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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
March 10, 2011     Shelton Mason County Journal
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March 10, 2011
 
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Local event promoter creates Shelton-based bartender competition By NATALIE JOHNSON While hanging around his favorite Shelton bar one evening, local event pro- moter Eric Smileuske was hit with a shot of inspira- tion. Smileuske, or Smiley as he likes to be called, and his wife were sitting at the bar at Steven's Fine Dining in downtown Shelton when they started brainstorming about bringing a bartender competition to Shelton. '¢You see a lot of bar- tender competitions in New York or L.A. where they have a much more urban crowd," Smileuske said. "This will be something that's new to the area, but it will be a lot of fun." The event, The Bar- tender's Bottles and Bash, is scheduled for 8 p.m. on Thursday, July 21 at the Pavilion at Sentry Park in Shelton. Already, Smile- uske has done a lot of work to set up sponsors, partici- pants and entertainment, but for him it's just another day's work. "I came up here from the East Coast in 1995 with the casino business," he said. "I've done a lot of events at the casinos I've worked at, and it just seemed like this would be a fun thing to do." With his company, All Access Event Productions, Inc., Smileuske has already confirmed participating bars like Steven's, which will also cater the event, the Town Pub and the Log Cabin, and booked the Var- mints to play during the competition. "We started looking for a local location, and the pa- vilion was open, so we said there you have it," he said. The competition should include 10 bartenders from Mason and Thurston coun- ties, with two alternates. Five of the participating bartenders will come from sponsor bars, which will sell tickets and play a role in the advertising of the event, Smileuske said. While the mention of a bartending competition of- ten brings to mind daring stunts with bottles of liquor Journal photo by Natalie Johnson Eric Smileuske is organizing a bartender competition at the Pavilion to take place this summer. flying through the air, Smi- leuske said that this com- petition would be a more practical test of the skill of the participating bartend- ers. "We're looking at speed, accuracy and originality," Smileuske said. Bartenders will be given a list of drinks to make and will be tested on their speed and accuracy. Then they will have an opportunity to show their creativity by mixing a drink of their own. The bartenders will be judged by people who know their drinks, Smileuske said. "One of our liquor reps is a judge, one of our beer reps is a judge, then we'll have a local celebrity as well -we're working on that part," he said. Smileuske has not yet started taking applications for the bartender spots, but said that qualifying for the drawing to be a contestant or alternate from the non- sponsor bars is easy. "The only thing you need to qualify to get in is be an active bartender," he said. Winners of the competi- tion get to walk away with more than bragging rights, Smileuske said. "We'll pay the top three bartenders $250, $150 and $100 and then the sponsor- ing bar will be $250 itself," he said. Tickets should go on sale soon and the event is for people 21 and over. For more information, or updates on the event, visit aaeventproductions.com or e-mail smiley@delsol.net. Elderly Shelton man found dead in ditch By KEVAN MOORE An 8!-year-old Shelton man was found dead in a water-filled ditch on the afternoon of Saturday, March 5. Donald R. Aldrich, 81, was found lying in the water-filled ditch alongside railroad tracks that run near the abandoned ITT research lab build- ings off Harvard Street in Shelton. Mason County Coroner Wes Stockwell said that an autopsy was performed Tuesday on Al- drich. Stockwell said that Aldrich was a client of Ex- ceptional Foresters Incorporated which assisted him with some of his daily living routines, but that Aldrich was mostly independent and lived by himself in a residence near Walker Park. Aldrich was likely walking home at the time of his death and had been in the ditch for some time less than 24 hours before his body was discovered by the passing watchman, Stockwell said. PUD 3 continues to struggle with copper theft By NATALIE JOHNSON A Mason County PUD 3 staff member discovered an unwelcome surprise on °45 of their power poles in the city of Shelton last week. On each pole, a section of the copper ground wire had been snipped off, leaving the poles ungrounded, PUD 3 Manager Wyla Wood said. "It is a potential safety issue obviously," Wood said. "It has been appropriately reported to the police." Several copper power meter bases were also sto- len, Wood said. The copper was most likely stolen to sell for scrap metal, PUD 3 staff said. Copper thefts have also hit crews at the PUD's Johns Prairie Operations Center work site. Nicole Brown, a repre- sentative from OAC Servic- es, the company overseeing the work done on the site, said that a security guard had been hired and fencing would soon be installed to deter future theft. PUD staff could not give a concrete estimate on how much this theft will cost the utility. Op- erations Manager Bob Smith said that the labor expended to repair the power poles will cost far more than the copper. Journal photo by Natalie Johnson PUD 3 crews are making repairs, like this one, to copper ground lines on 45 power poles in Shelton, after the wires were cut and stolen, presumably to sell for scrap metal, PUD staff said. / Shelton-Mason County Journal-Thursday, March 10, 2011 - Page A-3