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2007-2008
Officers & Directors of the Kent
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News about us in 2000
Holiday Happenings for South CountyNov 24, 2000 Compiled by Maria Hughes It's official. Today is the day after Thanksgiving, which means the holidays officially are here, Even though local retailers have been trying to convince us of that for weeks, we all know the holidays don't officially start until we wake up from those turkey comas on the Friday morning after Thanksgiving. From festive light displays to a plethora of musical and dance performances, this season will provide an abundance of holiday entertainment. In Seattle, the annual Winterfest celebration will feature activities such as ice skating, holiday music concerts, twinkling light displays, big band events, cultural events and more. The season will culminate with a grand fireworks show at the Space Needle. Local communities also are sponsoring a variety of performances, including the popular holiday season productions of ``The Nutcracker'' and Handel's ``Messiah.'' As with every year, families can bring their wee ones to have a picture snapped with Santa or travel throughout the local neighborhoods to admire the amazing light displays. Here's a closer look at local events during the upcoming holiday season: EVENTS South County * Kent Commons Holiday Bazaar will be held 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Dec. 1 and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 2 at Kent Commons, 525 Fourth Ave. N. It features hand-crafted specialty items, crafts and holiday treasures by 110 vendors. Admission: $1; free for ages 18 and younger. Call 253-856-5050. * A Victorian Christmas Celebration will be held Dec. 2 with seating at 1 p.m., 2 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. at Neely Mansion, 12303 Auburn-Black Diamond Road. The old-fashioned holiday gathering includes elegant refreshments and a tour of the 1894 Victorian farmhouse. Cost: $10 per person. Advance reservations required. Call 253-833-2116 or 253-631-3441. * The Kent Winterfest Parade will begin at 4 p.m. Dec. 2 in downtown Kent. The 18th annual lighted parade, sponsored in part by the Kent Lions Club, will start at First Avenue North and Titus Street, travel north on First Avenue North, west on Meeker Street and north on Fourth Avenue North, ending in the parking lot at Fourth Avenue North and Smith Street. Following the parade, there will be a tree lighting and parade awards ceremony at Kent-Kiabara Park next to the Kent Regional Library. Prior to the parade, children may have a Polaroid photo taken with Santa Claus at Kent-Kiabara Park. Call 253-852-0880. * The Christmas Rush Fun Run and Walk will be held Dec. 9 starting at the City of Kent Maintenance Shops at James Street and Russell Road. Awards will go to the top five finishers in each age division and to the overall male and female winner in each race. Times are 8:30 a.m. for registration; 9:50 a.m. for 5K run and walk; 10 a.m. for 10K run; and 10:45 a.m. for awards ceremony, entertainment and refreshments. Entry fees: $10 by Dec. 1 ($15 with a T-shirt), $20 after Dec. 1 ($25 with a T-shirt). Call 253-856-5050.
Notable Neighbors: Kent police Volunteer of the Year honoredNov 06, 2000 KENT -- She's a quiet but ubiquitous presence at the Kent Police Department, spending more time there than many people devote to their part-time jobs. In 1999, Kathi Fuller logged more than 1,000 hours volunteering for the Kent Police Department as a member of Volunteers in Police Service. That's part of the reason why 50 VIPS members and Kent police command staff chose Fuller, 51, as their Volunteer of the Year. ``She's there when you need her,'' said Sgt. Al Emerson. ``She's the backbone. With her, stuff gets done and she's usually the one who spearheads it.'' Fuller's volunteer service hours are worth more than $13,800, based on the United Way's hourly volunteer service valuation. ``Everyone should give back to their community,'' said Fuller, a former accountant. ``This is more fun than work because I don't have to do it.'' Her work also is important to disabled people in Kent, who don't know that she works behind the scenes to coordinate the disabled parking enforcement program. Fuller and other VIPS make the rounds in Kent parking lots to ensure that cars in handicapped parking spaces have proper permits; volunteers ticket cars without them. Kent residents also see Fuller at Cornucopia Days working in the police booth and at schools when she teaches kids how to walk to school safely. A resident of Kent for two decades, Fuller said she first got involved at the Kent Police Department 4½ years ago because she had a police officer friend and wanted to volunteer in an adult-based environment. ``This is fun, talking and developing friendships,'' Fuller said. ``You get to meet a lot of neat people.'' She added that there's no secret in finding the time to volunteer -- ``I just don't get anything done at home.'' Heidi J. Stout covers Kent. She can be reached at heidi.stout@southcountyjour nal.com or 253-872-6627. PHOTO by Patrick Hagerty: Kathi fuller, the Kent Police Department's Volunteer of the Year, talks with a resident on Kent's West Hill about a car parked illegally in a handicapped space. Fuller works as the coordinator of the disabled parking program for the Police Department.
TODAY'S UPDATE - FAMILIES - KIDS - ADULTS - ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT - MORE July 15, 2000 FAMILIES Tukwila Days will continue today with the D.A.R.E. Dash at 9 a.m. at Southcenter Mall; a golf tournament at 9:30 a.m. at Foster Golf Links, 13500 Interurban Ave. S.; and the C.A.S.T.T. theater group's one-act plays at 7 p.m. at Foster High School, 4242 S. 144th. Call 206-768-2822. Kent Cornucopia Days will be held from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. today and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. tomorrow, with a carnival until 11 p.m. both days, in downtown Kent along Meeker Street between First and Sixth avenues. Free admission. Call 253-852-5466. Italian-American Fair will be held from noon to 6 p.m. today and tomorrow at Kent Senior Activity Center, 600 E. Smith St. Learn Italian history, heritage, cooking secrets and how to make pasta sauces, wine, cookies, gnocchi, polenta and eggplant dishes, as well as how to play bocce ball and Italian card games. There will be food, music, entertainment and children's activities. Presented by the Grand Lodge Order Sons of Italy. Free. Call 206-243-7215. Alpo Canine Frisbee Championships will be held at 10 a.m. today at Cedar River Park, 1715 Maple Valley Highway, Renton. Open to all veteran and novice dogs that can catch a flying disc. Free. Call 425-430-6700.
SPECIAL EVENTSJuly 14, 2000 Kent Cornucopia Days: July 14-16; 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday-Saturday (carnival until 11 p.m.); 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday (carnival until 11 p.m.); in downtown Kent along Meeker Street between First and Sixth avenues. The Northwest's largest street fair celebrates its 29th year with a full-sized carnival and midway; continuous live entertainment; the Kent Cornucopia Parade (2 p.m. Sunday along Fourth Avenue from Saar Street to James Street); the Old-Time Music Festival; more than 600 arts and crafts, and food booths; educational displays; a beer garden; a skateboard and in-line skate tournament; and a chili cook-off. The Kent Lions Club sponsors this all-volunteer event that benefits 250 nonprofit groups. Nearly 300,000 people attend this Seafair-sanctioned event each year. Free. Call 253-852-5466
Cornucopia Days features a plethora of activitiesJuly 7, 2000 The state's largest street fair, the Kent Cornucopia Days, will kick off next Thursday with a carnival and will continue through next weekend. The Cornucopia Days probably is best known for its huge street fair and food court. Local artisans and craftspeople will display their work. More than 400 booths are featured at the street fair. A dedicated food court will be located at the Kent Library parking lot (with covered seating nearby and the Main Stage). Additionally, merchants in downtown Kent will hold a sidewalk sale. The Kent Market, now located on Railroad Avenue between Meeker and Smith Streets, will feature an additional 100 vendors during the weekend of the festival. The entertainment stage will provide a wide range of entertainers -- from children's performers to dance groups. Also, the Old Time Music Festival, held at the Kent Meridian High School Performing Arts Center, will continue through the weekend with bluegrass performers, fiddlers, vocalists, harmonica and piano players. Show times are 7-9 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 1-3 p.m. Saturday at the Kent Meridian High School Performing Arts Center. Another sure bet at the festival will be the Cornucopia Days Chili Cookoff. This event, sponsored by the International Chili Society, will be held at the International Peace Park at the corner of Meeker and Railroad Avenue. The cookoff, a benefit for the American Liver Foundation, will be from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. A beer garden will coincide with the cookoff. A parade will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday through downtown Kent along Fourth Avenue starting at Saar Street and ending at James Street (so plan to avoid that area if you're driving through Kent on Sunday). The parade is the city's largest and most prominent parade and will feature marching bands, floats, drill teams and SEAFAIR pirates. The parade will be broadcast live on Channel 28.
A love story with a heartbreaking ending -June 22, 2000 * True Love's Ways -- He knew he was dying, but 25-year-old Shane Morse also knew he was in love. So he planned to marry. As it turns out, fate had other plans that, in the end, even love couldn't conquer. Last June, doctors diagnosed a tumor on Morse's brain. Initially, they said it was benign. But not long ago, they told him his condition was terminal. Bad news for anyone, but especially for a young guy in love. Before he got sick, Morse had fallen for a Terry Aicher, of Salem, Ore. After his diagnosis, Morse went to live at the Evergreen Enumclaw Health and Rehabilita-tion Center. When staff learned of the illness, they offered to give Morse and Aicher a wedding. Morse and Aicher were ecstatic. They set the date -- July 8 at the nursing home. Recreation therapist Nichole Simpson spearheaded the project, soliciting donations from businesses and individuals. She already had the effort well under way when a story on Morse appeared in this paper. Other media followed. Soon, donations were pouring in. A foundation offered a honeymoon aboard a houseboat. A woman offered to make party favors and that she, her mother and grandmother would make food for the reception. Another woman volunteered to make a three-tiered wedding cake. Another called to offer her services as a harpist. Still another offered to do the candles. ```Northwest Afternoon' called. They were going to have them on the program on the 14th, after the wedding,'' Simpson said. ``Shane was so excited.'' ``That's all he talked about really,'' said his sister, Shawn Reimann. But last Thursday, Morse wasn't feeling well and had been running a fever for a couple of days, Reimann said. The nursing home sent him to Enumclaw Community Hospital. ``He was going in to (have) X-rays and he stopped breathing and his heart stopped,'' Reimann said. Medics airlifted Morse Harborview Medical Center, where he died Sunday without regaining consciousness. Aicher was at her home in Salem when Morse died. ``She's doing pretty well,'' Reimann said. ``She has her moments. She knew it was going to happen. But it happened sooner then they'd hoped.'' A service for Morse is scheduled today at 1 p.m. at Mount Rainier Christian Center, 43811 244th St. S.E., Enumclaw. * Little Voices -- Sometimes it's the little voices that deliver the strongest messages. That's what members of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation hope happens today when 8-year-old Caity Rigg of Enumclaw speaks out at a Washington D.C. press conference in support of a bipartisan bill to provide more money for diabetes research. The Medical Research Investment Act would encourage charitable gifts to support diabetes research. Diagnosed with the disease at 4, Caity speaks from experience about living with diabetes. This week's visit to the nation's capital marks the second time this year Caity has gone to D.C. Caity and her mother, Cathy, also traveled there last spring for a national rally in support of more research funding. * Royal Moments -- Kent's Grace McFarland said she doesn't think she's the ``queen quality type of person.'' But never mind that. McFarland's opinion aside, she's been tapped for some royal duties next month. The Greater Kent Historical Society named McFarland and her husband, Harley, king and queen of Kent Cornucopia Days, scheduled July 14, 15 and 16. Both serve on the historical society board and on the board of the Kent chapter of the American Association of Retired Persons. Grace McFarland has more than passing ties to Kent. ``I'm from Swedish stock,'' she said. ``My grandparents came to the Soos Creek-Meridian area in the 1800s. My mother was born there.'' McFarland herself was born in Kent 87 years ago. She and her family lived east of Kent in the Meridian area for a time. Eventually, they ended up at a house on Hazel Street ``just around the corner'' from the Breiter House, site of the historical society museum. ``I was 15 or 16,'' she said. ``The family that lived in that house at the time, the Holcombs, had six kids. They had a daughter named Grace who was the same age as me. I played in that house with the family and also slept there. ``In the summertime, we'd make tents out under the trees in the yard and sleep outside.'' The Holcombs eventually moved to eastern Washington, but Grace McFarland and Grace Holcomb remain friends still. ``She lives in McMinnville (Ore.) now but we've been friends all these years,'' McFarland said. McFarland met her first husband while dancing at the Shadow Lake Ballroom. ``He was a CCC (Civilian Con-servation Corps) boy,'' she said. They were married 54 years until his death in 1990. She and Harley, a widower, met at church a year later. They married in 1993. At 81, Harley, an accountant, still does taxes for more than 100 clients. Grace McFarland says she's not sure about ``this royalty thing. ``It's something else again,'' she said with a laugh. Will her two daughters and four grandchildren be there to watch her ride down the Cornucopia Days parade route in a convertible? ``Oh, you ain't-a kidding,'' she laughed. ``My older daughter teased me. She said, `Do you mean to tell me I have to go to that parade?''' South County Scene appears Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Call 253-872-6672 or e-mail mary.swift@south countyjournal.com
Kentwood senior named Miss CornucopiaMay 07, 2000 KENT -- A Kentwood High School senior has been named Miss Kent Cornucopia 2000. Colette Garcia, 18, received a $2,200 college scholarship award when she was crowned at the Kent Cornucopia Days Scholarship Pageant Friday night. Cody Herrington, 19, a sophomore at Green River Community College, was named first runner-up at the pageant at Kent-Meridian High School and received a $500 scholarship award. Second runner-up was Tammy Thueringer, 19, a freshman at GRCC, who received a $350 scholarship. Sarah Peterson, 17, a senior at Kent-Meridian, was named winner of the Sons of Italy Community Service Award and received a $250 scholarship. Marrisa Berg, 20, also a sophomore at GRCC, was voted ``Miss Congeniality'' by the contestants. The pageant is sponsored by the Kent Lions Foundation, which also sponsors the annual Kent Cornucopia Days. This year's Cornucopia Days is scheduled for July 14-16. As Miss Kent Cornucopia, Garcia also represents the community at Seafair activities and other events.
Ten young women to compete for Cornucopia Days scholarshipsApril 30, 2000 KENT -- Ten young women will compete for $4,700 in scholarships during the Cornucopia Days Scholarship Pageant Friday night. This year's pageant, ``Under the Sea,'' begins at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Kent-Meridian High School Performing Arts Center, 10020 S.E. 256th St. The event is sponsored by the Kent Lions Club. Contestants must live, work, or attend school in the Kent School District or attend Green River or Highline community colleges. The contestants have been judged on community service, academics and a personal interview. During Friday night's pageant, each contestant will make a platform statement, answer an impromptu question and give a creative presentation. The winner, who will receive a $2,200 scholarship, will compete in the Miss Seafair Pageant in July. Each Cornucopia contestant will receive a scholarship of at least $200, said Candy Howard, public relations assistant for the Lions Club. Tickets for the pageant are $5 for adults and $4 for students and senior citizens. Children younger than 12 are free. Here are this year's contestants: * Shayla DeAnna Cousins, 17, of Kent, a sophomore at Kentwood High School. Her parents are Beverly and Ronald Anderson Sr. * Colette M. Garcia, 18, of Kent, a senior at Kentwood High School. Her parents are Darlene and Juan Garcia. * Mandy M. Hill, 20, of Kent, a freshman at Green River Community College. She is the daughter of Terrie LaVon. * Shannon H. Graves, 18, of Kent, a senior at Kentwood High School. Her parents are Kristin and Mark Graves. * Marissa C. Berg, 20, of Black Diamond, a sophomore at Green River Community College. Her parents are Karen and Donald Berg. * Sarah S. Peterson, 17, of Kent, a senior at Kent-Meridian High School. Her parents are Jane and Robert Peterson. * Cassie M. Wesson, 17, of Kent, a senior at Kent-Meridian High School. Her parents are JoAnn and Len Wesson. * Tammy N. Thueringer, 19, of Kent, a freshman at Green River Community College. Her parents are Sandy and Wayne Thueringer. * Elizabeth D. Helitmaker, 17, of Kent, a junior at Kent-Meridian High School. Her parents are Diane and Duane Helitmaker. * Cody Michelle Herrington, 19, of Kent, a sophomore at Green River Community College. Her parents are Kathy and Roger Herrington. |
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