March 4, 1999 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
©
Shelton Mason County Journal. All rights reserved. Upgrade to access Premium Tools
PAGE 22 (22 of 36 available) PREVIOUS NEXT Jumbo Image Save To Scrapbook Set Notifiers PDF JPG
March 4, 1999 |
|
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader ![]() |
Harstine'.
Islanders mourn drowned man
By JOHN COOPER "
Michael Lyn Lyda, grandson of
islanders Mike and Donna Gill,
was lost at sea in Alaska Tues-
day, February 23. At age 31 he
was an experienced seaman at
the time of his tragic death. He
was a member of the crew of a
Seattle-based crabbing vessel op-
erating on the Bering Sea off the
Alaska coast.
On the day of" his accidental
drowning Michael was stationed
in the crow's nest, family mem-
bers said. From that vantage
point he could see that one of his
fellow seamen was having diffi-
culty in bringing aboard one of
the metal nets with its harvest of
crabs. He jumped down to assist
but before he could attach to a
safety line a huge swell broke
over the deck, sweeping him into
t.he sea.
The crewman dove in to at-
tempt a rescue. Another giant
swell, however, carried Michael
far beyond his rescuer's reach and
out of sight. Lengthy search ef-
forts by the fishing boat and the
Coast Guard proved fruitless; the
Bering Sea had claimed another
life.
MICHAEL LYDA was the
(:]ills' first ffandchild, named af-
ter his grandfather. He was the
son ot" Maryann Lyda of Homer,
Alaska, a daughter with whom
Donna has always had a close in-
tuitive relationship. Donna felt
impelled to telephone her daugh-
ter on Tuesday and was on the
wire at the moment that the po-
lice chaplain knocked on the door
to deliver the news of Michael's
death. "It was a blessing to be
that close, though miles apart,
mother and daughter hearing si-
multaneously the chaplain's pray-
er of reassurance." Mrs. Lyda's
home is south of Anchorage on
the Gulf of Alaska.
Donna also takes comfort in
the fact that after a relatively
short, turbulent life Michael had
folmd anchorage, ttis last ship-to-
shore communication to his moth-
er concluded with the message
that he read his Bible daily and
often conversed with God in pray-
er when on duty.
A memorial service will be held
ibr Michael but will take place
later in May to make it possible
for his fellow crew members to at-
tend. By then the vessel will have
returned to port after completing
its allotted fishing schedule.
THE PHONE began to ring
about 5 p.m. Saturday, February
27, as another UFO (unidentified
floating object) aroused the curi-
osity of islanders who happened
to be looking out over Piekering
Passage. One caller described it
as a black barge with white mark-
ings traveling at a good speed in a
northerly direction.
Observation from North Point
Beach and the eastern shore veri-
fied that the object was indeed a
self-propelled, medium-sized
barge with a two-man crew. The
craft quickly rounded the north-
ern tip of the island and proceed-
ed south on Case Inlet as if it
were circumnavigating Harstine.
The tarp-covered load the
barge carried was irregular in
shape. On the side, in white, was
a telephone number which could
be read only partially. Beyond the
427 prefix, the last four digits
were obscured, in part, by the
edges of the tarp laced down with
guy lines spaced about 18 inches
apart.
The mystery remains but the
incident proves that our neighbor-
ly watchfulness keeps eyes on the
water as well as land.
EIGHTY-SEVEN days of rain
were effectively punctuated with
an exclamation point of heavy
downpours on Wednesday, Febru-
ary 24. One would think that the
inclination to stay inside, warm
and dry, would be paramount in
the minds of senior citizens.
Surprise! Surprise! The largest
group of the over-50 gang to date
ventured out to eat lunch at the
community hall. A crowd of 44
surprised kitchen crew members
Barbara LaJune, Lois Powell,
Doris Pollman and Ruth Irish and
made them scurry about making
sure that there was plenty of
turkey casserole and French
bread, tossed salads and cherry
dessert in memory of the tree that
George Washington didn't chop
down.
The popularity of these over-
50's lunches may soon boost the
attendance figure to over 50 every
other Wednesday.
The next luncheon will be held
on Wednesday, March 10, when
the menu will feature tuna cas-
serole, rolls, fruit salad and fresh
apple cake.
A CALL CAME last Friday
all the way from Germany. Arne
and Elizabeth Bernot, who live in
a small town near Stuttgart, will
reach retirement age soon and
have decided to settle on Harstine
Island. They were seeking infor-
mation on building here and on
builders who would do a good job.
The word seems to be getting
around, even internationally, that
our piece of God's country is a
great place to live. Are we adver-
tising overseas? The answer is no.
And they didn't find out about
Harstine from The Journal, eith-
er. The Berndts have inside infor-
mation.
Elizabeth was originally from
Oregon so she knows the North-
west. Undoubtedly she had visit-
ed Harstine in the past and rec-
ognized it as the best in the
Northwest, a great setting for a
retirement career.
Their arrival sometime in July
or August to take up residency on
the island is long-range news, but
they can be assured of a warm
welcome when they do wend their
way across one great ocean to set-
tle down on an island in our con-
voluted inlet of another.
THE ONLY RESPONSE we
received to Byron Harper's query
about why the deer are sampling
his arborvitae this year, as they
have never done before, was that
the deer might have been seeking
relief from their ills.
Wild creatures seem to have
instinctive reactions to different
species. The fbxglove which will
be blooming not too far down the
road is an example. It possesses
poisonous potentialities and con-
sequently is avoided by the deer.
On the other hand, arborvitae
tins beneficial medicinal qualities
that have been recognized since
the 1700s. An extract from its
balsamic resin reduces fever and
raises blood pressure. From that
information our contact made the
assumption that the deer might
have been self-medicating for one
or both of those reasons.
It should be noted that, proper-
ly treated and distilled, foxglove
could yield digitalis, a beneficial
drug. However, that can't be done
effectively by the digestive tract
Did You Know...
/
Until recently, there
one funeral home in
Now you have
a choice ?
has only been
Shelton.
REST
FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY
313 W. Railroad • Shelton, WA 98584
' o
Shelt n: 3601427.8044 • Olympia: 3601943-6363
of deer - or of humans, for that
matter.
SOMETIMES THE island
travel club endorses excursion op-
portunities not entirely of its own
designing. Such an opportunity is
the invitation to join with a group
that will be tip-toeing through the
tulips.
The group is going to visit the
fields of these early blooming
bulbs in Mount Vernon. Despite
the fact that tulips are native to
Asia and the Eastern Mediterra-
nean, a Dutch-garbed hostess will
serve coffee and breakfast cake to
the travelers as they travel to the
gardens. That is quite appro-
priate, though, for once the tulip
was introduced to Western Eu-
rope in the 16th Century the
Dutch people embraced it with
such fervor that it eventually was
established as an important
Dutch industry.
Two states in the U.S. lead in
the growing of tulips commercial-
ly. One is Michigan. The other?
You're right, it's our own state of
Washington.
After lunch the tour group will
have time in LaConnor for shop-
ping and browsing. For further
information about this excursion
which is scheduled to depart at
7:30 a.m. on Monday, April 5,
those interested can call 427-
6134.
THE CRIME WATCH meet-
ing date in the calendar of events
in last week's column was incor-
rect. The March meeting of this
neighborhood watch group will
take place at 7 p.m. March 17 at
the community hall.
A memory-jogger to keep in
mind is that the meeting is sched-
uled for Saint Patrick's Day, one
of the eight nonlegal holidays cel-
ebrated nationally.
Saint Patrick has good compa-
ny in that category. The other
seven nonlegal holidays are
American Indian Day, Armed
Forces Day, Father's Day, Flag
Day, Halloween, Mother's Day
and Saint Valentine's Day.
THE THEATRE CLUB met
on Tuesday, February 23, and ap-
proved funds to enable Keith
Beers to audition for entrance to
a theatre arts program.
If Keith successfully passes the
audition which will be held in
Seattle he will be eligible to at-
tend an acting school in New
York City. This financial assis-
tance is not part of the annual
scholarship award but reflects
one of the objectives of the thea-
tre club which is to encourage and
assist young thespians in their
pursuit of a career in dramatic
arts.
Harstine Island may just be
one of the soggiest spots around.
Our official unofficial weather-
man, Damon LaJune, reports a
record-breaking rainfall, during
the period from November 1 to
February 28, of 62.25 inches.
The per-month precipitation
for the period was 17.55 inches
for November, 14.75 for Decem-
ber, 14.15 for January and 15.80
for February. Across the sound, a
mere 33.90 inches of rainfall was
recorded at SeaTac as a record for
the foUr-month period.
Red Cross ready to hel
victims of storm dama
The Thurston-Mason County
Chapter of the American Red
Cross said this week it is ready to
help those who have been dis-
placed from their homes due to
Page 22 - Shelton-Maaon County Journal - Thursday, March 4, 1999
IllllllllllllllllllllllUlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll|llll
Weather
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
High Low Precip.
Fahrenheit (In.)
February 24 51 38 3.81
February 25 46 39 .53
February 26 46 29 .10
February 27 51 34 1.56
February 28 51 42 .43
March 1 46 37 .70
March 2 46 29 .12
Measurements for the previ-
ous 24 hours are recorded for the
National Weather Service at 4
p.m. each day at Olympic Air at
Sanderson Field.
Meteorologists with the Na-
tional Weather Service predict a
few showers and partly sunny
weather Friday with clouds de-
veloping Saturday. Sunday will
see an increasing chance of
rain. Lows will dip to about 30-35
Friday and 35-40 Saturday and
Sunday, with highs around 45
Friday and 50 on the weekend.
February sogged away last
weekend leaving a legacy of
18.32 inches of precipitation, al-
most 2.4 times the 67-year aver-
age of 7.69 inches. The year-to-
date total of 32.64 inches is just
over half the average annual
rainfall for the area and well
above the 18.46-inch average.
the local weather-related emer-
gencies occurring throughout the
two counties.
"The local chapter is concerned
that there may be many hundreds
of families who need assistance
with food, clothing and shelter
due to the groundwater flooding
and landslides, said Red Cross
executive director Kay Welters.
"We have been in touch with the
Cowlitz County Chapter in order
to use their lessons learned from
the recent landslides occurring
near Kelso."
She encourages people needing
assistance to call the local chap-
Save on Bausch & Lomb"
Programmable hearing "
ter at 352-8575.
The Red Cross meets
mediate food,
needs of people
aster. Based on
disaster victims to
degree of hardship it
the disaster, the Red
on a case-by-case basis,
sist in moving and storing
hold goods and help with
rent and damage deposits.
The services are at
to the clients and are
ble by contributions from
uals and businesses in
and Mason counties.
d
Confused? Stressed? Anxious
Seek professional help.
Doing taxes yourself can send you through a range of emotions
a professional help. At H&R Block, we're familiar with the 824 tax code
changes• And we're ready to talk when you are.
104 East "D" Street
(Corner of Olympic Highway North and "D" Street)
Weekdays 9-7
426-9077 Saturday 9-5
Now this flexible hearing
option is more affordable!
;5:1 "
Our spccial Bausch & Lomb Programmable
Salc, running March 1 - March 31, is the per-
fcct fimc to mkc advantagc of significant savings?
Bausch & Lomb Programmablc hcaring aids offer:
• Compumr programmed to morc accuramly match your hcaring loss. Statcf-thc-
' art mchnology providcs incrcascd fitting flcxibilitT.*
• Hand-held rcmotc control for discreet adjustmcms from your pockct or pursc.
• Choice of diffcrcm lismning programs for dfffcrcm listening environmcms.
• Available in a complcmIy-in-thc:anal modcl--so small, no onc knows you'rc wearing R?
• Most adjustmcms can bc madc right in thc officc?
Is a Bausch & Lomb* Programmable hcaring aid right for you? Find out! If you comc
in during our Spring Sale, you may bc hcaring bctmr and saving
at the same timc! Call or come in for a frec, no obligation demonstration today!
550164-148/A
SWARS
.:jl It Itltl
HEARING AID CENTER
*
South Sound Center
923-0464
Miracle-Ear"
Hearing Systems by.Bausch & Lomb
*Heanng ,,'ds cannot restore natural hearing, Individual experiences vary depending on proper fit. severity of hearing loss, accuracy of evaiuation, and ability to
adapt to amplification. Only your Miracle-Ear representative can tell you if the Bausch & Lomb Programmable hearing aid may be right for you,
©1997 Daldl:mrg, Inc.
I
Harstine'.
Islanders mourn drowned man
By JOHN COOPER "
Michael Lyn Lyda, grandson of
islanders Mike and Donna Gill,
was lost at sea in Alaska Tues-
day, February 23. At age 31 he
was an experienced seaman at
the time of his tragic death. He
was a member of the crew of a
Seattle-based crabbing vessel op-
erating on the Bering Sea off the
Alaska coast.
On the day of" his accidental
drowning Michael was stationed
in the crow's nest, family mem-
bers said. From that vantage
point he could see that one of his
fellow seamen was having diffi-
culty in bringing aboard one of
the metal nets with its harvest of
crabs. He jumped down to assist
but before he could attach to a
safety line a huge swell broke
over the deck, sweeping him into
t.he sea.
The crewman dove in to at-
tempt a rescue. Another giant
swell, however, carried Michael
far beyond his rescuer's reach and
out of sight. Lengthy search ef-
forts by the fishing boat and the
Coast Guard proved fruitless; the
Bering Sea had claimed another
life.
MICHAEL LYDA was the
(:]ills' first ffandchild, named af-
ter his grandfather. He was the
son ot" Maryann Lyda of Homer,
Alaska, a daughter with whom
Donna has always had a close in-
tuitive relationship. Donna felt
impelled to telephone her daugh-
ter on Tuesday and was on the
wire at the moment that the po-
lice chaplain knocked on the door
to deliver the news of Michael's
death. "It was a blessing to be
that close, though miles apart,
mother and daughter hearing si-
multaneously the chaplain's pray-
er of reassurance." Mrs. Lyda's
home is south of Anchorage on
the Gulf of Alaska.
Donna also takes comfort in
the fact that after a relatively
short, turbulent life Michael had
folmd anchorage, ttis last ship-to-
shore communication to his moth-
er concluded with the message
that he read his Bible daily and
often conversed with God in pray-
er when on duty.
A memorial service will be held
ibr Michael but will take place
later in May to make it possible
for his fellow crew members to at-
tend. By then the vessel will have
returned to port after completing
its allotted fishing schedule.
THE PHONE began to ring
about 5 p.m. Saturday, February
27, as another UFO (unidentified
floating object) aroused the curi-
osity of islanders who happened
to be looking out over Piekering
Passage. One caller described it
as a black barge with white mark-
ings traveling at a good speed in a
northerly direction.
Observation from North Point
Beach and the eastern shore veri-
fied that the object was indeed a
self-propelled, medium-sized
barge with a two-man crew. The
craft quickly rounded the north-
ern tip of the island and proceed-
ed south on Case Inlet as if it
were circumnavigating Harstine.
The tarp-covered load the
barge carried was irregular in
shape. On the side, in white, was
a telephone number which could
be read only partially. Beyond the
427 prefix, the last four digits
were obscured, in part, by the
edges of the tarp laced down with
guy lines spaced about 18 inches
apart.
The mystery remains but the
incident proves that our neighbor-
ly watchfulness keeps eyes on the
water as well as land.
EIGHTY-SEVEN days of rain
were effectively punctuated with
an exclamation point of heavy
downpours on Wednesday, Febru-
ary 24. One would think that the
inclination to stay inside, warm
and dry, would be paramount in
the minds of senior citizens.
Surprise! Surprise! The largest
group of the over-50 gang to date
ventured out to eat lunch at the
community hall. A crowd of 44
surprised kitchen crew members
Barbara LaJune, Lois Powell,
Doris Pollman and Ruth Irish and
made them scurry about making
sure that there was plenty of
turkey casserole and French
bread, tossed salads and cherry
dessert in memory of the tree that
George Washington didn't chop
down.
The popularity of these over-
50's lunches may soon boost the
attendance figure to over 50 every
other Wednesday.
The next luncheon will be held
on Wednesday, March 10, when
the menu will feature tuna cas-
serole, rolls, fruit salad and fresh
apple cake.
A CALL CAME last Friday
all the way from Germany. Arne
and Elizabeth Bernot, who live in
a small town near Stuttgart, will
reach retirement age soon and
have decided to settle on Harstine
Island. They were seeking infor-
mation on building here and on
builders who would do a good job.
The word seems to be getting
around, even internationally, that
our piece of God's country is a
great place to live. Are we adver-
tising overseas? The answer is no.
And they didn't find out about
Harstine from The Journal, eith-
er. The Berndts have inside infor-
mation.
Elizabeth was originally from
Oregon so she knows the North-
west. Undoubtedly she had visit-
ed Harstine in the past and rec-
ognized it as the best in the
Northwest, a great setting for a
retirement career.
Their arrival sometime in July
or August to take up residency on
the island is long-range news, but
they can be assured of a warm
welcome when they do wend their
way across one great ocean to set-
tle down on an island in our con-
voluted inlet of another.
THE ONLY RESPONSE we
received to Byron Harper's query
about why the deer are sampling
his arborvitae this year, as they
have never done before, was that
the deer might have been seeking
relief from their ills.
Wild creatures seem to have
instinctive reactions to different
species. The fbxglove which will
be blooming not too far down the
road is an example. It possesses
poisonous potentialities and con-
sequently is avoided by the deer.
On the other hand, arborvitae
tins beneficial medicinal qualities
that have been recognized since
the 1700s. An extract from its
balsamic resin reduces fever and
raises blood pressure. From that
information our contact made the
assumption that the deer might
have been self-medicating for one
or both of those reasons.
It should be noted that, proper-
ly treated and distilled, foxglove
could yield digitalis, a beneficial
drug. However, that can't be done
effectively by the digestive tract
Did You Know...
/
Until recently, there
one funeral home in
Now you have
a choice ?
has only been
Shelton.
REST
FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY
313 W. Railroad • Shelton, WA 98584
' o
Shelt n: 3601427.8044 • Olympia: 3601943-6363
of deer - or of humans, for that
matter.
SOMETIMES THE island
travel club endorses excursion op-
portunities not entirely of its own
designing. Such an opportunity is
the invitation to join with a group
that will be tip-toeing through the
tulips.
The group is going to visit the
fields of these early blooming
bulbs in Mount Vernon. Despite
the fact that tulips are native to
Asia and the Eastern Mediterra-
nean, a Dutch-garbed hostess will
serve coffee and breakfast cake to
the travelers as they travel to the
gardens. That is quite appro-
priate, though, for once the tulip
was introduced to Western Eu-
rope in the 16th Century the
Dutch people embraced it with
such fervor that it eventually was
established as an important
Dutch industry.
Two states in the U.S. lead in
the growing of tulips commercial-
ly. One is Michigan. The other?
You're right, it's our own state of
Washington.
After lunch the tour group will
have time in LaConnor for shop-
ping and browsing. For further
information about this excursion
which is scheduled to depart at
7:30 a.m. on Monday, April 5,
those interested can call 427-
6134.
THE CRIME WATCH meet-
ing date in the calendar of events
in last week's column was incor-
rect. The March meeting of this
neighborhood watch group will
take place at 7 p.m. March 17 at
the community hall.
A memory-jogger to keep in
mind is that the meeting is sched-
uled for Saint Patrick's Day, one
of the eight nonlegal holidays cel-
ebrated nationally.
Saint Patrick has good compa-
ny in that category. The other
seven nonlegal holidays are
American Indian Day, Armed
Forces Day, Father's Day, Flag
Day, Halloween, Mother's Day
and Saint Valentine's Day.
THE THEATRE CLUB met
on Tuesday, February 23, and ap-
proved funds to enable Keith
Beers to audition for entrance to
a theatre arts program.
If Keith successfully passes the
audition which will be held in
Seattle he will be eligible to at-
tend an acting school in New
York City. This financial assis-
tance is not part of the annual
scholarship award but reflects
one of the objectives of the thea-
tre club which is to encourage and
assist young thespians in their
pursuit of a career in dramatic
arts.
Harstine Island may just be
one of the soggiest spots around.
Our official unofficial weather-
man, Damon LaJune, reports a
record-breaking rainfall, during
the period from November 1 to
February 28, of 62.25 inches.
The per-month precipitation
for the period was 17.55 inches
for November, 14.75 for Decem-
ber, 14.15 for January and 15.80
for February. Across the sound, a
mere 33.90 inches of rainfall was
recorded at SeaTac as a record for
the foUr-month period.
Red Cross ready to hel
victims of storm dama
The Thurston-Mason County
Chapter of the American Red
Cross said this week it is ready to
help those who have been dis-
placed from their homes due to
Page 22 - Shelton-Maaon County Journal - Thursday, March 4, 1999
IllllllllllllllllllllllUlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll|llll
Weather
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
High Low Precip.
Fahrenheit (In.)
February 24 51 38 3.81
February 25 46 39 .53
February 26 46 29 .10
February 27 51 34 1.56
February 28 51 42 .43
March 1 46 37 .70
March 2 46 29 .12
Measurements for the previ-
ous 24 hours are recorded for the
National Weather Service at 4
p.m. each day at Olympic Air at
Sanderson Field.
Meteorologists with the Na-
tional Weather Service predict a
few showers and partly sunny
weather Friday with clouds de-
veloping Saturday. Sunday will
see an increasing chance of
rain. Lows will dip to about 30-35
Friday and 35-40 Saturday and
Sunday, with highs around 45
Friday and 50 on the weekend.
February sogged away last
weekend leaving a legacy of
18.32 inches of precipitation, al-
most 2.4 times the 67-year aver-
age of 7.69 inches. The year-to-
date total of 32.64 inches is just
over half the average annual
rainfall for the area and well
above the 18.46-inch average.
the local weather-related emer-
gencies occurring throughout the
two counties.
"The local chapter is concerned
that there may be many hundreds
of families who need assistance
with food, clothing and shelter
due to the groundwater flooding
and landslides, said Red Cross
executive director Kay Welters.
"We have been in touch with the
Cowlitz County Chapter in order
to use their lessons learned from
the recent landslides occurring
near Kelso."
She encourages people needing
assistance to call the local chap-
Save on Bausch & Lomb"
Programmable hearing "
ter at 352-8575.
The Red Cross meets
mediate food,
needs of people
aster. Based on
disaster victims to
degree of hardship it
the disaster, the Red
on a case-by-case basis,
sist in moving and storing
hold goods and help with
rent and damage deposits.
The services are at
to the clients and are
ble by contributions from
uals and businesses in
and Mason counties.
d
Confused? Stressed? Anxious
Seek professional help.
Doing taxes yourself can send you through a range of emotions
a professional help. At H&R Block, we're familiar with the 824 tax code
changes• And we're ready to talk when you are.
104 East "D" Street
(Corner of Olympic Highway North and "D" Street)
Weekdays 9-7
426-9077 Saturday 9-5
Now this flexible hearing
option is more affordable!
;5:1 "
Our spccial Bausch & Lomb Programmable
Salc, running March 1 - March 31, is the per-
fcct fimc to mkc advantagc of significant savings?
Bausch & Lomb Programmablc hcaring aids offer:
• Compumr programmed to morc accuramly match your hcaring loss. Statcf-thc-
' art mchnology providcs incrcascd fitting flcxibilitT.*
• Hand-held rcmotc control for discreet adjustmcms from your pockct or pursc.
• Choice of diffcrcm lismning programs for dfffcrcm listening environmcms.
• Available in a complcmIy-in-thc:anal modcl--so small, no onc knows you'rc wearing R?
• Most adjustmcms can bc madc right in thc officc?
Is a Bausch & Lomb* Programmable hcaring aid right for you? Find out! If you comc
in during our Spring Sale, you may bc hcaring bctmr and saving
at the same timc! Call or come in for a frec, no obligation demonstration today!
550164-148/A
SWARS
.:jl It Itltl
HEARING AID CENTER
*
South Sound Center
923-0464
Miracle-Ear"
Hearing Systems by.Bausch & Lomb
*Heanng ,,'ds cannot restore natural hearing, Individual experiences vary depending on proper fit. severity of hearing loss, accuracy of evaiuation, and ability to
adapt to amplification. Only your Miracle-Ear representative can tell you if the Bausch & Lomb Programmable hearing aid may be right for you,
©1997 Daldl:mrg, Inc.
I