SEQUIM GAZETTE
A-8 • Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Sea vegetable firm draws suit by BRIAN GAWLEY Sequim Gazette
A Sequim company touted as being on the cutting edge of energy and food production technology and awarded a $5,000 entrepreneur grant in May is being sued for breach of contract. According to court records filed Sept. 14, Jeffrey Baldwin and Pacific Sea Vegetables Inc., is suing Timothy T. Visi, Umami Sea Vegetables, LLC. The lawsuit says Baldwin was a shareholder in Pacific Sea Vegetables Inc., when he and Mike Magrath were contacted in spring 2008 by Visi, an old acquaintance, about financing a new business venture. It says Baldwin loaned Visi’s business $87,566 between early May and late August 2008. He also loaned $25,000 for the partner’s business and living expenses, including renting a house, the lawsuit states. In May 2008, Visi incorporated Pacific Sea
Vegetables, Inc., with the state Secretary of State’s Office and identified the three as the initial board of directors. Then in January 2009, Visi formed Umami Sea Vegetables, LLC, and transferred the property and assets of Pacific Sea Vegetables, Inc., to the new company, the lawsuit says. The lawsuit charges breach of contract for failure to repay the $112,000 and seeks return of the money, damages and court costs. In May 2009, Visi won the Entrepreneurial Challenge and a $5,000 grant for his Umami Sea Vegetables company at the Incubator @ Lincoln Center in Port Angeles. The company grows sea vegetables in 14 tanks of filtered and sterilized seawater from the Strait of Juan de Fuca sited on Sequim Bay. He hopes eventually to grow fuel-quality algae. Reach Brian Gawley at bgawley@ sequimgazette.com.
If you turn on your TV for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, you might see, from left, Caitlin Pallai, flute; Michael Okamoto, trombone; Serena Okamoto, flute; Lindsey Moore, trumpet; and Marley Iredale, tenor sax; marching with Macy’s All-American Band. Photo courtesy of Vern Fosket
Small town talent gets a Big Apple showcase by MATTHEW NASH Sequim Gazette
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This Turkey Day, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade offers a local treat. Five Sequim High School students — Marley Iredale, senior, tenor sax; Lindsey Moore, senior, trumpet; Michael Okamoto, senior, trombone; Serena Okamoto, junior; and Caitlin Pallai, senior, flute — will march in the parade with the Macy’s All-American Band. The students will usher in the Christmas season by playing classic holiday songs and leading Santa Claus’ float at the end of the parade. They will join 200-250 students from across the country.
Others bound for Seattle While the five march the streets of the Big Apple, Sequim High School band director Vern Fosket will lead the rest of the band in Seattle’s equivalent of the parade. “I think these kids will be fantastic,” he said. Fosket wanted to recom-
mend more students for the trip, but Music Tours, that sponsors the band, needed particular instruments. Macy’s will provide instruments except the flute because all instruments are color coordinated. Students will be fitted for uniforms soon after arriving. The consensus among most of the students was that experiencing New York seemed like an opportunity they couldn’t pass up.
“The second they got there, they had to work.” Many band members recorded the parade on TV last year and said they could spot one of the students immediately but had to look harder for the second. In the front of the band will be Serena Okamoto. She plays flute but was selected to hold the band’s banner. To spot the other students depends on what side they are on, Fosket said.
‘Winter in big city’
Paying the piper
“It’s New York. It’s winter in the big city. I’ve always wanted to do that,” Iredale said. Students will leave on Nov. 21 and stay through Nov. 27 in New Jersey. Moore and Pallai agreed the parade’s spectacles of large crowds and oversized balloons will be fun to see. Two students, Matthew Gray and Fer ris Ryan, marched in the Macy’s parade last year and were the only Washington state representatives. “They had a lot of fun and worked really hard,” Fosket said.
The trip costs about $2,000 for each student including food, hotel and airfare. Students have sent out letters but said they are making monthly payments out of pocket. They also have formed a group called Quintet for Rent that will play for groups that make donations toward their trip. To book the group, contact Fosket through Sequim High School at 582-3600, 582-3412 or vfosket@sequim.k12.wa.us. Reach Matthew Nash at mnash@sequimgazette. com.