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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2016 | Vol. 92, No. 72 | WWW.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.COM | 75¢
Third Street tree to get ax
Rotary rallies to refurbish children’s center By KYLE JENSEN South Whidbey Record When the little ones return to South Whidbey Children’s Center, they’ll have a new slide and rock wall to play on courtesy of Rotary Club of Whidbey Westside. A dozen or so volunteers from the service organization are currently working on a project to revitalize an area of the children’s center’s backyard. The space, located in the middle of the backyard play area, was previously seen as a potential safety hazard for kids to play on. As the backyard slopes away from the building, there’s an area that has an abrupt four-foot drop from the upper playground area to the lower play area. South Whidbey Children’s Center Executive Director Kris Barker said kids need to be closely monitored when playing in the area and are generally kept away to make sure they don’t take a tumble, but that issue is being resolved with a little sweat and elbow grease. “We always choose six to eight projects a year, so we’ve built a list of potential projects,” said Melissa Cates, Rotary Club of Whidbey Westside president-elect. “This was the project that got the most votes. We asked if they needed any work done and it turns out there was a lot we could do.” Rotary is removing a fence and a few stumps from the dead space and installing a rock wall for the kids to climb and a slide for them to chute down so the drop can be utilized. Barker says they SEE ROTARY, A3
By EVAN THOMPSON South Whidbey Record
heavens, so they whipped up the nearly 4-pound treat for dinner. It
A 50-foot-tall diseased and dying maple tree on Third Street that poses a risk to a nearby Langley household as well as pedestrians will be chopped down later this month. Pioneer Tree Service & Landscaping, Inc. of Oak Harbor, which was contracted by the city to evaluate the tree for its hazard potential, recommended its removal in a report due to decayed wood and dead branches throughout its canopy and root system and being located in a high-use area. The tree and its dying limbs lean over a family’s house, utility pole, parking area and main roadway. An arborist will cut it down sometime in mid-September. The tree is located near St. Hubert Catholic Church. “Remove the tree as soon as applicable,” the arborist’s report said. “Large trees with severe internal rot, such as this one, may fall with little warning, injuring people and causing extensive property damage.” The family that lives near the tree, who declined to be named, first reported the tree as a safety concern in June. One of the factors that prompted them to speak up occurred a few months ago when a large tree limb fell on their fence without obvious cause — there was no wind or notable weather. They were first warned about the tree by the previous homeowner.
SEE FISH, A5
SEE TREE, A5
Kyle Jensen / The Record
Langley resident Nannette Pierson points to the sky where she saw a raptor after a trout fell onto her back lawn. The bird didn’t come back, so the Pierson family ate it for supper.
A heavenly meal
South Whidbey family feasts on fallen fish By KYLE JENSEN South Whidbey Record Teach someone to fish and they’ll eat for life. Teach a bird to fish for you and it’s a winning system. At least that’s what Nannette Pierson’s friends are teasing her about after the Pierson family’s dinner recently came from an unlikely source — the sky. Pierson was on the deck of her Lone Lake area home one afternoon three weeks ago when she heard an abrupt thud emanate from her front yard. The sound was loud enough to make her drop what she was doing and investigate. That’s when she stumbled upon a fish that stuck out like a sore thumb in the grass. It was a large fish, a roughly 16-inch trout. And it was still breathing. “I find this big fish just laying there in my front yard, so I looked up and saw an eagle was flying above,” Pierson said. “I thought it would swoop back down to grab it but it just flew away. I saw its gills
Kyle Jensen / The Record
This nearly 4-pound trout fell onto Nannette Pierson’s backyard. moving a little bit, so I called my son over and he said we should eat it!” Pierson couldn’t find a reason why her family should miss out on fresh fish, literally a meal from the