Japanese students volunteer in Pickering Garden

http://www.issaquahpress.com/2012/08/07/japanese-students-travel-5700-miles-to-volunteer-in-pickering-garden/

Japanese students travel 5,700 miles to volunteer in Pickering Garden

August 7, 2012

By Katie Larsen

Falaah Jones (right), garden coordinator from Seattle Tilth, teaches visiting Japanese students about gardening at the city’s Pickering Garden on July 27. Contributed

The Pickering Garden had some unique visitors July 27, more than 20 students from Okinawa, Japan.

The students are part of a summer homestay program through Cultural Homestay International. They will spend one month with host familiesexploring the Puget Sound area. On their third day, they volunteered at the Pickering Garden with Falaah Jones, garden coordinator from Seattle Tilth. It was the students’ first visit to the United States.

Risa Kamiya and Showei Mori said they like the forest, trees and mountains covered with snow, something they have never seen before. Host families have one or two students in their home at a time.

“Everyone learns,” tour coordinator Cathy Kramer said. “It’s a great opportunity.”

The Japanese students didn’t know each other before the trip but Kramer said they made friends very quickly. Each day, the students have three-hour classes to learn about English and culture.

“Their reason to come is to experience American culture and further their English speaking skills,” Kramer said.

The students were also put to work pulling weeds in the garden.

The city of Issaquah’s Office of Sustainability owns the garden at 1730 10th Ave. N.W. All edible items from the garden are donated to the Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank.

“People are amazed we are growing food for the food bank,” Jones said.

Last year, the garden produced more than 1,300 pounds of food, according to Micah Bonkowski, resource conservation coordinator from the city Office of Sustainability. It covers six-tenths of an acre with 1,200 square feet in vegetable production.

The purpose for the garden, other than donating food, is “used as a demonstration garden to teach how to grow organically,” Jones said. Not only are pesticides not used, but the garden is also built to conserve water.

“We will leave a lot of things up past their prime for food for the wildlife,” Jones said.

The students also plan to visit Bastyr University, Seattle and Mount Rainier during their stay.

Newcastle families play in world’s largest 3×3 basketball tourney

http://www.newcastle-news.com/2012/08/02/50-newcastle-families-hoop-it-up-at-worlds-largest-3-on-3-basketball-tourney

50 Newcastle families hoop it up at world’s largest 3-on-3 basketball tourney

August 2, 2012

By Katie Larsen

Last month, more than 70 players from 50 Newcastle families participated in Hoopfest, the largest 3-on-3 basketball tournament in the world.

Hoopfest was June 30 and July 1 in downtown Spokane. It spanned 42 city blocks with 458 courts, 7,000 teams and 27,000 players.

Contributed
Some of the more than 70 Newcastle boys and girls celebrate with a group photo after finishing their basketball tournament play at the 2012 Spokane Hoopfest.

David Cour said many kids are part of the Liberty Select Basketball program, which is a select feeder program for the high school.

Cour traveled with his wife and three sons to the event, their fourth time participating. Their sons Chase, 12, and Griffin, 9, both played in the tournament. (Their third son, Kellan, 6, is too young to play.) Chase won his bracket and Griffin came in second place. Cour said the trip is very enjoyable, especially if families are into basketball.

More than 1,000 volunteers help run Hoopfest, including a monitor for each court. Games are 25 minutes or end when the first team gets to 20 points. There were also a lot of sponsor booths and other activities for kids.

Every year, the presence of Newcastle has grown in the event because of word-of-mouth. Dennis Rattie heard so many good things about it from others that he decided to take his 8-year-old, Ethan, to play.

“It was nice to have a lot of friendly faces around there,” Rattie said. “I think the favorite part for me was how big it is.”

Rattie said a packet of information from other Newcastle families was provided for him, including a map showing where all the players from Newcastle would be playing, and their contact information.

“The coolest thing for me was seeing Ethan playing and all the support from others,” he said.

Since the event brings so many people to Spokane, it is difficult to book a hotel room. Upon checkout this year, Rattie said hotels offered registration for next year’s room, which he has already booked.

Lynn Bisset also took her son to play. Jack, 13, played in the tournament with his cousin for the fifth year in a row. The boys have been on the same team since the beginning and took third in their bracket this year.

“If you are a basketball family like we are, it’s just a lot of fun,” Bisset said. “There is basketball everywhere. It’s an upbeat environment and music is blasting.”

To kick-off the weekend, the Newcastle families have a picnic Friday night at Spokane’s Riverfront Park by abig red barn. Bisset said it felt like Lake Boren Park had been picked up and placed in Spokane.

“We kind of overtake this area for a Newcastle picnic, at least 70 to 80 people there,” she said.

While at the park, the kids like to watch the hoops being put up in the street, Debbie McAllister said. Her sons Blake, 13, and Chase, 10, both played at Hoopfest.

“It was really fun,” Chase said.

The boys play with friends from school and said they enjoy that the most. In the past, their dad, Duncan, has played. His bracket won last year and he thought it would be a good time to retire from Hoopfest.

Age brackets separate the games and each court is sponsored. Entry fees vary depending on the type of team. Hoopfest began 22 years ago and since has donated more than $1 million to charitable organizations with an emphasis on Special Olympics.

Safeway supervisor dyes his hair for cancer awareness

http://www.newcastle-news.com/2012/08/02/safeway-supervisor-dyes-his-hair-for-cancer-awareness

August 2, 2012

By Katie Larsen

Funky hair colors can be seen across school campuses, but seeing them on employees at the local Safeway store is a bit odd.

Supervisor Joel Stringer, from the Coal Creek Safeway in Newcastle, dyed his hair bright blue for prostate cancer fundraising for the month of June.

Contributed
Newcastle’s Coal Creek Parkway Safeway supervisor Joel Stringer dyed his hair blue to create awareness about prostate cancer funding in June.

“It helps me educate them on prostate cancer researchawareness and I’ve also met two survivors,” Stringer said regarding his customers.

It wasn’t the first time Stringer has done something extra for fundraising. For breast cancer month, he dyed his hair pink.

“Customers may look at him funny sometimes but I think the employees like it,” Store Manager Brett Dow said. “It kind of raises everyone’s awareness.”

Stringer got the dye from Party for Less. It is a permanent dye but some rinses out, so he uses a mixture of hair gels, one regular and one blue, to retain the color for a month. Dow said he wouldn’t dye his hair blue but if the store meets its goal, he will shave his head.

“Up here in Newcastle, everyone is like, ‘Wow, that’s really cool,’” Stringer said. “I look at it as awesome because everyone likes it and donates generously.”

Safeway also sells $1 baby blue bracelets and $2.99 reusable grocery bags with all but 99 cents of the bag purchase going directly to cancer research at the Seattle Cancer Alliance.

The Coal Creek Safeway is at 6911 Coal Creek Parkway.

Second cover story!!

http://www.issaquahpress.com/2012/07/25/providence-marianwood-chaplain-walks-across-state-finishes-on-schedule/

Providence Marianwood chaplain walks across state, finishes on schedule

July 25, 2012

By Katie Larsen

Johann Neethling (in front at left), chaplain for Providence Marianwood, finishes the home stretch of his eight-day, Spokane-to-Issaquah walk July 25. His daughter Maria Henderson (in safety vest) walked with him from start to finish. Her three children (from left) Cale, 13, Chris, 15 and Molli, 14, joined their mother and grandfather in the front of the entourage on 228th Avenue Southeast. By Greg Farrar

NEW — 4 p.m. July 25, 2012

Dozens of staff members and residents of Providence Marianwood cheered for Chaplain Johann Neethling as he crossed the finish line Wednesday after a more than 300-mile trip from Spokane.

Neethling traveled on foot alongside his daughter Maria Henderson, and his wife Anne, driving a support car, across the state beginning July 18. He arrived at Marianwood right at 1 p.m., as scheduled. The Issaquah Brass, a quintet from Issaquah High School, repeatedly played “When the Saints Go Marching In” as the trio made their finish.

Ian Kennedy, support service director at Marianwood, said the walk was a “labor of love” before each traveler talked about his or her journey. Henderson started crying as she described the amazing time she had.

“He just cares so much, he loves you guys,” Henderson said. “It was a treasure to be part of that.”

Neethling said it would take awhile to process the experience and said they made so many memories on their journey.

Arlene Carter, executive director for the Providence Marianwood Foundation, said the fundraising effort has raised close to $8,000 so far. The money will help fund changing two existing rooms into a bistro and family lounge.

“I think it’s brought us all closer together,” Carter said. “He’s inspired us all. I think especially now when there’s a lot of bad news, good things are going on.”

Neethling updated a blog at each stop, which residents from Marianwood would check frequently from the lobby computer.

“It’s another way they felt connected with him on the trip,” Carter said. “It made them feel like they were doing this with him.”

The blog got comments from supporters, which helped Henderson and Neethling continue the trip, despite bad blisters and pain in their feet. Neethling’s youngest daughter, Marieke Culby, from South Carolina, posted scriptures on the blog and sent inspiring text messages to the trio. She also advised the walkers to abandon their heavy-duty hiking boots and buy cheap sneakers and support stockings from Walmart, which ended up helping them tremendously.

On the Web Read about Johann Neethling’s trip across the state on foot, and see pictures from the journey, on his blog, http://blog.travelpod.com/members/chapj. How to help Donate to the fundraising trip by calling Arlene Carter at Providence Marianwood at 391-2895 or go towww2.providence.org/kingcounty/facilities/providence-marianwood/Pages/online-donation.aspx.

“The blog posts helped keep me connected with my support team here and across the country,” Neethling said.

The trio booked hotel rooms to sleep in each night in advance. But after getting to the Wenatchee area and deciding unexpectedly to stay the night there, they could not find a hotel because of the number of events going on. They ended up sleeping in their car in the Walmart parking lot.

Henderson is a kindergarten teacher in Whidbey Island, where Neethling had walked to from Issaquah on his first on-foot journey.

“I think just the idea of being involved in something bigger than yourself,” was Henderson’s favorite part of participating.

Neethling said the amount of goodness they saw on the road surprised them. On the way, strangers that heard about the cause bought meals for them or just laid money on their table as donations to the effort.

“With God on your side, you can do pretty much anything,” Anne Neethling said.

Chaplain Neethling said he felt exhilarated to be at the end of the journey.

“This is probably going to be one of the best experiences of my life,” he said.

In preparation for the trip, Anne and Johann Neethling drove the route three times, and the state Department of Transportation sent a letter with authorization and rules for walking the distance.

“I’m not going to have shoes on for the next four days,” Chaplain Neethling said.

Firefighters’ rescue drill at Swedish in Issaquah

http://www.issaquahpress.com/2012/07/24/firefighters-practice-wilderness-building-rescues-at-swedishissaquah/

Firefighters practice wilderness, building rescues at Swedish/Issaquah

July 24, 2012

By Katie Larsen

Eastside Fire & Rescue firefighters strap a rescue dummy into a gurney during rope rescue drills July 16 at Swedish/Issaquah. By Katie Larsen

Eastside Fire & Rescue held a rope rescue drill July 16 at Swedish/Issaquah.

About 30 firefighters came together to practice a rescue of a dummy from a staircase on one roof, across to another building and down to the ground on the other side.

The lead instructor, Lt. Mark Vetter, said the exercise is one of the numerous annual drills the department has but the first held at the Swedish hospital campus. Vetter coordinates all the rope trainings and techniques. He recently went to Las Vegas for a five-day training exercise to help his team.

“It’s an opportunity to get everyone to practice our rescue techniques,” he said.

The drill was set up to be more of a rope challenge course for the team to use its training and figure out how to proceed and communicate with each other. It is a simulation of a pick-off, or rescuing a person from a building or mountain.

Wooden tripods were made by the team to tether the ropes to the building. The ropes then transported the dummy across to the adjacent building.

“Technical rescue response drains two-thirds of the department, especially with something like this,” Vetter said.

He said the department sees more water rescues than building incidents, but ropes are still used in water situations.

EFR Deputy Chief of Operations Greg Tryon said the agency receives four to five calls a year for technical rescues, including rope, trench and confined-space rescues. “We are very appreciative to Swedish hospital for having us,” he said.

As for water rescues, firefighters can respond to seven or eight a year.

“These are very technical skills these guys are using,” Tryon said. “Having an opportunity at the hospital simulates a wilderness environment — space between the building roofs — and industrial accident — caught in the stairwell.”

Tryon said it is like an obstacle course out there, with five areas of firefighters working with many skills within each group. Each team has a team leader to coordinate with the commander who then relays information to the other teams.

“It’s very communication intensive,” Tryon said. “You have to be safe while doing dangerous things.”

Student stacker piles up cups, accumulates titles

http://www.issaquahpress.com/2012/07/24/stacker-piles-on-the-titles/

July 24, 2012

By Katie Larsen

Benjamin Royce

In second grade, Benjamin Royce found his passion: speed stacking plastic cups.

Now, he will travel to Houston from July 27-28 to compete in the Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympic Games Sport Stacking Championships. This is the first year stacking has been a part of the games.

Because stacking is a worldwide sport, Benjamin said he’s excited to go and see world record holders and about 350 stackers.

The World Sport Stacking Association invited him because he placed in the top tier of his age division at the Northwest regional tournament. There, he also received two first-place and four second-place medals.

“All the tournaments were very exciting because you get to see all the really fast people,” Benjamin said.

There are three different stacks players make with different amounts of cups. For example, three stacks of three cups that are built into three pyramids, erected and taken down from left to right.

“It’s really an athletic thing and helps kids with concentration,” said Benjamin’s mother, Emily.

On the Web Learn more about speed stacking from the World Sport Stacking Association atwww.thewssa.com.

The game is played with special equipment — including cups, mats and timers — that can be ordered online.

“When he first got into it, he’d come home from school to practice for hours and hours,” Emily Royce said.

Her son became interested when his church started doing it as an activity and then his school started stacking in physical education classes.

“It all started from there,” Benjamin said.

There are different ways to compete in speed stacking. Team play requires each person on the team to stack the cups the fastest. Doubles includes one person stacking the right side and one stacking the left. Andsingles has one person making different kinds of stacks.

A fumble occurs when a cup either slides onto another cup, a cup tips over or an entire stack of cups tips. If these fumbles aren’t corrected, the player scratches.

Royce was home-schooled last year because coursework could be done by lunchtime, leaving the rest of the day to practice stacking. Next year, he will attend fifth grade at Maple Hills Elementary School.

Stacking cups isn’t the only thing Benjamin is fast at. He can solve a Rubik’s cube in less than a minute. He said he also enjoys playing with K’NEX — a construction toy set — playing the recorder, playing on the computer and writing poetry.

“He’s a man of valued interests,” Emily Royce said.

When he grows up, he said he wants to learn everything he can about computers because his dad says he will always have a job.

“Or work at the K’NEX factory,” he said.

To date, Benjamin has received three first place medals, 11 second place medals and one fifth place ribbon. He has competed twice at the Northwest Regional tournament in Auburn and once in California at the Southwest Regional tournament.

Benjamin hopes to start a team at school.

Julius Boehm Pool debuts Chip ‘n’ Dip tournament

http://www.issaquahpress.com/2012/07/24/julius-boehm-pool-debuts-chip-n-dip-tournament/

July 24, 2012

By Katie Larsen

The Julius Boehm Pool will hold its first Chip ‘N Dip tournament Aug. 11.

The tournament will consist of teams of parent-and-child pairs for $15. Registration is open until the day of the tournament, online or in person.

Luann Sparks, recreation specialist for the city of Issaquah, came up with the idea after seeing a floating green in an airplane magazine.

The teams will chip 24 Wiffle Balls of different colors to a floating green in the pool. Each pair stars with 24 points and subtracts one point for hitting the green and two for getting it in the hole. The team with the lowest point value at the end will win.

Sparks said the pool will have gift certificates and candy for the winners.

The pool will be closed for the event with four teams on each side of the pool chipping. After the balls are hit, the teams will then jump in to collect the balls.

“The hope is to build it up to an annual event,” said K.C. Gere, aquatic coordinator.

The pool held a sneak peek into the event July 20 and allowed about 20 children and parents to practice. Sparks and Gere tried to find out green placement and what organization worked best for the actual event.

“The goal is to have a family-oriented fun event to get parents and kids in here to have fun together,” Gere said.

Lifestyles of the 50+

Work-life balance

Golf tournament helps fight prostate cancer

http://www.issaquahpress.com/2012/07/17/golf-tournament-honors-memory-raises-funds-to-fight-prostate-cancer/

Golf tournament honors memory, raises funds to fight prostate cancer

July 17, 2012

By Katie Larsen

A memorial golf tournament has been scheduled for Aug. 3 to honor Rodger Arndt.

Arndt grew up in Issaquah and after taking over his father’s residential window washing business, continued to service many Issaquah residents after moving to Bellevue.

He died just months after being diagnosed with prostate cancer at age 47.

“There’s a huge misunderstanding that prostate cancer is just something you watch,” said Arndt’s sister, Diane Arndt Burns.

If you go Rodger Arndt Memorial Golf Tournament 1:30 p.m. Aug. 3 The Golf Club at Echo Falls 20414 121st Ave. S.E., Snohomish The entry fee is $120 per player. The entry deadline is July 18. www.rodgersfight.org

Their ancestors, the Pedegana family, came to Issaquah many years ago and their great-grandfather’s house is in Gilman Village.

Burns had been living abroad for 25 years when she got the news from Arndt to come home. After receiving the email in Buenos Aires, Burns was stuck because of a volcano eruption and it took almost a week for her to get home to Peru to move back to America.

Burns started Rodger’s Fight Against Prostate Cancer with Arndt’s best friend Julie Valdez over a lunch conversation last March. Since then, they have been planning their first annual golf tournament. This year it will be held at The Golf Club at Echo Falls in Snohomish.

All proceeds from the fundraiser will go to the Prostate Cancer Foundation. Registration deadline for the event is July 18. There is a $120 entry fee per contestant and a $30 banquet fee for nonplayers. In the future, Burns said they hope to move the tournament closer to Issaquah.

Prizes were donated by Arndt’s former customers and family friends and will be given away in a raffle at the banquet dinner.

“Awareness is what we’re trying to show the community,” Burns said. “What I want to do, and my cofounder Julie Valdez wants to do, is to tell his story.”

Burns said if her brother had heard his story a few years ago, he would have been more aware of health dangers like prostate cancer.