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]OURNALEDITORIAL
New crime statistics show Shelton moving in rigl
S helton saw a 17.8 percent
drop in the total crime rate
from last year.
According to the Washington
Association of Sheriffs and Police
Chiefs report released recently,
Shelton is the fourth most crime-
ridden city (per capita) in the
state, but even at No. 4 we have
seen a massive decrease in crime.
The violent crime rate is down
14.7 percent and property crime
is down 10.1 percent. Only one
category, aggravated assaults,
reported to the association by the
Shelton Police Department saw
an increase.
It's awful that Shelton is con-
sistently one of the most violent
cities in the state, but this is
good news. Yes. placing in the
top ten of cities with the highest
crime is a problem, but the last
year has shown that this com-
munity can come together to put
a stop to it.
New leadership at the SPD as
well as a committed force of of-
ricers at the police department,
sheriffs department and tribal
agencies are working hard to
make our streets safer and it's
showing.
Let's hope this trend continues
for years to come.
On another note: A coup for
the Mason County Senior Activi-
ties Center.
The center will welcome the
Northwest Harmonica Jamboree
this weekend. The festival for
harmonica enthusiasts has found
a new home in Shelton after
.__-- direction
years in Tacoma and is open to
all with classes for the inexperi-
enced and professionals alike.
Event organizer Vern Morgus
stopped by the Journal office
earlier this week and his enthu-
siasm for the event and talent
with a harmonica were inspiring.
We encourage everyone to attend
for a great time and interesting
music.
GUESTCOLUMN
LETTERSTOTH EEDIT()R
Trip to Shelton
included a call
of the wild
t had me at hello.
No, not a girlfriend. Not even
a prospective one. Instead, it
was the small town of Livingston
that caught my eye. Situated in
southeastern Montana near the
Wyoming border, the town of Liv-
ingston -- population 7.000 -- was
a place I quickly decided I could live
tbr a while.
I'd entered Montana on Wednes-
day morning from the east, having
left West Vir-
ginia on Mon-
!!: :Mii 800 miles took
ii :i:::: :i1" me to some place
west of Chicago.
At the end of day
two, after an-
other 800 miles,
I was in Dickin-
By KEVIN son, N.D.
SPRADLIN Times must
be pretty good
in Dickinson be-
cause the lowest hotel rate I could
find was $159.99 a night. I was tired,
and having few other good choices
available. I ponied up the dough. A
quick Google search verified my first
thought times were, indeed, good
in Dickinson due to the oil boom.
On day three, I entered eastern
Montana early. I first fueled up in
Miles City. More than 250 miles lat-
er. my 1999 Kia Sportage -- which
passed the 221.000-mile mark dur-
ing the trip found its way to the off
ramp of Interstate 90. At this point. I
knew I was less than two good days
of driving away from Shelton.
Then I learned I was at the door-
step of Yellowstone National Park.
[ fheled up, grabbed a quick lunch
and hopped on the restaurant's Wi-
Fi connection to check email.
I realized I had two choices. I
could turn right, return to 1-90 West
and arrive in Shelton on time. Or I
could turn left toward Yellowstone.
Normally, I'm a stickler for details -
and for being on time. Maybe that's
from my days in the Army. In this
case. though, I turned left. Perhaps
I simply heard the call of the wild.
It didn't last long. Only a couple
Where are the
local folks?
Editor, the Journal
Spring is here. Excitement
builds among some folks around
Shelton for Bluegrass from the
Forest, May 18-20, at Shelton
High School. Those of us work-
ing hard to make this festival a
success often shake our heads
in wonderment, for a couple
reasons. Firstly, there is going
to be so much wonderfully great
music over that entire weekend.
Secondly, 'Why is it that folks
come from far and wide, even
from out of state to attend, but
not many local folks show up?'
Now here's the thing, some
folks think 'Well, isn't that the
fiddle fest thing'? Answer, no,
it is not solely about the great
fiddle music, that's in April at
the high school. Bluegrass is
a different interpretation of
sometimes those same tunes
& songs, although there are
fiddles in bluegrass. Some re-
ally great hot fiddlers will be at
'Bluegrass from the Forest' this
year.
Other folks think 'Bluegrass.
it's just a bunch of toothless
banjo players in bib overalls
and straw hats. like on the
old Hee Haw TV show.' Those
folks, maybe you are one, are
way off the mark about today's
bluegrass mumc. It's come a
long way from Hee Haw. It has
evolved into a more sophisticat-
ed, virtuosity driven, acoustic,
distinctly American treasury of
songs and tunes. Laced with a
taste of blues, old '50s-'60s style
country music. Irish and tra-
ditional American tunes along
with a dash of gospel.
For eight years, Bluegrass
from the Forest has been locally
produced by Kristmas Town
Kiwanis, as a non-profit en-
deavor. Many local businesses
help sponsor the event. All
proceeds stay in Shelton. For
a small town out in the forest,
this festival continues to bring
some of the biggest, most well
known performers and best na-
tional bluegrass musicians in
the country to Shelton, year af-
ter year. Its reputation among
folks who know about and
regularly attend the wealth of
festivals staged in Washington/
Oregon and beyond, the Shelton
festival is regarded as one of the
BEST of its kind in Washing-
ton. Our little town of Shelton
actually kicks off the summer
festival season.
Folks have come from Alas-
ka, Hawaii, California. Mon-
tana, Arizona. Idaho, Canada
and far beyond. But each year
when asked for a show of hands
of folks in the audience from
this part of the forest, the
results are small and a darn
shame.
There are two stages, two
mornings with sessions of
acoustic workshops for guitar,
two styles of banjo, Dobro,
mandolin, fiddle and bass led
by master players, a three hour
youth intensive workshop, just
for kids who bring their instru-
ments to learn to play blue-
grass, a band contest, a banjo
contest and a band scramble for
amateur players who aspire to
play like professionals, on the
main stage with microphones
and spot lights.
There's something for every-
one. If you were wondering,
'Where the heck is country mu-
sic these days like Merle Hag-
gard or Johnny Cash?' They're
alive, well and hiding in plain
sight right in bluegrass. You
will sing or hum along on the
songs you know.
Tickets are available at the
door or locally at five different
locations. Check the ad in this
Journal edition for details. In-
formation on the 2012 line-up of
performers, workshop & show
times can be found online by
typing 'BluegrassfromtheForest.
com' into your web browser.
When you see those orange
'BLUEGRASS' road signs, it's
time to follow them to Shelton
High School. So, dust off your
straw hat, don your bib over-
alls and come on out to help
celebrate a great American and
Shelton tradition at Bluegrass
from the Forest May 18- 20.
I'll be looking for more local
hands raised in the audience
and seeing you there. Don't
miss the fun again this year.
Sally Burtscher
Shelton
America no,
United States
yes
Editor, the Journal
It sort of strikes me strange
that an organization such as
the Veterans of Foreign Wars
Ladies Auxiliary, priding itself
in patriotism, seems to object
to the use of the correct name
of their/our country. What re-
ally hurts is that Pete, a past
student of mine, has forgotten
our morning recitation of "The
Pledge of Allegiance" to the flag
of our United States, (not to
the flag of America). We are no
more America than Canada or
Mexico now are we? We stood
with hands over our hearts and
spoke the words of the "Pledge"
(which was being led from the
office over the sound system by
our student body president),
even though we didn't have a
flag in our room in the old Angle
building. Thinking this strange,
together with my eighth grade
Industrial Science students,
we thought that we might find
other classrooms without our
United States flag. Volunteers
in our class were chosen (demo-
cratically) to, with permission
from each principal, check every
classroom on our Shelton School
District, to find how many class-
rooms did not have a United
States flag for the students to
face, see. look at, proudly ad-
mire and pledge allegiance to.
Not surprisingly, the commit-
tees found that over 20 class-
rooms did not display our Unit-
ed States flag. Our class decided
that we could raise enough
money to buy that many flags
and wall mounts, which we did.
My students chose teams, each
with a leader and proper tools,
to complete the job of mount-
ing the flag on the wall. From
that time on, when the school
day began, we knew that every
classroom had a United States
flag for the students to face
when they began their school
day reciting the Pledge of Al-
legiance. Isn't that an interest-
ing history. The preamble of
our "Constitution of the United
States" begins with "We the
people of the United States."
Shirley uses a 1947 dictionary
as proof that the proper name of
our country is "America." Please
take a look at the 1947 World
Book Encyclopedia. There is no
country America, but there are
some 85 pages headed United
States. Yes, I am an old public
school teacher who hopes teach-
ers and parents of today teach
youngsters the proper name of
the country of which they are a
citizen. Only two. but oh so very
meaningful two words, United
States. Period.
Vern Morgus
Shelton
Learn more
about garden
safety
Editor, the Journal
King County has a Depart-
ment of Natural Resources and
Parks. Within this agency is
a water and local hazardous
waste management program.
The people who run these
departments consult with the
most knowledgeable scientists
in the fields of horticulture and
environmental health. As a re-
sult of their efforts they have
See Letters on page A-7
miles down the road, the city boy m
me returned in full force. I pulled
over. Waited for a few minutes.
Checked the weather. Snow was in
the forecast for the area and I didn't
want to get caught in it. I turned
around.
Back onto 1-90. Headed west.
The rest of the trip was pretty much
nondescript. That is, until I hit
Snoqualmie Pass. You see, Mason
County is new to me. But I've been
to Snoqualmie to play in the snow
with my children, while I was sta-
tioned at Fort Lewis several years
ago.
I remembered this area with
great affection. Suddenly, I wasn't
so disappointed that I hadn't kept
going toward Yellowstone. Yes, Yel-
lowstone is a pretty special place.
And while I hope to visit one day,
it was only going to be a tempo-
rary stop for me. I'm hoping Mason
County is more permanent.
On my fifth day in town, some-
one described the Shelton area to
me as "the most beautiful place in
the world."
And given the views I've seen,
I'm not inclined to argue.
WORDONTHESTREET
Is marijuana use a problem in Mason County? Why or why not?
Bruce Tracy Ann J.D.
Arensmeyer Wilson Baker Johnson
"I don't know, I know meth
is a problem, but not about
pot. I know a lot of people
support legalizing it. It's a
way to start and it leads to
other things, that's why I
don't like it."
'I've seen lots of different
(drugs) in this county. I do
see it as a problem with the
youth."
"I think it's a problem be-
cause it's so wide-spread
and they have proven it does
affect your mind more than
some would like to admit."
"It kind of depends on the
person, age-wise. I think
it's out of control with the
younger crowd but as they
get older, they learn to regu-
late it better."
• 1 She.!toni!Mas!on C;un W :". ':',. ::: li
usPs 492-800
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Shelton-Mason
County Journal, P.O. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584.
Published weekly by She ton-Mason County Journal, Inc.
at 227 West Cota Street, Shelton, Washington
Mailing address: RO. Box 430, Shelton WA 98584
Telephone (360) 426-4412 • www.masoncounty.c0m
Periodicals postage paid at Shelton, Washington
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Owned and published by
Shelton-Mason County Journal, Inc
Kari Sleight, publisher
Newsroom:
Jesse Mullen, editor
Natalie Johnson, reporter
Kevin Spradlin, reporter
Emily Hanson, sports reporter
Adam Rudnick, copy editor
Advertising:
Dave Pierik, Sr. Acct. Executive
Harvey Morris ad representative
Sharee Miller, ad representat ve
Front office:
Donna Kinnaird, bookkeeper
Margot Brand, circulation
Cricket Carter, mailroom
supervisor
Page A-4- Shelton-Mason County Journal- Thursday, May 10, 2012
Composing room:
William Adams, graphics
Becky Corr, typing
Pressroom:
Kelly Riordan, production manager
Travis Miller, press operator