Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
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When the Class of 2023 graduated from North Mason High School on June 9, its numbers included 32 multilingual-learner students, so this year’s graduation ceremony included a new accommodation for MLL students’ families. Amanda Marley-Clarke, communications specialist for North Mason School District, explained how this year’s high school graduation made the first use of district interpreters to provide simultaneous translation services, through 35 headsets, directly to the multilingual families i...
Port of Allyn Executive Director Lary Coppola reported progress on a few fronts at the June 5 port meeting, including the pier replacement project being allotted $515,000 in the port’s capital budget. Coppola summed up the port’s options as either replacing the pier with a new structure or sleeving the existing pilings, which would effectively remove creosote from the water in addition to halting the deterioration of the pilings. “However, we will have to drive new pilings for the ones that...
As the Hardware Distillery and Hood Canal Events team up to stage the fifth annual Fjordin Crossin festival on June 17, event co-founder Jan Morris wants to ensure returning and new attendees know the festival's features. Morris, co-founder of the Hardware Distillery with her husband, Chuck, said a free shuttle is set to run roughly every half hour from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. that Saturday to cater to those arriving early and to encourage them to explore the area later that afternoon. The shuttle...
Just as 2021’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home” beat 2022’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” in introducing the concept of the multiverse to live-action Marvel Cinematic Universe fans, so did 2018’s “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” (and 2021’s “What If…?” streaming series for the MCU) beat both films in introducing the multiverse to Spider-Man and Marvel fans alike in animation. (Warning: Multiple spoilers ahead.) Between all those big (and small) screen works, plus 2022’s “Every...
In the wake of commissioner Ray Mow’s death April 8, fellow Port of Dewatto Commissioner David Haugen has been appointed to replace him as chair of the port’s board of commissioners, but Mow’s seat on the commission remains vacant. Port of Dewatto Manager Jeana Crosby reported to the remaining two commissioners that, as of May 10, she had not received any calls or mail requesting interviews or applications for Mow’s vacant seat. She’d submitted an invitation to apply for that seat within days of...
Alexis Newton is the featured artist for June at Belfair Self-Storage's art wall. Raised in Port Orchard, Newton was born in and spent "a huge part" of her childhood in Shelton, where most of her extended family has lived. "My parents have lived on Mason Lake for the last couple of decades," Newton said. "It's essentially where I 'return home' nowadays." Newton, whose website at www.DrawingAli.com shows a sample of her portfolio, describes graphite pencils as "my true love and passion, when it c...
After her unexpected but characteristically meditative revisionist Western "First Cow" in 2019, Oregon filmmaker Kelly Reichardt returned yet again to her stomping grounds with "Showing Up" in 2022, which I finally had a chance to catch in the Rose Theatre's Starlight Room in Port Townsend. This film could have been subtitled "The Portland Scene," because not only does it capture the subculture of working-class artists and the murmuring, occasionally circular conversations that define their...
It’s a tradition that has been put on pause just once, during the first year of the pandemic. Shelton Cinemas’ Summer Movie Mondays returns June 26, starting with the musical comedy “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile.” Brittney Kick, head manager of Shelton Cinemas, recalled how the event got started in 2013 as “our gift to the community,” with prices to match. “It’s a milestone for this program, but we hope we can continue it for many more years to come,” Kick said. “Regardless of the pandemic or the eco...
The return of the HUB Center for Seniors’ semiannual fundraising runway show May 13 drew 75 attendees, 19 models and raised $1,700 for the HUB. A significant portion of money came from a sponsorship by the Haven In Allyn Assisted Living, courtesy of founders and co-owners Debra and Ron Jamerson. The event included Belfair Self-Storage manager Barbara Treick’s BABS (Barbara’s Accessories and Bags Store), Birdi Nagy’s Birdi Designs, Jess Tomato’s Silver Crucible and Grace Wagner, who teaches j...
The Port of Grapeview has decided a review and update of the port’s comprehensive scheme is warranted. During the port’s May 16 meeting, Commissioner Mike Blaisdell included his draft of an update to the port’s goals and objectives for the commissioners’ review. Commissioner Jean Farmer, attending the May 16 meeting via Zoom, suggested board commissioners schedule a special workshop to review the draft update, “all three of us, in person, reading page by page together.” Farmer had already loo...
The Port of Hoodsport’s efforts to satisfy the conditions of renewing the lease on the port’s dock from the state Department of Natural Resources have yielded mixed results. Port Commissioner Cody Morris reported May 10 that he had found more than one engineering firm to receive bids on the dock pilings. He expressed optimism that this would enable the port to strive for “the best price possible.” Morris has reached out to state Sen. Drew MacEwen, and state Reps. Dan Griffey and Travis Couture....
'Mrs. Davis' on Peacock I promised I would offer a final verdict on Peacock's "Mrs. Davis" streaming series once it had aired all eight of its episodes. As of May 18, its entire run is now online, but I still find myself left with mixed reactions to the whole affair. First off, credit to series co-creator Damon Lindelof for not choking in the clutch on "Mrs. Davis" in the same way he did on "Lost," because it wrapped up with all its plot threads tied up so neatly that, in retrospect, it becomes...
The North Mason School Board's May 18 meeting saw Transportation Director Maurine Simons present data on ridership, maintenance and the costs of running her department. The district bought four new buses, getting rid of four buses that were 20 years old. Prior to that, 62% of those buses were off the depreciation schedule. That went down to 46%. Big buses run on a 13-year depreciation schedule. Small buses are on an eight-year schedule. The average age of the district's small buses is 9.1 years,...
When John and Katherine Yackel founded the YSS Dive Shop in Hoodsport in 2020, they saw it as their responsibility to protect and advocate for Hood Canal. Hood Canal - technically a fjord - includes what John said is "a very special underwater world," with its own diverse selection of life. Educating divers and nondivers about the need to shrink their carbon output became a priority for the Yackels. "Most people had no idea how much debris was at the Port of Hoodsport, until we started hosting...
It's hard to convey to those who didn't experience the 1980s firsthand what a huge deal Michael J. Fox was, and how much he seemed to remain a down-to-earth guy. I'd say (as a compliment to both men) that he was the Will Smith of his day, except Smith and Fox's heydays weren't that far removed - "Family Ties" ran from 1982-89, while "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" ran from 1990-96. And of course, Smith was never diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. The title of the Michael J. Fox biopic on Apple TV...
North Mason High School Theatre presents "Grease" at 7 p.m. on the Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays of May 18, 19 and 20, and June 1, 2 and 3, at the school in Belfair. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for ASB members and children aged 12 years and younger. North Mason High School Drama Club adviser Hilary Gennaro said "Grease" is "a rather expensive and large production, so it is often difficult for smaller schools like North Mason to produce," but fortunately, this year saw "a wonderful...
Port of Dewatto Manager Jeana Crosby talked about the search to replace Port Commission Chair Ray Mow, a port commissioner since 2017. Mow died April 8. “We have not had anyone apply as of yet,” Crosby told the Herald on May 12. “We do have a few people whom we are going to ask.” Crosby was not able to release those people’s names, she did note the replacement needs to be from Mow’s district. Mow represented Port of Dewatto District No. 2, which includes Haven Lake, Wooten Lake and the surroun...
In retrospect, "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" feels like the true capstone to the Marvel Cinematic Universe up through "Infinity War," because it finally addresses the last loose plot threads left untied after Thanos (and Bruce Banner and Tony Stark) snapped their fingers while wearing the Infinity Gauntlet. Thanos' brief mid-credits appearance at the end of the first "Avengers" film in 2012 obscures the fact that his first full, substantive role was in the first "Guardians of the Galaxy"...
Hoodsport, Union and Belfair’s calendars are active with arts, entertainment and community events in the coming weeks, starting with the Hood Canal Improvement Club’s community market at the New Community Church of Union, at 951 E. Dalby Road in Union on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Kerry Meyers, vice president of the Hood Canal Improvement Club, anticipates one to two dozen vendors, and hopes for clear skies, since that’s enough vendors to fill the church and start to spill outside, even bef...
The Port of Hoodsport commission invites people to join a reopening ceremony for the 80-acre Hoodsport Trail Park at the end of the month and join other volunteers to help clean the park two weeks before its opening. The park’s yearlong project to remove all of its diseased, dying and fallen hazardous trees should be completed by the end of May. The grand reopening is scheduled at 10 a.m. on May 27. The volunteer work party has been scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 13, rain or shine. The p...
'Mrs. Davis' on Peacock I should have suspected I'd encounter this problem with a miniseries co-created by Damon Lindelof. Between co-creating the ultimately disappointing TV series "Lost," co-writing some of the worst installments in the "Alien" and "Star Trek" film series, and helming the controversial TV adaptation of the "Watchmen" comic, Lindelof has a checkered record. But "Mrs. Davis," which he co-created for the Peacock streaming service, came with positive recommendations from folks I...
North Mason School Board President Arla Shephard Bull, the board’s legislative representative, shared information April 20 from the final week of the legislative session. The board was waiting on news regarding education-related items in the budget. Shepherd Bull said it was “an interesting legislative session,” noting the Washington State School Directors’ Association’s tracked 120 education-related bills from the start of the session. “Thirty-five were left as of last Friday,” she said. Sup...
Even as the Port of Dewatto opened up the Dewatto River Campground on April 1 after conducting a campground cleanup March 25, it faced another significant piece of maintenance. While Port Manager Jeana Crosby readied for the campground's opening by ordering "Danger" and "Keep off the Fence" signs, and four fire rings for the campground, she also supplied estimates from multiple businesses for the cost to replace all the existing sets of blinds at the port offices, which are overdue to be...
Colleen Harlow has painted landscapes for at least 50 years, but before she moved to Mason County half a dozen years ago, she hadn’t settled down in any one place long enough to connect with its artistic scene. “I came to Mason County to retire in the same place where my daughter lives,” said Harlow, whose artwork is being displayed throughout May on the Belfair Self-Storage’s art wall. “It’s such a great place to be, and Belfair is such a nice small town, especially when the weather get...
The Port of Grapeview commissioners received an update on the Case Inlet Fisheries Task Force on April 18. Brad Pomroy, the facilitator for the task force, touted its progress over the past months, while noting progress was closer to “a marathon than a sprint.” The task force has visited the Point Defiance net pen installation, provided testimony to state Department of Fish and Wildlife commissioners, and met with Will Henderson, manager of the Squaxin Island net pen program, Pomroy said. Pomroy...
