December 15, 2011 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
©
Shelton Mason County Journal. All rights reserved. Upgrade to access Premium Tools
PAGE 9 (9 of 22 available) PREVIOUS NEXT Jumbo Image Save To Scrapbook Set Notifiers PDF JPG
December 15, 2011 |
|
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader ![]() |
Shelton-Mason County Journal
By NATALIE JOHNSON Varley and Hayes have already "We want to hear your story," he
scheduled a bridal fashion show fund- said.
Now that Joseph Varley has so- raiser for December at The Bend on Varley, a veteran himself, is inter-
cured donations to build a local chap- Hood Canal, which is sold out. The ested in promoting programs to help
ter of the nationwide program known proceeds from the show will benefit veterans in Mason County and be-
as Horses for Heroes, he's on to the the dream wedding program, yond.
next project- helping veterans get Brides interested in getting in- This fall, Varley started work-
their dream wedding, volved with the next fashion show in ing to open a local program to treat
Varley, the owner of Shelton wed-January can call 426-3119. veterans with Post Traumatic Stress
ding store Before You Say I Do and Varley and Hayes are still in theDisorder (PTSD) using horses as
Martha Hayes, wedding consultant process of fundraising and getting therapy animals, known as Horses
and assistant manager of the shop, community support, but they hope to for Heroes.
plan to give away one dream wedding have the first wedding by February. Since then. Varley has had an
to an area veteran every quarter in "I've wanted to do this for a long amazing showing of support from the
2012, or about every three months, time," he said. community, he said
"They ought to be able to have a To suggest a couple for the dream"It's wonderful," Varley said.
dream wedding,"Varleysaid. "Every- wedding program, Varley said he "We've had overwhelming response.
body I talked to wants to be involved." wants future brides or grooms to We had people come forward and of-
Varley has already secured a venue write him a letter to tell him why they for their property and offer to build a
for these dream weddings - The Bend deserve the dream wedding, facility."
on Hood Canal, a getaway locationLetters can be emailed to Joseph-Varley hopes to have classes at the
near Union. varley@hotmail.com, facility by spring 2012.
Journa prloto Dy Natalie Johnson
Joseph Varley and Martha Hayes of Shelton
wedding store Before You Say I Do are
working to raise funds to provide dream
weddings to veterans.
NARST[NEISLANDNEWS
Upcoming cuts
could cost us
our safety
Journal photos by Natalie Johnson
The valley near the north fork of the Skokomish River has a radically different look from the dry lakebed
of Lake Cushman. The reservoir is partially drained, leaving parts of Skokomish Park -- formerly Camp
Cushman -- that are normally underwater exposed.
New ranger works to restore Skokomish Park
By NATALIE JOHNSON "I'm very blessed to have the OlSl~ortunlty
to be working here. This is right up my al-
Patrick Palmer spent much of his child- ley of what I like to do."
hood in the Boy Scouts, and much of his Palmer, who recently became the new
adult life leading scout projects in national park ranger for Skokomish Park, formerly
parks in Mason County and beyond. Camp Cushman and Lake Cushman State
Now, he said, it's his dream come true Park, has the necessary experience to
to be managing such a park. qualify him to be a park ranger, he said.
"It's beautiful, it's pristine," he said. For six years, Palmer served in the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, doing work in
Iraq during the Gulf War, as well as in the
Philippines and Turkey. He also ,worked to
remove land Mines in Somalia.
Palmer got a degree in design in 1997
and was an architect for 15 years, spend-
ing time in Hawaii and working closely
with native tribes -- particularly a burial
rights council there.
It was this experience that helps Palm-
er understand the significance of the
520 acres in the Skokomish Park to the
Skokomish Tribe, he said.
"This is their ancestral homeland," he
said. "It means a lot to me to be out here
on a sacred place like this."
The Skokomish Tribe recently acquired
the land as part of a settlement over a
long-standing dispute with Tacoma Pow-
er, which operates the Cushman Dam.
Lake Cushman is partially drained
right now, offering a truly unique and rare
opportunity to see the land as it might
have been before the Cushman Dam flood-
ed the area that used to be the far end of
the north fork of the Skokomish River,
the ancestral homeland of the Skokomish
people.
Standing in the dry lakebed and point-
ing out areas where archeological sites are
almost always covered by water, Palmer
said he values the land that belonged to
the Skokomish people and he feels privi-
leged to be entrusted to help preserve it.
"This is where their home was," he said.
".~ lot of folks don't understand why it's so
It's starting to feel a lot like Christ-
mas. I enjoy driving down Railroad
Avenue with all the Christmas deco-
rations that Shelton has put up. And
then there all the neon signs that have
been restored thanks to Forrest and
Amy Cooper. Shelton just reminds me
of that old-time town where you want
to stroll the streets and do a little
window-sho~pping and maybe even buy
agift or two that you can put under the
tree.
So, get out there and enjoy the beau-
ty of our town.
Barbara LaJune
and her band of elves
are going to make
sure that there will
be a Christmas din-
ner this year on the
island. So, if you feel
like joining in on
MIKE Christmas Day, they
CALLAGHAN , would love to have
you. The Community
Club will supply the
ham, turkey, stuffing, potatoes and
gravy. All you need to do is bring your
favorite side dish or a dessert. Like the
Thanksgiving dinner, they will be there
working early, but would like to see
people show up around 2 p.m. with din-
ner being served around 2i30 p.m.
The HICC had its monthly meeting
last Friday. Elections of new officers
were held. Those elected were Presi-
dent Jeff Roberge, Vice President Shel-
leen Matthews, secretary Bill Burrows
and treasurer Jim Irving. The citizens
at-large will be Sandy Murphy and Ju-
die Schaaf.
Ann Baker with the St. David's
Homeless Shelter put on an inspir-
ing program. She explained that St.
David's Homeless Shelter addresses
the needs of those who are homeless
in Mason County on nights when the
wind chill places temps at or below
35 degrees. The shelter is available to
both men and women housed on two
separate floors. Due to the backgrounds
of these individuals and liability, chil-
dren cannot be offered refuge at this
location. Cash donations are welcomed
at P.O. Box 339, Shelton, WA 98584.
Clothing, bedding and toiletry items
are needed in the individual sizes or
packages. We learned that Chris Carl-
son from our island cooks the dinners
for the homeless there Monday through
Friday.
Our Island Eyes neighborhood
watch group express concern for the
reductions in the sheriffs office. We
have lost nine deputies due to past
cuts since 2008. Upcoming cuts could
cost us up to six more, including the
animal control officer and more of the
jail could be shut down. Linda Nickell
and April Hansen are asking everyone
to read the memorandum from the
sheriff posted on KMAS discussing
questions and concerns posed from
Mason County Northwest groups. We
are currently running more than a
1,300 citizens-per-deputy ratio (Ta-
coma will go from 400-700 with
See Cooking on page B-8 See Harstine on page B-8
Thursday, December 15, 2011 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Page B-1