Mason County Minute - Union

02/08/2023

Calling all salmon enthusiasts! Want to make a difference and gain valuable knowledge at the same time? Join the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group in monitoring juvenile Chum Salmon on the Union River!

For the past five years, their group has been dedicated to researching the abundance, timing, and productivity of juvenile chum. As a volunteer, you will work alongside HCSEG staff and interns to perform rotary screw trap checks and learn about fish sampling techniques.

Don't worry about needing your own equipment, as they'll provide you with all the necessary training, waders, and boots.

To get involved and make a positive impact, visit their volunteer page for more information and to sign up: https://www.pnwsalmoncenter.org/get-involved/volunteer/

Come be a part of their mission to support and protect these amazing creatures!

HCSEG is currently following Washington State and CDC COVID-19 guidelines to ensure the safety for all volunteers. Thank you for your continued stewardship and support for our organization – we […]

05/01/2021

04/03/2021

03/27/2021

This Easter, forget about cooking and focus on family and friends. Here are the best places to get Easter meals in and around Seattle.

03/10/2021

Sheldon backs legislative Phase 3 plan, urges governor to come up with own plan

Bipartisan plan to reopen state comes at governor’s invitation – Legislature also could pass bill itself

OLYMPIA – State Sen. Tim Sheldon, D-Potlatch, cosponsor of a bipartisan legislative plan to reopen businesses and schools across the state, says lawmakers are responding to an invitation from the governor, and it’s about time for the governor to come up with a plan of his own.

“The governor seems to be having some trouble coming up with a plan to get the state to Phase 3,” Sheldon said. “But it really isn’t as hard as he makes it sound. The governor invited the Legislature to come up with a plan of its own, and we’ve got a great one. We hope the governor will recognize this is such an important issue for the people of our state that he ought to take a couple of minutes to read it.

“As COVID winds down, I am sure he will appreciate our help, and that he will want to adopt our ideas in whatever plan he announces at some indefinite date in the future. Or there’s another thing the Legislature could do. We could pass the bill right now and take care of the problem ourselves.”

Sheldon is Democratic cosponsor of Senate Bill 5473, introduced Tuesday by Sen. Sharon Brown, R-Kennewick.

The bipartisan “Open Safe, Open Now” plan would continue to encourage masking and social distancing, but also would take clear and meaningful steps to reopen the state. Among other provisions, the bill would:

Require public schools to reopen for in-person instruction, with safety protocols in place.
Allow restaurants and other businesses serving the public to operate at 50 percent capacity, rather than the 25 percent currently permitted.
Allow limited live audiences at sporting events.
Under the plan, all counties of the state would move to Phase 3, and further relaxations of restrictions would be permitted if no significant increases in COVID hospitalizations occur.

Washington remains one of the most-restricted states in the country a year after the COVID outbreak began. Majority Democrats in the Legislature have voted to give the governor all decision-making authority. The governor announced his phased reopening plan more than two months ago, and the entire state moved to Phase Two by February.

But the governor has yet to announce what Phase 3 means, or what criteria will be used to determine whether the state is ready.

In December, the governor invited the Legislature to come up with a plan of its own. The invitation came in a tweet in which he called legislative critics “grossly irresponsible” and referred to them as “those who criticize our proposals and… don’t actually propose policies that get the job done.”

Sheldon said, “We were pleased to receive the governor’s invitation to propose our own policies, and since the governor seems to be having so much trouble, we are delighted to step forward and show him the way.

“I am sure he understands how important this issue is to the people of our state. These lockdown orders have had a terrible impact on businesses statewide. Thousands have already closed their doors for good, taking jobs with them. State agencies have proven incapable of dealing with the issue, and a year after this started, thousands of people are still waiting for their first unemployment checks. Online instruction has proven a poor replacement for in-person instruction, and our children are suffering.

“I am sure the governor will recognize that we are doing exactly what he invited us to do. Now we are inviting him to adopt the ideas we have suggested and get Washington back to work.”

08/25/2020

I ended up getting "stuck" on a friend's farm in South Australia while traveling in 2020 right before the pandemic.

1,500 acres of beautiful land right on the ocean with 2,000 sheep and several hundred cattle was much different than Allyn in Mason County, WA where I call home.

We came for a "few weeks" and ended up staying for 7 months. I'm looking forward to coming come soon to family, friends, and home.

03/25/2020

Alderbrook Resort & Spa is a luxury spa resort nestled on Washington state's scenic hood Canal offering a truly authentic Pacific Northwest experience.

04/11/2019

Tygart Media sat down with Leanne Marie, Bar Manager at Shelton, WA's El Sarape Cantina to discuss why their upcoming Cinco de Mayo fundraising event(s) mean so much to her.

Originally there to film promo videos for the various events for Cinco de Mayo at the Cantina, the conversation turned a little more personal as Leanne discussed the drive behind putting on an event like this.

Leanne admitted that fundraising has been a difficult thing to accommodate in the town as the need for fundraising increases and the number of sponsors seem to be dropping.

"everyone is tapped out in the community", Leanne explains as she talks about the desire for helping not matching up with the amount fo support businesses such as the Cantina can provide.

While larger companies historically helped out with events like these in Mason County, smaller businesses that are closer to the issues seem to be shouldering much of the burden these days.

Businesses such as Brilliant Moon , located in downtown Shelton, have continued to help when the community has asked even to their own detriment. While the donation request kept coming into the small bookstore, the community continued to patron the larger chain stores (or even online shops) who did not pour the same level of support into the community.

Brilliant Moon recently announced their business will be closing in the 1912 building in April due to a lack of businesses.

While this is not an indictment on the employers of Mason County who provide families with a means to put food on their tables, it does make me wonder if a fundamental shift in communities values is changing.

Are the days of rallying for a neighbor or cause over with? Have individual goals been placed higher than the better good of the community?

Are larger companies responsible for the welfare of the communities that they draw their labor from or is the focus put squarely on the customers that they serve?

There's a lot of questions here and I don't have any of the answers. To talk as though I understand what goes behind company doors would be wrong as I honestly don't know.

What I do know is that the backs of small businesses, who have been shouldering the needs of the community, are at a critical breaking point. I applaud the small businesses in our community who step up to the plate and do their best even when their best isn't enough.

I was inspired by Leanne's words and wanted to share them with you not only as a way of potentially supporting this cause but so you can feel some of the emotion that is behind an event like this.

I hope you enjoy, have a wonderful day.

William Tygart

04/06/2019

Potlatch State Park is a 57-acre camping park with 5,700 feet of saltwater shoreline on Hood Canal.

02/07/2019

Four friends on a crazy, snowy road trip up the mountains beside Hood Canal. Waterfalls, snow and ice. Drinking from the streams. Getting here is easier than you might imagine . . . and better than you'd ever believe.