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 Allyn Community Association was started in 1986, it was inaugurated with the first Allyn Days celebration, which grew to include the Salmon Bake and Geoduck Festival as it evolved into a summer tradition. “It was a community party, and the salmon was grilled over alderwood, then smoked and served,” said current community member Jason Ilarraza. “From there, it evolved into all of this.” When Ilarraza became involved with Allyn Days, he was a vendor coordinator for the event, before...
After a planning workshop and a regular meeting, Port of Grapeview commissioners want to ensure they get their update of the port’s comprehensive scheme of harbor improvements correct. The planning workshop was June 13, and while no final decisions were made, several changes, updates and amendments were proposed to the draft version of the comp plans. The commissioners’ regular meeting June 20 saw Commissioner Mike Blaisdell open the review of the previous week’s planning workshop by noting Comm...
The art wall exhibition space at Belfair Self-Storage has everything it needs to provide broader exposure to the work of local artists — except for the artists. Over the past couple of years, Belfair Self-Storage manager Barbara Treick has recruited area artists into a stable of sorts for the art wall, which she founded and continues to maintain. Between stretches of new or returning artists being showcased each month, Treick has occasionally displayed her own art. With no artists scheduled f...
North Mason School District Superintendent Dana Rosenbach summed up the 2022-23 school year by declaring the district had ended the year "strategically, financially and systemically sound," while "keeping true to our mission, to educate, empower, inspire and prepare all our students to graduate, confident in their abilities to meet life's challenges and opportunities." Rosenbach deemed it "a tremendous year of growth" for North Mason, with high enrollment, which appears on track to continue, as...
The annual Safety Days event took place June 5 and 6 at Sand Hill Elementary School and June 8 and 9 at Belfair Elementary, teaching kids safety skills that will serve them now and in the future. North Mason Regional Fire Authority Chief Beau Bakken has been conducting Safety Days for 26 years, and he said it is always his favorite week of the year. "Of the 365 days that I'm on duty per year, these are the best four I have throughout the entire year," Bakken told the Herald. "In most...
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...
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...
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 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,...
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...
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...
The Port of Allyn had a special meeting April 14 to talk about its credit and its progress on the Sargent Oyster House. Port commissioners agreed to increase the port's credit line with Kitsap Bank after port Executive Director Lary Coppola said the port already had a credit line for $220,000, which it has used to pay lawyers and part of last month's vouchers. "What I wanted to to do was draw more off of that credit line - because we can't draw any more off of it after April 20 - and put it in...
The North Mason Food Bank recently won a year of free internet from Astound Broadband as part of the company’s effort to recognize small businesses for contributing to their communities. “We believe that smaller locally owned organizations like the North Mason Food Bank are integral to the success of the communities in which they reside,” said Patrick Knorr, chief commercial officer for Astound Business Solutions, a broadband service provider. “We wanted to help make a difference for small l...
Central Mason Fire and EMS joins with North Mason High School, Washington State Patrol and Mason County Sheriff’s Office to host the “Last Dance” event today and tomorrow, aiming to show students the dangers of driving under the influence. According to a news release, today will have emergency responders giving students a look at fatality collisions. It will include a mock accident on the football field where responders will extricate pre-selected students from vehicles. The public might see inc...
Train cabooses and lighthouses, a saying goes, are two things everyone likes. So it seems extra special when a caboose, even in a battered and weathered state, returns after four decades away to the site where it was instrumental in moving the area's greatest economical resource, trees. That was the case Thursday when two trucks delivered Caboose 1201 to its former home at the Simpson Lumber Co. former sorting yard in Dayton, 10 miles west of downtown Shelton. The nonprofit Peninsular Railway &...
The old North Mason Regional Fire Authority station is next door to the new station, and it is just waiting for a new tenant to move in. NMRFA vacated the building May 16, and hopes the county moves in sooner rather than later. The fire commissioners wrote a letter Feb. 27 to the Mason County Board of Commissioners asking to formally inquire about the county's intentions and timeline for moving into the old fire station. "We are approaching a year since we have vacated the building," the letter...
The Port of Allyn’s scheduled state audit for the period from 2019 through 2021 was “overall quite positive for us,” Port Executive Director Lary Coppola said. The auditor commended the port for scoring a “clean audit,” Coppola added. “There are no findings, no management letters issued, and the auditors found we fully complied with all state laws, rules and regulations, as well as our own policies and procedures,” Coppola said. “This is the third clean audit we’ve had in the eight years I’ve...
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Port of Grapeview Commissioner Jean Farmer, citing her “long history of interest in broadband” for rural communities, will join Port of Allyn Commissioner Ted Jackson on the task force charged with expanding broadband in Mason County. “As a port commissioner and a business owner, I personally saw the lack of connection for many of us,” Farmer told the Herald. “I hope all of us coming together will have a positive impact on our communities.” As with Jackson, Farmer was invited by Dan Teuteberg, a...
