NEWS | Vashon College offers a new course on ethics. Page 3 COMMENTARY | A look at both sides of rumble strip debate. Page 6 COMMUNITY | A ride in a hot air thrills seniors. Page 12
Track leaps ahead Two girls advance to tri-district meet. Page 15
A ‘Church’ retrospective Vashon’s comedy revue looks to its past. Page 10
BEACHCOMBER VASHON-MAURY ISLAND
WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2012
Vol. 57, No. 20
www.vashonbeachcomber.com
Homeless find a place at Village Green But some are troubled by the mess they leave behind
75¢
Credit union’s problem: A few too many deposits
By LESLIE BROWN
By LESLIE BROWN
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
A handful of men stood under the shelter at the Village Green on a recent weeknight, shooting the breeze, missing the television set they used to share and wondering whose unopened cans of food were spread out on one of the tables. One man, prostrate on a table and seemingly asleep, suddenly stirred when talk of the TV began. “I want to see ‘Yellow Submarine’ again. That’s the coolest (film) I’ve seen in my life,” he drawled, lacing his description of the movie with a few expletives, prompting another man to tell him to cool it. “We’ve got a lady here!” And so it went for some time — a lively give and take at the park as the night grew deeper and the stars emerged. Some, when asked, said they were homeless. Some weren’t. One man, particularly wellspoken, said he had a home to go to that night but enjoyed spending his evenings at the Village Green. “A lot of people come and go. It’s a good place to hang out,” he said.
Vashon’s thriving credit union has had to put a halt to new business accounts — but for a most unusual reason: The small credit union is a little too flush with cash. Since Puget Sound Cooperative Credit Union (PSCCU) opened a Vashon branch a little more than a year ago, hundreds of Islanders, many of them frustrated with corporate-owned banks and their escalating fees, have flocked to the financial institution. It now has about 2,000 members on Vashon and $20 million in deposits, a rate of growth that has astonished its founders and even garnered national media attention. The Los Angeles Times recently wrote a lengthy and glowing piece on the credit union, noting that Vashon’s branch — and the story behind it — has made the Island “a darling” of the Occupy movement. The story was picked up by the Seattle Times, the Bellingham Herald and other papers. The press attention brought even more interest to the credit
Michele AnneLouise Cohen Photo
A man watches two others play Frisbee on a recent evening. In the foreground are cans of food, brought by someone to share with others. Another man, who lived in the woods behind the Roseballen housing development until his camp was razed three months ago, sounded bitter when asked why he was there after dark. “We can’t go anywhere else,” he said. By urban standards, Vashon’s
scene at its most centrally located park is mild. The police intervene on occasion, but for the most part, they’re a peaceable bunch, playing Frisbee and hacky sack during the day, sitting on the tables and talking at night. The men and women who spend their days and evenings there,
however, routinely leave a mess behind, and the bathroom — built three years ago for $85,000 — is often so dirty that the Vashon Park District considers it a public health hazard. Park district staff who have to SEE VILLAGE GREEN, 18
SEE CREDIT UNION, 20
Making a difference for others, row by row The food bank’s farm, part of a national effort, is bringing fresh produce to those in need By SUSAN RIEMER Staff Writer
On a warm afternoon last week a garden on Wax Orchard Road hummed with activity: One woman planted sunflowers; one more stopped by to help plant broccoli, and a man dropped in and headed off to mulch. All of this work was in support of the Vashon Susan Riemer / Staff Photo Community Food Bank Farm, a sunny acre that Shawna Herrmann, Carol Butler and Jenn Coe plant broccoli at the food bank’s has produced 6,000 pounds of fresh produce each farm on Wax Orchard Road. of the last two years under the guidance of a half-
time farmer and a host of volunteers. The farm is expected to equal or surpass that harvest this year. According to food bank Executive Director Yvonne Pitrof, the farm, as well as a 7,500-squarefoot garden at the food bank, are part of a nationwide effort food banks have undertaken to increase the nutritional value of the food they provide. “It doesn’t get much better than fresh produce,” Pitrof said. Not every food bank has the room to grow its own food, of course, but doing so has become a part of the fresh-food effort. “Any food bank that can get its hands on land to do it is doing it,” she said. This year marks the third growing season for SEE FARM, 19