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What's Cookin'?
Nancy fancies being grandma
By REBECCA WELLS
Retiring was such a great expe-
rience for Nancy Plews, she's going
to do it again some day. In May of
2005, spunky, laid-back Nancy de-
cided to retire from Mason County.
She first started working for the
on-site sewage division of the Ma-
son County Office of Environmen-
tal Health in November of 1984.
By the time she left, she was
working as a support clerk in the
permit assistance center, which
meant she dealt with building and
planning, as well as environmen-
tal health. More than 100 people
turned out for a blowout affair
held in her honor at Lake Limer-
ick.
"The girls at the office, as well
as some of the guys, they out-did
themselves. They really did," she
says. "It was a wonderful retire-
ment party and it was just so very
well attended and all the festivi-
ties surrounding that month were
just outstanding. It overwhelmed
me and it actually humbled me
to think that that many people
thought well enough of me to come
and celebrate my retirement with
me."
Little did she know at the time
that she would be back in the of-
rice again by the end of the year.
She was still too young to collect
government benefits as a senior
citizen, so now she's back at it, but
only on a part-time basis. She said
this "suits me very well. I'm very
happy with that, actually. Had I
known that I would be so happy
with part-time, I would have just
asked for a transtr."
These days she spends less
time assisting clients at the front
counter and more time behind
the scenes as a file clerk, a posi-
tion which really fits her. "They
laugh at me. I really do like hav-
ing things kind of neat and orga-
nized and in order," she says.
She started this line of work
while working in Pierce County.
Then she met her husband, Gary,
who is originally from Mason
County, having attended grade
school in Union, ad well as the
old Shelton Junior High and then
Irene S. Reed,High School.
She and Gary now have four
children and nine grandchildren
between the two of them. Most of
their children and grandchildren
live in Shelton, the exception be-
ing one daughter, her husband
and their two children. Having the
young ones nearby thrills Nancy,
who is very involved in her grand-
children's lives.
THE GRANDCHILDREN
range in age from 21/2 to 17. "I get
what I call my 'grandma fix' rou-
tinely, frequently," she says.
The youngest grandson, Kallen
Plews, was born with a number of
complications, including a hole in
his heart, and this required that
he spend the first nine months of
his life at Mary Bridge Children's
Hospital. His heart has now been
fixed and the little toddler is pro-
gressing to the point where he is
beginning to talk. The child re-
turns to the hospital on occasion
for surgeries and doctor appoint-
ments and nutritionists and ther-
apists are still working with him,
helping him eat through a feeding
tube.
"He's not out of the woods on
that one yet. It seems like a long
time to pray for that little guy,"
says Nancy.
RETIRED AND back again, Nancy Plews is having fun
wprking part time, while spending the rest of her energy
on her family, church and community organizations.
Friends and family all around
Puget Sound have been praying
for him ahmg this whole journey.
"The community has come along
with him on that journey and has
just been extremely suiportive,"
she says. The boy's parents have
handled the whole situation very
well, Nancy says proudly.
Nancy and Gary belong to the
United Methodist Church of Shel-
ton, where they serve as ushers.
In her free time, Nancy enjoys
sewing. She has sewn Halloween
costumes for her grandchildren
and makes shawls to match her
granddaughter's evening gowns
for dances and formal occasions. "I
don't go cheap," she says.
She and Gary enjoy boating
and have been members of the
Shelton Yacht Club for 20 years.
Nancy also belongs to the Sher-
wood Guild of the Mason General
Hospital Foundation. She is par-
ticularly involved with the group's
annual March fund-raiser, Cook-
ing with Xinh.
Every January, she and Gary
also enjoy taking a break away
from this area and spending a few
weeks visiting family in Florida.
This winter, however, they didn't
go to Florida. Instead, they post-
poned their travels until April and
took a major trip for five days to
Arlington, Virginia, where her
parents' ashes were committed to
Arlington National Cemetery. The
couple took five of their grand-
children with them, plus a daugh-
ter and son-in-law, making for a
grand total of nine travelers from
Shelton. Family from Florida and
Illinois also made the trek to Ar-
lington for the memorable event.
"IWE HEARD from almost ev-
ery grandchild that they were just
blown away," Nancy says.
She was very impressed by the
interest they expressed in visiting
the Smithsonian Institution, the
Library of Congress and numer-
ous historical monuments. They
even had special arrangements
through connections with an in-
tern in Congressman Norm Dick's
office, who took them on a tour
of the Capitol building. In spite
of the harsh, windy weather dur-
ing the outdoor ceremonies, the
grandchildren behaved very well
during the funeral service for her
parents, John and Irma Davis.
Nancy's parents had served
their country during World War
II, he having retired as a lieu-
tenant colonel in the U.S. Army
and she as a lieutenant in the
nursing corps. Her father's rank
earned him the highest military
honor for burial at Arlington and
qualified his funeral for the "full
works," complete with a carriage
drawn by elegant horses carrying
the couple's ashes together, a live
band performance, an escort and a
21-gun salute.
ON GARY'S SIDE of the fam-
ily, cancer of one form or another
has claimed the lives of his parents
and his sistersJThat's one reason
he and Nancy support the Shelton
Relay For Life by attending the
annual Friday night luminaria
services and making monetary
contributions to several teams, es-
pecially Team Marlene, which is
organized in memory of Marlene
Peste Davison, who graduated
from Irene S. Reed High School
with Gary's class in the Fifties.
Gary, who is retired from a job
with the Washington State De-
partment of Health, last year trav-
eled twice to Mississippi as part of
mission trips to offer aid to people
affected in the wake of Hurricane
z.
130 YEARS OF RAYONIER
A Photograph Exhil00it
June 22 through September 3, 2007
L.ou nty Historical Muscum
427 West ]ailroacl Avenue
Shelton, Washington
360-426-1020
h|seum lh,urs
'lhes,lay- Friday 11 AM - 5 I'M
Saturday 11 AM .,- 4 Phi
[;ree admi,si,m; donati, ms accept,d
Rayonier
Page 16 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, June 14, 2007
Katrina. Nancy stayed at home,
supporting his endeavors by help-
ing him prepare.
"I guess you could say I'm just
support staff- not only at work
but at the house. I support my
grandchildren. I support my hus-
band around the house," she con-
templates.
He is a volunteer firefighter for
Mason County Fire Protection Dis-
trict 13, as well as serving as fire
commissioner and volunteer for
District 4. He spent several years
as a wildland firefighter with the
Washington State Department of
Natural Resources. This kept him
out of the house virtually all sum-
mer long as he was constantly re-
sponding to wildfires.
"I kept the house going and
things going here," Nancy says.
"And that's all I ever really wanted
to be. What did I want to be when
I grew up? I just wanted to be the
best wife and mother, you know? I
didn't aspire for a career to break
the glass ceiling. I didn't want to
be president or manager of some
major company. I just wanted to
go and support them the best that
I could. If it meant typing a letter,
okay, typing a letter it was. If it
meant fixing a meal, okay, that's
what it was. If it meant staying
up with a sick grandchild or child,
okay, that'g what it was. And I
have found fulfillment in that."
Nancy's "wickedly..good" black-
bottom cupcakes have become
pretty well-known throughout
family, church and fire depart-
ment circles.
"They know that they're spe-
cial when they get their black bot-
toms," Nancy says. She learned the
recipe from her mother-in-law.
Black Bottom Cupcakes
Ingredients:
1 C. cream cheese
1 unbeaten egg
1/a tsp. salt
1 6-oz. pkg. chocolate chips
11/2 C. flour
1 C. sugar
1/4 C. cocoa
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. soda
1 C. water
l/a C. oil
1 Tbsp. vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla
Preparation:
Combine cream cheese, egg,
sugar and salt. Beat well. Add
chocolate chips. Sift flour, sugar,
cocoa, salt and soda together in
another bowl. Add water, oil, via"
egar and vanilla.
Put chocolate batter in mufftn
tin. Add cream cheese mixture 0a
top. Bake at 350 degrees Fahren"
heit for 30 to 35 minutes. Makes
24 cupcakes.
2007
This camp is a complete dance
education experience. It is a
2-1/2 hour session for children ages
3- I/2 to ! 2. Sessions are available
for older students.
The sessions include:
Creative DanCe
Beginning Ballet
Folk Dance
Dance History
Healthy Body
Lessons
Nutritious
Snacks
.' Art
Music
6/25 - 6129
9:30am- 12p ff
6125 .-'9
1-3:30pro
Ages 5 to 6
For additional information, contact:
Peters" Theatre of Dance
(360) 426-1827
grande jete@qwest:net
Think of Treasures as your 7-day.a-week
Buy Donate * Volunteer
Donation hours: Monday-Saturday 10-5 Sunday 12 -/}
TREASURES TnmFr STORES
305 & 317 W. Railroad Ave, Downtown Shelton
Volunteers Needed & ADDr
!
Mon.-Sat. 9:30anl-5:3Opm (Bookstore to 5pill) ] " "
s... , I.,,,-sl.,., ,o,,k..,t,,,,, ,,p,. tt su.. onlyl I 427-3838 " 432-2641
7/.,,,.
wz'fhout excep0000n
that OCCU
personnelare
courteous, friendly,
knowledgeable and
very attentioe
to 4 my
fi,00c,'dn00,Js. "
_
Here h's persOt00d'
Shdton l'hna McCleary 800.426-5657
vx:ourcu.com
What's Cookin'?
Nancy fancies being grandma
By REBECCA WELLS
Retiring was such a great expe-
rience for Nancy Plews, she's going
to do it again some day. In May of
2005, spunky, laid-back Nancy de-
cided to retire from Mason County.
She first started working for the
on-site sewage division of the Ma-
son County Office of Environmen-
tal Health in November of 1984.
By the time she left, she was
working as a support clerk in the
permit assistance center, which
meant she dealt with building and
planning, as well as environmen-
tal health. More than 100 people
turned out for a blowout affair
held in her honor at Lake Limer-
ick.
"The girls at the office, as well
as some of the guys, they out-did
themselves. They really did," she
says. "It was a wonderful retire-
ment party and it was just so very
well attended and all the festivi-
ties surrounding that month were
just outstanding. It overwhelmed
me and it actually humbled me
to think that that many people
thought well enough of me to come
and celebrate my retirement with
me."
Little did she know at the time
that she would be back in the of-
rice again by the end of the year.
She was still too young to collect
government benefits as a senior
citizen, so now she's back at it, but
only on a part-time basis. She said
this "suits me very well. I'm very
happy with that, actually. Had I
known that I would be so happy
with part-time, I would have just
asked for a transtr."
These days she spends less
time assisting clients at the front
counter and more time behind
the scenes as a file clerk, a posi-
tion which really fits her. "They
laugh at me. I really do like hav-
ing things kind of neat and orga-
nized and in order," she says.
She started this line of work
while working in Pierce County.
Then she met her husband, Gary,
who is originally from Mason
County, having attended grade
school in Union, ad well as the
old Shelton Junior High and then
Irene S. Reed,High School.
She and Gary now have four
children and nine grandchildren
between the two of them. Most of
their children and grandchildren
live in Shelton, the exception be-
ing one daughter, her husband
and their two children. Having the
young ones nearby thrills Nancy,
who is very involved in her grand-
children's lives.
THE GRANDCHILDREN
range in age from 21/2 to 17. "I get
what I call my 'grandma fix' rou-
tinely, frequently," she says.
The youngest grandson, Kallen
Plews, was born with a number of
complications, including a hole in
his heart, and this required that
he spend the first nine months of
his life at Mary Bridge Children's
Hospital. His heart has now been
fixed and the little toddler is pro-
gressing to the point where he is
beginning to talk. The child re-
turns to the hospital on occasion
for surgeries and doctor appoint-
ments and nutritionists and ther-
apists are still working with him,
helping him eat through a feeding
tube.
"He's not out of the woods on
that one yet. It seems like a long
time to pray for that little guy,"
says Nancy.
RETIRED AND back again, Nancy Plews is having fun
wprking part time, while spending the rest of her energy
on her family, church and community organizations.
Friends and family all around
Puget Sound have been praying
for him ahmg this whole journey.
"The community has come along
with him on that journey and has
just been extremely suiportive,"
she says. The boy's parents have
handled the whole situation very
well, Nancy says proudly.
Nancy and Gary belong to the
United Methodist Church of Shel-
ton, where they serve as ushers.
In her free time, Nancy enjoys
sewing. She has sewn Halloween
costumes for her grandchildren
and makes shawls to match her
granddaughter's evening gowns
for dances and formal occasions. "I
don't go cheap," she says.
She and Gary enjoy boating
and have been members of the
Shelton Yacht Club for 20 years.
Nancy also belongs to the Sher-
wood Guild of the Mason General
Hospital Foundation. She is par-
ticularly involved with the group's
annual March fund-raiser, Cook-
ing with Xinh.
Every January, she and Gary
also enjoy taking a break away
from this area and spending a few
weeks visiting family in Florida.
This winter, however, they didn't
go to Florida. Instead, they post-
poned their travels until April and
took a major trip for five days to
Arlington, Virginia, where her
parents' ashes were committed to
Arlington National Cemetery. The
couple took five of their grand-
children with them, plus a daugh-
ter and son-in-law, making for a
grand total of nine travelers from
Shelton. Family from Florida and
Illinois also made the trek to Ar-
lington for the memorable event.
"IWE HEARD from almost ev-
ery grandchild that they were just
blown away," Nancy says.
She was very impressed by the
interest they expressed in visiting
the Smithsonian Institution, the
Library of Congress and numer-
ous historical monuments. They
even had special arrangements
through connections with an in-
tern in Congressman Norm Dick's
office, who took them on a tour
of the Capitol building. In spite
of the harsh, windy weather dur-
ing the outdoor ceremonies, the
grandchildren behaved very well
during the funeral service for her
parents, John and Irma Davis.
Nancy's parents had served
their country during World War
II, he having retired as a lieu-
tenant colonel in the U.S. Army
and she as a lieutenant in the
nursing corps. Her father's rank
earned him the highest military
honor for burial at Arlington and
qualified his funeral for the "full
works," complete with a carriage
drawn by elegant horses carrying
the couple's ashes together, a live
band performance, an escort and a
21-gun salute.
ON GARY'S SIDE of the fam-
ily, cancer of one form or another
has claimed the lives of his parents
and his sistersJThat's one reason
he and Nancy support the Shelton
Relay For Life by attending the
annual Friday night luminaria
services and making monetary
contributions to several teams, es-
pecially Team Marlene, which is
organized in memory of Marlene
Peste Davison, who graduated
from Irene S. Reed High School
with Gary's class in the Fifties.
Gary, who is retired from a job
with the Washington State De-
partment of Health, last year trav-
eled twice to Mississippi as part of
mission trips to offer aid to people
affected in the wake of Hurricane
z.
130 YEARS OF RAYONIER
A Photograph Exhil00it
June 22 through September 3, 2007
L.ou nty Historical Muscum
427 West ]ailroacl Avenue
Shelton, Washington
360-426-1020
h|seum lh,urs
'lhes,lay- Friday 11 AM - 5 I'M
Saturday 11 AM .,- 4 Phi
[;ree admi,si,m; donati, ms accept,d
Rayonier
Page 16 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, June 14, 2007
Katrina. Nancy stayed at home,
supporting his endeavors by help-
ing him prepare.
"I guess you could say I'm just
support staff- not only at work
but at the house. I support my
grandchildren. I support my hus-
band around the house," she con-
templates.
He is a volunteer firefighter for
Mason County Fire Protection Dis-
trict 13, as well as serving as fire
commissioner and volunteer for
District 4. He spent several years
as a wildland firefighter with the
Washington State Department of
Natural Resources. This kept him
out of the house virtually all sum-
mer long as he was constantly re-
sponding to wildfires.
"I kept the house going and
things going here," Nancy says.
"And that's all I ever really wanted
to be. What did I want to be when
I grew up? I just wanted to be the
best wife and mother, you know? I
didn't aspire for a career to break
the glass ceiling. I didn't want to
be president or manager of some
major company. I just wanted to
go and support them the best that
I could. If it meant typing a letter,
okay, typing a letter it was. If it
meant fixing a meal, okay, that's
what it was. If it meant staying
up with a sick grandchild or child,
okay, that'g what it was. And I
have found fulfillment in that."
Nancy's "wickedly..good" black-
bottom cupcakes have become
pretty well-known throughout
family, church and fire depart-
ment circles.
"They know that they're spe-
cial when they get their black bot-
toms," Nancy says. She learned the
recipe from her mother-in-law.
Black Bottom Cupcakes
Ingredients:
1 C. cream cheese
1 unbeaten egg
1/a tsp. salt
1 6-oz. pkg. chocolate chips
11/2 C. flour
1 C. sugar
1/4 C. cocoa
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. soda
1 C. water
l/a C. oil
1 Tbsp. vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla
Preparation:
Combine cream cheese, egg,
sugar and salt. Beat well. Add
chocolate chips. Sift flour, sugar,
cocoa, salt and soda together in
another bowl. Add water, oil, via"
egar and vanilla.
Put chocolate batter in mufftn
tin. Add cream cheese mixture 0a
top. Bake at 350 degrees Fahren"
heit for 30 to 35 minutes. Makes
24 cupcakes.
2007
This camp is a complete dance
education experience. It is a
2-1/2 hour session for children ages
3- I/2 to ! 2. Sessions are available
for older students.
The sessions include:
Creative DanCe
Beginning Ballet
Folk Dance
Dance History
Healthy Body
Lessons
Nutritious
Snacks
.' Art
Music
6/25 - 6129
9:30am- 12p ff
6125 .-'9
1-3:30pro
Ages 5 to 6
For additional information, contact:
Peters" Theatre of Dance
(360) 426-1827
grande jete@qwest:net
Think of Treasures as your 7-day.a-week
Buy Donate * Volunteer
Donation hours: Monday-Saturday 10-5 Sunday 12 -/}
TREASURES TnmFr STORES
305 & 317 W. Railroad Ave, Downtown Shelton
Volunteers Needed & ADDr
!
Mon.-Sat. 9:30anl-5:3Opm (Bookstore to 5pill) ] " "
s... , I.,,,-sl.,., ,o,,k..,t,,,,, ,,p,. tt su.. onlyl I 427-3838 " 432-2641
7/.,,,.
wz'fhout excep0000n
that OCCU
personnelare
courteous, friendly,
knowledgeable and
very attentioe
to 4 my
fi,00c,'dn00,Js. "
_
Here h's persOt00d'
Shdton l'hna McCleary 800.426-5657
vx:ourcu.com