Winter ferry rates return

Ferry travel prices will change in a little over a week.

A peak season surcharge is added for vehicles and drivers paying full fare between May 1 and Sept. 30, the busiest time of year for the ferry system. However, at the same time the surcharge ends (Oct. 1), a 4.25% general fare increase will be kicking in for passengers and vehicles.

This means prices will increase for some travelers and decrease for others. (Prices are the same for the Fauntleroy-Vashon, Southworth-Vashon and Pt. Defiance-Tahlequah routes.)

For example, the cost for an adult walk-on passenger was $6.50 this summer. Starting in October, it will rise to $6.75. The standard vehicle rate, however, will fall from $28.30 to $23.75. And a multi-ride commuter card for standard vehicles will rise from $180.80 to $188.70.

To look up the cost of a ride on any route, visit www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/fares.

Ferry fees are one-way and are only collected when traveling onto Vashon. It’s always free to leave the island on a ferry.

Gerie Wilson Grant

A new grant fund has been created in conjunction with islander Gerie Wilson’s family to honor her legacy of bringing joy and play into her multiage classroom at Chautauqua Elementary School, and taking her students into the school’s garden to play.

Wilson, an acclaimed and beloved teacher, died on July 24, after a brief battle with cancer.

The Gerie Wilson Play Grant will support play-based projects at Chautauqua that do not involve any technology, and the grant proposals will be led by students, with teacher support. Projects may be submitted by November 30 and February 28, and applicants will get a response within 10 days. The grant’s board is made up of Wilson’s former multiage classroom teammates, Joleen McCauley, Aristy Gill, Glenda Berliner, and Carolyn Candy.

To donate to the fund, visit vashonpie.org/donate and write “Gerie Wilson Play Grant” into the line that asks donors to identify who their donation will honor. Donors can also mail checks to PIE at PO Box 1645, and specify “In Honor of Gerie Wilson.” Donations to the Gerie Grant are not donations to PIE’s general grant fund, which supports grants to the entire district. PIE asks donors to support both.

Cars damaged

Two unoccupied cars were crushed in the Tahlequah ferry dock parking lot on the afternoon of Saturday, Sept. 14, when a large madrona tree on the hill next to the parking lot fell into the lot. Vashon Island Fire & Rescue personnel responded to clear heavy limbs and brush that had covered the vehicles. No one was injured in the incident.

The Gerie Wilson Play Grant will fund play-based projects that do not involve any technology. (Courtesy photo)

Two cars sustained significant damage when a large madrona tree fell on them in the Tahlequah Ferry Dock parking lot. (Vashon Island Fire Rescue photo.)