Snoqualmie Casino announces its outdoor concert series
April 18, 2012
Meat Loaf opens Snoqualmie Casino’s summer concert series June 30. Other bands scheduled to play at the Mountain View Plaza Sensational Summer Series include:
- Joan Jett, July 3
- Smokey Robinson, July 6
- Bachman & Turner, July 15
- The Jacksons, July 29
- Chris Young, Aug. 2
- Roger Hodgson, of Supertramp, Aug. 9
- Kenny Loggins, Aug. 10
- YES, with special guests Procol Harum, Aug. 12
- Frankie Valli, Aug. 19
- War and Tower of Power, Aug. 31
- The Temptations and Four Tops, Sept. 2
The venue is only for people 21 and older. Tickets, available through www.ticketmaster.com, are now on sale.
Summer firefighters are needed for forest lands
April 11, 2012
Citizens can join the fight against forest fires, as the state Department of Natural Resources seeks firefighters for summer positions.
The state agency responsible for conservation lands and open space needs to fill engine leader and squad boss positions. Department of Natural Resources officials said serving as a member of a handcrew or wildland fire engine crew offers a chance for motivated people interested in a career in natural resource management to gain fundamental experience.
Candidates must be 18 or older.
Individuals must be willing and capable of performing strenuous outdoor work safely and productively. Candidates must also accept direction and act responsibly.
The agency provides safety clothing and training needed for the job.
The duration is usually three to four months. Work starts in about mid-June and ends mid-September.
Candidates can learn more at the Department of Natural Resources employment website, http://www.dnr.wa.gov/AboutDNR/Employment/Pages/Home.aspx.
Hospital auxiliary hosts plant sale April 28
April 11, 2012
The Snoqualmie Valley Hospital Auxiliary will hold its annual plant sale from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 28 at the Mount Si Senior Center in North Bend.
A variety of garden plants, decorative urns, craft items, homemade bakery goods, white elephant gifts and the popular garden cart raffle will be available. Sale proceeds go to support the group’s $1,000 scholarship to a graduating Mount Si High School senior pursuing a degree in the medical field.
Learn more by emailing snovalleyhospitalauxiliary@gmail.com.
State asks for public comment about new underground storage tanks’ safety rules
April 11, 2012
The Washington Department of Ecology is seeking public comment regarding proposed changes to the state’s rule for preventing leaks from underground storage tanks.
The Legislature has directed the department to revise the current rule to include some recent changes in state and federal laws, and to improve compliance with the rule. Leaks from underground storage tanks can contaminate groundwater, the source of drinking water for 60 percent of Washington’s residents.
The department will accept comments through May 4. Comments also will be accepted during public hearings in April.
The state’s compliance program addresses the serious threat posed to human health and the environment by leaking underground storage tank systems containing petroleum and other hazardous substances.
The department currently regulates more than 9,500 systems at more than 3,600 facilities throughout the state. A majority of underground storage tank systems are located at gas stations. Others are owned and operated by other businesses and by local, state and federal governments.
Snoqualmie couple celebrates 50th wedding anniversary
April 4, 2012
Carol and Charles Peterson, of Snoqualmie, are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary on April 13, at Council Chambers, Snoqualmie City Hall.
The longtime Snoqualmie residents will celebrate with a reception from 4:30-7 p.m. Friday, April 13. Friends, associates and classmates of the couple are invited to attend.
Charles Peterson was married to the former Carol Jones on Friday, April 13, 1962, by Judge John Malloy, in Washington, D.C.
Contributed Carol and Charles Peterson enjoy a quiet moment together.
After completing Charles’ assignment with the United States Army in Fort Belvoir, Va., the couple returned in 1963 to Snoqualmie, where they still live.
Charles Peterson is a lifelong resident of Snoqualmie and is the city’s longest serving public official. Currently a member of the City Council, Charles was mayor from 1974-1982.
Local composer creates Easter music event
April 4, 2012
North Bend resident Sheila Bateman is prepared. The avid composer and arranger has created a special musical event for the holiday that will be performed by 80 singers and musicians.
“We asked Sheila to use her amazing talents to help us worship Christ through music as a part of our Easter celebrations,” said Lind Stapley, a local church leader who has worked with Bateman in the past.
Entitled “Savior of the World,” the free event is being held at the Bellevue South Stake Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Contributed The Bateman family sings Christmas Carols (in harmony, a capella) at a Christmas concert.
“Her beautiful compositions draw out the very best of the spirit from each piece,” Stapley said.
The work includes choral and orchestral arrangements from classical and contemporary artists, with a focus on the life of Jesus Christ.
That’s exactly why North Bend resident Catherine Pratt signed up as a singer. Pratt has been making the weekly trek to rehearsal for months in preparation. It’s a long drive to Bellevue and back on school nights with kids, but she said she doesn’t mind.
Fashion show, auction raises money for Mount Si Senior Center
April 4, 2012
Would you rather speak with a lawyer for 30 minutes or spend a weekend on the beach? If you showed up at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge April 1, you had a chance to do both.
A weekend in Ocean Shores and 30 minutes of free advice from a Fall City attorney were available as prizes at an auction benefiting the Mount Si Senior Center.
By Sebastian Moraga Chayla Brewster, Beth Elofson, Erica Morin, Connie Rosenberger and Sarah Landry (from left) wait to re-enter the runway at the second annual Mount Si Senior Center fundraising fashion show and auction April 1.
A live auction, a silent auction and a dessert auction bookended a 90-minute fashion show of threads for sale at Valley stores.
Women ages 5 to 80-plus strutted their stuff, wearing everything from cowboy boots to wedding dresses. A four-legged Dachshund model showed off a fancy collar.
It was the fashion show’s second year, but the first time the senior center organized it.
Valley child Keenan Fagan helps build classroom in Tanzania
March 28, 2012
Sometimes when you fail, you still succeed.
Ten-year-old Keenan Fagan fell short of his jaw-dropping goal of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, but he achieved a different goal.
With the money raised, Fagan helped build a classroom in Tanzania, the African country home to Mount Kilimanjaro and to Calvin, a 12-year-old boy Keenan’s family has sponsored for years.
Nausea got to Fagan about 4,000 feet short of the summit, so his father, Marty, summitted for the family, while his mother, Chris, and Keenan returned to a safer altitude.
Submitted photo From left, Chris, Keenan and Marty Fagan, with Mount Kilimanjaro in the background. The family climbed Africa’s tallest peak to raise money for a schoolhouse in Tanzania.
The scion of a family of climbers, Keenan’s parents met while climbing Mount Denali. Marty said they have raised Keenan on a steady diet of mental and physical challenges. The fundraising proves his heart is well nourished, too.
Three years ago, the family first traveled to Africa to meet Calvin.
“My son always thinks about him,” Chris Fagan said “seeing how their life is, how much more we have.”
When they decided to return, Keenan said they had to do something for Calvin and the rest of the children.
“We decided to use the climb as a way to raise money for the school,” Chris said. “We raised almost $6,000.”
Yoga helps some toddlers even when they’re not on the mat
March 28, 2012
Trying to corral four, energetic little girls is not the easiest task in the world, and yet Trina Curry managed to do just that on a snowy March morning at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge Golf Club.
Curry, a certified yoga instructor, has been offering “Itsy Bitsy Yoga” classes regularly since 2010, but she started with her own daughter, who is now 8, when she was an infant.
“I have been a practitioner since 1997,” she said regarding yoga. “I kept practicing when I was pregnant. And when my daughter was born, we started doing simple poses. But I didn’t find a structured program until my son was born.”
Curry said her son, now 5, was colicky and had trouble sleeping when he was born. That’s when she came across Helen Garabedian’s Itsy Bitsy Yoga for Tots and Tykes.
By Michele Mihalovich Lindsey Lynd, of Snoqualmie, burrito rolls her 18-month-old daughter Ellie Lynd in a yoga mat, a bonding exercise in Itsy Bitsy Yoga class offered at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge Golf Club in Snoqualmie.
She said she started working simple yoga poses with her son, and his colic and sleepless nights went away.
Curry accepts children into her classes once they start crawling and up to 4 1/2 years old.
The soft lighting and quiet piano music at the TPC clubhouse didn’t have the same effect it might have on adults, but the girls did make an effort to try the poses, although it was rarely on the provided mat.
“Because little kids are going to walk around and explore, I tell the parents that the whole world is their yoga mat,” Curry said.
Ledbetter elected to King Conservation District board
March 28, 2012
Issaquah resident Christopher “Kit” Ledbetter is the latest addition to the King Conservation District board after a little-noticed, uncontested election.
Ledbetter, longtime parks and recreation director for SeaTac municipal government, earned a supervisor seat on the board of the conservation district — the agency responsible for promoting sustainable use of natural resources, and providing information and technical assistance to landowners.
Landowners fund the district through a $10-per-parcel assessment fee.
In 2011, the district shifted to online elections in a push to boost turnout. King County Elections does not administer district elections.
Instead, the district relied on Bellevue-based Election Trust and Scytl USA to coordinate the balloting.
Though the district encompasses most of the more than 1.1 million registered voters in the county, anemic turnout defined recent conservation district elections.
Ledbetter received 205 out of 216 votes cast during the monthlong election. Other votes went to write-in candidates.
