When Emir Nohutcu was preparing to leave his native Turkey last summer for a year on Vashon, he turned for advice to his uncle, an Istanbul ophthalmologist who had been an exchange student in Philadelphia 30 years ago.
Wasn’t it just last week that you read about vandalism in this very spot? Well, it happened again. This time, Vashon’s unidentified troublemakers smashed into the Island’s public schools and several school buses between 3 and 4 a.m. last Tuesday.
I sat in stunned silence listening to a visiting Rabbi explain that many Jews today debate whether or not they are really a “chosen people.”
We ought to be embarrassed.
For years, our community has squabbled and kibitzed over the need for a remodeled high school without ever calling the question to a vote.
While it’s wonderful to hear that the Island has seen a slight decline in assaults and other serious crimes in the last year, a contrasting yet unsurprising crime statistic is disheartening: “Quality of life” crimes on Vashon have seen a 20 percent spike since 2007.
The spherical webs of the forest spiders glisten in the afternoon sunlight, the slight breeze stirring the yellowing leaves of the Indian plum and unleashing a sprinkling of fir and hemlock needles. The crunch of the madrona’s leaves and peeled bark under my feet is the only sound except for the territorial chatter and occasional piercing alarm cry of the native Douglas squirrel. The image of the squirrel, at the top of Douglas fir trees tossing down ripe cones to then gather and store, is the quintessential expression of this season: a celebration of the bountiful summer harvest with an equal appreciation for the need to begin storing for winter. I call this season “Hints of Autumn in the Undercurrent of Summer.”
Boy, have we been busy!
My first home on Vashon was a nine-month winter rental.
I love you. You’re terrific. Great job. Congratulations. I’m so proud of you.
There have been many questions raised about Chautauqua’s preschool program. As a parent of a 4-year-old who attended this program for the past two years, I can honestly say that I am honored to be a part of it, both as parent and principal. The following is my attempt at providing a brief overview of the program, including how students are being served, the district’s obligations for providing a preschool program and where we go from here.
As many of us now know, the Island’s synagogue was broken into and defaced. Written on the west-facing wall, near the ark where the Torah is kept, were the words “God Hates Jews,” accompanied by a Nazi swastika.
I recall a woman telling me once at a party years ago that her 12-year-old was rebelling, starting to date boys too early and starting to be snappy and surly. I listened with trepidation, holding my new baby in my arms and wondering how I could avoid this fate. I remember the woman sighed deeply and said something to the effect of, “I don’t know what good it will do me to correct anything at this point. All of those parenting experts say that once your kid hits 13, you’ve done pretty much all you can do. From there on in, your kid is raised by their peers.”
It’s been an intense week on Vashon Island in the aftermath of the Havurat Ee Shalom’s desecration. Stars of David, many of them printed and distributed by Islander Alice Orr, have been posted on windows, cars, even front doors. A vigil — organized by Father Tryphon — drew perhaps 100 people. Television crews arrived on Vashon, visiting, among others, The Beachcomber office. (They wanted a copy of the photograph we ran in last week’s paper of the anti-Semitic graffiti at the synagogue.) And finally, the King County Sheriff’s Office and Prosecutor’s Office have begun investigating the incident as a hate crime, calling it “a textbook case,” as deputy prosecutor Mike Hogan put it.
