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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
September 20, 2012     Shelton Mason County Journal
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September 20, 2012
 
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Shelton-Mason County Journal Courtesy photo Thanks to Habitat for Humanity of Mason County and their own efforts, the Morris family are now homeowners in Shelton's Timberlakes neighborhood. Moving in last month were Michele and Keith Morris, their 4-year-old son Dayton, and their 2-year-old twin daughters Jordyn and Jenna. By GORDON WEEKS tion Laboratory, and she had left her gordon@masoncounty.eom job when she was pregnant with the twins. "There was stress: 'Wow, these bills Homeless people slept under the are coming to so much - can we afford apartment building's external stair- it?'" she said. well, pressed up against the ground-lev- The Morris family's fortunes were el window of the bedroom that housed transformed last month when they Keith and Michele Morris's toddler son moved into their own home in Shelton's and l-month-old twin daughters. Mold Timberlakes neighborhood, thanks to flourished in the dilapidated Shelton Habitat for Humanity of Mason County apartment, the bathtub wouldn't drain and their own efforts. The 20th house properly and the toilet constantly over- constructed by the non-profit organiza- flowed, tion features three bedrooms, one bath- "It was all we could afford," said Mi- room and a laundry room. chele, a Mason County resident since Suddenly, there is less stress, Mi- age 7. chele said. The family improved their lot by"Now we don't ha~e to worry about mowng into a rental home owned by Mi- moving, ever," she said. Her husband is chele's grandfather, but the house was now in the 11th month of his new job at poorly insulated. Dayton, 3, couldn't Taylor Shellfish. stay warm sleeping in the den, and had The family represents the ideal Hab- to share a bedroom with his siblings, itat beneficiary, said Christine Roha, Jordyn and Jenna. affiliate manager of Habitat for Hu- And then there were the money mat- inanity of Mason County. ters. said Michele. Her husband had "The thing that I like about the Mor- been laid off first from Mason County rises is they show how having a house Forest Products and then Sims Vibra- really affects your life, she said. Habitat for Humanity of Mason County is a faith-based housing minis- try that partners with the community to improve, maintain and build quality housing for those in need. Since 1996, the Mason County chapter has worked with 20 families with 54 children to put them in their own houses, while reha- bilitating many other structures. The Morris home was built through a partnership with Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and their alliance, Thri- vent Builds with Habitat for Human- ity. The organization provided 55 per- cent of the funding for the Morris house through a grant and donations. Faith Lutheran Church in Shelton raised al- most $11,000 for the house and donated many volunteer hours.~ The Morrises chose the colors of paint for their house, as well as the cabinets, countertops, flooring and appliances. "It truly felt like we went through a contractor," Michele said. The family also contributed 200 hours of "sweat equity" alongside friends and See Habitat on page B-6 WHAT'SCOOKIN' Nice work, Block party collects 550 pounds of food for Saint's Pantry By NATALIE JOHNSON natalie@mas°nc°unty'c°rn Through good times and bad, the Saint's Pantry Food Bank has provided food to struggling Mason County families. Lately, donations have been slow, threatening the food bank's backpack program for local school children in need of weekend meals. When Father Joe Mikel of St. David of Wales Episcopal Church in Shelton found out about the food bank's dilemma, he coordinated a community block par~y to raise funds and donations for the food bank. On Saturday, multiple com- munity and church organiza- tions came together to make that block party a reality. They collected almost 550 pounds of food for the food bank. The event was free to the public, but attendees were en- couraged to bring a non-perish- able food item. Saint's Pantry Executive Director Steve Russell said the block party was all Mikel's idea. "St. David's initiated it. Fa- ther Joe (Mikel) came to us and said he wanted to have a block party and wanted us to be the recipient." he said. "Anything is a help." . Local band The Varmints performed and donated a rare guitar to a raffle to earn money for the food bank. Area churches and United Way of Mason County had booths at the event. The block party included crafts for children, a bouncy house, food and games and a dunk tank. Russell said donations to the food bank can usually meet the demand for food on Tues- day and Wednesday mornings, when it is open to the public. However, other programs are in jeopardy. Journa photo oy Natahe Johnson Lexi Fuller, 5, and her grandmother Julie Lofgren participate in a craft table at Saturday's community block party hosted by the St. David of Wales Episcopal Church in partnership with other community organizations and area churches. The event raised money and danations for the Saint's Pantry See Party on page B-6 Food Bank. Thursday, Seot, Igebra students Congratulations to Connie Bing- ham and her Algebra I students who graduated last year from Pioneer School. Ninety-five percent of them passed, so now, as high school freshman, they are enrolled in a sopho- more algebra class. Good going guys and gals! It is the garden club's season to shine. The Harstine Island Garden Club welcomes members and guests at 7 p.m. tonight for its meeting at the Harstine Community Club. Come and learn how to make hard cider! I know I talked about pie last week, but just in case you missed it, Sept. 29 is a day when we can have our pie and eat it, too! The inaugn- By DANIEL ral Harstine Island Community Club's FRISHMAN "Pie Contest" is sure to please. So bakers, pull out your award-winning pie recipes and bring your pie (no entry fee) to be judged at the Community Hall. Drop off your pie from 9-11 a.m. Judging begins at noon. The winning pie baker will re- ceive a $100 cash prize and a beautiful plaque. Once judging is complete, the pie feast begins! You can either buy a slice or an entire pie. All proceeds ben- efit the Harstine Community Club. If you have questions about the contest please call Bill Shoaf at 670-9645. Don't miss the final Saturdays of the Harstine Island Farmers Market. Only five more left. Also, mark your calen- dar for the annual Apple Squeeze on the closing day of the market, Oct. 13. There will be no Community Emergen- cy Response Team (CERT) training this month. Next training is set for Oct. 3. Drew MacEwen, the president of the Mason County Chamber of Commerce, was the guest speaker recently at the Pioneer Kiwanis Club. He spoke about the many activities of the local cham- ber and various issues affecting the Shelton and Mason County business c.ommunities. Some information that I found particularly interesting was that the chamber has 330 members, 50 per- cent of the Mason County workforce See Harstine on page B-6 20, 2012 - Shelton-M ason County Journal - Page B-1