Vashon Theatre Fest

Much love for “Much Ado”

We attended “Much Ado About Nothing” in the meadow at Open Space Saturday evening, and it was pure entertainment.

The entire cast shone. Identifying a few of the actors by their roles, Don Pedro was masterful, Claudio appropriately lovesick, Benedick a consummate comedian, Beatrice sharp and lovely as a rose, Hero innocence betrayed personified, and Dogberry simply not to be missed (indubitably an ass, as Shakespeare wrote him).

Unfortunately, there may have been about as many in the cast as there were in the audience, and that’s a shame. Vashonites who miss out on this Repertory Theater will have missed something truly special. Speaking as devoted followers of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, this company gave us a production that would give a couple of those we saw in Ashland this year a run for their money. Please don’t stay home – Vashon Theatre Fest is happening and we’d like to see it well supported.

It can become as fundamental to our annual calendar as the Strawberry Festival has been. You still have a full weekend of five productions to choose from. Don’t miss it!

Jeremy Pratt

Get up, get dressed and support local theater

We all live here for very specific reasons, right? I know I moved here because I knew Vashon to be a community made up of artists, progressives and people who were just dog-tired of city living.

Grateful beyond measure, I am now very much involved in the Vashon theater community. I have a degree in the stuff and only in the past four years did I pull that diploma out of the closet and put it to good use. I feel safe doing that here. I feel recognized for my talent. My fire for theater has finally been reignited.

We have an incredible cadre of talent on this island, and quality theater is getting produced here. But few are coming to witness it.

Are we being lazy? Don’t wanna put on pants and have to be at a venue at a specific time? I can tell you that I have absolutely been guilty of that. And I regretted it later when trusted sources told me, “You missed such a great show!” Damn.

There are scores of local theater artists who are working really, really hard to bring you theater that will leave you feeling enriched, thoughtful and energized after the curtain closes. If you are not rising to the challenge to put on those pants, you are truly missing out. And Covid be damned. There were outdoor shows last weekend, and yet the audiences were slim. It was heartbreaking. That said, every single person who saw the shows loved them.

We need to support our artists. We need to keep theater alive. We need to lean in and donate just like we would to any other local organization. These days, island theater companies have committed to paying everyone who works on a show. Grants are hard-won. Vashon theater companies need ticket sales. The performers need you to witness them and experience their stories.

Please. Take the cold shower. Drink the late afternoon espresso. Get thee to the theatre!

Samantha N. Sherman

Vashon Island Fire & Rescue

Board should have disciplined chief first

It appears self-evident to me that the firing process of Charles Krimmert by VIFR was a total sham since the commissioners already had decided to fire Charlie and were simply going through the motions.

Candy McCullough’s letter to The Beachcomber last week regarding the process, ignoring chain-of-command, was spot-on.

However, the process had a much greater flaw by terminating the senior VIFR officer with no progressive discipline. Progressive discipline is universally employed by professional companies and organizations (which would exclude VIFR), when someone is not being terminated for cause. Instead, the board went directly from a vote of no confidence by the captains to the termination.

Given Charlie’s single written reprimand and history of good performance reviews, he should have been given the opportunity to address any shortcomings the board identified. “Charlie, these actions are unacceptable and must cease. You are on six months’ probation. If we do not see a significant improvement in your performance regarding these issues, you will face additional disciplinary action up to and including termination.”

We never will know whether Charlie could have changed or still would have been terminated. Since the board was in a hurry to fire him, I believe the board had no intention of letting Charlie correct his behavior. It wanted a quick fix which included wasting $85,000 in a severance package.

Why would any qualified fire professional want to come to Vashon as chief now, when he will not be the head of the department, since the board has sent a message to the union, “Don’t worry if you don’t like the next person we hire. We will fire him too. We would not want you to be unhappy.”

Scott Harvey

Board hiring action irresponsible

On July 14, after a two-week closed-to-the-public investigation, the Vashon Fire Board fired our fire chief of five years, and on July 20, they made the assistant chief, who was hired six weeks ago, the fire chief.

In the past when we wanted a district leadership change, we negotiated with the existing chief encouraging him to leave or retire gracefully. This time, we were not told what ex-Chief Charlie Krimmert did that was so heinous he had to go immediately. Always, to find a new fire chief, the district employed a head-hunter company to conduct a national search and screen applicants. Finalists were chosen and then interviewed by board members, district staff, paid and volunteer responders, and members of the community. This slow, deliberative, and inclusive process helped the board choose the right candidate.

Last Wednesday, an unscheduled board vote of two yesses, 1 no vote and 2 abstentions was the process used to hire our new chief. It was done without any consideration of a job description, an employment contract, or even compensation – all things the board, except for one member, decided to consider at some time after the hiring.

All I know about our new Chief Matt Vinci is he came from the East Coast, has never previously been a fire chief, was hired mid-June as assistant chief, and after serving as Interim for two weeks, has suddenly been elevated to his new position.

I hope he is a good guy and a quick learner as he has certainly been thrown into the real fire.

I also hope, for we taxpayers, that he is willing to negotiate on his salary and contract conditions because, as of this writing, he could name his price and we cannot fire him as there are no stipulations.

Is this the type of irresponsible action you want from the board running the second largest tax-supported district on the island – which also might save your life someday?

Alice Larson

Pickleball

Game has buzz

Pickleball is an incredibly popular tennis-and-ping pong hybrid game enjoyed by all ages in over 9,500 community and park centers across the country.

Recently a Vashonite sent out an invitation on Vashon For All’s Facebook page about opening up his private pickleball court on a Saturday afternoon. He had over 200 responses from people saying they were so excited to play and approximately 30 people showed up to do just that.

A public meeting is scheduled to discuss the future of pickleball here on Vashon Island.

We encourage anyone interested to join us at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 4, at Vashon Athletic Club.

Marilyn Owen

Ukraine

Ceasefire needed

People who truly care about the suffering of the Ukrainian people will advocate for an immediate ceasefire and negotiated settlement.

People who truly care about the suffering that will be caused by food shortages due to the Ukrainian war will advocate for an immediate ceasefire and negotiated settlement.

People who truly care about global warming that is being exacerbated by the Ukrainian war will advocate for an immediate ceasefire and negotiated settlement.

People who truly are against war and human suffering will not advocate for pouring weapons into Ukraine and cold war brinkmanship that could lead to a nuclear holocaust.

Robert Kommer

Strawberry Festival

Antique Cars

Did you catch the antique cars, up to 80 years old, at the Strawberry Festival?

What strikes you is how beautiful they are! I guess back then designers thought beauty was important. Everybody was and is in love with them.

Today all the cars, especially the SUVs, look the same — as if all manufacturers use the same design criteria. First, they incorporated the look of Darth Vader’s soldiers. Their uniforms looked like they were made of hunks of plastic with as many seams as possible, kinda hunky junky. Second, they make them as heavy as possible so they’ll burn as much gas as possible. I haven’t a clue why.

Perhaps they want all that nasty co2 out of the ground and up in the air where it belongs.

If you own one, you made a big mistake. They’re not safer in an accident. Due to their high center of gravity, they roll over and cause serious injuries.

The question is, do you think anybody is going to look back 60 years from now and say, “boy, I really loved my beautiful SUV.” I don’t think so.

So do a favor for global warming and mount your SUV on your den wall. Bicycles are cheap.

Shelley Simon