News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Last year I wrote about a few seniors who are preparing to graduate high school and become members of society on a new level. I decided to share with you a few from this year as well. I recently sat down with Dylan Jenkins, a senior at Lake Roosevelt, and asked him about his journey so far. To start with, I have known Dylan a long time. Well, it really has only been six or seven years, but it feels longer. I know he has a huge heart, wears his emotions on sleeve and is a friend to just about...
Someone once told me, “The older you get, the more people you know die.” It is a true statement. Here are some of the stars from television, movies and music that passed in 2017 whom I will truly miss. I already know I am missing some important figures on this list, but these are the ones who influenced me. Roger Moore, the James Bond I grew up knowing. His cool, calm and collected way of fighting spies and assassins became the calling card for kids trying to grow up cool. “A martini, shake...
One of my desires is to one day be able to help people in need. I have been helped by many members of our community over the years and I have always wanted to “pay it forward.” I recently heard about a heartwarming story that is unfolding in the Coulee and felt I needed to share the bits I know of it. Christmas can be a difficult time for families that are in crisis mode. Over the past few weeks a desperate family moved to the area. They were living on the west coast in a drug- and cri...
In case you had not heard yet, I got a new job at the school this year. I am the Pathways Coordinator at Lake Roosevelt. With that comes a couple of very big boots to fill. Those boots belonged to Cathy Krohn and Tiffany Gerard, who paved the way, set up all the groundwork and established and cultivated the program. There are many moving parts that I am responsible for, and one of those things is Career Day. So Career Day is an opportunity for experts in their fields to come into Lake Roosevelt...
Christmas. The word brings a wonderful excitement to children all around the world. Visions of presents, Santa, hot chocolate and goodies galore dance between the temples of the little ones. Blinking lights, snowmen and reindeer flicker on the lens of the young minds as we pour into them the commercialism that has become Christmas. Debt, stress and the busiest of all months as we go from party to party, indulging in everything, is what we show and teach during this season. All in the name of, well, in the name of what, really? It is a time of...
There are those moments in everyone’s life that you can look back upon and realize the importance of a pivotal decision. Two young ladies made those decisions this weekend and it made me think back a bit. On Easter morning in 1993, I went under the water in The Assembly of God Church in Electric City. It has since been converted to a home, but I can remember vividly that day. It was a powerful moment that can be looked back on, and it puts a smile on my face. Since then, I have been a part of a...
This weekend was jam packed with sports, emergencies and some really good impromptu conversations with strangers and friends. Here are the highlights. Raider football is headed to the state playoffs. Yes, you read that right, and we could not be prouder here in Raider Nation. In a cold, bitter game, the Raiders overcame mistakes and the wind-chill factor to pull off a back-and-forth game that saw them sitting on top of the scoreboard over Kittitas. We have a pretty young team, if you did not...
If you know her, then you already know she goes way beyond what an average secretary does. If you don’t, then you have not had a child go through the school system in the last, well, a lot of years. Sheila Darnold’s work ethic is beyond superb. Sick, 15-hour days, and stress beyond imagine are things she suffers from and yet still shows up just about every day. She will tell you she is not “Super Woman,” but every administrator that has ever worked with her will argue with her about that. She is, and that is why she is a “Gem in the Coulee....
I recently had to write a recommendation letter for a young man in our community that has been nominated for an award. Part of the criteria was to write about his “Passion and Belief.” That got me thinking. What would others say about my passion and my belief, and do I see passion and belief in others? I know, deep question with deeper thoughts, but I dove in anyway, partly for James Pakootas and partly for myself. What do others see as my passion? Well, that used to be firefighting and eme...
I do believe it is still a law to stop for people in crosswalks. On Monday morning I stopped for a couple that was standing in a crosswalk in Coulee Dam. They started to cross when the truck behind me gunned the gas to go around me. He sped by right in front of the crossing pedestrians. It was almost a disaster right before me, all because of impatience. I almost followed the truck, found out where it was going and wrote down the license plate. But I did not. I did not confront the person that almost hit two people crossing the road. I did...
When we look at the history of our nation, it is hard to get the facts straight unless you lived it. By now we know our history books in school are skewed and sanitized to vaguely cover one topic and dive deep into another. It all depends on the culture of the current legislation and education push at the time of print. What’s important to teach during this season can undermine the emotional and topical acceptance of what actually happened to this culture and that group of people. But history does have its place if we choose to read beyond t...
Sometimes a phrase in a movie becomes more popular than the actual flick. The words spoken can mean things to one person that fly completely over the head of another. We use these sayings or movie quotes on a day-to-day basis and they become part of the culture and bring back memories of a time in our lives when going to the movies was a rite of passage, a sign of growing up, a sign of hope. Or it is just plain fun. Here are some of my favorite movie quotes that I use from time to time without even realizing it. Maybe one of the most used and...
That day is still vivid in my memory. This past Monday, September 11, Patriot Day, marked one of those days in American history we should never forget. Much like Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941; JFK’s Assassination November 22, 1963; and dropping the Bombs that ended the war, August 6 and 9, 1945, these dates are ingrained into our culture and our history. I relive the memories once a year, but I think about it often. I got up that morning like any other morning. I was about to get into the shower before heading to work at Colville Tribal E...
I got a funny feeling. We have all had it, and sometimes ignored it. Sometimes we have changed plans just because of it. A gut feeling, a premonition, women’s intuition or whatever else you want to call it. The fact is that we sometimes get these feelings and just know something’s not right, or that something is. Recently I have been stirred, something deep within me that is begging to get out. Not like in the movie “Alien,” where there was an actual monster inside, incubating until the right moment to burst through your chest, but a heartfelt...
The solar eclipse was fun. Well, as much fun as a large rock moving in front of a ball of fire can be. Some of the pictures out there were amazing, and of course some were faked, but Mr. Johnson, the science teacher from Lake Roosevelt, took some special pictures. He did all the research and calculations to capture the international space station in front of the solar eclipse. It is pretty cool. All Trekkies and Star Warriors, give me a high five. The water on Banks Lake is receding and the shore birds are venturing out. A lot of blue heron hav...
New shoes, new hairstyles and the new school year is here. If you blinked, you missed it; summer break is winding down and the 2017-18 school year is here. Ready or not, here it comes. Once again students will take a deep breath and venture into the unknown world of education, and parents will let out a sigh of relief for the same reason. Teachers will scramble to engage all students entering their world and administration will pull the strings that hold it all together. There will be a few changes this year at our local school and at schools...
OK, by now we should all realize that we cannot believe everything on the internet, on social media, and on some network and cable news shows. Everything, it seems, is molded, skewed and edited to lean one direction or the other. What some may call propaganda, others are calling a conspiracy theory, and even others are demanding it is either fact or fiction. So, what do we conclude as true? Do we stick our head in the sand and ignore it all? I don’t have a definite answer, but I do know there is one truth out there; but I feel I need to e...
There was a time, not so long ago, when neighbors helped each other out. They loaned tools, kept an eye on each other’s property and kids, and came over for neighborhood barbecues. The Andy Griffith Show depicted everyday small town life, a good-old-boy sheriff, the talkative barber, and community members who baked, supported and helped whenever they knew there was a need. I got reminded of that recently and think we could all get back to Mayberry. My family has new neighbors beside us and as we had a conversation over the chain-link fence i...
When John Elway retired, the Broncos did not close down Mile High Stadium and go home; they came back and gave it all they could the next year. When Michael Jordan left the Bulls, the rest of the team did not quit and refuse to play the next year. When Pat Riley hung up his whistle, the team still had a mission to contend for. This week we got news that the popular Head Coach of Raider Football is taking a position elsewhere. This column is not for most of you. This column is directed at the Lake Roosevelt Football players. Coach Endsley was no... Full story
Last week I wrote a column called “This old truck.” I got a lot of good feedback from guys and a few gals. But Saturday I got to see an old truck in action as it carried the casket of my good friend and mentor, Derlyn Brown. The truck was an antique Grand Coulee Fire Department truck from an era gone by, and it was Derlyn’s request that he ride in a fire truck when he passed. I got that request as Grand Coulee and the USBR Fire Department honored him. I learned a lot about the man I thought I knew during his funeral. I knew that he put God f... Full story
Most of us have one. An old, rusted, two-door rig that moves slowly and rattles a lot, and packs our debris from here to there. Camping trips, dump runs and the occasional adventure are the only times they get out on the road, but we won’t get rid of them; and if we don’t have one, we already have our eye on one to get. I’m talking about the old truck sitting outside right now. Old reliable. Most men have the old, beat up, rusted, barely-legal truck that we use for the ugly jobs. Of course, they haven’t always been ugly; there was a time wh... Full story
One of the hardest things to do as a servant of Christ is to find the good in everyone. Some people are just plain rude or have really done something diabolical in the past that has hurt us deeply. But God has been telling me something lately through scripture, messages and my own actions. He loves every one of us the same and wants to see us all prosper through Him. As a friend recently pointed out something profound to me: when we are talking about someone else whom we don’t understand and we put them down with our words or actions, we are s... Full story
I recently took part in some training, and they compared the four generations that are currently in the workforce: Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials, all working together and the struggles with communication that occur daily. It is a lot to think about when you compare the different generations and you start to realize just why there is a communication blockade. “We are going to have a meeting.” That phrase alone can mean differences that reflect night and day when an employee hears it and prepares for what might hap... Full story
I do not consider myself an artist. Yes, I am a writer and an amateur photographer and even have grander ideas about drawing and painting. But I do not consider myself an artist. So when I found myself Monday night in a circle of chairs in the Colville Tribal Museum surrounded by local artists, I felt a little out of place at first. Yes, my wife sat beside me; that was why I was there, but somewhere during the conversation and presentation I found myself actually wanting to do more with my photo... Full story
After this year, four matriarchs in the school district will be cuddling grandkids, snow birding, and beach combing. All four have left their marks on the youth of the area, and as the youth turn into adults they will take the lessons learned from these four and apply it to their lives. So let’s take a look at the four as they ride into the sunset. Kathy Proctor: Her business instincts and instruction go way back at Lake Roosevelt. She even taught me once, and many of you also. She is ingrained in the Raider Wrestling Program and in local r... Full story