News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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As I write this today, my mind is wandering. You see, I just finished burying a neighbor’s pet, and my heart is broken for the Hearne family at the same time. Also, all day long we were going through boxes that have been in storage, some since our house fire years ago. A day of remembering. My first memories of Kenny Hearne go back to our grade school days. He was in my brother’s grade and I remember him vividly. Kenny was a one-of-a-kind kid who did not take teasing easily. He was a serious person, but once you got to know him, he would ope...
Sometimes you never know when a revelation of life will hit you. The past few weeks I have been in a few different weed patches, from Belvedere to Electric City and many in between. A few kids (Mason, Marisha, Ronan, Cole and Kaden) along with Karrie and I have been providing a service to those in need. We have dug trenches, put in fence posts, bucked bales, painted a garage, and stained a deck, but yard work seems to have become our specialty. Weeds have become our Achilles’ heel. The kids n...
I spent the weekend with some of the most dedicated, passionate and hardworking school employees from around the state. I was at a conference for Washington Public School Employees, where during dinner they gave out awards. It was a very eye-opening moment for me. There where great stories of how each winner had given up so much for a job they loved, and that got me thinking about the school employees who had touched me over the years. So I went back in the database of my mind, and a few names...
Have you heard this statement lately? “What is going on with our world today?” Or “That kind of stuff just did not happen when I was a kid.” Well, to be honest with past generations, “that stuff” probably did happen but it was behind closed doors and “it,” whatever it might be, was not used to get viewers to tune in to their station. It may have been less of an issue then, but it still happened. That being said, it does seem that certain issues have been amped up or played up lately as the moral compass seems to have disappeared. If...
My Grandpa Utz delivered the Wenatchee World newspaper locally after he retired. He was the local distributor and on many, many occasions I traveled with him as he drove around the Nespelem area spreading the written news. We had many conversations as we put miles on his little Chevy Luv and papers in your hands. The conversations were about music, (he was old school western fan) driving and many other subjects. He told me stories of his childhood and life in the military. He tried to instill in me the importance of work ethic and honor. As a...
There are winners and losers, plain and simple. Yes, we have altered our youth sports over the years to develop a mentality of, “If I just participate, I will get a trophy like everyone else.” But that is not reality. Yes, we want the warm fuzzies for our kids; we must make them feel adequate and encourage them, but we cannot all be winners. The rough truth is that as our kids grow up they will be measured and tested and evaluated and put on a list and ranked. School will start keeping a class order, sports will be measured by wins and los...
It’s hotter than a woolly mammoth in a sweater factory. There are lots of classic sayings out there to describe the current heat wave. Has anyone tried frying an egg on the sidewalk yet? Or barbecuing without turning on the gas? Just curious because it has been that hot. Most are probably sitting in our “cool spot” in the house with a wet rag on your head, a mason jar of ice water in your right hand and an icepack under your undercarriage. If you’re lucky, you don’t have to go outside too much. Just long enough to water plants and move spri...
If you have watched the world news at all, you know that a lot of very troubling things are occurring across the world and in our very own country. A shooting in a church in the south, escaped convicts that could be anywhere by now, and the epidemic of terrorism that quietly hides in our backyards, waiting for its call to perform. Add unemployment, drugs, immoral behavior and corrupt leaders and we have the recipe for major fear. With all that said you are probably ready to run for the hills and hide out for a while. You would be justified in...
Ask any senior, this past week was a stressful one. First there were the deadlines for assignments and papers. Then the Senior Dinner. Followed by Oral Boards. Then Baccalaureate. Then Practice for graduation. Then the event itself, followed by the numerous receptions around the area. The seniors had a busy week, but it was all worth it. They were not the only ones busy. So here are a few things I noticed along the way. There was a handful of kids, you know them as the procrastinators, which had to cram a quarter full of assignments into a few...
Well class, the time has come. The time to become an adult, to make your own decisions and time to be on your own. You have been awaiting and dreaming a long time for this and it is now here. It seems like only yesterday that you were sitting in Mrs. Gilman’s ISS for chewing gum and it WAS only yesterday that you sat in Mrs. Nichols’ for, um, chewing gum. Some lessons are hard to learn. Lessons. It seems like your entire career has been a life of lessons so far. Stand in a straight line. Don’t talk in class. Don’t stick things in your mouth a...
Do you ever wonder how all those shopping carts outside a store find their way back inside for the next customer to use? Kind of an amazing process when you think about it. Some shopper leaves the cart to aimlessly fend for itself, and then, as if an actual modern-day miracle happens, they are right there, waiting for them, in the store the next time they come shopping. A shopping cart vortex that rounds up all the lost and forgotten shopping wagons and returns them home for you. All joking aside, I have noticed a trend lately. Maybe this...
Every once in a while someone from the community approaches me with an idea for this column. I usually write down the idea and add it to my topic list. Other times their idea spurs something in me to write about something similar. But recently a community member got ahold of me, and I am truly inspired by what he told me. I am honored to write this column right after Memorial Day and think it is truly appropriate right now. As a side note, some of these ideas and thoughts belong to the community member, but I am right on board with him. As...
If you don’t know by now, we moved last year to the country, to a beautiful setting looking down the Columbia and up the San Poil. We enjoyed the winter with many a deer, birds of many kinds and the occasional coyote. The spring brought the colors. Wildflowers, luscious green grasses and blooming trees sprang to life everywhere. We truly enjoy the peaceful daily atmosphere. Then we heard the rattle. Before we get too far along, I must admit my one fear. Snakes. The slithering devils of all makes and sizes still give me the occasional n...
First off, I would like to wish every teacher past and present a Happy Teachers Week. I have talked about my favorite teachers in the past and how they influenced my life. Even when I did not know or understand at the time, I came to realize that from pre-school to my senior year — and even including those who instructed me as a firefighter, EMT and any other course I took — have all taken time out of their lives and passed on knowledge that they had amassed and shared it with me. But tea...
I can’t help but think back sometimes in our country’s past and our great grandparents’ time and wonder if that time was harder or easier. I mean, obviously there was the great depression and that was very hard. Also when the pilgrims first arrived, that time must have been a scary time at first but they soon developed their groove and figured things out. It would also be justified to mention our country during war torn times and the torment our families went through daily. There are, of course, things today that we battle that they did not h...
Over the past month, a few funny things have happened. Well, to be honest, at the time it was not funny at all. Remember when our parents used to say, “Someday you will look back at this moment and laugh.” Well they were right, like they mostly always were. My wife and I needed new shoes. We had put off the purchase as long as we could. We both have been trying to eat healthier and exercise more. So during a recent trip to a not-to-be named department store, we found the running shoes we liked at a really good price. We made the purchase and...
First of all, I am so sorry. Sorry I never came to try and fix our relationship. I will carry that burden now for the rest of my life. But most of all, I am sorry that we did not get to say goodbye to each other. Know this if nothing else: I still loved you through it all. There are a few things that will always remind me of you. The toy, “Light Bright.” You would get down on the floor with me and we would put the colored pegs in together, making a colorful picture of twinkling lights. Christmas will also always remind me of you. You see...
This past weekend and the week leading up to Easter was a revealing week for me. My wife and I took part in some long lasting traditions that have been around for thousands of years. All were eye opening and shined a spotlight on my past mistakes, my current situation and my future. No I was not sitting in front of a crystal ball, nor was I having some kind of Scrooge moment. I was just listening and seeing what was right in front of me. Let me explain. First, I must tell you that not everyone will understand these events that I will briefly...
The past few weeks have been a roller coaster ride for my family, and after talking to a few other people, they too have been going through some trials and tribulations. Then after the big wind storm that swept through the area, followed by an inspirational coffee lid, I started to think about some things. Picture this. We are traveling along our life paths. Some paths could be pristine with not even the slightest crack in the surface. Some could be a wooden planked path with aged wood and even some warped edges from time to time. But most of u...
Remember the fort. Ours was in the middle of a bunch of sagebrush out by the bird hills. OK, some of you are saying, where the heck is the bird hills? Well, we locals know that out along the shoreline in Electric City is a slightly hidden place named after the many birds that make their nests in the clay cliffs. Many a dirt clod fight was had there, and a few injuries as well, but I am here to write about the fort today. The fort was dug out by someone before my brothers and me, but we accepted...
With everything going on in the world right now — Ferguson, Missouri and other places — with the attack on law enforcement officers, I thought I should share my perspective on things. Not that my perspective is the right or wrong one, I just try and see things the way they are supposed to be, in my mind anyway. When an officer puts on the badge, he takes an oath. The words in the oath can say many different things but the bottom line is always to protect and to serve the people of their area. The other thing that others may not tell you is tha...
When we were kids, we had dreams of being a firefighter, police officer or other things. Those dreams were influenced by a bunch of different things, including parents, grandparents, neighbors and books and TV. Somewhere along the line, as we are trying to figure out what direction we want to go, a significant event affects our decision making. It could be a counselor talking to us about career choices, or it could just be a strong desire to do better for ourselves to get out of a poverty situation. Sometimes it even could be the realization...
A coach once told me that a bad loss is sometimes the best thing for a team. It lets you know that there are still things to work on and that it exposes our weaknesses. That statement can be applied to our everyday life as well. Sometimes we are going through our delicately balanced life, doing all the things we want to and are required to do; everything is going along just peachy when something happens that disrupts everything. It could be a major life event or a small road bump, but we take notice and realize things were not as good as we tho...
Our kids need us. That part we can all agree on, but it is the how that can sometimes get overwhelming, causing some of us to drag our feet and hope someone else will take up the cause. The other barrier is sometimes we let the “Bad” kid or the troubled youth color our blank page for all kids, leaving us with an unfair representation of all kids in our area. Words like spoiled, undisciplined and out of control are common phrases and ideas that can sometimes bring down whole generations as we use our small example to classify the whole group. Gr...
I recently had the honor of being invited to a party for a man that has strong roots in our community. This column could have easily been called “Past Gems in the Coulee” or “Where are these Gems now” but this man is much more than a part of our past around here. Gary Kuiper is still as relevant today as he was years ago. It became apparent very quickly listening to the people from all generations and parts of Gary’s life that he has influenced a lot of folks all around this big country of ours. His seven kids told stories of their adventure...