Herald North K itsap
happy thanksgiving The North Kitsap Herald wishes you a happy and safe holiday
Friday, November 29, 2013 | Vol. 112, No. 48 | www.northkitsapherald.com | 50¢ Poulsbo Lions / Raab Foundation Bellringer Fund
‘Scored one for mankind’ Poulsbo man saves driver from sinking car; being considered for national honor By RICHARD D. OXLEY
roxley@northkitsapherald.com
POULSBO — What would you do?
It’s a hypothetical question commonly posed in our society — in daily conversations, in songs, and reality TV shows.
But it is a question that one Poulsbo couple didn’t have to ask. “It was a good weekend because we scored one for mankind,” Laura Kocker said. While driving through eastern Washington on Oct. 12, Kocker, her husband James
and son Matthew came upon the site of a car crash just outside of Ellensburg. The family was headed to Washington State University to visit their daughter when they saw a large splash in a pond off the side of the road. See KOCKER, Page A3
James Kocker is being considered for a Carnegie Medal. Contributed
A roadmap to college, career B’ringer total up to $4,600 POULSBO — Five families and organizations donated a total of $3,500 this week to the Poulsbo Lions/ Raab Foundation Bellringer Fund. That brings the Week 2 total to $4,600 — a pretty good start toward the fund goal of $35,000. All donations make a difference in a lot of local lives, fund chairman John Macdonald said. The fund was founded by the late Frank and Mabel Raab — he was mayor from 196069 — as a way for neighbors to help each other during emergencies. The See fund, Page A3
Teen’s path is clearer after completing program with Coffee Oasis, DME Auto By RICHARD D. OXLEY
roxley@northkitsapherald.com
A
few short months isn’t a lot of time to travel down life’s road, but for some it’s enough time to figure out how to navigate the road ahead. After an auto shop internship, one local young man knows this well. “I always saw mechanics and everything under the hood as magic,” Anthony Woelke said upon the completion of his internship at DME Auto Service. “Now it all makes sense to me.”
DME mechanics and representatives of Coffee Oasis celebrated the completion of Woelke’s internship on Nov. 15. DME owner Keith Russell presented Woelke with a watch to commemorate the occasion. The event marked the progress made in just a few short months — and the road that remains ahead for Woelke, who will now leave the garage for Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. He plans to study mechanical engineering. Woelke, 18, began his internship at DME Auto
Anthony Woelke’s future is clearer thanks to an internship at DME Auto Service, arranged by Coffee Oasis. Richard D. Oxley / Herald Service shortly after graduating from Kingston High School. “Getting out of high school, I looked around for a job and I hung around Poulsbo and hung around Coffee Oasis,” he said.
It was at Coffee Oasis on Iverson Road in Poulsbo that Woelke heard of the job program the nonprofit offers to youth. The job training program helped him put together a resume, and helped him plan for the
future. Woelke figured Coffee Oasis could help point him in the right direction. “At least I could have job training on my resume,” he said. “And an internship is See WOELKE, Page A3
Auto dealer, philanthropist John Hern dies in Arizona By RICHARD WALKER
rwalker@northkitsapherald.com
John Hern, former owner of Courtesy Ford, dies in Arizona. File photo
POULSBO — It’s a good bet that John Hern would like what’s going on on Poulsbo’s former auto row: Children acting and singing in his expansive Courtesy Ford buildingturned-rehearsal hall. North Kitsap Fishline’s acquisition of the Poulsbo RV property.
The Christmas tree-lighting ceremony on Nov. 29 at Viking Avenue and Lindvig Way. The Black Friday and Small Business Saturday sales this week. Where others saw vacant expanses of asphalt as former auto row businesses shuttered, Hern saw potential. Even as he closed Courtesy Ford, Hern
remained bullish on Viking Avenue. “We’re in a good position,” Hern said of Viking Avenue in June 2011. “With the improvements that have been made, this is an excellent place for a grocery/drug store or a box store of some type … The infrastructure is already here; a prospective developer won’t
have to pay for that. He added, “This is one of the last commercial places in the city until Poulsbo expands. Growth has to come here in the future.” Mayor Becky Erickson said of Hern, “He had a huge presence in our community for several years … His generosity is See HERN, Page A7
The Voice of North Kitsap since 1901. A winner of the 2013 Community Service Award, Washington Newspaper Publishers Association