issaquahpress071812

By Warren KagariseIssaquah Press reporter

The iconic Issaquah Salmon Hatchery is celebrating 75 years, and to mark the occasion, the Issaquah History Museums is educating residents about the downtown facility — a lifesaver for countless salmon since the 1930s.

Conservationists and long-time Issaquah residents credit the hatchery for restoring the historic Issaquah Creek salmon runs after decades of logging and mining damaged the creek and surrounding watershed.

The program is among a series of events to commemorate the 1937 hatchery opening.

Jane Kuechle, Friends of the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery ex-ecutive director, plans to offer at-tendees a glimpse at the hatchery from throughout the decades.

“It’ll be a past, present, future kind of presentation,” said Laile Di Silvestro, Issaquah History Museums program coordinator.

In 1936, Works Progress Administration crews started to build the hatchery complex on a former city park and bandstand.

The hatchery opened the next

year and, in the meantime, the public works projects completed by the Works Progress Admin-istration offered jobs amid the Great Depression.

The original salmon stocks for the hatchery originated in the Green River. Early hatchery crews spawned chinook and coho salmon, plus steelhead.

The hatchery concentrates chinook and coho nowadays, and serves a key role in a program to restore the dwindling Lake Sam-mamish kokanee salmon popula-tion.

In the 1970s, as the Issaquah

Labor Day celebration morphed into the Salmon Days Festival, the hatchery served as a focal point during the festivities.

But state budget cuts in the early 1990s threatened the hatchery. FISH formed to pre-serve the facility as state officials eyed the hatchery for closure.

The nonprofit organization is dedicated to the preservation of the historic hatchery. Through educational programs in school classrooms and at the hatchery, FISH educates the community about the salmon lifecycle and inspires stewardship of the Puget Sound watershed.

FISH also salvaged the Salmon in the Classroom program for schools in the Issaquah School District after the state scuttled funding for the program amid 2010 budget cuts.

Nowadays, about 350,000 visitors trek to the hatchery each year for FISH-led tours and other activities.

The future for the hatchery in-cludes plans to add boulder weirs to Issaquah Creek and demolish a dam upstream from the facility.

The aging dam blocks adult salmon attempting to migrate upstream to spawn. The fish, marooned on the structure, die in large numbers on a shelf-like apron each year.

In April, Gov. Chris Gregoire approved $4 million for the proj-ect. Construction could start as early as next spring.

COMMUNITYs s

The Issaquah Press

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B WEDNESDAY, JULY 18, 2012

By Christina LordsIssaquah Press reporter

She never heard his voice.She never shook his hand or gave him a hug.She didn’t even know his name until after he hanged

himself.But the story of Ken Dennis, a 22-year-old Marine

who took his short life in 2004 after serving in Iraq, still haunts Sue Nebeker eight years later.

“He and his dad were at the mall,” she said, “and his dad said he looked around and said, ‘You know, I don’t fit in here anymore. I can’t do this. I’ve seen too much.’”

Nebeker would first learn of the Marine’s story in “The War Comes Home: Rifleman couldn’t take any more,” an August 2004 Seattle Post-Intelligencer article about Dennis’ struggle — fac-ing the challenges of a recently discharged serviceman. And while most people would absorb the information and move on, Nebeker knew she had to do something.

That’s when she started American Hero Quilts, a project that aims to ensure wounded veterans in Iraq and Afghani-stan come home to a tangible thank you through the warmth and comfort of a patriotic quilt. Nebeker vows to continue the project until U.S. forces are out of Afghanistan, and she is working to make quilts available to Vietnam veterans as well.

“I don’t want them treated as people were treated when they came back from Vietnam,” she said. “I wanted to say thank you. We put posters around Vashon saying we were making quilts for wounded warriors. My husband was very concerned no one would actually show up.”

One hundred quilts later, Nebeker delivered them to

A TANGIBLE COMFORT

American Hero Quilts Galleria showcases project offering thanks

to Iraq, Afghanistan veterans

PHOTOS BY GREG FARRAR

Bellewood Retirement Center residents Ursula Tueffers (from left), Merle Klavano, Herb Lyons and Peggy Duncan unfold a quilt that will be displayed with oth-ers in the galleria display space for four weeks before being sent to soldiers.

Sue Nebeker, founder of American Hero Quilts, produces quilts, receives more from others and ships them all from a studio at her Vashon Island home.

“People are getting war weary. America has moved on … but there are still men and women coming home with their arms and legs blown off. They’re still coming home injured.”— Lynn AdamsBellewood Retirement Center program director

IF YOU GOAmerican Hero Quilts Galleria Opening41-4 p.m. July 214Bellewood Retirement Center 43710 Providence Point Drive S.E.4Free and open to the public

ON THE WEBLearn more about the American Hero Quilts project or donate to the cause at www.americanheroquilts.com.

One of the hundreds of thank you notes from soldiers and spouses expresses deep gratitude forreceiving one of the more than 10,000 American Hero quilts.

By M.J. Hoecherl

When Kelly Richardson was a child, her grandmother used to take her and her sister for picnics along Tibbetts Creek.

“We saw fish spawn, tree frogs lay their eggs, and watched eagles and blue herons fly,” she said.

These days, the Issaquah resident volunteers with the city’s historic staple attraction — the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery. Richardson calls it an “Issaquah treasure.” She works for a program called FISH (Friends of the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery), which gives tours to thousands of visitors a year.

“Resource conservation has al-ways been a strong value of mine, so the opportunity to become a FISH docent was one I couldn’t resist,” said Richardson, who also works as a real estate broker.

She started volunteering three years ago as a way to repay the hatchery for giving her so many happy memories as a child.

As a docent, Richardson’s job includes giving tours of the hatch-ery to people of all ages, and do-ing so in an informative, fun and interesting way.

Melanie Jacobs, another Issaquah resident and FISH docent, used to take her children to visit the hatch-ery when they were young. She volunteers because of her passion for conservation and wildlife in the Pacific Northwest.

“My favorite tours are for people new to the area, some even from other countries,” she said. “They can’t believe that we have these huge fish coming up Issaquah Creek that passes Microsoft, Costco, etc. It was the same for me when I first moved here in 1989, and I still have that thrill today.”

Becoming involved with FISH is one of the easiest and most fulfilling volunteer opportunities Issaquah

has to offer, according to the hatch-ery’s volunteer coordinator, Beverly Lee. Those who register before Aug. 20 will have the opportunity to attend an all-day training class Aug. 25. It will include a hatchery tour, a presentation about the salmon lifecycle and a training manual. They’ll also get tips on how to interact with students, chaper-ones and other visitors.

Volunteers are most needed for giving tours of the hatchery, espe-cially from September to November — the hatchery’s busiest time of the year — when the salmon come through to spawn, Lee said. But be-ing a guide isn’t the only job avail-able to FISH volunteers if leading a crowd isn’t your first choice.

“We have something for just about everyone,” Lee said. “People who like to be with the public, give tours and talk about their passion for the environment, that’s probably our biggest need. But there’s also room for people who would prefer to help out the hatchery employees.”

Only three workers handle the fish that come through the hatchery. Helping in the gift shop is another option. Volunteers are needed year round and for every day of the week.

M.J. Hoecherl is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.

Giving back to an ‘Issaquah treasure’

GET INVOLVEDTo fill out a volunteer interest form and learn more about this year’s docent training registration, call 392-8025 or email [email protected].

FRIENDS OF THE ISSAQUAH SALMON HATCHERY

The historic Issaquah Salmon Hatchery started raising salmon along Issaquah Creek in 1937.

IF YOU GOIssaquah History Museums’ Issaquah Salmon Hatchery presentation411 a.m. July 214Issaquah Train Depot4150 First Ave. N.E. 4The event is free, open to the public and includes refreshments.4Learn more about the event and volunteer opportunities by calling 392-3500 or emailing [email protected].

Issaquah Salmon Hatchery history is focus of 75th anniversary program

See QUILTS, Page B3

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