Christmas tree sales in Twisp
The annual Christmas tree sale in the Hank’s Harvest Foods parking lot gets underway on Saturday (Nov. 29) and will continue daily from 10:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. until Christmas Eve “or we run out of trees,” according to project coordinator Larry Smith.
Prices will be the same as last year, with a 5- to 6-foot tree going for around $40, Smith said. All profits from the sale are donated to the Methow Valley Community Center.
Last year’s sale netted $3,672, which went toward improvements to the community center’s gym and kitchen. Volunteers donate all their time and labor to make the project possible, Smith said.
Smith began the “Christmas tree project,” as he calls it, nine years ago as “a way to give back to the community,” he said. “There’s nothing greater to me than seeing smiles on people’s faces. Isn’t that what it’s all about?”
Smith drove his semi-trailer rig to Silverton, Oregon, this week to pick up the load of 340 trees, about 90 percent noble fir and 10 percent grand fir, he said.
For more information, or to place a special order, call Smith at (509) 322-5603.
Buy a brick for Community Center
Methow Valley Community Center is selling custom-inscribed memorial bricks for a planned “Memory Garden,” which will be located in the grassy area between the Senior Center entrance and the entrance to the gymnasium.
Memorial bricks cost $50-$75, and will be engraved with a personal message and optional image.
Order forms may be picked up in the community center lobby, where sample bricks are on display. Orders may also be placed online at www.thatsmybrick.com/mvmg.
Brick orders may be placed at any time, with installation planned for April 2015, according to project organizer Carolyn Sullivan.
Proceeds from the “buy-a-brick” project will go toward purchasing a generator to provide electricity to the community center in the event of a power outage, Sullivan said.
Without a generator, the community center could not serve as an emergency shelter for fire evacuees during last summer’s extended power outage because electricity is required to run the center’s septic system grinder pump, Sullivan said.
Castner hired at Twisp dental clinic
Mazama resident Dr. Teresa Castner has been hired to practice at a dental clinic that Family Health Centers will open in Twisp on Feb. 5, 2015.
The clinic will be in the former offices of Dr. John Nickell at 110 E. Second Ave.
Castner earned her Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the University of Washington in 1990. To make an appointment, call (800) 660-2129.
Hottell’s history starts in January
Bill Hottell’s 20th annual history class, which will focus on “Merrie Olde England,” begins Jan. 7, 2015, and will meet every Wednesday from 8:30-11:30 a.m. through March at Methow Valley United Methodist Church. Class fee is $50. To register, call 997-6655. Hottell’s class will explore Queen Elizabeth I, Sir Francis Drake, the Stuart monarchs, the beginnings of the British Empire, and more. There will be no trip directly related to the class, but Hottell will be leading a group to Tuscany and northern Italy in September.
Celebrate Mary Bean’s 100th
Join Methow Valley resident Mary Bean to celebrate her 100th birthday on Dec. 27 at Methow Valley Community Center in Twisp. The free event begins at 1 p.m. and will feature a special dance, luncheon, music by Bill Hottell’s ragtime band, and of course a birthday cake. For more information, call 997-2926.
Cut your own Christmas tree
Christmas tree permits are now available for $5 at any Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest ranger station. The permit allows a family to cut a tree (maximum height, 15 feet) or dig a live transplant tree, and only two permits will be issued per household.
Christmas trees cannot be harvested in wilderness areas, campgrounds, developed recreation areas or tree plantations. No Christmas trees can be cut from the North Cascades Scenic Highway including side roads, State Highway 20 over Loup Loup Pass between Twisp and Okanogan, or along Road No. 5400 to Hart’s Pass.
If parking at a Sno-Park, you must have a valid Washington State Sno-Park permit displayed on your windshield.
The Methow Valley Ranger District office is in Winthrop, just off of West Chewuch Road. Call 996-4000. Permits are also available at Hank’s Harvest Foods and Hank’s Mini Market in Twisp, and at Pardner’s Mini Market in Winthrop.
And cut your own firewood
Woodcutting permits also are on sale at all Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest offices. The minimum firewood permit is $20 for four cords of wood. The cost is $5 per cord after that.
Generally, woodcutters may cut wood that has fallen to the ground and standing dead trees (except wildlife habitat trees).
The permit and woodcutting stubs must be in the woodcutter’s possession when cutting firewood. A woodcutting area map is a necessity. These maps show the areas that are open and closed to woodcutting and are available free with the woodcutting permits.
The Methow Valley Ranger District Office is in Winthrop, just off of West Chewuch Road. Firewood permits are also available at Hank’s Harvest Foods, Hank’s Mini-Market, and Twisp Chevron in Twisp; at Pardners Mini Market in Winthrop; and at Goat’s Beard Mountain Supplies in Mazama.
