INSIDE: Buy a house, buy some art ... Island Life, A12
Record South Whidbey
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2012 | Vol. 88, No. 61 | www.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.com | 75¢
Continued enrollment drop cuts South End school fund
Rainbow connection
BY BEN WATANABE Staff reporter
Justin Burnett / The Record
Callahan McVay entertains a crowd as he works in his Second Street studio and gallery in Langley. McVay has turned his shop into a success by selling lessons, or as he calls them, “experiences.”
Langley glass artist ‘experiences’ success By JUSTIN BURNETT Staff reporter
Waiting at the register in a little Langley art studio on Second Street, 11-year-old Ellie Bloom stands within a wilderness of color. She is surrounded. In every direction rest sparkling works of handmade blown glass. Bowls, cups, exotic fish, paper weights, jewelry; the stuff is even on the walls. Walking into the shop is like walking into a rainbow. Yet, somehow, Bloom’s smile has become the brightest spot in the room. She has just completed her very own glass bowl. It’s her first and her pleasure is so apparent, so infectious, bystanders can’t help but break out in smiles of their own. It’s a common reaction at Callahan’s Firehouse Studio and Gallery. Set up in the city’s old fire station, shop owner Callahan McVay not only sells his own work but he makes it in the studio before an often gawking audience. “It’s so powerful they forget to buy something,” McVay laughed. Whether it’s the unobstructed view of the visual goodies inside, a result of the building’s double-wide garage doors, or the soft roar of the 2,150-degree furnace, people
just can’t help but wander in and watch him work. But that’s not the sole secret to his success nor is it the source of Bloom’s grin. McVay has put a fresh spin on a 3,000-year-old art form and managed to hammer out a successful business during one of the worst economic periods in 100 hundred years by allowing customers to blow their own glass. For 10 to 30 minutes, both children and adults can make a variety of their own products — bowls, Texas tumblers, sea floats, etc. — under the personal tutelage of the Whidbey glass master himself. McVay insists they aren’t classes, rather, he says he sells “experiences.” And they are selling like hotcakes. He estimates that his shop does between 20 and 30 experiences a week at $65 a pop, or in this case, a blow. During the busy summer months, McVay said it represents about 50 percent of his total business. The rest is made up of inventory sales and contract work, such as holding private workshops for commercial businesses. He recently did a workshop focused on team building for Alstom, a national See Glass, A8
Justin Burnett / The Record
Ellie Bloom, 11, holds up her first glass bowl, which she blew herself at Callahan’s Firehouse Studio and Gallery in Langley.
LANGLEY — Fewer students means less money for the South Whidbey School District next year, about $200,000 less. The school district eliminated a handful of teaching positions to soften the blow of what originally was $1 million in cuts. Reductions totaling $300,000 to classified staff such as para educators and support were also made, as was the termination of the district’s transportation and maintenance supervisor. This coming school year, the district has $14.9 million to work with after the school board unanimously approved the budget, 4-0. Board Chairman Steve Scoles was absent at the board’s business meeting last Wednesday night. Part of the budget includes the contracts with the district’s principals and school directors, which were approved at the meeting, too. District Superintendent Jo Moccia said the contracts save the district in health insurance costs, which pleased one multi-term school board member. “This is moving us where we’ve wanted to go for quite some time,” said Board Member Fred O’Neal. “Which is acrossthe-board equity for health insurance.” Another change for next year will be the purchase of three school buses. The 77, 36 and 20-passenger buses will roll on the South End for the 2013-2014 school year. Board member Damian Greene asked Dan Poolman, the district’s assistant superintendent who also handles the transportation director duties, what the deciding factors were between the Class C purchases South Whidbey will make and Class D options. Class D buses, according to the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, have the service entrance door ahead of the front wheels. “We felt like we didn’t need more of those (D) models,” Poolman said, adding that the district owns six Class D buses. As a cost-saving measure, the district has consolidated some of its operations and facilities. The District Office on Camano Avenue, which housed the superintendent, business office and human resources, will See School, A8