northwest wine industry over the past 40-plus years,” said Ted Davis, president. Early in the festival’s history, when fewer wineries had tasting rooms, the festival offered one of the few ways to sample multiple Northwest wines. The society will seek new ways to showcase the mature industry, including the resumption of wine events for members and their guests. Tri-City attorney Coke Roth and Maury Balcom organized the first festival in 1979 to raise money to buy a copier for the Tri-Cities Visitor and Convention Bureau, now Visit Tri-Cities, which Roth led. The festival had the added benefit of promoting the Tri-Cities as a destination for wine tourism. Visit Tri-Cities turned the event uWINE FESTIVAL, Page 2
By Wendy Culverwell editor@tcjournal.biz
Vol. 9 | Issue 9
“We’re not a union. We’re advocates for federal employees and retirees,” she explained. Binder, who retired in 2005 as a spokeswoman for the Umatilla Weapons Depot in Oregon, said the chapter is trying to regroup after a year of shutdowns. Pre-Covid, it met 10 times a year in Courtesy Mary Alice Binder Kennewick, taking a Layna Kinsman, left, and Ellen LeVee of the few months off in the Tri-City chapter of the National Active & Retired summer. Federal Employees Association prepare gift After, it met on- baskets to hand out during the first in-person line, with mixed re- meeting in more than a year. sults. Members who to in-person,” she said. couldn’t normally Typically, members gather for lunch make it to physical events logged in. But members who aren’t online were and a program, often updates on the lobbying efforts of the chapter’s parleft out. “We are very much looking forward uNARFE, Page 6
Massive warehouses to bring 1,200 jobs to east Pasco By Wendy Culverwell editor@tcjournal.biz
Two industrial distribution centers, each more than 1 million square feet, are planned near Sacajawea State Park. The Ryan Companies of Bellevue is developing the two facilities under separate code names, “Project Oyster” and “Project Pearl,” on either side of South Road 40 East near Lakeview Trailer Court. The sites are north of the state park in east Pasco. The two warehouses will employ nearly 1,200, according to documents
filed under Washington’s State Environmental Protection Act (SEPA) that describe both in technical detail without identifying the tenant. It is common for large projects to operate under code names until the businesses behind them are ready to make public disclosures. Ryan hasn’t identified its tenant, but three people with knowledge of the project referred to “Project Oyster” as a fulfillment center for Seattle-based Amazon Inc. Marc Gearhart, vice president for
real estate development for Ryan, said he could not comment by the deadline for this edition of Senior Times, a sister publication to the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business. The Journal first reported the news in August. The tenant did not respond to questions submitted through Gearhart’s office. The two projects will face one another across South Road 40 East and are similar in most respects. “Oyster” is on the east side of Road 40 and construction has started. uWAREHOUSES, Page 7
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
WA Cares aims to help meet future long-term care needs
Page 5
MONTHLY QUIZ
Vista Field had a starring role in WWII flight training
Page 11
What was the name of Columbia Drive in Kennewick before it was changed to that name? ANSWER, PAGE 9
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