Editor’s Note: With this commentary, The Beachcomber enthusiastically introduces youth correspondent Mickey Fontaine to our readers. We hope to publish more of Mickey’s thoughtful and well-crafted perspectives in the months to come.
It can be hard for youth to find ways to stay entertained and busy on this island, especially since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. But I have discovered that the Vashon’s Sportsmen’s Club (VSC) is a great place to feel connected to a thriving culture.
I am drawn to the distinctive experiences it holds and the personality it has. There’s a mystical and authentic atmosphere that gives vibrant life to VSC. It holds a place for many as a center of culture and community.
Many years ago, in my early days as a Boy Scout, the VSC clubhouse seemed like just a log cabin lined with taxidermy. I just thought it was a building in the backwoods, an isolated place where activities were hosted that I wouldn’t be much interested in at the time. I’d never have thought things like skeet shooting and youth troop leading would fall within my range of interests. I’ve had a great experience with the people and the activities that take place in this once-hidden world.
My time there began with attending scout meetings and patrol meetings where I’d sit down and listen for 30 minutes about scouting affairs. It was a place of utility in my eyes. Sometimes I’d have fun activities with the Scouts, or go to some event hosted there, but mostly it was just talk, technical discussions and other affairs that I didn’t take fondly to. I’d go every week, but I never really had a deep connection to the center of the Sportsmen’s Club. I was distanced from it and its culture. I didn’t know the place VSC would hold for me in the future.
That future began to come clear. I began to see glints of the community’s potential and vibrancy when I took up the shotgun shooting merit badge as an elective for scouting. I spent a day learning the ins and outs of firearm safety and management at a class offered by the club. Although I had no past in firearms or any activities regarding it, I enjoyed this class. It was less technical and boring than I expected, it was warm and welcoming, people made jokes, had fun, and I felt I had a place there.
When it was done, we got to shoot clay pigeons at the range. It was honestly more fun than expected. I met some great people, and did some decent shooting. This is what started my interest in shooting. The casual atmosphere of community and the internal technical affairs of handling a firearm interest me, especially in the context of VSC.
As I continued moving further into my future as a scout and climbed up the ranks, I found my interest in VSC rising. Today, three years later, I shoot almost every week and I’m at the clubhouse every Monday as a leader for the Webelos of Pack 275.
Now, in my eyes, I have found my place here, getting to see kids that I feel mirror the person I used to be, guiding them to find the path of this community that I have reached the end of, or maybe just the middle. It’s a journey that has changed my outlook and opened a world of opportunity for me, a world I hope to guide others to.
It has become more to me than just a distant beacon of a culture I didn’t understand. It has become part of my life on Vashon, a community I find I hold a place in.
Mickey Fontaine is a homeschooled youth and student who has lived on Vashon for about eight years. He enjoys art, fiction writing and the community of Vashon Island.
