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Events | Coyotes |
Businesses | Garden Tips |
Boy Scouts |
General Interest | Narrows Bridge |
Fox Island News -
February, 2024
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FoxIslandWA.net - 24 Years on the Web!
 June 11, 2019 marked the 20
year anniversary of the day when FoxIsland.net went on line, to provide
Islanders a place on the web! On June 11, 1999 Webmaster John Ohlson published
the first 'Fox
Island Home Page, a meager beginning to what has become the center of
information, activism, Island Events and other information.
That day a new online presence was
launched for Fox Islanders, and a new company was born; Dragonwyck Web
Design LLC. From our meager beginnings and our very first customer
Don and
Laura Musgrave, Fox Island's web presence has flourished.
Read More...
Fox Island Deli's New Pub: Zogs on Fox Island
 April, 2014 - Fox Island
Store owner Dwayne Herzog is building his 'last gift to Fox Island', a much
needed public gathering place, where residents can sip wine, have a beer,
and a snack while listening to piped-in music, and enjoying the bubbling
fountains and waterfalls in the newest addition to the Store & Deli complex.
Contact Zogs on Facebook
The facility will feature two stories of covered, family friendly
restaurant/pub space, with two outdoor fire pit/fountains and a gazebo.
Herzog said he expects the facility to be completed around Memorial Day,
with opportunities to rent it for private parties for wedding receptions,
and other functions.
Two 'Flaming Fountain' fire pits are the centerpiece of the new Fox Island
Deli expansion.
The second story features an open-air deck, overlooking the wine
garden.
A gazebo will provide a space for musicians to entertain guests.
See the finished project at Zog's on Fox
Island
Contact Zogs on Facebook
Tanglewood Island 'Great Hall' Demolished
The 'Great Hall' of the Tanglewood Island's
Lighthouse, just four days before demolition began on January 24,
2014.
2/1/14: Work has stopped, due to a lack of proper
permitting on the demolition, the County has issued a stop work
order.
Fox Island loses it's most famous landmark, victim of time,
weather and neglect. It would appear that the County will levy
some fines or other consequences to the owners for violating County
land use laws, we hope it may include a measure of restoration for
the remaining lighthouse structure, to give it back it's "Light".
Keep in touch with Fox Island happenings and Tanglewood
Island, Sign Up For The
FoxIslandNews
Facebook Group
Read
more about Tanglewood Island...
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DNR Removing Fox Island Ferry Landing
 9/25/13
The old Fox Island Ferry landing is in the last stages of
removal, at the corner of 9th & Fox Drive. Contractors working
for the Department of Natural Resources are removing the creosote
pilings that once made up the old ferry dock that brought cars to &
from Fox Island during the 1920's, 1930's, 1940's and 1950's before the
bridge was built in 1954.
In the photo at right, taken in 1999, you can see the pilings and
ramp that have been removed.
The DNR has embarked on a program to remove creosote pilings from
Puget Sound shorelines. The project should be completed by
October 1st.
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Fox Island Cub Scouts Get New
Flag
Fox Island's Pack 27 shows off their new Pack Flag (donated by
FICRA and Stan Weston) at a recent Pack Meeting at the Nichols
center. The Cubs celebrated their first ever crossover
ceremony on June 25th, at the Fox Island Sandspit. Three
Webelos Cubs (in khaki shirts above) graduated to
Boy Scout Troop 27, upon receiving the Arrow of Light award.
Fox Island boys ages 7 - 10 years old are encouraged to join,
visit
our Pack 27 website for more information.
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FICRA Sponsors New Cub
Scout Pack 27
October 6, 2011
 At the October FICRA meeting, the FICRA Board voted unanimously to sponsor Cub Scout Pack 27,
to be based at the Nichols Community Center on Fox Island.
To date, 9
boys have joined the Pack, and many have already earned the Webelos
badge! Their next outing will be a train trip to the OMSI Museum
in Portland, where they will spend the night in a submarine!
Fox Island boys ages 7 - 10 years old are encouraged to join,
visit
our Pack 27 website for more information or call Scoutmaster John
Ohlson at 253-380-4100.
Cub Scouts from Fox Island's Pack 27 participate in
their first Pinewood Derby race at the Nichols Center
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Scouts Build Footbridge for FICRA's Nature
Center
 A companion project to the
Raised
Walkway Extension was recently completed on December 29, 2011 by Scouts in
Fox Island's Troop 27, where they built a 10' long footbridge over a
groundwater stream.
This bridge, made of pressure treated beams and Trex
decking, resulted from re-routing the original trail that used to follow
the streambed with stepping stones, and now crosses the stream.
Thanks to the Troop 27 Scouts, who put in a combined
35 hours in building the bridge, while working towards their next rank
in Scouts.
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e-Flash
The e-FLASH welcomes your ads, articles, news and letters.
Please submit
your items about Fox Island events, people and news to:
Call: John Ohlson at 253-549-2701
E-Mail
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| Items Of General
Interest |
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PenLight, Fox Island Cable Replacement Project Completion
Celebration
Peninsula Light workers install the original Fox Island
submarine cable in 1931. |
Gig Harbor, WA – Peninsula Light is pleased to
announce the completion of the Fox Island/Hale Passage Cable Crossing
Replacement Project.
The project originated from Ketner Point on Fox Island, to 62nd Ave NW
on the Cromwell side of the Gig Harbor Peninsula. The HDD Company of
Cameron Park, California bore 30 to 70 feet below the Puget Sound. The
horizontal bore had little or no impact on the marine environment. The
cable was pulled into a 12 inch steel casing that will facilitate future
cable replacement and prolong the life span of the cable. The $2.5
million project was one of the largest capital improvement projects in
the 85-year history of the cooperative.
PenLight’s Project Manager, Dennis Walden, oversaw the project since the
initial planning stages. “We feel the project was a great success.
Everything went smoothly, on-time and within budget.”
The Fox Island cable replacement has been a priority for PenLight’s CEO,
Jafar Taghavi, “I would like to thank the neighbors of Fox Island and
Cromwell for their patience and cooperation, we could not have completed
the Hale Passage Cable Crossing Project without their support.”
Please join PenLight in dedicating the project’s completion at 11:00
A.M. at the Ketner Point vault location (near the intersection of 7th
Lane and Chinook Drive) on Saturday, August 13, 2011 followed by a cake
reception to be served at PenLight’s booth at the Fox Island Community
and Recreation Association’s Annual Fair at Nichols Community Center
immediately following the dedication.
Peninsula Light Company is a member owned cooperative located in Gig
Harbor, WA and is a full requirement utility of the Bonneville Power
Administration. The utility began in 1925. Since then, the cooperative
has grown to be the second largest cooperative in the Northwest, with
26,000 members and serving over 31,000 meters on the Gig Harbor and Key
Peninsulas. The utility provides electric power and water services.
For more information visit: www.penlight.org
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Kopachuck State Park Campground Closure
Kopachuck's trees have a disease - laminated root rot. The Washington
State Parks and Recreation Commission are seeking input from citizens about what
should be done about the problem.
The state is removing all the Doug Firs, reforest and bring the campground
back to its condition prior to the tree removal.
Read more, and watch the video
about this important development.
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| SAND & SOIL MEMBERS
IN THE SPOTLIGHT HAROLD "HAL" GOODELL
 Hal
is Sand & Soil Garden Club’s "go-to" man for tomatoes and how to nurture
them. But his life encompasses so much more, as you will see. He was born in
Olympia and grew up in Puyallup, WA. Interestingly, the 1908 house he lived
in was part of one of the first nurseries in the Puget Sound area. The
remaining filbert orchards were part of his playground, along with a huge,
multi-pronged cedar that he used as a "rocket ship." After a huge storm blew
his "ship" over a few years ago, he counted 100+ rings, indicating that it
was likely planted around the time that the house and nursery were
established.
Find out more about
Hal...
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 Public Forum Input -
No Park at Navy Lab Site
Update: November 10, 2011:A private investor has purchased the Navy Lab property for $600,000,
and has listed it for sale for $1,900,000. Three new homes are
proposed to be
built on the site.
July 14, 2010 - John Ohlson, FICRA President
A public forum was held on July 14, 2010 to help decide if FICRA should
pursue acquisition of the former Fox Island Navy Lab site as a
recreational property. Since the Nisqually Tribe relinquished
their claim on the property earlier this year, the Fox Island Naval Lab
is now available for acquisition by other governmental agencies, through
a 'public benefit conveyance'.
The GSA provides a 30 day window for
agencies and non-profit organizations such as FICRA to submit proposals
to convert the Navy property to public use. The HUD Homeless
Assistance Program has first right of refusal to obtain the property
though.
The proposals must be
sponsored by a government agency such as the National Park Service, the
state of Washington, Pierce County or PenMet Parks. If FICRA were
to participate in submitting a proposal, this would mean a partnership
with one of these agencies.
20 Fox Island
residents provided testimony at the public forum, which included
possible uses such as preserving the property as a limited-use
recreational facility, an environmental education center, a marine park,
or allowing the property to fall into private hands, at public auction.
Opponents were concerned that excessive vehicle traffic down 3rd avenue
would be problematic, and that recreational users would disturb the
quiet neighborhood.
Proponents argued that
the property should be open to the public, and come under local control,
keeping control of the facility in the hands of Fox Island residents.
A vote was taken, and the majority of those present preferred that FICRA
take no action to pursue a partnership with an agency, for the purpose
of acquiring use of the property for public use.
The remaining issue
was the unfinished restoration of the property, now that the Navy has
relocated their staff and equipment to another location. Part of
the promise made by Norm Dicks office was that part of the money
allocated to relocate the facility would be used to remove the dock and
buildings - work that was never completed.
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Fox Island Scouts
Clean Up Graffiti at Nichols Center
 On
January 3, 2010, area youth tagged the Nichols center with obscene
graffiti, hateful statements about the Gig Harbor Police Department, and
other images.
The Boy Scouts from Fox Island's
Troop 27 spent
most of a day scrubbing the graffiti off the building, and repainting
the walls, to restore it back to normal.
FICRA would like to thank the
Scouts, and if anyone has information that would lead to the arrest of
the taggers, please contact us.
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 New Fox Island Post Office
Open
Rising on the corner of 6th Avenue and Fox Drive
is the new & improved Fox Island Post Office!
Several years in the making, the new post office
will feature expanded mail processing space, more post office boxes, and
larger truck access for delivering mail from the regional stations.
The existing post office, shown at right, is up
for sale.
The new post office opened in December 2010.
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 Map of Nature Center Available
FICRA has produced a
new map of the trails around the Fox Island Nature Center.
Follow the trail to see the wetlands, old-growth nurse logs,
native species garden, footbridges, wildflower meadows and more!
Download your copy of the map, and take a walk in the woods
today!
Nature Center Trail Map!
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Island
Garden Tips Kicks Off it's 17th Year on FoxislandWA.net!
For fifteen years straight, Master Gardener Linda Dodds
has been providing monthly gardening tips for Fox Island
residents. FICRA would like to give Linda a BIG THANK YOU
for her tireless contributions to our website, and to the
gardening enthusiasts of Fox Island. You can read her garden tips from years gone by
in our Garden Tips Archive, dating
back to January, 2001. Keep
up the great work, Linda!
John Ohlson
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 Check out the photo of some of the Fox
Island Garden Club members busy weeding and cleaning up the
gazebo garden at Nichols Community Center.
Work
party members are: Bottom row, left to right, Juanita Bjork,
Marti Thompson, Lois Miller and Gail Jones. Back row, Thelma
Laird and Linda Dodds.
Read
more gardening tips on the Garden Club web page.
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Towhead Island
Boat Ramp Project Revived?
 Due
to the rapidly deteriorating condition of the Fox Island
boat launch (formally known as "Towhead Island"), and the hazardous traffic
conditions at the launch on busy summer weekends, FICRA President John
Ohlson has been holding talks with various government officials to see if an
improvement plan drawn up by the Pierce County Parks & Recreation District
in the 1980's can be revived.
Over 650
Fox Island residents have signed a petition to get the ramp
fixed up.
The land was originally
the site for the toll booth for the Fox Island bridge, and the original ramp
was constructed to facilitate the construction of the bridge. Some years
later, the original ramp was destroyed by some heavy equipment belonging to
the Navy. It was later replaced by the current concrete slabs which are
chained together to form the boat ramp. The slabs are breaking apart, have become disconnected from one another, and pose a hazard to boaters.
Most people avoid the actual ramp, and launch their boats on the adjacent
gravel beach.
Time and the tides have
taken their toll, and the once spacious parking area is now only a fraction
of it's former self. Erosion has washed away nearly all of the parking
area, and the pavement on the ramp is crumbling badly.
The
new plan would increase the on-site parking from approximately 8 stalls
to nearly 21 stalls, and provide an off-street staging area for boaters to
turn around and position their rigs to launch - out of the oncoming traffic.
Incoming traffic would be routed to the north end of the lot, and exiting
traffic would use the south exit, providing a smoother flow of traffic on
the site. The angle of the ramp itself would be increased to prevent
having to submerge your vehicle in the saltwater to get your boat off the
trailer, and the concrete slabs would be replaced with a smooth, continuous
concrete drive.
FICRA President John
Ohlson has been in communication with Senator Maria Cantwell’s office,
Senator Derek Kilmer, Rep. Pat Lantz, Pierce County Councilman Terry Lee,
and PenMet Parks Executive Director Marc Connelly over the past four months
regarding this project. There is interest by all parties concerned, to get
the project back on track. To that end, FICRA has appointed a steering
committee to oversee the efforts to restart this project, and potentially
strike up a partnership between PenMet, FICRA and the BLM to provide
stewardship and ongoing operational support for this facility.
 Clay Babies!
What are Clay Babies, you ask?
According to amateur geologists, our clay babies are
concretions, which are defined as, “a rounded mass of mineral matter
found in sedimentary rock (or – in the case of clay, material with
extremely small grains).”
Find out more on our new
clay babies web page, courtesy of Fox Island author Don Edgers, author
of two books about Fox Island history; "An Island in Time, Growing Up In The 40's",
and "An Island in Time, Coming of Age in the 50's".
Check it out!
Fox Island Book Club
The Fox Island Book Club meets
the first Monday of the month at 4:00 PM at the
Fox Island Museum.
Come join your Island neighbors in some literary fun! All
interested people are welcome.
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| Update
On The Narrows Bridge |
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 Bird’s-eye View of
Narrows Bridges One camera
is positioned on the old bridge’s west tower.
In an emergency, this web-cam could be used to
enhance traffic monitoring in that it covers the
bridge span itself. The camera views can be found at
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/tacoma/
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Governmental Officials Contact Information
US Senator Patty Murray
http://murray.senate.gov/
US Senator Maria Cantwell
http://cantwell.senate.gov/
Governor Jay Inslee
http://www.governor.wa.gov
Pierce County Councilman
http://www.co.pierce.wa.us/pc/Abtus/ourorg/council/district7.htm
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