ISSAQUAH | SAMMAMISH
Friday, January 13, 2012
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Mark Mullet to take on Cheryl Pflug in 5th Dist. Senate race BY CELESTE GRACEY CGRACEY@ISSAQUAHREPORTER.COM
live music or entertainment for the rural town, said Erica Maniez, an Issaquah historian. Aside from having the most prominent gravestone in Issaquah, little is known of Cherry, but stories say he was orphaned, raised by a black family in the South, and never had a family. Anderson had the violin for several years, in its original purple lined case, when he decided it would get better care in the hands of the museum.
Mark Mullet, owner of Zeek’s Pizza in the Highlands, will challenge a longstanding Republican for her state Senate seat in Olympia. An Issaquah councilmember for three years, he is the first serious Democrat candidate to challenge a seat in the Republicanheld Fifth District in Mark Mullet several years. While Mullet considered running for Rep. Glenn Anderson’s open seat in November, the senator’s position is much more important to the Democrats maintaining power in Olympia, he said. Mullet said he also hopes to be a better advocate for the cities than Sen. Cheryl Pflug. Issaquah is considering paying a lobbyist to speak on its behalf in Olympia, Mullet noted, adding that this should be Pflug’s responsibility, but she hasn’t been responsive. Mullet, 39, was first drawn into public service after his father, Steve, ran his reelection campaign in Tukwila for mayor. Seeing how his father had impacted his community was an eye opener into the world of politics, he said. “There is no better place to make a positive contribution in the lives of other people.” He earned a master’s in public affairs from the University of Washington in 2008 and the next year took an unchallenged seat on Issaquah’s council. Calling himself fiscally conservative and socially liberal, Mullet supports the governor’s effort to legalize gay marriage and would support further attempts to legalize marijuana. On city council, he was the strongest supporter of providing space for collective marijuana gardens. He doesn’t think major cuts should come from state workers, and would instead focus on reducing healthcare costs through transparency and health
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Julie Hunter, the Issaquah History Museum’s collections manager, examines a 19th-century fiddle, which was once Issaquah’s major form of musical entertainment for families who first settled the area. CELESTE GRACEY, ISSAQUAH & SAMMAMISH REPORTER
Giving History Issaquah History Museums make the find of the decade BY CELESTE GRACEY CGRACEY@ISSAQUAHREPORTER.COM
R
yan Heidy was about to open the Issaquah Coffee Company, when he found the 1960s sign hidden in some bushes on Gilman Boulevard. A piece of modern history, it invited newcomers to join the city’s service clubs – Lions on Thursday, Garden Club at Gibson Hall and the Knights of Pythias every second and fourth Tuesday. He cleaned it up to the best of his abilities – rust had eaten through the green paint and streaked the white lettering with red – and hung it behind the counter in the cafe. “It wasn’t being displayed in a way that was worthy of how cool it was,” he said. However, there are few better locations for the piece than the coffee shop, which is located in an historic farmhouse and, since opening a year ago, has become a hub in the neighborhood. The Issaquah History Museum didn’t
This 19thcentury violin, donated by Garry Anderson was the Issaquah History Museum’s biggest acquisition this year.
realize Heidy’s find until a large number of callers insisted it take a look. Historians are now numbering the sign among their biggest finds of the year. For a museum that relies solely on the generosity of others to fill its exhibits, last year produced some of the best donations of the decade, including an 19th-century fiddle, a 1980s public works patch and the high alter piece of a Catholic mission.
SHARING THE PAST As a boy, Garry Anderson regularly heard the stories of the Issaquah settlers from his great grandmother, and with few other things to do it was often the entertainment for the evening. “I was intrigued by it all,” he said As he got older, he shared his love for local history with his aunt, who was a direct descendent from the Bush family for whom the city’s street is named. When she was near death, she gave him the fiddle of a man named Tom Cherry, who followed the Bush family from South Carolina, along the Oregon Trail and up to Issaquah. A talented fiddler, Cherry and his violin were likely one of the few sources of
CELESTE GRACEY, ISSAQUAH REPORTER