7pm
50
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Thursday, JULY 10, 2014
VOL. 19, NO. 48
Preservation school starts this month By Megan Hansen Editor
Volunteers will once again get hands-on experience in historic preservation as the Ebey’s Reserve Preservation Field School project gets underway later this month. The school will spend four weeks working on the Battery Moore plotting room at Fort Casey State Park. Program coordinator Sarah Steen said several structures were considered this year. “One of the allures of this is that it’s a public structure,” she said. “The parks service has a lot of historic buildings and need a lot of help.” Last year, the field school did preservation work on Coupeville Wharf and it was a highly visible project. Previous projects included stabilizing a carriage house on the Engle Farm and the Alexander Block House. The plotting room is a wood-frame and
See Preservation page 12
Head nurse charged with assault By Jessie Stensland Co-Editor
Prosecutors charged the chief nursing officer at Whidbey General Hospital last week with assaulting a patient. Linda Gipson, 62, is facing a single count of assault in the fourth degree, a gross-misdemeanor charge. The criminal charge was filed July 2 in Island County District Court. Coupeville Marshal Rick Norrie investigated the case. In his report, he wrote that Gipson fired one of the nurses who was an alleged witness and another employee expressed fear of retaliation if she spoke out. Whidbey General administration is standing by Gipson this week. Hospital spokeswoman Trish Rose said in a written statement that the administration conducted an internal investigation and concluded the allegations are without merit. “Dr. Gipson has over 30 years of experience and has cared for thousands of patients,”
See Nurse page 3
Ron Newberry photo
To honor her late mother, Diane Groeschell of Freeland is matching all admission to the Island County Historical Society Museum during the months of July and August. Her mom, Mary Ellen Puck, (pictured below) was a longtime museum docent who died in 2008.
Former docent honored with gift By Ron Newberry Staff Reporter
When Diane Groeschell looks back at some of the warmest memories of her mother, the list is long and deep. Mary Ellen Puck was passionate about so many things, including a love of gardening that rubbed off on her daughter. She was enamored by the natural beauty of Whidbey Island, particularly the view from her Teronda West home that she and her husband never grew tired of admiring. Groeschell also remembers how her mother gushed about her Fridays. For more than a decade, Puck reserved one day a week to spend as a volunteer docent at the Island County Historical Society Museum in Coupeville. With those thoughts stirring in her head, Groeschell decided recently to honor her mom’s memory by matching all admission fees collected at the museum during the months of July and August. Puck, who succumbed to Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 83 in 2008, served as a docent for about 14 years at the museum, stopping at around the turn of the century, her daughter estimated.
“I’ve been wanting to do something to honor her memory,” said Groeschell, who lives in Freeland. “I don’t know why it took
me so long to figure this out. The museum was the only thing she was truly passionate about outside of family and home.” Groeschell got the idea after learning that a Coupeville resident sponsored free admission to the museum for the month of April. Jackie Feusier looked at the act as a birthday gift to herself. Rick Castellano, the museum’s director, said the act caught on, leading to further sponsorships in September, October and November. “I am really grateful that Jackie pioneered this idea, and that others like Diane are stepping up as well,” he said. July and August are the museum’s busiest
See Museum page 12