February 23, 2012 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
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Thursday~ February 23, 2012 • Week 8-- The Voice of Mason County'since 1886-- Published for Mason County and Heddy Godwin of Centralia-- $1
Veterans group celebrates long history of service
By ARLA SHEPHARD
¢~ rla@~na.~o n.co~ n(y,com
When Vietnam War veter-
an Brian Walsh moved to
Shelton three years ago,
he had no idea what the 40 et 8
veterans club was, even though
he'd been a member of the Veter-
an, s of Foreign Wars (VFW) and
the 40 et 8's parent group, the
American Legion, in other cities.
"]it's astonishing how under
the radar this organization is," he
~.;aid..
Now, Walsh is correspondent,
or secretary, of Shelton's 40 et 8,
which celebrates its 90th anniver-
J~ary at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb.
25, with a brief ceremony and pot-
!u~ck barbecue lunch.
Part of the goal of the celebra-
tion is to show people what the 40
et 8 is all about, said Chef de Gare
a~,~d Directeur George Radovich.
"[ think wha~ amazes me the
most is the number of people that
don't know what 40 et 8 is," he
said. '2 thought it was time to get
~ore recogmition for the club than
i~ has had in the past."
More than 160 veterans are
members of Shelton's 40 et 8, and
%op by the club's headquarters on
Wc~-;t Cota Street to partake in a
variely of social activities -- from
playing bingo, cards and shuffle-
board to singing karaoke or eating
meals s~ch as brunch every Sun-
day.
Radovich said that the club is
iJwite-only.
ForW et 8 had its origins in
France atthe end of World War I
as an offshoot of the American Le-
~.ion, and that heritage extends to
this day with the titles of people in
~he organization, Radovich said.
"The fun group was the 40 et
8," he said. "There was the serious
side of it all with the legion and
thee there's the thn side, which is
The name of the group derives
from the boxcars that transported
soldiers to the front line in France
during World War I -- the boxcars
could hold 40 men or eight horses,
l~,adovich said.
"Whenever you got in one, you
would hope that there were men
who'd used it betbre you, not the
horses," he said.
The 40 et 8 also works on com-
munity service projects, most no-
tably the Christmas food baskets
that the group puts together with
help from the Shelton-Mason
County Journal each holiday sea-
son,
Journal photo by Aria Shephard
Club correspondent Brian Walsh looks through historical 40 et 8 documents. The
veterans club celebrates 90 years of service to veterans this Saturday, Feb. 25.
They also raise money for community," Walsh said. "It'sThe club met at the Shelton
scholarships for Mason Countynot that we have giant successes Memorial Hall, the Shelton Hotel
residents pursuing nursing school or milestones, it's that we have on First Street and Railroad Av-
and spend time teaching elemen- continued success throughout the enue, property near the KMAS ra-
tary students about patriotism year ... we are a group of voter- dip station and then at its current
through the Flags for First-Grad- ans who like our town and want location on West Cota Street.
ors project, to make it better." In 1980, a group for the wives
"It's a charitable society of vet- A group of 25 members started
erans that want to help in the the 40 et 8 in Shelton in 1922. See 40 et 8 on page A-7
Shelton Hills
development could
move forward
By NATALIE JOHNSON
natal ie@maso nco u nty.co m
After years of litigation,
a zoning dispute in Shelton
moved closer to a resolution
this month.
On Feb. 9, Thurston
County Superior Court
Judge Paula Casey reversed
a July, 13, 2011 decision
by the Washington Growth
Management Hearings
Board (GMHB) that invali-
dated a City of Shelton at-
tempt to rezone the 160-
acre Shelton Hills Property
from commercial/industrial
to residential.
"We're pretty happy this
thing can move on. We're
hoping we can get this chap-
ter behind us," said Steve
Goins, City of Shelton com-
munity and economic devel-
opment director.
In April 2010, the City of
Shelton Board of Commis-
sioners voted to rezone the
160-acre Shelton Hills Prop-
erty, owned by California-
based Hall Equities, from
commercial/industrial to
residential.
The land sits a half-mile
south of the Port of Shel-
ton's Sanderson Field air-
port. Hall Equities plans to
build retail space and a resi-
dential development on the
property.
However, the port has
long maintained that resi-
dential development that
close to its main runway
would negatively impact
airport operations, port Ex-
ecutive Director John Dob-
son said.
"What we're talking
about is the equivalent noise
level of 44 diesel logging
trucks every, single day, 365
days of the year," he said.
"That's the equivalent noise
level that these people will
be subjected to. We have to
work with the city to miti-
gate that."
See Rezone on page A-7
Historical society thankful for donation
Shehon man's nearly monthly basis. On the spot, came blocked by excess snow
he wrote a check to the soci- Cast off from plows. Someone
$/,000 gift willpay ety for nearly $1,000, thecost -- he still doesn't know who
ofthe unit for a full year. -- shoveled the snow out of
costs" The donation makes a his driveway.
big impact for the museum, "Somebody out there did
~y ~S&TALIE JOHNSON Cowling said me a huge favor -- a huge
"It's
.:~c~z~/ie~'.,~.~ ~,co~,(y.com huge," he said. "Our service -- and I don't know
............................................................................... perating budget in the last who it was," he said.
four years has been about Quires, 77, volunteers at
Early tbis month, Roland $60,000 or so. A $1,000 dona- Shelton's "Caboose" visitor's
Qu in r~ gave the Mason Coun- tion for something we desper- center on Railroad Avenue.
~q/His~i,..ricalSocietyagiftthe ately need is big." He also spends several
~4roup seldom sees from a mu- Because the society paid a hours each week at the his-
'.-urn patron, year in advance for the stor- torical society, either read-
'it's pretty rare we get age unit, it received a month's ing, checking out exhibits or
(lo~adotas that big from a rent free. chatting with the staff, mu-
private individual," Mason While Quinn's donation seum staffsaid.
(;ounty Historical Society Di- is significant, he said there This time last year, Quinn
r.':~ctcr Justin Cowling said. are many people in Masonsaid he suggested the mu-
Ai~m- inquiring about the County who do more for their seum consider a heated stor-
c~: U" s~orage units used to neighbors every day and nev- age facility to store histeri-
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