ISLANDER CREATES PLAY Kat Eggleston’s “Cyclone Line” premieres Nov. 4. Page 10
BEACHCOMBER VASHON-MAURY ISLAND
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2016
Vol. 61, No. 43
www.vashonbeachcomber.com
75¢
County announces plan to buy Mukai barreling plant Current owner to occupy Vashon Forest Stewards land By ANNELI FOGT Editor
Anneli Fogt/Staff Photo
“Tales of Darkness: Darkness Illuminated” is a marionette show that tells three ghost stories from world lore. Pictured: Actor Jed Ward (left), islander and puppeteer assistant Emily Burns (middle) and island artist Monica Gripman (right), who dreamed up the show and felted the marionettes to give them life, run through scenes Sunday.
King County’s department of natural resources has an agreement to buy the Mukai barreling plant, and county officials hope the sale will be completed by the beginning of next year. However, the agreement contains many contingencies, including one that states the barreling plant’s current owner, islander Frank Zellerhoff Jr., will buy 5 acres of industrially zoned land west of Sawbones that is currently occupied by Vashon Forest Stewards (VFS). Christie True, director of King County’s Department of
Natural Resources and Parks, said that the agreement indicates the county will buy the barreling plant from Zellerhoff for $435,000 — $50,000 of which still needs to raised by island organization Friends of Mukai. The county will then surplus the 5 acres of land near Sawbones, which Zellerhoff will buy for $500,000. True said Zellerhoff and VFS will need to “work it out” in terms of whether both can occupy the space and said that the county will assist VFS in finding a new space, if necessary. Reached Monday, Zellerhoff said he does not want to displace anybody and has already offered to have VFS rent the 2.5 acres it already occupies from him when the sale goes through. SEE MUKAI, 18
‘Tales of Darkness’: Puppet show brings monsters, beasts to life this weekend Wildlife expert to speak about cougars Thursday
By ANNELI FOGT Editor
In a more than 250-year-old warehouse on a rainy autumn evening just days before Halloween, a team of artists, musicians and actors are concocting entertainment fit for the season. “There’s a ghost story in the Japanese tale; Appalachia is the Boogeyman, and the Irish tale is a ghost story with a funny twist … classic Irish storytelling,” island artist Monica Gripman said about this weekend’s puppet show, “Darkness Illuminated: Tales of Darkness.” The show, which will be performed Friday and Saturday night at the Katherine L White Hall, is promised to be as spooky as it sounds. Through the use of handcrafted, lifelike marionettes — created by Northwest Puppet Center and given life by Gripman, who is known for her felted animal sculptures that many say have a lively soul — the show tells three folk tales from three different cul-
Anneli Fogt/Staff Photo
Marionettes await their turn in the show that tells Japanese, Appalachian and Irish ghost stories. tures. The roughly 18 different puppets, which take the forms of humans of all shapes and sizes as well as life-size dogs, will be joined on the stage by masked and costumed actors and musicians. The show represents the kind of collaborative spirit islanders pride themselves in and, for Gripman, is the culmination of years of work. Gripman has been mak-
ing her unique felted sculptures that exude a mysterious, animate nature — for years. It all started when she bought a felting kit from the pharmacy to make her daughter a bunny rabbit — but did not give much thought to puppets until she was commissioned three or four years ago by an island man who wanted her to make a marionette for his grandson. Knowing nothing about the making of puppets, she partnered with Dmitri Carter of Northwest Puppet Center in Seattle. He made the puppet, while Gripman gave it a face, hands, feet, hair and clothing. “That was my first taste of how that all goes together,” Gripman said. “There was also the whole interaction with my felted sculptures and people coming up to me saying they would start having conversations (with the sculptures) expecting them to move. I figured I should make puppets.” SEE PUPPETS, 10
By SUSAN RIEMER Staff Writer
With at least one cougar visiting Vashon since summer and a black bear reported on the island recently, a wildlife expert is slated to speak Thursday evening and provide information on the large animals, their behavior and how to avoid conflicts with both. Brian Kertson, a carnivore research scientist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), will deliver the presentation, “From Backyards to Mountaintops: Large Carnivore Ecology and Behavior in Western Washington’s Diverse Landscapes.” Kertson holds a doctorate in wildlife science from the University of Washington and has 17 years of research experience working with large carnivores, mostly focused on cougar ecology, behavior and management. Currently, his research is centered on whether cougar popu-
Courtesy Photo
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Brian Kertson. lation characteristics influence the animals’ interactions with people along the western slope of the Cascades. He is speaking on the SEE COUGARS, 19