GOODBYE, EXERCISE BIKES County roads removing island oddity this week. Page 3
WRESTLING BEGINS Results of first tournament a “mixed bag.” Page 18
BEACHCOMBER VASHON-MAURY ISLAND
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2015
Vol. 60, No. 49
www.vashonbeachcomber.com
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Local nonprofits look to build on successes, start new programs By ANNELI FOGT Editor
Editor’s Note: This is the first story in a series that will explore the state of nonprofits on Vashon, specifically how they fared in 2015 and what they have planned for 2016. Vashon Island has dozens of nonprofit organizations catering to every aspect of life from seniors and the homeless, to animals and the land we live on. Together they aim to make this place better for all who live here, but as they rely heavily on the generosity of others, they always face uncertain financial futures. The calendar has turned to December, and the season of giving has begun, leaving some island organizations hoping for miracles this month to continue their work. This year saw the community rally behind many nonprofits, but also saw cuts to funding for several others. One of the nonprofits that the community rallied around this year is the Vashon Maury Island Land Trust, which also celebrated its 25th anniversary. A successful year for the home-grown organization was marked by a Vashon Island Conservation Initiative (VICI) grant extension, the purchase of the Matsuda Farm, a first-of-its-kind fundraising gala and
the opening of the Judd Creek Trail. The VICI extension that came in June will provide the Land Trust with $2 million for the next two years, and the 25th Anniversary gala brought in more than $100,000. Land Trust Executive Director Tom Dean said last week that he has been “blown away by the community’s support.” “We’re honored to have so much support from the community,” Dean said. “I’m looking forward to another 25 years.” For 2016, Dean said the organization has projects planned in three different areas: shoreline preservation, forests and farmland. According to Dean, the Land Trust next year is expecting to announce the purchase of a piece of shoreline “in a new project area.” In the forest sector, Dean said the organization is working on a project with King County to start a third community forest, and is expecting to announce the first purchase of forested land next year. Meanwhile, in farmland preservation, the finalization of the Matsuda Farm purchase allows the Land Trust to begin work restoring the house and finding a resident farmer to lease the farm. SEE NONPROFITS, 23
Susan Riemer / Staff Photo
A SOGGY WINTERFEST Santa delighted island children when he came to town last Saturday. Despite heavy rain throughout the day, hundreds of islanders turned out for the annual holiday parade and tree lighting that proceeded down Vashon Highway and ended at the town’s Christmas tree in the Village Green. Children will be able to visit with Santa in his cottage from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturdays until Christmas.
Obama bestows highest honor on man with island ties By SUSAN RIEMER Staff Writer
Courtesy Photo
Laurie Yasui accepts the Medal of Freedom for her father, Minoru Yasui, from President Obama. Minoru Yasui is the uncle of islander Meredith Yasui.
Last month, islander Meredith Yasui traveled to Washington, D.C. on a trip fit for a history book: President Barack Obama posthumously awarded her uncle the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. “There were a lot of cheers and tears and emotions, and it was very cool,” Yasui said week. “It’s really quite an honor, and we are very proud that my uncle was given this award.” Minoru Yasui died in 1986, but his daughter received the award for his civil rights work and, in particular, for his resistance to Japanese-American internment and curfews after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was born in Hood River, Oregon in 1916 and earned both an undergraduate and law degree from the University of Oregon. He became the first Japanese-American lawyer in the state, according to many accounts of his life. Unable to find a job, he opened his own law firm in January
1942 — just weeks after the bombing Supreme Court to practice law. In the of Pearl Harbor. Two months later, following decades, he dedicated his he intentionally violated a curfew life to public service and civil rights prohibiting people of Japanese heri- and is credited with preventing race tage from being out after 8 p.m. In riots in Denver in the 1970s. He lived an effort to challenge the new law, in that city until his death and is well he walked up and down the streets known there; the legacy he left behind repeatedly on the evening of March includes a 16-story 28, 1942, and finally high rise building went to the Portland “My contention, obviously, named after him. police headquarters In a 1983 televiwas if you begin to erode where a desk sersion interview, he the liberties and freedom geant arrested him. discussed his intenHe was 25 years old, tions behind his and rights of the individual, and he went on to arrest and the long then you are indeed spend nine months legal struggle that in solitary confinejeopardizing the safety of followed, which ment. The judge included the United our whole nation.” who sent him to jail States Supreme Minoru Yasui, also stripped him Court hearing his Medal of Freedom recipient of his U.S. citizencase in 1943 and ship. Following his deciding the curfew release, he was sent he broke was a “wartime necessity.” to join his family in an internment “My contention, obviously, was if camp. In 1944, he was able to leave the you begin to erode the liberties and camp and settled in Denver, Colorado, freedom and rights of the individual, where he passed the bar in 1945 but had to appeal to the Colorado SEE HONOR, 24