Saturday Thumbs
Saturday, April 12, 2008 5:53 PM PDT
Printable version
E-mail this articleSharing the magic
A rustle of satin and a thumb up to the women at Valley Christian Center in Longview who have created the Angel Closet, rows of beautiful prom dresses offered free to area girls.
Proms are a rite of passage and a blast. But the price of formal wear has gone through the roof, stressing families who can't afford them but want their young adults to shine. Barbara Brudvik and Judy Kilde spend months collecting dresses in all sizes, and all in mint condition, then hold giveaways so girls can try them on and choose. One is today, another is April 26, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 2911 Pacific Way. (If you have dresses to donate, please call 274-4220.)
Most prom dresses are worn once or twice at best. Thanks to the hard work of these fairy God-mothers, the community can come together and share the magic.
Clear sailing - or skating - ahead
Area skateboarders and Kelso city officials received the news they'd been hoping for last week. Kelso has won a $150,000 state Youth Athletic Facilities grant to help develop a long-planned skateboard park at the corner of Minor Road and Burcham Street. When combined with $163,000 in matching funds from the city, a $10,000 Tony Hawk Foundation grant, money pledge by the Kelso Rotary and private donations, the state grant brings project funding to within $30,000 of the $405,000 cost estimate.
"I've been looking forward to hearing this for quite some time," Kelso Mayor David Futcher told Daily News reporter Amy M.E. Fischer. "I can't see anything getting in our way now." After some four years of uncertainty, that statement must be music to skateboarders' ears.
'Award' is well-deserved
The Federal Emergency Management Agency this week was named a "winner" of a Jefferson Muzzle Award, according to Washington Post columnist Al Kamen. The awards are handed out each year by the Virginia-based Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression. The recipients, though, are no protectors of free expression. It takes an uncommon affront to free expression to earn the Muzzle Award.
FEMA earned its award with the phony press conference it conducted last fall to pat itself on the back for a heck of a job responding to the Southern California wildfires. There were no questions from reporters, just softballs tossed up to a FEMA official by FEMA employees pretending to be reporters. A most deserving recipient, indeed.
A winning team
Thumbs up to a couple of young Kalama scientists, Dylan Barker and Levi Orem. The two second-graders teamed up to win first place in their division last weekend at the Washington State Science and Engineering Fair in Bremerton. Their winning experiment - "How Far Will the Arrow Go?" - examined how force (the distance the bow string is drawn back) and angle (the elevation of the bow at the moment of release) influences the distance the arrow travels.
The 8-year-olds were particularly impressive in their interview with the judges, according to Daily News reporter Leila Summers. Kalama fifth-grade teacher and science club advisor Todd Paget said, "They really knew their project thoroughly."
Past Month's Most Commented Stories