Record South Whidbey
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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2014 | Vol. 90, No. 87 | WWW.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.COM | 75¢
South Whidbey grieves loss of Langley leader Tucker Stevens dies following collapse By BEN WATANABE South Whidbey Record Tucker Stevens, an educator, civic-minded Langley resident, husband and father, died Wednesday night. He was 73. The morning of Saturday, Oct. 26, Stevens collapsed and Stevens was taken to Whidbey General Hospital where he was airlifted to Providence Hospital in Everett. According to updates on www. caringbridge.com, made by friend Debra Campbell, Stevens was on life support for three days with all of his body functions returning to normal, except for his ability to breathe. His family, which had flown in from across the globe, was with him in his final moments before dying Oct. 29. “He’s really going to be missed from a lot of different activities,” said Langley Mayor Fred McCarthy, who knew Stevens for years. Known for his easy smile, conversational nature, Southern California surfer attitude and can-do spirit, Stevens is survived by his wife of 25-plus years, Kathryn, children and grandchildren. High school sweethearts, Kathryn and Tucker Stevens married and divorced young, having families on their own before reuniting years later. They had been together 25 years at the time of his death. Stevens was a retired but active Langley resident who served on the city’s Civil Service Commission for one year, the Historic Preservation Commission for two years, and once the city’s Parks and Open Space Commission for three years. Fred McCarthy, Langley’s mayor and a member of the informal Langley men’s club, said he often relished in afternoon visits to the Stevens’ Third Street home and looking out over the town and Saratoga Passage from their backyard deck. “A whole lot of informal problems got solved by the leaders of the community meeting on that deck,” McCarthy said. As a member of the Langley Community Club, Stevens helped resurrect the once-defunct Soup Box Derby downhill race. It has since gone strong for 12 years since 2002 with Stevens as club president and a driving force behind the event’s return and growth. “It was non-existent for a few years but he brought all that back too,” said John Lawson, president of the community club and Stevens’ friend. Other less high-profile works can be attributed to Stevens’ can-do attitude. Earlier this year, a car destroyed the oftphotographed booth in the Star Store parking lot. Within days, Stevens and several men from the community club had repaired and restored the red booth, without muss or fuss. SEE STEVENS, A11
Justin Burnett / The Record
Port of South Whidbey Commissioner Curt Gordon listens to Commissioner Ed Halloran during a special meeting Wednesday in Freeland. The board agreed, pending grant funding, to launch a study while managing the Island County-owned fairgrounds property in Langley for a period of one year.
With funds, port says ‘Yes’ to one year of fairgrounds management ‘The best way to learn about this facility is to run it.’ — Commissioner Curt Gordon
By JUSTIN BURNETT South Whidbey Record If the money comes through, the Port of South Whidbey is getting into the fairground management business. At a special meeting Wednesday, the board agreed in a 2-0 decision that the best way to know whether or not taking over the Island County Fairgrounds is an economically viable proposal is to do it. So, when the existing maintenance contract between the county and the fair association expires this April, and depending on the outcome of two grant applications, the port will take over management of the nearly 13-acre facility for a period of one year while at the same time conducting a comprehensive $85,000 feasibility study. “The best way to learn about this facility is to run it,” Commissioner Curt Gordon said. Commissioner Ed Halloran, who has been a voice of caution regarding the management proposal since it was first pitched by county officials this past
June, agreed and together they decided to move forward. He maintained his longtime position that any permanent decision must pencil out, but said the study would be more thorough if the port had first-hand experience of the job. Commissioner Dennis Gregoire was out of town and not present at the meeting. The fairgrounds is owned by Island County, but has for decades been managed and maintained by the Island County Fair Association, the autonomous group that runs the annual fair. Funding hurdles, however, have strained relations between the two parties in recent years. Fair Board officials say many of the buildings are old, requiring expensive repair, or aren’t conducive to an economically sustainable facility, and county decision makers have been unwilling to commit additional funds. A consortium of elected, private and fair officials worked last year to fund and develop a strategic plan that called
for a $10 million renovation over a period of 10 years. The proposal, outlined in a $71,000 study by Anacortesbased Landerman-Moore Associates, was widely unpopular with the public and has since been largely shelved. Organizers had hoped it would be the savior of the financially strapped facility. Subsequently, the fair association’s board decided not to renew its contract with the county, leaving commissioners on the hook for finding a new property manager. Desperate to find a taker, Island County Commissioner Jill Johnson reached out to port commissioners this summer, and Commissioner Helen Price Johnson has been working with the district and board members ever since to answer questions and cement a commitment. Price Johnson attended Wednesday’s special meeting, telling the board she was there in hopes of working out an agreement but also urged the port not SEE PORT, A11