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WEEKLY PLANNER
l l l
By DEAN SIEMON
The path from Belfair's
North Mason High School to
the Seattle Mariners' open-
ing day game back on April
8 at Safeco Field just "fell
into place" for Jason Koenig.
Koenig, a 2002 North Ma-
son graduate, directed the
music video for "My Oh My,"
a single from Seattle based
hip-hop artist Ben Hagger-
ty, better known as Mackl-
emore.
The video was a tribute to
not only Mariner baseball,
but the passing of legendary
broadcaster Dave Niehaus,
who died in November 2010.
Koenig had grown up
loving the sport of baseball
during his childhood in the
North Mason area.
His parents had season
tickets to the Seattle Mari-
ners and every weekend
was spent in section 309 at
the Kingdome during the
1990's, in the upper deck be-
hind home plate.
"They were the best cheap
seats in the house," Koenig
said.
He would continue to at-
tend games with his brother,
Jeremey, and other North
Mason School District stu-
dents Jacob Bogue and Jeff
Summitt.
This group would also
begin collecting autographs
every game they went to,
including any of the visitors,
beginning in September 22,
1993, when Nolan Ryan,
then a member of the Texas
Rangers, pitched his final
game.
~[Ivan] ~udge' Rodriguez
gave me Ryan's warm-up
ball," Koenig said. "And I
got Mackey Sasser's auto-
graph."
Summers were spent ei-
ther playing baseball, going
to Mariner games and even
to see the Tacoma Rainiers,
the triple-A minor league af-
filiate for the Mariners asso-
ciation.
"When I stopped getting
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"Some gas cars slightly higher;
diesel vehicles not included.
2nd Shelton exit off Hwy 101
Macklemore music
II
li
IS
mmm
open."
ferent projects.
One of those projects was
a music video for the song
"Otherside," which was a
Photo courtesy of Roosevelt (Seattle) High
Schoog work in progress when the
Jason Koenig news announced on Nov.
10, 2010 that Niehaus had
autographs when I was 16, passed away.
we tallied it up and had Haggerty began to write
about 85 percent of all of a tribute song that included
M dor League Baseball," what was one of the best mo-
Koenig said. ments in Mariner history -
An injury suffered during October 8, 1995 during the
his senior season led to him Americal League Division
placing a gap between him- Series against the New York
self and baseball, with all Yankees.
of his autographs and other An Edgar Martinez
memorabilia packed intodouble in the bottom of the
boxes to sit in his parents' 11th inning brought in Ken
garage. Griffey, Jr., who .beat the
"When I got injured, I throw at home for the 6-5
didn't enjoy baseball quite win, which was a highlight
so much," he said. for the franchise that came
But he would develop a from nowhere to be basebll's
second passion in photegra- Cinderalla that year.
phy, taking the high school's The moment capped a
photography class with season that Keenig remem-
Frank Greer, who has since bered. But his favorite too-
then retired, ment was when the Mari-
ners won a playoff game
"The photo program was
quite good and a numberfor the AL West against the
of kids went on to continue California Angels on Octo-
photography," Koenig said. ber 2 at the Kingdome, es-
"I would definty not be doing pecially since his family and
photography if it were not friends skipped school and
for the photorgahy program work on that Wednesday af-
with North Mason. ternoon and joined the mob
that invaded the field after
After high school gradu-
ation, Koenig took a seines- the 9-1 win.
ter at Olympic College in "That was basicaly the
Bremerton, but kept going story of the '95 Mariners,"
back to photography. Koenig said. "They were
He began to work a about 10 or 15 games back
freelancer to make extra with a month left in the sea-
money artd was a..cc epted to son."
attend Brooks Institute of Word of Niehaus' death
Photography in Santa Bar- came to the attention of
bera, Calif. Haggerty, Lewis and Koenig
"I figured if I could make on the set of=Otherside."
that much money doing pho- "We filmed half of it and
tography for tultJon, then in the middle of filming the
maybe I didn't need to go, second time through, Nie-
Koenig said. haus died and [Haggerty]
At age 18, he bought a wrote the song literally on
business license and began an iPhone, Koenig said.
taking portraits and worked The video was filmed
within a 36-hour poried at
his way up.
He crossed paths with local little league fields in
Ryan Lewis six years ago, downtown Seattle with Mar-
who was the music produc- iner highlights spliced in.
er with Haggerty and was But Haggerty felt some-
hired to work on several dif- thing was missing - some
baseball memorablia.
We will be Closed
for Memorial Day
Weekend. Saturday
May 28 through
Monday May 30. We
will reopen Tuesday
By
Russ Oenney May 31st at 6:30 a.m.
CLEANERS & TAILORS
Monday-Friday 6:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
Saturday 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.
Serving She~ton and 215 South Second
Mason County for 84 years 426-3371
knew I was a base-
ball guy without knowing
my childhood," Keenig said.
"I spent two hours digging
all the memorbflia out of my
parent's garage."
The footage of the King-
dome imploading consisted
of photographs taken by
Summitt, one of Koenig's
childhood friends that went
with him to Mariner games
during high school.
The music video was post-
ed on YouTube in January
and the proceeds for the vid-
eo were given to the Rainier
Vista Boys and Girls Club.
"Once we put it out, it had
100,000 views," Keenig said.
After a few months, the
video gained popularity
amongst fans and national
media before hearing from
the Mariners organization.
"Then we got a message
from the Niehaus family
that they absolutely loved
the video," Koenig said.
Message also came from
fathers who said that they
connected with their sons
when watching the tribute
video and from players like
Griffey who said they were
emotional when watching
the video.
All of this led to the video
being shown before the Mar-
iners home opener against
the Cleveland Indians,
where Koenig got to stand at
Safeco Field with Niehaus'
family. , .....
"It:::felt liR'e:;:tliis! ddeo, ,
wanted ~o be made,~'h~ said.
"All the doors wanted to be
open.n
Koenig still runs his wed-
ding photography business
in 8eattl0 and acts as
an assistant junior varsity
baseball coach at Roosevelt
High School.
He said the best thing to
come out of the VIy Oh Mr'
video was the number of
youths discovering a passion
for the Mariners, who were
not even around when the
double called by Niehans
was heard around the world.
"It's been cool how much
this song has increased the
number of kids wearing
Mariners' hats and old jer-
seys," he said.
Friday, May 27
BASEBALL Shelton Timbers 17U at Legion Field
Tournament in Bremerton, TBD
SOFTBALL North Mason High School at 2A WIAA
Softball Championships (at Carlon Park in Selah), Noon
TRACK AND FIELD Shelton High School at 4A
WIAA Track and Field Championships (at Mount
Tahoma High School in Tacoma), 10 a.m.; North
Mason High School at 2A WIAA Track and Field
Championships (at Mount Tahoma High School in
Tacoma)
Saturday, May 28
BASEBALL Shelton Timbers 17U at Legion Field
Tournament in Bremerton, TBD
SOFTBALL North Mason High School at 2A IAA
Softball Championships (at Carlon Park in Selah), TBA
TRACK AND FIELD Shelton High School at 4A
WIAA Track and Field Championships (at Mount
Tahoma High School in Tacoma), 10 a.m.; North
Mason High School at 2A WIAA Track and Field
Championships (at Mount Tahoma High School
in Tacoma); Mary M. Knight High School at 1B
WIAA Track and Field Championships (at Eastern
Washington University in Cheney), TBA
Sunday, May 29
BASEBALL Shelton Timbers 17U
Tournament in Bremerton, TBD
at Legion Field
Monday, May 30
BASEBALL Shelten Timbers 17U
Tournament in Bremerton, TBD
at Legion Field
Tuesday, May 31
BASEBALL North Thurston 17U at Shelton
Timbers 17U (at Shelton High School), 6 p.m.
Wednesday, June 1
BASEBALL Shelton Timbers 17U at North
Thurston 17U (at North Thurston High School in
Lacey), 6 p.m.
Coming up
South Mason Youth Soccer Club is now taking regis-
tration forms for players ages 3 to 17 for leagues begin-
ning on June 27. Forms are available at the soccer park,
Shelton Civic Center or online at smysc.org. Cost is $40
per player, $65 for two, $90 for three and $125 for four.
Deadline for registration is May 31.
Shelton Parks and Recreation has scheduled the Her-
shey Track and Field Meet for June 2 at Shelton High
School for boys and girls, ages 9-14 as of Dec. 31, 2011.
Registration starts at 5 p.m. with the meet starting at
5:30 p.m. Participants will need to bring a copy of a birth
certificate. For more information, contact Shelton Parks
and Recreation at 432-5194 or at mziegler@ci.shelton.
wa.us.
Tour De Mason Lake, a 32-mile bicycle ride during the
Mason County Forest Festival, is scheduled for i0 a.m.
on June 5. Check in begins at 10 a.m.in the parking area
in front of Anytime Fitness in Shelton. Cost is $25 and
includes a commemorative -sl rt and water bottle. Por
more information, call 426-2600.
Shelton Kings youth football sign-ups are scheduled
to be held at the Shelton Wal-Mart on Saturday, June
18. Cost per player is $100 for senior varsity, $85 for mi-
nor, junior varsity and varsity and $35 for flag. For more
informaiton, contact Todd McPhee at 239-0282 or Denny
Temple at 426-7023.
All recreational and youth sports results and news
must be sent to the Shelton-Mason County Journal by 5
p.m. on Tuesday if they are to be printed in the upcom-
ing issue of the Sports section. No exceptions will be
made. For more information, e-mail dean@masoncoun-
ty.com or call 426-4412.
*MP3 s
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Advance
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Every Saturday at 11:00 a.m.
FREE with membership
. Sauna/Steam Room • Personal Training
Weight Training. Swimming. Aerobics Classes
. Racquetball. Tanning • Cardio • Massage
t
Now in progress--
See schedule at
www.sheltonathleticclub.com
Just South of Downtown Sheiton on Highway 3
Stop in today at 707 South First Street
Call 426-1388 or email us; sacOhctc.com
Check us out on the web at sheltonathleticclukcom
Hours: Mon-Fri 4:30am-gpm, Sat & Sun 7am-3pm
Page C-2 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, May 26, 2011