THE NEWSPAPER AT THE HEART & SOUL OF OUR COMMUNITY
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2012 WWW.ARLINGTONTIMES.COM 75¢ 2011 GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNER
Oso Chapel helps feed rural families
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BY KIRK BOXLEITNER
today!
kboxleitner@marysvilleglobe.com
Kirk Boxleitner/Staff Photo
Marlene Hendrickson, left, and Jolane Stroh double-check to make sure they’ve loaded all the food items for a client of the Oso Community Chapel food distribution program on Nov. 16.
SEE FOOD, PAGE 2
Arlington prepares for ‘Hometown Holidays’
runners look to the future. Page 10
INDEX CLASSIFIED ADS 16-18 LEGAL NOTICES
9
OPINION
4
SPORTS
10
WORSHIP
15
ARLINGTON — Arlington’s annual “Hometown Holidays” will once again be commemorated on Olympic Avenue with the Santa Parade starting at noon on Saturday, Dec. 1. The city of Arlington Recreation Department is seeking participants for the parade, which includes floats, sports teams, drill teams, businesses, youth organizations, canine clubs, a holiday train, fire trucks and more, followed by Santa himself on a draft horse-drawn wagon. It’s free to enter this holiday-themed parade, but organizers will be accepting food donations for the Arlington Community Food Bank. Entrants may pre-register by calling 360-403-3448 or logging onto www.arlingtonwa.gov/recreation, or may register at 11:30 a.m. at the
intersection of Division Street and Olympic Avenue. The best viewing area for the parade is from Third Street south to Legion Park. Awards will include ribbons for all and a cash prize for the best entry. Santa Claus will be available for visits at Legion Park, located at 114 Olympic Ave., following the parade until 2:30 p.m. Parents should bring their cameras for photos. Lifeway Foursquare Church volunteers will be serving up free hot chocolate and children’s crafts at the park. “Sugar and Spice,” Mark Winterhalter’s draft horses, will be giving wagon rides that same Saturday from 12:30-4:30 p.m., and also on the SEE HOMETOWN, PAGE 2
File Photo
Mark Winterhalter will once again be giving Santa a wagon ride during this year’s ‘Hometown Holidays’ in Arlington.
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SPORTS: Eagle
Vol. 123, No. 50
OSO — Gary Ray, the pastor of the Oso Community Chapel who started the Trafton Community Co-Op with his daughter Randi, sees both organizations as serving the needs of large numbers of people who, if only due to where they live, would otherwise go woefully underserved. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than in the Oso Community Chapel’s monthly food distribution program which sees residents of everywhere from Trafton to Darrington turning out to receive muchneeded supplies of donated food and clothing. On Friday, Nov. 16, the week before Thanksgiving, this need was especially apparent in the increase of turnout from an average
of 30 families, on the third Friday of every month, to 40 families checked in less than half an hour after the doors of the Oso Community Chapel had officially opened for that day’s food distribution. “Some folks show up at 11 a.m. and just wait here until then,” said Roxanne Shanks, one of the volunteers who guides recipients through the food distribution process. “I used to come here for food myself. I live in Darrington and there’s just not a lot of resources out here.” Shanks explained that area farmers and fellow parishioners of the Oso Community Chapel grow much of the seasonal produce that’s handed out, while she and other volunteers inform