Applause (Aug. 26, 2016)
Published 1:30 am Friday, August 26, 2016
Riding her way to victory
Alexis Eacret, 14, from Lake Stevens won the National Saddle Clubs Association O-Mok-See title for her age group (ages 12-15). She also broke two long-standing records during the national event, held July 9-15 in Blackfoot, Idaho, which tested riders in a series of barrel, keg and pole races — or “pattern horse racing.” Her records were in the 360-eight race and pair poles.
Three other young local riders also placed in the Top 10 for the ages 12-15 division: Georgia McAuliffe (third place), Katie Polaski (fourth place) and Ella Hager (ninth place), all from Snohomish. Georgia set a record in Western jumping for her age group.
Jill Hines, of Snohomish, finished second in the ages 8-11 division. She set a new record for her age group in the 360-eight race.
Other Snohomish County finishers included Tony Penna, of Machias, in fifth place among senior men, followed by Ken Perrine, of Monroe, in sixth place; and Tracy Tiefisher, of Stanwood, in eighth place for senior women.
The National Saddle Clubs Association was formed in 1965 as the first national organization of saddle clubs. Its first national championship show was in 1966.
Car dealer donates van to Annie’s Kitchen
Lexus of Seattle in Lynnwood recently donated a 2012 Nissan van to Annie’s Community Kitchen at Edmonds Lutheran Church.
Annie’s Community Kitchen serves a free meal 5 p.m. Wednesdays at the church, located at 23525 84th Ave. W. The program receives its supplies and food from a team of gleaners that collects nearly 3,000 pounds of food every week. (Food is used for the community meal, and distributed to other local food banks and feeding programs.)
The van used seven days a week for those collections was beginning to show wear. Lexus had been donating maintenance on the old van for years. Then general manager Brad Castonguay noted that repairs were getting to be too expensive, and he offered to donate a new van.
Working on faith and a shoestring budget, Annie’s co-founder Bob Snyder said he was speechless. “Every morning before I would fire up our old van, I would say a little prayer that it would start. So many people are counting on us, and if the van breaks down, our program comes to a halt. I don’t know if we can ever express the gratitude we feel to Brad and his team at Lexus.”
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