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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
May 24, 2012     Shelton Mason County Journal
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May 24, 2012
 
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STAFFCOLUMN JOURNALEDITORIAL mm mm um elieve it or not, the Mason take out more than just a fly this County commissioners punt- week. Stuffed inside are our annu- ing a marijuana ordinance al Visitors Guide, a Forest Festival down the road is not simply elec- Th~ ~ ~nty ~i~ pre~ciew and a special section dedi- cated to the new PUD 3 facility. tiOnsial issue.year avoidance of a controver- ~ll~i~e ~i ~ij~ It's been a big year for Mason It's not often this editorial board ~d~ tw~ ~ ~! : County and our new and updated agrees with commissioner Tim ~ffe~i~ ~ea~i~ ~ ~ ~one guides reflect that. Sheldon, and commissioner Lynda fo~ ~ ~ard~s~ : Much like our Profile that was Ring Erickson has come under crit- published last month, the 2012 icism by this newspaper for ques- Mason County Visitors Guide has tionable actions during her tenure, na, and if that happens we should been updated with new stories and But, we do agree the moratorium expect a bevy of new regulations to information and is presented in on collective marijuana gardens follow. It would be foolhardy to be- a magazine format. The bulging is the correct course of action.., or lieve any ordinance Mason County guide came in at 80 pages and is inaction, passed now would not need to bea wonderful reference for visiting Marijuana is illegal statewide, tossed if the initiative makes it family members, tourists and lo- af least until voters hit the polls into law. cals rediscovering their home. later this year with enough force Whether 1-502 fails or passes, The preview of the Forest Fes- to see it pass. 1-502 will be on the the ordinance should be addressed tival breaks down some of the big- ballot and, if passed, will change on Nov. 8 when the moratorium gest events with detailed stories the way Washington addresses ends. Then if the commissionersand presents a complete schedule marijuana. Recently, Public Policy want to delay a decision they truly for the function. Our PUb 3 spe- Polling surveyed Washington state are copping out. cial section gives insight into the voters and found that 47 percent creation and history of the utility support 1-502, while 39 percent Why's my paper so heavy this district with content submitted by planned to vote against it. Wash- week? employees, contractors and other ington may be on track to be the The Shelton-Mason County personalities involved in this mas- first state with legalized marijua- Journal and Belfair Herald could sive project. LETTERSTOTHEEDITOR Thank you from bluegrass organizers Editor, the Journal: We held our eighth annual Blue- grass from the Forest festival May 18. 19 and 20 at the Shelton Per- forming Arts Center and campus and I want to say "thank you" all for coming out, and to the Shelton High School. The campus grounds were immaculate and obvious ef- forts were made to accommodate US. Dave Miser. auditorium engi- neer, as always, did an outstanding job in accommodating us through- out the weekend. l personally received several comments about the great school campus and how we should be proud of what we have. Thanks from Kristmas Town Ki- wanis, the business end and from me. the bluegrass end. We hope for continued use of this amazing facil- ity! Greg Linder Union Thanks for the memories Editor, the Journal: I just want to g~ve you a great big thanks from al! of us Bluegrass Music Fans here in the Pacific Northwest! This is becoming the greatest music event in the state and we highly look forward to it each and every year. I know it takes tons of work and lots of co- ordination and I just want you to know how very much we appreciate it! I host a "slow" music jam each month here in Winlock which ca- Lers to beginners. Lots of time the Bluegrass from the Forest music festival held at the Shelton High School is their very first experience of attending such an event, and it leaves a lasting impression on them to attend and support other music events throughout the re- gmn. You're all doing a very great thing! Thanks. and I will definitely be attending again next and every year that it's available to us. Marv Sobolesky Winlock Teens can learn from NBA player's lessons For the first time in re- Herren went drinking to cent memory, I'agree celebrate. And while a beer or with Charles BarNey.two might be okay, it never Basketball players are not stopped at two for Herren. role models. '~I~vo beers always turned Especially not an ex-bas- to four, to eight, to 12," Her- ketball player who starting ren said. drinking at age 14 and soon Then Herren turned to his followed with marijuana and cocaine dealer. For the bulk addictions to cocaine, Oxyco- of the next 14 hours, Herren tin and heroin, didn't leave the back seat of Chris Herren is not a role his car. model. His acts are not, as Oddly enough, he was told the title is defined, to be emu- he'd have a drug test that lated, same day. Herren, 36, was one ~ Herren was sent of the top high school ~ to a five-day resi- basketball players in dential treatment the country. He was program. He admit- recruited by the likes ted, though, of sim- of Syracuse and Duke, ply going through among many other top- the motions. tier Division I schools. Herren soon "I had a very bright was introduced to future," said Herren, By KEVIN Oxycotin. Ever the who spoke to a crowd SPRADLIN opportunist, he later of at least a few hun- moved on to heroin. dred people, young and old, on His salary with the NBA's Den- May 18 at the Skookum Creek ver Nuggets was funding his Event Center in Kamilche. $25,000-a-month drug habit. Over the course of two "I was a full-blown junkie," hours. Herren told his audi- Herren said. ence how a series of decisions At age 32, he hit rock bot- he made basically took those tom. A friend reached out and dreams and booted them into offered to pay for a six-month the next galaxy, in-patient drug treatment While on full scholarship program. at Boston College, he re- He left treatment only turned to his dorm room one once -- for the birth of his night. His roommate and a third child -- a son named friend were snorting cocaine. Drew. "I had never seen cocaine Herren said for four hours before," Herren said. "As a he held his newborn son, with big tough guy, I (felt I) had to his two other chilren at his prove myself." side, "sober and proud." Herren told himself he'd Then he called his drug do it just this once, "and I'm dealer. never going to do it again." "I left my kids stranded at That single night helped the hospital." kickstart a personal battle Herren is a convicted felon. with drugs that complicated Herren is a drug addict -- the lives of his wife. three one who has been clean since children, parents and numer- June 4, 2008, but an addict ous friends and colleagues, just the same. He failed two more drug Much of what Herren, a tests at Boston College and paid speaker to audiences was kicked offcampus. Her- across the country, said at ren had a second chance at Skookum Creek Event Cen- Fresno State and played for ter seemed rehearsed. legendary coach Jerry Tar- During a post-talk ques- kanian, tion-and-answer session, In one game. he scored 29 ~hough, he made it clear his points in team's 93-82 loss to path in life is not one to be fol- Duke on Nov. 27. 1998. lowed. It's one to be avoided. "It was the best game of But his message is a good my college basketball career," one. In part, he asked Mason Herren said. County parents to ask tough Scouting analysts were questions of their children abuzz with news that Herren and their actions, even -- or was all but guaranteed to be especially -- in situations a first-round pick in the NBA where "you don't want to ask draft. Such a selection would it" for fear of the answer. have guaranteed a minimum It might be the best way to $1.5 million salary. - help your kid. PAPERBOY • • • It was a 1948 Ford model 8N wheel he put it into gear. It was that Tractor, red and cream, I think, easy and I was driving a tractor. My Grandpa was an 1898 mod- So when friend wife and I finally el and so for him, I suppose, it was had our place in Maxville built and a new machine, lacking in just some basic grading In my memory it was my fifth (moving dirt and boulders) I began birthday and my Morn and the rest to look for a more of my family were visiting her par- ~ modem version ents on the farm, a few miles away ~ of that tractor to from her birthplace in rural east- ~ call my own. em Nebraska. My brother My Grandpa asked me how old suggested that I was and when I replied, "five," he I get a Bobcat looked up toward the ceiling and or some other said, "five? Well then, you're old such skid loader. enough to drive a tractor." They're more He took me out to the farmyard By TOM maneuverable and climbed onto that tractor and MULLEN and practical. He someone, I think my Morn probably is vastly more worried to death, boosted me onto knowledgeable his lap and he told me to push the than I when it comes to moving start button, dirt. We both descended from a The tractor chugged to life and couple generations of plumbers and with my hands on the steering he still runs the family business. But I didn't want a skid loader, I wanted a tractor. When I was 12 my brother gave me the helm of a John Deere 4010 which was pulling a hay-baler. My Uncle Marcus, who by then ran my Grandpa's farm, was walking between the rear of the tractor and the baler we were pulling, help- ing the baler feed itself so it would neatly spit out a bale of hay on the back end. By the time I got that tractor into gear it was seventh gear that I found and within seconds I had the tractor on its rear wheels and tear- ing offinto its highest speed. Had my brother not been there at my shoulder, the tractor's speed would have soon overtaken my un- cle who was already running faster than any man I'd ever seen, as he tried to escape the jaws of the baler. My brother popped the tractor out of gear and that was probably the last time I drove a tractor for nearly forty years. My search for a more modem Ford tractor took me to Missoula where I noticed a mid-80s version of what I sought. About the time I graduated from high school (1979), the Iowa Department of Transpor- tation began using modem versions of the 8N and some of those beasts are still in use so I figured it must be a good tractor. The salesman talked me into a new Kubota instead. It didn't cost much more and Kubota was, at the time, offering a nothing-down, zero- percent financing deal and he was willing to throw in a mower and the insurance. It was 2009 and I think they hadn't been selling many tractors. The man who delivered it to me provided me with about two hours of invaluable training and then left me there, to my own devices. My own devices, when it comes to using a tractor, were few. So it was difficult for me to go against my brother's advice but when he first came to visit and saw my new Kubota, I could see he understood. And he gave me my best lessons. Go slow. And wear that seat belt. A boy wishes for many material things and ifhe's lucky he gets a few. But few of those things measure up to his expectations. My tractor was, and still is, an exception. It has done great things for me. It moves objects that would oth- erwise be unmovable. It starts up rain or shine, despite the temperature. And it is orange. Shelton-Mason County ~) i i ii She~ton-Mason County Journal is a member of usPs 492-800 Washington Newspaper Publishers' Association. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Shelton-Mason SUBSCRIPTION RATES: County Journal, RO. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584. $37 per year for Mason County addresses, Published weekly by Shelton-Mason County Journal, Inc. $51 per year in state of Washington but outside at 227 West Cota Street, Shelton, Washington Mason County, $61 per year out of state. Mailing address: P.O. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584 Telephone (360) 426-4412 * www.masoncounty.com Owned and published by Periodicals postage paid at Shelton, Washington 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 representative Front office: Donna Kinnaird, bookkeeper Margot Brand, circulation Cricket Carter, mailroom supervisor Composing room: William Adams, graphics Pressroom: Kelly Riordan, production manager Travis Miller, press operator Page A-4 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, May 24, 2012