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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
December 15, 2011     Shelton Mason County Journal
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December 15, 2011
 
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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