The award’s nomination described Yoshikawa, who teaches first grade, as “one of the teachers that the kids love.”

Yoshikawa received a $100 gift certificate to The Woodman Lodge, courtesy of the Cascade Team Real Estate Agency.

She also received a gift certificate for a massage at Therapeutic Health in North Bend and a plaque from Issaquah Trophy and Awards.

Shannon Roubicek, a teacher at Snoqualmie Elementary School won the March award. Cascade View physical therapist Claudine Fairchild won the February award and Twin Falls Middle School teacher Kyle Wallace won it in January.

The Wildcats faced off against West Seattle at the Lower Woodland Park ballfields May 16 and came away with a 10-0 win.

By Michele Mihalovich Freshman Paige Wetherbee, with the Mount Si High School softball team, lets go after a windup in the third inning against Lake Washington High School during the 2012 Sea-King District Softball Tournament on May 17 in Seattle.

That win put the team up against Seattle Metro’s undefeated Bainbridge High School.

The Wildcats delivered the Bainbridge Spartans’ first loss of the year, 6-3.

The second day of tournament play on May 17 did not go so well for the Wildcats.

Mount Si lost, 8-6, against Lake Washington, and then 8-2 against Liberty High School.

The losses won’t prevent Mount Si from going to the State 3A Softball Championship beginning May 25 at the Regional Athletic Complex in Lacey, but it will affect who they go up against.

The draw, held May 20, pits Mount Si (17-6) against Kamiakin (22-0) in the first matchup at noon May 25.

The last time these two played in March, the Kamiakin Braves won, 13-2.

Contributed Ginger Judge shows off some of the honors she has won.

The Mount Si Gymnastics Academy is barely a month old. Most gyms would still be finding their footing. MSGA is not most gyms.

Last month, it sent 13 girls to compete in the United States Association of Gymnastics Washington State Meet — a once-a-year, multiweekend spectacular with hundreds of girls competing at multiple levels of difficulty.

Led by coach Penny Loan, MSGA’s gymnasts returned with fourth- to 12th-place ranks, finishing in the top 50 percent of their age group.

Though the gym is brand new, the MSGA’s competitive team — and its determination to succeed — has been around for a while. Getting to the state meet this year wasn’t easy.

The team’s former gym closed its doors and moved away a few months ago, leaving the girls displaced with no place to practice and competition season upon them. Children who’d practiced together for years and prepared their 2012 routines for months were suddenly on the precipice of disbanding.

“There was a sense of being wronged,” Loan recalled. “It was really hard on the girls.”

Loan and her assistant coach, Kelly Loranger, chose to stick with the team. With the help of “a lot of very loyal parents,” Loan and Loranger kept the practices going, but every new location proved a new challenge.

While other teams trained in fully equipped native gyms, these girls crowded into small rooms at Mount Si High School.

There wasn’t enough gymnastics equipment for everyone to practice with at the same time, so Loan staggered the activities — half the girls would compactly condition with dumbbells, while the others practiced their routines.

Then, the girls spent four weeks training at Metropolitan Gymnastics.

Though the team was happy to be hosted by a facility with all the necessary equipment, practices were limited by Metropolitan’s operating schedule. The girls could only work when regular classes weren’t in session. In that piecemeal fashion, the girls trained up to 15 hours a week in preparation.

When the former gym’s location went on the market, some of the girls’ parents saw an opportunity to give the team a home.

Pete and Kathy Caro and Gary and Amy Norton had never owned a gym before. But they had daughters on the team and knew how much gymnastics meant to the Snoqualmie community.

“We really wanted to fill the hole left in the Valley,” co-founder Kathy Caro explained. Her 10-year-old daughter, Megan, has loved gymnastics since she could walk. “I wanted to see a place for her to continue to grow and thrive.”

After a monthlong battle for the lease, the building was finally theirs and the Academy was born. Ecstatic, the team moved in before the furnishings did. It took more creative thinking to keep the practices going during yet another transition. Instead of just waiting for a regulation floor to arrive, co-founder Amy Norton bought strips of mats from Costco, splicing them together for makeshift padding.

The girls headed off to the state meet with only three weeks of continuous practice in their own gym. But after months of uncertainty, they were determined to finish strong.

According to Loan, the struggle to keep going eroded distractions and brought the team closer.

Eight MSGA gymnasts competed in the Level 4 meet April 21 and 22, performing a compulsory USAG routine on bars, beam, floor and vault alongside about 500 other girls. Ginger Judge, 7, won fourth place in her Bronze Tier grouping with a cumulative score of 35.025, receiving special distinction for her high marks on bars and beam.

Her teammates performed admirably with fifth-, eighth- and ninth-place showings.

Another five MSGA girls faced tougher moves and competition in the Level 5 and 6 meets the following weekend. Sammy Markley, 10, was the only Mount Si gymnast to qualify for Level 6 competition, the hardest compulsory routine in the USAG before freely choreographed moves are allowed. With a sixth-place finish and a Most Improved Bar Routine award, Markley didn’t disappoint.

Loan couldn’t be prouder of all the girls.

“In some ways, the move made us stronger,” she said. “We wanted to get through the adversity and just prove that we could do it. Nobody was gonna take us down.”

The Mount Si Gymnastics Academy officially opened to the public April 9. In addition to nurturing the competitive team, the academy offers recreational classes to boys and girls, toddlers to teenagers. Already 150 students strong, MSGA hopes to expand its enrollment and programming in the coming months.

A gymnastics summer camp is already in the works and the owners are looking to start a dance program in the fall.

“I would like any kid with an interest in participating in gymnastics to have the opportunity to come here,” Caro said. “I want this to be a come-to place for people looking for great activities for their kids.”

Ilona Idlis is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory. Comment at www.snovalleystar.com.

Pflug’s decision ends a 25-year career in the Snoqualmie Valley, the last 10 as Snoqualmie Elementary principal.

She owns a home in Leavenworth, 20 miles outside of Wenatchee, and will relocate with her husband in August.

District administrators have begun the search for her replacement, Pflug wrote in a letter to Snoqualmie Elementary families.

“My years at this wonderful school have been the best years of my professional career,” she wrote. “I have many great memories of SES that I will always cherish.”

Murphy, 18, made the varsity team her freshman year as a shortstop/second baseman, impressing her teammates and coach ever since.

Maura Murphy

“She’s a real leader for this team, both on and off the field,” head coach Larry White said. “Everyone who meets her just falls in love with her.”

Murphy signed on with The George Washington University in D.C. on a softball scholarship, which now could be in jeopardy, White said.

His voice cracked and he held back tears when he said, “She’s like a daughter to me. I’d hate to have to see her softball career end like this.”

Murphy said the east coast university approached her about playing softball.

The school had just hired a new coach who came from Western Washington University.

“He had seen me play and convinced them that they should take a look at me,” Murphy said.

Murphy, who plans to study pre-med in college, plays summer softball league and has been ever since she was “tiny.”

Last summer during a game, a runner ran into her on first base and her head “just smacked the ground,” Murphy said, which resulted in the first concussion.

Then this year, a friend at school who was just goofing around smacked the side of her head. She said he wasn’t trying to hurt her or anything, and it wasn’t really hard, but it did result in her concussion symptoms returning.

Murphy suited up in her number six uniform for all of the Wildcats’ games this season, and cheered her teammates on from the bench.

“This sport and this team mean the world to me,” she said. “Not being able to play has been the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”

Now, just as the Wildcats are heading into tournament season, Murphy won’t even be on the bench to cheer them on.

White said doctors want Murphy to lie down at lunchtime and go home after school and take it easy.

“It’s horrible,” she said May 8, after the Wildcats’ final regular season game and the last one she’ll be attending. “First, I wasn’t able to play. And now, not even being able to watch — it’s just so frustrating.”

White said doctors are trying to retrain her brain, adding that it’s everyone’s hope she recovers and the doctors will clear her to play at George Washington next year.

To honor Murphy, all Wildcats’ softball helmets will be sporting the number “six.”

Julia Monique Dorn and Morgan Scott Green, of North Bend; Paige Diane Ormiston and Chelsea Noel Smolke, of Snoqualmie; and Shaun Kelly Murphy, of Fall City, completed at least 14 graded credit hours during the quarter and finished in the top 10 percent of their class.

Smolke finished with a perfect 4.0 grade-point average.

The team won a hard-fought battle during the opening game against Peninsula, 2-1, but then lost the next round against Kelso, 5-2.

The first game was no easy win, coach Elliot Cribby said.

“All year long we’ve had long, close games facing good defensive teams,” he said. “Peninsula was another good game against a good team.”

Cribby said no one was too worried about the match up against Kelso. The team had an overall 18-7 season, verses the Wildcats’ 20-4 record.

“We had Reece Karalus on the mound, who’s been doing good all season. And we figured, we’re good. We got this,” he said.

But Kelso scored four runs in the first inning.

“That definitely took us by surprise and we never really recovered,” Cribby said.

Mount Si came into the season with a target on its back. The Wildcats won the school’s first state baseball championship title last year, and opened the season with national attention for its “Trio of Arms.”

All eyes were on senior pitchers Karalus, Trevor Lane and Trevor Taylor, who were credited, in part, for the state win last year.

“They are taking Saturday’s loss pretty hard,” Cribby said. “And they should. They have been putting a lot of time and effort in.”

He said the team was very quiet at the end of the Kelso game.

“It was a tough time for everyone because nobody expected to lose that early,” he said.

Cribby said he’s been telling the team that it’s really hard to repeat a state championship the following year.

“When you’re at the top of the totem pole, everybody wants to chop the top off,” he said. “Plus, all the media attention they got, that puts a lot of pressure on them. But I am so impressed with them, how they went out and played the games. There was luck involved, but we also had the talent. Twenty wins in a season is a very good season.”

Cribby said the outlook for next year’s program is good.

“We had a lot of sophomore and junior starters who will be returning,” Cribby said. “The caliber of senior pitchers we had this season was great, but we do have a crop of others who also have good arms. We’ll be just fine.”

Cribby also said the culture of Mount Si baseball has changed in the past couple of years.

“This is definitely a football community,” he said. “But baseball has been creeping up in their eyes. The support from this community has been terrific and we’ve really appreciated it.”

Edwards and 2,499 other students were chosen from a pool of more than 15,000 finalists. Winners are judged on skills, accomplishments and potential for success.

Bases for the decision included grades, academic records, difficulty level of subjects studied, standardized test scores, leadership and contributions in school and the community; an essay; and a letter of recommendation from a high school official.

Fifty students from Washington received scholarships. A new group of winners was scheduled to be announced May 23 and July 9.

At those levels, emergency departments are required to have protocols in place and meet several performance goals.

Goals include having EKGs completed within 10 minutes and transferring to a higher level facility for a heart attack within a half-hour.

Hospitals must have a full range of specialists, like neurosurgeons, and highly sophisticated equipment available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to earn Level 1 status.

“Snoqualmie Valley Hospital has effectively developed strong collaborative relationships with area hospitals,” Director of Nursing Rachel Weber said in a press release, “to assure that patients receive the right care at the right time regardless of where that care occurs.”

The Middle Fork-South Fork invasive weed project trains volunteers to survey along the trails of the Middle Fork Snoqualmie Valley and in the upper South Fork Snoqualmie watershed.

Help survey the area’s trail system for invasive weeds to stop them before they get entrenched. Workers are surveying trails from Mount Si near North Bend to Dutch Miller Gap in the heart of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness.

Upcoming orientation:

When: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 23

Where: North Bend Ranger Station, Back Conference Hall,

902 S.E. North Bend Way

What: Training and orientation for volunteer weed surveyors including a survey hike in the Middle Fork Valley

Details: Bring water, lunch, hiking shoes and other hiking essentials.

Attendees will carpool from the ranger station and return by 5 p.m.

Sign up or learn more by contacting Sasha Shaw at sasha.shaw@kingcounty.gov or 206-296-0290.

• Share Your Story: Pop-up Museums, 11 a.m. May 27, Cedar River Watershed Education Center, 19901 Cedar Falls Road S.E.
•  Tween Nights, 7 p.m. June 1, at Si View Community Center. Fee $5. For children in grades 5-7. 400 S.E. Orchard Drive, North Bend
•  Valley Center Stage presents “Zelda,” a one-time performance to raise funds for Valley actress Denise Paulette’s trip to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland in August. 7:30 p.m. June 1. Admission is pay-what-you-will. 119 W. North Bend Way.
• Daddy-Daughter Dance, 6:30 p.m. June 2, Si View Park. Fees: $25 per couple, $10 per additional child.
•  All Comers Fun Meets, 2 p.m. June 3, Mount Si High School. This is a chance for children ages 3-14 to participate in up to five events, including sprints, runs, long jump and javelin. Register online at www.siviewpark.org. Call 831-1900. $5 drop-in fee
• SnoValley Indoor Playground, 9:30-11:30 a.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays when school is in session, Si View Community Center, 400 S.E. Orchard Drive. A donation of $1 per child per visit is appreciated.
•  Sallal Grange Community Games Night, 7 p.m. last Wednesday of each month. Please consider bringing a small monetary donation to help the Grange keep organizing events like this, www.sallalgrange.org.
• Carnation Farmers Market, 3-7 p.m. every Tuesday from May to November, fresh food from family farms and small producers, including vendors from the Upper Valley. Downtown Carnation.
•  Watercolor exhibit at Mount Si Senior Center through June 9, artists range from high-schoolers to senior citizens, 411 Main Ave. S., North Bend

 North Bend Library

The following events take place at the North Bend Library, 115 E. Fourth St. The library will be closed May 28 in observance of Memorial Day.

• Mount Si Artists Guild exhibit, May 1 to June 15. Themes are “Summer is Coming,” and “Summer in the Valley.” All ages are welcome during library hours.
• Snoqualmie Valley Chess Club, 7 p.m. Thursdays. Learn to play chess or get a game going; all ages/skill levels welcome.
•  Study Zone, 4 p.m., May 24, 31; 3 p.m. May 29; 7 p.m. May 30; free tutoring for grades K-12
•  Game On! 3 p.m. May 25; play Xbox 306, PlayStation and Nintendo, “Guitar Hero” and “Dance Dance Revolution;” board games and snacks available
•  SnoValley Writers Work Group, 3 p.m. May 27
•  Volunteer with the Peace Corps, 7 p.m. May 29, for adults
• Preschool Story Time, 10:30 a.m. May 29; ages 3-6 with adult, siblings welcome
• Toddler Story Time, 9:30 a.m. May, 29; ages 2-3 with adult
•  One-on-one Computer Assistance, 1 p.m. May 30; for adults
•  Pajamarama Story Time, 6:30 p.m. May 30 all young children welcome with adult.

Snoqualmie Library

The following events take place at the Snoqualmie Library, 7824 Center Blvd. S.E. The library will be closed May 28 in observance of Memorial Day.

•  Pajama Story Times, 7 p.m. May 31. All young children welcome with adult. Wear your PJs if you like.
•  EReader Assistance, 11 a.m. May 24, 31. Learn how to download library eBooks to your eReader or computer.
•  Cenerentola: The Italian Cinderella Puppet Show, 7 p.m. May 24, ages 4 and older
•  Study Zone, 3 p.m. May 29; free tutoring for grades K-12
•  Preschool Story Times, 10:30 a.m. May 30, ages 3-6 with adult
•  Young Toddler Story Times, 9:30 a.m. May 30; ages 6-24 months with adult
•  Anime and Manga Club, 3 p.m. May 30. Watch anime movies, eat popcorn and practice anime drawing.

Churches

•  River Outreach seeks donation of coats, pants, sweatshirts, long underwear, hats, gloves, socks, and anything that may help homeless people stay warm. Call 830-1654 or 681-7380.
•  St. Clare Episcopal Church is collecting cereal for the Mount Si Helping Hand Food Bank. People wanting to donate money instead may write a check to the food bank, P.O. Box 2464, North Bend, WA 98045.
•  Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church seeks to collect, tarps, candles, duct tape, flashlights, toilet paper, toiletries, hats, gloves, ropes and scarves for the homeless. Bring donations to the church’s parish hall at 39025 S.E. Alpha St.

Classes

• Butterfly Magic ballet lessons at Si View Community Center, 10:45-11:45 a.m. Wednesdays, through June 6, $42, for ages 3-6
•  “Tween Yoga” at Si View Community Center, 4:30 p.m. Thursdays from May 3 to June 7, $50 fee, ages 9-13
•  Swimming lessons at Si View Community Center, Tuesdays and Thursdays, $70; through May 19 Saturdays only, $42. More swimming lessons are coming. Learn more at www.siviewpark.org.

River Awareness and Safety, 2-5 p.m. June 1, Tanner Landing Park, corner of 433rd Ave. S.E. and S.E. Mount Si Road. For children 10 and older. Ages 10-14 must be accompanied by an adult. Fee $30.

Volunteer opportunities

• The Boeing Classic golf tournament seeks volunteers for its 2012 edition. Tournament will occur Aug. 20-26 at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge. Volunteers will receive two golf shirts, a jacket, headwear, admission passes, meal vouchers and more. Further details are at www.boeingclassic.com.
•  Encompass is currently seeking volunteers to help with our landscape and maintenance at both the downtown North Bend and Boalch Avenue locations along with office help. This can be a weekly or monthly commitment. Email michelle.mccormick@encompassnw.org or call 888-2777.
•  Snoqualmie Sister Cities Association invites community members to join a newly formed group to support Snoqualmie’s new sister city, Chaclacayo, Peru. The association already has developed a close relationship with sister city Gangjin, South Korea, which more than 30 residents have visited in the past four years. Email maryrcorcoran@gmail.com or call 503-1813.
•  The Mount Si Food Bank is looking for volunteers to help unload food at noon Mondays, sort food at 9 a.m. Tuesdays or pass out food on Wednesdays. Call the food bank at 888-0096.
•  The Elk Management Group invites the community to participate in elk collaring, telemetry and habitat improvement projects in the Upper Snoqualmie Valley. Project orientation meetings are at 6 p.m. the third Monday of the month at the U.S. Forest Service Conference Room, behind the Forest Service office, 130 Thrasher Ave. Email research@snoqualmievalleyelk.org.
•  Snoqualmie Valley Hospital is accepting applications for ages 16 or older to volunteer in various departments of the hospital. Email carolw@snoqualmiehospital.org to arrange an interview.
•  Senior Services Transportation Program needs volunteers to drive seniors around North Bend and Snoqualmie. Car required. Mileage reimbursement and supplemental liability insurance are offered. Call 206-748-7588 or 800-282-5815 toll free, or email melissat@seniorservices.org. Apply at www.seniorservices.org.
•  Mount Si Senior Center needs volunteers for sorting and sales in the thrift store, reception and class instruction. The center is at 411 Main Ave. S., North Bend. Call 888-3434.
•  Hopelink in Snoqualmie Valley seeks volunteers for a variety of tasks. Volunteers must be at least 16. Go to www.hopelink.org/takeaction/volunteer.com or call 869-6000.
•  AdoptAPark is a program for Snoqualmie residents to improve public parks and trails. An application and one-year commitment are required. Call 831-5784.
•  Study Zone tutors are needed for all grade levels to give students the homework help they need. Two-hour weekly commitment or substitutes wanted. Study Zone is a free service of the King County Library System. Call 369-3312.

Clubs

•  Survivors of the Snoqualmie Valley School District. Meets once a month, the third Tuesday of the month, except September, at the Si View Community Center. Please contact 292-7191, for a complete list of upcoming meetings.
•  Mount Si Fish and Game Club, 7:30 p.m. first Thursday (October through May), Snoqualmie Police Department, 34825 S.E. Douglas St.
•  Snoqualmie Valley Rotary Club, 7 a.m. every Thursday, TPC Snoqualmie Ridge Golf Club Restaurant. All are welcome. Go to www.snoqualmie-valleyrotary.org.
•  Snoqualmie Valley Garden Club, 6:30 p.m. second Thursday, Mount Si Senior Center, North Bend, 888-4646
•  American Legion Post 79 and the American Legion Auxiliary, 7 p.m. second Thursday, 38625 S.E. River St., Snoqualmie, 888-1206
•  Snoqualmie Valley Kiwanis Club meets at 7 a.m. every Thursday at the Mount Si Golf Course restaurant in Snoqualmie, snovalley@member.kiwanis.org

Submit an item for the community calendar by emailing smoraga@snovalleystar.com or go to www.snovalleystar.com.

But good things are happening in the Snoqualmie Valley thanks to dedicated volunteers at the Snoqualmie Valley Pet Food Bank.

For the past four years the Pet Food Bank, inspired and started by Snoqualmie resident Louis Oien, has been handing out donated pet food at the Mount Si Helping Hand Food Bank in North Bend the first Wednesday of every month to low-income pet owners in need.

By Sebastian Moraga Tracy Skylstad, of North Bend’s Pooch Play, loads bags of dog and cat food into her truck at The Humane Society for Seattle/King County warehouse. The bags will be donated to the Mount Si Helping Hand Food Bank so food bank customers can feed their pets.

“I’m just thrilled to be part of it,” said Dusty Cavaliere, the current Pet Food Bank director.

Nicknamed “the pet food lady,” Cavaliere took over the program last August and has seen a steady increase in donations and need.

What began in 2008 with just 17 bags and 300 pounds of food has ballooned into 300 bags and roughly 2,300 pounds of food last April.

And the numbers continue to rise.

It is one of the largest pet-food distribution programs on the Eastside, with roughly 1,800 pounds of food — the maximum allowed — donated to the Pet Food Bank each month, according to the Seattle Humane Society.

While the majority of donations come from the humane society, Cavaliere has worked with local businesses, including Pet Place Market and U-Dirty Dog, to set up donation bins to help meet the need.

“No one can do everything, but everyone can do something,” Cathi Linden, of U-Dirty Dog, said. “Whatever we can do to give back, we’re there.”

Cavaliere has taken to Facebook and created a Pet Food Bank website to help increase exposure.

Community support in the Valley has been an overwhelmingly positive thing since the program’s inception.

“Neighbors will drop food off on my porch because they know,” Cavaliere said. “If people give me money, I buy pet food. If they give me food, I hand it out.”

While food is the primary requested item, anything and everything pet related is welcomed and given away. Used toys, dog collars, kitty litter — people appreciate it all, according to Cavaliere.

Still, requests continue to grow for food and the supply doesn’t always meet demand.

“We’re really a supplement. We don’t hand out enough food to sustain them for the month,” she said. “When donations are down, I give out less food.”

Getting the donated food from the humane society in Bellevue to the Pet Food Bank has been a task in and of itself since the program began, but Tracy Skylstad, owner of Pooch Play in North Bend, has been making the trip by truck since 2008.

Skylstad, who originally used her own truck to move the food, quickly switched to the dog bus (a converted King County Access bus she uses for Pooch Play) in order to accommodate the increased load.

Although it can take anywhere from a couple of hours up to four hours to transport, sort and bag the food, Skylstad said she is happy to help in any way she can.

“I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that we are a very pet-friendly area,” she said. “People that have pets care about other people that have pets.”

The mission of the Pet Food Bank is to make a difference in the lives of low-income pet owners by offering food for their pets.

“For a lot of people out there who have lost their job or might be in a tough financial position, having a pet brings comfort,” Skylstad said. “You shouldn’t have to compromise having a pet for that.”

Jacob Rogers is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory. Comment at www.snovalleystar.com.

How to help

Donate money or food to help low-income pet owners in need at www.facebook.com/svpetfoodbank.

A bright future and big dreams of becoming an Air Force pilot. A great run as a Mount Si High School soccer player. A fine reputation as a student rep on the school board.

Now he was dead.

Sort of.

Carlson “died” in a mock car crash behind Mount Si High School May 17, when students and law enforcement officers showed in detail what may happen when teenagers drink and drive.

“It was a great experience for a great cause,” Carlson wrote in an email. Being “dead” required him to wear more than a half-gallon of fake blood.

“I really didn’t get to see much of the mock crash myself, since I was dead on impact,” he wrote. “My eyes were closed from the moment they lifted the tarp off to unveil us, until they covered me with a sheet to show I was dead.”

The mock crash reminded students of the consequences of their choices, with prom and graduation days away.

“It teaches them how it’s not about you,” said Megan McCulley, a Mount Si student who helped organize the mock crash. “It’s about your family, your friends. It affects everyone around you.”

Along with the mock crash and funeral, seniors received letters from fifth-graders encouraging them to make good choices on prom night.

During the mock crash, seven agencies participated, including the Washington State Patrol, Snoqualmie police and fire, and the King County Sheriff’s Office.

Students saw their peers play dead, injured or next-of-kin, some wearing gory makeup, while the lights atop police cars and fire trucks painted the gray skies with a tragic red hue.

Bruises, skid marks, screams. Blood, tears and the prospect of years in jail, all managed to enrapt teenagers in sepulchral silence, while Snoqualmie Fire Department Lieutenant Kelly Gall narrated.

“Imagine how her mom feels now,” he said, while paramedics carried a student away.”She has lost her only daughter.”

Students lined the fences on the west end of the school’s football field. They knew it was all fake, yet kept looking.

“I almost started crying, it was too real,” junior Danielle Reynolds said.

Her classmate Mary Ferner stood next to her, looking just as stunned.

“Just to think that people who normally don’t drink and drive would die from that,” she said. “It’s so sad.”

Accidents like this, Gall told the crowd, happen because people make the wrong choices: drinking and driving, texting while driving or simply getting a ride with someone who is doing either.

“This is what we don’t want to happen,” he said. “This is preventable.”

Juniors and seniors met at the school’s gymnasium after the fake crash, where coach Darren Brown eulogized Carlson.

Eric Munson, the husband of city of Snoqualmie employee Becky Munson, followed Brown with the story of a real-life tragedy: the death of their daughter in a car accident in 2004.

“I’m here to tell you,” Munson told students, some wiping away tears, “that this can happen to you.

“I will never be able to give her a hug or a kiss, see her smile or laugh, things that you take for granted.”

McCulley, the daughter of a Snoqualmie Police captain, closed the event with a short speech that left her in tears.

“I hope,” she said of her schoolmates afterward, “that they make good choices on prom night.”

Sebastian Moraga: 392-6434, ext. 221, or smoraga@snovalleystar.com. Comment at www.snovalleystar.com.

But local law enforcement wants residents to know that although there may have been a connection in one break-in, not all door-to-door solicitors are thieves.

“It’s nice that people are letting their neighbors know on these groups when something doesn’t look right in the neighborhood,” Snoqualmie Police Captain Steve McCulley said. “But you really should be calling 911 if you see something suspicious.”

McCulley said there seems to be a “hiccup” in Snoqualmie, where people don’t call 911 because they don’t think it’s important enough or they don’t want to bother police.

“But you people live there in the neighborhood, you know when something doesn’t look right,” he said. “If they don’t call us and let us know, we’re not going to know about it. If a door-to-door salesman is trying to sell you something, and then you see that same person at your neighbor’s house shaking doorknobs and looking in windows, we want to hear about that.”

One alert neighbor in Snoqualmie’s Deer Park did notify police at about 7:45 p.m. May 2 that she saw a strange male, who had tried to sell her something earlier, leaving her neighbor’s house and getting into a blue pickup.

A press release said that another caller reported seeing the same subject in another neighborhood.

The home in Deer Park suffered a broken window, but nothing was taken, according to the press release.

McCulley said that because of those calls, police were able to identify a 35-year-old subject and residential burglary charges have been filed with the King County Prosecutor’s Office. Becky Munson, with the police department, said they aren’t going to release the suspect’s name because they are still trying to locate the van driver.

A local blogger said the total number of recent Snoqualmie break-ins is at four, but Snoqualmie Sgt. Robert Keeton disputes that number.

He said there were two break-ins, where someone forced their way into a home.

“The other two were thefts, where the thief walked into open garages and took items,” Keeton said. “Those are not considered break-ins.”

North Bend Police Chief Mark Toner said only two North Bend homes experienced a “forced entry” all year.

One happened Jan. 4, where the suspect broke into a window and stole casino chips and prescription medications, he said. The other happened April 23, where tools were stolen out of a shed in a backyard.

Toner agrees that if neighbors see solicitors acting suspicious, he wants to hear from them.

North Bend and Snoqualmie have city ordinances requiring a business license for door-to-door solicitors.

Toner stopped a young woman who was peddling magazines in a North Bend neighborhood without a license May 21.

He said the woman, and five others, work for P.S. Circulation and are all out of Pennsylvania.

“She told me they were all staying at a hotel in Tacoma and a supervisor dropped them off in North Bend,” Toner said. “I said they needed to get out of town and I notified Snoqualmie Police.

“But not everyone selling goods is a thief,” he said. “If someone comes to your door trying to sell you something, and you don’t want to be bothered, don’t answer the door. But if you see them walking around your house or coming from your neighbor’s backyard, I want a call.”

Michele Mihalovich: 392-6434, ext. 246, or editor@snovalleystar.com. Comment at www.snovalleystar.com.

Duncan Wilson, North Bend city administrator, attended his final City Council meeting May 15.

Wilson received the evil moniker soon after he started with the city on Nov. 1, 2006 — the Day of the Dead.

He told the Star that just five days after he started his new job, North Bend experienced massive flooding.

“We had to open the Emergency Operations Center for the first time in years,” Wilson said. “It was my first week and we were dealing with trapped citizens, significant property damage and impassable roadways. Five weeks later, we had massive wind storms that took down transmission lines throughout Western Washington.

“Most of North Bend was without power for six days,” he added. “We had to get emergency generators. We had to move elderly residents out of retirement homes to beds at the hospital. Communications were sketchy and cell service was lost. We opened the EOC again … the second time in six weeks.”

Wilson said that when he showed up at the next council meeting, Councilman Jonathan Rosen had taped the “Prince of Darkness” moniker on the back of his nameplate.

“It has been there for five years. Privately, he begged for me to spare the citizens of North Bend from further destruction,” Wilson said.

The friendly ribbing between Wilson and the city’s staff and elected officials lightened things up at many council meetings.

Deputy Chief Bud Backer, with Eastside Fire & Rescue, couldn’t say goodbye without one last jibe at the outgoing administrator.

Backer said he and the crew wanted to give Wilson a firefighter’s challenge coin.

“There are four qualities you must meet before you can receive this coin: leadership, integrity, dedication and service. But we’ve decided to give it to you anyway.”

Several councilmembers told Wilson that they’ve appreciated his one-liners and snarky comments, which helped keep their spirits up during difficult decisions.

“You have a great sense of humor that cuts through everything,” Rosen said. “But you also kept the momentum going on projects and you always put the city first.”

Councilman Ryan Kolodejchuk described Wilson as inspiring and “passionate about this city.”

Mayor Ken Hearing said that Wilson was instrumental in getting the park & ride and roundabout projects finished, as well as securing water rights and ending the city’s moratorium on development.

“You will be missed,” he said.

Quite a few tears were shed on Wilson’s last night, including his own, when he told the council and staff, “This is the best job I’ve ever had. We’ve had the highest quality of individuals on the council and the staff does an absolutely miraculous job. They made me look good … Think about how dire it looked in 2006. Now, a hotel and houses are being built. The turnaround has been amazing.”

Since learning of Wilson’s approaching departure to be the town administrator of Friday Harbor, Hearing announced at each City Council meeting how many more “wake-ups” until Wilson was gone.

On Tuesday, he announced that they’d hit ground zero on wake-ups.

Londi Lindell, Wilson’s replacement, officially started May 1 — and has already caused giggling episodes with the council and staff.

“You guys are so lucky to have Londi,” Wilson said to the gathering. “I’m very happy knowing I’m leaving the city in such capable hands.”

9 a.m., Preston Cemetery, 8328 308th Ave. S.E., Issaquah

10 a.m., Fall City Cemetery, 4713 Lake Alice Road S.E.

11 a.m., North Bend Cemetery, 43008 S.E. North Bend Way

Noon, Snoqualmie Valley Veterans Memorial at American Legion Post, 38625 S.E. River St., in downtown Snoqualmie, across the street from City Hall.

People may bring flowers to leave on graves. Call Suzy Cassidy at 831-1914 to volunteer to place American flags on graves May 26.

This is in addition to the railroad’s usual weekend train schedule. To commemorate the holiday, the museum will offer $5 round-trip train fare May 26-28 to anyone with a valid current military ID card. The museum offers scenic train excursions aboard its antique train, through the Cascade foothills of the Upper Snoqualmie Valley, including a ride to the top of Snoqualmie Falls.

Trains depart every 90 minutes beginning at 11:01 a.m. from the Snoqualmie Depot at 38625 S.E. King St. and at 11:31 a.m. from the North Bend Depot at 205 McClellan St. Regular round-trip fares are $10 for children ages 2-12, $15 for adults, and $12 for those 62 and older. Call the Northwest Railway Museum at 888-3030 or go to www.trainmuseum.org.

Visitors to the museum experience the excitement of a working railroad while learning about the important role railroads played in shaping the character of the Pacific Northwest. The Snoqualmie Depot, exhibits and Depot Bookstore are open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

The period for candidates to enter races up for election on the August and November ballots ended May 18 in a buzz of activity.

Local voters face choices in countywide, legislative, statewide and federal offices.

Voters pick the top two candidates, regardless of party affiliation, Aug. 7 in the all-mail primary election. The top vote recipients then advance to an all-mail general election Nov. 6.

Elections officials attributed the intense interest among candidates in part to the presidential contest on the ballot, and the expectation of high turnout as voters choose between President Barack Obama, a Democrat, and the GOP challenger, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

“The voters I’ve met as I traveled around the state in the past month are very enthused about this election, and you get the sense that it is a generational or ‘change’ election coming up,” Secretary of State Sam Reed, the top elections official in the state, said in a statement. “When you add the presidential election and potentially some very volatile ballot measures, we may see record voter registrations and record turnout.”

The timing of candidate filing is earlier than in previous years because state officials shifted the primary election to early August to accommodate mailing military and overseas ballots in time for Election Day.

County-wide, voters must decide on 115 elected positions. Statewide, 344 positions came up for grabs, including a high-profile race for governor.

“This year, there are 115 open elected offices for which candidates may file,” county Elections Director Sherril Huff said in a statement. “This being a presidential year election, we are anticipating extremely high voter turnouts.”

Besides the presidential election and a U.S. Senate race, open positions elsewhere on the ballot attracted attention from candidates during the filing period. Voters must also choose a secretary of state, attorney general and state auditor, state and federal lawmakers, plus numerous judges and local officials.

The list of local officeholders in the race for a higher post is sizable.

King County councilmen Reagan Dunn, a Republican, and Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, top

the list of candidates for state attorney general. The incumbent attorney general, Republican Rob McKenna, is running for governor against former U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, and a field of lesser-known candidates. (Dunn represents rural areas of south of Issaquah on the County Council.)

Issaquah School Board President Chad Magendanz, a Republican, is running for a 5th Legislative District seat in the state House of Representatives. Another candidate in the race, Democrat David Spring, ran unsuccessfully for the seat in 2008 and 2010. Independent candidate Ryan Dean Burkett is also running.

Magendanz is running to succeed state Rep. Glenn Anderson. The longtime lawmaker and Fall City Republican is leaving the House to run for lieutenant governor. The field includes the incumbent, Democrat Brad Owen, and others.

The other 5th District seat in the House, occupied by North Bend Republican Jay Rodne, is not being contested, so he appears poised to cruise to re-election.

Issaquah Councilman Mark Mullet, a Democrat, opted to run against incumbent Republican Cheryl Pflug for the 5th District seat in the state Senate. The race also includes Republican Brad Toft, a Snoqualmie businessman.

However, Pflug dropped out of the race for another legislative term May 22, after Gov. Chris Gregoire appointed her to a state growth board.

Gregoire appointed Pflug to a six-year term on the Washington Growth Management Hearings Board, the panel responsible for mediating disputes about planning and development issues in municipalities throughout the state. Members earn $92,500 per year.

Members cannot serve simultaneously on the board and in the Legislature. The appointment as a board member starts July 1, about six months before Pflug’s Senate term expires.

Under state law, the King County Council is responsible for appointing a successor to the Senate seat after Pflug resigns. The law calls for GOP officials to submit three candidates to the council for the open seat. Then, the council must make a selection within 60 days after Pflug’s resignation.

Pflug, a 13-year legislator, ascended to the Senate through the same process, after then-Sen. Dino Rossi resigned to run for governor. Before the Senate appointment in 2004, Pflug represented the district in the state House of Representatives since 1999.

“Cheryl is well-respected by both sides of the aisle as an effective problem solver and has served her constituents well,” Gregoire said in a statement. “Her legislative experience and commitment to serve will be a great asset to the work of the board and I welcome her to this new role.”

In the neighboring 41st Legislative District — post-Census 2010 redistricting divided Issaquah between the 5th and 41st districts — Mercer Island Democrat Judy Clibborn faces no opposition as she runs for another term as a state representative.

Republican Tim Eaves is challenging Renton Democrat Marcie Maxwell, the incumbent representative in the other 41st District House seat.

Incumbent 41st District Sen. Steve Litzow, a Republican, faces a challenge from another Mercer Island resident, Democrat Maureen Judge.

Most candidates for prominent offices started organizing, fundraising and campaigning months before the filing deadline.

Washington voters must also select political party precinct committee officers.

The officers serve as local party representative in neighborhoods. In the role, the officer helps register people to vote and drums up party support by handing out campaign material and encouraging neighbors to vote.

King County mails voter registration cards

King County Elections is mailing updated voter registration cards to all King County voters.

The elections office started sending the cards May 21. The cards identify a voter’s precinct, and congressional, legislative and King County Council districts. Many districts changed late last year due to post-Census 2010 redistricting.

The recent redistricting affected more than 600,000 of the 1.1 million registered voters in the county.

Officials plan to mail ballots for the Aug. 7 primary election July 18, so mailing the voter registration cards in May allows time for the county to update records before the primary.

Voters can reach the elections office at www.kingcounty.gov/elections. Or call 206-296-VOTE. Visit elections headquarters at 919 S.W. Grady Way, Renton.

Warren Kagarise: 392-6434, ext. 234, or wkagarise@isspress.com. Comment at www.snovalleystar.com.

For Doc and Dud, it’s the big race below the rocks where the huge lunker trout lives. All our efforts to catch him have so far gone unrewarded, and he keeps getting bigger each year.

But for me, there’s a little cove downstream from there, shaded by huge cottonwoods and flanked in by car-sized rocks the color of wet cement. I found it during a previous lifetime, I imagine.

At least I can’t remember the first time I discovered this place. It is walled off from the world by the rocks, protected from the sun by the cottonwoods.

There is a blackened part of one overhanging rock where I’ve built a good many small cooking and “friendly” fires over the decades.

I’ve fished from there, swum from there, and … back when the fires of spring were still crackling, shared this special spot with a girl or two. But mostly it has been a private place. Everyone needs one. It’s been a place to come, alone, for special times. When my dog died, back when I was just a youngster, it was a place to shed private tears and remember the times the two of us had there. When the scholarship came, it was a place to come and sit by the small fire at night, a place where the noise of the water flowing by would drown out about 82 percent of my shouts of exaltation.

Years later, when my grandson’s cancer went into remission, it became a very private personal church for giving thanks.

Today, it’s a part of my very being … the home place … what Spanish-speakers would call the querencia … the place of the heart. If someday my ashes could come to rest here, I wouldn’t complain at all, but just smile at the sound of the creek chuckling by.

Need a good book? Check out what’s new at www.slimrandles.com.

I just want to comment on how lucky we are to live in such a tight community. I have lived in several cities and neighborhoods in the Puget Sound region and have never experienced the level of friendliness and support that I have seen here.

Our community has been through its challenges over the past few months as described in last week’s SnoValley Star. I know I was feeling a bit down May 5 when my family arrived at Centennial Field for Mary Miller’s heart photo. When we got there, the group was in a celebratory mood, just happy to be together in such a beautiful place. It really was a magical experience!

Thank you to Mary Miller for reaching out to all of us, drawing us in and giving us the gift of time with each other. How wonderful that we can celebrate our community just by gathering together for a photo! What a great lesson for our kids, to know that when times are tough and painful we can come together and lift our spirits just by being community.

Mary is just one of the many community-minded people whose talent and personality reach out and bring us together around here. I, for one, feel very lucky to live among so many wonderful, warm, caring and helpful people.

To all of you who look beyond your own daily lives and spread joy around when we need it most, during times of tragedy, difficult weather conditions or times of celebration, thank you for making it a joy to live in the Snoqualmie Valley!

Ann Landry

North Bend

Plant sale thanks

The Snoqualmie Valley Hospital Auxiliary appreciates the support from the North Bend, Snoqualmie and surrounding-area residents, the North Bend QFC and the many Valley businesses that displayed our publicity flyers for our annual plant sale, held April 28.

Because of the success of the sale, the auxiliary will be able to fund our fifth $1,000 scholarship for a Mount Si High School graduating senior pursuing studies in the medical field. Congratulations to Deanna Hartfield, the lucky winner of our garden cart.

John McLean, secretary

Snoqualmie Valley Hospital Auxiliary

This national holiday is especially poignant while our country is at war. Soldiers are still fighting in far-flung corners of the world for the liberty that affords us a carefree day in the park, chowing down on barbecue or watching the Indianapolis 500 — what most of us will do this weekend.

It’s OK, veterans can be remembered while you’re having fun, but there are numerous ways to honor soldiers, too.

Display a grand ol’ flag at your home.

Attend the special service and presentation of the colors by local Veterans of Foreign Wars.

The Valley will remember its heroes with these ceremonies:

9 a.m., Preston Cemetery, 8328 308th Ave. S.E., Issaquah

10 a.m., Fall City Cemetery

11 a.m., North Bend Cemetery

Noon, Snoqualmie Valley Veterans Memorial at American Legion Post, downtown Snoqualmie, across the street from City Hall.

Visit a national cemetery where volunteers have decorated gravesites with a U.S. flag. The Tahoma National Cemetery is east of Kent on 158 acres. Noteworthy is the Memorial Walkway with 23 memorials that commemorate soldiers of various wars. A Blue Star Memorial to honor all veterans is north of the Public Information Center.

Use Memorial Day to also honor family members who have died, not just servicemen and women.

Say thanks to a living veteran. Let him or her know his or her service is appreciated.

Volunteer to assist veterans. Go to www.volunteer.va.gov.

Take time to learn a little about the holiday and its Civil War roots, and then share it with a friend.

The city of Snoqualmie Public Works Department recently won an award for its Town Center Infrastructure Improvement Project Phase I, according to a May 11 press release.

The American Public Works Association Washington State Chapter award is for chapter project of the year for the category Transportation Less Than $5 Million, and recognizes excellence in management and administration to successfully complete public works projects. 

“This project will attract visitors, support local merchants and improve the vitality of our historic downtown,” Director of Public Works Daniel J. Marcinko said in a press release. “It was a great team effort on a job well done by everyone involved.”

The Public Works Fleet division also received certification as an Evergreen Fleet with a three-star rating from the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency program. The Evergreen Fleet’s Star-Rating System recognizes and rewards fleets that are taking significant steps to incorporate green initiatives into their everyday operations. Snoqualmie’s Fleet division rating is on par with King County, Snohomish County and Waste Management.

“Public Works is what makes this city run,” Mayor Matt Larson said in a press release. “Our Public Works staff contributes directly to the high quality of life in Snoqualmie and the public’s safety, as well as successfully accommodating community growth we will continue to experience for many years to come.”

The Public Works Department has many significant projects in the planning stages, such as the Town Center Infrastructure Improvement Project Phase II, the Falls Avenue Southeast and Southeast Cedar Street Rehabilitation and Infrastructure Improvement Project, the Tokul Roundabout and other general street improvements, according to the press release.

New funding gives

clean water and salmon recovery projects a boost

The King County Flood Control District board of supervisors approved $3 million in funding May 14 for a range of projects to improve water quality, protect and restore habitat, and support salmon recovery efforts, including the Snoqualmie Watershed.

The board’s action will boost the efforts of local organizations by providing funding grants in the following areas: $1.2 million for Water Resource Inventory Area 8, $1.2 million for Water Resource Inventory Area 9 and $600,000 for the Snoqualmie Watershed, according to a press release.

“Restoring and protecting our watersheds is critically important to the ecological health of our region and the food chain that supports our ecosystem — from the mountain tops to the shores of Puget Sound,” Flood Control District Board Chairwoman Julia Patterson said in the press release. “Those are values we all embrace in the Pacific Northwest.”

“Numerous local organizations are making great strides to restore and protect our natural areas, recover salmon and keep our water clean,” Supervisor Reagan Dunn said in the release. “This funding will ensure they can keep up their great work that benefits both the environment and our economy.”

King County will administer the grant allocation process with the Flood Control District executive committee overseeing project selections. The funding is allocated for 2012 only. The Flood Control District board intends to pursue ongoing funding for future watershed management actions given the relationship between flood control and stormwater projects and cooperative watershed management.

Vendors and volunteers are still needed for farmers market, concerts

The North Bend Farmers Market and Summer Concert series, which begins June 14, still has vendor openings.

Limited space is available for new vendors with specialty items like eggs, cheese, seafood, and arts and crafts.

Booth space can be reserved on a weekly or full season basis.

Market applications are available at www.siviewpark.org/farmers-market.phtml.

Organizers are also looking for a youth group, service organization or a local business to offer children activities at the farmers market. This is an excellent opportunity to connect with the local community. Learn more by calling 831-1900.

Si View Metro Parks is hosting the North Bend Farmers Market and Summer Concert series at Si View Park. The 2012 season opens June 14 and runs weekly through Sept. 13. Market hours are from 4-8 p.m. and the live concerts are from 6-7:30 p.m.

Carport theft

A man who lives in the 700 block of Pickett Avenue Northeast reported that someone entered his carport and stole his motorcycle helmet and a generator.

He believes it happened between April 29 and May 6.

Need glasses

Someone used a vehicle to knock down nine North Bend signs — including stop signs, speed limit signs, parking restriction signs and directional warning signs — along Southeast 140th Street and Southeast Middle Fork Road.

Police believe the incidents happened between May 4 and 6. Police did find a tire tread mark and the incident is still under investigation.

A simple ‘I’m sorry’ would have sufficed

A 23-year-old pedestrian told police a vehicle struck him while it was backing up on Bendigo Boulevard on May 7.

He said the driver got out of the pickup and he thought the man was going to apologize to him for backing into him. Instead, the driver punched him in the face and then drove away. The accident is still under investigation.

DUI

At about midnight May 9, a police officer noticed a driver heading eastbound on East North Bend Way, revving his engine, speeding, swerving in his lane and then driving up on a sidewalk.

The officer stopped Justin R. Beck, 25, of Covington. Beck was arrested for drunk driving and was released to a friend.

Shoplifting

A Famous Footwear employee reported that at about 10:30 a.m. May 10, a white male, wearing a black hoodie, baggy blue jean shorts and old white tennis shoes, hid a pair of Nike Air Max Torch shoes under his hoodie and left the store. The clerk tried to stop the suspect, who ran from the store.

Trust no one

A 62-year-old woman reported to police May 15 that a man saying he was with the U.S. Treasury told her she won a grant.

He asked for her checking account routing number so he could deposit the money. She gave it to him, but then later regretted it and closed her account. The case is still under investigation.

Snoqualmie

Bear escapes

At 4:35 a.m. May 11, a person living in the 34000 block of Southeast McCullough Street reported that a bear was in a trap, but had managed to get out and then went through a garage.

Burning bushes

Officers responded at about 2:30 p.m. May 11 to the 8600 block of Railroad Avenue Southeast to a report of a landscaper burning bushes. Officers contacted the subject and advised him to put out the fire.

Rascally raccoons

A homeowner in the 7000 block of Huckleberry Way Southeast phoned police at 10:41 p.m. May 14. She said she heard noises and thought someone might be in her house. Police did not find anyone suspicious in the home, but did locate a group of raccoons.

Traffic control

Police helped with traffic control at 7:15 a.m. May 16 at Southeast Snoqualmie Parkway and Railroad Avenue Southeast. A school bus had broken down. The students were removed and moved to a new bus.

Fire calls from Eastside Fire & Rescue in North Bend

At 1:23 p.m. May 11, one engine responded to a mistaken report of smoke or gas in the 900 block of Quartz Drive Southwest.

The Star publishes names of those arrested for DUI and those charged with felony crimes. Information comes directly from local police reports.

So Art Bergschlawiner, sergeant of arms with the legion, figured Flag Day on June 14 would be a fitting time to educate folks about the process, and is telling people where they can bring retired flags.

The legion hall, at 38625 S.E. River St., set up a red mailbox labeled “flags,” where people can drop off any flags — now and long after Flag Day.

Bergschlawiner said few people know that unserviceable and worn out flags need to be disposed of in a reverent manner.

According to the U.S. Code, Title 4, Chapter 1, also known as the Flag Code, “The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.”

If you would like to dispose of a flag yourself, then the most fitting way is to hold your own, private ceremony, he said. After your flag has been burned, the ashes should be buried.

But new concerns about the toxic smoke emitted from burning nylon flags has many patriotic Americans wondering what to do.

That’s where the legion and local Boy Scouts come in.

Bergschlawiner the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts have been collecting old, worn out, nylon flags and taking them to a funeral home so that they can be burned in a safe and controlled manner.

He said anyone can drop off any kind of flag at the legion. The Boy Scouts will take care of the nylon flags and the legion will take care of the others. And he said he anticipates Post 79 will hold a flag disposal ceremony in the future.

You didn’t? Here, have another glass of swamp water.

What? You don’t drink swamp water? Well, these people have to.

Contributed photo. Kimberly Calhoun hugs Dativa, a Ugandan girl Calhoun and her husband John sponsor.

Welcome to Uganda, a country like many others in Africa, attacked by the triplets of poverty, ignorance and the scourge of AIDS and HIV.

Uganda also houses the hopes of a local couple, insistent on improving the lives of children there.

“Their level of poverty is something I had never seen before,” said Kimberly Calhoun, whose husband John talked her into going to Uganda five years ago to help install a sand filter for clean water. She balked and promised to go on the second trip if he survived the first one.

He did, so she did.

“I just fell in love with the people there,” she said.

They began raising money to build wells. It took years of gathering cash and finding tools, but the drill trucks finally arrived in the mountainous village of Rwenjiri in 2009.

Kimberly calls that day one of the best of her life. It took three tries, but clean water finally arrived.

“There were people celebrating something that we take for granted, just go and turn on the tap,” she said. “They had been getting water out of a swamp for years.”

The Calhouns also helped build an elementary school and housing units for teachers, who had lived in mud huts until then.

More than 400 children attend that school. Ugandan children aren’t expected to stay in school after age 11, according to the CIA’s World Factbook.

“The only way these kids are going to get out of the poverty cycle is if they have an education,” Kimberly said. “If you live out in the boonies, there’s no reason to get one because, where are you going to go?”

The Calhouns want to help bring the basic necessities of health, education and shelter to areas of Uganda, she said. Their latest project entailed buying 25 acres of land an hour northwest of Kampala, Uganda’s capitol.

“We built a storage facility with a caretaker room and a bathroom, and just finished building a clinic,” she said. “It’s not up and running yet, we’re raising funds for it.”

Kimberly said she wants Ugandans to take ownership and care of what’s being built, the clinic now and a second school later.

The 25 acres will have crops planted, and children attending the new school will work each day for 30 minutes, weeding or planting.

“We want it to be self-sustaining,” she said. “We want them to take ownership. We don’t want a bunch of people here sending money every month to keep it going.”

The clinic will charge those seeking help.

“It’s important that everybody pays a fee when they come,” Kimberly said. “If they can’t pay a fee, they need to bring a chicken or something.”

The only time the clinic will open for free is when American doctors, particularly dentists, work there. Kimberly and her husband will try to take American doctors there twice a year, she added.

The U.S. has an estimated 3.1 hospital beds and 2.6 doctors per every 1,000 people. In comparison, Uganda has 0.3 hospital beds and 0.1 doctors, according to the factbook.

“We had a friend there who went to the dentist because he had a tooth hurting,” she said. “And the dentist pulled the wrong tooth.”

Furthermore, some Ugandan parents Kimberly has encountered see teeth care as “an American thing,” and some Ugandan children have never seen a toothbrush.

“They have a lot of issues,” Kimberly added.

Kimberly sees no end to their work in Uganda. And that’s the way she likes it. Once terrified of the idea of going to Africa, she dreams of seeing 25 acres of self-sustaining land become 25 more. And then 25 more.

Encouraging signs exist, like Ugandans using bricks instead of mud. Discouraging signs exist, too, like the firm belief that if you’re white you are rich, or if you sleep with virgins, certain things happen.

The key, she said, is in turning Ugandan children into self-reliant, educated adults.

“When you bring hope to a place where there is no hope,” she said, “that’s an amazing thing to watch.”

Darla Kohlruss, president of the Snoqualmie Valley Riding Club, said she wants to change that.

Mary Luty tends to a horse during a trail clinic at the Snoqualmie Valley Riding Club. The clinics are to increase the trust between rider and beast, especially when in narrow, wooded trails that can make a horse nervous. Photo contributed

The club is holding trail clinics June 9-10, July 21-22 and Aug. 18-19.

The clinics will teach horses to deal with obstacles they encounter out on the trail, Kohlruss said.

“Things blowing at them, water, logs, going through brush, and having things going through their legs and chest,” she said. “And teaching them to not be afraid of them.”

Instead of actual obstacles, the clinic uses giant balls, floating devices also known as noodles, bridges, ditches and other obstacles, clinic instructor Shannon King said.

The horses aren’t the only ones learning, she added. Riders learn how to help the horses deal with their fears.

“It’s just as much for the riders,” Kohlruss said. “If you’re nervous about something, the horse can feel it.”

The end result of the clinic will be a stronger trust between horse and rider. The horse will look at the trail ahead, without fear.

All clinics happen on weekends. Saturday clinics are $75 with an emphasis on mastering individual obstacles. Sunday clinics will consist of runs on challenge courses. Each run costs $15, with evaluation notes on each run costing $5. A $35 fee gives a rider unlimited runs for the day. The clinics welcome experienced and inexperienced riders alike. You don’t even need to own a horse, Kohlruss she added. If you need one, the club will provide one for $10, King said.

“Anybody who wants to learn about horses,” Kohlruss said, “we are all for it.”

If you go
Snoqualmie Valley                Trails Clinic
June 9-10
July 21-22
Aug. 18-19
Snoqualmie Valley                Riding Club
13121 415th Way                S.E., North Bend

By Mary Miller Photographer Mary Miller, of North Bend, organized a heart-shaped community photo May 5 at Centennial Fields in Snoqualmie. She said 200 people from the Snoqualmie Valley showed up for the photo, and brought along their dogs and chickens.

When you put a call out to the Snoqualmie Valley to show up for a community photo, you never know who or what’s going to show up.

Such was the case May 5, when several people brought their dogs, and a couple of families brought their chickens.

“I couldn’t believe it — chickens,” said North Bend photographer Mary Miller, who organized the community photo. “But it was great. I loved it.”

Miller said the original intent for a community photo was to be a part of a table book she’s creating called “Life in the Upper Valley.”

“But then I thought it would also be a great way to bring back the celebration of this community in the midst of such tragedies we’ve faced recently,” she said.

The tragedies were a plane crashing into Mount Si, a home invasion where a man had to shoot and kill a man who broke into his home, a Mount Si High School student who killed himself and the killings of Lynnettee and Kaylene Keller.

“I personally felt there was a bit of a pall in the Valley,” Miller said.

She said 200 people turned out at Centennial Fields in Snoqualmie for the heart-shaped group shot.

“Everybody was in a party mood,” she said. “You could just tell they felt great getting out and participating in this as a community.”

Miller directed people from three stories up on an industrial lift while giving direction from a megaphone to helpers Danny Kolke and Rene Schuster.

When the shot was done, Miller said several people came up and thanked her, and told her the experience felt like a community hug.

“The intent was for us to remember our neighbors and to be there for them,” she said.

Michele Mihalovich: 392-6434, ext. 246, or editor@snovalleystar.com. Comment at    www.snovalleystar.com.

Hospital administrators had hoped to get an approved Certificate of Need, which costs $34,457, from the state’s Department of Health in April.

But a backlog in applications and appeals is holding up the process, said Mark Thomas, analyst for the Certificate of Need program.

State Rep. Jay Rodne, who also serves as attorney for the Snoqualmie Valley Hospital district, said a letter of intent was mailed to the state in October, and the application for the certificate was received by the state in November, with hope that the state would make a decision in early April.

But the state has asked for two extensions since that time, he said.

“We’ve tried to stress to them that we have a small window of opportunity to build because of a short construction season,” said Rodger McCollum, the hospital administrator.

The district sold the current hospital building and land to the Snoqualmie Tribe in July 2008 for $30 million, and the tribe is allowing the hospital to continue to operate in the building. The tribe is currently paying $100,000 a month and will pay the remaining balance in a balloon payment May 1, 2015, expected to come in at about $29 million.

“Under our agreement with the Snoqualmie Tribe, we can occupy the current hospital until our new hospital is completed,” Rodne said.

He said hospital administrators had expected an expedited process.

Thomas explained that Washington law allows some applications to get done faster than others.

For instance, if two kidney dialysis centers applied for an application in close proximity to each other, both of the applications would be considered at the same time, rather than on a first-come, first-served basis, and an analysis would be determined to see if that area needed two kidney dialysis centers, he said.

“With the Snoqualmie Valley Hospital, the timeline is shorter because I don’t have to do a need analysis, and the public comment period is 20 days, rather than the standard 30 days,” Thomas said.

While Thomas said he couldn’t discuss the merit of the application, he did say he received several positive comments supporting the new hospital, and two negative comments — one from a community member and one from a Snoqualmie Valley Hospital board member.

Commissioner Gene Pollard wrote in his March 1, seven-page letter to the state, that the hospital is not necessary because of duplicated services with nearby Swedish/Issaquah, lack of community support and that the hospital isn’t financially able to take on such debt.

Thomas said the hospital was given 14 days to rebut the negative letters, which it did.

The remaining board commissioners — Dick Jones, Kevin Hauglie, David Speikers and Joan Young — responded March 14 with a 12-page letter with supporting documentation that refuted Pollard’s claims.

Thomas said he would take all of the comments into consideration when he conducts his analysis.

He said backlogs occurring in his department occasionally do happen with the small staff — four analysts and a supervisor, “but we fully expect to have a decision by the end of the month.”