75¢WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2011 Vol. 56, No. 49 www.vashonbeachcomber.com

BEACHCOMBERVASHON-MAURY ISLAND

Islander funds his wishes while cleaning Vashon’s streetsBy LESLIE BROWNStaff Writer

Bill Thomas was on the street before the sun was up, bundled against the cold and sporting a ball cap that said “60 forever.” He carried a long-handled grabber in one hand, a white plastic trash bag in the other, as he began his daily circuit through town.

He knew just where to stop for his booty — beer cans, mostly, which fetch 45 cents a pound at a Tacoma recycling center.

He found a stash under Santa’s Cottage at the Village Green, another stash under a loading dock behind the IGA where a

homeless man often sleeps. The Dumpster next to the Chevron station offered up a trove, as did the Dumpster behind the Red Bike.

He marveled at the abun-dance and shook his head at the debauchery all the cans suggested.

“They never quit drinking their beer,” he said as he emptied a can of swill onto the dark pavement. “It’s discouraging.”

“Discouraged,” though, is not a word that comes to mind after a morning spent with Bill Thomas. He reaps about $400 a month

SEE THOMAS, 5

Leslie Brown/Staff Photo

Bill Thomas has collected cans in town for years. Some now give him cans, such as this one left on the roof of his car.

AN ARTFUL YEARIslanders and guests put on

quite the show in 2011. Page 10

RING IN 2012 Vashon is the place to be on New Year’s Eve.

Page 11

BUSINESS | Zoomies restaurant for sale at a bargain price. Page 3HEALTH | Providence offers home care on Vashon. Page 4COMMENTARY | A humorous look at the past year. Page 6

By NATALIE JOHNSONFor The Beachcomber

Voice of Vashon, the Island’s community radio and television network, has grown exponentially since its inception a dozen years ago. However 2012 may be the all-volunteer organization’s biggest year yet.

Last week Voice of Vashon (VoV) saw a longtime goal realized with a significant grant from the Puget Sound Energy Foundation. At a short ceremony at the VoV stu-dios on Wednesday, volunteers were thrilled to accept a giant check symbolizing the $15,000 grant. It will allow the completion of VoV’s emergency alert system by funding the installation of several more flashing-light notification signs such as the one currently at the north end.

“We’re over the moon,” said VoV board member Rick Wallace in an interview. “We have been working so hard to finish all of this.”

It’s the first of several significant moves in the works for Voice of Vashon in the new year. The multi-faceted organization also plans to bring on a new marketing director to promote its radio and television stations, develop more tech-friendly entertainment options and get more Islanders producing content. It may even ful-fill another longtime goal by taking on an FM radio frequency.

At Wednesday’s ceremony — where Voice of Vashon volunteers, PSE representatives and several community leaders packed into VoV’s studios at Sunrise Ridge —

Vaccination rates remain lower than recommendedBy SUSAN RIEMERStaff Writer

Vashon’s low vaccination rates among school children have persisted this year, and school nurse Sarah Day hopes to see an increase in the numbers of students vaccinated against two of the most con-tagious and potentially serious diseases: pertussis and measles.

Statistics about who is vaccinated and who is not have recently been tabulated, and according to Day, who was new to the district this fall, the results are worrisome. District wide, 33 percent of students have not been fully vaccinated against pertus-sis, also known as whooping cough, a respiratory illness potentially deadly for infants. Twenty-two percent have not been fully vaccinated against measles, which had been eradicated in North America in 2000, but has since made a resurgence, largely because of parents declining to vaccinate their children.

Day stressed that she understands vac-cination has long been a contentious issue on the Island and beyond and that she believes parents choose to vaccinate or not based on what they believe will be best for their children. She also stressed that sci-ence points to the safety of vaccines, and she feels increasing the vaccination rate among students for these two illnesses will hold benefits for the individual students and the community as a whole.

“I would love for folks who have an exemption for measles or pertussis to look at current data and reexamine that deci-sion,” Day said.

The measles vaccine, in particular, raised concern for parents when British surgeon and researcher Adam Wakefield published a paper in the respected medi-cal journal The Lancet in 1998, raising concerns about the potential link between autism and the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR). While Wakefield still has some followers, his work has been discredited, and considerable research since indicates there is no link between the MMR and autism. Still those concerns and other vaccine-safety concerns linger,

Voice of Vashon looks to the future

MOODY GETS MEAN Vashon Theatre was completely full on Thursday night as hundreds of kids and adults turned out to see Island funny man Steffon Moody put on “The Grinch Sets the Record Straight.” This year Moody was joined by the Grinchettes, played by Arlette and Lousia Moody.The story of the evil Grinch on trial gar-nered lots of laughs — and a few tears from the young ones — and raised more than $400 in donations for the Vashon Maury Community Food Bank.For more holiday photos, see page 14.

Casey Gripp PhotosSEE VOICE OF VASHON, 19

Volunteer group plans to expand its services in the coming year

SEE VACCINES, 8

Page 3

“Making the Link”Thursday, January 12th, 6:30 p.m.

Attention all Veterans, spouses and widows of veterans: This presentation discusses all the options associated with VA ben-

efits and estate planning. Find out how you can receive money to help pay for long-term care, prescriptions, burial and more!

Rosalie Whyel Museum of Doll ArtWednesday, January 18th, 9:30 a.m.

Join us for a van outing and experience the world’s foremost doll collection. Admission is $9.00.

A Home You Love + Assistance You NeedThursday, January 19th, 11:30 a.m.

HAVE LUNCH ON US and learn how Daystar Retirement Village Assisted Living is your ticket to a life free of healthcare worries

and daily chores but full of freedom and fun. Chinese New Year Ice Cream Social

Friday, January 20th, 2:30-3:30 p.m.Help us welcome in the Year of the Dragon. Enjoy some sweet

treats, and and help us celebrate the Chinese New Year!Men’s Breakfast Club

Wednesday, January 25th, 9:00 a.m.Bring a friend and join us for breakfast and camaraderie! You can enjoy some good conversations and meet new friends!

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Discover the healthy, happy and wise Daystar lifestyle!With the New Year, you may be thinking of some lifestyle changes. Perhaps you or a family member may be interested in exploring senior living options. We invite you to join us for one of our resident events so you can get a glimpse at what Daystar living is all about!

Ask us how to lock in your rental

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JANUARY EVENTS

Please RSVP Three Days in Advance Seating is limited, and reservations are required for all events.

Meet your friends at the heartbeat of the Island!

www.thsrestaurant.comThe corner of Vashon Highway & Bank Road

Open 7 Days a Week for Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

463-1800 NEWTake OutMenus!

New Year’s Eve!Have a warm and cozy dinner on

New Year’s Eve at The Hardware StoreRestaurant and enjoy a complimentary

glass of champagne on us!

Welcome 2012 – Vashon Stylewith all your regular menu favorites, plus a

special ‘Ring in the New Year’ Menu featuring: Fried Oysters with Green Tabasco Aioli

Lobster BisqueRack of Lamb with Herbs de Provence Crust

and Duchess PotatoesGrilled Beef medallions with Lobster Risotto

Vegetarian SpecialGrilled Radicchio and Tofu with rainbow carrots,

millett waffl es and tangelo marmaladeWarm Spice Cake

with Caramelized PearsReservations recommended but not necessary.

The only licensed Escrow officeon Vashon Island since 1979.

Purchase & Sales Refinancing We Buy Notes

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Patrick CunninghamCo-Owner/Designated Escrow Officer

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Purchase & Sales Refinancing Notary Statewide Services

Tim McTighe, a licensed marriage and family thera-pist who worked for 30 years in the criminal justice sys-tem, has begun a counseling and mediation practice at Courthouse Square.

In his counseling prac-tice, he provides individual, couples, family and group therapy with youth and adults experiencing prob-lems with depression, anxi-ety, divorce, loss of a job or loved one, as well as issues related to substance abuse. McTighe said he is particu-larly skilled in working with youth who have behavioral and attitude issues, and he also has experience work-ing with youth and adults in anger management and men’s issues.

“I particularly enjoy working with clients who are initially seen at a low point in their lives, but as our work together progress-es, they begin to find the courage, skills and resilience to gain control of their lives and happiness,” he said.

McTighe said he draws from many approaches, but his primary focus is in cog-nitive behavioral therapy. Fees are on a sliding scale, and he accepts insurance.

McTighe, who is also a certified mediator, offers mediation services as well, particularly in the areas of divorce and development

and modification of par-enting plans. Additionally, he provides mental health professional services in col-laborative law matters.

In additon to his crimi-nal justice background, McTighe has a master’s degree in clinical psychol-ogy and has worked for 13 years as an adjunct profes-sor at Seattle University, teaching courses in addic-tion studies and community corrections.

In March 2011, he began work with Vashon Youth & Family Services as a vol-unteer mental health and substance abuse therapist, and he continues to provide therapy services at VYFS.

John L. Scott has added a new face to its cadre of Realtors. Ishan Dillon, 29, recently moved from Columbus, Ohio, to join the Island real estate agency.

Dillon comes from three generations of master build-ers and Realtors in central Ohio. Though he studied biochemistry in college, thinking of one day prac-ticing medicine, he instead followed in his family’s footsteps and worked as a real estate agent in Ohio for seven years before coming to Vashon with his wife and two young sons.

Dillon said that although the move was a big one for

his family, he and his wife had been dreaming of living on Vashon for several years, ever since they began to visit the Island with family that lives in Port Orchard.

Dillon said that although Vashon is a tough market to work in, he’s already happy at John L. Scott, where he says the agents seem closer than they were at his previ-ous agency.

“There’s a very refreshing community that I’m now a part of at John L. Scott,” he said.

Ronly Blau, the owner of Meadow Heart Ayurveda & Yoga, is now offering holis-tic Ayurvedic healthcare, including Ayurvedic body-work, massage therapy and health consultations, at Full Circle Wellness Center.

Ayurveda is the tradition-al healing system of India and has grown out of thou-sands of years of knowledge and experience. Individuals are treated according to their constitutions, which are assessed during health consultations.

These consultations in-

volve lifestyle counseling, diet and herbal guidance and stress management. Stress is mitigated through breathing practices, medi-tation, yoga and Ayurvedic massage and relaxation therapy as well as Swedish massage. Bodywork is avail-able on its own or in con-junction with consultations and cleansing. Blau said the emphasis for all Meadow Heart treatments is in hold-ing a compassionate space to facilitate deep healing.

Blau also offers work-shops, including seasonal cleansing classes, living with ease, cooking and other Ayurvedic education. She is a certified Ayurvedic practitioner, licensed mas-sage practitioner and certi-fied yoga teacher.

Islanders are invited to stop in for Ayurveda Tea Time, a free, informal gathering between 4 and 5 p.m. the first Thursday of the month at Full Circle Wellness Center. Guests can sample Ayurvedic tea, get seasonal health tips and find out more about Ayurveda.

See www.MeadowHeartAyurveda.com for more information.

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BUSINESS BRIEFS Zoomies Burgers & Ice Cream is on the market, and the owners, Valerie and Clyde Howe, say they are offering the business for half of what they sold it for five years ago.

Kelly Hwang purchased Zoomies from the Howes for more than $100,000 in 2008, and added teriyaki to the menu.

Valerie Howe said Hwang, and off-Islander, has strug-gled with the business — in part because of the bad econ-omy — and it recently fell back into her and her hus-band’s hands.

The Howes are now sell-ing Zoomies for less than $50,000.

“We just want to cover our note,” Valerie Howe said, add-ing that she believes the offer is an extremely good deal.

“It’s an exceptional oppor-tunity for someone who has always wanted to own a res-taurant,” she said.

The Howes purchased the business in 2002 and had suc-cess after transforming it from a Dairy Queen to Zoomies. Valerie Howe said she has fond memories of running the busy restaurant, and believes the right owner can turn the business back around.

“It’s very, very sad to go in and have one person there at lunchtime,” she said. “That is just a heartbreak.”

She said the low price has already attracted the atten-tion of several Islanders, and she’s been busy showing the restaurant.

“Whoever decides to take this, there could not be a bet-ter time,” she said.

Page 4 WWW.VASHONBEACHCOMBER.COM

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Shop early for best selection!

By SUSAN RIEMERStaff Writer

Providence Health and Services will begin offer-ing home health services on Vashon next month.

A variety of assistance will be available for people recov-ering from an injury or cop-ing with an illness, including skilled-nursing care and a range of therapies.

The agency is looking forward to serving Vashon, according to Carrie Hayne, the vice president of the home health service.

“I am excited,” she said. “I think it is a population that is underserved.”

Most recently, Swedish Home Care provided a vis-iting nurse service to the Island, but when officials there decided to terminate their work on the Island in November, Providence stepped in, Hayne said, and

will offer the same services Swedish did, with the same staff, most of whom live on Vashon.

“We really thought this is an area that needs services,” she said.

After some medical events, recuperation or rehabilitation in a facility is required, Hayne noted. Other times, however, peo-ple can heal at home when there is support in place — and there are advantages in doing so.

If a person has a wound that needs tending, a home health nurse can come by regularly and provide the needed care, Hayne noted. Or when someone has a chronic illlness, such as heart failure, a nurse can help the patient, family and caregivers navigate the best course.

In the event of major sur-

gery, such as hip replace-ment, a physical therapist can get the patient up and moving again at home, or following a stroke or injury, an occupational therapist can help with strengthening the upper body and provide instruction in how to use adaptation equipment.

Hayne noted that the therapists take a team approach to working with patients and want to help each person achieve his or her own goals.

In all, Providence home health staff includes nurs-es, medical social work-ers, home health aides and physical, occupational and speech therapists.

Typically, doctors refer patients to Providence for their services, Payne noted, and the first home visit can usually be scheduled for within 48 hours of someone

returning home. Providence has provided

home care since the 1990s and also offers hospice care on the Island.

It contracts with many private insurance plans and accepts Medicare.

New agency will offer home care services on the Island

Many private caregiv-ers also offer home care on the Island. An online reference with profiles of several providers can be found at vashoncare resources.org.The new nonprofit group Neighbor to Neighbor, which aims to help seniors who wish to age in place, hopes to offers its first services this spring.For more information on Providence, see www2.providence.org.

The recent raffle to benefit the Interfaith Council to Prevent Homelessness (IFCH) raised $5,000 for the orga-nization.

Emma Amiad, a board member of IFCH, called the money “much needed” and said it would go toward emer-gency rental assistance, the meal program, utility assis-tance, moving expenses and medical care.

There were two baskets for the winners this year, thanks to the generous donations of local merchants, Amiad said, and to the hard work of Deb Dammann, the volunteer who went to each business and asked for the gifts. She and Sandy Oelloien of the IFCH board spearheaded the effort with the help of volunteer coordinator Weslie Rogers.

The winners were drawn on Dec. 21, National Homeless Awareness Day. Robin Hruska won one and remarked on the generosity of those who donated to fill it to the brim.

The other raffle winners, an older couple who wished to remain anonymous, decided to “pay it forward” and donated their basket of goodies to the staff at Vashon Community Care.

Donna Zaglin, the director of nursing there, expressed her gratitude, saying the gift exemplified the meaning of Christmas. With over 90 employees, staff at VCC worked to make the distribution of gifts fair and put all employees’ names in a basket, and then drew the lucky winners.

“It went to many people,” Zaglin said. “It was very well received.”

— Susan Riemer

Page 5

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from his one-man recycling program, enough to take occasional trips to Colorado to visit his son or to Las Vegas, where he and his wife recently took a bus tour to see the Hoover Dam.

“It’s become an obses-sion,” he said cheerful-ly, striding through the Thriftway parking lot. “And if it keeps my legs limber, I don’t mind.”

Thomas, 78, began his obsession 30 years ago, on a day he remembers as clear as a summer afternoon. He had accidentally destroyed his 11-year-old daughter’s bike when he ran over it with his car. He felt horrible. A gas station attendant and grave-digger at the time, he didn’t have the money to buy her a new one.

“My brother-in-law said, ‘Why don’t you recycle? You can earn some extra money that way.’ I said, ‘Where do I start?’”

As it turned out, Thomas started with his brother-in-law, a heavy drinker with plenty of empties on hand. In 30 days, his daughter had a new bike, and Thomas was hooked. He walked into the house, put his arms around his wife and asked her what she needed for the home. A television set, she told him. “I got that new TV in 90 days.”

According to Thomas, he’s been recycling ever since. During his work-ing years, he collected cans on the weekends. When he retired 13 years ago, he began what is now a near-daily regimen. He guesses he’s out on the streets 300 days a year.

Two weeks ago, with a reporter in tow, he began his day at 6 a.m. at Sporty’s, where he downed two cups of coffee and chatted ami-ably about his life. His friends — regulars who, like him, show up every morn-ing when the diner opens — cast a friendly eye his

way. “Some guys still got it,” one quipped, nodding toward his date.

Thomas then ventured out into the morning chill, a black glove on one hand, a blue one on the other, both discovered during his morning rounds. “I haven’t bought a pair of gloves in years,” he said happily.

Thomas is the son of Greek immigrants; his father, born a Pistikoudis, chose the surname Thomas when a foreman suggest-ed his was too difficult to pronounce. He was raised in Ohio, where his father worked hard to feed his small family and where Bill Thomas developed a work ethic at a young age.

In 1946, when he was 12, he got his first job deliver-ing newspapers, an ardu-ous task without a vehicle. Someone suggested he buy a bike, but he didn’t have the money. So he worked out an arrangement with a local merchant: He’d buy a bike for $63, paying it off in $5 installments over the course of three months. “I paid it off in six weeks,” he said.

When he first started recycling, he gathered both bottles and aluminum cans, stacking them in cartons in a lean-to on his property off the Westside Highway. His wife took issue with his avo-cation on occasion, warn-ing him to keep the empties neat and tidy.

It was particularly profit-able in those early days, and Thomas knew just where to go.

Along with a couple of friends, he’d sneak into the landfill at night. His friends were after old lawn-mowers and batteries; he’d bag the bottles and cans. He routinely visited the mud bogs behind what is now Roseballen, where the homeless people invited him to their tarp city and where he often collected hundreds of cans and bottles at a time. The Strawberry Festival was also bountiful; it took him six hours to clean up the

streets after the fair ended.The beer and soda distrib-

utors would visit his home when he had 600 cases of bot-tles and 300 to 400 pounds of cans, cutting him a check for as much as $1,000 every few months. That ended in the 1980s, when the distributors were no longer required to take back their bottles, and Thomas turned his focus to aluminum cans, which he transports to Tacoma once he has around 700 to 800 pounds.

Thomas discovered Vashon during the Korean War, when he was in the C Battery of the 20th AAA Battalion, stationed at what

is now the Eagles Club and trained to man a 90mm artil-lery weapon. “Fortunately, we never had to shoot it,” he said, smiling wryly. It was on Vashon that he met Andrea Mickle, the woman he’d eventually marry.

His wasn’t an easy path. After the war, he went to work as a laborer in Cleveland, lost his job and then came back to Vashon with his wife and baby daughter, virtually penni-less until he landed a job at Boeing. There, too, he got a pink slip — losing his job with 15 minutes’ notice, he said — then moved to Colorado, where he worked

as a milkman for 15 years. He returned to Vashon in 1974, after his wife’s mother offered the couple a parcel of land.

He pieced it together, digging graves, working at a service station and land-scaping family plots at the cemetery until 1987, when he went to work for K2. There was a time, he said, when he dug graves by hand; it took him 18 hours to complete a job. His wife begged him to buy a back-hoe. “‘Bill,’ she told me, ‘you better buy a machine, or you’re going to be digging your own grave.’”

Many know Bill Thomas as the guy who walks the streets, cleaning them up. People sometimes drive by and holler “thank you” out the window. The merchants know him, too. On this par-ticular morning, a stash in a plastic bag was waiting for him behind Sporty’s, anoth-er one behind Perry’s.

He finds more than just cans, of course. Sometimes he finds copper, which fetches a good price these days. Occasionally, he finds money. One Christmas three years ago he discovered a

$100 bill wrapped around a $10 bill. It wasn’t the first $100 bill he pocketed.

He knows many of the janitors by name. “Those are the best people to know,” he said.

He also knows Carl Hamol, the man who sweeps the sidewalk in front of the Vashon Pharmacy and other downtown businesses.

As dawn broke, he spotted Hamol, sitting on a window ledge, eating a muffin and holding a bag full of baked goods. Hamol said he had found the pastries on the doorstep of the pharmacy, left there, presumably, for him.

“It’s OK to sit down, but if I catch you sleeping, I’ll steal your buns,” Thomas joked, smiling at Hamol.

His brisk, two-hour trek finally over, Thomas walked toward his car as a soft morning light bathed the quiet town. There, on the roof of his white sedan, sat a single aluminum can — like some sort of gift dropped from the heavens. Thomas knew better.

“People leave cans for me all the time,” he said, as he stuck the empty in his trash bag.

CONTINUED FROM 1

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Bill Thomas often stops to visit with Carl Hamol, who sweeps the sidewalks in front of town businesses.

Vashon-Maury Write to us: The Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber welcomes community comment. Please submit letters — e-mail is preferred — by noon Friday for consideration in the following week’s paper. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Only one letter from a writer per month, please.

All letters are subject to editing for length, grammar and libel considerations. We try to print all letters but make no promises. Letters attacking individuals, as well as anonymous letters, will not be published.

Our e-mail address is editor@vashonbeachcomber.com.

Page 6 WWW.VASHONBEACHCOMBER.COM

EDITORIAL

With 2011 drawing to a close, we at The Beachcomber would like to offer our thanks to the many people who support us.

Our readers, of course, come first. You’re a loyal bunch, and you help in untold ways. A phone call about a vehicle that flipped off the highway; a question about a sailboat listing in Quartermaster Harbor; a gentle poke when our plural noun doesn’t match our single verb; praise and encouragement for a well-liked article.

We’re also deeply grateful to our advertisers, many of whom support this paper week after week, through thick and thin. Our newspaper couldn’t exist without you. Thank you for your sup-port.

We love that some of you put pen to paper, as it were, and write letters to The Beachcomber — comments about King County or fast drivers or cats that eat birds. Keep those letters coming!

And then there are the many individual writers and photogra-phers for whom we’re particularly grateful — talented souls who help us with some of the heavy lifting around here.

Several writers regularly contribute commentaries, adding personality, perspective and sometimes much-needed levity. Will North, Kevin Joyce, Brian Brown and Greg (and sometimes Margaret) Wessel, thank you for keeping us laughing. Janie Starr and Juli Goetz Morser tackled a serious issue this year, writing about Islanders struggling to make ends meet. Their pieces were poignant and heartfelt.

A handful of reviewers wrote about theater this year, a deli-cate task in a small, artistic community. Thank you, Rebecca Wittman, Lauri Hennessey and Gene Carlson, for finding just the right touch.

Several Islanders make our sports page possible week in and week out. Parents Brian Brenno, Cheryl Pruett, Marian Easton, Jeff Johnson, Rita Allman, Karen O’Neil, Marrianne Metz Lipe, Bill Griffith, Steve Edele, Glenna Mileson and Janet Williams, as well as coaches Kevin Ross, Laura Johnson and Gary Means, have all helped us cover our young athletes this past year, as have all the coaches who answered late-night questions about their teams.

Finally, we want to thank the many talented photographers who supported us. Ray Pfortner, Robert Teagardin, Ralph Moore, Mike Urban, Casey Gripp and Tom Hughes lent us a hand — or a photo — from time to time. Rik Forschmiedt was consistently on the sidelines shooting photos for our sports pages. Thank you all for your contributions.

Our biggest shout-out goes to Lawrence Huggins, a fantastic photographer and good friend to The Beachcomber. He’s taken many photographs for us this year — from the fiery diva who played Carmen to a lovely shot of Emily Pruiksma and Shane Jewell. What a lucky day it was when Larry walked in our door. We’re deeply grateful to him.

All of you, from our readers to our advertisers to those who contribute to the paper, help to keep The Beachcomber at the heart of our Island community. We thank you all and look for-ward to our shared efforts and your ongoing support in 2012.

ADMINISTRATIONPUBLISHER: Daralyn Anderson

publisher@vashonbeachcomber.com

ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATOR:Patricia Seamanadmin@vashonbeachcomber.com

Circulation (206) 463-9195

publisher@vashonbeachcomber.com

Administration (206) 463-9195Fax (206) 463-6122

E-mail: publisher@vashonbeachcomber.com

EDITORIALEDITOR: Leslie Brown

editor@vashonbeachcomber.comNews (206) 463-9195editor@vashonbeachcomber.com

ARTS: Elizabeth Shepherdarts@vashonbeachcomber.com

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OPINION

Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber, 17141 Vashon Hwy SW, Suite B, Vashon, WA 98070; (USPS N0. 657-060) is published every Wednesday by Sound Publishing Inc.; Corporate Headquarters: 19351 8th Avenue NE, Suite 106, Poulsbo, WA 98370-8710. (Please do not send press releases to this address.)SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $30 on Island motor route delivery, one year; $57 two years; Off Island, continental U.S., $57 a year and $30 for 6 months. Periodical postage paid at Vashon, Washington. POSTMASTER: Send changes of address to Beachcomber P.O. Box 447, Vashon Island, WA 98070.

Copyright 2011 © Sound Publishing Inc.

2011 brought disaster, conflict, no Thai foodAs part of a liberal press conspiracy, The

Beachcomber asked us to review the past year and highlight events they were too timid to discuss.

“One of you is a county employee,” said the email, “you should be used to taking heat.” At least that’s how we remember it. We accidentally deleted the message.

2011 was notable for natural disasters and human conflict. The world saw earthquakes, tornadoes, hur-ricanes, floods, drought and wildfires. Dictators fell, nations threatened bankruptcy and Kim Kardashian’s marriage failed after 72 days.

January opened with the beginning of the “Arab Spring” revolt. Meanwhile in Arkansas, thousands of blackbirds mysteriously died, leading to claims that Republicans revolting over Obamacare were “pulling the plug on Polly.”

In February, residents of Vancouver, Wash., sighted a UFO and two aliens, one of whom said he was late for a VMICC meeting, and the Two Wall Gallery became famous when the owner disagreed with the curator’s artistic preferences.

This led to more conflict in March, with an effort to remove a member of the VMICC board, the Rossers going to war with the park district and dirt bikers going to war over access to the Maury Island Marine Park.

At the same time, parts of Japan were inundated with seawater when a massive earthquake and tsunami struck. Effects of the shaking were felt even in sleepy Burton, where the coffee stand was accused of making lattes with “too much foam.”

Foam also flowed in London pubs during April, when Kate married William in a small ceremony for family and close friends. Like many, we enjoyed the opulence on the big screen after slogging through the mud in our fancy dress and muck boots.

Speaking of muck, in May President Obama fulfilled a cam-paign promise when Navy Seals witnessed the death of Osama bin Laden by lead poisoning.

Also in May, the Supreme Court OK’d warrantless searches (prompting a raft of searches for no reason at all) and Bill Ptacek, King County Library Systems director, announced that all libraries except Vashon’s would be removing their surveillance cameras to avoid charges of spying. “On Vashon, we’re not going to be caught unaware of community sentiment next time we move,” an official said.

June signaled the beginning of the wacky season (summer was months away), with the statewide “What’s up your butt?” campaign highlighting colon cancer prevention. Vashon responded with a “What’s that stinky ooze in your yard?” campaign, and a woman in Oregon acquired a British accent after having dental surgery (diagnosed as “Foreign Accent Syndrome”).

By then, most had figured that the end of the world (predicted for May 21) was not going to save us from such nonsense. California preacher Harold Camping revised the date to Oct. 21, citing a “math error.”

July coincidently marked the end of the shuttle missions and the beginning of planning for the new Vashon Allied Arts arts center. Some arts center opponents noted that significant savings could be gained if VAA did away with the booster rockets.

But the most important thing that happened in

July was the announce-ment that a Thai restau-rant is coming to town! Upon hearing the news, 20 Islanders lined up at the former site of Homegrown. Ten of them were still wait-ing in August, when census results showed Vashon to be home to the most same-sex couples with no access

to a Thai restaurant.It was about then that summer arrived on Vashon,

ending after two days, and a man in Sweden tried to split atoms in his kitchen (“Foreign Delusions Syndrome”).

Meanwhile, earthquakes occurred in Colorado and Virginia. A damage report in Colorado said (really) that a “resident reported being thrown onto his wife while sleeping.” If that’s not enough excitement, Libyan rebels took control of Gadhafi’s compound and found pictures of — you guessed it — Harold Camping.

September opened with Tom Bangasser becoming a media mogul, and then not, and three Island business-es sold nuclear weapons, or maybe tobacco, to teenag-ers. Shortly after, two TSA employees (with “Foreign

Underwear Syndrome”) were repri-manded for asking passengers to take off their knickers during screenings.

In October, the school district noticed the Homecoming dance was scheduled for Yom Kippur and the band concert was scheduled for Dec. 25. October was also the month that the Occupy (your town here) Movement got rolling. Three people

and their dogs occupied KVI Beach, but left when one of the dogs stepped on a broken beer bottle.

In space news, a German satellite crashed into earth, leaving a trail of beer and polka music, and the “seven billionth” baby was born somewhere on the planet. Sadly, the end of the world came in October for Steve Jobs, but not for the rest of us.

November found the line at Homegrown had dwin-dled to four diehards. There was economic turmoil in Greece and Italy (because they also have no Thai food), and Penn State had some kind of personnel issue that the university president advised us not to discuss.

This brings us to December, when the elves and the homeless were booted from town. Herman Cain was also booted after 23 women complained, two of whom had married him. Mitt complained because Herman got so much attention simply for having multiple partners, and Newt couldn’t understand why that was a problem.With impeccable timing, NASA announced the discov-ery of the largest black hole outside of Congress.

Despite these disturbing trends, we’ll close by wish-ing you the best for 2012 and by quoting Steve Jobs’ last words, which we hope describes your future: “Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow.”

— Greg and Margaret Wessel live on Vashon, where they closely follow the news.

THE YEAR IN REVIEWBy MARGARET AND GREG WESSEL

Page 7

Our Island has been alight with wonder these past weeks. In these short days, as power outages remind us that the dark and cold are ever near, the Island has been alive with light and wonder. For weeks, we have been singing and dancing and reading out loud to one another, in plays and ballet performances, concerts and book read-ings. We outdo one another in gingerbread architectural extravaganzas, and Island quilters and knitters, carvers and potters have been busily turning out creations of such loveliness. Best of all, the cold after-noons and quickly falling nights are met with colored lights everywhere, adorning our homes and fences, trees and tractors. The Island glows in the dark.

For Christians, the Nativity story is a story of light and wonder, of both mystery and simplicity: that into the midst of dark-ness comes God. God born into the human, into the earthly. Most wondrously, God comes to us in human form not as a wise man or a sage woman, but God gets started as enfleshed in our world as a wee new-born. How can this be? Often we can’t get this with our mind alone. It takes a heart of wonder, a quality many of us left behind many years ago. We need reminding.

It is no surprise that this time of year, many of the traditions we enjoy both in and outside faith communities include children, and the playful spirit we associate

with childhood: fly-ing reindeer with red noses, talking snow-men, dancing candy canes. In the deep midwinter, we invite the young into our life to help revive that deep wonder within us, which knows exactly

what to do with the dark.Take Christmas pageants and

Nutcracker performances as an exam-ple. An evening in such company is so wonderful not just because children are beautiful, but in part because they remind us that we have the capacity to cultivate the child within ourselves: curious, eager, open, laughs a lot, easily wounded but eas-ily reassured. And Christmas pageants and Nutcracker performances come at a time of year when we’re already vulnerable and hungry for new hope.

Such occasions also remind us of how quickly time passes. Staring at these beau-tiful children, we know that soon the little ones playing with the nutcracker will soon be the staid adults, telling the children that it’s time to settle down. We know that very

soon our children will not be dressed up as Mary and Joseph, they will BE Mary and Joseph themselves — not playing a role at all, but great with their own children and all the wonder and terror that comes with the role of parenthood.

What these occasions should ideally never be is sentimental. Cute? Maybe, but not sentimental. Rather, they should be both playful and pro-found all at once.

The writer Adam Gopnik (New Yorker Magazine, July 2008), referring to the work of G.K. Chesterton, made this observation: “Chesterton’s point is that childhood is not a time of illusion, but a time when illusion and fact exist (which they should) at the same level of conscious-ness. When the story and the world are equally numinous.”

When the story and the world are equally numinous. There it is: When we see the children singing or dancing or playing the roles of shepherds and wise men and women in Christmas pageants, they are not “performing” for us. They are not ‘“performer”’ at all. Rather, we see them becoming — before our very eyes — enfleshments of the story that we know so

well, but often cannot feel deeply, without either grief or sentimentality getting in the way.

The kids just do it, because the story and the world are “equally numinous” — that is, equally real and equally alive with the glory of God. Just as when you were very small, late at night cuddled up in your bed, and your mom or dad read you a story, the

story was real, wasn’t it? You could go there.

Which comes, again, to us. This time of year of the winter festivals, we get to go there, we have the chance to be a child without becoming children again. Which is way better, because childhood ends so soon,

and for some, way too soon. But we can be “as a child” until our last breath — full of wonder, curiosity, laughter, tears and the ability to be deeply consoled when tears are the right thing.

So, enjoy all the gifts of light and won-der and playfulness that this season brings. Love and celebrate the child that was you once and the child being born in you today. Is it you or Jesus? Hard to tell them apart.

— Rev. Carla Pryne is the rector of the

Church of the Holy Spirit.

THE SEASONBy REV. CARLA PRYNE

Holiday traditions bring about childlike wonder in us all

Ťhanks for a wonderful year.

I love you darlin’

Letters accepted must be no more than 150 words and include a daytime phone number. Deadline for this section is noon on Friday. Letters in this section will run as submitted except in the cases of libel or profanity.

Gratitude and AppreciationI would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to the following members of the Vashon Island Fire and Rescue team for sav-ing my life: Daniel Luechtefeld, Mike Garvey, Daron Buxton, Jason Everett, Brodie Smith, Lee Kimzey, Myron Hauge, Ross Copeland, Bob Larson and Yolanda Rugg.

I am a 42 year old woman in very good physical shape. On 12/10/11, I experienced a sudden cardiac arrest. The above para-medics and volunteers performed CPR and used a defibrillator to restart my heart. VIFR kept me alive until they were able to transfer care to Airlift Northwest. The Vashon Island paramedics undergo extensive and rigorous training and are part of the “Medic One” system. Their training has helped Seattle achieve the highest rate of sudden cardiac arrest survival in the world. We are extremely fortunate to have such highly qualified responders here on Vashon. Please support them in every way. I never thought I would need them. Luckily, they were there for me when my life depended upon their quick response, knowledge, and skills.

I should also note my husband was able to initiate CPR immediately because he had taken a class through VIFR.Sincerely, Lisa Freeman

Sr. Grad party parent committeeThe 2012 Sr. Party Parent Committee thanks LeeAnn Brown of Puget Sound College Funding for her generous donation to our party. Her services not only help parents and students navigate the rapids of finding the money for college, but she contributed a donation to our cause for each family that attended her recent seminars. Thanks LeeAnn!

We also thank Donna Kellum of Vashon’s

Frame of Mind, who surprised us with a generous donation from a fundraiser that she staged all on her own. Thanks Donna!

This is community support at its best.

Roger Taylor, Chair– 2012 Sr. Party Committee

A note of thanksMy wife and I would like to express our gratitude to all of the kind folks out there that are part of the “Meal Train” we were blessed by having several nights of dinners delivered to our house after the arrival of our baby daughter last month. To Alejandra, VYFS, and all the rest. Thank-You so much, Hans and Misty Youngmann.

VPD says thanksVashon Park District is MOST grateful to Ann Spiers, co-author and editor of the Fourth Edition of our hikers’ guide book, Walks, Trails and Parks on Vashon Island. Ann spent her weekend, December 17 and 18, standing in the cold at Village Green to sell more copies of the book. It was her idea; she borrowed a table, a tent and a chair from VPD and hawked books morning ‘til night. Proceeds of her efforts will go to the Park District’s reduced fee fund for folks who need financial assistance to participate in District programs. Thanks, Ann and David!

Thanksgiving at VCCThis year the Vashon Care Center provided a magnificent Thanksgiving celebration for the residents and their relatives and friends. There were refreshments and musicians in the halls, decorations galore, and the cooks provided an outstanding buffet dinner. It was a festive event made possible by a caring staff and many community volunteers. Our family thanks all who helped make this joyous celebration.Jim and Sharon Price

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and concern about measles is on the rise in many quarters, including Vashon.

“Measles is coming,” Day said recently.Fear about measles is so high, Day said,

because it is among the most contagious of diseases, and it has a high rate of serious complications, including pneumonia and encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain that can cause permanent disability.

In Washington in 2011, there were four cases of measles, according to Michele Roberts of the Washington State Department of Health. As the occurrence of measles has begun to increase after its eradication in this country 11 years ago, Washington has seen anywhere from no cases each year to a handful of cases. Other states have not been quite so lucky this year, she noted.

“There is a significantly higher number of cases than in recent years,” she said.

According to the CDC, between Jan. 1 and May 20 of this year, there were 118 cases of measles in the United States, the highest number since 1996. Eighty-nine percent of the people who got the disease were unvaccinated. Forty percent were hos-pitalized, with the highest hospitalization rates in infants and children under 5.

Other countries have had much larger outbreaks than the United States, including Canada and France, which, according the World Health Organization (WHO), had more than 14,000 cases in the first seven months of this year, nearly triple the num-ber from 2010. A vaccination campaign in that country began this fall in an effort to curtail the disease, which is extremely costly to contain.

Both Day and Roberts noted that as peo-

ple travel and then return to their commu-nities, those who have not been vaccinated become vulnerable.

“All it would take is one unprotected person who … would bring it back here,” Day said. “We would have a person with a highly contagious disease with a high rate of complications in a population that could not provide good protection for those people who are the most vulnerable.”

Day also noted that the measles vaccine is very effective: Given appropriately, it will protect more than 99 per-cent of those who receive it. According to WHO, if at least 95 percent of a population is vaccinated against measles, the dis-ease can be eliminated completely.

For pertussis — which Day called “bad news for babies and younger kids” — the picture is a bit dif-ferent. Neither the illness itself nor the vaccine pro-vides lifelong immunity to the disease, and the vaccine is not as effective as the measles vaccine. In fact, it is only 59 to 89 percent effective in preventing pertussis, Day said, making it even more important that high numbers of people are vaccinated against the illness.

“We need a higher level of herd immu-nity to keep this one at bay,” she said.

Keeping whooping cough at bay is par-ticularly important because of the risk it carries for infants. The recommendation is that students receive the DTaP series as young children and the Tdap booster before they enter middle school. Day noted that even if the vaccine does not provide complete protection, it is valuable because it attenuates the illness in those who do

contract it.According to data from the state

Department of Health, there were 728 cases of pertussis in Washington from Jan. 1 to Dec. 17. This compares with 529 cases in the same time period last year. Eighty-six infants under 1 had the illness and 29 were hospitalized, including 23 who were under 3 months. Two infants died. Looking closer to home, King County has had 81 con-firmed cases this year, according to James Apa, the communications manager for

Public Health - Seattle & King County. This is within the normal range, he said, but both Pierce and Snohomish counties are experiencing higher than normal rates of the disease.

At the state level, Roberts said public health officials are always con-cerned about pertussis because of the disease’s severity in infants and the fact that some level of pertussis is always cir-

culating. She noted two infants died in Washington in 2010 as well.

At the school district, Day said that by law she is required to notify parents if they are missing any of the required vaccines, but she noted she will make an extra effort for these two illnesses, which she believes carry the highest risk for Vashon.

“We have vulnerable friends and neigh-bors,” she said. “We know these people. We’re an Island.”

Soon she will email letters to parents with information she feels is important and will follow up if she does not hear back.

“I would like to see if we could boost our numbers of people who are protected,” she said.

CONTINUED FROM 1

State asks residents to grab their cameras and capture king tides

The state Department of Ecology (DOE)is asking citizens to help it document the upcoming “king tides” on the Washington Coast and in Puget Sound.

King Tides are the highest tides of the year. They occur naturally during the win-ter, when the sun and the moon align, causing an increased gravitational pull on the earth’s oceans.

In the Puget Sound, king tides will occur now through Dec. 29 and Jan. 3 to 17.

The DOE has requested that citizens send in photos of the king tides to help the state visualize how rising sea levels due to climate change could affect Washington’s coastlines in the future.

A similar program first began in Australia in 2009. Last year Washington and British Columbia began collecting the king tide photos, and this year they were joined by Oregon and California.

The King Tide Photo Initiative is now a coordinated effort between the three states and British Columbia, and other organiza-tions and governments around the country are holding photo initiatives of their own.

To participate in the program, take a photo of a king tide and upload it to DOE’s king tide Flickr group at http://www.flickr.com/groups/1611274@N22, noting the date. time and the location of the photo.

The state recommends taking photos in areas where the high water levels can be gauged against familiar landmarks such as bridge supports, dikes, buildings, roads or other infrastructure.

For more information on the upcom-ing king tides, see www.ecy.wa.gov/climat-echange/ipa_hightide.htm.

Chanukah Stories: Storyteller Merna Ann Hecht will off er stories for the last night of Chanukah for ages 7 and up. For more informa-tion, call 463-2616. 4 p.m. at Vashon Bookshop.

Adopt-a-Cat Day: Vashon Island Pet Protectors hosts an adopt-a-cat day each week. 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the cat shelter, 12200 S.W. 243rd St.

Labyrinth Walk for Peace: Walk the labyrinth at the north end of the church property in this 11th annual walk. There will be a burn-

ing bowl at the center for those wishing symbolically to mark the passage, releasing what has held them back in the old year to make room for the new. 5 to 7 p.m. at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit.

New Year’s Eve Gay-La: Vashon Island Pride Association’s annual party will take place again this year. Proceeds will benefi t the Vashon High School scholarship fund and the It Gets Better project. Tickets, available at Vashon Island Music, are $10 or $15 at the door. Doors open at 7:45 p.m. at the former VFW Hall, now the Center for Sustainable Book Arts. (For more information, see page 11.)

Stillness at the Turning Point: Sit in candlelight and greenery as the year turns, followed by an informal gathering to welcome in the new year. All are welcome. Call Sissel Johannessen at 463-9326 for more information. 10:30 p.m. at the Zen Center, 20406 Chautauqua Beach Road.

Raw Food Potluck: Guests are welcome at the vegan potluck. Call Weslie Rodgers for food ideas and

directions. 4 to 7 p.m. at Rodgers’ home, 9508 S.W. Gorsuch Rd.

Great Books Discussion Group: The next selection will be “The Chilean Earthquake” by Heinrich von Kleist. Guests are welcome; the only requirement is to have read the book under discussion. 6:30 p.m. at the Vashon Library.

Vashon-Maury Island Commu-nity Council Board: 6:30 p.m. at McMurray Middle School.

Water District 19: In this special meeting, the commissioners will continue work on the master resolution and other business as necessary. 10 a.m. at the district offi ce, 17630 100th Ave. S.W.

UPCOMING

Church of the Holy Spirit: The church celebrates Epiphany Eve. 5 p.m. potluck service and burning of the greens.

All-Island Forum: The group will meet to refi ne the topic of the mid-winter forum and plan further for it. 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 5, at Minglement.

Free Legal Clinic: Vashon Legal Clinic off ers free legal advice the fi rst Thursday of each month.

People who wish to schedule an appointment to meet with a lawyer should call the King County Bar Association at 267-7070. 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 5, at the Vashon Senior Center on Bank Road.

Fibernet: Kari Ulatoski wil pres-ent a brief history of Andean weaving from the Sacred Valley area of Peru. The group will also confi rm activities for the rest of the year. Dues are $2 for those who attend. 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 7, at the VoV building at Sunrise Ridge.

Creative Recovery Group: This is a new group for adults 18 and over who want to add to their lifestyle of recovery from any addiction, including eating disorders. The group will include confi dential discussions with people with similar histories. The group will explore mood-altering music, art, recovery literature and humor. The $25 per-group fee may be covered by insurance or public funding. Members can have long- or short-term recovery but should not be currently using or in a withdrawal state. The facilitators will be Steve Schrock and Ezekiel Reis-Burgin. For more information, call Mari-anne Rose at 463-5511, ext. 232. 6 to 7:30 p.m. Mondays beginning Jan. 9, at Vashon Youth & Family Services. (Note: this version corrects an error last week indicating Rose will be the facitliator; she will not.)

CLASSES

Yoga: Gentle Therapeutic Yoga Series with Dr. Marcie Hamrick is a gentle practice for students with physical limitations, beginners or those who just want to take it slow and easy. The cost is $69. 7:30 to 8:45 p.m. Wednesdays, Jan. 4 to Feb. 1. Therapeutic Yoga Series with Andra DeVoght has a focus on anatomy and alignment for healthy movement patterns. The cost is $83. 5:30 to 6:45 p.m. Wednesdays, Jan. 4 to Feb. 8. Both classes meet at Island Yoga Center. To register send a check to Island Yoga Center, PO Box 2062 or drop it off in the red mailbox by

the front door. Scholarships are available. For more information, contact the studio at 463-2058 or info@islandyogacenter.com

UMO—School of Physical Arts: Mondays: Aerial 2 from 4 to 5 p.m.; Aerial 1 from 5 to 6 p.m.; Intro to Aerial 6 to 7 p.m. and POI Spinning for ages 10 and up from 4 to 5 p.m. Tuesdays: Acro Clown for Boys ages 8 to 12 from 4 to 5 p.m. and Acting for ages 8 to 12 from 5 to 6 p.m. Wednesdays: Acrobatics for ages 9 to 12 from 4 to 5 p.m. and Acrobatics for ages 6 to 8 from 5 to 6 p.m. Thursdays: Add Circus 9 to 10:30 a.m. every other Thursday; Acro Play for ages 4 and 5 from 10:45 to 11:30 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. To register or for more information, contact Kajsa

Ingemansson at 714-269-4827 or kajsa@umo.org. See also www.umo.org. All classes meet at the Open Space for Arts & Community. The session runs Jan. 9 to May 9.

Fencing: Anyone 10 through adult who wants to learn fencing can sign up for January classes now. They will begin Jan. 12. Private lessons meet at 5:30 p.m., advanced classes at 6 p.m. and beginning classes at 7 p.m., all at the Open Space for Arts & Com-munity. Private lessons are $25, and other lessons range from $140 to $160 for eight lessons. Gear and instruction are provided by the Metro Tacoma Fencing Club. For more information, call Allison Reid at 408-7305.

CALENDARVashon-Maury

SUBMISSIONS

Send items to Susan@vashonbeachcomber.com.Deadline is noon Thursday for Wednesday publication. The calendar is intended for commu-nity activities, cultural events and nonprofi t groups; notices are free and printed as space permits.

VASHON THEATRE

We Bought a Zoo: Plays through Jan. 5.

See www.vashontheatre.com for show times or call

VoV TV is found on Comcast Channel 21. Most VoV TV shows are produced by Islanders. If you’ve created a video program of any kind, contact Susan McCa-be at 463-0301 or info@voiceofvashon.org. Learn to make your own TV show in “Elements of Video Production,” taught by video professionals Richard Montague and James Culbertson and co-sponsored by VoV and Vashon Park District. The class starts Feb. 2; register now online at vashonparkdistrict.org.

Wednesday 6 p.m. and Tuesday 8 p.m. Mercedes Nicole’s thrilling per-formance at Jazz Alley is the perfect warm-up to New Year’s Eve celebrations.

Sunday 8 p.m. Church of Great Rain’s hilarious Spooktacular from October for those who missed it live or loved it so much they want to see it again.

The complete VoV TV Schedule is available at voiceofvashon.org.

WWW.VASHONBEACHCOMBER.COM Page 9

Friday, Jan 6th

Please have your insurance information when you call and bring a picture ID and Insurance/Medicare/Medicaid cards to the appointment. Thank you for partnering with us in the fight against breast cancer.

17637 100th Ave SW, Vashon, Washington 98070

Vashon Market (IGA) Gift Certificates will be

given to patients

(Additional appts possible Sat. 1/7)

East Side of Vashon Plaza - Parallel to 100th Ave. SW - Mobile Coach - Assured Imaging Women’s Wellness of WA

Visit our website for high quality prints and digital

downloads of local sports stars in action.

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The Country Store & Gardens206-463-3655

Th ank you for the tremendous holiday response!

Now let us help you with your gardening.

Leslie Brown/Staff Photo

More than 100 Vashon High School students and 40 adults from the community took part in the two-day Challenge Day recently at the high school.The goal of the program, according to event organizer Robin Blair, is to show students new ways to feel empow-ered and safe at school. The group addressed many areas of concern around oppression, including cliques and bully-ing and how students hurt each other in many ways with no ill intent. “We want all students to feel loved, valued and celebrated,” Blair said. “Challenge Day does this.”Above, head Challenge Day coach Kekoa Won leads the group in an affirming activity.

SCENE & HEARD

Page 10 WWW.VASHONBEACHCOMBER.COM

ARTS&LEISUREVashon-Maury LISTEN UP: The Vashon band The Diggers will play a free concer t at 7 p.m. Friday at Café

Luna. The band, comprised of Camille Coldeen, Nick Simmons and David and Danny Salonen, got its star t as a busking project at Vashon’s Farmers Market in 2009 and has been merrily making music ever since.

It’s a wrap to another lively year for Island arts By ELIZABETH SHEPHERDArts Editor

Every December, I like to glance back over my shoulder at the arts and entertainment stories that kept me hopping all year long. As usual,

Vashon’s artful inhabitants put on quite a show in 2011, making news that filled the arts pages week after week. A few art stories even made the front page of The Beachcomber and jumped across the pond to make a splash in Seattle and beyond. Here’s a roundup.

1. The biggest art news of the year happened at the humble Blue Heron Arts Center, where Vashon Allied Arts’ staff and board unveiled plans for the organiza-tion to move into much more deluxe digs — a new $16.5 million dollar facility on the corner of Vashon Highway and Cemetery Road. At three open houses held this sum-mer, Islanders had a chance to comment on drawings and models that showed what the building might look like — a 20,000 complex that includes a 300-seat theater, a 1,000-square-foot art gallery and a 2,000-square-foot lobby. Some Islanders loved the look of the new building, saying it was high time for the Island to have a top-notch arts center. Others had concerns about the price tag and size of the space. In related news, the school district announced plans to build an all-new high school, which will include its own theater space. Sooner or later, it seems, Island thespians will have plenty of new boards to trod.

2. Two Wall Gallery, a gallery occupying donated hallway space in the Wallflower Building, garnered con-siderable media attention in February, and it wasn’t a pretty story. It all started when several artworks in a show there were abruptly taken down from the walls by one of the owners of the building. The removed artworks includ-ed Greg Davila’s set of photographs of semi-nude, same-sex couples — a fact that prompted some in the art com-munity to accuse the building owners of homophobia. The incident wound up having serious fallout. Jack Strubbe, who organized the art show, was abruptly dismissed from his curatorial duties at Two Wall. And within a month or so, the gallery — for years a fixture on the Island art scene — had ceased to exist. One good thing that came out of the brouhaha was a lively exhibit in May at VALISE Gallery. The show, “The Elephant in the Room, the Snake in the Suitcase, or what is censorship anyway?” was open to all Islanders who wanted to display works. And as the months rolled on, art slowly found its way back on the walls of the Wallflower Building hallways, as shopkeeper tenants of the building stepped up to adorn the space. That’s a good thing, too. But I still miss the Two Wall.

3. My favorite art shows of 2011? Easy. I was bowled over by “Set the Woods on Fire: Returning to Rock’s Roots with David Edward Byrd,” at the Center for Sustainable Book Arts. At VALISE, I loved the show of tattoo art orga-nized by Islander Paco Rollins, who is a bit of a rock star himself in the world of tattooing. And at the Blue Heron, I found Matthew Olds and Heather Joy’s show, “Abandoned Concentrations,” an exploration of the Beall Greenhouses, to be both stately and evocative. And as usual, Vashon’s two studio art tours provided a chance to visit dozens of artists in the tucked-away tiny spaces where they create their work.

4. It was a banner year for performing arts on the Island. Vashon Opera wowed with “Madama Butterfly” and “Carmen.” Drama Dock celebrated it’s 35th anni-versary with an ambitious slate of shows that ran the gamut from a heartwarming teen theater production of “Godspell” to a raunchy “Rocky Horror Show.” The Blue Heron presented several charming youth produc-

tions, and an especially vibrant New Works Series of shows by local performers. Local dance studios put on worthy shows — kudos especially go to Vashon Island Community Ballet dancers and their parents, who rallied after a leadership dispute to present “Holiday Ornaments.” Vashon High School students also weighed in with pro-ductions of a wrenching “The Laramie Project” and a tuneful “Camelot.” And over at the Open Space for Arts & Community, there was a new outdoor aerial festival, a boisterous new burlesque series and, of course, the crowd-pleasing shenanigans of the Church of Great Rain.

5. Music of all kinds flourished on Vashon. Pete Welch kept the Red Bike booked with great bands, and Islanders were able to rock out at most of the shows free of charge. The Vashon Island Chorale presented some beautiful concerts, and Vashon’s Free Range Folk Choir continued to inspire its participants and audiences alike. Stirring chamber music was easy to find on the Island, thanks to VAA’s impressive chamber music series, now in its third year, and the Vashon Maury Chamber Orchestra’s ongoing efforts.

6. Real stars came out to shine on Vashon: This was the year that VHS and McMurray band director Ken

Quehrn brought Grammy Award-winning composer Christopher Tin to the Island to conduct his bands, and Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan hosted a benefit screening of “The Godfather II” at Vashon Theatre. Bestselling authors Susan Vreeland and Ron Hansen came to the Blue Heron to attend Island-penned stage adaptations of their works. Rowena and Douglas Hammill invited big stars of the chamber music world to perform on the Island and Vashon Poetry Fest fea-tured readings by regional poetry stars including Tess Gallagher. The Arts & Humanities Series, curated by Islanders Gerry and Mike Feinstein, featured an impres-sive roster of speakers, including Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright and theater director Brian Yorkey. “Sharing the Stage,” a concert series organized by Rob Bordner, Fred Strong and Harris Levinson, brought Seattle music icons Macklemore and Thomas Marriott to town, and also provided incredible opportunities for Island youth to perform alongside the stars. And Islander Rebecca Graves somehow got it in her head to email Hollywood actor and radio star Stephen Tobolowsky and ask him to come to Vashon to perform a benefit for the high school’s drama program. The result, a magical one- man show by Tobolowsky at Vashon High School, was my single favorite event of 2011.

Memorable moments in the 2011 arts scene included Macklemore’s concert, a flap over the removal of artworks from an exhibit at Two Wall Gallery and Jennifer Krikawa’s soaring take as the tragic title character of “Madama Butterfly.”

By BRIAN BRENNOFor The Beachcomber

The Pirate boys basket-ball team faced Steilacoom at home on Dec. 22 and suffered a tough loss to the Sentinels, 66-29.

Steilacoom played a solid team game, with 10 players scoring, and capitalized on Pirate mistakes.

After a nearly scoreless first quarter, Torin Perret sunk a three-point shot to get shooting going. Ben Whitaker and Dan Lofland also made three-point shots in the game.

The Pirates were able to find the basket in the second quarter, with Lofland hitting some shots on his way to the Pirates leading by nine

points on the night, and the first half ended 34-15.

To start the second half, the Pirates continued to

miss shots and opportuni-ties, scoring only five points in the second quarter.

Using a range of players

from the bench, the Pirates tried to find a spark. Owen Brenno, who was second in scoring with seven points and seven rebounds, got a nice dish from Perret for two.

The Pirates scored nine in the fourth. There was a play in the fourth that typified the night: A Pirate player was open outside mid-key, and the pass to him was a little high and hard, slipping out of his grasp and ending in a turn over. Steilacoom then scored on the turnover.

The Pirates will play next in the SunDome Shootout in Yakima on Thursday and Friday.

—Brian Brenno is the father of a Pirate

basketball player.

Page 16 WWW.VASHONBEACHCOMBER.COM

SPORTSVashon-Maury

ADULT SOCCER: Registration is now open for Vashon Island Soccer Club’s adult league. There will be three levels of play in 2012 for a wide rage of skills, ages and competition. Players can par ticipate in drop-in sessions, team games and tournaments. To register see w w w.vashonsoccer.org. Registration is $40, and a late fee will apply after Jan. 31.

By GARY MEANSFor The Beachcomber

The Pirate girls traveled to Fife High School to play the Trojans in a non-league con-test last Thursday.

Vashon sprang to an early lead thanks to effective transition scoring paced by Rachel Hoffman (who tallied 15 points for the game). The Trojans would battle back to even the score at 8 before the first quarter ended.

The Pirates quickly reclaimed the lead early in the second quarter — a lead the visiting Pirates would hold until late in the fourth. Anya Quig (who ended the night with 14 points) com-bined with Hoffman to score 29 of Vashon’s 52 points.

With a five-point advan-tage, the Pirates’ fourth quar-ter fortunes were changed when senior post Charlotte Kehoe was lost to fouls. Kehoe (who finished the game with eight points) had been instru-mental defensively, dominat-ing the paint and holding the Trojan’s leading scorer — 6-foot, two-inch post Ciara Perdoni — in check.

The Trojans used Kehoe’s departure to their advantage, twice taking the lead while the undersized Pirates battled furiously to force the game into overtime. Regulation time ended when Fife missed the front end of a one-and-one and with the score knot-ted at 38 apiece. The first

overtime period ended in a 44-44 standoff.

Despite Tagen Lynch foul-ing out early in the period, the second overtime belonged to the Pirates. Kelsey Abella and Shannon Slater battled to keep the Trojan front-court at bay, while Jasmine Acosta sparked the Pirate offense, adding all five of her points for the evening during the second overtime. Quiq iced the game from the line as the Pirates emerged with a 52-48 double-overtime win. Points from Abella (4) and Marya Munsey (2) topped off the Vashon scoring.

“I don’t want to take any-thing away from the defen-sive efforts of our guards over the entire game, espe-cially in the fourth quarter and overtime periods, but I was really impressed by the play of Kelsey and Shannon,” said coach Henry Porter after the game. “Kelsey battled relentlessly to hold Perdoni in check, not allowing her to penetration dribble, while Shannon controlled the back side, gathering rebounds and limiting Fife’s opportunities for second-chance shots,” he added.

The Pirates will travel to Yakima tomorrow for the SunDome Shootuut. Tip-off for their first game, verus La Salle, will be at 1:30 p.m.

— Gary Means is the assistant coach of the girls

basketball team.

Girls basketball beats Fife in double overtime

Pirates fall to non-league Steilacoom team

Pirate Dylan Basurto eludes Steilacoom’ players to bring the ball up court early in Thursday’s non-league home game.

ALUMNI HOOPSPast Pirate basketball players gathered in the VHS gym on Friday for the annual basketball alumni games. The women played first, starting with a three-on-three half-court game then switching to four-on-four when one more joined. With no substitutes for either team, The Blacks outlasted the Golds and won 54-32.The men had full teams with subs and played full speed from the opening tipoff. It was a nail-biting game that ended in a 76-75 win for the Greens.The fundraiser event raised $313 to replace all the backboards with glass.The oldest alum, Joey Garcia, 22, defends as Shane Davis shows he still has his moves.

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Get More of Your Island News

Did YouKnow... For information or help, call Vashon Youth & Family Services.

463-5511ext 224or go to www.vyfs.org

VYFS provided services to more individuals and families this year than ever before with a greater variety of programming. Ten percent of Islanders were touched directly by VYFS in 2011. Many more were impacted indirectly. Whether it’s mental health counseling, preven-tion of homelessness, child care, parent instruc-tion and support, community collaboration, or

help. But we couldn’t do it without all the Island-ers who contribute and volunteer each year.Thank you for your support to help Vashon be a stronger, healthier community.

k y

VoV president Jeanne Dougherty explained how the organization proved to be critical in 2010, when a large storm hit the region the week of Thanksgiving. VoV vol-unteers stationed themselves at the emergency response center at Vashon’s fire station, and many Islanders tuned into 1650 AM to hear updates on power outages, road conditions and emergency shelters on Vashon.

“Everybody quickly found out why we existed,” Dougherty told the crowd. “Some people even told me they would periodically drive out in their cars to where they got reception to see what we had to say.”

The PSE Foundation’s grant to VoV is the largest of about 60 grants totaling more than $272,000 that the foundation gave this fall. The grant will fund equipment upgrades, professional training for 1650 AM volunteers and the installation of at least three more f lashing-light signs that tell drivers when to tune in to 1650 AM for ferry alerts, road closures or emergency informa-tion during storms. New signs will be installed on existing Vashon Island Fire & Rescue fire danger

signs around the Island.Wallace said VoV has been

planning the additional alert signs since it installed the prototype at the north end about four years ago, and only now has the funds to do so. He’s pleased that by sum-mer more drivers will know when to tune in to 1650 AM.

“Emergency radio isn’t some-thing you sit and listen to in your car as you ride around,” Wallace said. “It’s very possible we could have any kind of urgent situation on the Island that people wouldn’t know about.”

Fire chief Hank Lipe, who has worked closely with VoV on the emergency alert system and attended the ceremony, said he too was pleased that the system would soon be complete.

“I think that every form of com-munication we can offer our resi-dents is what disaster prepared-ness is all about,” he said.

Since a small handful of Islanders first dreamed up Voice of Vashon in 1999, planning to bring the Island its own FM sta-tion, VoV has grown to include everything but an FM station. The organization, powered by a large volunteer crew and a shoestring budget underwritten by Island businesses, now offers a web radio station and a community access television station in addition to its emergency alert system. Church

of Great Rain, the increasingly popular Vashon comedy troupe, is also produced by VoV.

Jeff Hoyt, a longtime volun-teer who helped found Voice of Vashon, said he’s always called VoV the “little station that could.”

In late 1999, VoV began broad-casting Vashon-themed radio content online on a very low-pow-er FM station, flying just below the Federal Communication Commission’s threshold. The sta-tion, with a small budget but ener-getic volunteers, was especially

known for airing The Morning Scramble, a show that included live music and interviews of Islanders in the morning. Dougherty said the one-watt radio antennas VoV used had about a one-block radi-us. The station could be heard right in town, as well as at the north-end ferry.

“If people were waiting for the north-end ferry in the morning, they could listen to The Morning Scramble,” she said.

Hoyt said he still has fond mem-ories of hosting early VoV radio

shows, which included plenty of Vashon humor. At times he even dragged the studio’s equipment to the baseball diamond at Sunrise Ridge and aired live commentary of little league games.

“We did a lot of fun things, but always to an extraordinarily tiny audience,” Hoyt said.

The FM station was ultimately shut down, and in 2001 VoV suf-fered another disappointment when its application for a bonafide FM station was denied due to new federal regulations that made it more difficult to find a spot on the dial.

Voice of Vashon refused to call it quits, though. They contin-ued to stream live radio on the web and in 2006 took on a public access station, cable channel 21, which still airs shows produced by Islanders, events filmed on Vashon and Northwest-themed programming. In 2007 the orga-nization was granted its AM radio license through the Vashon Park District, and since then VoV vol-unteers have been “live and stand-ing by” with traveler and emer-gency information.

Hoyt said that after VoV’s FM application was denied, he heard from a colleague on the east coast that more than 1,500 groups across the county had applica-

Page 19

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PSE Foundation president Andy Wappler, Jeff Hoyt, Susan McCabe, Vashon PSE community service supervisor Patti McClements and Jeanne Dougherty pose with a giant check symbolizing VoV’s $15,000 grant from PSE.

CONTINUED FROM 1

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Page 20 WWW.VASHONBEACHCOMBER.COM

All-Merciful SaviourOrthodox Monastery

9933 SW 268th St. (south of Dockton)SUNDAYS: DIVINE LITURGY 10:00 am

Followed by PotluckCelebrating 2000 years of Orthodox Christianity Call for a schedule weekday and Holy Day services.

463-5918www.vashonmonks.com

Burton Community ChurchALL ARE WELCOME

INSPIRATION not Indoctrination!Worship 11 am

Rev. Bruce Chittick, PastorMaggie Laird

Pianist/Choir Director463-9977

Bethel Church14736 Bethel Lane SW(Corner of SW 148th St.

and 119th Ave. SW)9am Sunday Bible School

10am WorshipFollowed by coffee fellowship

AWANA Thurs 6:00pm Sept-May

Offi ce phone 567-4255

Vashon Island Community Church

Worship Service 10:00 am (Children’s Church for preschool–5th graders)

Offi ce Phone 463-3940Pastors:

Frank Davis and Mike Ivaska9318 SW Cemetery Road

www.VICC4Life.com

Catholic ChurchSt. John Vianney

Mass–Saturdays at 5:00 pmSundays 8:00am and 10:30am

Pastor: Rev. Marc Powell16100 115th Avenue SW,

Vashon WA 98070

office 567-4149 rectory 567-5736www.stjohnvianneyvashon.com

Vashon Island Unitarian Fellowship

Community, Diversity, Freedom of Belief,Enrichment of Spirit

Sunday Services at 9:45 am (Sept–June)Religious Exploration for toddlers–8th Grade

Lewis Hall (Behind Burton Community Church)

23905 Vashon Hwy SW

Info: www.vashonuu.org 463-4775

Puget Sound Zen CenterAbove KVI Beach

in the Mann Studio.

Sitting Meditation: Mon. – Fri. 6:30 – 7:30am,

Wed. 7:00 – 8:30pm.

All Welcome!

463-4332www.pszen.org

Vashon Friends Worship Group

(Quakers)

10 am Meeting for Silent Worshipin members’ homes.

Call for Location567-5279 463-9552

Havurat Ee ShalomServing the spiritual, social and

intellectual needs of Vashon’s Jewish Community

9:30 am Saturday Services

15401 Westside Hwy SWPO Box 89, Vashon, WA 98070

567-1608www.vashonhavurah.org

Episcopal Churchof the Holy Spirit

The Rev Canon Carla Valentine PryneSundays – 7:45 am & 10:15 am

Church School & Religious Exploration9:00am

Child CareMid-week Eucharist, Wednesday–12:30pm

15420 Vashon Hwy SW 567-4488www.holyspiritvashon.org

Vashon Lutheran Church18623 Vashon Hwy. SW (1/2 mile south of Vashon)

Children’s Hour 10:30 am (Sept.- June)

Holy Communion Worship 10:30 am

Pastors: Rev. Bjoern E. MeinhardtRev. Jeff Larson, Ph.D., vm: 206-463-6359

www.vashonluthernchurch.org/JeffLarson/JeffLarson.htm

463-2655e-mail: vlc98070@centurytel.net

Vashon United Methodist Church17928 Vashon Hwy SW

(one block south of downtown)

Pastor: Rev. Dr. Kathryn MorseSunday Service & Sunday School

10:00 a.m.Youth Class 11:30 a.m.

Offi ce open Mon.–Thurs. 9 a.m. – 12 noon 463-9804

www.vashonmethodist.orgoffi ce@vashonmethodist.org

Calvary Full Gospel Church at Lisabeula

Worship 10:30 am & 7:00 pmThursday Bible Study 7:00 pm

Call for locationSaturday Prayer 7:30 pm

Pastor Stephen R. Sears463-2567

Vashon Presbyterian Church

Worship 10am17708 Vashon Hwy (center of town)

Pastor Dan HoustonChurch Offi ce Hours

Monday– Thursday 10 am - 2 pm

463-2010

Our Vashon Island Community warmly invites

you and your family toworship with them.

Wors hip on our Island

Centro Familiar CristianoPastor: Edwin Alvarado

Ubicados En Bethel Church14726 Bethel Lane SW

206-371-0213Hora De Services: Sabados 7:30pm

Todos Son Bienvidos, El Lugar Ideal Para Toda La Familia

Dios Les Bendiga

DEATHS

Janet MayJanet Gretchen May was

born to Dr. Karl J. May Jr. and Donna Hafer May in Chewelah, Wash., on July 17, 1952. She died at home on Vashon with her fam-ily and pets by her side on Dec. 13, 2011, after a brief illness.

Ms. May lived most of her life in the Seattle area. She attended school in Seattle until her senior year, when she attended and gradu-ated from Chewelah High. School. She attended col-lege in Bellingham.

Ms. May married Mel DenHerder and moved to Vashon, where she broke her neck in a tragic riding accident. She was able to recover enough to work at Swedish Hospital for many years and to write a book about her life, “Return to Chewelah.”

Ms. May is survived by her mother Donna LeBaron, sisters Marie (Michael) Bradley, Julie (Dan) Farmer and Lisa (Tristan) McCoy and her brother Karl (Jennifer) May

III. She especially loved her nieces and nephews, her special caregivers and her pets. She was preceded in death by her father, Karl May Jr.

Betty Jane HessBetty Jane Hess, 89, died

Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011, in Burien. She was born on Oct. 1, 1922, in Webster Groves, Mo., to Andrew and Theresa Fyffe, the sec-ond of four children.

A member of The Greatest Generation, Mrs. Hess spent her childhood years in Webster Groves, graduating from Webster Groves High School in 1941.

In 1945, she married her high school sweetheart and spent the next 58 years in Missouri as a loving and devoted wife and mother.

In January of 2003, Mrs. Hess moved to Vashon Community Care and spent her remaining years with her family and the many friends she made at the care center.

Mrs. Hess is preceded in death by her husband of 60 years, William Hess, and her brothers Willis and Charles Fyffe. She is sur-vived by her sister Eldalee Clemente of St. Louis, Mo., son Dennis, daughter-in-law Lori and grandchil-dren Brian and Robin of Vashon.

FYIVashon-Maury

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tions denied that year, and Voice of Vashon was the only one that didn’t disband shortly after.

“He said, ‘Do you realize you’re the only group that is still togeth-er?’” Hoyt said. “We have found a way to survive by doing all these other things.”

This year Voice of Vashon, which has grown to about 80 volunteers, including Church of Great Rain participants, decided to reassess its role on the Island by administering a survey that ultimately turned up surprising results.

Wallace said that about 350 Vashon residents responded to the survey, telling their opinion of VoV’s current programs as well as what they’d like to see the group provide.

Wallace said that although he has just begun to analyze the sur-vey results, one thing is already

overwhelmingly clear: Islanders want to see VoV back on the FM dial.

“I think that going into (the survey), we assumed people would want us to be available to them on their smartphones,” Wallace said. “But way more popular than the idea of being on a smartphone was the idea of being an FM radio station.”

Coincidentally, Wallace said, federal regulations for low-power FM stations recently changed in favor of small-town stations, and an application window that VoV could take advantage of is expect-ed to open in 2012.

A committee has now formed to study the technicalities of apply-ing for and operating a low-power FM station on Vashon. Wallace said that VoV may ultimately approach other community orga-nizations with the proposition of

sharing an FM station.“That will be the next step after

we know that technically we have the possibility of doing this,” he said.

Hoyt said he would be thrilled to see an FM station broadcast Vashon-centric content, as that was VoV’s original goal a dozen year ago.

“Prospects are a little brighter now,” he said, “but there’s still no assurance.”

FM station or not, Voice of Vashon will have plenty on its plate in 2012. Richard Rogers, who does marketing for the Church of Great Rain, is heading up a new marketing campaign to make Islanders more aware of what VoV TV and radio has to offer. Dougherty said it was clear from survey results that more Islanders might tune in if they simply knew what they were

missing. “I think we need to get out

there in more ways,” she said. “For example, right now we’ve got a great (television) piece on the formation of the Japanese Garden in Seattle. It’s a wonderful piece, and I’m thinking people don’t even know it’s there.”

Voice of Vashon also hopes to draw more viewers and listeners by unveiling a new smartphone app in the next year and offering more on-demand content on its website — videos and radio shows that can be played at any time.

In February VoV will team up with the park district to offer a six-week video production class that they hope will encourage Islanders to generate new content for VoV TV.

In the meantime, though, a group of VoV volunteers is work-ing to get its newest flashing-light signs, which will be powered by

solar panels, installed as soon as possible.

Andy Wappler, who is chair of the PSE Foundation and presented VoV’s check, said he was pleased to give the group the foundation’s largest grant, as it has a proven track record on Vashon.

“It was clear that Voice of Vashon was making a difference on the Island, and that our foun-dation could provide the support to take them to the next level,” he said.

Wappler, who was a meteorolo-gist for KIRO for 14 years before becoming vice president of PSE, noted that the region is expe-riencing a warm, dry La Niña winter, and VoV’s emergency alert system likely won’t be needed like it was last year.

“But, you never know,” Wappler added. “Sometime the forecast is wrong.”

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PETE ANDERSON

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WELLNESSGUIDE2012

VASHON

Reserve your ad space by January 13th, 2012

Publishes: February 21st, 2012

Call Daralyn or Matthew463-9195

Email: ads@vashonbeachcomber.compublisher@vashonbeachcomber.com

Ad Sizes PriceFull Page $8451/2 page horizontal $4351/2 page vertical $4351/4 page horizontal $2951/8 page square $155

Add full color to any ad $250Add spot color to any ad $150

Double your exposure…Pricing includesthe printed and on-line web versionon www.vashonbeachcomber.com.

WWW.VASHONBEACHCOMBER.COM www.nw-ads.com Page 23

More animals and info at www.vipp.org Give a Pet a Home!

Scotty is a young male cat about

two years old who was found on the

Vashon Hwy this summer. He looks like

a breed called a Scottish Fold because

of his folded ears. In truth, the vets have

determined that Scotty had ear mites

so badly as a kitten that the cartilage

is his ears had broken down giving him

this look. Despite all of this, his hearing

is fi ne and he does look pretty darn

cute with his folded ears. Scotty is over

the top in the personality department.

He is a shoulder rider and a head

butter. He plops over to be petted and

and soaks up all the love he can. Scotty

has a huge fan club of volunteers at the

shelter.

Prima is indeed a prima donna

who wants to have the starring role in

her new home. She loves humans but

she is not excited about sharing the

spotlight with other felines. She likes

attention but she can be independent

enough to entertain herself. Come and

visit this beautiful star at our shelter.

This sweet, happy and beautiful 18 month old

pit bull is delightful. Dottie is great with

people, other dogs, cats and kids and will be

a wonderful addition to any family. You must

know before you come and meet her – she

loves to kiss! And snuggle, too. If you would

like to meet Dottie contact Vashon Island Pet

Protectors at 206-567-5222.

There is a $125 adoption fee.

Celebrating27 Years

of Service!

Follow VIPP on Facebookhttp://www.facebook.com/pages/

Vashon-Island-Pet-Protectors

pets/animals

Cats

Dogs

vashonislandgoldendoodles.shutterfly.com/allison@dancingleaves.com

Reach the readers the dailies miss. Call 800-388-2527 today to place your ad in the Classifieds.

Dogs

PNWHomeFinder.comis an online real estate community thatexposes your profile and listings to two million readers from our many publications in the Pacific Northwest.Log on to join our network today.

Dogs

Services

Animals

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Page 24 WWW.VASHONBEACHCOMBER.COM

As we look forward to thenew year ahead, we’d liketo thank our many clientsfor their confidence in us.

Thank You,Vashon!

Thank You,Vashon!

V A S H O NI S L A N DV A S H O NI S L A N D

This office independently owned and operated JOHN L SCOTT VSH 13401 Vashon Hwy SW 206/567-1600 VashonHomes.com

Pt Robinson3 br - 3.25 bathsView - 6.96 acres

$699,000

Dockton3 br - 2 baths

View - 4.88 acres$649,000

SOLD! SOLD!

Westside2 br - 1 bath

60’ Wft.$449,000

Westside3 br - 2 baths

2.39 acres$425,000

Monument Rd3 br - 2 baths

9.71 acres$450,000

Beall Road3 br - 3 baths

5.20 acres$450,000

Glen Acres4 br - 2 baths

62’ Wft.$570,000

Burton4 br - 2.5 baths

130’ Wft.$517,000

Hunts PointVacant Land

.23 acres$590,000

SOLD! SOLD! SOLD!Northend

4 br - 2.75 bathsView - .43 acres

$615,000

SOLD!

Lisabeula2 br - 1.75 baths

4.34 acres$345,000

Northend3 br - 2.25 baths

.29 acre$339,000

Gold Beach3 br - 2.25 bathsView - .23 acres

$365,000

Maury3 br - 2 baths

.98 acre$349,000

North of Town3 br - 1.75 baths

3.68 acres$379,000

Tramp Harbor3 br - 2.25 bathsView - .56 acre

$365,000

Glen Acres1 br - 1.5 bathsView - .72 acres

$399,000

SOLD! SOLD! SOLD! SOLD! SOLD! SOLD! SOLD!North of Town4 br - 2.5 baths

View - 2.92 acres$417,000

SOLD!

Center4 br - 2.5 baths

2.17 acres$295,000

Gold Beach3 br - 2 baths

.22 acre$288,000

South of Town3 br - 2 baths

.30 acres$309,000

Cove Road3 br - 3.25 baths

1.25 acres$299,000

Dilworth2 br - 1 bath

75’ Wft.$310,000

Northend2 br - .75 baths

2.68 acres$310,000

Wesleyan Way3 br - 1.75 baths

1.39 acres$329,000

SOLD! SOLD! SOLD! SOLD! SOLD! SOLD! SOLD!Paradise Ridge

3 br - 2 baths4.78 acres$339,000

SOLD!

Oakwood Terr.3 br - 1.5 baths

.21 acre$199,000

In TownBusiness

Opportunity$190,000

Roseballen5 br - 2 baths

.09 acre$206,819

Town3 br - 1.5 baths

.78 acre$199,900

Westside3 br - 1 bath1.84 acres$249,500

In Town2 br - 1.5 baths

Condo$215,000

Burton2 br - 1 bath

50’ Wft.$249,900

SOLD! SOLD! SOLD! SOLD! SOLD! SOLD! SOLD!Lisabeula

2 br - 1.5 bath3.92 acres$256,500

SOLD!

WestsideVacant Land

1.0 acre$22,500

WestsideVacant Land

100’ Wft.$80,000

BurtonVacant Land

.38 acre$54,900

Northend1 br - 1 bath

.21 acre$174,500

WestsideVacant Land6.52 acres$139,000

Maury3 br - 2 baths

View - 3.5 acres$179,500

SOLD! SOLD! SOLD! SOLD! SOLD! SOLD!Manchester3 br - 2 baths

.57 acre$189,000

SOLD!

Best Wishes For A Happy New Year!Best Wishes For A Happy New Year!

SOLD! SOLD! SOLD! SOLD!

This office independently owned and operated JOHN L SCOTT VSH 13401 Vashon Hwy SW 206/567-1600 VashonHomes.com

Pricesdisplayedfor these

John L. Scottlistingsare the

listing priceat the time

of sale.