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Thursday, November 27, 2014
VOL. 20, NO. 16
Cort doing ‘great’ after brain surgery By Jessie Stensland Co-editor
There are two things Larry Cort’s friends, colleagues and admirers need to know. First, the former Coupeville councilman and planning director made it through brain surgery last Wednesday with flying colors. Second, his trademark mop of wild hair is intact. His wife, Lisbeth Cort, sounded overjoyed in a phone call from Swedish Medical Center in Seattle Thursday. She said he was already out of intensive care and was doing great. “Less than 24 hours after surgery, he’s talking and doing everything,” she said. “It’s fabulous. “There’s no reason to believe he won’t make a full recovery,” she said. She said surgeons successfully removed a mass from his brain and it’s being tested to figure out what it is. The couple knew something was wrong when Larry Cort’s speech had become garbled, his wife explained. They were worried he may have had a small stroke and went to Whidbey General Hospital on Sunday. He had a brief seizure at the hospital and jerked so hard he broke his shoulder, Lisbeth Cort said. Doctors found a mass in his brain. Larry Cort, currently the Oak Harbor city administrator, was transferred to Swedish Medical for surgery, which only required shaving “a tiny little spot on the back of his head,” Lisbeth Cort said. “He’s still got his wild hair,” she said. Next, he will have to have surgery to repair his shoulder. The council meeting was somber Tuesday night with Larry Cort’s absence. Council members took turns wishing him well. Oak Harbor Mayor Scott Dudley visited Larry Cort at the hospital Wednesday and said the couple appeared to be very optimistic. Lisbeth Cort said they’ve been overwhelmed with the support from the community. “Larry and I both appreciate all the love and support,” she said. It might be awhile before he gets back, but Larry Cort is ever the conscientious leader. “He said he was glad that he and Doug (Merriman) got the budget gap filled before he left,” Lisbeth Cort said.
Megan Hansen photo
Lyla Snover, second from left, has gathered a faithful group of volunteers to care for the snow people that line the streets each December.
making snowpeople By Megan Hansen Co-Editor
For 20 years, Lyla and Phil Snover have cultivated and cared for Coupeville’s treasured winter guests. Each holiday season, sometime between Thanksgiving and the first Saturday in December, smiling-faced snow people start lining the streets. For one month a year more, than 100 plywood snow people fill most nooks and crannies. It’s something a lot of people look forward to, especially Coupeville Mayor Nancy Conard. She was kind of the catalyst for the project in 1994 after discovering a love for the cheery winter character. Lyla said it was during a parks and rec commission meeting the topic was broached. “Nancy said, ‘I wish we could have snowmen all over the town,’ ” Lyla recalls. She then went on to discuss logistics and wondered who would be able to cut out the plywood characters. “I said, ‘Phil can do it,’ ” Lyla said. “There are a lot of things I get volunteered
for ,and I don’t even know,” Phil added. “It’s called spousal support,” Lyla responds with laughter. The first year, Phil cut out 6-8 snow people and a small group gathered to help paint them. They were put up along Main Street for all to see. “It was well received,” Conard said. “We kept paying for the plywood and people painted them. “People started showing up to help. Now she’s got a whole squad to help her.” Each year the population has grown. What started as a dozen snow people has grown to an estimated 132. Although over the years, Lyla guesses they’ve done around 200, counting ones that have had to be remade.
“I’ve only wore out one saw…so far,” Phil jokes. It’s a labor of love, with a core group of people tasked with the honor. But it isn’t just a month-long project. For 11 months out of the year, most of the snow people are housed in the Snovers’ garage. Each year the Snovers and volunteers carefully inspect each one, repairing them and touching up paint. “I’m not very good at painting them,” Lyla said. “Over the years I’ve got better.” But as the project has grown, so has the help. Lyla now calls on the help of volunteers like artist Chuck Poust, who is now tasked with doing all of the lettering, or Vicky Reyes, who’s helped the last couple of years touching
See Snowmen, page 12