The Mazama Store courtyard, calm before another storm of weekend visitors.
This is a week for news bites.
Memorial Day weekend brought a steady stream of visitors over the North Cascades into the valley. Betsy — whose Intertwined Designs studio is located in Red McComb’s former home on Highway 20 — reported more traffic in one-half hour on Thursday, May 27, than in all of April.
There were familiar backups at the four-way stop in Winthrop (at one point all the way back to the Rhythm & Blues Ranch, and reportedly to the post office in the other direction), restaurants and shops bursting at the seams, and the return of the rodeo since missing a year drew a record number of spectators.
Mazama Store bakers produced 1,000 baguettes, 600 croissants and 1,000 sandwiches over the weekend. Super bakers! Taco Bahia was rocking it in Mazama with seafood tacos and daily specials.
Ruby Slippers returns to its Mazama Community Club stop with weekly veggie boxes filled with early crops such as hakurei salad turnips, radishes, pak choy, komatsuna (Japanese mustard spinach) and salad mix. Cloudbird also has a variety of beautiful, fragrant peonies for purchase in bunches of 6 to 8. In addition, she can provide colorful peonies for events with a discount when 100 or more stems are ordered. Email cloudbird3@gmail.com.
For Mazama-area gardeners, the Mazama Store still has flower and vegetable starts from Yonder Farms Nursery, a third-generation family-owned business in Okanogan. The farm has been growing vibrant vegetable, herb and flower starts for the Okanogan and Methow valleys since 1976. They pride themselves on using organic seeds, soil, fertilizer and spray. Still time to pop some cosmos, marigolds, basil, pepper or tomato plants in the ground!
Flowers seen on the trails this week include the delicate mountain lady’s slipper, cheery orange tiger lilies and fragrant wild rose. Remember not to pick the mountain lady’s slipper even though it’s tempting because of its “Alice in Wonderland” caricature.
Down-valley at Methow Recycles, artist Salyna Gracie has graced the entry kiosk with silhouettes of the mascot ravens that regularly circle the facility. The staff has even named a couple of the ravens Elvis and Cher.
“And what a fitting mascot the raven makes,” according to Methow Recycles eNews. “According to the Haida indigenous peoples, the raven represents creation and transformation. The ability to transform and create anew has been central to our endurance as a rural grassroots recycler over the past 20 years. We are encouraged by our intrepid mascots as they swoop, soar, and call out over the center, reminding us to always be nimble.”
Another tidbit from Methow Recycles: Throw away caps if smaller than the palm of your hand!
Last, but not least: Please support the Winthrop Kiwanis Club’s “The Bite is Back for our kids” online auction. Kiwanis members have contributed many hours to make this fundraising event successful in its new online format. The auction is currently live and will continue through Sunday (June 13). Pick-up of items will take place on Saturday, June 19, from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Winthrop Barn.
Food vouchers for a scrumptious meal of smoked pork (chicken leg for children) and all the fixings — to be served in conjunction with item pick-up — are available for purchase via the menu tab at the top of the auction website, winthropkiwanis.com. Follow the link to register for the auction and browse all the great items in the catalog.
That’s all for now, folks!
