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Journal
G "ng commun
Master
Gardeners
host work party
at Catalyst Park
By NATALIE JOHNSON
Since last "year, the Mason Coun-
ty Master Gardeners have been
tending a community garden in
Shelton's Catalyst Park.
On Monday, the master garden-
ers hosted a work party to clear
more of Catalyst Park's land, which
was covered with thick blackberry
bushes, vines and a few trees, to
make room for fruit trees and ex-
panded vegetable garden.
Mark Ziegler, parks and recre-
ation supervisor for the city of Shel-
ton, said that although it is a city
park, the master gardeners have
done most of the work to turn it into
what it is today.
"It was donated a couple of years
ago and we didn't really have an
ability to develop it," he said.
Ziegler said that the name Cat-
alyst Park was chosen because it
was intended to bring the commu-
nity together, just as it did Monday,
when dozens of local volunteers,
from WSU extension, Washington
Conservation Corps, the Optimists
club, and many other groups, came
See Gardeners on page B-6
Volunteers clear brush from Catalyst Park in Shelton.
Journal photo by Natalie Johnson
Jessica Smith and Edgar Osorio
Catch them young
High school students fight bullying for senior project
By NATALIE JOHNSON
Shelton High School stu-
dents Jessica Smith and Ed-
gar Osorio are going back to
elementary school, but now
they're the teachers.
For their senior project, Oso-
rio and Smith chose to create a
"bully-prevention club" at Ev-
ergreen Elementary School, to
teach children about the harms
of bullying, and techniques to
use to overcome it.
"The point (of the senior
project) I think is to help your
community out," Osorio said. "I
think we've done a pretty good
job."
The club, which includes
about 15 fourth and fifth grad-
ers, has met every Monday
and Wednesday from 3 p.m. to
4:20 p.m. at Evergreen since
the middle of December, Smith
and Osorio said.
Smith, a junior getting her
project done early, and Osorio,
a senior, said they were brain-
storming possible projects one
day when Smith came up with
the idea of the anti-bullying
workshop.
"I came up with it of course,"
Smith said.
The students had multiple
planning meetings with Ever-
green staff, who advised them
on the best ways of carrying
out their idea.
"We really thought about it
and ... planned it out and went
down to the school and talked
to the principal," Osorio said.
They said that Evergreen
counselor Elli Harron helped
them plan the program and
find research materials.
"Ms. Harron helped us out
a lot, she gave us papers to
read," Smith said.
Eventually the students,
with the help of Evergreen
staff, developed a program
to teach the bullied and bul-
lies alike how to deal with the
problem, which they say is only
getting worse.
"This is a selected group of
kids that were having prob-
lems," Smith said. "We taught
them different kinds of tech-
niques, and we also went over
the types of bullying, like phys-
ical, verbal, social and cyber-
bullying."
Smith and Osorio said that
the group is varied, including
both shy and outgoing kids,
and both bullies and the bul-
lied.
Smith and Osorio said they
were surprised by the Ever-
green students' enthusiasm
for the club. They said that the
students are quick to engage in
long discussions.
"We have a lot of discussions
and a lot of questions and com-
ments," Osorio said. "We can't
even finish a lesson because
they have so many questions
and comments."
Inspired by the success of
their after school club, Smith
and Osorio are also putting on
an assembly for all Evergreen
students on January 20.
"We're going to teach kids,
pretty much a shorter version,
what bullying is, and then
we're going to explain statis-
tics," Smith said. "A lot of the
kids don't really realize how
serious bullying becomes ...
it's like one in four suicides in
teenagers is related to bully-
ing."
While they started the proj-
ect to help kids and prevent
bullying in school, Smith and
Osorio said that the project
has helped them too. They said
it has forced them to learn pa-
tience and how to deal with
children.
"I really got to know the
kids," Osorio said. "I wasn't re-
ally much of a kid guy before
this, now I actually kind of like
kids."
Smith said that most of the
kids in the club defied her ex-
pectations.
See Cookin' on page B-5
S ng good bye
t,) true islanders
Rod and Jenny Hammet are a
symbol of today's island residents in
many ways. They were with the first
wave of inhabitants as outlined in
the representative work "The Island
Remembers."
These were the folks that
carved dirt roads across the island
and made a tough living by farm-
ing. They raised their families here
and the kids followed in the parents
footsteps. Then the bridge was built
in 1969 and a second wave moved
in. These were people with dreams
of retirement or a desire for a week-
end getaway far from the maddening
crowd.
This is the time when
the Hammets found a
small plot of beautiful
land overlooking Case
Inlet. They spent the
following years enjoy-
ing their splendor and
lending their talents to
the activities that bless
this island.
Whenever there was
a need, the Hammets
searched into their tal-
ent bag and pulled out
what they had and gave it all. Now,
sadly, they're leaving the island, so
we are going to have a party for Rod
and Jenny.
It will take place Saturday, Janu-
ary 22 at the Community Hall. The
organizers, Barbara LaJune, Dud-
ley Panchot, Richard Peet and Mary
Nichols, would like to have a potluck
dinner starting at 5 p.m. It will be a
BYOB dinner, kind of like a regular
Community Club meeting.
They also need to raise some
money through donations before the
event takes place so they can buy
a going away gift. As we all know,
Rod and Jenny have been a driving
force for our island community for
years and their departure from the
island is going to leave a big hole.
So, give one of the organizers a call
and donate a little money today. If
you've been meaning to donate some
money but haven't gotten around to
it yet, you will have another opportu-
nity right there at the door.
Some of the organizers will be at
the hall on Friday around 2 p.m.
working on decorations. So, if you'd
like to help out then, I know they
could use the help.
The second Senior Lunch of the
month will be on Wednesday, Jan.
26. The doors will open around 11:30
a.m. and you might want to be there
a little early as last week's lunch had
over 70 diners.
Wednesday's lunch will feature
turkey tetrazzini, green salad, pick-
led beets and for dessert they will
have brownies or bread pudding. As
usual, it would be very nice if you
were to leave a $3 donation so they
can afford to put together another
lunch in two more weeks.
MIKE CALLAGHAN
Elizabeth Berndt
sent in this information
about the choir. They
had a fantastic retreat
last weekend, and this
Sunday, Jan. 15, marks
the beginning of their
May concert rehears-
als. May concerts will
always be on the 3rd
weekend in May so it
is easy for everyone to
remember. Dates and
locations are: May 20,
Friday, 7 p.m., Church in Shelton;
May 21, Saturday, 3 p.m., St Hugh
Episcopal Church, Allyn; May 22,
Sunday, 3 p.m., Harstine Island
Community Hall.
Harstine Island Community
Choir's May concert series is entitled
"Heart Beats," and is a lively pre-
sentation of love songs. Delight in
Disney's Kiss the Girl from The Lit-
tle Mermaid, Some Enchanted Eve-
ning from South Pacific, and Sum-
mertime from Porgy and Bess.
Mourn through songs of sorrow such
as Danny Boy and Barb' ry Ellen.
Songs range from master compos-
ers works like Brahms' melodious
love songs to today's preeminent cho-
ral composers works like Z. Randall
Stroope's powerful Omnia sol and
Morten Lauridsen's haunting Dirait-
on.
Harstine Island Community Choir
debuts the commissioned love song
of local composer and musician,
Pat Butler. Come sing with Mason
County's Harstine Island Commu-
See Harstine on page B-5
Thursday, Jan. 20, 2011 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Page B-1