Vashon Verité
A candid slice of Island life, from short feature digests to guess-where snapshots.
Vashon Park District has the packets ready for Vashon Ski School, whose season commences Jan. 8. The salient points for newbies are:
It is for both youth and adults. Ages start at 8 (median is 13-15). Helmets are mandatory. You can sign up for single Saturday trips up ($30 round trip bus + lift tix), lessons with bus, or a season pass with full 7-bus trips. The seven Saturday trips are all day–pretty much 8a to 8p. This gives the skier/boarder access to Summit at Snoqualmie, and this year Summit East has opened up! More can be found at VashonParkDistrict.org. The registration deadline is Dec. 15, so get hoppin!
PS Congratulations to VSS for raising more than $850 at annual ski swap Saturday! Thanks to all who made it lively.
The last part of October, a few Islanders headed off to Costa Rica in search of a cure for the chilly, ever-shortening days fall brought upon us. Greg Martin was one of those guys. Along with his oldest son, Caz, he very quietly also brought a load of soccer balls to donate to the local soccer clubs of Jaco, Puntarenas (on the Central Pacific coast). Surf Inn proprietress Christina Truit of Playa Hermosa, who works with the local chamber of commerce, distributed them on behalf of Greg and Vashon Soccer. To hear Christine explain it, Costa Rican soccer (futbol) players are extremely talented and sorely under-equipped and even less funded. To receive such a gift is highly coveted and deeply appreciated. Way to go, Greg!
(I am passing it on!)
Dear Vashon Island Friends and Neighbors:
Acting as a concerned citizen, I’ve put together a public meeting where a representative speaker from the Sheriff’s Department will provide information about the recent rash of thefts and burglaries on Vashon Island. I contacted the Vashon Community Council and ask if such a meeting could take place prior to their regular meeting on Monday October 18th at 6pm at McMurray School. They agreed and were gracious enough to facilitate the use of the room for the meeting. They also offered to continue the dialog at a subsequent Community Council Public Safety Committee meeting on October 28th, if there is enough interest in having additional public dialog about this problem.
I have arranged for Sgt Calvin Beringer of the King County Sheriff’s Department to facilitate the meeting and address the recent crime and theft problems on the island, including what the police know, possible suspects, what law enforcement is doing, what they think is the root cause of the rash thefts and burglaries and what we can do to reduce these type of crimes on the island.
I like to invite you to attend the meeting and also invite you to help me spread the word about the meeting. I think it’s a good idea to have a public dialog about the crime and thefts on Vashon rather then only depending on rumors and press reports. If you agree, I hope that you will attend and would appreciate it if you could forward the information about the meeting to your friends and contacts on the Island.
If you have any questions feel free to contact me. (please feel free to reproduce the attached flier and forward it to your contact lists)
Sincerely, Danny O’Brien
vashonisland@gmail.com
206 227-6976
Wow. Awesome. The energy of the crowd and performers at the Sunday -O- showing of Church of Great Rain was hummin’. How will the group top that performance? The bar is set high. Way high. We have our own Prairie Home Companion-meets SNL-meets Almost Live and it rocks.
The Church House Band traversed genres, from The Who to Right Said Fred, with ease and got in on the fun. If you pay attention, you’ll understand a very deliberate connection from skit to song. Danny O’Keefe with guest Joel Tepp (who has played with Bonnie Raitt and gobs of chart-toppers and is a treat in his own right) and their sweet-voiced singing companion nearly moved us to “eye leaks.” The next event is Oct. 31 (Sunday). It’s all fine for kids, but leave the wiggling, squealing ones at home. Please.
For those who missed out, you’ll catch it here, on VOV, go to Facebook, or scope out YouTube in a search for past acts.
My favorites from last night were:
Reappointing VMICC – the folly of board formalities
Vashon Fashion show – “pilled sweater with calf length skirt…Thriftway re-bags in black, green and SGK pink?” Killed it!
Roll call – The multiple, hyphenated, even hybridized last names on Vashon are epidemic! Genealogy be damned.
Eastern WA bad dream – Yes, “Spokanatchee,” we do commute by boat.
Thank you for being witty, for not dumbing it down, for showing us so much talent, and for giving us Jeff’s voice. Amen.
Sunday, Sept. 26 is the Church of Great Rain, 6p, O Space.
Some incredible comedy writing and a talented team of actors/singers make this one to attend!
Take a look at how cleverly this Vashon-Maury take on Westside Story is played out!
Why, during peak commuter hours, is the dock completely torn up and flaggers are -controlling- the flow of on and off loads?
I pitied the slowed business Miguel and crew experienced at La Playa during this time, when their parking lot was completely Bogarted by tractors and machinery.
Perhaps they were compensated, but it didn’t look too welcoming! Yeah for improvements; boo for the hours.
This fresh from YouTube and Facebook, via Backbone Campaigners:
In January, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations can spend unlimited $$ in our elections. In July, Target gave $150,000 to the anti-gay, anti-worker candidate for Gov. of MN. Last week, a quarter million people pledged to boycott Target Yesterday. Here’s what happened on the surprise visit from MoveOn.org.
MoveOn.org Civic Action is a 501(c)(4) organization which primarily focuses on nonpartisan education and advocacy on important national issues. MoveOn.org Political Action is a federal political committee which primarily helps members elect candidates who reflect our values through a variety of activities aimed at influencing the outcome of the next election. MoveOn.org Political Action and MoveOn.org Civic Action are separate organizations
Don’t anger a Vashonite. And by that I mean do not even THINK, let alone ATTEMPT to jump the line. Friday, Aug. 13 (4p-ish) was a fitting day for one of the longest Fauntleroy car ferry lines of summer. I was stuck in it, all the way back to The Kinney, which is well north of the gas station.
Jockeying around parked cars was bad enough, but we poor suckers in cars figured it out. I crept to the curbside at a corner where a woman put on her blinker to turn (she was parallel on the left side of me in the road), but she didn’t turn into the corner. Instead, she jumped in the ferry line in front of me. I laid on the horn. She didn’t flinch. The cars behind me did the same. My kids were saying “no way!” at the audacity of this woman in front of me. They said “maybe it’s because she has a handicap license plate,” to which I quipped that doesn’t mean she is mentally incapacitated. If she thought that license plate was going to land her a sympathy spot in line (yes, this thought also crossed my mind) this was not going to be her day.
I consulted with the car in front of the offending driver and then the one behind me. Both corroborated her “cut.” I then went to her.
Me: You jumped the line and you need to go to the back.
Her: I’m sorry. I was just confused. I never take this boat.
Me: (Noticing her Bremerton framed license place) Then you know now, and need to go to the back of the line.
Her: (Shrug. Shaking head no.) I”m sorry.
Me: You cut all those cars. GO TO THE BACK OF THE LINE NOW, OR LATER.
She looked dead ahead and tuned out. I got in my car, wrote down her plate #, my cell # and sent my son for a walk to the patrol officer at the front of the line to flag her once our fleet arrived (me, her and two witnesses). About 45 minutes of staring at her Bremertonian framed plate (gold Honda Civic) seething with sentiments of how unfair this crap is, the patrolman SENT HER PACKIN’ TO THE BACK OF THE LINE!
I have seen a few cutters get away with this. Not this time. There is justice in the world sometimes, even if the victory is this small. It is integrity. It is the principle. This is not anarchy.
Just don’t do it. And don’t let people get away with this. If there are exceptions, that’s for these folks to take up with the ferry and WSP workers.
Oh, man, I love that song. Eddy Grant. Mental note for iPod playlist.
Do you see the new sign?
Tube Art truck cometh; Tube Art truck taketh away. Et voila, a sleek, new eletronic Thriftway sign rises in the place of its olde timey marquee. And I don’t dislike it at all. It’s tastefully done, as lighted electric billboards go. It gets my attention in a good way. Snoqualmie cones were a quarter off yesterday. See, it even had recall for me! Success already, Thriftway. I always got the willies watching the willowy employees hiking the ladder to switch out messaging.
So here we are, entering a new era of Vashon Hwy electronic signage. We shall see who follows!
