Winthrop

In response to my Oct. 12 column about the Methow Valley University (MVU) sweatshirts, I’ve heard from quite a few graduates of that institution. First, I heard from MVU co-founder Paula Christen, who says that she and Janet Lindsey created the concept “a gazillion years ago … like in the early ’80s.” Janet is a […]

In the spring of 2001, Pete Dickinson, eventual co-founder of Winthrop Physical Therapy & Fitness as most people now know it, was providing physical therapy services out of the Riverside Avenue building now occupied by Methownet. Pete was excited about five or six pieces of gym equipment that he had recently purchased, so he reached […]

A month ago I wrote about my father getting an FAA pilot award as a surprise. And thanks to the outpouring of comments from readers since then, I’ve learned three things. One, there are a lot of pilots in the Methow Valley and central Washington. Two, Methow Valley and central Washington residents love doing things […]

The current shortage of health care aides in the Methow Valley will only worsen as the valley ages. The solution to this shortage, however, is simple: train more aides and inspire them to enter the profession. So Jamie’s Place Adult Family Homes is tackling the shortage head-on by providing a free training for potential aides. […]

  Since 2014, the Methow Valley Fly Fishers (MVFF) Club has awarded college scholarships to Liberty Bell High School graduates who plan to pursue a degree in environmental science, fisheries or wildlife biology, or who have an interest in the enhancement and improvement of fisheries or a desire to serve in fish and wildlife law […]

A year ago I wrote a “but at least column” organized around a central idea of juxtaposing two crappy elements of a single situation that, paradoxically, make you feel marginally better about it. For example, for the smoke-choked summer of 2021 the “but at least” would be “It was too smoky to set foot outdoors […]

  For a guy who is no longer 22 or even 42, Erik Brooks has still got it, mostly. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, the backstory is that Erik spent 24 hours — from 7 a.m. on Saturday morning (Aug. 27) until 7 a.m. on Sunday — walking and running on […]

  Sometime in late 2016, I was talking with Dr. John O’Keefe about flying. Dr. O’Keefe, as most of you know, is an avid pilot, as is my father. We were talking about planes and pilots (well, Dr. O’Keefe was talking, I was prone, staring upwards through those dentist sunglasses, saying things like “ah ha” […]