INSIDE: Wood artists flock to Langley. A10
Record South Whidbey
SATURDAY, AUGUST 25, 2012 | Vol. 88, No. 68 | www.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.com | 75¢
South Whidbey delivers new lighthouse lantern By REBECCA OLSON Staff reporter
For the first time since 1962, the Admiralty Head Lighthouse stood without a lantern house for a couple of hours Thursday afternoon awaiting installation of the new, historically accurate lantern house built by Whidbey’s high school students. Two years of hard work by Oak Harbor, South Whidbey and Coupeville students and teachers, Archie Nichols of Nichols Brothers Boat Builders in Freeland and many other volunteers culminated as the lantern house arrived by truck at Admiralty Head Lighthouse Thursday morning preceded by an Island Crane Services, Inc. crane driven by Don Carscadden. Volunteers had already prepped the old lantern house, leaving it loose for fast removal — a relief because volunteers had feared the lantern house was welded to the floor, but instead, it was bolted. Archie Nichols and four South Whidbey High School students who put countless hours of work into the project climbed the winding staircase into the old lantern house and attached ropes for its removal by crane. A crowd gathered below to watch the removal of the lantern house, a thin, Plexiglas lantern house not intended to look historically accurate. Dust rained down as the lantern house was lowered to the ground. It will be auctioned off by the park. “I’m so excited! I’m just like
Rebecca Olson / The Record
Archie Nichols of Nichols Brothers Boat Builders calls down from Admiralty Head Lighthouse to Don Carscadden, who was driving the crane that lifted the new lantern house onto Admiralty Head Lighthouse Thursday. All three Whidbey high schools built the new lantern house. dying of excitement!” exclaimed Julie Pigott, WSU Extension Island County Admiralty Head Lighthouse program coordinator. “It’s gorgeous!” she said,
admiring the new lantern house. “The students have done a wonderful job. It’s professional work ... I’m so proud of them!” As watchers gazed at the
lighthouse, topless for the first time in 50 years, Nichols drilled holes in the new lantern house on the ground to match the studs already in place, which
were unevenly spaced. Students Christian Justus, Zach Caravan, See lighthouse, A14
Doctor diagnoses Langley as the place to practice By JUSTIN BURNETT Staff reporter
Justin Burnett / The Record
Dr. Annastasia Kovscek poses for a picture in front her soon to be family practice in Langley Village. A lot of work still needs to be done, but she hopes to open by the end of the year.
It’s taken almost two years, but the days of having no medical care available in Langley are nearly over. Dr. Annastasia Kovscek is in the process of opening a family practice in the space formerly occupied by Quilting by the Sea in Langley Village. There is still a lot do, particularly a renovation of the space, but she is hoping to begin receiving patients by the end of the year. And for a healer who describes herself as a “family doc,” that moment can’t come soon enough. “I think it’s always been my dream to be the village doctor,” Kovscek said.
The Pennsylvania-born, 36-yearold moved with her husband, Joseph Sendek, to their Third Street home in April of 2011. But while they are new to the area, they are regular peas in the pod that is Langley. Joseph is a down-to-earth artist who specializes in pottery and is opening a studio in their backyard. Kovscek is an easy-to-smile doctor who describes her style of care as a mix between traditional Western medicine and alternative healing. The MD behind her name and past experience, which ranges from time in emergency rooms to her present job in an urgent care facility in Lynnwood, enables her to sew-up the injured with the best of them. But, with a personal philosophy
of “less medicine is better,” a person who needs more selenium, for example, will more likely be prescribed four Brazil nuts and a handful of almonds a day than an expensive multi-vitamin. “Medicine is not just taking a pill,” Kovscek said. Some illnesses warrant more modern techniques and approaches, but healthy living often equals healthy constitutions. She tends to practice what she preaches. A regular juicer, she often whips herself up a mix of veggies and fruits from her home garden. A blend of kale, kiwi, lemons and See doctor, A6