NEWS | Instructor with a black belt will teach self-defense. [5] HUMOR | A look back at 2013 on Vashon Island. [6]
NEW FERRIES COMING Water taxis to be delivered next year. Page 9
GIVE US MOORE Tickets going fast for show limited to 100 patrons. Page 10
BEACHCOMBER
SPORTS | Hoopsters take top spot in the league. [14]
VASHON-MAURY ISLAND
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1, 2014
Vol. 59, No. 1
www.vashonbeachcomber.com
75¢
More than counting fish
Volunteers keep an eye on stream health By KATHRYN TRUE For The Beachcomber
When John Martinak signed up for the Vashon Nature Center’s Salmon Watchers Program last fall, he wasn’t convinced he’d actually see a salmon. A busy stay-at-home dad of two boys, he enjoyed the forced downtime that visits to his “watching spot” along Judd Creek afforded him. But the water seemed too shallow and the obstacles too big for a salmon to manage — once an avid fly fisherman, he had an eye for such things. Martinak looked forward to the peaceful breaks, though he was still skeptical about seeing a fish — until one day when he heard something new. “I could hear this splashing way downstream, but I thought it was probably something else,” he said. “Then a half-hour later, I was amazed to see a fish come by. I expected it to be more of a frenzied activity, but the fish was methodical. It would scout out the next hurdle and clear it, then keep on going.” Martinak eventually counted 12 coho salmon as they made their way along a restored section of Vashon’s largest creek. He had the best luck during the worst weather, so if it was stormy, he’d head to the spot in hopes of glimpsing another fish. Unfortunately, the relative lack of wet fall weather (remember all that November sunshine?) probably played a roll in the low numbers of returning salmon to island creeks
John Monnat Photo
Lauren Garaventa, right, serves Asian noodle soup at a recent Meat & Noodle Soup Club Event. She and a new business partner will begin serving meals at the Sound Food building.
Island chefs to set up shop at Sound Food building By SARAH LOW Staff Writer
Natalie Martin/Staff Photo
Mabel Moses, 12, and Vera Moses, 8, look for salmon in a short stretch of Judd Creek. The two volunteer with the Salmon Watcher Program. in 2013; the fish depend on rain to fill the creeks and allow them easier passage. After a 2012 count of more than 200 fish (alive and dead) and 46
redds (salmon spawning sites), the best numbers reported since 2003, hopes were high for another great SEE SALMON, 18
An unexpected partnership is about to breathe new life into struggling culinary landmark Sound Food, as the island’s well-attended soup club Meat & Noodle finds itself a permanent home. Meat & Noodle’s Lauren Garaventa and her business partner Brandon D’Imperio have worked out what amounts to a gentlemen’s agreement with Sound Food’s current owner, Jeff Cunningham, whereby
Garaventa and D’Imperio will manage and develop the property, and Cunningham has agreed to take it off the market. “Everyone is here on a handshake,” said D’Imperio, a chef who moved to Vashon from Los Angeles just two months ago. “This was perfect timing,” added Garaventa. “Meat & Noodle needed a permanent location that was no longer my house.” SEE RESTAURANT, 11
OUT WITH THE OLD AT VASHON HIGH SCHOOL High school students commemorated their last day ever in the old Vashon High School building by leaving their mark, literally, on the school. On the last day of the term, Friday, Dec. 20, most teachers allowed and even encouraged students to write and draw in the classrooms and hallways. Walls became impromptu student art projects filled with names, quotes, jokes, doodles and more than one “YOLO.” Pictured at left, junior Zach Oriel adds to a colorful wall in the theater. At the end of the day, Principal Danny Rock came on the intercom system and led a school-wide countdown to the final bell. Students will return to classes on Monday in the new high school building, which will be unveiled to the community Sunday at an open house event (see story, page 4). The new school has been under construction next to the old one for more than a year, since the fall of 2012, and district and VHS staff spent more than a month packing supplies and preparing for the big move over winter break. Crews will begin demolition of the main building as well as building B and the maintenance building in mid-January. Sarah Low/Staff Photo