SHARING THE STAGE Latest Drama Dock show is a family affair. Page 3
BEACHCOMBER VASHON-MAURY ISLAND
WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 2013
Vol. 58 , No. 29
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Quartermaster boat owners issued first citations in years Those who haven’t taken steps to register their buoys will be fined By NATALIE JOHNSON Staff Writer
Two years after the state began efforts to bring order to boat moorage in Quartermaster Harbor, boat owners not taking steps to comply with the law are now being fined. Last month, seven boat owners were issued citations for not having current registrations for boats in the harbor, and this month dozens more may be fined for mooring their boats in Quartermaster without a license to do so. Those who have applied for a mooring Rebecca Wittman Photo
Bethany Dilworth, left, and Natalie Sheard stand with Charlotte, one of the milk cows at Cornerstone Dairy, which the women recently opened.
Enterprising partners milk their love of farming Business is one of the only certified dairies on Vashon By REBECCA WITTMAN For The Beachcomber
Natalie Sheard and Bethany Dilworth are not your typical milkmaids. And tiptoeing through cow pies is a long way from pirouetting across the stage. But as the founders of the new Cornerstone Dairy, one of Vashon’s only certified dairies, they’ve gone from the world of ballet to the pastures of Vashon Island as artfully as if George Balanchine had choreographed it. Sheard — best known as the owner of Café Luna — discovered Vashon, like so many who now live here, by happenstance. The owner of a dance-wear store in Southern California, she and her husband Luke visited the region often to see their daughter, a dancer with Pacific Northwest Ballet. During their visits, the Sheards would go for drives in the country, one day
happening onto Vashon and falling in love with the place. They eventually decided to move here, she said, because she had always wanted to start a little farm. But once she arrived, Sheard — a consummate business owner — took a detour from that dream and bought Café Luna. Dilworth, meanwhile, was a dancer who also came from Southern California, where she and Sheard were good friends. She worked in Sheard’s dance-wear store and taught dance in California before moving to Seattle, where she worked as a baker in a café. Eventually, she, too, moved to Vashon where she landed in the employ of her old boss, working at Café Luna. Dilworth and Sheard’s love affair with the dairy world began in 2011, when Sheard began purchasing milk from Kelsey Kozak, a young but skilled dairywoman and cheese-maker. The two women took Kozak’s cheese class and then went to work SEE DAIRY, 19
buoy license with the state Department of Natural Resources will not be fined, said Sgt. James Knauss, supervisor of the King County Sheriff’s Office’s marine unit, which issues the boating citations. The state is still in the process of implementing its plan to clean up the harbor and plans to issue buoy licenses later this year. “I think we’re at the point where we’ve respected DNR’s process to (visit the harbor) in boats, hold community meetings, do flyers, and everyone who’s choosing not to participate is basically ignoring everything,” Knauss said. Lisa Randlette, a planner with DNR’s Aquatic Resources Division who is heading the effort, also said there’s been much outreach around the state’s plan for the harbor, SEE HARBOR, 11
Local music promoters line up a new place for Vashon entertainment By ELIZABETH SHEPHERD Staff Writer
For island couple Pete Welch and Allison Shirk, spreading the word about Vashon’s lively arts, cultural and charity scenes has become a passion in recent months. On New Year’s Day of this year, the pair launched a new website, www. vashonevents.com, aimed at providing a user-friendly, one-stop destination to find out about what is happening week-to-week on island stages. The website has now quite literally become a hit, drawing more than 3,000 unique visitors each month. It’s also currently a hub of information for all things musical at this year’s Strawberry Festival, an event for which Welch spent months this year lining up acts. The success of the website has pleased Welch and Shirk, though it hasn’t nec-
Tom Hughes Photo
Allison Shirk and Pete Welch at their home office. essarily surprised them. “We thought, if we don’t do this, someone else will,” said Welch, as he sat in the command central of Vashon Events, a home office housing three computers. Last week, the website boasted information about 35 different events coming up on Vashon in the next
few weeks, including concerts, exhibits, movies, theatrical performances and fundraising events such as St. John Vianney’s upcoming Salmon Bake. Listings, laid out in an easy to access format, included posters, video links and other detailed information about SEE EVENTS, 18