Sisters’ fundraiser will fight cancer with the 1980s
February 7, 2012
A few years ago, Corrine Cope’s aunt, Mary, died from ovarian cancer.
“Her cancer was found very late, and she died very quickly,” Cope said.
Then a next-door neighbor in Sammamish’s The Crest neighborhood was also diagnosed, and she died a few months ago, Cope said. Read more
Eastlake kicks off Relay for Life
February 3, 2012
New: Feb. 3, 3:26 p.m.
This year, Kaylee Hansen is determined that whatever else happens, there will be a luminaria at Eastlake’s Relay for Life — even if they have to cheat a little.
For the past three years, the luminaria, decorative paper bags with candles inside, has been washed out by the weather at the annual fundraiser for cancer research. This time around, they’re going to use battery powered tea lights and wax coated bags, said Hansen co-chairwoman of Eastlake’s Relay for Life.
“We can have rain. It will be OK,” she said.
Kaylee Hansen speaks to the crowd at Eastlake’s Relay for Life kick off. Photo by Ari Cetron
Carmen Callahan takes to the stage in ‘Don Quixote’
January 31, 2012
Late last year, Carmen Callahan, a ninth grade student at Inglewood Jr. High, received a letter informing her that she had a part in the upcoming Pacific Northwest Ballet performance of “Don Quixote.”
“It’s a really big honor to be in ‘Don Quixote,’” she said. Carmen started taking ballet classes when she was three years old at her local rec center in Virginia.
Carmen Callahan warms up prior to a rehearsal. Photo by David Rollins
Storm brought snowbound residents together at City Hall
January 24, 2012
New: Jan. 24, 3:10 p.m.
Josh Wang was excited to practice his driving skills in the snow and ice Jan. 19. So once the storm had knocked out power to his family’s home in north Sammamish, the 16-year-old Eastlake student’s mother let him drive them all to City Hall.
Wang got his parents and siblings there safely around midday and they spent the rest of the day, into the evening, warming up, playing games and working on their computers with their extended family and about a dozen others in the City Council chambers.
The Chen and Wang families hunker down at a table in the Sammamish City Council chambers Jan. 19 as they and fellow residents take advantage of the facility’s heat and light refreshments for those who lost power in the ice storm. More than 15,000 Puget Sound Energy customers in the Sammamish area lost power. Photo by Christopher Huber
Mountain bike team forming in Sammamish
January 18, 2012
While many young mountain-biking enthusiasts in Sammamish may have already spent time traversing one of the state’s few designated mountain bike parks in Duthie Hill Park, they now have an option to compete formally.
More and more cyclists from Eastlake, Skyline and other area high schools are joining the ranks of a new mountain biking team as it begins its second season of racing. The team, Eastside Composite, fielded about eight riders in 2011 looks to add up to seven more in 2012, said coach and Sammamish resident Phil Therrien. Read more
Does a secret Santa prowl Sammamish?
January 9, 2012
Even though Christmas was a little lighter on gifts under the tree than in some years for the Lewis family, of north Sammamish, they celebrated the holiday with a deep sense of appreciation for what they have — and a little bit of shock.
For the second year in a row, a secret Santa blessed their household with hundreds of dollars worth of gift cards. In 2010, it was personalized gift certificates worth about $200. But in 2011, the anonymous Santa gave $500 in a prepaid Visa card, Safeway and Costco. Read more
Sammamish Baha’is celebrate religions of the world Jan. 15
January 8, 2012
New: Jan. 8, 3:16 p.m.
The Baha’is of Sammamish invite the community to its fourth annual observance of World Religion Day Jan. 15 at Sammamish City Hall. The event will run from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and include speakers from Hindu, Christian, Jewish and Baha’i faiths, said Saeed Zamani, an event organizer.
World Religion day began in 1949 in an effort to bring representatives from all faiths together to celebrate common attributes of each religion and spur unity and peace in the world, according to the World Religion Day organization.
Learn more about the event and cause at www.worldreligionday.org.
Paige Mackenzie named Boys & Girls Club Youth of the Year
January 7, 2012
New: Jan. 7, 12:17 p.m.
Sammamish youth Paige Mackenzie was reminded recently of why she volunteers for the Boys & Girls Club.
On Thanksgiving, she and a group of youth leaders delivered a big dinner to a family in need. One of the family’s sons answered the door and gave a look of shock, exclaiming, “this is so cool!” Mackenzie said.
“I think for me it was a moment of realizing how privileged most of us are up here on the plateau, and thinking that I take even having a Thanksgiving dinner for granted,” she said.
Paige Mackenzie
Sammamish youth among top bikers in the Northwest
January 4, 2012
Eric Giese was just 2 months old when his family brought him to his first motocross race. He was only 4 years old when he took the driver’s seat of a motorcycle for the first time.
With this early start, Eric has established himself as not only one of the top motocross riders in the Northwest Motorcycle Association, but also, at 15, the youngest ever to qualify for the top division.
Eric Giese races in the Rimrock Grand Prix, at Rimrock Lake, in October. Contributed
Dedication lands Tela Crane among Olympic hopefuls
December 28, 2011
Tela Crane can remember the first time she sped around the Marymoor Park velodrome. She was 15 and her mother had forced her to take a cycling class, following their doctor’s suggestion that it would help her recover from knee surgery.
Although she and her parents had all been avid cyclists for years, Crane resisted the idea the sport could help her much.
Tela Crane, a 2004 Skyline High School graduate, was recently selected to the USA Cycling Women’s Track Long Team. She will vie for one of seven spots on the 2012 U.S. Olympic team. Photo by Dennis Crane, www.dbcphoto.com
