98040 - island summer 2012

12
M E R C E R I S L A N D L I V I N G JUNE 2012 ISLAND SUMMER

Upload: sound-publishing

Post on 08-Apr-2016

214 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

DESCRIPTION

i20120626161309924.pdf

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: 98040 - Island Summer 2012

M E R C E R I S L A N D L I V I N G

JUNE 2012

I S L A N D S U M M E R

Page 2: 98040 - Island Summer 2012

PAGE 2 98040 | JUNE 2012 | ISLANDSUMMER

Is it time for YOU??

As expected, the trend of low inventory and increased sales volume has continued and we are beginning to see a different imbalance, not enough properties to meet demand. If you have been putting off moving due to the negative news in housing

this may be your window of opportunity. Call me for the facts and nuances of the market. I’m here to help!

POSTIVE RESULTS. PROVEN EXPERIENCE.

CBBAIN, MERCER ISLAND’S #1 OFFICE PEGGY WATKINS, #1 AGENT 2008, 2009, 2010 A N D 2011

Coldwell Banker Bain 7808 SE 28th Street, Suite 128

PEGGY WATKINS

Phone: 206-230-5444 Fax: 206-232-0368

www.peggywatkins.com [email protected]

Your Mercer Island Market at a glance.

Page 3: 98040 - Island Summer 2012

98040 | JUNE 2012 | ISLANDSUMMER PAGE 3

On our cover: Talented artist and Islander Timothy Malcham has once again

designed our cover. Check out his other work at timothymalcham.com.

S ummer in the city. It is time to head out to Island parks and streets to celebrate and play, shop, soak up the sun and listen to great music along the way.

4 Music in the park

5 Plant doctor is ‘in’ at the Farmer’s Market

6 Five make wine

9 A lens on the past

10 Island crises 1949

11 It is all about shopping and sharing

INSIDE

I S L A N D S U M M E R

98040M E R C E R I S L A N D L I V I N G

98040 is a publication of the Mercer Island Reporter 7845 S.E. 30th Street • Mercer Island, WA 98040

Publisher Janet Taylor Editor Mary L. Grady Advertising Sales Theres’a Baumann Production Melanie Morgan Photography Staff

www.mi-reporter.com

A trio of ‘bathing beauties’ enjoys the water with a ferry steaming nearby in this 1920 photo from the Mercer Island Historical Society. Below, musicians perform in the Grand Parade during Summer Celebration. Bottom, Islanders gather for Shakespeare in the Park on a summer evening.

Mercer Island’s annual summer event, Summer Celebration, will take place this year on July 14 and 15.

The 2012 theme is Spirit of the Olympics, in honor of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Page 4: 98040 - Island Summer 2012

Sunday, July 22Dixie Kings Jazz BrassOld school jazz with audience sing-alongs

Thursday, July 26Eclectic ApproachOriginal songs of blended, poetic hip-hop infiltrated with rock

Sunday, July 29Convergence Zone BluegrassBluegrass and country, folk and a little pop

Thursday, August 2Wild SnohomiansA little bit country, a lil’ bit rock-n-roll with a taste of rock-a-bility and swing

Sunday, August 5Snake SuspenderzCartoon jazz with a blend of hits from the 1920s and 1930s

Thursday, August 9RougeFrench Café music

Sunday, August 12 Route 66Big Band sound from the Swing era

Thursday, August 16RuzivoHigh-energy Afropop music with Zimbabwean and South African influences

Sunday, August 19 Smilin’ ScandinaviansMix of Polka, Scandinavian folk, traditional country western, Dix-ieland and Big Band Swing

Concerts are on Thursdays and Sundays from 7 p.m. to

8:30 p.m. at Mercerdale Park in downtown Mercer Island.

PAGE 4 98040 | JUNE 2012 | ISLANDSUMMER

Save 15% on Mercedes Services over $500*

425-746-2110Visit www.germanauto.com for additional o�ers!

Celebrating 33 years of service

SAVE NOW!Mercer Island Residents

Courtesy shuttle includes parts and labor, ad expires Aug 31st, 2012

MUSIC IN THE PARKJoin your neighbors in Mercerdale Park in July and August

for the Mercer Island Arts Council’s annual summer concert series. Concerts feature various bands and artists from around

the region, performing a wide variety of music.

The Virginia V steamship offered rides during the 2011 Summer Celebration festivities. Argosy Cruises will ferry sailors this year around the Island. Photo by Rebecca Mar.

Page 5: 98040 - Island Summer 2012

98040 | JUNE 2012 | ISLANDSUMMER PAGE 5

SUNDAY - THURSDAY : Lunch 11:00 am to 4:00 pm Dinner 4:00 pm to 11:00 pm Restaurant & Bar Open until 11:00 pm

FRIDAY - SATURDAY : Lunch 11:00 am to 4:00 pm Dinner 4:00 pm to 12:00 am Restaurant & Bar Open until 12:00 am

7440 SE 27th Street | Mercer Island | 206.232.6676 Above True Value Hardware and the Liquor Store

THE ISLANDERPUB & RESTAURANTISLANDER

PUB & RESTAURANT

PATIO SEATING AND HAPPY HOUR SPECIALS IN THE BAR.

by Brita Moore

Gordon Polson has lived on Mer-cer Island for nearly 40 years and has spent all of those years

(and many years prior) with his hands in the dirt and his eye on the sky.

Since 2008, he has contributed his skills to the community through King County Master Gardeners.

Polson does clinics at the farmers market each Sunday when it is in session and at the North end Rite Aid during the rest of the year.

“It’s nice to get back to the farmers market,” Polson said. “It’s like seeing old friends again.”

The purpose of the Master Garden-ers is to help gardeners throughout the community identify and alleviate problems with their plants. It is an ex-tension of Washington State University horticulture, founded in 1971 as a way to meet the demands for information about plant issues.

Interested volunteers spend 96 hours in classes and exams from January through March, and after successfully completing the course, they must com-mit to volunteering 45 hours in the first year and 40 hours of continuing educa-tion. There are 4,000 Master Gardener volunteers across the state.

Polson strongly recommends that cus-

tomers bring in a sample of the affected plant, or if the culprit is an insect, one of them in a container.

“There’s an awful lot of fungal diseases around, simply because of the weather we get here, the moisture in the air and the wind blowing around the spores of fungus diseases,” Polson said. “Other-wise, they’re maybe not doing things correctly. It’s quite straightforward, and

people are very grate-ful for the help.”

Polson moved to the Island while he was working for Boeing in the early 1970s, after moving from England to Georgia in 1968. He

grows perennials and vegetables in the garden at his home and writes a weekly newsletter, “natters,” to interested Island gardeners.

“It’s a breezy, chatty sort of thing,” Polson said of the “natters.”

As a gardener since the age of 8 in Britain, Polson appreciated the simi-larities in weather between Seattle and England.

“The climate here is almost identical to the one I come from, in England,” Pol-son said, “so I don’t have to buy special books. In fact, the state bird and flower are the same as where I come from, the goldfinch and the rhododendron.”

Islanders can visit Polson’s Master Gardeners booth at the farmers market on Sundays.

The plant doctor is ‘in’ at the Farmers MarketCertified Master Gardeners will be on hand at the farmers market each week to answer

your questions about plants

Rain or shine, Islanders hit Baskin-Robbins for a cool summer treat.

For more about Master Gardeners, visit the website, www.mgfkc.org.

Master Gardeners at the Mercer Island Farmers Market on June 17 are ready to answer questions about plants and pests. From left, Gordon Polson, Susan Costa and Mia Devine. Photos by Brita Moore.

Page 6: 98040 - Island Summer 2012

PAGE 6 98040 | JUNE 2012 | ISLANDSUMMER

5728 East Lake Sammamish Pkwy SE • Issaquah 98029 • 425.392.3631 • www.CedarExperts.com

OFFICE & SHOW ROOM HOURS MONDAY - FRIDAY 7AM - 5PM • SATURDAY 8:30AM - 3PM

Since 1955

We are one of a kind...so is your home and garden.

Visit our showroom for project inspiration and building ideas.Cedar Siding, Shingles, Decking, & Fencing • Cedar & Fir Timbers • Custom Cut Siding & Trim

Live Edge Slabs • Azek Decking • Exotic Hardwoods • Stainless Steel Railings

9804

0-63

0512

Anna Schafer is the winemaker for àMau-rice Cellars in Walla Walla. Schafer lived on the Island from infancy and attended Island schools until she graduated from

Mercer Island High School.Her parents still live on the Island in the same

home that they built in 1980. Schafer grew up with wine as a constant on the family dining table.

àMaurice Cellars is a family operation that began in 2004. Tom Schafer, Anna’s father, is the general manager. The winery is named after Anna’s paternal grandfather, Maurice Schafer, a Pacific Northwest timber baron. The design for the distinctive black and white label bears his signature.

Schafer selects grapes from the Columbia Valley and the Blue Mountains near Walla Walla. àMaurice wines have received many awards and accolades, including the 2007 Horiuchi red blend 94 from

Wine and Spirits and the Wine Enthusiast; and 2005 Columbia Valley malbec, “the finest malbec in the U.S.,” Steven Tanzer said.

Seattle Magazine featured her among the Top New Winemakers.

When Schafer talks about her wines, the family dining room table is foremost in her mind.

“My interest is in creating extraordinary wines that are compelling companions to food. Social bonds are forged over meals, putting great wine and great cuisine at the center of special moments,” she said. Apparently, restaurants agree. Her wines are on the list at The French Laundry in Napa and Per Se in New York.

The àMaurice tasting room is located at 178 Vine-yard Lane in Walla Walla. Hours are Saturday, 10:30 to 4:30 or by appointment; call (509) 522-5444.

Five wine

make

Mercer Island doesn’t produce grapes – just winemakers The fields of àMaurice Cellars in Walla Walla produce wines that are ‘compelling companions with food.’

The Island community has fostered the development of five winemakers, all graduates

of Mercer Island High School. Chris Howell, winemaker, of Cain Vineyard and Winery of Napa Valley, graduated from Mercer Island

High School in 1970; Craig Leuthold, owner of Maryhill Winery in Goldendale (1974); Leslie

Lind Balsley, winemaker and owner of William Church Winery in Woodinville (1976); Nina Buty Foster, winemaker and owner of Buty

Winery in Walla Walla (1993); and Anna Schafer, winemaker and owner of àMaurice Cellars in Walla Walla (1997).

All of these winery “kids” still have family living on the Island.

by DEE HITCH

Page 7: 98040 - Island Summer 2012

C hris Howell has been Napa Valley’s Cain winemaker for over 20 years.

Howell was born in Swedish Hospital and was brought home to the Shore-wood Apartments.

He attended Sunnybeam school and graduated from Mercer Island High School in 1970.

His mother, Barbara Howell, still lives on the Island, as does his brother, David Hallgren, and his family.

By all accounts, Chris Howell’s early fascination with winemaking must have been a challenge for his family.

“I first made wine in the basement and de-stemmed zinfandel grapes on the kitchen table. I crushed grapes by foot in the bathtub,” he said. “And it turned out OK!

“My mentors were these first-gener-ation Italian-Americans who hung out in the railroad yard in South Seattle,” he explained. “They distributed wine grapes from Lodi in California.”

Howell blends grapes at Cain Cellars perched above the Pacific Ocean in California’s Napa Valley.

He studied winemaking in France, where he studied viticulture along with winemaking. He was then grant-ed a year-long internship at Mouton Rothschild.

“All of this was a great start, but in truth, just a beginning,” Howell said. “I have been lucky to work in a num-ber of different vineyards and wineries here in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys.”

Howell produces three wines at Cain Vineyard and Winery: Cain Five, Cain Cuvee and Cain Concept. The “five” in the name Cain Five refers to the five grapes: cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot, petit verdot and malice, which are used in the Bordeaux area of France. To visit, call (707) 963-1616 or email [email protected].

L eslie Balsley moved onto the Island in sixth grade and at-tended Mercer View Elementa-

ry and North Mercer Junior High, and graduated from Mercer Island High School in 1976.

Dr. John C. Lind, Leslie’s dad, is a retired Island dentist who still lives on Island.

“Rod, my husband, and I started our interest in wine on our honeymoon, where we were struck by how much wine is a part of the fabric of everyday life. In a lucky coincidence, we moved next door to someone who had been making wine for years as a hobby

in their garage, which got us started making wine.”

Rod and Leslie became “garagistes.” The French term (meaning garage) refers to a group of innovative French winemakers in Bordeaux who began making more approachable, drink-now wines back in the mid-1900s.

“As a family-owned boutique winery, our goal is to stay small so we can be close to our customers and keep the artisan quality in our wines,” Balsley said.

“The name ‘William Church’ came from both our fathers,” she explained. “William is Rod’s father’s first name, and Church is my dad’s middle name.”

The winery currently has seven wines available.

They consider their viognier as their flagship wine. The 2010 viognier got 90 points in the Seattle Metropolitan Magazine, 91 points in Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, a Double Gold in the Seattle Wine Awards and was a Plati-num Award Winner from Wine Press Northwest. The 2011 vintage is eagerly awaited.

William Church has two tasting rooms in Woodinville. Call (425) 482-2510 or visit williamchurchwinery.com.

98040 | JUNE 2012 | ISLANDSUMMER PAGE 7

206-714-443515600 NE 8th Street B1-983Bellevue, Washington 98008

Raj S. Johal, CFELicensed Private Investigator #3492

[email protected] | [email protected]

White Collar Crime Investigations, Fraud, Embezzlement, Asset and Identity Veri� cation, Background Investigations.

Order online, emergency supplies, for your home, o� ce and auto, � rst aid kits, freeze dried food supplies, 72 hour survival kits, multi month food supplies with 10-25 year shelf life, depending on manufacture specs. Shipped directly. Order now at www.bepreparedss.com

Raj Johal, is a retired Bellevue Police Detective, former Los Angeles Police (LAPD) undercover operative, and former local business owner. As a Detective, I have worked countless fraud cases, involving bank fraud, insurance fraud, identity fraud, elder care abuse & fraud, burglaries, theft, and homicide.

“Be Prepared”www.bepreparedis.com - Investigative Serviceswww.bepreparedss.com - Survival Supplies

2608 South Judkins St. | Seattle | 206.322.1091 www.judkinsstreetcafe.com

Breakfast • Lunch • Dinner

5 MINS. FROM THE BRIDGE

I-90

Judkins St. Cafe

Rod and Leslie Balsley own William Church winery. Leslie grew up on Mercer Island.

Page 8: 98040 - Island Summer 2012

A ndrew Lodmell of Lodmell Cellars attended West Mercer Elementary, North Mercer Ju-

nior High, and graduated from Mercer Island High School in 1982.

Carol Lodmell, his mother, taught 25 years on Mercer Island at both Lak-eridge Elementary and South Mercer Junior High, and still lives on the Island. Andrew’s two nieces now attend Islander Middle School and Mercer Island High School.

Andrew was a star athlete during his school years on Mercer Island. In eighth grade, he began ski racing at White Pass and competed throughout the Northwest. Since Andrew is still a skier, you can find Lodmell Cellars wines in Sun Valley.

While attending Mercer Island schools, Andrew spent summers with Miles, his dad on his farm in Eastern Washington. Vineyards were planted there in 1990, about 30 miles from Walla Walla by the lower Snake River in the Columbia Valley appellation. Andrew is the fourth generation to keep

the farming within the family.“Nature is my boss,” he said. “What

I like about farming and winemaking is the idea of working with nature. My skills can enhance the final result, but at the end of the day, I am working in harmony with nature and constantly adapting and learning from the infinite variables that nature provides.”

As in all small busi-nesses, and especially family wineries, every-one lends a hand.

Andrew’s sister, Kristie Kirlin, is the behind-the-scenes facilitator at the win-ery. For the first three years, all the bottling was done by hand. She was there.

She does public rela-tions, washes barrels, does the unglorified grunt work, and was the smiling face of

Lodmell Cellars while pouring at Taste Washington in the first week of April.

The latest highlight in the Lodmell Cellars odyssey is the opening of its tasting room, located in the venerable and historic Marcus Whitman Hotel in downtown Walla Walla.

N ina Buty attended Islander Middle School in 1989 and graduated from Mercer Island

High School in 1993. Her parents, Frank and Carlene Buty, still live on Mercer Island.

“I grew up enjoying wine as part of celebrations with a family of Italian-American heritage. My grandparents made wine from grapes brought by train from California,” said Nina.

Buty chose to go to Whitman College in Walla Walla, where she met Caleb Foster, who was then the assistant winemaker for the legendary Woodward Canyon Winery.

In 1998, on a back-packing trip, they for-mulated their dream of owning a winery, sketching the rough draft on a napkin. After two years of planning, they sold almost everything they owned, including Caleb’s home. Their debut 2000 vintage featured five wines.

Flash forward to 2011. Nina and Caleb now have two chil-dren. They are pro-ducing highly sought, world-class wines. But as I listened to them, the overall concept of blending, teamwork and partnership evolved.

Caleb is a skilled blender. He is the first winemaker in the state to pur-posely blend cabernet sauvignon and syrah, resulting in the highly acclaimed Rediviva of the Stones. But paramount for both Nina and Caleb is not only their own partnership in guiding their winery, but also their teamwork with growers and customers.

Led by Caleb’s knowledge of wine-

making and Nina’s background in geol-ogy — her minor at Whitman College — Buty has exclusive rights to some of the more prestigious vineyard sites in Washington state.

Buty is one of the many wineries farming organically. Their own 10-acre vineyard, Rockgarden Estate in the Walla Walla Valley, was purchased in 2006 and was certified organic in the fall of 2010. Phinny Hill Vineyard, in the Horse Heaven Hills, is farmed 100 percent organically and will complete certification this year. Champoux

Vineyard, also in the Horse Heaven Hills, is also farmed with an emphasis on the environ-ment. River Rock, anoth-er Walla Walla vineyard, is certified salmon safe and sustainable.

Buty has been chosen by two of Washington’s best restaurants to produce private labels. Canlis Restaurants chose a specially blended syrah for their Peter Canlis syrah. Herb Farm’s private label is called Designee Cabernet Franc, which is that res-taurant’s only custom label. In 2011, Buty was awarded Winery of the Year by Wine & Spirits. Caleb was a finalist for

“Winemaker of the Year” in Sunset. Buty was third in “Top 100 Cellar Selections” in The Wine Enthusiast; third in “Top 100 Washington Wines” in the Seattle Times; and #40 in the “Top 100 ‘Most Desirable’ Wines” in The Wine Enthusiast.

The Buty Tasting Room is located in the Walla Wall Regional Airport area at 535 Cessna Avenue.

Call (509) 527-0901 or email Nina at [email protected].

PAGE 8 98040 | JUNE 2012 | ISLANDSUMMER

In 1998, on a backpacking trip, they formulated their dream of

owning a winery, sketching the

rough draft on a napkin. After two years of planning, they sold almost everything they

owned, including Caleb’s home.

Their debut 2000 vintage featured

five wines.

Page 9: 98040 - Island Summer 2012

98040 | JUNE 2012 | ISLANDSUMMER PAGE 9

A lens on the pAst

How many small communities that have been settled for only one hundred and odd years al-

ready have their third edition of a history book — complete with photos and an index?

Why, Mercer Island, of course.The latest edition is due out this winter:

“Mercer Island History: From Haunted Wilderness to Coveted Community.”

The new book builds on the first two editions of “Mercer Island Heritage,” by Judy Gellatly. Islander Phil Flash and the Mer-cer Island Historical Society have lead the ef-fort to update the book, first written in 1977 and updated in 1989.

According to lead au-thor, City Councilmem-ber and former editor of the Mercer Island Reporter, Jane Meyer Brahm, “this is a whole new book.”

It is based on the orig-inal, she explained, but it has been re-edited and completely reor-ganized in parts with new information, more photos, art and maps. It also includes a timeline that runs throughout the book.

“We wanted to make it both visually interesting and very read-able,” she said.

When the text is complete, the book will be indexed as well.

It will be sold exclusively through Is-land Books.

The committee of writers and contribu-tors also includes Susan Blake, Sally York Brown, Laurie McHale, Dick Decker and Nancy Hilliard.

The group, all distinguished by their long tenure on the Island and commit-ment to the community, is bound by their love of the Island and their back-ground as journalists. Four are former writers who worked together for a time at the Mercer Island Reporter.

After all, it is said that “newspapers are the first version of history.”

Despite the technology available now,

finding and reproducing photos for cer-tain time periods proved difficult. For example, in the 1977 book, there was a chapter called “The Fantastic Fifties” that did not include a single photo.

The new book will include a “Then and Now” photo section with previously un-published historical photos, color photos from the last 30 years, and a number of historic maps.

Faced with cost and space constraints on the project, the committee had to be

selective in what to in-clude.

“We’ve not been able to include the level of detail or depth some people might like be-cause of space — which, in book publishing, translates to cost,” she explained. “The aim was to keep the price at $40 or under.”

The target audience is the average person, not the historian or the aca-demic.

The committee would like to see this book on every coffee table on the Island.

“We are not historians, but we’re very interested in history and love this community. We’re jour-nalists, and we love dig-

ging into the story,” Meyer Brahm said. One of the surprises that the authors

found as they delved into the past includ-ed a proposal by a Seattle official to buy all of Mercer Island for a park. In 1911, there were already a few residents on the Island. The measure would have taxed Seattle voters to buy up the entire Island.

The voters rejected this plan by nearly two to one.

At the heart of the book is the story of the rugged and independent people who came to call the Island their home. Sur-rounded by water, they were self-reliant pioneers. There’s an element of that “Is-lander” mentality still today.

The completed book will be a 9-by-12-inch hardback with 240 pages. A launch party for the new book will be held at Is-land Books later in the year.

Islanders revise and expand Mercer Island History book

The History Book editorial committee is looking for sponsors to help pay for the printing of the book.

Donors of $50 or more will be listed in the front of the book; donors of $500 or more will also receive a complimentary copy of the book.

The Mercer Island Historical Society is a nonprofit, 501c3 or-ganization, and do-nations are tax-de-ductible.

Call 232-3404 for information.

Looking east toward Mercer Island in 1940 at the ribbon cutting for the I-90 bridge, courtesy of the Mercer Island Historical Society. Contributed photo.

Page 10: 98040 - Island Summer 2012

A distressing set of headlines appeared on the front page of the ‘Mercer Islander’ newspaper that arrived on Island doorsteps on Aug. 25, 1949.

The dozens of docks on the Island shoreline were ordered to be closed. A local commissioner, Dean McLean, declared the docks to be “unsafe.” “It is not right to maintain recreational activity without ad-equate supervision,” he said.

The staff of the Islander dutifully called the commissioner, but did not receive a reply. The indignation of the editor is apparent in the use of up-percase text throughout the story

Only a month earlier, the county engineer issued a similar order to tear down all docks on Mercer Island because they were “condemned and unsafe.” The Commissioner later stopped this order because of the need for the fire department to pump water from the lake. However, the story goes on to tell Islanders the alarming news that not only would the docks be torn down at some point, but that the roads leading to them

would be closed.

It is not difficult to imagine how Island residents reacted to this news.

Judge L.C. Brodbeck weighed in on the matter, saying the docks and landings must be preserved for the children and that there were “land-grabbers” afoot. It is not known how the situation turned out. The docks remained in place. But, suspicion of government might have ruled the day. The dystopian novel “1984,” by George Orwell, had been published earlier in the year.

P erhaps more alarming are the news briefs in the center of page one that report the death of a 30-year-old athletic coach at Overlake High School, from polio. He was taken to the hospital

and died just 12 hours later.

The teen dance set for the weekend was cancelled. A county health department official told the Islander that the situation regarding the spread of polio was “not yet alarming.”

PAGE 10 98040 | JUNE 2012 | ISLANDSUMMER

A 1949 issue of the ‘Mercer Islander’ was found at an Island home being readied for sale after the death of its longtime owners.

ISLAND CRISES 1949

Page 11: 98040 - Island Summer 2012

98040 | JUNE 2012 | ISLANDSUMMER PAGE 11

Website ‘Sharing Spree’ offers discounts that

give back

by Brita Moore

S ince its inception in Portland in January 2011, the website Shar-ing Spree has reached three other

American cities, including Seattle. Now Mercer Island mom Liz Kenny serves as the community relations director for Seattle’s chapter of the site, which adver-tises discounts of 50-90 percent at local hotspots while sending 10-15 percent of the proceeds to nonprofit organizations.

Sharing Spree is a daily deal site, similar

to Groupon or Living Social. With each deal, there is a featured non-

profit that receives 10 percent of the pro-ceeds of each “spree” that customers pur-chase online.

“I love the idea of both daily deals and giving back to the com-munity,” Kenny said.

Another positive aspect of Sharing Spree is that it is family-oriented, which is important for many Islanders.

“Because our demographic is generally women with children, we try to get places that are fam-ily friendly.”

Kenny said that working with the site it-self is beneficial to her own family life.

“Sharing Spree really believes in this whole work and family thing — the chance to be with your family as well as do your work,” Kenny said.

The Mercer Island Preschool Association is one Island non-profit partnering with Shar-ing Spree. Kenny said that each nonprofit featured on the site is paired with a deal at a merchant that works well with it.

“For instance, if we have a non-profit on Mercer Island, we would match them up with a merchant on Mercer Island,” Kenny said.

Spa Mercer and Mercer Wellness are two Island merchants to have participated with the site. Effleurage, a spa in Issaquah,

is also a recent merchant to offer a deal for a facial at half price. Sprees have been offered at kid-oriented places such as Sky High.

Kenny hopes that the Mercer Island Schools Foundation will also become a partner.

“It’s so easy for the nonprofits,” Kenny said. “They become a partner, and we give them all the tools they need to make this possible.”

For more information or to sign up, visit www.sharingspree.com.

Sharing Spree is on Facebook at fa-cebook.com/SharingSpreeSeattle and Twitter at @sharingspreesea. Interested merchants or nonprofits can contact Liz Kenny at [email protected].

Liz Kenny

It is all about shopping and sharing

Page 12: 98040 - Island Summer 2012

PAGE 12 98040 | JUNE 2012 | ISLANDSUMMERThis Could Be You Crossroads 9x11 OL.pdf 1 6/6/12 11:58 AM