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Shelton-Mason County Journal
Volunteers from ProBuild in Shelton, above and below, join the
22nd Habitat for Humanity of Mason County house on Dec. 16.
Courtesy photos
Gonzalez family to raise the wall on the
Foundation laid for
nonprofit's 22nd
home in county
By GORDON WEEKS
gorden@masoncounty.con~
Volunteers for Habitat for Human-
ity of Mason County built and raised
the walls Sunday for the 22nd house
the organization has constructed for
families in need.
The three-bedroom, one-bathroom
house at 210 E. Lakeshore Drive in the
Timberlakes community will be home.
to Erica Gonzalez and her two chil-
dren, 3-year-old Isabella and 12-year-
old Matthew.
On Sunday, six employees from Pro
Build donated their time and exper-
tise to place sheeting and help lift the
heavy walls, said Christine Roha, af-
filiate manager of Habitat for Human-
ity of Mason County.
Simpson Lumber donated lumber
for the house, while Bank of America
donated $2,500, which will be used for
the heating system, Roha said.
The organization is accepting appli-
cations for partner families for homes
being built in 2013. Homes are sold to
partner families at no profit, and are
Pictured are (back row) John Green, Todd McPhee, Alena
Wilson, Tim Merritt, Harold Swearingen, Isabella Gonzalez
and Erica Gonzalez, and (front row) Mike Gill and Miguel
Luengo.
financed through low-interest oi, no- 400 hours of"sweat equity" as a down
interest loans, payment toward the house.
To qualify, the family must have To apply for home ownership through
lived in Mason County for at least one Habitat for Ht~manity of Mason County,
year; are in need of a safe living en- call 426-8134 or visit the organization's
vironment; be willing to partner with website at habitatmasonwa.org.
Habitat for Humanity; have a steady The organization is also seeking do-
gross income of 30 percent to 60 pet;- nations of money, materials and time.
cent of the current median income for Volunteers can work on a daily sched-
Mason County; and be willing to work ule, or help when time is available.
By NATALIE JOHNSON
natalie@masoncounty.com
The bluegrass music scene is alive
and well in Mason County.
Musicians and bluegrass enthusi-
asts bring the style to Shelton each
year at the Bluegrass from the Forest
festival, now in its eighth year.
To kick off 2013, local bluegrass afi-
cionado Sally Burtscher has helped
bring a nationally acclaimed bluegrass
act -- The Clair Lynch Band -- for a
one-night show Jan. 17 at the Grove
Street Brewhouse in downtown Shel-
ton.
Burtscher said she began playing,
bluegrass music after moving to Mason
County in 2005
"I had an autoharp just lying around.
When we moved out here I started
playing," she said. "IfI was made to lis-
ten to anything it would be bluegrass. I
love the interplay of the instruments."
As she became more firmly en-
trenched in the bluegrass scene,
Burtscher began helping with Blue-
grass from the Forest.
As a woman, Burtscher said she is
most interested in female bluegrass
musicians, particularly Hazel Dickens.
"I love bluegrass and we really sup-
port women in bluegrass," she said. "In
See Bluegrass on page B-4
Courtesy photo
National bluegrass act The
Claire Lynch Band is scheduled
to perform Jan. 17 at the Grove
Street Brewhouse in Shelton.
commun
nner
are getting closer to
that exciting morning
when our grandchildren
break out into screams of joy
as they find the presents left
by Santa. Because the happy
day is on a Tuesday this year,
this is my last column before
Christmas, so Judy and I want
to take this opportunity to wish
all islanders a happy and merry
Christmas.
Although I truly love Christ-
mas, my favorite day is the
shortest day of the year. De-
pending on how the calendar
falls, the winter solstice occurs
annually on a day between Dec.
20 and 23. This year, the solstice
will occur at 3:30 a.m. on Dec.
22. The reason this day is so
popular with me is that I know
the days will start getting lon-
ger and that somehow raises my
spirit.
There will be a Christmas
dinner will be served at the
community hall and sponsored
by volunteers from the Harstine
Island Community Club. They
will provide
roasted turkey,
potatoes and
stuffing, as well
as a ham. Like
the Thanks-
giving dinner,
the club asks all
those who plan
to attend to
By MIKE bring a potluck
CALLAGHAN dish, maybe a
dessert, or rolls,
or your favorite
side dish. They will start serving
about 2 p.m. on Dec. 25. Some
festive decorations will keep you
in the holiday spirit. All island-
ers and their families are in-
vited. If you are interested, call
Barbara LaJune at 426-0494.
Continuing with that idea
of joy, remember that the
Harstine Island Community
Club will again put together a
New Year's buffet and dance. It
will be Dec. 31 and it will be in
the community hall. The buf-
fet will run from 8 to 11 p.m.
and music will be played from 8
p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Music will be
played by Swing Fever and their
big band sound. If you haven't
danced in the new year with
this group, you have missed
out -- they are terrific. Advance
tickets are $20 per person, and
if you wait to buy at the door,
they will be $25. This is a BYOB
event. Tickets can be bought
from Bill Shoaf at 670-9645 or at
the Fresh Start Deli.
Interested in making an
all-island quilt for the centen-
nial auction? The community
club is looking for quilters to
help make some block, for this
quilt. The size will be an over-
size lap quilt in a simple pat-
tern. They will also need dona-
tions of fabric that are small
prints in soft colors similar to
the Thimbleberry fabric collec-
tion. Fabrics should be fat quar-
ter size or larger.
Those who wish to help with
fabric donations, sewing blocks,
and other materials do not need
to be a member of the wom-
en's or community clubs. More
information will be offered at
the January women's club meet-
ing. If you have quilting fabric
to donate, Carol Bush will be at
Thursday's Christmas lunch to
take fabric to our helpers. For
questions, email Carol Bush at
weca3@msn.com or call 427-
8358.
Here is a reminder that on
Feb. 12, Pioneer School voters
will be asked to decide on a bal-
lot proposition to issue $25.02
million in bonds to construct a
new Pioneer Middle School and
expand the Pioneer Primary
School. The district anticipates a
bond tax rate of $1.24 per $1,000
Thursday,
of current assessed value for the
20-year life of the bonds. This
means that a homeowner with
an assessed value of $100,000
would pay an extra $124 annu-
ally (or $10.33 per month) over
the existing maintenance and
operations tax levy rate.
Just one more note about that
Christmas play put on by the
theater club. I could tell that
both the audience and the cast
were having a great time. There
just aren't a lot of places in the
country where you can enjoy a
small community theater perfor-
mance.
The club is planning to put
on another play in the near fu-
ture. On July 5, 6 and 7, they
will pull up the curtain on "Bad
Year for Tomatoes" by John Pat-
rick. In the play, an actress tries
to go into seclusion in a nice,
quiet town. The colorful,
See Harstine on page B-4
Dec. 20, 2012 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Page B-I