By Sarah Schrock
I know Ashley wrote about Kids’ Fishing Day last week, but I couldn’t resist crossing the territorial divide and report on the Winthrop event at the National Hatchery last Saturday because it is so widely attended.
Let me back up: I was inspired to write about the hatchery after my son’s Boy Scout troop visited the hatchery on Wednesday last week, and had already started working up my piece before I read Ashley’s article. So, full disclosure, I am not copying her.
Each year I attend this event, there are more and more unfamiliar faces. I can’t tell if there are more families moving here with young kids, which I know there are, or if visitors to the valley are filling the booths. I think it’s a combination of both, and it’s impressive. No wonder there are hatchery hosts to help with the visitors.
That’s right, did you know each year the Winthrop National Fish Hatchery has resident hatchery hosts who are volunteer naturalists that give guided tours of the place? I didn’t, until Wednesday night when I met Steve Sox and Cheri Beaulaurier.
Cheri Beaulaurier and Steve Sox are volunteer hosts this summer at the Winthrop National Fish Hatchery, where they give guided tours.
Cheri is originally from Yakima and Steve is a southerner from South Carolina, but these days the snowbirds hail from Tucson, Arizona, where they overwinter. When Tucson’s temperatures soar into the triple digits, the retirees flock to northern habitats in their RV to be campground hosts in various federally owned properties around the nation.
They have had posts in the Northwest to deep South and through the Northeast, and according to Steve, some of his most favorite sites are the National Wildlife Refuges. One favorite post was The Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey, where they could hop on a train and be in Manhattan in 30 minutes, catch a Broadway show, and return to a wetland complex teaming with birds and wildlife nestled within the metropolitan mayhem.
The hatchery hosts are finishing up their stay in the next few days. On Saturday at the Kids’ Fishing Day, they were busy showcasing the complex, handing out materials, and helping with wayfinding. From what I could tell, the fish were biting as kids were hooking them left and right, getting lines entangled — our trout tacos for Friday dinner were a testament to the success. If you missed the event, you can visit the hatchery and stop in to pay Steve and Cheri a visit before the next hosts arrive (and bring your bug spray!).
Kids’ Fishing Day followed on the heels of graduation, and while graduated seniors have all moved well beyond events like Kids’ Fishing Day, they were all undoubtedly sleeping in on Saturday morning after the senior all-nighter. As tradition holds, this year’s parent-sponsored and hosted senior party was a hit.
The carnival-themed party included fire jugglers, dancers and lawn games lit by the glow of LED contraptions of all kinds: glow sticks, hula-hoops an volleyballs. Held at the Vogt house along Twisp-Winthrop East County Road this year, the event is explicitly clean and sober. Good food, a DJ, and photo booth with costume bins were among the attractions this year.
Parents spend all year planning it. You know those Christmas wreaths we all get hit up for at Hank’s Harvest Foods, the Winthrop Thriftway and holiday bazaars? Proceeds from the sale of the wreaths go to the epic all-night party. In addition to the party, a touching way to say congratulations to the class of 2018 included fabulously filled gift bags. Each senior was presented with a bag outfitted with useful, locally made, or personalized items to make their send-off memorable. Inside the eqpd tote were a multi-tool knife, first-aid travel kit, headlamp, water bottle, a hand-carved Emily Post Pottery mug engraved with an emblem designed by a student — stuffed with a $50 bill — a hammock and Mazama Store hat.
The items were either donated, sold at a discount, or at cost from generous businesses through the valley like eqpd, the Mazama Store, and Winthrop Mountain Sports — another reason to shop locally, because those proceeds go so far beyond the register. Congratulations to the class of 2018!
