Davis Place in Stanwood has special meaning

Published 10:20 pm Thursday, February 12, 2009

STANWOOD — Davis Carlson would have been 15 this year.

Had cancer not taken his life in 2005, Davis likely would have been a regular at the new youth activity center in Stanwood.

Quickly becoming a popular after-school destination, the center is now called Davis Place.

The Stanwood Camano Community Resources Foundation recently selected Christinna Rieken the winner of a contest to name the youth center. Christinna, a Stanwood High School junior, said she thinks the name Davis Place is a fitting memorial to Davis, an athlete with a giving spirit. Christinna volunteers for the Community Resource Center at Morgan’s Tales Used Bookstore.

Middle and high school students can get help with their homework, take a class, have a snack or just hang out with friends at the center, program coordinator Andrea Wyatt Detrick said.

Classes planned for Davis Place include a Girls’ Garage class to give young people of both genders the skills to take care of their own vehicles, a photography class taught by local weekly newspaperman Rick Wood, and a variety of art and music classes. Currently homework help class is offered on Thursday afternoons and the Youth Leadership Council meets Wednesdays.

Davis Place is taking applications for a Youth Advisory Council, which will help shape the classes and activities offered at the center.

Davis Place is open for drop-in activities from 2 to 7 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays, and for scheduled classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Davis Place is located on Main Street in downtown Stanwood next door to the Stanwood Camano Community Resource Center and across the street from the Stanwood Library.

Hoops for Davis, an annual fundraising event run by the Davis Carlson Memorial Foundation, is scheduled for 5 p.m. April 17 at Stanwood High School. The event raises money for scholarships and for Davis Place.

For more information, call 360-629-5257.

Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.