As of Thursday, August 14, yours truly is the newest member of the Lacey Historical Commission. My father had made me aware of the volunteer opportunity after he saw it advertised in the Olympian and I knew I couldn’t pass up a chance to be part of it! I filled out the application on the City of Lacey’s website and got a call three weeks later from Lori Flemm, the
In June, Chambers Bay Golf Course in Pierce County will join the ranks of such prestigious courses as Pebble Beach, Bethpage, Marian, and Pinehurst, among others. At these courses, some of the greatest players ever to walk the links made U.S. Open History. Chambers Bay is poised to become the next great field of champions. But unlike the other courses, whose golf history goes back generations, Chambers Bay is a
And so have Brewster, Twisp, Malott, and Methow, just to name a few of the resilient communities within north-central Washington. As the Carlton Complex of fires continues to ravage the dry, rolling hills along the Columbia and Okanogan Rivers between Wenatchee and Omak, it can be easy to succumb to the notion that all is lost forever in the wasteland that is still only 50-percent contained. However, these communities of
Today is June 24, 2014. It was on this date twenty years ago that my next-door neighbor crashed one of the biggest, most powerful aircraft ever built into near a nuclear storage facility, leaving his kids fatherless and his wife a widow. With more than 5,000 flight hours under his belt, U.S. Air Force Colonel Bud Holland took his last flight on this day in 1994.
There have always been references to the famed Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet that I’ve run across while researching Washington State history. The entrepreneurial spirit that gave birth to the fleet in the 1850s is part of what makes Washington such a fascinating place. From the 1850s through the 1920s, it was said there were so many steam ships racing around the Sound that it looked like a swarm of mosquitos.
From January 1 through February 16, 2014, I asked a simple question each day on Twitter and on the website. True Washingtonians should already know the answers, and those who want to learn more about the state they call home can try their best and see just how Washington they are! Good luck…you’ll learn something new. I guarantee it!
Mount Rainier is an active volcano. We all live in its shadow and love having it serve as one of our state’s most iconic symbols. We drink in its abundant wildlife and panoramic views, and take our midwest friends on tours of its national park. Yet it’s imperative that we all remain prepared for the inevitable.
It probably won’t be your first choice for a Washington state park family vacation. It might not even be in your top 100. However the Ranald MacDonald Grave Heritage Area definitely warrants a visit if you find yourself traveling near the U.S.-Canadian border in Ferry County. Ranald MacDonald’s gravesite is located in a Native American cemetery just off County Highway 501/Customs Road overlooking the Kettle River. Dubbed “the smallest state
The Washington Trust for Historic Preservation and the Washington Main Street Program invite you to join them for RevitalizeWA, the annual statewide Preservation and Main Street Conference, May 6-8, 2014 in Wenatchee. The conference will feature a variety of sessions & tours relating to the revitalization of our state’s historic communities on May 7 and 8. They will also be offering additional pre-conference workshops on May 6. The conference will
Everybody thought I was joking when I said I was taking a business trip from Olympia to Vancouver to Yakima to Spokane to Wenatchee to Everett to Bellevue to Tacoma and back to Olympia in two days. The itinerary I had laid out with Google Maps said it was a cinch and I’m the guy who enjoys driving around this beautiful state we call home. Well, I proved to everyone