Washington Coast Magazine, September 01, 2015

Page 1

Iron Springs Resort Rustic Redefined

A past and present CARVED FROM WOOD

A Beach House Treasure

FALL 2015

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fall 2015

contents

FEATURES

26

WOOD CARVER EARL DAVIS

34

HORSE DRAWN HISTORY

Earl Davis is reviving the legacy of wood carving from his native Shoalwater Bay tribe.

TOP Charlie and Billy Hay’s colorful backyard of their beach home. ABOVE Earl Davis is learning the lost art of woodcarving.

A carriage museum in Raymond gives visitors a glimpse into the past.

COVER Evening light filters through the trees along a stretch of Highway 109 about a quarter mile past the Iron Springs Resort at Copalis Beach. Photo by Gabe Green

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Fall 2015 | WASHINGTON COAST MAGAZINE

40

IRON SPRINGS RESORT COVER

46

A BEACH HOUSE TREASURE

The remodeled Copalis Beach resort gives a modern take on rustic.

Charlie and Billie Hay’s beach cottage came full of surprises and treasures from the previous owners.


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O HOW T LEARN R A N T A LU SHOO E ECLIPS

fall 2015

contents

14 IN THIS ISSUE 12 BOOK “Full Rip 9.0”

54 ART

14 DIY

57 STYLE

How to Shoot the Moon

18 DRINK

Cranberry Winery

21 DINE Q & A with Chef Alec Takagi

18 TOP Stuart May preparing a shot

22 HISTORY

Trina Young of Sisters Art

Whiskers & Ears

66 EVENTS

Logger Days and holidays

73

WHO & WHY

Why Rob Paylor Loves Living Here

The Thanksgiving Football game

53 HEALTH Summer in a Box

ABOVE Wine from Cranberry Road Winery

IN EVERY ISSUE 10 From the Editor 72 Advertisers Directory 6

Fall 2015 | WASHINGTON COAST MAGAZINE


Our work is not about houses... ...it’s about people.

Multi-year winner!

Serving all of Grays Harbor County Residential - Commercial - Land

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Beach Homes Aren’t Just For Summer The Heart of Washington Coast offers not just a Home, its a Lifestyle.

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Representing Buyers and Sellers

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Publisher

Stan Woody

Editor

Doug Barker

Contributing

Callie White

Writers

Dan Jackson

Doug Barker

Gail Greenwood Ayres

Jake Schild Kellie Ann Benz

Kyle Mittan Real Estate / Ocean Shores

Spotlight on the New Season at GHC Bishop Center! Letters Aloud

Original letters focused on the 85-year history of GHC

Thurs, Sept 24 . 7:00pm Sponsored by GHC Student Life

Rock Opera “Deep Love” Dramatic musical storytelling

Sat, Oct 3 . 7:30pm

Comedy Night

Featuring Adam Kessler, Brett Hamil, Joanie Quin, and Susan Rice

Sat, Oct 24 . 7:30pm Sponsored by Sandy Lloyd

GRAYS HARBOR COLLEGE

These shows not suitable for younger audiences.

Tickets on sale now: ghc.edu/bishop 1620 Edward P Smith Dr. | Aberdeen, WA 98520

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Fall 2015 | WASHINGTON COAST MAGAZINE

Richelle Barger Rick Anderson Rob Paylor Editorial Karen Barkstrom Assistant Magazine Kristina Case, Simply Graphic Graphic Designer Staff Photographer

Gabe Green

Contributing Aaron Lavinsky Photographers Julie Rajcich Kelly Hogaboom Macleod Pappidas Marcy Merrill Photo Aberdeen Museum of History Contributors Pat Pearson Polson Museum Ad Graphic Constance Ellis Designers Emily Evans Advertising Brent Hunter Deb Tress-McCormick Jo Treadwell Mary Anne Bagwell


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Circulation Kris Cearley Doug Ames Subscriptions

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Contact information Advertising inquiries, subscriptions & change of address 360-532-4000 Back issues $8 plus shipping and handling. Washington Coast Magazine is published by The Daily World, a division of Sound Publishing and may not be reproduced without express written permission, all rights reserved. No liability is assumed by Washington Coast Magazine, The Daily World or Sound Publishing regarding any content in this publication. A subscription to Washington Coast Magazine is $14 annually. Single copies are available at select locations throughout Grays Harbor and Pacific counties including: Safeway, Aberdeen Everybody’s, Elma and Raymond IGA, Ocean Shores Sandpiper, Pacific Beach Seabrook, Pacific Beach Gordon’s, McCleary www.thedailyworld.com © 2015 by The Daily World 315 S. Michigan St. Aberdeen, WA 98520

WASHINGTON COAST MAGAZINE | Fall 2015

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FALL: WE LIVE IN AN INCREDIBLE PLACE.

It’s been a glorious summer at the beach. If you made it there, you know. If you didn’t, you have a lot more chances. It looks like fall is going to be amazing, too.

Weather predictions from The Old Farmer’s Almanac to the National Weather Service say El Nino conditions, with lower than normal temperatures and probably less precipitation that usual, are almost certain at least through the end of the year and probably longer.

Places like the Green Lantern Pub on Highway 109 is just one of the many special places we get to write about at WCM.

But enough about the weather, let’s talk about the Green Lantern Pub. I’d be hard pressed to think of a nicer place to stop for refreshment after a day at the beach. It’s on Highway 109 at Copalis Beach about 20 minutes north of Ocean Shores. It’s across the street from a state park and a stone’s throw from the ocean. It’s nothing special in appearance, definitely not elegant, but inside you’ll find a particularly friendly staff and a mix of locals and tourists cohabitating nicely. You’re holding the fourth, quarterly issue of Washington Coast Magazine. On pages 44 and 45, there’s a small piece on the pub. It’s been great, during the past year, to put bright lights on an incredible piece of the world and out of the way gems like the Green Lantern. When it’s your own backyard, it’s easy to forget that people come from long distances to see what we see every day. We don’t set out to create the magazine around any particular theme, but it occurs to me that in this issue there’s at least a common thread running through several of the stories – preservation. My favorite among them is a story about a wood carver named Earl Davis, who is helping keep alive a carving tradition that had all but disappeared from the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe. Writer Callie White did a wonderful job of describing the responsibility Davis feels for keeping it

alive, and Marcy Merrill’s photos are all but cedar scented in the way they take you into the workshop. This edition has stories about the Carriage Museum at Raymond that preserves artifacts from a horse-drawn culture of transportation that exists mostly in old movies these days. This is no dusty roadside museum in the back of someone’s old shop. It’s first class and it’s worth the trip. The same is true for the Iron Springs Resort, just a few miles up the road from the Green Lantern. Iron Springs was beloved for decades, a classic old motor inn, cabin style stop for people wanting to spend a couple of days at the beach. Like most of those places, it got rundown. Unlike most of them, it got saved. A couple of brothers, Doug and Bill True, who used to come there from Seattle as kids, bought it and fixed it up better than ever. Check out the piece that starts on page 40. In the past year we’ve introduced readers to artists, wonderful homes, great places to dine and destinations that make the coast a world class attraction. One thing we’ve learned is that there are a lot of stories to tell. We’re already working on some of them for the coming year, and we hope you’ll be along for the ride.

Doug Barker Editor

Like our Facebook page Washington Coast Magazine for updates, sneak peeks and announcements. We have many exciting things in store for you.

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 BOOKS

RE VIE W BY K E L L I E A N N B E N Z

MEGAQUAKE book may give you the SHAKES

W

hether we’re overdue for it is up for some debate, but we’re due for it. The big one. Yes, that big one, the megaquake that has been predicted to hit the West Coast since the late 1980s. If you’re a longtime resident of the coastal region, from the northern-most rainforest coast of British Columbia to Northern California – you’ve heard the warnings. Every time, it seems, when there is a slight ripple nearby or a devastating earthquake anywhere in the world, the scientists and doomsday theorists on the West Coast rise up, as if on cue. They remind us that a megaquake will likely decimate small towns on the coast and incapacitate the cities.

The human mind has a tendency to wander after one too many worstcase scenarios, and earthquakes are the toughest natural disaster to wrap the brain around anyway. -from Full Rip 9.0

Full Rip 9.0 Sandi Doughton. Info Sasquatch Books. 2013. pp. 273. Available for purchase at sasquatchbooks.com and many bookstores.

EXCERPT FROM “FULL RIP 9.0”

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A New Yorker magazine piece this summer put the issue under bright lights again. But long before that, Sandi Doughton, a science writer for The Seattle Times, literally wrote the book on the subject. Her “Full Rip 9.0,” published by Sasquatch Books in 2013, states the concerns of scientists and disaster planners but does so with a measured, even, readable tone that feels more story-telling than fear-mongering. Doughton approaches the subject of “the big one” from an almost archaeological dig perspective, allowing the reader to marvel at the historical discoveries that are the foundations of the predictions. One such discovery, by Brian Atwater, a U.S. Geological Survey geologist, and other

The pace of geologic discovery in the Pacific Northwest has been breathtaking. Brian Atwater published the first definitive evidence of ancient megaquakes in 1987. Five years later, scientists pieced together the story of the Seattle Fault and a powerful earthquake that tore through the heart of Puget Sound. By 2005, maps were crowded with new fault lines turning up on lidar surveys, and scientists were using GPS to watch in real-time as the region’s tectonic train wreck unfolded. Findings continue to pour in. From hidden faults east of the Cascades to subterranean rumblings that might presage the next subduction zone quake, there’s no shortage of surprises.

Fall 2015 | WASHINGTON COAST MAGAZINE

researchers, occurred at Copalis Beach. They used DNA from the mud preserved roots of cedar trees that were killed in the last megaquake and cross-referenced that information with agricultural records in Japan, which experienced the tsunami created by the quake. They were able to set the time as 9 p.m., Jan. 27, 1700. The book is part historical soap opera with Doughton characterizing the many early players by way of the pains and losses they endured to pursue their scientific discoveries, part scientific journal making good use of the scant images, data and charts archived until now, and part cartographers’ diary. The pages turn swiftly in Doughton’s book, and if you’re a prodigious Google fact checker, you’ll soon be putting down your notepad to simply enjoy the story. Doughton lets us in on a few secrets of the scientific findings and primes us for the professional theorists. The end result is not so much scare tactics, but instead a thoughtful understanding of the inevitability of Mother Earth’s need to shift for the sake of evolution and time. That’s not to say that the book won’t have you packing your own earthquake preparedness kit tout suite, but perhaps after reading “Full Rip 9.0” you’ll do so with a better understanding of why you need to be ready for when ‘the big one’ hits our coast.

People who live in the Northwest might be forgiven for saying “enough already.” The human mind has a tendency to wander after one too many worst-case scenarios, and earthquakes are the toughest natural disaster to wrap the brain around anyway. Hurricanes, forest fires and floods follow seasonal schedules. There’s usually enough warning time to board up windows, stack sand bags, and evacuate. Earthquakes operate on a time scale that’s both inevitable and inscrutable. Another Cascadia megaquake will strike. It could be ten minutes from now, or it could hold off until today’s toddlers are greatgrandparents. – Sandi Doughton


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 DIY

How to

SHOOT the MOON

The Ocean Shores-based photographer had spent much of the night photographing the total lunar eclipse that had turned the night’s full moon entirely red as light from the sun shone through the Earth’s atmosphere. He came away with 30 shots he liked, later using 13 to make an array of the phases of the eclipse. May owns Fusions Gallery along the beach town’s main drag. The Scottish (Glasgow-born) ex-patriot has been shooting nature and wildlife photography for 17 years and has owned the gallery for 13. May has tens of thousands of dollars invested in camera gear and the shots he took that night can’t be achieved with a digital point-and-shoot or smartphone. But he says that most amateur photographers with today’s mid-range digital single-lens reflex cameras can take reasonably good photos of the eclipse, with the proper preparation.

PHOT O BY KYLE MIT TAN

ST ORY BY K Y L E M I T T A N P H O T OS B Y S T UA R T MA Y, UNL ES S OT H ER W ISE NOTED

At 4 a.m. on April 4, 2015, Stuart May was still at work.

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DIY  

Sites to view

space.com NASA.gov skyandtelescope.com

Left page: Photographer Stuart May capturing a sunset. Clockwise: Whether in eclipse or just a good old-fashioned full moon, Stuart May has taken many photographs of the moon over the years. Bottom: Shots of the blood moon late the night of April 3 and early the morning of April 4, chronicling a total lunar eclipse.

PHOTOPILLS: For iPhone users willing to spend $10, this COOL photography-planning app gives APP users a plethora of information about shooting the night sky, including the moon’s cycle, when it will set and where it will be in the sky from a particular location on a map.

“The front of your lens could move three feet over the course of several shots. It’s especially important with a long lens, because long lenses (capture) very thin slices of the sky, so you’ve got to move it very frequently.” DON’T MISS AN ECLIPSE! www.eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov: Get all the latest information about future eclipses — lunar and solar. For some eclipses, the site gives details decades in advance.

NEXT LUNAR ECLIPSE is September 28.

WASHINGTON COAST MAGAZINE | Fall 2015

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 DIY

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How to shoot a lunar eclipse When

The next lunar eclipse will occur in the early morning of Sept. 28. It will be the last of four, separated by about six-month stretches, a rarity that astronomers call a tetrad. Total eclipses occur when the Earth passes between the moon and sun, casting a shadow across the entire moon, and not just a portion. The result is a moon that glows red until the Earth passes.

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Expect to spend several hours shooting. May’s sequence followed the moon nearly until the eclipse had ended.

Where

May says the key to location is ensuring an unobstructed sky. Especially in a series of photos that tracks the moon’s movement through the sky, trees and buildings may ruin the shot.

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Fall 2015 | WASHINGTON COAST MAGAZINE

“The front of your lens could move three feet over the course of several shots,” he said. “It’s especially important with a long lens, because long lenses (capture) very thin slices of the sky, so you’ve got to move it very frequently.” Cloud coverage and light pollution are an issue, too. Weather forecasts starting about a week out are helpful, and areas far away from cities mitigate the glow of intrusive lights. Coastal beaches are good, the more remote the better, including Ruby, Rialto, Shi Shi, First, Second and Third beaches and Lime Kiln Point. Inland, open, dark skies can be found in certain parts of Olympic National Park and Capitol State Forest.

What to bring

Aside from the camera, May says the most important piece of equipment for a night shoot is a sturdy tripod capable of holding relatively still in coastal winds. High-end tripods can cost hundreds, but mid-range models can be found for less than $100, then anchored in beach sand or weighted down with sand bags. Although May shot April’s eclipse with a 400-millimeter lens, some 300-millimeter lenses can be bought brand new near the $200 mark, and capture the moon in relatively full detail. Crop sensor cameras, whose photos are zoomed-in as opposed to cameras with full-frame sensors, will also help the attached lens take a closer photo. Consult your camera’s user manual to find out which type of sensor it uses. “Honestly, the better the camera you can afford, the better your results are going to be,” May says, but added that skills play a major part as well. Another piece of equipment to consider includes a shutter release, which allows the photographer to take a photo with a remote connected to the camera by a cable. That reduces the shake caused by releasing the shutter with the button. Another remedy includes shooting in self-portrait mode, which will keep the camera from taking the shot for several seconds after pressing the shutter release. As with most outings, May says to dress appropriately and remember that as night falls, things cool down in a hurry, especially along the coast. A winter coat and gloves might mean being able to stay out and shoot for a few more hours.


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May shoots a paddleboarder by moonlight.

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Taking the shots

Though shooting at night often requires long exposure, May says the moon is different. “What people usually forget is that when you’re shooting the moon, you’re actually shooting the sunlight that’s reflecting off the moon,” he said. To that end, photos of the moon can often be shot with a shutter speed of about 1/500 of a second or even faster. A more open aperture, which comes with a lower f-stop number, will also help to let in more light during the exposure.

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May says one problem that comes with today’s digital cameras is “noise” — graininess that comes as a result of the sensor processing dark photos. The easiest way to combat this, he says, is to ensure the camera’s ISO is left at 100, or the lowest setting.

Post processing

For his series of 13 moon shots, May arranged them in Photoshop, with each image as a separate layer. Using the software’s guides, he set Kyle Mittan is the each moon an inch apart. The only toning adjustments, May says, were to the moon’s contrast. May says it’s easy to lose track of time shooting photos along the coast. “You’ll be out here shooting and all of a sudden, it’s midnight,” he says. “It’s a great feeling.”

Aberdeen and Hoquiam reporter for The Daily World. An amateur photographer himself, now he knows how he’ll spend the night of Sept. 27. Contact him at 360537-3932 or kmittan@ thedailyworld.com. Find him on Twitter @ KyleMittan.

313 Wishkah St. Aberdeen,WA 98520 360-532-6140 bryanandsonjewelers.com WASHINGTON COAST MAGAZINE | Fall 2015

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 DRINK

When life gives you cranberries,

MAKE WINE. S TOR Y B Y J A K E S C H I L D P H OT O S B Y G A B E G R EEN

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One couple combines making wine, beer and pizza at a local winery.


DRINK  

Along with wood-fired pizza, beer is on tap at the winery. Bogwater Brewing brews six different types of beers at the winery. Chris Tiffany says he and his wife Maria did the “Bill Gates thing.” What he’s referring to is starting a business out of their garage, like Gates did with Microsoft. But, instead of operating systems, the couple made wine together. “We started off with friends and me making wine in our garage. One thing led to another where everybody kept recommending that we needed to do something (commercially) with it, so we tried it,” said Chris. The Tiffanys obtained the proper licenses and began selling their product to small local wineries. In 2011, the couple decided to start their own winery, buying the property that is now Cranberry Road Winery in Westport.

Above: Owners Chris and Maria Tiffany at Cranberry Road Winery in Westport. Left: The Tiffanys also offer Bogwater Brewing beers at their winery.

The winery, located less than a half mile from the beach in a fire engine-red building that resembles an old barn, makes both a cranberry and cranberry cinnamon wine as well as several different types of beer. They’ve created a small tasting room with a wood-fired pizza oven on site offering patrons the chance to choose from eight different types of pies while enjoying a local beer or wine. The cranberries the Tiffanys use to make their wine are purchased from local growers in Grayland and they produce an estimated 4,000 gallons per year. He said the cranberry wine is 90 percent cranberry and 10 percent strawberry, blackberry, blueberry and raspberry to “mellow” the tart taste of the cranberries. The result is just a little sweet, offset by the tart cranberry finish. “Those (berries) … make it so it’s not so tart,” said Chris Tiffany. The Tiffanys mash the berries, ferment, bottle and label their wines in an open area in the building that is adjacent to a small indoor bar and an outdoor patio with seating.

Top: from right-left, the beers offered are Hefeweizen, blonde ale, rye, ginger, and black IPA and a brown ale. Above: A glass of the house favorite.

WASHINGTON COAST MAGAZINE | Fall 2015

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 DRINK

Bogwater Brewing brews six different types of beers at the winery. Brewmaster Jonathan Bennett has concocted a Hefeweizen, blonde ale, rye, ginger, and black IPA and a brown ale that is on tap inside the bar area, adorned with eye-catching woodworkings done by local artist Jeffro Uitto. Bennett has come up with clever names for the beers, calling the Hefeweizen “Weiz and Shine,” for example. The rye IPA at the winery is deemed, “Just Ryte.”

Top: Wood-fired pizzas are a great complement to the beer and wine served at Cranberry Road Winery. Above: The variety of wines for sale at the winery.

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The Tiffanys plan to expand the winery to create more seating room and to add a sparkling cranberry, blueberry and white wine they’re coming out with in the near future. Next year, they plan to sell a Syrah variety that’s in the works. The planned expansion would make the winery building two stories and add seating for around 100 more people. Live music takes place on Saturdays at the winery and the renovation would allow artists to play inside if the weather doesn’t cooperate.

“For the first several years, we’ve only had the two wines, but we’re starting to get to the point where we’re going to be releasing several wines this year and several more next year,” said Chris. Cranberry Road is also throwing around the possibility of adding fresh crab to the menu, boiled on site. “Amazingly enough, no one here in the Westport area does stuff like that. With us being one of the biggest fishing ports in the United States, a lot of people come out here looking for it. We want to fill that niche for people,” said Chris. Chris said the winery sees a wide variety of visitors, including tourists from Canada, Wyoming, Idaho and other parts of the country. “That’s one of the best thing about the business. We’ve had a lot of customers who come in as customers and a lot of them are like family now. It’s a fun industry to be in and a fun thing to do,” he said.


DINE   P HO T O B Y G A B E G R E E N T EXT C OMP I L ED B Y KEL L I E A N N B EN Z

Q&A CHEF ALEC TAKAGI on cooking and inspiration from Mom Ocean Shores residents and visitors might know local restaurant staple Alec’s By the Sea as the trustworthy home to standard American comfort food, but what they might not know is that Chef Alec Takagi did it all for his mother. What would you say is your signature dish? My Seafood Sauté is the item that customers keep coming back for. I think it’s because I use local, fresh manila clams, mussels and any other local seafood that is in season. What is your favorite local seafood to cook with? Oysters and razor clams equally, then of course the summer or Chinook salmon when I can get it. I love it here, I’ve been cooking here for over 30 years and it’s the local seafood that makes it a great place to cook. Where did you go to school? I studied at culinary schools in Seattle, but my real schooling came from being a cook in the U.S. Army for three years. American soldiers were the toughest critics. I was their first cook after their mothers, so if I got a meal wrong, boy did I hear about it. Did you win over any of those critics? Apparently, I had a good reputation. Soldiers heard about me before they arrived in camp. I guess you could say they were my first reviewers. Who inspired your culinary interests? My mom. She was always cooking and no one could make a better bowl of rice than she could. I know that sounds like a simple dish, but it’s a true skill to make good rice and my mother was the best. She would make her own tempura, and my kids particularly loved her Sukiyaki. She lived for 96 years eating well and still inspires me today, two years since her passing.

Chef Takagi opened his eponomys restaurant Alec’s by the Sea in 1994, as the pinnacle of his long Pacific Northwest culinary career. Alec and his wife, Renate, and their now grown children have called Ocean Shores home since 1969. Stop in any day of the week and you’ll likely still see Chef Takagi preparing his fresh meals. ALEC’S BY THE SEA is located at 131 W Chance a La Mer NW, Ocean Shores, WA 98569, Phone: (360) 289-4026

What’s the one tool you can’t live without in the kitchen? My imagination, and a good knife. Now that I think about it, a sauté pan too. You can make anything if you have those in the kitchen. Which food item is surprisingly tough to master? Steak. Steaks are not simple, they seem simple but that’s deceiving. It takes a very long time and many, many attempts to get the huge variety of steak cuts just right. That in itself could be a chef’s lifelong journey. WASHINGTON COAST MAGAZINE | Fall 2015

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 HISTORY

the

BIG GAME On Thanksgiving, it was Football First BY RICK AND ERSON PHOTOS COURTESY OF ABERD EEN MUSEUM OF HISTORY, POLSON MUSEUM AND PAT PEARSON

67 years of football and turkey 1906

1915

1920

1925

1930

1938

The First Big Game

HHS AHS On Thanksgiving Day in 1906, the football players from AHS and HHS had no idea what tradition they were beginning.

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George “Automatic” Karamatic

1943


3

HISTORY  

I

t wasn’t the state’s most prolific or even the longest continuous rivalry. But the AberdeenHoquiam high school Thanksgiving Day football series represented a tradition few other communities could match. From 1906 through 1973, with a few interruptions in between, the Bobcats and Grizzlies squared off before capacity crowds on Thanksgiving. For the participants, the outcome could make or break a season. “It was like the world championship,” said Dave Wayman, a 1962 Hoquiam High grad who is now the co-superintendent of North Beach schools. “If you were from Hoquiam or Aberdeen, you had to win that game. “

obvious athletic ties, it became part of the Harbor’s holiday legacy. “When I was a little boy, I never remember not going to the Turkey Day game. That was one of my favorite days of the year,” said Grays Harbor Superior Court Judge Mark McCauley, a fullback and defensive back for the Bobcats prior to his 1972 graduation. “After the game, we’d come home and have dinner and talk about the plays.” “It was what you thought a football game was,” said Aberdeen educator Derek Cook, a Hoquiam native who was too young to play in the T-Day game but attended several as a child. “It was more of a social event for folks who lived in these parts than anything.” The rivalry actually had a relatively rocky genesis.

The contest itself, however, transcended mere bragging rights. Even for those without

1953

By the 1920s, the game had become a Thanksgiving staple — first at Electric Park on the Myrtle Street boundary between the two cities and later alternating between Hoquiam’s Emerson Field and Aberdeen’s Stewart Field. Hoquiam’s Olympic Stadium, an 8,500-seat facility built by the Depression-era Works Progress Administration, was dedicated in 1938. Significant underdogs, the Grizzlies celebrated the occasion with a 12-0 win that cost the Bobcats not only an unbeaten season

“IT WAS LIKE THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP. IF YOU WERE FROM HOQUIAM OR ABERDEEN, YOU HAD TO WIN THAT GAME.”

“You could make your statement by winning the Thanksgiving Day game,” agreed Aberdeen Hall of Fame quarterback John Wilson, a 1966 AHS alum.

1948

While the 1906 series opener was played on Thanksgiving, that wasn’t always the case in the early years of the series. The Harbor rivals sometimes met as often as three times in a season. Due to World War I and a flu epidemic, the Bobcats and Grizzlies collided only once between 1917 and 1921.

-Dave Wayman, a 1962 Hoquiam High grad

1958

1962

1967

Posters promoted fun rivalry between schools

1972

The Hoaquim side in 1972.

School spirit was an important element.

Aberdeen Cheerleaders in 1962. Record numbers of fans attended games, and by the late 1960s it was moved temporarily from Stewart Field to the much larger Olympic stadium, much to the Bobcat fans’ disapproval.

WASHINGTON COAST MAGAZINE | Fall 2015

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 HISTORY

“When I was a little boy, I never remember not going to the Turkey Day game. That was one of my favorite days of the year.” - Grays Harbor Superior Court Judge Mark McCauley, a fullback and defensive back for the Bobcats prior to his 1972 graduation.

but a mythical state championship. That game came to represent the capricious nature of the rivalry. In the week of the big game everybody in town showed their colors.

WATCH IT!

The big game between Aberdeen and Hoquiam will be played this year on Oct. 30th.

The late November date required some unusual preparations. The Bobcats and Grizzlies often spent more than two weeks from their previous contest practicing for the T-Day game. “The weather was usually pretty cold, pretty wet, so the practices weren’t much fun.” McCauley said. “Back then, at the end of the season, you knew you were going to play your rival, so you were pretty pumped up,” said 1968 HHS grad Keith Reynvaan, a former Grizzly halfback who is still a teacher and coach in Hoquiam. “Right now, I don’t know if that would be the case.” Several future college and professional standouts participated in the series. Jack Elway, the father of Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway and himself a successful and influential college coach, quarterbacked the Grizzlies to a 22-7 win in 1947. The players were usually treated to Thanksgiving morning breakfasts sponsored by the police or area service clubs and often received police escorts to the stadium for the noon kickoff. The Daily World published an extensive special section, generally 12 to 16 pages, on the Wednesday prior to the game and delayed publication of its Thanksgiving Day edition until completion of the contest. Enthusiastic capacity crowds were a given. “The noise was amazing to me coming out of the tunnel,” Reynvaan said. “You’d get chills and have to look up in the stands to see what was going on. It was something to behold and it was scary.” By the late 1960s, with both schools fielding outstanding teams, spectator interest was perceived by some to have outgrown

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5,500-seat Stewart Field. To the outrage of legendary Aberdeen coach Al Eklund, among others, much larger Olympic Stadium was designated to host the Thanksgiving Day contest annually. Disgruntled Bobcat boosters composed a sardonic sign, “Home Sweet Home” to be displayed on one of the years the Cats were the “host” team for a game in Hoquiam. Few at the time realized that the Thanksgiving game’s days were numbered. The advent of the state playoffs in 1973 forced school officials to choose between tradition and playoff eligibility. They selected the latter option, a decision that still rankles some veterans of the Thanksgiving series. “People in Hoquiam were upset they dropped that game,” Wayman said. “I thought that was too much to give up. Just the intense rivalry between the two schools, I think it was bigger than the state playoffs. It was going to happen every year and people would come back for it.” “To us, it was the equivalent of playing a major championship game at the end of the year,” McCauley agreed. “I guess if we had turned into a Bellevue-type program that won state championships year after year, it would have been a different story.” As it was, the Bobcats and Grizzlies staged their final Thanksgiving Day battle in 1973. Hoquiam’s roster included future University of Washington running back (and recordsetting Western Washington University coach) Rob Smith, all-state lineman Joe Pellegrini (who went to play professionally for the New York Jets) and Steve Irion, later a Little AllAmerican defensive back at Pacific Lutheran University. But Aberdeen won, 49-0. Even at the end, the Thanksgiving Day football rivalry was capable of producing the unexpected.


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a past and present

CARVED FROM

W

D

Earl Davis is reviving the legacy of one of the treasures from his native Shoalwater Bay tribe - woodcarving. STORY BY CALLIE WHITE PHOTOS BY MARCY MERRI LL

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L-R: Tools of the woodcarving trade are a necessity and many are handmade. An adze with a carved handle. Wooden bowl, one of Earl’s first renditions of a tradition. Right page: Carved wooden figure as tall as a man.

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T

he Shoalwater Bay Tribe’s carving workshop looks out on Willapa Bay, a view that has not changed much in thousands of years – sand, water, grass and the oft-gray sky of coastal Washington State. It’s a place of elemental power and comfort. In the workshop, the shiny

edge of an adze scraping on wood, the crispy fall of wood shavings, the smells of resin and oil and sweat are the elements of art that was nearly lost to time. Instead, a small group of local Native craftsmen, led by Earl Davis, is keeping the style and heritage alive. When Davis started working as the cultural programs director at the Shoalwater Bay Tribe in Tokeland in 2006, he spent most of his time sitting at a desk, shuffling paperwork about archaeological surveys of potential construction sites between the tribe and various state agencies. The muscle-bound former Marine in him chafed at being tied to a desk, and he balked at his job being strictly about the artifacts of the past. “We aren’t just what you see in a museum,” Davis said. “We’re still here, and so is our culture.” But when Davis looked around, he saw how the arts of his tribe were in trouble. There were classes for kids in bead work and other so-called “pan-Indian” crafts, but little of it was particularly grounded in the traditions birthed on Tokeland soil. Davis wasn’t the only person who felt uneasy about this. He knew he had to do something, so eight years ago, one year into his new job, he decided to pursue carving. Unfortunately, the art - and the artists - had died out years before. He needed someone with a special kind of know-how that went beyond sculpting and into the traditions. Luckily, Davis’ first teacher was Randy Capoeman, the late Quinault artist. Capoeman helped him build a foundational set of skills – what tools to use, what techniques work, what to look for in wood for carving and some of the elements of style of the local Native tribes.

But what Davis also got, and cannot shake off, were Capoeman’s words to him: “You are going to put this place back on the map.” “It wasn’t a compliment,” Davis said. “It was an order.” When most people think of Native Pacific Northwest art, they think of towering totem poles. But Davis said that style of carving is from tribes in British Columbia and Southeast Alaska, not so much for coastal Washington. “What our ancestors did is considered ‘primitive’ versus northern styles, because it doesn’t follow the same rules. But when you dig into it, what they did was actually very sophisticated,” Davis said. When it comes to Shoalwater art history, there aren’t tons of pieces on display locally, and no one is around to pass on the traditional skills. But Davis had documentation about local carvings from the tribe and a few books that featured photographs of pieces from Willapa Bay. He has remade some of those pieces. One was a simple and elegant bowl in plain wood, another was a boat with the traditional Thunderbird in red and black (a seminal mythological figure of Pacific Northwest tribes). “The first thing you have to do is be able to replicate the old stuff. Once you get to that point you can do whatever you want,” Davis said. He concedes that eight years into his carving career, he is “nowhere near” being

“We aren’t just what you see in a museum. We’re still here, and so is our culture.” -Earl Davis WASHINGTON COAST MAGAZINE | Fall 2015

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Carvings currently on display in the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma.

able to come up with his own pieces. He is still learning from the old masters, absorbing the knowledge and style through his hands.

“If I could make something half as good as these,” he pointed to pictures of old wooden figures, “I’d be thrilled.” That kind of close study is one of the few ways Davis can understand the carvings. Because a significant number of the carvings originally were created with sacred meanings or purposes, there can be tension around talking about them. For traditionalists, talking about the sacred can take away its power (this is a vast oversimplification), and for Christians the view is the opposite, that talking about it gives them an undesirable power. Then there are others who don’t follow any tenets, and they may have a completely different understanding of propriety. “It’s hard to know how to navigate,” Davis said. It was a lot easier to pass down the craft 150 years ago, when the values in the community were uniform. (continued on page 32) WASHINGTON COAST MAGAZINE | Fall 2015

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Fall 2015 | WASHINGTON COAST MAGAZINE

(continued from page 31) But Davis is bound and determined to pass along the heritage. A few years ago he wrote a grant to the Administration for Native Americans to train two full-fledged carvers – Ken Waltman and Brandt Ellingburg -- who both work full time at the workshop. In their first year they had to learn all the basics, like how to use tools and how to make them. They started with small projects, and now they are working with Davis on larger pieces, like a pole (“we don’t call them totem poles here”) of depicting a man with an elaborate hat. At the bottom of that pole, which is destined for the front of the Shoalwater Bay Casino, will be pieces from a 10,000-year-old gambling game that was popular across the Americas. The Shoalwater program is now the focus of a new exhibit at the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma that runs through mid-December. “People of the Adze” will feature a number of the group’s traditional carvings, and the team will carve every third Thursday at the museum. The exhibit “highlights the creativity, beauty and strength of the work of a young team of carvers from Willapa Bay,” said Susan Rohrer, the manager of heritage outreach services at the museum. “In two short years working out of their hand-built carving shed, they have produced a masterful body of work and brought new recognition and pride to the Shoalwater Bay people.” Davis is happy for the unexpected recognition, and inspired to keep learning. Currently, he’s teaching himself the language of the Lower Chehalis, which has no remaining fluent speakers but a vast repository of audio and written materials left behind by tribal elders. In a sense, Davis has been a student of this elders for as long as he can recall. His father was a fisherman and when he would bring crab to the home of elders, he would bring young Earl along to listen to what they had to say.


Here for you when you need us most

C ol e man mor t uary 422 - 5th Street ON DISPLAY

The work of Earl Davis and other members of the Shoalwater Indian Tribe will be on display in an exhibit at the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma through Dec. 13. The show is called “People of the Adze” and reflects traditional carving methods and styles of tribes from the lower Columbia River, Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor areas.

Hoquiam

360-532-4090

Left page: Earl in his wood shop. Top: Traditional items Bottom: The Washington State History Museum exhibit

Website: www.washingtonhistory.org/visit/ wshm/exhibits/featured/shoalwater/

“As a kid, I thought it was so boring, but I do remember it! And I see value in it,” Davis said. “They talked about kindness; about the time someone gave someone else a ride, or someone cooked a meal. Just the way they talked about others was so full of kindness.” If Davis is drawing on words from his childhood as he and his team of carvers rebuild their heritage, he can see what the effect is on the next generation. His 9-year-old son sometimes joins him in the shop and already has produced a few of his own sculptures. Davis said when he was that age, so many traditions had already gone by the wayside. “I didn’t even get in a canoe until I was 25, 26. And that was how my ancestors got everywhere before! My kids will never know a time when we didn’t have canoeing. I’d like my kids, and all the kids, to never know a time when we didn’t have carving.” WASHINGTON COAST MAGAZINE | Fall 2015

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HORSE DRAWN

HISTORY A carriage museum in Raymond gives visitors a glimpse into pre-automobile days.

S TORY BY GAIL GREENWOOD AYRES PHOTOS BY GABE GREEN

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Little jewels of history can be found in all sorts of unexpected places. Recently, museum curator Jerry Bowman found a couple of gems inside an 1871 mail buggy. While chipping through decades of mud and grime, he discovered two studded horseshoes. Apparently, these equine “cleats” were crafted for use in icy terrain to help postal workers live up to their famous “Neither snow nor rain nor gloom of night …” motto. Just off Highway 101 in downtown Raymond, Wash., the Northwest Carriage Museum is itself a jewel that sparkles and shines as it grows and gains acclaim. The doors opened in 2002 with a collection of 21 horse-drawn vehicles. This spring’s addition of 3,900 square feet of display space came just in time to enable the museum to show off the burgeoning number of vehicles - 38 carriages currently on display, and seven more arriving soon. “I’m a little nervous that we didn’t make the addition big enough, but that’s a good problem to have,” said Laurie Bowman, Jerry’s wife and the museum’s director. After early retirements as executives in Southern California, the couple settled into the area in 2004 and began volunteering at the museum three years later. With their time, skill, passion and loving care, the museum has flourished in every way, and gained a national reputation for carriage expertise in the process.

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The museum has 38 carriages..and 7 more to come since a new remodel has offered the space to expand.

Above left: Curator and director of museum Jerry and Laurie Bowman have gained expertise in all things carriages. Above right: A lantern that drivers could easily access. Bottom: This buckboard is the only model visitors can climb on. Featuring horse-drawn vehicles from the 1850s to the 1920s, the collection is organized in two sections. The new addition, lovingly called “the barn” has a more rustic feel and houses the hard-working, everyman vehicles such as the aforementioned mail coach, the 1888 H.P. Henderson & Son Stagecoach and the 1895 Studebaker Buggy. These are cleaned up but primarily left in a more natural state. The other half of the museum features vehicles that have been carefully restored, reupholstered, primped and polished. These include the glamorous C-Spring Dress Landau, which cost $1,500 (when the average salary was about $300 a year) and features an elevated driver that left no question as to the status of the people inside. Also on display is an 1890s Kimble Town Coach, a recent gift from the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) in Seattle. This coach was originally owned by F.C.A. Denkmann, who was the brother-in-law and early business partner with Frederick Weyerhaeuser, the timber mogul who founded the Weyerhaeuser Co. The collection even includes, a 19th Century Hansom Cab used as a taxi in New York City, two elaborate hand-carved hearses and a Governess Cart – created for a nanny or housekeeper to safely drive around her young charges. In addition, some of the crowd favorites include five carriages that are not only beautiful and historic, but are actual movie stars themselves, appearing in movies of their time. “Probably the thing we hear the most from visitors is ‘What is a world-class museum like this doing in Raymond?’ ” Jerry Bowman said. “Recently, one fellow who was visiting with

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“Probably the thing we hear the most from visitors is ‘What is a world-class museum like this doing in Raymond?’” -Jerry Bowman Top: A stagecoach style carriage from 1890. Bottom: A vintage dress is on display to remind visitors what women wore in the day.

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“I love history. I just love it when people ask questions that I don’t know so I can research it. The carriages have become my passion.”

Above: Jerry Bowman is happy to answer questions and share his extensive knowledge of the carriages. Right Page-clockwise: Tools hanging in “the barn.” Visitors get a chance to experience the more primped and polished carriages. Spokes from a carriage. Bridles hanging in “the barn.”

his Porsche club from Seattle told me, ‘If this were in Seattle you would be drawing about a half million people a year.’

They’re eating in our restaurants and we’re seeing more tourists in our store. The museum has a definite impact,” Brent confirmed.

“I told him, ‘I know, but I’m glad we’re in Raymond.’ ”

Brent, along with his brother and co-owner Randy, has a special connection to the museum. It was their father and his wife, Gary and Cec Dennis, who donated the first 21 carriages from their private collection to the City of Raymond. A nonprofit organization was formed, grants were secured, and the Northwest Carriage Museum was born. And the rest, well, is history.

For the picturesque town of Raymond along the banks of the Willapa River, the feeling is mutual. “This museum is definitely bringing business to town and more so every year,” said Brent Dennis, co-owner of The Dennis Company, a local chain of five department stores. The Raymond store is located right next to the museum. “So many people for years have just driven through Raymond. Now with the signage and the increased publicity the word has gotten around and more people are stopping.

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-Jerry Bowman

To bring history alive, informative signage and displays help paint the picture of the past, bringing into focus little-remembered facts about the “good old days,” including the stifling stench that thousands of horses brought to big cities.


climb aboard. An assortment of costumes is on hand for fun photo ops. In addition, the small gift shop includes horse-and-carriage related items, local delicacies, regional books, period toys, jewelry and more. Not particularly interested in carriages?

You can learn a lot looking around on your own, but museum associate Mary Cooley, along with the Bowmans, are eager to give impromptu tours and answer questions. They’re a wealth of knowledge of how even our language still reflects our horse-andbuggy past. Yes, glove boxes used to house gloves, and a dash board was so called because it protected riders from the dirt and mud thrown up from dashing horses. The museum hosts about 50 scheduled group tours a year, fashioning the information to the age and interest of the group – from school children, church youth groups and scout troops to car clubs, bus tours and senior centers. While you can’t touch the historic displays, young children particularly enjoy the area that includes a replica of a 1890s school house, a wheelwright shop and a mechanical horse head so you can learn to steer with reins. It also features a replica of a 3-Spring Democrat Wagon that kids (and adults) can

“I often have a wife say that the visit here was her husband’s idea and that she has no interest in carriages,” said Laurie Bowman. “I tell her, just give me five minutes, and then I begin to tell her interesting things about the carriages and the time period. They are always won over.” “I love history. I just love it when people ask questions that I don’t know so I can research it,” said Jerry. “The carriages have become my passion.” Most of the museum’s carriages have come by way of donation. Over the years as he’s researched and refurbished many carriages, Jerry has gained a reputation as a resource. This has led to many people asking his advice, and often his assessment, of carriages owned, found or bought, and how to restore the ones that need it. The recently acquired mail buggy, complete with a still-intact canvas mail bag, came from a man in Cornelius, Ore., who purchased it at an auction. “He bid on it because he just couldn’t bear the idea of someone else buying it and making it into some sort of decorative planter, burying all that history,” Jerry said. “Once we acquired it, we did a partial

restoration and now it has become one of our visitors’ favorites.” A retired contractor from Port Townsend had purchased a 1900 Hearse crafted in Vienna, Austria, which had spent 30 years outside in the elements in Park City, Utah. He painstakingly restored it and enjoyed showing it off at parades in various states. When he decided he was ready to part with it, he began to look for just the right place. “He called us up and told us about it,” Jerry said. “So, we came and took a look at it. It was just incredible. I told the man to visit our museum to see if it might make a good home for it. He and his wife came through and looked at what we have here and he said, ‘This is where it needs to be.’” “People love to know their carriages are going to be taken care of and will get put on display for people to see them and enjoy what has meant so much to them,” Laurie said. Last year Gloria Austin, a world renowned horse and carriage expert who has a collection of 300 carriages in Florida, paid the museum a visit. It’s a little like having Julia Child come to dinner, and Jerry admits he was nervous. “She enjoyed our collection, shared her knowledge and said the nicest thing at the end. She said, ‘Thank you for keeping this history alive.’ ”

WASHINGTON COAST MAGAZINE | Fall 2015

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IRON SPRINGS

RESORT

The sequel may be better than the original

R

ustic is one of those words you have to be careful with, especially when you’re talking about a vacation cabin. Rustic is good when you want a little of that roughing it feeling, not so good when you’re referring to the shower. The Iron Springs Resort at Copalis Beach has found the sweet spot between comfort and camping. The pillowtop mattresses and Wi-Fi place it way on the comfort end of the spectrum, but the river rock fireplaces, homey cabin touches and floor-to-ceiling views of the Pacific Ocean are pretty good reminders that you’re away from it all. STORY BY DOUG B A RK ER PHOTOS BY GABE G REEN

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“We spent countless hours” thinking about how to give it some luxury amenities, without killing the rustic essence of the Iron Springs Resort the True family fell in love with. -Dustin True, General Manager

Not too many years ago it was rustic with a capital R. The resort, which is 20 minutes north of Ocean Shores on Highway 109, has been there since the 1940s, an affordable beach getaway for generations of families. But by the early 2000s, it was in serious decline. In 2010, Seattle-area brothers Doug and Bill True, who had been coming there since they were kids and later brought their own kids, purchased the property, closing it for a year to restore it completely. They rebuilt or repaired every cabin. Jerry Lacey, the on-site maintenance man who was there through the remodeling, said the crew took pains to use as much of the wood from the old cabins as possible, in some cases repurposing it for a different uses. Only one of the original cabins couldn’t be salvaged and another was built in its place. The effect is a feeling that the structures have been there a

while, but they aren’t showing their age. Wood from windfall trees on the property, milled into thick planks and finished with a natural look, provide some of the tables and benches in the cabins. “We spent countless hours” thinking about how to give it some luxury amenities, without killing the rustic essence of the Iron Springs Resort the True family fell in love with, said Dustin True, Doug True’s son and the general manager. They also felt a responsibility to do right by the resort and employ materials and workmanship that will keep the place from declining again. Knowing the toll the ocean air takes, “we built everything with a 30-year plan in mind,” Dustin said. The 25 cabins sit on the same footprints as they did before the remodel, perched on the brow of a low bluff, looking out over the beach, Copalis Rocks and a sort of natural

amphitheater at the mouth of Boone Creek. Each cabin has a deck and the cabins are carefully placed and spaced so that even those with close-by neighbors have a degree of privacy. Each cabin has a view ranging, as Dustin True says, from good to spectacular. And with one exception — the unit they call the honeymoon cabin — there’s a flat-screen television and Wi-Fi in every room. Each cabin comes with a fully stocked kitchen and outdoor barbecue. There’s no restaurant at the resort, but several good choices nearby. For pub food and comfortable local atmosphere, try the Green Lantern a few miles south on Highway 109. (See the separate story at the end of this piece). For something more upscale and a spectacular view, there’s the Ocean Crest, just six miles north and for an in between, bistro vibe, there’s Mill 109 at Seabrook, just four miles north.

Top: Entrance to Iron Springs Resort Above: Artwork made by guests. Short walk to the beach. Left: Beach walk, just steps from the cabins.

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The little general store at the resort has a surprisingly wide selection of food and an even better supply of everything your dog would ever want. This is a place that likes dogs. Every cabin has a hose outside to wash the beach off your pup and a special set of paw print towels to dry him off. And every cabin has a framed montage of photos of former dog guests. Also at the store, guests can check out free DVDs from a huge selection. If you’d rather just unplug, each cabin has puzzles, games and books. Loyalty to the resort runs deep. Each cabin has a leather bound book of blank pages in which guests have written tributes and poems that go well beyond the usual comments cards. “Our aging golden retriever had never seen the ocean and sand … and we saw her regress to a puppy again. Did us all good,” one guest wrote. Some cabins also display art pieces done by guests on their stays. In the corner of one cabin hangs a delicately balanced mobile made of found items from the beach and on a nearby wall is a water color inspired by a deer’s early morning stroll through the yard. The resort is booked much of the year, even in winter, when some guests come just for the prospects of a good storm. Copalis Beach is usually ground zero for some of the best razor clam digging on the Washington Coast, so those weekends are particularly popular. There’s even a covered area outdoors with stainless steel counters and sinks so you can clean your clam limit — and instructions on how to do it. Cabins have a maximum occupancy ranging from two to 10, with prices changing seasonally. The lowest nightly rate is $169 and the highest is $359, depending on the unit and the time of year. Some cabins are plenty big enough to share between more than one family. For the record, the showers are anything but rustic and thanks to the True family, it looks like they’ll stay that way for several more generations.

For reservations and get more info:

Website: www.ironspringsresort.com Clockwise: A deck overlooking the ocean, a bedroom with a view of the ocean, the kitchen features everything needed to cook up meals and the general store offers a wide selection of food and dog supplies. WASHINGTON COAST MAGAZINE | Fall 2015

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GREEN LANTERN PUB

It looks like most neighborhood bars and that’s essentially what it is, but what a neighborhood.

A bend in the road where everybody knows your name S T OR Y BY D OUG BARK ER

PHOTOS BY GABE GREEN

So, you’re sick of your job. You love it at the ocean and when you’re there, you always drop in at that funky little tavern at Copalis Beach, the Green Lantern. The vibe is always good. The locals mingle well with the tourists and the place has a great shuffleboard table. “I could see myself running a place like this,” you say to yourself. Too late. Rick and Claire Hall beat you to it.

Owners Rick and Claire Hall own the Green Lantern, or as Rick calls it, his “practice retirement job.”

About 15 minutes north of Ocean Shores, where Highway 109 takes a 90 degree bend at the Copalis River, is the Green Lantern Pub. For decades it’s been a favorite of people who live on that stretch of the coast or visit there.

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Fall 2015 | WASHINGTON COAST MAGAZINE

The tavern is about two blocks from the ocean, and a beach approach road runs right next to the bar. A line of windows on the north side of the building looks out at the Copalis River as it cuts through the long marsh grass stirring in the ocean breeze of Griffith-Priday State Park. During the daytime, natural light infused with the tones of the ocean and the beach floods through the windows and over the pool tables, Naugahyde and the big jar of pickled eggs behind the bar. If you can’t decide whether to go to the beach or the bar, you could split the difference at the Green Lantern. The Halls lived in the Puget Sound area, but had a place in Ocean Shores and often dropped in at the Green Lantern. They would kibitz with the previous owner about buying the place and eventually took the leap. Rick calls it his practice retirement job. It’s a lot more work than he thought it would be, but it’s much better work, he said. “But then, I compare everything to hanging drywall.” There’s a real melting pot of ages and types


at the Green Lantern. A nightly dinner special draws lots of locals in the evening and pool competition and bingo draws them during the daytime. And tourists come and go steadily. This summer bingo proceeds went to the “Lantern Lunch” program that delivers meals to the homes of kids in the area to make sure they get a lunch when school is out. The Green Lantern has a full bar and the kitchen serves breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week. It’s pub food and the reviews are good and portions generous. Some advice: If you order a C.J. Burger, bring a friend. If you didn’t come with one, you’re apt to make one there.

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1-800-572-3252 or 360-268-0077 www.bradysoysters.com West of the Elk River Bridge HWY 105 WESTPORT WASHINGTON COAST MAGAZINE | Fall 2015

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A Beach House 7

Treasure 7 Charlie and Billie Hay’s home came full of surprises from the previous owner. S T O RY BY RICHELLE BARGER

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PHOTOS BY J ULIE RAJ CICH


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“The Ocean is unforgiving.” Billie Hay smiles wryly when she says this of her beach house at Tokeland. She and her husband, Charlie, have owned the home for 10 years. It was purchased after they retired in Idaho and turned a successful produce stand over to one of their four children. “We always dreamed of having a beach house. We joked with our friends that they would have a cabin and we’d have a beach house and we planned to visit each other,” says Charlie with a hearty laugh. His eyes twinkle through his dark glasses as the two drink wine on their deck – a favorite pastime. They have an eye-level view of the ocean, protected by a sand berm along the shoreline. Or one can take the widow’s walk, a pull-down staircase to the rooftop for a bird’s-eye view of the shore. It is just beyond the berm that Billie walks every day, picking up beach treasures, including shells and glass floats. She loves a good find. And this house was one of them. “As soon as I walked in I knew we’d have to have it. Billie loves all those little things,” Charlie shook his head and smiled. All those little things are the carvings and artwork, some of it papered to the northernmost wall of the current master bedroom, that was once the studio of the late Bob McCausland, a legendary cartoonist for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and, in retirement, for The Daily World in Aberdeen. Bob and his wife, Ruth, a writer and ornithologist who now lives in Olympia, built the home and lived there for many years. Bob McCausland called Tokeland, which is 20 miles south of Westport, “the center of the universe” and filled the home with features, many of them whimsical, that were special to him and Ruth. On almost every wall, around windows, the face of the shelves and the brackets that hold them up, the toilet paper roll holder, the bathroom soap dish, at the ends of the out-buildings and even propped atop weather vanes, one finds carvings – carvings of whales, ducks, pelicans, sea otters, Capt. Robert Gray and Light-House Charley Ma-tote, chief of the Shoalwater Bay Indians. The house also has more than 100 birds that Bob had carved for Ruth. But Billie’s favorite piece in the house isn’t one of the original carvings. Her most prized possession is a message-ina-bottle she found at Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. The message reads: Question everything, never accept anything you are told as the absolute truth. Take the time to re-evaluate your friends, and your enemies too; people change often and quickly. Don’t be afraid to be yourself, anywhere or with anybody.

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Above-Top: Paper in the master bedroom with editorial cartoons drawn from the previous owner, Bob McCausland. A shelf bracket carved as an eagle. Middle: The master bedroom with its wall of cartoons. Left: Billie’s prized possession, a message-in-a-bottle found on a South Carolina beach. Right Top: The fireplace and shelves surrounding it are all hand-carved works from Bob McCausland. Right Bottom: Billie walks every day picking up beach treasures.


7 “We always

dreamed of having a beach house. ... As soon as I walked in I knew we’d have to have it.”

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Above-Billie and Charlie enjoy a glass of wine every day. Left: Roof detail. Headboard carving of a swan.

And most importantly, remember: You only live once, so have fun! Billie is a self-proclaimed “junker” who participates each year in the 30 Miles of Junque event that takes place each September from Westport to Tokeland, and though she is pretty proud of the “junque” she offers, she notes her cookies are her

best sellers. The beach house is a cute, 800-square-foot box consisting of two levels. There are three out-buildings adorned with driftwood and flower boxes and a large yard that they give meticulous care. Each year the Hays do something to maintain the integrity of the beloved house: paint it, add pieces to the driftwood door that hangs between the house and garage or fix a leaking flat roof. “The ocean is unforgiving,” they remind a visitor. One year, their grandson reinforced the structure of the wall that holds the buoys they have found on the beach. And naturally, each year they contribute to the annual tradition of building a new birdhouse. As much as they’d like to pass the house down to their children, none of them want it. It’s too much work, or too far away.

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But until they have to pass it on so that someone else can become the caretakers of their little beach house, they are going to enjoy it, with a glass of wine each day. Fall 2015 | WASHINGTON COAST MAGAZINE


Country Closet Large Selection of Chandeliers Plug them in and enjoy!

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Get a Load of our legs. Aw Win ard Smo ning Salmked on

Gourmet, Home Canned Tuna, Salmon, Seafood and Custom Processing. Didn’t catch the BIG ONE? Buy it here, we won’t tell! We can vacuum pack your fish!

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Looking to Buy or Sell a House? We Can Help You!

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HEALTH  

Left: The sauna was assembled Sinclair, who teaches in a bedroom and plugs right to yoga, extolls what the wall. she sees as significant health benefits. It Above: Sheri and Wiley in their helps remove toxins favorite place to warm up. from one’s body, Below: A sound system came alleviates some aches pre-installed. and pains, gives her a sense of clarity, helps her sleep and maybe most importantly for people living in the Pacific Northwest, it offers a bone deep warmth that takes away the winter chill. If someone is going to a tanning booth for that, the sauna is a much healthier alternative, she said. She stays in for about 30 minutes and the temperature usually reaches a bit above 120. She brings water in the sauna for Wiley and kicks him out if he pants, but he doesn’t like to go.

This Winter, Try SUMMER IN A BOX S T O R Y BY D O U G B A R K E R PH OT OS B Y GA B E GR EEN

S

heri Sinclair lives on the edge of the forest – right on the edge. Back door to trailhead from her home in Montesano is maybe 30 paces and Sheri takes her dog, Wiley, on the trail, rain or shine. When they get home, if it’s cold out, Wiley goes in the door and walks straight to the sauna. “He demands it when we come back after a wet hike.” Sheri and her husband Marty Sitton purchased an infrared sauna for their home several years ago. In the fall and winter it gets used almost every day. Infrared saunas use infrared light that heats one’s body and promotes a full sweat, but without the nostril-burning dry heat of traditional saunas that heat the air inside.

The list of health claims cited by companies that make the saunas is long, many of them backed up by various studies. A bit of advice: Do your own research. There’s a hoard of information on the Web. Sheri and Marty paid about $2,500 for their twoperson sauna 10 years ago. It was guaranteed for life and has been nearly trouble-free. It arrived in pieces and they put it together themselves. Dealing with the packaging was more work than the assembly, Sheri recalls. The cedarlined walls just buckled together with metal clasps. Their model didn’t require any special wiring, and plugs into a regular wall socket. The same company today sells two-person saunas ranging from $2,999 to $4,699, depending on materials (cedar or sitka spruce) and other design factors. At other companies, prices start as low as $1,000. For Sheri, there’s a value in simply knowing that she’s spending those 30 minutes on self care, but “making the long winter more tolerable” is its own kind of self care, she says. WASHINGTON COAST MAGAZINE | Fall 2015

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 ART

FOUND THINGS Through a Prism Darkly S T OR Y BY CALLIE WHITE

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PHOTOS BY GABE GREEN


ART   quite often, designed to look like coffins. On them, she pastes baubles that she has collected over time from junk sales, thrift shops, art supply stores and various and sundry unexpected places. “I have boxes and boxes of these amazing, inspiring things,” Young said. “I know that if I sit and look at them, often one will catch my eye and I’ll know what I want to do with it.”

A

bout two decades ago, Trina Young was looking for a creative outlet, but nothing she did really set her alight. Then she discovered stained glass in a class she took with a work friend. “I loved it,” Young said. Everything about the materials and techniques tugged at her, and she got her own soldering equipment, colored glasses and, now, a studio at her house in rural Elma, between Olympia and the coast, and a business -- Sister Art Glass. Stained glass has a particular affinity for the Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles that particularly appeal to Young’s aesthetic sense. One of her earliest pieces was inspired by an Art Deco print of a young woman looking out to the sunset over a churning sea. But Young mixes in very modern, eclectic styles when she works on her latest pieces, a series of kaleidoscopes and boxes that are,

Some tiny playing cards with Wild West “ladies of the night” got her thinking, and led her to pair them with dice, a miniature cow skull, and turquoise pieces for her cowboy coffin box. She took small gears and a chain and worked them together to pull a pair of bat wings that she stitched herself on a kaleidoscope. Tiny ravens and skeletons bedeck a vertical jewelry box, a visual pun on skeletons in the closet. An antique toilet float, once painted, becomes an integral part of a piece. Sitting in a bright studio, with a field of wildflowers and a park right next door, you wouldn’t think the Steampunk look would come naturally to Young. But it does meld her interest in the art styles of the Edwardian age and lets her be playful with her dark side. “I think we all have a dark side, and I needed to explore mine, and this is the result.” Plus, she added, she’s gotten more positive reactions than she expected, particularly from younger people. Her work, which she sells as far away as Australia on Etsy, was the result of a decision to step away from selling small jewelry pieces and to focus on creating larger, riskier pieces. Following her muse has paid off.

“I think we all have a dark side, and I needed to explore mine, and this is the result.”

Left page Top: Trina holds one of her creations, complete with skeleton face and bee wings. Bottom L-R: Assortment of materials to work with, wings & lightbulbs, inside view of her kaleidoscopes Above: Trina in her workspace Right: A kaleidoscope made by Trina

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 ART

Top: Trina’s art on display at her shop Clockwise: The workings of a watch, dragonfly and assorted bugs, glass knobs and insulators.

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FIND SISTER ART GLASS www.facebook.com/SisterArtGlass www.etsy.com/shop/SisterArtGlass


STYLE   Dress up those hats, hoodies and costumes with whiskers and ears, of course.

Craft Style -

Whiskers and Ears If you’re already nimble with a thimble, by now you‘ve probably mastered a felt hat or two (or twelve). As the season of the costume looms large, Kelly Hogaboom, a sewing aficionado who lives in Hoquiam, offers up some quick tips for adding a wild touch to your designs. For newbies to the sewing needle, she breaks down how to make a hat from scratch, too! If you welcome a DIY challenge, here’s Kelly’s list of supplies and tools for adding easy whiskers and ears to any hat, hoodie or costume this fall.

TE XT BY KE LLI E AN N BE N Z P HO TO BY KE LLY HO G ABO O M

IF YOU NEED A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE, just visit her popular blog for the process http://kelly.hogaboom. org/2011/10/ears-and-whiskers-oh-my/ GATHER EVERYTHING YOU NEED

SUPPLY LIST • •

BUY IT!

Not interested in making your own?

Kelly takes orders, call her at 360-500-3287 or visit her site www.kelly.hogaboom.org. Call early, as you can imagine, her talents get booked up fast around costume season!

• • • • • • • • • •

Cardboard (enough for the size of ears you wish to make) Alternative: Buckram or a plastic bottle (thoroughly cleaned) 6 pieces of wire – bendable but rigid Needle Waxed thread Cable ties Tools List Pattern template Alternative: drawing or trace of ears Fabric scissors Regular scissors Pencil WASHINGTON COAST MAGAZINE | Fall 2015

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Experience Westport Washington’s “Original” Beach Town

Fishing Surfing

Fun at the Beach

Westport/Grayland Chamber of Commerce ExperienceWestport.com 360.268.9422 or 800.345.6223

MORE THAN A BEACH! VISITOCEANSHORESWA.COM 58

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EVENTS  

our favorite

EVENTS September 3-7 Come & Play on Labor Day Annual community-wide celebration in South Bend, filled with family fun, food, vendors, music and all the best that smalltown America has to offer. 4 First Friday Downtown Aberdeen businesses stay open late for the convenience of shoppers, as well as to feature different artists, musicians or sale events.

11-13 Ocean Shores Arts & Crafts Festival The largest arts & crafts festival in Southwest Washington invades Ocean Shores.

19-20 30 Miles of Junque Garage Sale Thirty miles of garage sales along South Beach area roads near Westport.

Dock of the Bay Blues Festival Best blues festival experience in Westport with vendors, music & more. 12 Loggers Playday Loggers share their skills and compete in one of the last remaining classic logging shows at Hoquiam’s historic Olympic Stadium, plus a parade. Brady’s World Famous Oyster Feed Oyster stew, steamed oysters, vendors and more at Brady’s Oyster’s just outside of Westport.

Loggers Playday is one of the last remaining logging shows.

12-13 Rod Run to the End of the World The Beach Barons present Rod Run to the End of the World 2015, featuring classic cars in Ocean Park. 18-20 Whale of a Quilt Show Seminars, boutique items and quilt show at the Ocean Shores Convention Center. 19 Buckaroo Days Chili cook off, cowboy art, vendors, kids activities and more in Elma.

4-6 Up Your Wind Kite Festival Kite contests and choreographed kite flying in Pacific Beach.

19 Discover Lake Sylvia Fall Festival Art show, trail bike, trail run competition, music and more at Montesano’s beautiful Lake Sylvia State Park

5 69th Annual Westport Seafood Festival A family friendly feast with live music and local crafts on Grays Harbor’s South Beach Zucchini Festival Oakville celebrates the wonderful harvest of zucchini. 5-7 Chinook Arts Festival The annual festival in Chinook features blown glass, photography, jewelry, oil & watercolors, pottery and more. 11 Slow Drag at the Port Hot Rods line up on Howerton Way in Ilwaco to compete in a coasting competition.

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 EVENTS

We keep you moving!

360-532-2770 www.ghtransit.com

Experience Italy in Aberdeen!

October 2 First Friday Downtown Aberdeen businesses stay open late for the convenience of shoppers, as well as to feature different artists, musicians or sale events. 3-4 14th Annual Cleanwater Classic Watch or participate in this South Beach surfing competition in Westport.

Now serving wine & spirits! 116 W. Heron St. Aberdeen 360.533.2442 60

Fall 2015 | WASHINGTON COAST MAGAZINE

4 Crush Me, Squeeze Me, Make Me Wine All ages event with grape stomping, contests, music and fun at the Westport Winery in Markham. 9-10 Water Music Festival The 31st annual festival hosts a series of concerts in intimate venues across the Long Beach Peninsula with appetizers and a no-host wine bar. 9-11 Schafer Meadows Fiber Fest & Alpaca Show Fiber festival with vendors, demos and more. Plus an alpaca


WASHINGTON COAST REAL ESTATE 251 Montesano St. | Westport, WA

360-268-0977 wacoastre.com

Providing Exceptional Service for All Your Real Estate Needs

show at the Grays Harbor County Fairgrounds in Elma. 10-11 Cranberry Harvest Festival Cranberry crafts, food, decorations, bog tours and more in Grayland, just south of Westport. One Sky, One World Kite Celebration The World Kite Museum in Long Beach joins people all over the globe to promote international friendship and peace for One Sky, One World Kite Celebration. Cranberrian Fair The Annual Cranberrian Fair in Ilwaco celebrates cranberry foods and traditions with craft demonstrations, vendors, the Cranberry Trolley to bog tours and more. 22-25 Irish Music Festival The largest Irish music celebration on the West Coast invaded Ocean Shores and Hoquiam.

Good Health Is Not Contagious It takes hard work & special planning At Aberdeen Health Mart we focus on health See us to transfer your prescriptions or choose from a complete line of vitamins & herbal supplements. 1812 Sumner Ave. Aberdeen 533-1525

Still locally owned & dedicated to your health! WASHINGTON COAST MAGAZINE | Fall 2015

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 EVENTS

Just what the doctor ordered We offer prescription delivery! Call for delivery areas

• All Occasion Gifts & Cards • Seahawks, Huskies, & Cougars Items

ity C CDenter rug We support our community. Locally owned & operated. 108 E Wishkah • Aberdeen• 532-5182

tic n e h t u A s u Delicio od! Mexican Fo Voted Best of Twin Harbors “Best Mexican Restaurant” 20 years in a row! Two Aberdeen locations to serve you!

Gateway Plaza 533-5808

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720 W. Wishkah 532-0940

Fall 2015 | WASHINGTON COAST MAGAZINE

November 6-7 “Ocian in View” Cultural Weekend When the Lewis & Clark Corps of Discovery exclaimed “Ocian in View,” they had reached their westward destination. Speakers, bus and walking tours, a Chinook tribal seafood dinner and special events at select local businesses in Ilwaco celebrate their discovery. 11 Veterans Day Parade Elma hosts an old fashioned Veterans Day parade to honor veterans. 20-21 Holiday Craft Fair The Elma Grange hosts an old-style fair featuring crafts, gifts and food. 21-22 Country Christmas Bazaar A bazaar featuring handmade crafts, furniture, foods and more at the Grays Harbor County Fairgrounds in Elma. 27-29 Winter Fanta-Sea Craft Show Handmade crafts and arts from more than 70 vendors at the Ocean Shores Convention Center.


December 5 Santa by the Sea The U.S. Coast Guard delivers Santa into Westport for photos and goodies. Lighted Boat Display & Crab Pot Christmas Tree Colorful strings of holiday lights reflect on the water from spectacularly bedecked boats at the Port of Ilwaco. That same afternoon, Ilwaco will host the recent tradition of decorating and lighting its one-of-a-kind Crab Pot Christmas Tree. Ho Ho Hoquiam Fun Run Celebrate the holidays in Hoquiam with a 2 mile, 5K or 10K run. 5-6 Holidays at the Beach A weekend full of family friendly, holiday fun in Long Beach featuring “The Polar Express” with Mrs. Claus, magic and pictures with Santa and Mrs. Claus and Frosty’s Birthday Party. 12 Festival of Lights Lighted parade, light tours, food, bonfire and small town charm in Montesano. 14 Water Music Festival Christmas Concert Welcome the holiday season by treating yourself to an exquisite afternoon of music in Ilwaco. 31 Fireworks at Midnight over the Ocean Fireworks over the Pacific Ocean in front of the boardwalk in Long Beach ring in the New Year.

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AD DIRECTORY 44

61 52

7th Street Theatre

Aberdeen Health Mart Aberdeen Realty

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Aberdeen Revitalization

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Amore

30 52 13 32

American Family Insurance Anchor Bank

B&B Automotive

Bay West Emporium

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Brady’s Oysters

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City Center Drug

17 64 58

33

Bryan & Son Jewelers City of Aberdeen City of Westport

Coleman Mortuary

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Country Closet

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GH Wine Sellars

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Grays Harbor Community Hospital

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Grays Harbor Tourism

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16 60 30 33

Donna Jones

Grays Harbor College

Grays Harbor PUD

Grays Harbor Transit

Great Northwest Federal Credit Union Aloha Alabama

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Hanson Motors

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Harbor Shoe

58 67 9

16 25 62

Harbor Art Guild Kalich & Sons

Kaufman Scroggs

Levee Lumber

Martin Bruni Liquor Mazatlan

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McHugh’s Furniture

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Ocean Crest Resort

51 58 3

Merino’s Seafood

Ocean Shores Chamber of Commerce Oyhut Bay Seaside Village

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Pasha Automotive

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Raintree Veterinary Center

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Seabrook

2

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Port of Grays Harbor

Rayonier

Timberland Bank

Twin Harbor Drug

Washington Coast Real Estate

7 Windermere 45

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Wishkah Distillery


WHO & WHY  

“Bottom line is, Grays Harbor is a great place to live, work, and play. Five generations of Paylors can’t be wrong!”

Why I like living here:

ROB PAYLOR BY

T

he Paylor family has called Grays Harbor home now for five generations. Through economic downturns and upswings, mill closures and reopenings, rainy winters and beautiful summers, we have been able to find good jobs to support our families and raise our kids.

What is it that has made us stick around here so long? The natural beauty of the entire area comes to mind for me. From the majestic old growth forests of Quinault, the Pacific Ocean at our doorstep, to the many lakes and rivers, we are lucky to live in such a stunning natural setting. So many recreational opportunities, including hiking and camping, fishing, razor clamming, mushroom hunting and forest foraging are all things that I think sometimes we take for granted. People come from all over the world to fish in our rivers, hunt in our forests and explore that same natural beauty. Get out there and enjoy it! Having roots that run deep here is also one of my favorite things about living here. Knowing that the contractor building your garden tool shed is a friend you grew up with and you’ll have his personal

Rob Paylor, chef and owner of Mill 109 Pub in Seabrook, returned to Grays Harbor to live and work.

guarantee. The plumber who went through grade school with your dad will certainly have a funny story you haven’t heard before. You may even run into people who were customers on your grandpa’s milk route, growing up here in the ‘50s and ‘60s. It’s all happened to me, and it all feeds into the great sense of community that runs through our area. Now I get to pass that on to my kids! Hopefully, my good friend the hardware store owner will pass on a funny story about me some day when my kids visit his store to perhaps buy their kids their first fishing licenses! Bottom line is, Grays Harbor is a great place to live, work and play. Five generations of Paylors can’t be wrong!

Rob Paylor is a 1994 graduate of Aberdeen High School, studied culinary arts at Le Cordon Bleu in Portland, and returned to Grays Harbor to work as a chef. He is now the chef/owner of Mill 109 Pub in Seabrook, serves on the North Beach School District board of directors, and lives with his two children in Aloha, just outside Pacific Beach.

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 LAST SHOT

GAB E G REE N

beach life: SUNSET

A couple walks hand in hand to the ocean at Copalis Beach near the Iron Springs Resort.

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