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| June 28, 2012 Shelton Mason County Journal |  |
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JOURNALEDITORIAL
KOMENCOMMENT
A local boxing
legend stands
before me
recognized him the minute we
saw him walking toward us on
Shelton's Railroad Avenue. "Aren't
you Larry Buck?"
Yes, it was indeed Larry Buck. Right
here in downtown Shelton, we have run
into the prizefighter who once was ranked
eighth in the world for the light heavy-
weight title. He has the face of a veteran
fighter, a visage strikingly similar to the
weather beaten face of movie tough guy
Charles Bronson.
Any fight fan of the '60s and '70s knows
of Larry Buck. He had some of the most
titanic battles ever seen
in the rings of the Pacific
Northwest. His toughness
was legendary; his right
hand was fearful, his left
hook devastating and his
body blows laid out many
an opponent.
He fought in rings
from Yakima to Edmon-
By JOHN ton; from St. Paul, Minn.,
KOMEN to Anchorage, Alaska;
from Spokane to Seattle.
His last fight was in 1972
LETTERSTOTHEEDITOR
in Johannesburg, South Africa.
It was in Seattle where Larry Buck
fought some of the most memorable bouts in
Northwest ring history, fights still remem-
bered by long-time boxing aficionados. His
opponents included Northwest punchers
legendary for their strength and toughness
• in the ring. Larry Buck fought the highly
ranked Andy Kendall three times; battled
the unrelenting Bill Schellhas. He won a
hard-earned ninth-round TKO over Schell-
has. He lost a heartbreaking 10-round deci-
sion to another ranked Northwest fighter,
Roger Rouse.
Against Andy Kendall, Larry Buck lost
a tremendous 12-round fight in Portland,
Ore., and then had two draws in equally
dramatic rematches against Kendall in
Seattle. Those two draws were 2/3 of the
draws on Larry Buck's record.
To this day, Larry Buck disputes those
draw decisions. "I really felt the three
draws were wrong," he says. And he still
insists several of his six losses "were very,
very close and could have gone my way."
His ring record for 36 bouts is 28-5-3,
with 21 knockouts; not bad for a boxer who
got a late start in his professional career.
His amateur ring record is an outstanding
122-7. He was a championship high school
boxer in the 1950s when high schools in-
cluded boxing as a regular sport.
He won the state high school boxing
championship and had been offered a full-
ride scholarship to be on the Washington
State College Boxing Team. He never got
there. WSC and other colleges eliminated
their boxing programs the year Larry Buck
graduated from Toppenish High School.
In Toppenish, Larry Buck followed in the
footsteps of his father. "My dad campaigned
as a middleweight during the '30s," he re-
calls. "I can remember reading his press
clippings."
He may be known as Larry Buck; he
refers to himself as "Larry Buck", and his
admirers call him Larry Buck. But he isn't
really Larry Buck.
His real name is Larry Little. That's the
name on his mailbox at his home on Fawn
Lake.
His manager, the legendary George
Chemeres, early on told him there already
were boxers named "Little." So Larry Little
became Larry Buck.
From Fawn Lake, Larry Buck keeps an
eye on the old Northwest boxing fraternity.
They're a diminishing breed. Age has taken
its toll. Old friend and one-time opponent
Bill Schellhas died last year. Leo Lomski
and Al Hostak are gone; Freddie Steele
passed away years ago; and only recently
Irish Pat McMurtry, one of Larry Buck's
closest friends, died in Tacoma.
Larry Buck, in his 75th year, has his
health and his memories of a boxing ca-
reer that made him one of the state's best-
known athletes.
• John Komen, who lives on Mason Lake,
was for 40 years a reporter and editor, TV
anchorman, national TV network correspon-
dent, producer, columnist, editorial writer
and commentator. His column, Komen Com-
ment, appears each week in the Shelton-
Mason County Journal.
Don't become a statistic -- celebrate responsibly
• any people will take advantage
of the Wednesday holiday next
.week to jump-start their festivi-
ties. As you make plans to celebrate our
nation's 236th birthday, we urge you to
put safety at the top of your list.
The State Fire Marshal's Office re-
ported 476 fireworks-related injuries
and fires in 2011 with the majority of
the incidents occurring on the Fourth
of July holiday. The report also noted
that males between the ages of 15 and
21 years caused most incidents and that
there was more than $5 million in resi-
dential property damage as a result of
the fires.
Washington has consistently ranked
in the top ten states for the number of
fatalities caused by driving under the
influence.
Mason County mourned the loss of a
father and his young son who drowned Mason County has had more than its
in Lake Limerick when a canoe tripfair share of heartbreak the first half
turned tragic. Neither wore a life pro- of 2012 and we hope we won't have to
server, report on yet another preventable death
Tragedy can, and does, strike in aover the holiday period.
blink of an eye. We also ask you to remember our
Fireworks should only be set off by a troops, past and present, who continue
responsible adul{ and in an area safe -- to fight for freedom around the world.
and legal -- to do so. Be mindful of your Without their courage and conviction,
surroundings and never point or throw there would not be an Independence Day
fireworks at another person, to celebrate.
If your holiday plans include enjoy-
ing the abundant waterways of Mason Hundreds of volunteers completed
County, don't forget your life jacket or more than a dozen projects for non-profit
personal flotation device, organizations across the county last
Alcohol doesn't mix with fireworks, Thursday during the fourth annual Unit-
water or driving. Keep in mind that DUI ed Way of Mason County Day of Caring.
laws apply to the operation of all motor- Our thanks go out to all who donated
ized vehicles, including boats. We can't their time and talents to paint, clean,
say it too often -- if you drink, don't tend gardens, sort, organize and help
drive and if you drive, don't drink, where needed.
Save our
fairgrounds
Editor, the Journal
Nearly three weeks has
passed since the Port of Shelten
presented their 'leairgrounds
Future Use" plan. I hope that
everyone is just waiting to find
the right words to respond --
otherwise the option is that no-
body really cares if we preserve
our fairgrounds, and this is a
difficult reality to come to terms
with.
Here is the plain truth about
our fairgrounds. On Dec. 31,
2013, the fairgrounds is sched-
tiled for demolition. There is
no new fairgrounds in the near
future. The county has made
that quite clear. Meanwhile, in
an odd twist of fate, the Port of
Shelton has reached out to the
people in Mason County to let
them weigh in on the issue.
So what does this mean to
you? Well, you may enjoy the
fair or rodeo, you may happen
to stop by Oysterfest with your
friends, you may have a busi-
ness in the area that enjoys
the sudden influx of weekend
visitors with one of the events
like the Puget Sound Endure
Rides or the Gig Harbor Kennel
Club. Perhaps you or a family
member celebrated in one of the
many buildings. Maybe your son
or daughter spent time in 4-H.
Whatever the reason, whatever
the connection, this is your fair-
grounds and it is desperately in
need of your support.
The fact that the Port of
Shelton Commission has invited
the community to decide what
is best for the future of the fair-
grounds is very encouraging. At
the regular chamber meet-
ing, Commissioner Jay Hupp
proposed a plan for the com-
munity to explore the possibility
of leaving the fairgrounds in
its present location to allow for
local events to have some "per-
manency." Commissioner Dick
Taylor supported his proposal,
stating that the commissioners
"are the elected officials, the rep-
resentatives of our community"
and that they need to formulate
a plan representing the wishes
of the community and "go to the
FAA and say %ere is the voice of
the community to do this." The
draft plan presented by Hupp
includes a background on how
the fairgrounds reached its po-
sition and proposes an opportu-
nity to explore a resolution that
rebuilds local trust in the port.
One of the concerns outlined
is that tax dollars far exceed
grant money provided by the
FAA and that it was time to find
a balance. His five-point plan in-
cluded the option ofremo~ng or
relocating or possibly mitigating
some of the existing buildings
to comply with FAA aviation
safety requirements while leav-
ing key facilities in place. Port
Executive Director John Dobson
proposed moving the facility in
its entirety to a new location
on the pert property that is not
within the area of concern. Both
suggestions are a positive step
for Mason County citizens and
users of the fairgrounds.
Mason County Commissioner
Steve Bloomfield, in attendance
at the meeting, expressed
gratitude to the Port of Shelton
Commission for addressing
these hard questions. He fur-
thor added that it wasn't just a
county or port responsib'flity, all
entities need to offer guidance
and leadership. He stressed that
it was important for the whole
community to get involved.
Here's the issue. The public ,
has until July 31 to provide
input on the plan. Currently
only a handfall of people have
responded. Please take the time
to read the document available
at www.port0fshelton.com and
write a response to this glimmer
of hope.
Do you want to continue to
have Oysterfest in your com-
munity? Say that. Do you like
having a place for fair, 4-H and
FFA? Speak up. Do you want to
be able to have access to trails,
buildings, grounds that your
friends, families and neighbors
built? Let them know. Input
on the plan can be as simple
as a note saying you have good
memories of the Mason County
Fairgrounds and you don't want
to see it leave. Silence will only
buy us another vacant piece of
land in Mason County.
For the last three years we
have fought valiantly alongside
the fair board to save a fair in
Mason County after the county
dropped it in 2009. That fight
was worth it for the fair and
it is even more worth it for
the grounds. We need to raise
awareness of the facilities' pos-
sible uses, attract more annual
events and ultimately establish
a viable financial future that
can justify the formation of a
local foundation to steward its
operations. The goal is that this
facility will eventually be main-
tained by community members
and be able to generate funds
that can be used for upkeep,
improvement and much needed
social enrichment programs in
Mason County.
Please take the time to add
your voice before it is too late.
Rachel Hanson.
Shelton
Blame the
government
Editor, the Journal
A letter to update the folks
as to one, just one of our liberal
government's attempts to pro-
mote more jobs in this country.
The FDA wants to ban mail
order cigar sales, walk-in humi-
dors (cigar stores) and too many
more items to mention.
As I begin to consider all
this, the company I deal with in
Florida ships 3,000-4,000 boxes
of cigars, plus close to 500,000
catalogues a month, by the
USPS. And this is only one com-
pany. It appears the pest office
is going to take a big hit soon.
Eventually, we may need marl
delivery only once a week.
I also have become aware re-
cently that the Obama Admin-
istration's stifling regulations
are forcing closure of large coal
mining operations in the East,
necessitating massive layoffs.
Gosh, I wonder if this will raise
the price of heating for some
folks.
So much for jobs.
Richard Reineman
Shelton
Replace,
candidates
Editor, the Journal
Lynda Riffg Erickson, who
along with Tim Sheldon recently
cost the taxpayers $114,000 in
a discrimination lawsuit filed
against Mason County, would
like to replace Fred Finn in the
Legislature.
I wonder: If we voters send
Lynda to Olympia, is it possible
for her to behave badly enough
as our state representative to
have similar settlements occur
with the State of Washington
as the defendant -- rather than
Mason County?
These lawsuits are always.
settled with taxpayers' dollars,
so I am thinking we have done
enough for Lynda. Even if the
county's "insurance" company
pays the settlement amount, we
taxpayers get nicked for higher
premiums because our leaders
are magnets for lawsuits.
The prosecuting attorney's
office probably keeps such
facts close to their vest, but one
wonders just how many law-
suits against the county have
occurred on the watch of Tim
Sheldon and Lynda Ring Erick-
son.
We taxpayers might want
to replace these candidates,
this time around, with some
more level-headed candidates.
It would be nice to have com-
missioners who will not cost
the taxpayers more than the
really generous salary and
benefits package we already
provide!
Mason County voters should
be thinking long and hard about
returning Tim to his seat on the
Board of County Commissioners
and sending Lynda to the Legis-
lature and ask yourselves: Can
we really afford to keep paying
these two salaries and benefits
while also paying the plaintiffs
in the settlements reached in
the lawsuits they inspire?
Katherine A. Price
Shelton
Stop focusing
on tents
Editor, the Journal
I read with dismay the article
about "temporary tents" at the
farm stand on Mountain View
and the fact that these might be
unsafe as a reason for removing
them, or the fact that a business
has gone over the allotted time
to set up metal structures.
I will tell you what is un-
safe, a "Keep Out" sign on the
burned-out house across the
street from the library. With
regard to concern about build-
ing compliance issues, what
about code issues (or lack theroi)
which is ruining Shelton.
I oi~ten walk around the hills
and downtown area of Shelton.
What I see are nice houses with
kept lawns next to houses that
haven't seen a mower in years,
or temporary metal structures
ready to fall down which were
intended to house RVs, or gar-
bage cans left out in front of
houses 24/7, or a plethora of cars
parked on the lawn or all over
the property that are no longer
in use.
Hawthorne Lane used to be a
nice street on Angleside. Today,
many houses have RVs and too
many cars parked all over the
place.
It reduces property values for
anyone wishing to buy in that
area. Some of the behaviors of
people demonstrate little neigh-
borly concern compared to those
of us who grew up in Shelten
and now see deterioration.
Instead of spending 11
months dealing with a perfectly
presentable farm stand, let's
improve the community as a
whole by hang commissioners
implementing codes that actu-
ally increase property values.
We have a lot of homeless
people getting services from
the community. It's time some
of them give back by operating
a lawn mower and helping im-
prove the commtmity.
It's time the city leaders and
the person in charge of codes
and enforcement have discus-
sions on how to improve Shel-
ton and not spend time, money
and resources on farm stands
which are not the problem in
this town.
Lorraine Demler
Union, WA
See Letters on page A-5
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