Notice: Undefined index: HTTP_REFERER in /home/stparch/public_html/headmid_temp_main.php on line 4394
Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
February 10, 2022     Shelton Mason County Journal
PAGE 14     (14 of 46 available)        PREVIOUS     NEXT      Jumbo Image    Save To Scrapbook    Set Notifiers    PDF    JPG
 
PAGE 14     (14 of 46 available)        PREVIOUS     NEXT      Jumbo Image    Save To Scrapbook    Set Notifiers    PDF    JPG
February 10, 2022
 
Newspaper Archive of Shelton Mason County Journal produced by SmallTownPapers, Inc.
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information
Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader




Page A—1 4 — Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022 Shelton Yacht Club members Rita Forster, left, and Linda Shrum transplant purple- bearded iris bulbs along the berm between the Yacht Club and state Route in Shelton. Journal photo by Mark.Woytow/ch my I I . \. r. .1 w» a | Looking for signs of spring '— an a park’s Ication County most of your life, and most of your life con- stitutes 60 or 70 years, then get ready to hear the follow- ing statement and have it clash with what you know to, be true. . “Live music, dancing, out- ' door dining with fresh local seafood buffet at the Shelton Waterfront Bistro next to Shelton’s beautiful Water- front Park.” V , Really? Beautiful park waterfront outdoor music and dining Shelton? .OK, it will be a while. But in less than 10 years, I pre- dict the term “walkable wa- terfront” will whoosh from the lips of many of you, words you will apply most wonder- fully to Shelton. In the future, announce- ments for waterfront gather- ings will appear regularly in , the'newspaper. Colorful fiyers will crowd .shop windows up and down West Railroad Ave- nue, promoting gala events at the new waterfront park and nearby marina. Mason Transit will coor- dinate with larger events, bringing visitors directly to and from the waterfront by means of their conveniently located park and ride. Many other visitors will come by boat, from Olympia, Grape- view and Gig Harbor. What’s out, What's not We’ll get back to the un— ' folding future of Shelton’s waterfront, but first let’s look around at what’s going on, nature-wise, in different parts of Mason County. Great news! The swans are batik and resting up at the confluence between Purdy Creek and the South Fork Skokomish-River. Last If you’ve lived in Mason MARK WOOWICH , on THE so year we saw two. This year we counted five white swans. The two nearest ones had black beaks and eye mark- ings, making them trumpeter swans, I believe. To discreetly view them, turn onto Purdy Cutoff Road‘ from US. Highway 101, and look for the first few open vis- ' tas to your left. You should get a glimpse of moving wa— ter and also a sense of where you can park along the shoul- der. The sWans are out there, trolling on the currents or eating with their big, white ' rear ends pointing Skyward. I sighted them Saturday. They might be gone by now. What’s not out now: nettles. What is available —— and in great quantity is sal- vage wood from all the downed trees due to snow and ice going back to Christ- mas. Cottonwoods, in par- ticular, do not handle heavy loads of snow on their limbs. While I collect cottonwood debris for my outdoor fires, I do not recommend it for in- door stoves or fireplaces. It gives off a sharp odor when" burning. What’s not out now: cot- tonwood buds. When fused with olive oil and beeswax, sticky buds make handsome- smelling, healing balms. Also not Out now: Oakland Bay County Park, which is gated and posted “Closed for the season.” Oakland Bay County Park is one of Mason County’s fin- est. But you cannot even tell Where it is. No signs indicate the entrance on East Agate Road across from East Julian -‘ Road (just before the storage complex on the right, travel- ing about a mile and a half up the hill from state Route 3). Imagine all the families with children who live in Timberlakes and have no idea of the'cool, wild berry- laden park with fun trails, tideland access, picnic grounds, as well as a historic 1890 pioneer home barely a half-mile from where many of their kids go to school? A visible Street signwould help. — An even better sign In the realms of good omens for and beyond, I find the sight of healthy adults swinging shovels, hoes and rakes as a most positive indicator of changes coming about. ‘ l A large group of adults caught my attention as I was rounding into Shelton on Route 3, passing the final curve after going under Man- ke’s gravel chute. Along the white stone berm between - the Shelton Yacht Club and the highway, men and wom- en were turning earth, weed- ing and transplanting dozens of purple irises in the fresh, dark soil. . Two small tractors with front-loaders Were going back and forth, dropping loads of fresh stone on the Yacht Club parking lot, backing up and smoothing it down with the edges of their front shovels. Clearly this was a Sat- urday work party if there ever was one. I pulled over, parked, and jumped out of my car, camera and notepad in hand. Members of the Shel- ton Yacht Club were doing a beauty makeover of just about everything in sight. I counted more than a dozen people and just about all of them had a shovel or rake in their hand — or, if not, they were busy driving a tractor or front-loader. V Thinking big, Once I started asking ques- tions, I began hearing names of people and organizations I recognized. A woman with an iris bulb in one hand and a trowel in the other introduced herself as Linda Shrum. “Linda Shrum?” I said. “That sounds familiar.” That name had been in my ear two weeks earlier, at the end of phone message Shrum had left for my wife, Linda, regarding a presentation Shrum was making on behalf of the Yacht Club to the Ma- son Cqunty League of Women . Voters. I soon get a few more pieces of the puzzle from _ Shelton Yacht Club Com- modore Jim Ross, Rear Com- modore Terry Mehl and Vice Commodore Al Schnittker. But the most “accommo- doring” of all yacht‘club mem- bers turns out to'be George Daly, who invites me inside' the clubhouse to view an art- ist’s rendering of a futuristic Shelton shoreline, now pos- sible since the yacht club bought out its former land- lord, the Port of Shelton, in 2019. r ' . “A top priority is bringing back a biodiverse estuary for Shelton Creek,” Daly says, pointing to a shady green beach that fans out where only recently there was py- lons, creosote and decay. In essence, the Shelton Yacht Club is now (in a most un-yacht-like fashion) the pri- mary steward responsible for a heck of a lot ,of downtown, ,, Shelton waterfront. ‘ ’ ‘ What I sense about them is they’re willing to risk failure in laying out a magnificent ecological vision. Not that they’re doing it on their own — for the fact is, they’ll need critical partner- ships with groups like Bel- fair’s Salmon Enhancement Center, the Squaxin Island Tribe, and the Mason Conser- vation District if the Shelton waterfront is to ever look anything like it does in that rendering. r You’ve seen what a beau- tiful estuary looks like: aerial video of creeks orriv- ers fanning out, clear chan- nels'snaking among healthy vegetation. The Shelton Creek future looks very much like John’s Creek does right now, just around the watery bend at Bayshore Preserve. I encourage you to go on Google Maps and look at the transformation of Oakland Bay. Who knows, look closely and you might someday see a visible street sign for a cer- tain Mason County park at the end of the bay. I Mark Woytowich'is a writer, photographer, vid- eo producer and author of “Where Waterfalls and Wild Things Are.” He lives in ‘Pot- latch with his wife, Linda. His “0n the Go” column ap‘? pears every other week in the . ' Shelton-Mason County Journal. Reach him at his ' website, www.wherewaterfall- sare.com, or by email at eyefive@hctc.c0m.