By Don Nelson
This week we introduce our new Twisp columnist for the Valley Life page, Sarah Schrock. She provides a bit of self-introduction on page B6. Sarah succeeds Sally Gracie, who held down the Twisp spot on our back page for 15 years.
Sarah has lived in Twisp for eight years. She and her husband, Hans Smith — who is a Twisp Town Council member — have two sons.
In her application letter to the newspaper, Sarah said that from her home on Bigelow Street, with its view of the town, “I see it all.” Of course, she won’t need to see it all every week, but her natural curiosity and active community involvement will bring her into contact with much of it. She is a landscape designer, a member of the Loup Loup Ski Patrol, and a board member of Friends of the Pool, among other things. Sarah said she spends a lot of time at the Methow Valley Community Center, where there is typically something going on — or just an opportunity to chat.
“Simply put, I love this town, its quirks and creative characters, its unsuspecting treasures,” Sarah said in her application letter.
You can reach Sarah at sjschrock@yahoo.com. I warned her that once we publish her picture, people will feel uninhibited about approaching her anywhere in town. I think she’s ready for that.
A new public space
The Town of Winthrop received a rare gift last week: A new park, fully paid for by a generous donor and designed by a well-known landscape architect. For more details, see the story on page A1. Long-time valley residents Jim and Gaye Pigott, who own the Moccasin Lake Ranch, will pay for the property and the park’s construction, and then will turn it over to the town.
The town will gain a lovely spot to rest or to access the Chewuch River. The park fits beautifully into plans for a Riverwalk along the Chewuch.
Winthrop will lose a potential Riverside Avenue business site, which concerns Kristen Smith, marketing director for the Winthrop Chamber of Commerce. That may be a moot point in that the Arrowleaf Bistro restaurant, which currently occupies the former residence on the site, is moving to a new location in the spring, and the property’s owners say the building won’t be used for retail or restaurant purposes. Still, Smith told the council that downtown needs all the attractions it can get for boardwalk strollers.
Smith also asked the council to provide time for public comment on the proposal, which had little advance notice before showing up on last week’s council agenda. It would probably not have made much difference in the council’s enthusiastic embrace of the park proposal, but Smith has a point. It wouldn’t have hurt for residents to have more information, and more say, before the council’s action.
That said, I think most residents, and visitors, will like what they see in the park’s plan, and will enjoy the space when it’s completed next year. Town Planner Rocklynn Culp told the council that such parks can have their own positive economic impact. That may be difficult to quantify, but it’s not hard to believe.
