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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
August 18, 2011     Shelton Mason County Journal
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August 18, 2011
 
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Shelton-Mason County Journal By NATALIE JOHNSON 12 years, and started donating blood that restrict how often she can go to regularly about 43 years ago. At that the blood bank. A person can't give Marilyn Olson just turned 75, but time, individuals who donated blood blood ff they have any illness or have that number isn't the one on her mind. before a relative went through surgery a low iron count. Additionally, indi- Olson's favorite numbers this week could get free transfusions in the hos- viduals can only give 5 pints of blood are 208 and 26. About two weeks ago, pital. When the mother of Olson's sis- a year. she donated her 208th pint of blood, ter-in-law needed surgery, Olson gave "I've been bleseedwith good health," equaling 26 total gallons of blood do- blood and has been doing it ever since, she said. nated in her lifetime. "I think people need to do things Olson said her most memorable• do- "It's a small thing, it's something for other people - practice the golden nation experience was giving blood for anyone who's healthy can do, but only rule," she said. "I started giving when- her own infant granddaughter during 5 percent of people do it," she said. ever I thought about it." Olson has lived in Shelton for about Olson said there are some things See Blood on page B2 Journal photo by Natalie Johnson Marilyn Olson re- cently donated her 208th gallon of blood. COOKIN' B~, NATALIE JOHNSON In the modern age we live in, when food is genetically poked and prodded, flash fro- zen and artificially ripened and, in short, grown and harvested more by machines than human hands, small farms are disap- pearing so rapidly the census no longer includes "farmer' as a major occupation. However, a small but dedi- cated following of foodies and farmers across the country, sometimes called "locovores," are leading efforts to bring back small farms and loc~ produce. here in Mason County, such as Nick Browne and Kelsey Mar- tin-Keating, who own and op- crate Highwater Farms in the Skokomish Valley. Martin-Keating calls Browne the "plant whisperer," for his skill and dedication to nuturing unusual types of produce, such as fava beans or dark red De- troit beets. "(Browne) has the magic touch," she said. "He says nice things to his plants ... he really grows amazing vegetables? Browne responded, "You just spend time with them.., see how they're doing." Browne has been build- ing Highwater Farms in the ,/ /, /" Journal photo by Natalie Johnson Nick Browne works in the hot house, or =hoop house, at Highwater Farms. Skokomish Valley for nine biochemistry, he was faced with years. After growing up in De- either working in a lab or tak- treit and graduating from col- ing a leap of faith with the farm, lege with a bachelor's degree in he said. "It was what I needed," he said, "So i decided to stay here and utilize the opportunities I had." Beginning each year in April, Browne cleans up after winter flooding and plants the farm's small fields with fresh crops. The farm generates between 500 and 600 pounds of greens alone every summer. Its crops range from green and fava bage, lettuce, onions, garlic, peppers, tomatoes and more, most of which are endangered or heirloom varieties. There is also a century old fruit orchard with apples, pears and cherries, and a hot house for plantS need- ing a warmer environment. Highwater Farms is also hoqle to chickens, ducks, occa- sional pigs, two resident sheep and two goats, a hive of report- edly friendly honey bees to pol- linate crops, a malamute dog named Montana and a Siamese cat named Norman. said the Skokomish Valley is~ simply the best place in Mason County to have a small farm, most of all because of fertfte soft that is nine and a half feet deep. "It's best-suited for just about anything. We have really good weather. We have full sun from sun up to sun down everyday, we basically dry farm, I have no sprinklers," Browne said. However, persistent flooding in the fall and winter months ends most farm operations by late October. Most years, the farm floods up to two and a half or three feet of water, Browne said. In 2007, water flooded their house and caused extensive damage. "The last five years have been the top five floods," Mar- tin-Keating said. "It's a trade off -- we have this amazingly fertile soft." Browne has a particular phi- losophy on food that centers around farming organically, but also being efficient - wasting as little as possible and recycling constantly. "So much food is being wast- ed - it's more important to use local than waste food," he said. Browne feeds his chickens, See Farming on page B-2 Membership dues play vital role in commun,ty I think we are all hoping for a long extended summer, but just in case that doesn't happen, it would be nice to have October and November high- lighted with those leaves. At last week's Community Club meeting there was a vote on what pic- tures should be included in the 2012 Harstine Island calendar. There were numerous entries and the top 12 were selected. The picture chosen for October shows a stand of maple trees in full fall color. It would be nice if we had more of these varied and MIKE rainbow-like trees on CALLAGHAN the island. With only one way on and off the island, it would be easy to plant just a few maples and dogwoods within the first 100 feet or so of the bridge and it would brighten up arrival on the island after those gray clouds begin to dominate the day. CERT will meet tonight (Thurs- day) at 6:30 p.m. at the fire station next to the community hall. The second senior lunch for August will be served Wednesday, Aug. 24. It will be for those of you who live on the' island and are 50 and older. The doors open at noon at the community hall. They will have baked chicken, dressing with gravy, green salad, fruit cobbler and crisp. They ask for a $3 donation. The chance to meet friends and new friends are great, but get there a little early because it's reported that more than a 100 people have been showing up to take advantage of this great deal. The island is a wonderful place and one of the things that really makes it great is the community hall. I bring this up because one of the ways island- ers raise money to keep the hall in See Harstine on page B-2 By JOURNAL STAFF Six students and two advisers at- tended two national conferences this summer. The first conference was held on June 26 thru 29 in Chicago. Over 500 students and adults from across the na- tion attended this national SADD (Stu- dents Against Destructive Decisions) conference. The participants attended five general sessions and many work- shops. Workshop topics included bully- ing, underage drinking, traffic safety, suicide prevention, fundraising and distracted driving. The general session speakers included Craig Tornquist, Ed- die Slowikowski and Kevin Brooks. The students got the opportunity to see the San Francisco Giants and the Chicago Cubs play at Wrigley Field, go to the Navy Pier, go to the Taste of Chicago and take a beat cruise on Lake Michigan. The Shelten High School SADD re- ceived a national award for their project • on ~exting and driving." They received a grant from State Farm Insurance and the National Youth Leadership Council. The second conference was held July 14 thru 19 in Honolulu, Hawaii. This conference was called NSSP (National Student Safety program). This confer- ence dealt more with traffic safety topics such as distracted driving. Our SADD club put on a workshop on ~ and driving." Also, the Shelton High School SADD received national recognition in three categories: second place for their top community service project, second place for =Top Safety Club" and Stepha- nie Howard was named the "Student of the Year." Stephanie will be the presi- dent of our SADD club for the 2011 to 2012 school year. Last year she served as the vice-president. She will be a se- nior and is an outstanding student and leader. The Shelton High School SADD club raised overt $15,000 to attend these two national conferences and did approxi- mately 25 projects throughout the year to help their school district and the com- munity. Their project of the year was the producing of a nine-minute DVD on ~exting and dr/v/ng." This DVD will be shown at the fall traffic safety educa- tion conference that will be sponsored by WTSEA (Washington Traffic Safety Education Association) and the Depart- ment of Licensing. This conference will See Conference on page B-2 Thursday, Courtesy photo Shelton High School's Students Against Destruc- tive Decisions Club made a pair of out-of-state trips over the summer, including one to Hawaii. Seen here, from left, are Helen Johnston, Ger- ald Apple, Tiffany Ferguson, Stephanie How- ard, Alyssa Mawais, Crystal Webster, Bryanna McLean and Jenny Monnier. August 18, 2011 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Page B-1