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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
August 30, 2012     Shelton Mason County Journal
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August 30, 2012
 
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JOURNALEDITORIAL K©MENCOMMENT legend will be missed The TV screen went black last month. J.P. Patches left us, and an era of North- west television went with him. If you ever watched J.P. Patches on KIRO- TV -- and millions of us did--you were forever one of Patches Pals. Yes, his was a children's program aimed at keeping the little ones occupied in the mornings and afternoons. The idea was to free Mommy (and Daddy, too) from child rearing chores just long enough to get house work done. But it wasn't long before a lot of those Mommies and Daddies were right there with the children watching J.P. And that was be- cause a lot of the humor that emanated from Patches' TV D home at The City Dump had a certain adult appeal. No, J.P. didn't deal in anything scandalously sug- gestive. Heaven forbid! But what he did with wonderful effect was make light of a current situation that both By JOHN entertained the youngsters KOMEN and brought knowing grins to their parents. His guests might include a local celeb- rity or politician, and the sly fun he had with "umans are creatures of habit. We shop the .same grocery stores, fish at the same location and even take the same route to work each day. Maybe it's time that we take a step out of our comfort zone, like a number of Mason County residents did earlier this summer. During a Shelton Presby- terian Church mission to San Jose. Costa Rica. three adults and eight teens spent about two weeks building a home for a couple whose 7-month- LETTERSTOTHEEDITOR USPS 492-800 An open letter to them kept the boys and girls entertained and Simpson the adults chuckling. J.P. Patches I aka Chris Wedes. was the last Editor, the Journal of the hugely talented crop of children's TV This is an open letter to program hosts that adorned local TV channels the Reed Family, owners of for years. Those shows are all gone now. We Simpson Investment and remember them only by an occasional rare Green Diamond Resource documentary of those bygone years, a docu- companies. mentary that likely would be seen only on the Your company, Green local PBS station. Those kind of documenta- Diamond. wants to sell fbr rms don't lend themselves to today's program- development purposes 250 mmg of constant commercial interruptions, acres of timberland at Lake But if you remember J.P. Patches on chan- Nahwatzel. We could discuss nel 7, then you likely remember Brakeman how that's been conducted. Bill on channel 11. A pleasant chap in overalls but that's not the point of and railroad cap, presiding over a wonderful this letter model railroad. His delighted studio guests The Reed thinily's timber- were little gn'ade-schoolers, enthralled with related companies have been Brakeman Bill and his sarcastically irritating good for the community and pal Crazy Donkey, a sock puppet played by your fhmily. You are blessed the talented but unseen Warren Reed. ( Reed With wealth beyond tmagina- was seen later in the broadcast day as the late tmn ibl mo~,t of us. You have movie-show host, usually dressed in outra- shared that wealth in many geous costumes.) ways. We are grateful for And if you'~'e a Patches Pal, you probably that. also remember Stan Boreson of King's Club- Change is upon Mason house with his sad-eyed floppy-eared basset County and the Reed family's hound No Me Shun: SheriffTex. a singing forestlands. The area has swinging cowboy whose unpredictable ways been discovered as a wonder- kept his program directors at their "bleeping" ful place to live. work and switches; and Captain Puget, Channel 4's recreate. Green Diamond's comfortable pipe-smoking mariner aboard his timberlands hold opportuni- studio-moored ketch, ties to capitalize on Mason Then, if you go back far enough, the rich- County's development po- ness of children's programming will be re- tential and no one can blame called with Ruth Prins on KING-TV, first in you for so doing. 1950 as the Story Lady, then in 1953 as Wun- Along with the opportuni- da Wunda. If you were there, the memories ty for financial benefit, how- come back and you can almost hear her sing: ever, comes a responsibility '~Wunda Wunda is my name; to identify unique lands. Boys and girls, £m glad you came. Some of your timberlands We'll have fun as I explain have special values related How we play our Wunda games", to water quality and wildlife Corny, perhaps, But Wunda Wunda -- habitat. Lake Nahwatzel is Ruth Prins -- was wonderfully talented and one of those properties. tastefully costumed when she hosted her Its waters are clean and program, live sometimes with unforeseen the undeveloped shoreline consequences. There was the time when a full- is a treasure of increasingly grown lioness was her "pet" on the program, rare lowland lake habitat. [ts and the supposedly "tame" guest clamped proximity to vast forestlands her jaws down hard on Wunda Wunda's right and adjacent wetland habi- arm. Ruth Prins kept on as if it were part of tats make it an exceptional the show, and eventually the lion let go. part of your ownership. There are others who made their appear- Those qualities are at risk by ances as children's show hosts. Briefly, there those who want to develop was Dinwoodie Fuhrmeister his real name those lands. -- who portrayed story-telling "Dandy Din" on We citizens of the lake find Tacoma's KTNT-TV. He was soon pre-empted ourselves engaged in a war by Bugs Bunny cartoons, we neither want nor can at- Outlasting them all was J.P. Patches. Ju- ford. We do it because we be- lius Pierpont Patches was his full name. He lieve Lake Nahwatzel's north and his very funny sidekicks -- his girlfriend and northeastern shores are Gertrude, Ketchikan the Animal Man and worth fighting for. Do we Boris S. Wart -- held our TV attention ~ child have a personal interest? Ab- and adultl from 1958 to 1981. After that, he solutely. We wouldn't oppose enthralled thousands more in his personal ap- a deeply funded corporation pearances, if we didn't have deep, gut It was hard to believe J.P. Patches was 84 level feelings. years old when it was announced that Chris Beyond the attorneys, le- Wedes early on a Sunday morning in July had gal maneuvers, hearings, et passed away. al, is a deeper issue: What kind of legacy do you. the • John Komen, who lives on Mason Lake, Reed family, want to leave?' was for 40 years a reporter and editor, TV an- Do you want your legacy to chorman, national TV network correspondent, be one of mining every last producer, columnist, editorial writer and com- dollar out of your timber- mentator. His column, Komen Comment, ap- lands? pears each week in the Shelton-Mason County Or do you want to leave Journal. a legacy that recogmzes a small portion of your timber- lands deserve to be protected If Shelton-Mason County llJ, in perpetuity? ~, I~: i~, ~IV£~L~ ~ ~|i NO one especially those of : ~ : ~ i ~ ~ us at Lake Nahwatzel, want --- she/ton-Mason County Journal is a member of 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: RO. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584 Telephone (360) 426-4412 • www'rnas°nc°unty'c°m Owned and published by Periodicals postage paid at Shelton, Washington Shelton-Mason County Journal, Inc old baby suffers from a heart condition. They volunteered. They painted. They played music for physically challenged chil- dren. It's the first time members of the church sent a mission team out of the country. "I don't think most Ameri- cans really understand how hard things are in most other countries ... We have it really good," said 18-year-old Den- ver Garcia. who was among the group. He's right -- we're too stuck in routine to think about how good we have it. No matter your religious beliefs, you can always give back. Sure, the economy has rattled everything we do. It's shaped who we are and af- fects just about every aspect of our lives. Sometimes we have a hard time knowing if we will be able to pay the rent. But eveh among these un- knowns, we're glad to know that many Mason County res- idents are still looking to help others. They're not too caught up in their own problems to recognize the dire obstacles facing the unfortunate. So if you have the means to do so, take a step out of your comfort zone. Volunte~v at an assisted living facility. Help walk dogs at the animal shelter. Or maybe just check in on an elderly neighbor on occasion and see if he or she needs help. / You never know -- maybe you will be the one in need someday. You'd want the same for yourself. the Reed family's companies to be harmed. Your success is our success both from eco- nomic and environmental standpoints. You have a chance, as you plan for the future, to create a legacy for which the true value fully will become ap- parent many years from now. That legacy could stand tall beside your legacy as a first- rate forestland manager. Or not ... Malcom Dick Jr. Lake Nahwatzel Thanks to WSU Extension, 4-H Editor, the Journal I would like to take this opportunity to thank the lo- cal WSU Extension Office, 4-H Council and everyone involved in Mason County's 4-H camp at Panhandle Lake. This camp has been our 9-year-old grandson's first time attending a camp, which this 4-H camp has been a tremendous experi- ence for him. It is amazing to see all of the planning, hard work, volunteer hours, dona- tions and sweat (since camp week was a scorcherJ come together for everyone's camp experience. For anyone not familiar with the camp, you can go online to view stunning pho- tos of Panhandle Lake. and who wouldn't want to just spend a week there? Not only have you provided an excep- tionally great week for our grandson and other campers, but you have contributed a lifetime of experience and valuable life skills that these young people will use and treasure forever. Sonya Asche Shelton Vote for job Editor, the Journal Today you hear many poli- ticians talk about creating jobs and getting the economy going. Very few of them have any training or actual experi- ence doing so. They have no track record of facilitating economic growth. We are fortunate to have a congressional candidate who actually creates jobs for a liv- ing every day. That person is Derek Kilmer. He has a real track record of success both as a professional economic development specialist and as a state senator. Derek has been helping small businesses for many years. He began his profes- sional career as a manage- ment consultant at McKinsey & Company. For the past decade he has been the vice president of Economic De- velopment Board of Tacoma- Pierce County, a non-profit that helps attract and keep good local jobs. Derek has worked with hundreds of lo- cal businesses to make them more successful so that they can employ more workers with better wages and benefits. As a state senator, Derek has been successful in expand- ing our economy and helping small businesses. For those efforts Derek has been recog- nized by the Washington Eco- nomic Development Assocm- tion as "LEADER of the Year" on three occasmns. Derek was instrumental in facilitat- ing the construction of a new regional hospital that created 450 jobs and saved lives. This year, he facilitated the pas- sage of a bipartisan jobs bill that will create 20,000 jobs across Washington. In this time of economic hardship, we need to hire a congressman who can get people back to work. Derek Kilmer has the best resume: a real track record creating jobs. That's why I will be voting for Derek Kilmer in November. John Bolender Shelton A tune to sing Editor, the Journal Song lyrics revisted and recently updated with a new verse, for your review: Title (of your choice) Gonna dig me a hole, dig way down deep "Til I reach that gray gold of Johns Prairie Then I'll fill that deep hole with Adage ash "til full Oh, the Adage ash hole is the one for me. Gonna pack up our home, soon time to leave If we see the building of this facility We'll leave and we'll mourn for the loss of ou r dear home But, when Adage comes to town it's time to be free. As things turned out Ad- age left town But, it's still not time to let our guard down Lets vote out the ones who'd muck up the air and ground New county commissioners must be .found. Karen Skinner Shelton Play by the rules Editor, the Journal The most anticipated time of year for me will come soon. I am a bow hunter and I spent lots of time scouting the elk herds. Last year the second day of bow season, Green Diamond closed its lands t? entry. I still have last year's article. Randall Greggs stated, "We cannot emphasize enough the importanc~ of protecting our timberlands from fire." That is certainly understand- able. however, I checked the gate areas on the camp two side, those gates off Highland Drive and the Dayton Peak area. In every case there was evidence of quads entering in and exiting. At the end Of Mary M. Knight Road there was traffic around the gate. Many of these entrances could be blocked to quad entrance they were not. I am 68 years old and willing to walk in to hunt. I know that I cannotl run fast enough to spark a fireland I don't believe that my bow can create the energy to spark afire. My pOint is. if Green Diamond will not allow me to enter lands by foot to hunt, at least do something about the illegal entry of those that never play by the rules A1 Walp Shelton Primary issue Editor, the Journal Voting in the primary elec- tion was disappointing. The turnout was initially esti- mated to be about 31 percent. I wonder if other potential vot- ers had some difficulty finding out much about the candidate, as did I. No voter pamphlet, which was a great source of informa- tion in the past. I followed your advice and went to the com- puter and went to vote411.org but found most candidates had not sent in information. Then I wondered if low turnout might have been the result of no voter pamphlet and no online information; seems to make sense to me. But we know that an informed electorate makes better deci- sions. Maybe the Shelton-Ma- son County Journal needs ~o step in for fi4.ture elections ~nd provide detailed submissioias from the candidates. Letters to the Editor the: previous few weeks were fine, but come on. Letters of sup- port from your brother-in-law or next door neighbor are npt a substitute for the good old fashioned voter pamphlet and not everyone has a computer. / William Zeigler Shelton See Letters on page A-5 Karl Sleight, publisher Newsroom: Adam Rudnick, editor Natalie Johnson. reporter Gordon Weeks, reporter Emily Hanson, sports reporter Advertising: Composing room: Dave Pierik, Sr. Acct. Executive William Adams, graphics Sharee Miller, ad representative Maggie Burdick, ad representative Pressroom: KelliAlexander, ad representative Kelly Riordan, production manager Travis Miller, press operator Front office: Mary Northover, press assistant Donna Kinnaird, bookkeeper Margot Brand, circulation Cricket Carter, mailroom supervisor Page A-4 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012