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Shelton-Mason County Journal
il
Commission will
select 40 pieces to
hang at MGH
By NATALIE JOHNSON
natalie@masoncounty.com
Mason County's youngest art-
ists will once again be celebrated
in the halls of Mason General Hos-
pital in 2012.
Each year just after the start of
school in September, the Mason
General Hospital Arts Commis-
sion distributes one piece of ll-
inch by 14-inch paper to every stu-
dent from first through 12th grade
in the county.
The commission then collects
the art and picks the top 40 exam-
ples, which will hang for the next
year throughout" Mason General
Hospital.
The Mason General Hospital
Arts Commission has wrapped up
its third annual art contest, and
plans to have a reception for the
kids on Tuesday, Feb. 7, at the
hospital.
"It's for the children and their
families," said Paula Ferrara of
Art Talks, a member of the art
Journal photo by Natalie Johnson
Paula Ferrara of Art Talks displays one of her favorite drawings, called "Bird and Cat
are Friends," by first grade student Emma Grijaiva, created by kids in the Mason
General Hospital Arts Commission's annual children's art competition.
commission for two years, canceled due to heavy snow last the art in mid-fall, the drawings
The reception was originallyweek. and paintings, drawn in mediums
scheduled for Jan. 19, but was After the commission selects from crayon to pencil to water-
color, go to Art Talks in Shelton,
where Ferrara frames each one.
Then they are available for dis-
play through January at the shop.
Ferrara said the art commis-
sion began the program three
years ago after one of its members
witnessed a similar program in
Anchorage, Ala.
"Children's art cheers you up,"
Ferrara said. "Somebody in the
hospital can look across the room
and see the art."
After the art hangs for a year,
art commission members take it
down to make room for the next
year's batch of artists. Most of the
time, the art goes back to the child
who created it, but occasionally
the hospital will choose to pur-
chase the art.
In one instance, Ferrara said,
the Mason General Hospital ma-
ternity ward purchased an origi-
nal piece of art.
Ferrara said the childrens' art
never fails to make her smile.
"It's the best thing I've seen. I
love children's art," she said. "When
looking through that you can't help
but laugh at some of the titles and
the creativity of the children."
One of Ferrara's favorite pieces
of art, she said, is a crayon draw-
ing by first grade student Emma
See Art on page B-4
Shelton Community Kitchen sees success after extended hours .....
By NATALIE JOHNSON
natalie@masoncounty.com
For 14 years, Ken Benja-
min, along with other volun-
teers at the Shelton Commu-
nity Kitchen, has worked to
feed the hungry in Shelton.
However, until six
months ago, they could only
do so at certain times of the
day when they were open.
But six months ago, the
kitchen began staying open
from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., which
Benjamin says has been
very successful.
"Anybody who comes
in here gets a meal," said
Benjamin, who founded the
kitchen. "By the end of the
month we're serving 200
meals a day."
Before, when the kitch-
en was only open at meal
times, Benjamin said doz-
ens of people would gather
on the street and sidewalk,
waiting to get their dinner
at 6 p.m.
"It got to the point for a ::
nighttime meal we'd have
100 people outside," he said.
Now, the stream of clients
is steadier, eliminating the
problem of overcrowding in
the street and in the build-
ing, Benjamin said.
"They trickle in and
trickle out," he said.
The kitchen serves an
early dinner to work around
bus schedules, Benjamin
said.
In the last month, the
kitchen has also added an
informal food bank. On days
when other food banks in
the county are closed, the
kitchen's can supply hungry
locals with supplies to get
them through until the ma-
jor food banks are open.
"Whatever foods we're
getting we let people come
in and get them -- it's all re-
ally high quality," Benjamin
said.
While many organiza-
tions were closed through
Shelton Community Kitchen volunteer Harlan Tormanen
See Kitchen on page B-4 patrons of the kitchen in downtown Shelton.
dishes
Journal photo by Natalie Johnson
up breakfast for
Thursday, January 26,
Weather
complicates life
on the island
The snow, that was okay. But
the ice -- that sure caused some
trouble.
Judy and I were snowed in for a day,
then the ice came and falling trees and
limbs locked us in. I guess I should
have paid more attention to some of
that CERT training.
I took the snowstorm for granted
and really didn't plan for the prob-
lems. So, when I went to get my chain
saw going, I didn't have enough gas
and my chain was dull. Hopefully I've
learned a valuable lesson -- next time
things could be worse. After two days
cutting, we did finally escaped. In this
regard -- if you have
any stories or lessons
that you think is-
landers could learn
from please pass
them along to me at
sobadog@msn.com.
And, I don't know
about the rest of you,
but I was impressed
By MIKE with the response
CALLAGHAN time of our Mason
County PUD 3 --
they had us back up
and running after only four hours of
power outage.
On a personal note, a couple friends
of mine have had to deal with prostate
cancer. They both battled and beat the
cancer. They remind me all the time to
keep track of my Prostate Specific Anti-
gen Test (PSA) and I say I will, but only
follow through once a year. There is an
organization called Us TOO and it is a
prostate cancer education and support
group. They have an open invitation for
all who might be interested in learning
more about the disease. They meet at 10
a.m. every second Tuesday at the Olym-
pic Bakery on Pickering road. They also
have a night meeting at 7 p.m. on the
last Monday of the month. This meet-
ing is held in the Skokomish Room at
Mason General Hospital. So, if you don't
know what your P.S.A. is or what it
stands for, you can get more information
at www.ustoo.org.
On Feb. 14 the Us TOO group will
meet at the bakery and celebrate Valen-
tine's Day with their sweethearts. This
will be a special meeting because they
are going to have a guest speaker, Tri-
cia Sinekis. Sinekis is the manager of
the Community Cancer Program for
Franciscan Health Systems. She is a
nutrition and health life style coach
See Harstine on page B-4
2012 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Page B-1