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Page A-30 Shelton-Mason Journal Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020
Port of Allyn prepares legislative session items
By Isabélla Breda
isabe/la @masoncounty. com
Port of Allyn commissioners unan-
imously agreed during their Dec.
meeting to send lobbyists to advo—
cate for further funding to complete
the Sargent Oyster House project
and their Recreation and Conserva-
tion Office grant proposal that would
fund Sweetwater Creek Park, during
the 2021 legislative session.
Briahna Murray and Holly Cocci of
Gordon Thomas Honeywell Govern—
mental Affairs — hired by the port
to advocate for portvprojects accord-
ing to the port’s website —— proposed
that the port request $334,360 for
the completion of the Oyster House.
The port received $378,000 from
North Mason groups receive thousands in donations
Journal staff
news@masoncounty. com
The Coalition of Churches in Belfair and North Ma-
son Food Bank are among the 25 organizations that re-
ceived donations from Kitsap Credit Union.
Kitsap Credit Union presented $5,000 checks to
the organizations at its “Holiday Cash & Dash” event
Monday at its Harborside corporate office in downtown
Bremerton.
A total of $130,000 was donated to food banks and
Backpacks for Kids organizations in Mason, Kitsap,
Jefferson and Pierce counties,
In a news release, KCU noted more people are rely-
ing on local food banks and food assistance programs
during these hard times.
“With some food banks serving more people than
the capital budget for Oyster House
renovations in 2019, Murray and
Cocci said.
“I would encourage the port to con-
tinue to make this our main priority
for the upcoming session, especially
given the robust capital budget fund-
ing we’re expecting, and that the
Legislature has a desire to support
economic development,” Cocci said.
“This project creates several jobs, es-
pecially to finish out the project, and
also bringing Visitors into the area,
which in turn supports businesses in
the surrounding area.”
During her report, Commissioner
Judy Scott noted that the roof is fi—
nally on the Oyster House.
When the restoration of the build-
ing is complete it will serve as a mu-
ever, we at Kitsap Credit Union found it crucial to sup—
port our local food banks in a much larger way during
these challenging times,” said KCU CEO Shawn Gil-
fedder.
In 2019, Kitsap Credit Union donated $52,000 to lo-
cal food banks and backpack feeding programs.
During Monday’s ceremony, recipients were greeted
with a musical entrance as they pulled into the drive-
thru event. Each group received a large ceremonial
check, and the real thing.
continued from page A-28
the novel.
“It’s more grounded in real life —
I think that’s kind of important,” she
said.
Many of the story’s motifs come
from Jeffery’s life.
“For undergrad. I went to [Uni-
versity of Californial:,~£esfkgley and I
studied Interdisciplinarystudies and
my focus was international relations
and foreign trade. And then I went to
Vanderbilt University for law,” Jeffery
said. “I ended up taking the bar [exam]
up in Washington state.”
While practicing immigration and
deportation defense in Seattle, Jeffery
fell in love with her weekend excur-
sions into the woods.
“When I lived full time in the Se-
attle area, a lot of my friends, you
know, we would go camping and we
would just, you know, go for hikes
and I realized that the Hood Canal is
a pretty awesome place in the world,”
Jefi'ery said.
. After earning a teaching credential
and moving back to California to teach
social studies at the high school level
and legal studies at Delta Community
College, Jeffery said she was missing
that “awesome place” and bought a
cabin near the canal.
“I don’twant the area to get too
big, because the way it is now it’s,
it’s still a charming place and there’s
just enough amenities,” Jeffery said.
“If you need to get something for your
seum, featuring the history of shell-
fishing‘in North Bay.
The port’s second most critical
project, the Sweetwater Creek Park
project, received preliminary approv—
al from the Recreation and Conserva-
tion Office Funding Board on Nov. 5.
The project proposal will need to
rank 60 out of 80 Washington Wildlife
and Recreation Program grant proj-
ects to be considered for state fund—
ing, Murray said.
“Historically, the rank being
ranked 60 puts us kind of on the cusp
of receiving funding,” she added.
The port is seeking a $486,436
grant from the RCO that will be
matched with $288,813 from the port.
The primary elements of the pro-
posed park include a natural play-
ground, interpretive trail describing
the history of hydropower in Wash—
ington 'and an American Disabilities
Act accessible fishing dock and hik—
ing trail. The project proposal also
states it will restore salmonid access
to 1.2 stream miles of Sweetwater
Creek.
Commissioners Scott and Ted
Jackson added that one of their top
priorities to seek state funding down
the road is adding a sidewalk from
Drum Street to Lakeland Village in
Allyn.
“Recognizing that we have to deal
with [the Washington State Depart:
ment of Transportation] and Mason
County, that’s a safety issue and I
think that should be the next one,”
Scott said.
Shawn Gilfedder, center, president and CEO of Kitsap Credit Union, hands a
ceremonial check
on Dec. 7 for $5,000 to Francine McKinley of Belfair-based Coalition of
Churches as KCU Belfair
branch manager Samantha Massey looks on. Courtesy Photo
house or whatever you can go to hard—
ware stores it has things that you
need. Then, the natural world is all
around you, and it’s unspoiled.”
Beyond the move from the Bay Area
and experiences with diverse people
and perspectives, Jeffery’s encounters
with alcoholism appear in the story.
“You know, we’ve struggled a lot
with getting high school students to ,- '
realize the dangers of drinking and
driving, and especially in a rural area
where you have long stretches of road,”
Jeffery said. “We’ve dealt with those
incidents as a community in Stockton
[California] we’ve had students who
have unfortunately been injured and
one student died from being injured in
a car accident where the other motor-
ist had been drinking.”
Between the natural scenes from
the woods surrounding Belfair and the
Hood Canal, the real-world issues and
the fantasy world, Kiser Kanouse said
the book is enjoyable for all ages.
“It’s cool to not only kind of immerse
myself into this world that she’s de-
scribing and creating but then also to
be in reality,” she said.
The book is available at all of the
major booksellers including Amazon,‘
Barnes & Noble, Walmart eBooks and
Google Play. Autographed copies are
available on the author’s website at
wildasilva.com.
“So yeah, it’s a fantasy story,” Jef-
fery said. “But it also has some real-
world elements in it that I hope to be
helpful to people.”
Author: ‘It’s cool to immerse myself into thisworlclgc’
Akilah Jefferey, retired lawyer, high school teacher and profesor, was in-
spired by the words surrounding Belfair. She recently published “Wilda
Silva, Secret Keeper” about the magical forests. Courtesy photo