Thursday, July 19, 2018  - Week 29

MIGHT AS WELL JUMP

Journal photo by Gordon Weeks
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With temperatures soaring into the 80s, three Port Orchard youths — from left to right, Dajshon Keel, Justin Poindexter and Payton Laseter — jump off the bridge July 12 where the Skokomish River meets Lake Cushman on July 12.

Fire activity causes concern

By MICHAEL HEINBACH
michael@masoncounty.com

By the time a small fire began and was quickly doused about 3 p.m. Tuesday by Central Mason Fire & EMS personnel near in the intersection of South Fifth and Grove streets in Shelton, the Mason County Sheriff’s Office, along with local and state fire authorities, had grown wary of the sheer multitude of recent fire activity.

On Tuesday afternoon, Ryan Spurling, MCSO chief criminal deputy, told the Shelton-Mason County Journal that about 25 fires in the county during the past few weeks drew the suspicion of fire marshals and investigators with the state Department of Natural Resources. Spurling said the Sheriff’s Office was planning to bring together a task force, comprised of local fire chiefs and DNR officials, to meet Thursday to compare notes and discuss the reality that recent heavy fire activity might not be entirely due to accidental or natural causes.“We’ve had approximately 24 fires in the area in the last few weeks and that’s quite a lot for this time of year. It’s too much,” Spurling said. “Some of them have some similar characteristics and others do not. So, we’re going to bring all the fire chiefs together with DNR investigators to create a taskforce with our detectives to help determine if some of this due to criminal activity.” 

Mike Patti, Central Mason Fire & EMS deputy chief and fire marshal, after investigating the brush fire near Grove and South Fifth that burned no structures and caused no damage or injuries, told the Journal that fire activity has area fire personnel on their toes.

“There’s just too much commonality between them,” Patti said.
Just after 4 p.m. Tuesday, Hillary Franz, DNR commissioner of public lands, posted concerns raised by the amount of fires in the Mason County on Twitter.

“In the last 36 hours, @WaDNR firefighters have responded to 8 fires on DNR-protected areas in and around Mason County,” read her initial tweet. She added “This number of fires in the same area is unusual and concerning. DNR police are involved and assisting Mason County Sheriff (Casey) Salisbury’s investigation into the cause of these fires.”

Central Mason Fire & EMS chief Tim McKern told the Journal on Tuesday that every fire start in the county will receive a comprehensive investigation throughout the summer to search for potential similarities in their causes.

​The most active of current blazes in the county as of the Journal’s print deadline was the Kings Landing fire, located off East Bertelsen Road near the Timberlakes area, northeast of Shelton. That fire was reported about 3:15 p.m. Monday.

“It’s holding at 62 acres. That’s the number we still have it sitting at,” said Norma Brock, Central Mason Fire & EMS public information officer, on Tuesday afternoon. “It’s still sitting at about 30 percent containment and the cause is still under investigation.”

​For more of the Shelton-Mason County Journal, subscribe to our weekly edition.​

Restoration work for iconic log monument

By MICHAEL HEINBACH
michael@masoncounty.com

The iconic Shelton log monument, featuring a cross section of a 729-year-old Douglas fir that greets motorists entering and leaving town on state Route 3 is receiving some restoration work thanks to a donation from Mason County Master Builders.

Crews this week are scheduled to sand off dirt and graffiti, apply protective sealers and repaint the text in an effort to preserve the monument.

This isn’t the first time the Mason County Master Builders have stepped forward to help preserve the monument, which was erected in 1953 to celebrate 100 years of the logging industry in the county. In 2004, the organization paid to build the existing roof that protects the log from direct exposure to weather.

In a news release, Mark Ziegler, the city’s director of community development and parks and recreation, said the city is grateful for the continued support from the Mason County Master Builders.

“The preservation of significant community resources is vital to our heritage and one more example of the great community we call home,” he said. “As a popular meetings space and photo opportunity, the preservation of the log monument is important for Shelton residents and visitors alike.”

The cross section of the log -— which measures 10 feet in diameter and is 2 1/2 feet thick — is from a 224-foot Douglas fir harvested from Simpson Logging Co.’s Camp Grisdale in 1953. The Mason County Forest Festival Association erected the monument.

The rings were counted on the log to determine the tree sprouted in the year 1289. The rings are marked with dates in white letters that showcase historical events from those years, including the Great Plague of 1348 and the landing of the Mayflower on Plymouth Rock in 1620.

The Shelton City Council discussed the future of a second iconic log greeting sign Tuesday night at its regular meeting. The log entry sign that bears the words “Welcome to Shelton” that greeted visitors at 12th Street and Railroad Avenue was removed in May 2015 to be refinished and restored. That work is completed, and now the city must decide where to place it, Ziegler told the council members.

Six locations were proposed, and the options have been narrowed to two sites: along the western right-of-way on Brockdale Road south of Wallace Kneeland Boulevard, and in the triangular-shaped median at the intersection of Olympic Highway South, Harvard Street and Pioneer Way.

The city has been discussing realigning the second site, so placing the sign there might lead it to be moved again, Ziegler said.

​For more of the Shelton-Mason County Journal, subscribe to our weekly edition.

Courtesy photo

Alderbrook Golf & Yacht club employee Kyle Preston, left, and golf pro Sam Smith hold up the winning golf ball from the Golf Balls from Heaven drop on Monday at Alderbrook Golf & Yacht Club in Union.



 

Love INC hosts golf fundraiser

By ALEXANDRA SMITH
alexandra@masoncounty.com

The eighth annual Love INC golf tournament was held Monday at Alderbrook Golf & Yacht Club. 

Over 160 golfers participated in the scramble event. 

Love INC was founded in 2008 and the golf tournament began in 2011 as a fundraiser and “friendraiser” for the nonprofit group, said Virginia McCarty, who has been involved with the tournament since its inception. 
 
Love INC is a Shelton-based nonprofit that mobilizes churches in Mason County to assist people in need. There are 27 local churches that partner with Love INC to link ministries and volunteers to people in need.

The tournament, which raises money for the nonprofit group, helped 1,366 families last year through funds raised at the tournament. 

Love INC executive director Linda Myers said the group is starting a Jobs for Life program in September. The move is part of Love INC’s vision to extend its scope beyond goods to tranfoming lives.

Love INC clearinghouse hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays. For more information, call 360-462-LOVE (5683), email loveinc.office@hcc.net or visit www.LoveIncOfMasonCounty.org.

​For more of the Shelton-Mason County Journal, subscribe to our weekly edition.