Winthrop

To prepare for this year’s Thanksgiving column I revisited the columns of gratitude of the past few years, an effort that yielded precisely … nothing. Last year was all pandemic gratitude blah blah blah, 2020 was not even in my files (although I’m sure I wrote one), and 2019 was pre-pandemic naivete. With those flimsy […]

If your bucket list includes ambitious family hikes, you’d better be prepared for that bucket to overflow. Debby Orsini, mother of Winthrop resident Caroline Orsini, wanted nothing more for her 73rd birthday than to hike the Inca Trail with her family. Not everyone was game for the trip, but Debby, Caroline, her two sisters, and […]

It’s somewhat hard to believe, since she does a triathlon every summer, but Linda Mendro is turning 80 this week. If you know Linda, you’re already aware of her kindness and generosity, her passion for music, and her dedication to humanitarian causes — most notably the Peniel House Orphanage, which Linda and her husband, Wayne, […]

Last Thursday, somewhat by accident, I ended up at Wenatchee’s Sarge Huber Honor Festival: an annual multi-county, multi-school celebration of bands, choirs, and youth music programs in general. Elementary, middle school and high school students from 31 schools around the region — including the Methow Valley — are selected to participate in choir and band […]

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. […]