NEWS | Water district ends long-
PIRATES ON A ROLL Girls basketball wins three games in a week. Page 16
A BITTERSWEET WIN Vashon man awarded large sum for asbestos exposure. Page 4
standing moratrium. Page 3 COMMENTARY | Volunteers are needed in tough times. Page 8 REVIEW | ‘Christmas Carol’ is a holiday delight. Page 10
BEACHCOMBER VASHON-MAURY ISLAND
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2011 Vol. 56, No. 48
www.vashonbeachcomber.com
A tradition continues, with 1,200 feet of lights For 16 years, a Vashon family’s holiday creation has drawn countless visitors By NATALIE JOHNSON Staff Writer
Drivers on Cemetery Road are once again hitting their brakes for a deer. For the 16th year, brothers William and Harold Mann have strung 1,200 feet of Christmas lights around their now-iconic John Deere Pond, triggering chuckles and bringing holiday cheer to passersby who have seen the pond for years, as well as those newly discovering the Vashon treasure. Though the Seattle media has thoroughly covered the Mann brothers’ deer-shaped pond since its creation two decades ago and its lighting half a dozen years later, Billy Hoolahan, Harold Mann’s son-in-law, says the magic lives on for Islanders. Vashon residents still begin asking in October when the pond will be lit, he said. They slow their cars to catch glimpses while driving by and frequently bring their children and grandchildren to witness the small-town spectacle. “People really enjoy it,” Hoolahan said. “It’s so pretty.” Now 80 and 83, William and Harold Mann, who have lived on Cemetery Road since the 1930s, haven’t given up working on their beloved John Deere farm equipment. But they have let Hoolahan take over the pond’s maintenance and lighting — a tradition he carries on with pride and enthusiasm. Last week, Hoolahan stood at the edge of the pond and explained how stringing the
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Park district exhausts funds on fields project By LESLIE BROWN Staff Writer
Ray Pfortner Photo
The spectacular pond continues to draw visitors to Cemetery Road. It’s changed some since this 2005 photo. It now has, for instance, green antlers and a brighter nose. lights around the 150-foot-long deer, antlers and all, is a two-day job. This year Hoolahan, a school bus mechanic for the Vashon Island School District, brought the pond into the 21st century by replacing all the lights with new, LED ones. “It’s a lot brighter now,” he said. “And it uses about a third of the electricity.” Over the past few years, Hoolahan — who lives in another house on the property with
his wife Petra Mann — has also given the deer a white tail and a green antlers and made the nose a bit brighter, just to update the display a little, he said. “It has evolved. But it’s going to stay where it’s at now, unless I can figure out a way to push a button and make it pop out of the ground,” he said with a laugh. SEE POND, 20
The Vashon Park District, struggling to cover the costs of its ambitious fields project, has run out of cash for the remainder of the year and might have to borrow money from King County to cover its final 2011 expenses. The district has enough money in the bank to cover its last payroll of the year, said Jan Milligan, the district’s newly hired executive director. But other expenses are not covered, nor does the small park district have any funds left in its operating reserve. That account, Milligan said, was emptied earlier this year to help pay construction costs at the new fields complex north of town. The district will get out of this financial bind, Milligan said, but it will likely take a few years. “It’s put us in a really tight spot operationally, but we’ll get through it,” she said during an interview last week. Should the district borrow money from King County, it would be a first for the small public agency, she added. “I hope we never SEE PARK DISTRICT, 19
A Burton church begins a new chapter By ELIZABETH SHEPHERD Staff Writer
Leslie Brown/Staff Photo
Rev. Bruce Chittick is the new minister at Burton Community Church.
Burton Community Church has welcomed a new minister, Rev. Bruce Chittick, marking the beginning of a new chapter for the historic Island Baptist chapel and a landmark moment in Vashon’s faith community. Chittick was chosen after a six-month search to fill the position, which opened up after the church’s beloved pastor, Rev. Marcus Walker, died of cancer in March. Chittick, who lives in Seattle with his partner of 11 years and their 4-year-old son, will commute to his job. What makes Chittick’s appointment especially notable is that the church’s congregation voted to
offer him the job with the knowledge that he is an openly gay man. Jeannette Smith, who is the moderator of the church, said she doesn’t define Chittick by his sexual orientation. “The term I would like to use is that we’ve hired a really great minister, who happens to be gay,” said Smith. “We’ve found a person we hope will be with us for many years.” It’s the second time in recent years that a Vashon congregation has grappled with the issue of whether a homosexual individual should lead their church. In 2005, an openly gay pastor had a short tenure SEE CHURCH, 21