RECORD SOUTH WHIDBEY
INSIDE: The Bridge
wedNeSdAy, July 31, 2013 | vol. 89, No. 61 | www.Southwhidbeyrecord.com | 75¢
Loganberry Fest deemed sweet success by organizers By JANIS REID Staff reporter It’s really all about the pie. Mary Murphy, 9, said that while she didn’t win the Loganberry Festival pieeating contest Saturday afternoon she was still a winner. “The award was a pie,” said Murphy, a first-time participant, who traveled from Kent to the event with her family. “Plus it’s fun digging your face into it.” However, the family took home a champion as Mary Murphy’s sister, six-year-old Claire, won the day’s chalk art contest. The pie-eating and chalk art contest were just a few of the many events, exhibitions and activities that were featured at this year’s Loganberry Festival at Greenbank Farm July 17-28. Faith Wilder, Greenbank Farm board chairwoman said there were many new and different aspects to this year’s Loganberry Festival, an event she believes topped previous years in attendance. Events included falcon demonstrations, a medieval promenade each afternoon and 4-H groups bringing animals for a petting zoo as well as dog agility contests. In addition to adding events, organizers also spread out the activities. Each year, the festival features a range of food, including the legendary loganberry pie. Toward the end of Saturday’s events, attendees could wind down to the soulful rock and roll of PETE, fronted by Greenbank Hank, a local legend. The entire band claims to have been born and raised in Greenbank. All of the activities are particular to the farm and local to Whidbey.
Ben Watanabe / The Record
A memorial sits near the site where Dennis Broce, 39, took his final motorcycle ride on Bush Point Road in Freeland. Broce, a Freeland resident, was killed after crashing into Kevin O’Neill’s Toyota 4Runner SUV on July 26 when O’Neill reportedly attempted to turn onto a driveway.
Freeland crash results in fatality Motorcyclist dies at Harborview; other driver faces charges By BEN WATANABE Staff reporter Dennis Broce was out riding his 1993 Honda CBR 900 motorcycle Thursday night. While driving eastbound around 9:30 p.m. on Bush Point Road, a 50 mph zone,
Kevin O’Neill turned left directly in front of Broce, 39, according to investigative reports. Washington State Patrol reports said Broce tried to brake, skidded on the road and slid with the motorcycle into the passenger-side rear door of O’Neill’s 1998 Toyota 4Runner. Injuries from the impact were severe enough that Broce later died at Harborview Medical Center and Hospital in Seattle, according to reports. “It was a significant impact,” said Jon Beck, deputy chief with South Whidbey Fire/EMS, who arrived on scene as first
responders were taking Broce away in an ambulance. First responders transported Broce, who was still alive immediately after the crash, to the field behind Payless Foods in Freeland. About 30 minutes after the accident, Broce was airlifted to Harborview, where he was pronounced dead. O’Neill, 28, was suspected of driving under the influence of marijuana and booked into Island County Jail for vehicular homicide, according to the State Patrol. O’Neill was released on his own perSee FAtAlity, A28
Freeland elephant finds new home on North end By RON NEWBERRY Staff reporter
Ron Newberry / The Record
Once a familiar sight in Freeland, the elephant has a new home at Dugualla Bay Farms.
No matter how creative Lynn Backus is with her chainsaw art, she can’t sell a piece of her work without people seeing it. With so many cars whizzing by her workplace at the roadside
store at Dugualla Bay Farms, Backus got an idea and acted on it. She brought her trademark Elephant statue, which once sat along State Highway 525 in Freeland, to join her at the North Whidbey farm. The move had residents on
South Whidbey scratching their heads, and for about a month now, travelers along State Highway 20 in North Whidbey haven’t been able to drive by the store without spotting the farm’s massive new inhabitant. Visitors stop and snap pictures beside the elephant,
which is made of fiberglass and rebar and weighs roughly 1,000 pounds, Backus said. Some jump in their cars and leave while others wander over to the stand, which sells fresh produce, ice cream and other See moved, A28