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THE ARLINGTON TIMES

121YEARS121YEARS

SINCE 1888

Vol. 121, No. 26

Courtesy Photo

Katherine Zook, right, is recovering is a Florida hospital after being injured in the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti.

BY ADAm [email protected]

EVERETT — Theresa Sierra’s plans are now in place — graduate high school, attend college and study business and art.

Recently, her goal became a little bit more attainable as the Lakewood High School student received a $500 scholarship from Everett Community College.

“I really didn’t have any idea I was going to win,” Sierra said. “I thought I had a small chance, but as soon as they called out my school, I knew I had won.”

Sierra was among 11 Snohomish County stu-dents to receive a scholar-ship Friday, Jan. 15, dur-ing the Students of Color Career Conference at the Everett college.

More than 600 area teen-agers were in attendance, including students from Arlington and Marysville.

The six-hour conference was designed to give local

middle-school and high-school students of color a chance to meet with job, college and military profes-sionals about their future plans.

Students sat in on career panels featuring job experts. They discussed their future plans with vendors from college, universities and organizations. Some teens, such as Sierra, even received scholarships to help fund their future plans.

Melania Baublitz and Tameka Siplin — both seniors at Arlington High School — said they sat in on one of the panels about human resources.

Students were encouraged to attend three panels total during the day. Experts and professionals on the panels represented business, law, engineering, law enforce-ment and other fields.

Baublitz said that she thought the panels would probably benefit younger

Conference helps students plan futures

Adam Rudnick/Staff Photo

Arlington High School seniors Tameka Siplin and Melania Baublitz look over college application materials from a vendor Jan. 15 during the Students of Color Conference at Everett Community College.


ARLINGTON — An Arlington High School gradu-ate doing missionary work in Haiti was found alive in the bottom of a collapsed building Wednesday, Jan. 13.

Katherine Zook, 22, suffered bruises to her lungs and legs during an earthquake Tuesday,

Jan. 12, but did not suffer any life-threatening injuries, said her father, Greg Zook, during a phone interview.

Greg Zook said that his daughter was in Port-Au-Prince when a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti. Preliminary reports indi-cate that perhaps more than 100,000 people may be dead.

Greg Zook said that learned

at about 1 a.m. Wednesday that Katherine had been found in the building she was teach-ing English at in the Haitian capital.

Katherine Zook was appar-ently found buried in rubble approximately three hours after the quake. Upon her being found, Zook was taken

Arlington woman found alive after Haitian earthquake

SEE ZOOK, PAGE 4

SEE STUdENTS, PAGE 2

www.ARLINGTONTIMES.cOM4 January 20, 2010 • The Arlington Times

to a United Nations hospital in Haiti, and Greg Zook said that she was transferred to the U.S. Embassy and has since been air-lifted to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba by U.S. officials.

Zook said neither he or his wife have been able to talk with their daughter as of Wednesday afternoon.

“As soon as we hear that she is stateside, we’ll fly to meet her,” Greg Zook said. “They may med-evac her to Washington state.”

Katherine Zook graduated from Arlington High School in 2005. She attend-ed Northwest Nazarene University, studying music. She began her two-year stint as a missionary in Haiti in September 2009.

Greg Zook said his daughter and he had made several trips to Haiti in the past.

He said that there were still other mis-sionary workers in his daughter’s group that have not been accounted for.

Greg Zook said his family called U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen when they heard of Katherine’s condition, and Zook said that Larsen helped get Katherine’s name registered through the state department and the U.S. Embassy.

“If nothing else, it gave us piece of mind that she was on the radar,” Zook said, add-ing that Larsen had called to check in on the family Wednesday afternoon.

Katherine Zook’s long-time friend, Vanessa McClure, said that Katherine had been on a lot of residents’ minds.

“We were all thinking about her right away,” McClure said about the earthquake. “(Tuesday) there was no news on her so everyone was praying and talking back and forth. We’re all just really happy to hear that she’s OK.”

SPECIAL TO THE ARLINGTON TIMES

S N O H O M I S H COUNTY — The American Red Cross has bumped up its initial $1 million pledge for relief in Haiti to $10 million.

Chuck Morrison, executive director of the Snohomish County Chapter of the American Red Cross, released the updated amount Thursday, Jan. 14 — one day after the national organization pledged its initial dona-tion.

According to a statement from the American Red Cross, five disaster manage-ment specialists from Peru, Mexico and the United States were scheduled to

arrive in the Dominican Republic Thursday.

Those specialists were slated to join a 15-per-son staff already in Haiti. Thousands of Haitian Red Cross volunteers have been in place since the 7.3-mag-nitude earthquake that hit Haiti Jan. 12.

Up to 100,000 people may be dead, according to reports.

Morrison said he does not anticipate the Snohomish County Chapter of the American Red Cross sending volunteers as of Thursday.

“Because this is not American soil, we are operating under the direc-tion of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Haitian Red

Cross,” Morrison said.The International

Committee of the Red Cross has set up a Web site to search for and reg-ister the names of relatives missing in Haiti since the earthquake — www.icrc.org/familylinks.

Donations can be made to the American Red Cross by visiting www.redcross.org or by calling 1-800-RED-CROSS.

The Red Cross is also receiving money through a third-party mobile fund-raising effort, in which donors can text “Haiti” to 90999 to send a $10 dona-tion to the Red Cross.

Officials reported that more than $10 million has been received through the effort as of Friday, Jan. 15.

Red Cross releases millions for earthquake relief

ZOOK FROM PAGE 1

BY ADAM [email protected]

ARLINGTON — A local organization recently received more than eight loads of donated clothing items.

Arlington-based Kids’ Kloset received winter coats, clothing, shoes, gloves and monetary donations from area schools, organizations and businesses. The total number of items was not available, but Co-Director Linda Dussault said the nonprofit received six and a half car loads and two van loads of items during the holidays.

“We wish to acknowledge the support of each and everyone who gave during the season,” Dussault said in a release. “We are fortu-nate, indeed, to be a part of

Arlington.”Donations provide stu-

dents in the Arlington, Lakewood and Darrington school districts who qualify for free or reduced lunch new and used clothing, shoes, school supplies and hygiene products.

Those items are distrib-uted twice yearly free of charge to preschool-aged children to 12th-graders.

In addition to the donated items, Kids’ Kloset received monetary donations from 11 individuals totaling $1,500.

Kids’ Kloset will be open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings during January from 9 a.m. to noon and from 2:30 to 6 p.m. Tuesday afternoons.

Families are served based on appointment. Families of each boy or girl who is eli-

gible can select from a list of eligible items.

Kids’ Kloset, which is located on the bottom floor of the old Arlington High School building, is set up similarly to a thrift store, with hundreds of items available on a number of racks.

The nonprofit organiza-tion will continue to seek new or gently used clothing items, which can be dropped off at its downtown location (135 S. French Street) and at other locations throughout the community.

For more information, call 360-435-4875.

Kids’ Kloset, a 100 per-cent volunteer operated organization, has served hundreds of children in the community since opening its doors in May 2005.

Kids’ Kloset thanks donors


Kids’ Kloset Co-Director Linda Dussault sorts through some of the organization’s recent dona-tions on Tuesday, Jan. 12.

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THE ARLINGTON TIMES

121YEARS121YEARS

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Vol. 121, No. 29


ARLINGTON — Jerry Rusher and Jean Wessel of Arlington have seen first-hand the devastating effects of the 7.0 earthquake that shook Haiti in January.

But the two members of Arlington Free Methodist Church have also wit-nessed inspiring tales, such as the one about a 16-year-old Haitian boy who jumped out of a collapsing building.

“He landed in the street and sus-tained a fracture of the thigh bone,” Rusher said in an e-mail. “He had no definitive care until arriving at our hospital two-and-a-half weeks later. After a spica cast was applied and the pain stopped, he had a smile on his face.”

Rusher and Wessel arrived in

Santiago, Dominican Republic on Jan. 23, and traveled by bus to Haiti on Jan. 24.

The two medical practitioners have spent the past three weeks treat-ing victims of the earthquake from Dessalines Hospital in central Haiti.

The hospital has 50 beds, five Haitian doctors and 87 staff mem-bers. Dessalines is located about 90 miles north of Port-au-Prince, and is home to about 10,000 residents.

It provides free care to all earth-quake victims, Rusher said.

In an e-mail to The Arlington Times, Rusher said that his medical team initially saw a number of trau-ma cases that were directly related to the earthquake.

Now, staff members and volunteers

Arlington church members treat

earthquake victims

Courtesy Photo

Arlington resident Jean Wessel holds a 9-month-old baby in Dessalines, Haiti.SEE VICTIMS, PAGE 2


Bill Blake, city of Arlington’s natural resource manager, left, and former Country Charm Dairy owner Hank Graafstra look at old newspaper articles about the dairy on Feb. 3


ARLINGTON — Just because Hank Graafstra’s former dairy land is changing hands doesn’t mean it’s role will totally change.

The former owner of Country Charm Dairy Farm, Graafstra, 82, said he’d like for the city to one day help renovate his old dairy facility into a community food processing

plant.Residents could grow their own

crops in a nearby field, and use a near-by 14,000-square-foot facility that was once used by dairy farmers to either freeze or package local produce.

“I think Arlington could be the leading entity with that sort of thing,” Graafstra said. “It would make this area really self-sustaining.”

Graafstra’s idea has not fallen on deaf ears — Bill Blake, the city of Arlington’s natural resource manager, is currently exploring a variety of land uses for the 150 acres of property the city recently purchased from Hank

A Natural TransitionCity purchases property,

explores possible uses for former dairy farm

SEE FARM, PAGE 3

www.ARLINGTONTIMES.cOM2 February 10, 2010 • The Arlington Times

are seeing an increasing number of cases not directly related to the quake, such as malaria and emotional grief, he said.

“People are living out-side with their houses gone, resulting in an upswing in malaria since they are exposed to mosquitoes,” Rusher said.

Medical staff also pro-vided a room for a com-

passionate Haitian pastor to provide grief counseling and prayer for patients.

Rusher said he was involved in the recruiting process for his team of nine doctors and nurses that were sent from the United States

and Canada to Haiti.That team is scheduled to

split up shortly and a new team is slated to arrive.

Rusher said he will stay in Haiti for about five weeks and Wessel said she would stay for approximately two

more weeks.While the team has spent

the majority of its time working on patients, Rusher said that his team mem-bers have been enjoying Haitian food for lunch and American food for breakfast and dinner.

“The team has come together quite well and we have good sharing times together in the evening about our day’s activities,” he said.

Rusher said that the earth-quake did not cause much damage in Dessalines, but added that the whole coun-try was still affected.

“As one Haitian pastor put it, ‘Port-au-Prince is the center of Haiti,’” Rusher said. “’Port-au-Prince is no more. Haiti is no more.’”

A number of refugees are coming from Port-au-Prince, and he said that the

immensity of the impact of the earthquake on the coun-try is hard to imagine.

“It has been quite evident how severely effected emo-tionally many of the patients have been,” Rusher said. “It is not surprising as many saw buildings crumble with family members inside that they would never see alive again.”

The hospital is joint-ly operated by the Free Methodist church and the Haitian government.

The Arlington Free Methodist Church has long supported the hospital, Rusher said.

“The response at this time has been heart-warm-ing as many of our medica-tions and supplies as well as money for paying the Haitian staff has come from the Arlington FM church,” he said.

Courtesy Photo

Jerry Rusher of Arlington talks with residents in Haiti. Rusher and fellow Arlington resident Jean Wessel have been treating Haitian residents affected by the Jan. 12. earthquake.

VICTIMS FROM PAGE 1

www.ARLINGTONTIMES.cOM 19The Arlington Times • February 24, 2010


ARLINGTON — A team of local church mem-bers will be staying at the site of a building in Haiti that collapsed and trapped Arlington resident Katie Zook a month ago.

Eighteen more Free Methodist Church members — including 13 Arlington residents — left Wednesday, Feb. 17, for Port-au-Prince to assist the city in recov-ering from a devastating earthquake that killed tens of thousands of people in January.

The group arrived less than two days after the bodies of Zook’s former colleagues were recovered from the Friends of Haiti Organization building in the Haitian capital.

Free Methodist Church missionaries Rev. Jeanne Acheson-Munos of Indiana and Merle West and Gene Dufour of Michigan had been missing and presumed dead since the January quake. Zook and other mis-sionaries were safely pulled from the toppled build-ing, and Zook is back in Arlington recovering from her injuries with her family.

The church sent a build-ing team to Port-au-Prince to help do church and school repairs, assist a tent city of 1,000 by digging out houses and re-establish the water collection system and site area at the mission compound, said Arlington resident Jeanne Wessel in an e-mail to The Arlington Times.

That group arrived in Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic on Wednesday, Feb. 18 and headed to Haiti on Thursday, Feb. 19, Wessel said.

Additionally, a smaller team from that group will travel to Dessalines Hospital — the location that Wessel and fellow Arlington resi-dent Dr. Jerry Rusher spent nearly a month treating earthquake victims — to work on electrical support, Wessel said.

Rusher is currently still working in Dessalines, a city approximately 90 miles north of Port-au-Prince.

According to an e-mail from Rusher dated Feb. 19, a number of patients in Haiti are being treated for nerve damage, and added that a number of crutches have been handed out.

“It seems that our work

here with earthquake vic-tims has been entering a new phase, that being one of rehabilitation of the many recovering from sever crush injuries and fractures,” Rusher wrote.

Among the team mem-bers joining Rusher will be Dr. Garritt Stanley, of Arlington, Wessel said.

Other Arlington residents traveling as part of the team include: Ron and Cindy Hansen; Jennifer Hansen; Zack Graham; Cordell Gott; Dick Saul; Dave Clark; Greg Hordyk; Dick and Aaron Sass and Craig Wessel.

Sean and Michelle Kinney of Granite Falls and Chuck Hargrove, David Swetz and Allen Stickney of Lakeside Church in Lake Stevens will also join the group, Jeanne Wessel said.

Once it arrives in Port-au-Prince, Wessel said the team will be staying at the same location of the build-ing that trapped 22-year-old Zook, who was found alive three hours after the earth-quake on Jan. 12.

“The team feels blessed and honored to be able to return to help the Haitian people that have become Katie’s friends and assisted in her recovery,” Wessel said.

Church sends another team to help in Haiti BY ADAM RUDNICK

[email protected]

LAKEWOOD — With its elementary school configurations possibly heading for a change, the Lakewood School District recently announced that it will be handling kindergar-ten registration at its dis-trict office.

Parents can register their children for both regular and tuition-based kinder-garten programs from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday until March 31.

The district cur-rently offers kindergar-ten at Cougar Creek and Lakewood elementary schools.

But the Board is consid-ering a recommendation to convert its current ele-mentary schools — Cougar Creek, Lakewood and English Crossing — into three kindergarten through fifth-grade buildings.

Because the Board may decide to make that choice, which involves re-drawing its district boundaries, dis-trict officials are unable to assign incoming kinder-gartners to specific schools, said Robin Barker, execu-tive administrative assistant for the Lakewood School District.

That decision could be made at the March 3 Board meeting.

Parents can pick up reg-

istration packets at the dis-trict office, located at 17110 16th Drive NE, Marysville. Those packets can be com-pleted prior to registration.

Registration for the dis-trict’s tuition-based kinder-garten will be a first-come, first-serve basis. According to district officials, it is unknown whether there will be a change from the district’s current $250 monthly fee.

To register, parents must bring their child’s original birth certificate, immuni-zation records, proof of res-idency and two emergency phone numbers.

For more information, contact the district office at 360-652-4500.

Lakewood registration underway

www.ARLINGTONTIMES.cOM wEdNESdAy, MARcH 10, 2010 • The Arlington Times

CommunityCommunity

in BRiEF

City offers Spring classesThe city of Arlington recently released a list of upcoming spring classes.n Welcome spring nature walk — Friday, March 19, 4 p.m.: Explore the first awakenings of spring in the woods along the banks of the Stillaguamish River. Identify new leaves of deciduous trees, search for tril-lium wildflowers, discuss the salmonberry and its historical importance and see the fiddle-heads of the new ferns. Listen to returning songbirds.Guide: Bill Blake, City Natural Resource Manager.Location: Twin Rivers Park, 22914 SR 530, Arlington.Cost: No Fee — registration not required.

n Exploring the Roots of Religion — Wednesdays, March 17 through April 21, 6:30-8 p.m.: This free six week lecture series presented by Frank Barden will cover the beginning of religious beliefs and will go back more than 5,000 years using archaeol-ogy. Class will cover the early Stone Age cave paintings, Neanderthals, Shamanistic belief systems, ancient tow-ers and tombs of Sumeria, the tomb of the first Emperor of China, the ancient city of Petra, the Druidic belief system of ancient Britain and how Stonehenge was built. This course touches on ancient reli-gious sites all over the world.Location: Olympic Place Retirement Community, 20909 Olympic Place, Arlington.Cost: No Fee — drop-ins are welcome.

n Beading Jewelry — Tuesdays, March 16 and 23, 5:30-7:30 p.m.: In this two-day class attendees will learn basic lay-out, simple wire wrapped loops and how to attach findings to create one’s own necklace, earrings, bracelets or anklets. Attendees will go home with three pieces of jewelry. Tools and supplies pro-vided. For ages 14 and up.Instructor: Nyna June, jewelry artist.Location: Community Room at the Arlington Boys & Girls Club, 18513 59th Avenue NE, Arlington.Cost: $45 plus $20 supply fee payable at first class — pre-register by calling 360-403-3448.


ARLINGTON — Jane Walker knew she wanted to help as soon as she heard that fellow church mem-ber Katie Zook was injured during the January earthquake in Haiti.

So the 77-year-old Arlington woman set out to raise money for the Zook family by combining her love of nature and her passion for art.

The result?“When I lived in Clarkston, I

sold painted rocks, and they sold as fast as I could paint them,” said Walker, a member of Arlington Free Methodist Church. “I know that Greg Zook (Katie’s father) lost his paycheck recently, then this happened. These people have gone through so much and I wanted to help.”

During the past month, Walker has spent her free time collecting flat rocks from near the Stillaguamish River with her terrier-mix, Casey, and returning to her downtown Arlington home to paint them.

So far Walker has painted approximately 50 rocks, which vary in terms of size and artwork.

“I paint a lot of them based on landscape books, but some of the rocks just tell me what to do,” Walker said with a laugh. “The hardest part for me is bringing the rocks home. The bag gets so heavy.”

Walker first covers the surface of the rock with a base coat of white latex. She then uses a fine-tip brush and oil paints to meticulously reproduce both paintings she’s seen and pieces she’s already completed on canvas.

After all, she’s not just a rock painter.

“I’ve been painting off and on since I was a kid,” said Walker, who is originally from England. She began pursuing art more seri-ously in the 1970s, and said she has been doing it ever since.

Walker will be selling her rocks from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 13, at Ace Hardware, locat-ed at 215 North Olympic Avenue in downtown Arlington.

She said she’s asking for a $10 donation for her small rocks, and

approximately $25 for her larger rocks.

“If these sell, I’ll keep doing it,” Walker said. “I’ve been painting every day.”

Katie Zook, 22, suffered injuries after the building she was doing missionary work in collapsed in January. She was found alive, but suffered injuries to her legs and lungs, and has been rehabilitating in Arlington with her family.

Three of Zook’s colleagues, who were not from Washington, were killed during the earthquake.

Since the quake, a number of North County residents and church members have traveled to Haiti to provide medical and construction assistance.

The most recent group of approx-imately 18 people arrived in Haiti on Feb. 19. The group included Dr. Garritt Stanley, Ron and Cindy Hansen, Jennifer Hansen, Zack Graham, Cordell Gott, Dick Saul, Dave Clark, Greg Hordyk, Dick and Aaron Sass and Craig Wessel of Arlington.

Local woman raises money for Zook family


Arlington resident Jane Walker holds up two rocks of the approximately 50 rocks that will be for sale to benefit Haitian earthquake survivor Katie Zook and her family.


ARLINGTON — Every dollar counts.

That’s what students found out during a recent presentation by Dr. Jerry Rusher and nurse practitio-ner Jeanne Wessel at Post Middle School.

The two Arlington resi-dents were part of a team of volunteers who recently spent time in Haiti help-ing earthquake victims at a hospital in Dessalines — a city about 90 miles north of Port-au-Prince.

Rusher and Wessel were on hand Friday, March 19, to share their experiences in the ravaged country, and thanked the students for their generous donation.

“Don’t think that just because you’re in sixth, sev-enth or eighth grade that you can’t make a difference,” Wessel told a group of about 75 students in the school’s library. “The money you raised is worth eight times as much in Haiti as it is here. It bought a lot of food and medicine — give yourself a hand.”

Students at Post raised $750 from a three-day bake sale in January for a group

of area volunteers, including Wessel, who left for Haiti in late January after the quake hit the country’s capital.

The idea for the fund-raiser came from students in sixth-grade teacher Cody Decker’s class.

Students collected items and sold them in the school, and donated the proceeds to the Post PTA, which in turn gave them to the departing group of volunteers from Arlington Free Methodist Church.

“We had piles of cookies, and two tables up at the front of the school,” said sixth-grader Brandon Qual.

Those same students hosted the three Friday pre-sentations made by Rusher and Wessel, which were given during first, second and third periods.

“This is kind of their reward,” Decker said.

Rusher began the presen-tations with a short intro-duction, and followed it up with a brief slideshow of photos taken by volunteers during their trip to Haiti. Wessel then followed up with a second slideshow.

Many of the photos shown were of Haitian patients who were receiving care after the Jan. 12 earth-

quake. One photo showed a picture of the collapsed four-story Friends of Haiti Organization building that collapsed on and injured Arlington resident Katie Zook.

Zook is currently recov-ering with her family and receiving physical therapy and treatment for the non-life threatening injuries she sustained.

“After the building col-lapsed, Katie couldn’t holler because the concrete would have crumbled on her,” Wessel told the students. “So she tapped a bottle until somebody heard her. The rescuer told her to just keep praying and don’t stop tap-ping.”

Qual said the presenta-tion was difficult to watch, but added that he learned a lot about not taking what he has for granted.

“We’re kind of spoiled with what we have here,” Qual said. “It was an accom-plishment that we were able to raise money and help and see where our money went.”

Fellow sixth-grader Aaron Paloalto agreed with Qual.

“I bet times are really hard for those kids,” Paloalto said.

www.ARLINGTONTIMES.cOM 5The Arlington Times • March 24, 2010

Haiti earthquake responders recount experiences to Post Middle School students


Dr. Jerry Rusher, of Arlington, talks about his recent volunteer efforts in Haiti for students at Post Middle School on Friday, March 19. Post students donated $750 to a group of volunteers who used that money to purchase medical supplies and food for earthquake victims.


ARLINGTON — When Burch Walker saw the dam-age caused by the January earthquake in Haiti, he wanted to help out.

So the Eagle Creek Elementary fourth-grader decided to hold a fundrais-er that would combine his willingness to help with his love of swimming.

“Because I swim here, I thought we could just do it here,” he said.

Burch raised $328 for the American Red Cross on Friday, March 19, by host-ing a free swimming party at the Marysville-Pilchuck High School Pool.

During the hour-long party, Burch collected dona-tions at the door from about 70 children that showed up.

The student invited about 200 people from his school and swim team — the

Mighty Marlins.In addition to getting a

chance to swim, Burch’s invitees got Krispy Kreme doughnuts and juice pouch-es.

Burch’s mom, Voni Walker, said that her son originally collected $175

from his relatives. After reserving the pool, he still had about $125 left to put toward the Red Cross.

“His original goal was $200, but since he already raised $125, he changed it to about $300,” Voni Walker said.

Student holds pool party for ARC


Eagle Creek Elementary student Burch Walker recently col-lected $328 for the American Red Cross during a pool party.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31, 2010 WWW.ARliNgtoNtiMES.CoM 75¢


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Vol. 121, No. 36


ARLINGTON — Katie Zook had just looked at the clock before the earthquake hit. It read 4:58 p.m.

From there it went black.Zook was told she spent three and a half

hours buried under the rubble of a four-sto-ry building in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, before she was pulled out and taken to the coun-try’s United Nations Hospital for treatment.

“It was pitch black outside when they pulled me out of the basement,” Zook said Saturday, March 27 from her Arlington home. “In Haiti, there’s always fires, electric-ity and lights. I thought that it’s never this dark. I thought there was no way that this was real.”

Looking back on the magnitude 7.0 quake that killed three of her colleagues and fellow missionaries on January 12, Zook said she still can’t explain how she survived.

“All the people who saw the building fall said it was horrible,” said Zook, 22. “There are so many things that can only be explained by miracles.”

Zook was doing missionary work for the Arlington Free Methodist Church when the earthquake that devastated Haiti shook down the Friends of Haiti Organization building, where she was staying.

Zook was on the top floor when the

Zook recounts earthquake, recovery


Arlington resident and knitter Alyce Matson shows Cascade Valley Hospital patient Mave Zosel hats that she and her friends have knitted. Matson has donated more than 100 hats to the hos-pital over the past few years.


Arlington resident Katie Zook, who suffered a number of injuries during the January earthquake in Haiti, is at home recovering from her injuries.

Chemo CapsBY ADAM [email protected]

ARLINGTON — Mave Zosel knew she was going in for a medical appointment last week, but she didn’t know she’d come home with a new piece of clothing.

Zosel, who is undergo-ing treatment at Cascade Valley Hospital for an iron deficiency, got an unex-pected gift during her visit Thursday, March 25 — a hand-made knitted cap.

“I think it’s amazing,” said Zosel, who was sitting in an oversized chair in the hospital’s new oncology clinic. “I imagine many of

the patients here will be able to use these. I can too — to cover up my hair.”

Although Zosel may have a full head of hair, many patients aren’t as fortunate due to chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

To counter the effects of their hair loss, Arlington resident Alyce Matson start-ed donating hats that she and her friends had made.

She started about three years ago when her best friend had cancer.

“I wanted to do something special for her,” Matson said.

Arlington woman knits, donates hats to Cascade Valley Hospital patients

SEE CAPS, PAGE 2

SEE ZOOK, PAGE 3

quake began. She said it sounded like a jet was going to hit the building, so she quickly dove under a round, sturdy table.

The force of the earth-quake knocked her out for what Zook thought was an hour. When she awoke, she saw that her left side, includ-ing her leg, was buried under rubble.

She couldn’t yell — her nose was full of concrete dust and she would later find out that she had a collapsed lung.

Zook said she talked to herself to stay calm.

“Fear outweighed panic after the earthquake,” Zook said. “When I came to, I thought I could get out. I told myself to stop being a wuss. I now realized that it was God talking to me.”

Zook was eventually res-cued and, after being air-lifted to Guantanamo Bay, flown to Florida where she would spend 25 days receiv-ing treatment for her exten-sive but non-life threatening injuries, which included a compound fracture to her vertebrae and substantial crush damage to the left side of her body.

Specialists were able to fuse her damaged vertebrae and ease the swelling of her

body that resulted from being smashed under debris.

She came home in February, and has continued to rehabilitate her injuries. That includes wearing a back brace for another five weeks and undergoing physical therapy once per week for her left shoulder and arm.

“As soon as I can take off my brace, I can resume a pretty normal life,” Zook said. “My doctors have been impressed. They tell me I’m young and healthy.”

Zook, who attended Arlington High School and has been an active mem-

ber in the Free Methodist Church, said she has been grateful for all the support her family and she have received since coming back to Arlington.

“We’ve had an outpouring of support,” she said. “We have two insurance compa-nies and we recently found out that we might need some help. We are blessed to have people thinking ahead for us.”

Despite the trauma that resulted from the earthquake, Zook said that she can’t wait to go back — sooner rather than later.

www.ARLINGTONTIMES.cOM 3The Arlington Times • March 31, 2010

ZOOK FROM PAGE 1

SPECIAL TO THE ARLINGTON TIMES

ARLINGTON — Community members again are being encouraged to bring their Easter baskets, cameras and smiles to the city of Arlington’s upcom-ing Easter egg hunt.

The event takes place at 11 a.m. on April 3 at the Arlington Municipal Airport.

Prizes will be offered in various age categories for children 1-12. The Easter bunny will also be on hand for photos during the event.

Last year, hundreds of families took part in the egg hunt, which happens behind the Stillaguamish Athletic Club.

Organizers and volun-teers provided more than 5,000 eggs for the different age groups of children to find.

Parking will be available in a grass field near the intersection of 172nd Street NE and 51st Avenue NE.

The hunt is sponsored by the city of Arlington, Cascade Valley Hospital

and the Arlington United Church.

Arlington egg hunt set for April 3

courtesy Photo

The Easter bunny will again available for photos during this year’s annual Easter egg hunt April 3 at the Arlington Municipal Airport.


ARLINGTON — A school administrator from the South Whidbey School District has accepted a new position in Arlington.

Mike Johnson, the district’s director of teaching and learning and former South Whidbey High School prin-cipal, will take over as the Arlington School District’s executive director of person-nel effective June 30.

“I can’t wait to get start-ed in the Arlington School District,” Johnson said in an e-mail. “The (district) has a wonderful reputation in the educational community. Every staff member that I have met has been knowl-edgeable, caring and profes-sional.”

Johnson will be taking current administrator Shirley Case’s position in the district office.

The Arlington School Board unanimously approved the hiring at its March 22 meeting, which was attended by Johnson and his wife.

Arlington School District spokeswoman Misti Gilman said that district officials interviewed about six can-

didates for the position on March 16.

According to its job description, responsibilities of the district administra-tor include implementing a comprehensive human rela-tions program, managing compliance with state laws and managing open com-munication with bargaining units, or labor unions.

The executive director of personnel position has a base salary of $119,004.

Johnson took over as prin-cipal of South Whidbey High School in 1999, according to

the South Whidbey Record, and was hired in 2007 to be the district’s director of teaching and learning.

As head of school person-nel, Johnson could have his work cut our for him as the Arlington School District is facing a possible $2.5 mil-lion budget shortfall for the 2010-11 school year.

School officials have said that reducing staff could again be an option for the district this year, which cut $3.8 million from the 2009-10 budget during last year’s budgeting process.

District gets new administrator

Photo courtesy of the South whidbey Record

Mike Johnson will be the Arlington School District’s executive director of personnel.

309.haiti.times

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