News

2022 in review: Our writers’ favorite stories

Posted on December 29th, 2022 By: Gig Harbor Now Staff

As we wrap up 2022, we asked our staff and regular contributors to think about the stories they wrote this year and pick one or two favorites. “Favorite” could mean anything … most impactful, most meaningful, most fun, most memorable.

The results were a mixture of inspirational stories, historic accomplishments, iconic businesses … and cute animals.

Charlee Glock-Jackson’s favorite stories: Our Fisherman, Our Guardian and Students of Distinction

First is my story about the installation of the Our Fisherman, Our Guardian statue at Austin Park at txʷaalqəł Estuary. That is such a momentous accomplishment for Gig Harbor – to finally acknowledge and honor the people who lived here for centuries before the white pioneers arrived.

A Puyallup Tribe canoe approaches Austin Park at txʷaalqəł Estuary during Thursday’s dedication ceremony for Our Fisherman, Our Guardian. Larry Steagall

Second is my Students of Distinction series. Telling those kids’ stories of struggle, triumph and success was an inspiration and a cause for hope for our collective future.

– Charlee Glock-Jackson

Christina T. Henry’s favorite story: Peninsula High Key Club’s teddy bear drive

Peninsula’s High School’s Key Club has partnered with an organization in Ukraine that not only advocates for children but gives them a worldwide platform to speak about the horrible impacts of war. I found the videos of the children telling their stories in their own words highly compelling and powerful.

Also compelling was the information shared at a Key Club meeting by Pastor Mark Suko of Gig Harbor and his Ukrainian granddaughters, 16 and 17, who are attending school in the U.S. because of the war. All of this was eye-opening for me and for Key Club students.

I hope the story brought home to readers the personal toll of the war in Ukraine that most of us only know about from the national news. At the same time, it was uplifting to hear from Key Club members, whose hope is that the teddy bear drive idea will spread beyond PHS and Gig Harbor. Everybody understands that teddy bears are relatively insignificant in the scale of horror involved in the war. But hopefully they’ll bring some joy to kids who’ve been lacking it.

We’ll be following up in February when the collection ends and the teddy bears are shipped. I was grateful to get to do this story.

– Christina T. Henry

Noelle Suko, 17, of Ukraine, smiles at a teddy bear during a Key Club meeting Nov. 15, 2022, at Peninsula High School. Key Club students are collecting teddy bears for Ukrainian children traumatized by that country’s war with Russia. Suko and her sister Anastasia, 16 (left) are temporarily living with their grandfather Mark Suko (left of Anastasia), pastor of Discovery Baptist Church in Gig Harbor. Christina T Henry

Dennis Browne’s favorite story: An improbable finish on the pitch

Picking my favorite story that I covered in 2022 might be the toughest assignment of the year, considering all the amazing athletic accomplishments that I have seen. But my favorite story of the year was the girls soccer rematch between Peninsula and Gig Harbor. It featured an improbable finish and intensity to burn.

Both teams were undefeated in the South Sound Conference and ranked among the top 5 Class 3A teams in the state. The Tides led the two teams’ first meeting of the season, 2-0, before the Seahawks scored two second-half goals to earn a tie. A league title was on the line in the Oct. 25 rematch. Players competed in a howling wind in front of a full house. I was the only non-athlete or coach on the far sideline, positioned between both benches. The vantage point provided a position to watch both coaches imploring their teams to victory in contrasting styles and ultra-competitive athletes pushing their bodies to the point of exhaustion.

Peninsula’s Stella Demianiw scored the tying goal with only 2 seconds remaining to assure Peninsula a share of the South Sound Conference championship with Gig Harbor. Photo by Bryce Carithers

Late in the game, Gig Harbor held a 1-0 lead and their fans were counting down the seconds. Then Peninsula’s Stella Demianiw headed a ball over the Gig Harbor goalie’s head on the last touch of the game, scoring with two seconds remaining to earn a share of the SSC crown with a stunned Gig Harbor team. As Tides players fell to the ground, Demianiw raced to her mother, Seahawks coach Kim, for an emotional embrace. Meanwhile, Tides coach Katie Bennett rushed to console her dejected players.

The unpredictable, surreal scene captured why so many play, watch and are mesmerized by sports. Determination, competitiveness, intrigue, elation, heartbreak, compassion, joy and love were all on display directly in front of me, in a captivating moment that represented the very best of what high school athletics has to offer.

– Dennis Browne

Ed Friedrich’s favorite story: Rescued puppies flown in to Narrows Airport

Kris Coalman of Gig Harbor adopted one of eight rescued puppies after their incredible journey from Zihuantanejo, Mexico, ended at Tacoma Narrows Airport. She named the lucky black Lab-looking pup Lola.

The former callejeros, or street dogs, had been saved by the Surfers for Strays program and delivered to the local airport in a corporate jet by do-gooders Grant and Shawna Korgan and Shawn Linch. The other seven dogs would be enjoying new homes around the region by the end of the day. Coalman, a special education teacher at Bremerton’s West Hills Restorative School, said her work with the dog rescue group is changing her life. It certainly changed Lola’s.

Jenni Miller and Kris Coalman cuddle with their new puppies, Poppy and Lola.

It was impossible to remain an objective reporter and not become part of the joy. From the three adopting women watching and waiting in anticipation at a restaurant window. Cheering and waving as the jet rolled past and taxied to a stop. Racing for a first peek as the steps flopped down and cages came out. The camaraderie of six people who had never met, united in a worthy cause.

And especially the puppies of myriad sizes, colors and patterns wagging, wiggling, squirming, and cuddling and kissing their heroes.

– Ed Friedrich

The puppies are unloaded after their plane trip from Santa Monica Airport.

Julie Warrick Ammann’s favorite stories: Heritage Distilling and Patterson’s Market

Maybe you’ve enjoyed a flavored vodka (coffee vodka, yes please) or single-barrel whiskey at one of the Heritage Distilling tasting rooms. But Heritage isn’t just making a name for itself in the spirits business, they have been playing a role in changing U.S. history.

Shoppers browse inside Heritage Distilling Company’s Gig Harbor tasting room. Julie Warrick Ammann

When Heritage teamed up with the Chehalis Tribe to open a tribally-owned distillery, they hit a historical roadblock. An arcane 1834 federal law prohibited distilleries on tribal lands. While the bulldozers on the construction of the new distillery stopped (temporarily), they did not. The business partners headed to Washington (the other one) and successfully lobbied Congress. In 2018, lawmakers repealed the Andrew Jackson-era statute. “I really like working with tribes,” Heritage Distilling President Justin Stiefel told me, to help them “exercise their sovereign rights.” Today, Talking Cedar is the first legal tribally-owned distillery in the US.

Days after our Gig Harbor Now interview, Heritage Distilling made a significant announcement. They were going public, with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger. About the merger, Justin said: “The craft and skills we’ve honed in our hometown have allowed us to create a one-of-a-kind company that encompasses family, craft distilling, award-winning products, and it has fostered entrepreneurship and innovation in our tasting rooms and in our Tribal Beverage Network. This proposed merger would allow those skills and ideas to scale, with the goal of becoming the industry’s leading craft spirits distillery with a national distribution footprint. Essentially bringing a little bit of that Gig Harbor spirit to the rest of the country.”

History is made, and history ends. Forty-three years of history are coming to a close for Patterson’s open-air Market, at least for their current Gig Harbor location on 38th Avenue and 55th Street. We will continue to follow Patterson’s Market in 2023. Where will they land, and will you be there for the fruit, flowers, and seasonal treats?

– Julie Warrick Ammann

Hailey Patterson works the cash register next to a notice of Patterson Farm Stand’s eviction. Julie Warrick Ammann

Vince Dice’s favorite story: Gumdrop the pig

One would think that Dragon Boats would be the most unusual thing that a Gig Harbor newcomer like myself noticed at the races in April. But they weren’t. That’d be the guy walking his pig.

Gumdrop meets a new friend at the 2022 Paddlers Cup Dragon Boat races in April. Vince Dice

The guy was Robert Loehr and the pig was Gumdrop. Loehr and wife Dr. Kandi Moller walk Gumdrop around town for exercise, and to promote their Eye Candy Uptown Gig Harbor optometry practice. Some Gumdrop fun facts included in our subsequent story: 1) Gumdrop is a “miniature” pig, who weighs 135 pounds. 2) Gumdrop is house trained, but her litter box is a kiddie pool. 3) Her favorite food is peanut butter.

Not everybody gets to spend a work day hanging out with and taking pictures of a cute pig. Guess I’m lucky that way.

Gumdrop gets a treat from Robert Loehr outside Eye Candy Optical in Uptown Gig Harbor. Vince Dice

Honorable mention for my favorite stories: Watching volunteers pull English Ivy off trees abutting Nelyaly Creek on a hazy, smoky September morning; meeting Carlene Lai Fook to talk about Marketplace Grill‘s new location; and covering a debate between political candidates of opposite parties who appear to — gasp — not hate each other.

– Vince Dice