Stan Weston knows everything that happens on Fox Island. A longtime resident of the area, the retired insurance agent and veteran of the U.S. Army knows how to keep his eyes peeled. If a new family moves in a few blocks away from his home, for example, he knows which day they started unpacking.
More than 650 high school graduates from Gig Harbor and the Key Peninsula walked across the stage to receive their diplomas last week.
Bree LeRoy proudly shows her diploma to the large crowd assembled Sunday at the Tacoma Dome for both Peninsula and Gig Harbor High schools' graduation ceremonies. Henderson Bay High School held its graduation Friday evening at Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church.
Jenna Peterson and Ashlynne Perez, both 11, have fun Friday on bouncy balls at Purdy Elementary School's field day. The kids were able to enjoy many different activities under partly sunny skies. The last day of school is next Wednesday, June 18.
A toll bridge, a movie theater, a Costco and numerous other changes have been popping up around Gig Harbor in the past few years. Change has been one of the only constants in the ever-growing fisherman’s village.
This weekend’s Maritime Gig Festival should have something for everyone. Residents can stroll, shop, eat and listen to music while learning about the harbor’s maritime history with interactive events such as boat caulking and kayak demonstrations. This is the time of year when the city throws open its doors and hosts a two-day celebration of culinary delights, entertainment and heritage for salty dogs and landlubbers alike.
The symbolic turning of the soil last Thursday, just off Skansie Avenue, marked the ground breaking of Gig Harbor’s Boys & Girls Club, the Jim and Carolyn Milgard Family HOPE Center. The Milgards were there, along with state and county officials, the Kopachuck Middle School jazz band, the Gig Harbor High School jazz choir and the Peninsula High School cheerleading squad.
On a busy Friday afternoon in downtown Gig Harbor, Paul Kadzik stood on a gray wooden dock at the end of Dorotich Street, just a few feet from Harborview Drive. Behind him was a view of Gig Harbor Bay: The water was filled with boats and the coastline covered in homes. In front of him was the downtown corridor, where cars drove along Harborview Drive and people walked in and out of local businesses.
Pierce County Careers Connection will celebrate its annual Excellence in Multi-Media Awards program in grand style this year at the Uptown Galaxy Theatre in Gig Harbor on Thursday night.
Gig Harbor American Legion Post 236 Honor Guard fired a 21-gun salute during Monday’s Memorial Day ceremonies at Artondale Cemetery. A crowd of 50 veterans and families attended the annual event, which honored those who gave their lives in defense of our country.
John Glennon opens his well-worn leather wallet and produces a photograph he keeps with him all the time. It’s a picture of him at the 50th Anniversary of D-Day in Portsmith, England, engaged in a handshake with Queen Elizabeth — the “Queen Mother.”
Given the chance, Marian Call could probably play any instrument. With a lifetime of experience — she comes from a musically inclined family, played the piano for years and studied composition at Stanford University — the Gig Harbor native oozes classical talent. These days, though, she’s focused on a new sound: The combination of her own voice and a typewriter.
Rachel Stork Crane remembers her father, Mike Stork, as a magician. With a classroom full of 6- and 7-year-old first-graders, he was mesmerizing.
The Gathering Place at Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church was filled with friends, family and community members Monday night to celebrate the Sixth Annual Students of Distinction and first Alumni of Distinction banquet.
Bob Mortimer is not the kind of man to keep secrets. He’s willing to tell his life story, down to the most personal and painful details, to anyone who asks. The Gig Harbor resident has even made a career of talking about his own experiences. For more than 20 years, he has owned and operated Bob Mortimer Motivational Ministries. He has traveled nationwide, giving inspirational speeches at churches, schools and jails.
Gig Harbor. The Maritime City. The sign beckons visitors down its steep hills into the harbor, yet when they get close, they realize there are very few places they can actually get near the water. But that’s not how it used to be. The Maritime City was once just that — a town whose livelihood not only existed near the sea, but depended on it.
Two days after she was diagnosed with lung cancer, Terri Hunziker decided to take charge of her life. It was four years ago when Hunziker, a former science teacher, found out she had non-small cell adenocarcinoma. She first visited a doctor because she was experiencing pain in her shoulder — a discomfort she initially thought was caused by carrying around her then-11-month-old son, Bryson. But when the pain didn’t go away, Hunziker went to her family doctor, who ordered X-rays to examine her shoulder more closely.
Steve Olson has always been a deep thinker. He ponders things now, as he did in high school, when it sometimes got in the way of his athletic abilities.
Shawn Matthew Perez sits in a wheelchair in his kitchen with a firefighter’s hat on his lap. The hat is emblazoned with well-wishes from the Key Peninsula Fire Department: “We all wish you a quick recovery,” “Hope to see you soon!” and “Rock Star!”
Lute Jerstad was a man on the move. He didn’t do well sitting still. It’s hard to say whether he was blessed or cursed with a powerful internal momentum that pushed him into a remarkably adventurous trek through life. That journey took him from a shoebox warmed by a heat lamp on a Minnesota farm, where he spent his first weeks in this world, to the top of Mount Everest, where he made mountaineering history by surviving a freezing night in the open at 28,000 feet.
Last week marked two important dates for Lane Judson. Thursday, April 24, was his daughter Crystal’s birthday. But rather than celebrating the day, Lane and his wife, Patty, were reminded of another event — the five-year anniversary of one the biggest crimes in Gig Harbor history.
Jake Bujacich casually walked into the Gig Harbor Civic Center on Saturday with several photographs tucked under his arm. “Is that my neighbor?” he asked when he saw Dick Allen seated at a table going over some old photos with architectural preservationists Julie Koler and Mildred Andrew.
The Gig Harbor and Key peninsulas boast a multitude of parks and open spaces for the public to enjoy, and on April 19, local residents will have their chance to give back to the park system during Parks Appreciation Day.
Parents of school age children will soon have another outlet to send their children when a Boys & Girls Club community center opens in Gig Harbor.
