Nick Co, 15, and the dive master take a moment to double check insulated gloves, hood and wet suit between dives. By Judy Co

Cold waters greeted Boy Scouts from Troop No. 609.

Submerging up to 60 feet underwater, 20 of the 39 troop members completed their final dive off Alki Beach for their Professional Association of Diver Instructors certification for scuba diving and their Boy Scout merit badge.

“I’ve been scuba diving before in Maui and it was one of the most fun experiences of my life,” said Scout Sean Fite, 14, who goes to Eastside Catholic High School. “This opportunity came up and I thought I should take it to get my full certification.”

“It was cold,” said Scout Will Dodeward, 15, who goes to Mount Si High School. “I know 46 degrees doesn’t sound cold, but it’s cold.”

These boys seem to be the first ones in the nation to complete the required courses and training for the new Boy Scout merit badge added this year by the national offices, said parent volunteer Judy Co. The troop is the first to place an order for the merit badge, but there is no national database to confirm it for sure, she added.

Troop 609 is one of the largest troops in the area, with members ranging in age from 11-18 and attending schools in Issaquah, North Bend, Sammamish and Renton.

Beneath the water’s surface — once the shock of the cold water wore off — the boys saw a world full of marine diversity.

“We saw rat fish, artist crab, red rock crabs, sea slugs and feather coral,” Sean said.

The boys said they also found other interesting things, like toilets, water bottles and plates from Salty’s Restaurant, which weren’t altogether great for the environment, but provided new shelter for marine life.

Before the boys could enter the frigid water of Puget Sound, they spent weeks training in a pool, learning about regulators, dive gauges and safety with Seattle Scuba Schools.

“We had to practice removing our masks and clearing and putting them back on under water,” Sean said. “That was the scary part. You kind of panicked, but it’s good to know.”

The boys didn’t just take the classes to claim bragging rights, Scout Master David Marsh said. Seven of the boys are in the process of training for an upcoming diving adventure to Florida.

In August, the boys and five parent volunteers are headed to The Florida National High Adventure Sea Base.

Sea Base — as it’s commonly referred to by the boys — is a High Adventure camp that offers unique educational aquatic programs, according to its Web site. The Boy Scouts’ High Adventure camps are often longer in duration and allow boys in-depth learning opportunities about a single subject, like aquatic environments or mountainous regions.

“Scuba diving is a really cool experience and it is a great skill to have,” said Scout Andrew Marsh, 15, a freshman at the Pacific Cascade Freshman Campus.

Sea Base is owned and operated by the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America. It is based in the Florida Keys, with many smaller base destinations the boys will travel to by ship, like Islamorada, Summerland Key Marsh Harbour, Great Abaco Island and the Bahamas.

There, the boys will find crystal-clear waters to explore marine life in the offshore coral reefs.

“I really want to see octopus and tropical fish,” said Scout Nick Co, a Pacific Cascade student. “Something more eye pleasing.”

During the adventure, the boys will put their new scuba skills to use and learn to sail the 57-foot schooner they will live on.

During the trip, they’ll complete 15 dives, including three night dives.

The boys will learn about corals and reef ecosystems, as well as reef conservation and methods being used to help preserve them, Marsh said.

They will also have the opportunity to earn additional Professional Association of Diver Instructors certifications.

“This is something he is really interested in doing,” said Will’s mother, Angela Dodeward. “It is a great learning experience.”

But more than that, their Scout master hopes it’s a new skill, like many Boy Scouting skills, that the boys will take with them throughout their lives.

“Anything active these guys are involved in that gets them outside and away from the screen is a good thing,” Marsh said. “We really try to encourage them to push themselves and try new things, like hiking, climbing mountains and scuba diving. These are all things they can do for a lifetime and Boy Scouts encourages that.”

Chantelle Lusebrink: 392-6434, ext. 241, or clusebrink@isspress.com. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.

The new Eastridge Christian Assembly building’s soaring interior is big enough to house 45-foot tall fireplaces. By Greg Farrar

When the congregation of Eastridge Christian Assembly outgrew its current facility, its leaders decided to go big for their next church.

A ribbon cutting for the new building is March 20 and the community will get its first look at the upgrades designed for its growing needs.

“The new building is almost four times bigger than the current size,” said senior pastor Steve Jamison. “The area for children alone is the size of the current building.”

To welcome the congregation, organizers are rolling out the red carpet. In addition to city and state dignitaries invited to the ribbon cutting ceremony, Eastridge Christian Assembly has invited guest speakers Matthew Barnett, best-selling author of “The Church That Never Sleeps,” and Pastor John K. Jenkins Sr., senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Glenarden in Landover, Md. To cap the festivities off is a performance by Grammy nominated artist Matthew West.

Established in 1964, Eastridge Christian Assembly had been on Issaquah-Pine Lake Road since the 1990s. When the sanctuary’s seating capacity of 400 inside a 17,500 square-foot building could not fully service a congregation of 1,300, it was time to move.

Jamison said the process began in the early 2000s, and a large parcel of land was purchased in 2002. Actually a couple blocks apart, the visual sightline of the two facilities makes it appear the two driveways lead right to one another.

The new facility — at 72,000 square feet and encompassing 20 acres — is now the ideal place for families to build upon their lives, Jamison said.

“A lot of thought went into every piece,” he said.

The new sanctuary seats 1,450 on a tiered design, making it easier for those in the back to see over the heads of those closer to the stage.

Jamison added that the sanctuary’s lateral design also allows more to fit in closer to the stage. In addition, it doubles as a banquet hall where tables can be set with seating for 800 or more. He confirmed the church has already received multiple requests to host future events, but won’t say who just yet.

The new campus has design features throughout to attract its core audience — families. In the entrance is a café/lounge area. Mid building is an indoor play park, Adventure Land, with tree houses for the kids. It flows into the classrooms. Next to that is the community area for youth with its own mini-stage for productions and other community events.

“We’ve put a big emphasis on being family oriented,” Jamison said. “We’re trying to see how we can best serve families in our community, adding benefits and value, both spiritual and practical.”

List of events

Eastridge Christian Assembly new campus dedication

Ribbon cutting and First Service: 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. March 20

Matthew West concert, with guest speaker Pastor John K. Jenkins — 6-9 p.m.

www.eastridgeassembly.com

Sean Quinn, raised in Boston (which explains the Red Sox cap and Absolut Boston vodka bottle) sits in the Flat Iron Grill restaurant he and wife Barbara Paxa have opened in Gilman Village. By Greg Farrar

It’s been a long haul for some businesses in Gilman Village amid the clutch of an economic recession. Tried and true spots, like restaurant Sweet Addition, have left and other new ones have come and gone so quickly you can’t remember the names.

Yet, the quaint village remains a place where dreams are started.

Scrubbing and cleaning, painting and decorating — that’s the tough part for Snoqualmie resident and regionally renowned chef Sean Quinn.

“She’s doing the painting,” he said about his wife and co-owner Barb Paxa. “That’s her job and we’re getting there.”

By far, Quinn said he prefers being elbow deep in ingredients and manning the grill to create delectable dishes — it’s what he’s been doing for the past 26 years.

The couple opened The Flat Iron Grill, 317 N.W. Gilman Blvd., on Feb. 10, at the village’s heart, with a mission to bring adventurous twists to Northwest cuisine.

“I really like Latin food and Southern food,” Quinn said. “We’ll definitely use a lot of Northwest food and local stuff — produce, seafood and meats that we’ll work into the menu.

“It will really tie into the Northwest steak and seafood with a little twist.”

They aren’t the only ones, however. Paxa and Quinn join two other restaurants recently opened in Gilman Village, Macky’s Dim Sum and Billy Bob’s Burgers & BBQ. Each brings its own twist to Gilman Village and will hopefully help bring a resurgence to the area.

Working regionally for the past 26 years, Quinn comes with all of the knowledge necessary to make his business a success, including a client and employee base, Paxa said.

“There are a lot of people excited to have him return to the Eastside,” she said. “In fact, one of our service people has been with Sean for more than 12 years. They come to him to come back to work.”

But Quinn’s venture into the culinary world was nearly accidental, the result of an injury on the soccer field, he said.

“I played soccer. That was my life at Western (Washington University) until I blew my knee out,” he said. “In Bellingham, I started washing dishes at a Sea Galley and I haven’t been able to find my way out yet.”

In 1993, he returned to school, this time at South Seattle Community College as a student in the culinary program there.

After graduation, he rose through the ranks at The Keg to become an executive chef, after which he began a career at Daniel’s Broiler in Bellevue as its executive chef. In 2000, he made the move to Seattle’s El Gaucho team.

Quinn has successfully helped create and open four restaurants in the greater Tacoma area, including El Gaucho in Tacoma in 2001; Asado, an Argentine steak house; Mesa, a Mexican concept restaurant; and Maxwell’s Restaurant and Lounge.

“You go to culinary school to learn how or why things go together,” he said. “But actually learning about restaurant operation, you have to go to work. That is the only way you get the restaurant business.”

The couple said they chose the former Iris Grill location in Gilman Village because of its location — downtown Issaquah, which allures both residents from Bellevue and Snoqualmie.

“Here, the household income is still pretty good and there is still a small-town feel,” Quinn said. “We want to give something new, different and fresh and that’s locally owned, a nice alternative to the chains.”

However, he still wants his restaurant to have the flavors and dining experience he is used to giving.

“In an economy like this, people are looking for value. You can’t serve them El Gaucho priced meats, though,” he said. “We took off the white tablecloths to give them that. We would rather see people in here two times a week than just once a month.”

They also have an affinity for the charm of vintage construction and the warmth of a small town-feel.

“We bought a 1910 farmhouse with wrap-around decks and have rebuilt it from the drywall out,” Paxa said of their downtown Snoqualmie home, which they’ve lived in for 10 years. “We like it because you can put your own stamp on it, kind of like this village.”

In phase two of their restaurant plan, Quinn said, he will turn the bakery area into a lunch counter.

Lunch service started March 15 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. So did happy hours from 2-6 p.m. and 9 p.m. to close.

“I want to clean it up in here” by spring or summer, he said. “I’d like to do about six soups and a nice selection of salads with a variety of panini sandwiches.”

“We’re big soup fans,” Paxa said. “There just aren’t enough places to get a nice, hearty soup.”

The couple launched a Web site with previews of the types of food and drinks Quinn prepares.

“We want the residents of Issaquah and Snoqualmie to know we are happy to be here and be in business here,” Paxa said. “We are happy to support our local businesses so they stick around and we hope people will do that for us, too.”

On the Web

www.theflatirongrill.com

Chantelle Lusebrink: 392-6434, ext. 241 or clusebrink@isspress.com. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.

Birthday girls Celebrating at Mona Jane Beers third birthday party in 1935 are (from left) Joan Hillery, Mona Jane Beers, Patricia Moffat, Marline McGarvey, Laura Louise Lews and Claudia Miles. Mona's party was held at the home of her grandparents, Edith and Charles Beers. Ada Pickering baked the angel food birthday cake.

Michael Irwin, Bachelor of Arts in general studies; Trevor Spencer, Bachelor of Arts in interdisciplinary concentration; and Corey Stephenson, Bachelor of Arts in business administration, marketing.

Students make deans’ lists

4Jessica L. Klein, a freshman from Issaquah, was among the 710 students named to Gonzaga University dean’s list for fall semester 2009. Students must earn between a 3.5 and 3.69 grade point average to be listed.

4Joshua Twaddle, 2009 graduate of Skyline High School, was one of more than 850 Pacific Lutheran students to be named to the fall 2009 dean’s list. To be honored requires a grade point average of at least 3.5. He is the son of Carolyn and Robert Twaddle.

4Alex Severin, 2009 graduate of Issaquah High School, made the dean’s list at American University, in Washington, D.C. To qualify, a student must have completed 15 graded credits with an average grade point average of at least 3.5.

4Kaylen Stix, Newcastle resident and 2009 graduate of Liberty High School, made the dean’s list for the fall quarter at the University of Oregon. To qualify, a student must achieve a GPA of 3.75 or better. Stix is a freshman majoring in mathematics.

Tasche earns education degree

Ashleigh Tasche, of Issaquah, has received a Master of Arts degree in mathematics education from Western Governors University, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

North earns CIA degree

Graham North, of Issaquah, earned his associate degree in Culinary Arts from The Culinary Institute of America on Oct. 16, 2009. Graham is a 2006 graduate of Issaquah High School.

Newson receives scholarship

Joshua Newson, of Issaquah, was one of 112 awardees from the University of Washington to receive a Mary Gates Endowment for Students scholarship. Newson received the scholarship for his research project “Equating the way we Receive Racial Outgroups.”

The Rotary Club of Issaquah recently honored the following seniors as its students of the month for February.

Arielle Gordon

-School: Liberty High School

-Category honored: Drama

-Parents: Kerrie and Scott Gordon

-Sponsoring teacher: Katherine Klekas

-Academic achievements: Balancing online courses (from Brigham Young University and Liahona Preparatory Academy) and classes at LHS while maintaining a 3.5 grade point average

-Activities: Most requested swimming instructor at Safe & Sound, directed own stage show, stage managed “Phantom Tollbooth,” one of two translators for group of 100 volunteers renovating orphanages in Merida, Mexico

-Outside school affiliations: Classes at Village Theatre, Young Women’s activity group with her church

-Hobbies: Painting; photography; reading; going on adventures with siblings and friends; outdoor activities, like biking and backpacking

-Future goals: Graduate from four-year university and possibly pursue a higher degree, majoring in science with minor in theater; be a director, especially of young actors; be a research scientist; be a mother

Sarah Meyer

-School: Issaquah High School

-Parents: Susan and Jeffrey Meyer

-Sponsoring teacher: Holly Whiting

-Academic achievements: Concert choral vice president, lettering award for choir

-Activities: Drama Club vice president, Issaquah Youth Advisory Board member for six years, National Honor Society, Hi-Tones, vocal jazz, drama club, musicals/plays at school

-Hobbies: Piano, guitar and photography

-Outside school affiliations: Issaquah Youth Advisory Board

-Future goals: Attend University of Oregon; get master’s degree for a career in cultural anthropology

Dylan Pertruzzi

-School: Liberty High School

-Category honored: Music

-Parent: Sherry Partidge

-Sponsoring teacher: Joellen Santos

-Academic achievements: All-state choir, solo/ensemble participant

-Outside school activities: Zak Perry Band

-Hobbies: LHS garage band, singer

-Future goals: Major in music, starting at Bellevue College, moving on to four-year college; hope to become a composer, songwriter

Mitchell Tant

-School: Issaquah High School

-Category honored: Music

-Parents: Starlene and Michael Tant

-Sponsoring teacher: Barbara Irish

-Academic achievements: Lettered multiple times in choir, high rankings in solo and ensemble (by WWMA)

-Academic interests: In Harmony, vocal jazz, musicals (like “White Christmas”)

-Hobbies: Singing, dancing, acting, anything involving music

-Outside school affiliations: Reach for the Sky July (summer camp), dancing (Center for Dance)

-Future goals: Gain master’s in musical education; career as singer/performer or as choir teacher

Tim Pilling, fire marshal for Eastside Fire & Rescue, is retiring March 26 after working in code enforcement for 23 years.

Pilling was hired in 1998 as the fire marshal and division chief for the Issaquah Fire Department. With the consolidation of several agencies in 1999, he became the assistant fire marshal for EFR and was later promoted to fire marshal.

Pilling’s plans for retirement will take him to California, where he will live with his wife Ginny.

EFR honors employees at annual banquet

Eastside Fire & Rescue honored four employees during its annual Partner’s Banquet Feb. 25. The awards were given based on a formal nomination process. The 2009 awards went to:

Volunteer of the Year — Firefighter Jona Gummere

Deputy Chief John Murphy Wellness Award — Firefighter Jenny Oltmann

Deputy Chief Jon Fallstrom Commitment Award — Firefighter Scott Percival

Inspiration Award — Executive administrative assistant Debbie Gober-Beneze

Elks lodge honors music teacher’s legacy

On Feb. 27, the Issaquah Eagles No. 2054 held a fundraiser honoring Elmer Peters, a longtime Eagles member and Sammamish resident who died in November.

More than $1,700 was raised, in addition to musical instruments and other donations, to go to needy and/or aspiring students in Peters’ name at the Kaleidoscope School of Music.

Peters, who received his Bachelor of Arts and master’s degrees from Central Washington University in music education, taught both instrumental and vocal music to schools in Coulee City, Ritzville, Spokane and Bellevue, where he retired in 1989. But he continued as a substitute teacher in Bellevue and Issaquah.

In 1987, Peters served as the assistant director of the Bellevue Community Band until 2000. Both he and his wife Jane played in the band until his death.

Hilton Garden Inn honors Issaquah director of sales

Ernest Mendez, of the Issaquah Hilton Garden Inn, 1800 N.W. Gilman Blvd., was honored in the 2009 Best of Hilton Garden Inn Brand Awards.

Mendez received the INN The Zone Blitz Champion of the Year and the eSales Champion of the Year awards.

Mendez was chosen out of 490 Hilton Garden Inn directors of sales from across the nation.

“I feel very honored and humble. However, it is a team effort and we have had a great, fun time in accomplishing these goals,” Mendez said.

4-H honors top cavy owners

Cavy Project members of Eastside Rabbits and Cavies (guinea pigs) 4-H Club won the following awards at the club’s annual Cupid’s Critters show Feb. 7 at Pickering Barn.

Type awards (based on the cavy’s physical appearance): Maggie Edwards’s white American — Best of Breed and Best in Show; Michelle Fredrickson’s golden Agouti American satin — Best of Breed; Bryana Roger’s broken coronet — Best of Breed; Jordyn Anderson’s TSW silkie — Best of Breed; Kelly Keene’s black teddy — Best of Breed and Reserve Best in Show; Maggie Edwards’s broken teddy satin — Best of Breed; Lucy Schaller’s red white crested — Best of Breed.

Fit and Show (based on the member’s knowledge and handling of their cavy): Lucy Schaller — junior champion; Kelly Keene — junior reserve champion; Ali McDonald — junior honorable mention; Maggie Edwards and Jordyn Anderson tied — intermediate reserve champion; Katie Miotke — senior reserve champion; Michelle Fredrickson — senior champion.

Hoepker-Macaya, a member of the Washington Army National Guard’s 176th Engineer Company in Snohomish, Wash., attended the course for 22 weeks. Following his return to the unit, he will be assigned to the vertical (construction) section as a carpentry/masonry specialist.

Hoepker-Macaya has been a member of the Washington Army National Guard for six months. He graduated from high school in Portage, Mich. in 2007.

There are more than 30 sessions this year for middle school girls and 50 for high school girls. Girls can choose three to attend during the morning.

During the sessions, women police officers, firefighters, doctors, nurses, veterinarians, engineers and architects gather to speak about their professions and let the girls try hands-on exercises involving their daily work.

For young women who would like to learn about nursing, they will learn how to give an injection. Others can create a radio commercial with local vocal personalities, and others can learn to build a bridge with engineers.

The high school conference is March 26 and the middle school conference is March 27.

Middle school girls are asked to postmark their registration for the conference by March 20.

The high school registration deadline was March 12. However, girls can e-mail go_girls_eyh@hotmail.com to inquire about late registration opportunities and speak with their high school counselors.

Expanding Your Horizons

Middle school seminar

8-11:50 a.m.

March 27

Bellevue Community College, 3000 Landerholm Circle S.E.

Cost: $14, registrations must be postmarked by March 20

Go to www.expandingyourhorizons.org

Helen Russell wears a tiara at her 100th birthday party in November, and enjoys the quilt made and presented as a gift to commemorate the milestone. — Photo contributed

Helen Russell has accomplished a lot in her life. After all, she’s been around for a century.

Russell celebrated her 100th birthday Nov. 22. It was a day she won’t ever forget.

“My daughter-in-law threw a party to end all parties,” Helen said of Judy Russell, wife of her younger son Alan. “She took an 80-year-old address book and started writing invitations.

“If you want a party, get Judy.”

There were more than 100 people who came to help her celebrate her birthday, including her three granddaughters and three great-grandchildren.

Cousins, friends, family and neighbors came, said her older son, Mac Russell.

“It didn’t last long enough,” he said. “There were too many people who hadn’t seen her, or we hadn’t seen, in 20 years.”

Her birthday was certainly a sight to behold, she said. But of all the things that Helen said she has been most blessed to witness, it was the end of World War I that has stayed with her the most.

“When we heard the war was over, we went to the yard that had a flag pole and saluted the flag,” she said.

A rocky start

To reach 100, Helen has had to weather her fair share of lumps, bumps and bruises, she said.

Her father left when she was only 12, leaving her to help her mother raise her sister and brother and attend college at the University of Washington.

“I admire the fact she worked her way through college without her father and family help,” Mac Russell said. “Her mother was a single mom and she was very, very strict and she pushed and pushed those kids — especially my mom, being the oldest.”

But a month prior to her graduation, Helen recalls, Black Monday struck Wall Street and the Great Depression began.

After interviewing for endless jobs and taking any part-time work — even serving dinner for a night at a socialite’s home — Helen finally found a stable job in 1934. The worst part was it paid two-thirds of what she had been making in college, without her degree.

In 1936, she married a Scottish soccer player, James MacFarland Russell.

“He was a good man and he was just cute,” she said, smiling at the thought of her husband of 48 years. “Like Gregory Peck.”

They had two sons, Mac, born in 1936, and Alan, born in 1943.

It was a struggle for the family, even after the Depression ended. James spent the majority of their life together afflicted with polio, leaving Helen to care for the two boys and work at Boeing “shuffling papers” in engineering, she said. James died in 1984.

When she could, she would travel to Europe, Asia and Russia, but her favorite place in the world is Seattle.

She also developed a keen interest in local politics while living in West Seattle and helped Jim Ellis, founder of the Forward Thrust campaign in the late ’60s, push the area’s most aggressive transit and recreational facilities ballot measure in the county.

“I was putting up signs, gathering signatures for the petition and pounding on doors,” she said. “He was my god and I worked like a dog on that campaign.”

Stepping into high gear

Though her early life was hard, “the last part of it has been the best part, because I haven’t been sick and I’ve never had so many honors heaped on me,” she said.

In 2007, she was awarded with an athletic letter from the University of Washington as one of the first women baseball players to participate in college athletics in the school’s history. Helen Russell was given the letter along with nearly 200 other female athletes, of which she was the oldest at 97.

Her affiliation with the university has been lifelong, Judy Russell said.

“She has always kept learning new things,” she said. “Even though she’d graduated, she has kept going back there to learn about new things and more things by taking classes.

“I think that is what has kept her going,” her thirst for knowledge, she added.

Helen Russell has also been awarded with several honors in the world of haiku literature.

The biggest challenge today, “is being blind and almost deaf,” she said. “When you’re blind, you’re cut off.

“I try to keep my mind occupied and my biggest pleasure is writing haiku.”

She began writing haiku poetry with the Vashon Island Mondays at Three haiku group, but has been a member with Haiku Northwest since moving to the Eastside.

“She is well-loved among our group,” said Tanya McDonald, president of Haiku Northwest. “She tries to come to every meeting and she writes some incredibly insightful haiku that really captures the breadth of her life and the changes she’s seen.

“She has a very unique perspective that she brings to the group and we admire her a great deal.”

Her friends in both groups have published a book of her work, called “Distant Sounds,” a collection of her best work. For the book, Helen Russell won the Haiku Society of American’s 2009 Mildred Kanterman Memorial Merit Book Award.

Looking back

Helen said there is one thing she would re-do in her life, if she could.

“I would have been a better mother,” she said.

Mac Russell said he wished they had spent more time as a family together, too, but that was the way things were then.

“She didn’t have a lot of time. My dad had polio and she had to work, so there was not a lot of time for the family,” he said. “But back in those times, kids took care of themselves.”

It did make him a stronger person, he said, now the owner of a successful business.

Mac Russell said he admires his mother for what she’s been through and her mental toughness.

“She doesn’t let her emotions carry her away,” he said. “She doesn’t let them dictate the decisions she’s made.”

With that fortitude, Helen has survived a century. When the chips were down and life dealt her bad hands, it was her dreams that kept her going.

“When my life was hell, until lately, I always tried to follow my dreams,” she said. “That has paid off, but it took a long time. I don’t want to tell others they have to work their whole life to have them pay off, but I would say follow your dreams no matter what.”

Chantelle Lusebrink: 392-6434, ext. 241 or clusebrink@isspress.com. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.