AMID SKYGAZING FERVOR over the commensurate arrival of paragliders, scores of locals await the start of Shelton's Relay for Life at the high school. Despite some rain, the event was another cancer-fighting success with $123,000 raised so far.

ONE OF TWO SCHEMES for the new fairgrounds features, among other things, a rodeo arena, a new museum at top right and an amphitheater at bottom right.

All-American thrill

Shelton's Nick Owens, now of the University of North Carolina, celebrates his runner-up performance in the NCAA Division I hammer-throw finals Friday in Sacramento.

A family tradition

Sean Brehmeyer gives a lift to Gage Bane moments before graduation ceremonies begin at Mary M. Knight School in Matlock. Sean's graduation ends his family's 74-year winning streak. A member of the Brehmeyer clan has attended every year at MMK since 1933.

KIMBERLY PETERSON won the recent logo contest at Hood Canal School for this design of the Orca, the new mascot for the new school now under construction.

Judge swears in
new attorney

Robbi Smith is sworn in as an attorney last Friday by Mason County Superior Court Judge James Sawyer. Smith, 25, is the daughter of Terri and Joby Butler and Bob Smith, all of Shelton. She is a 2000 graduate of Shelton High School and a member of the Skokomish Indian Tribe. She graduated from the University of Washington in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in sociology, and from Arizona State University Law School in 2006. Smith studied abroad last summer, attending the University College London, where she took law classes while visiting Greece, Italy and England. Currently, she is employed as an attorney with the Chehalis Indian Tribe.

MAKING THEIR DEBUT in the wake of formal selection last week are the Oakland Bay Junior High dance-team members for the coming school year. In front from left are Morgan Earsley, Amanda Caldwell, Amy Maiava and Kristina Whiteley. Second row: Shayney Johnson, Stephanie Howard, Delina Helm, Graycee Hanna, Alyssa Mauvais and Katie Prellwitz. The girls are coached once again by Meredith Johnson.

LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS honored Tuesday by the Shelton Kiwanis Club include, from left, Sue Reed, standing in for her husband, Mason County Sheriff's Deputy Bill Reed, Washington State Fish and Wildlife Officer Dennis Flowers, Shelton Police Detective Harry Heldreth, Sergeant Chris Peters of the Squaxin Island Tribal Police, Washington State Patrol Trooper Rick Pigmon and Corrections Officer Steve Daggett of the Washington Corrections Center.

North Mason
holds graduation

Tiara Hannafious, seen here getting a congratulatory hug from a friend following the ceremony, was one of 149 North Mason High School students to graduate earlier this week at the Kitsap Pavilion. Next week's Herald will include a special section featuring photos of each graduate, speeches given during the commencement ceremony, a comprehensive list of this year's scholarship awards and more.

DAN, QUIN and Barb Goodell are ready for a summer adventure in Africa. By mid-summer, Belfair attorney Dan Goodell and his family will have a summer-trip story to top everyone else's. It will be a journey, an adventure, but certainly not a vacation, to the country of Liberia, on Africa's northwestern Atlantic coast. The Goodells will be leaving on June 21, traveling with the non-profit group Serve The Children (STC) based in Gig Harbor and spending three weeks working at STC's school in the capital, Monrovia.