Applause

Tyler Angell, 16, has achieved the rank of Eagle Scout.

The son of Jim and Renee Angell of Everett, he is an award-winning member-leader of Everett Boy Scout Troop 114. At Kamiak High School, Tyler is on the swim team and is a theater technician.

He is a member of Everett First Presbyterian Church youth group.

For his Eagle project, Tyler built six park benches that convert to picnic tables at Tall Timbers Ranch, a Presbyterian family camp near Lake Wenatchee.

To complete his project Tyler recruited friends from school, his scout troop, friends from National Jamboree, his church youth group and several family members, including his grandparents from California.

Everett Boy Scout Troop 114 recently recognized Michael Salzer, who has achieved the rank of Eagle Scout.

More than 100 friends, family members and fellow scouts attended his court of honor in September at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Mukilteo.

The son of Eric and Heidi Salzer, Michael is a sophomore at Mariner High School where he is on the honor roll and the swim team.

He volunteers in several ways in the community, including helping younger swimmers and younger scouts.

He recently won the Mayor’s Youth Achievement Award, and Everett’s Mayor Ray Stephanson was a speaker at his court of honor. For his Eagle project, Michael built a climbing wall for Our Savior’s Lutheran Preschool.

He was helped in this endeavor by friends, family, the business community and fellow scouts. Michael’s late great-grandfather Ken Edeen, a Boy Scout in the 1930s, encouraged Michael to reach the Eagle goal, he said.

Nick Mundell, son of Jim and Carmel Mundell of Snohomish, recently achieved the rank of Eagle Scout.

His court of honor in August was at St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Snohomish.

A member of Snohomish Boy Scout Troop 36 since 1999, he is 2006 graduate of Snohomish High School.

At Eastern Washington University, he plans to study nursing and run hurdles on the track team.

Nick’s Eagle project involved constructing two outside riding arenas at the Equi-Friends Therapeutic Riding Center, where his father had taken lessons and Nick had volunteered while in high school.

Piasecki wins Lions Club merit award

Dottie Piasecki is the winner of the Lions International Medal of Merit Award.

She will receive her award from the Everett Central Lions Club at 6 p.m. Nov. 16 at the Monte Cristo ballroom, Everett.

Proceeds from the fundraising reception the same evening will benefit the new cancer center at Providence Colby Campus and Lions sight and hearing programs. Tickets are available by calling Bridget Larsen at 425-257-1651 or Art Ruben at 425-514-5464.

Piasecki recently retired from the Providence General Foundation where she had served as the executive director since 1992.

During her career with Providence, she helped raise millions of dollars for new and expanded hospital programs, services and facilities. One of her successes is the Providence Pavilion for Women and Children.

Her most recent project is the $500 million Cancer Center at the Providence Colby Campus. Even though Piasecki is retired, she is continuing her work on the Cancer Center project as a part of leadership transition.

Piasecki has been active in the Everett Area Chamber of Commerce, American Heart Association, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, American Cancer Society, March of Dimes, Camp Fire, Salvation Army and Rotary. Educated at Everett High School and Seattle University, she lives in Mill Creek with her husband. They have four children.

The Lions Medal of Merit Award is a top award given by Lions International and associated clubs.

Previous recipients of this award have been Bob and Margaret Bavasi, Helen Jackson, Bernie Webber, John and Ida Mae Schack, Ed Hansen, Larry Hanson, Frank McCord, Ed and Betty Morrow and Dr. Tony Roon.

Students build dog house, win competition

Sno-Isle TECH Skills Center students Sean Friesen and Tyler Reyling, seniors from Monroe High School, recently won first place in the Master Builders Association Dog House Competition in Seattle.

The competition was open to high school students from Snohomish and King counties. The teens scored 105 points out of a possible 107.

Representing their construction trades class, Friesen and Reyling worked nights to build the doghouse, which took them seven days and 60 hours to complete. Their doghouse has T 1-11 siding, a cedar shingle roof, maple floors, oak paneled interior walls and is insulated.

Supplies were donated by Vern Construction, Horeco Refrigeration, and Sno-Isle TECH.

The boys each received an I-Pod for being first place winners. In addition, Sno-Isle TECH Skills Center received a nail gun, air compressor, hose and nails. The doghouse was auctioned to benefit the construction trades class.

Fifth grader honored by DARE program

Lynnwood Police Officer Alan Correa recently honored Brighton School fifth-grader Drew McCoy as being the Lynnwood Police Department’s November 2006 DARE – Decision Maker of the Month. McCoy was selected from more than 300 DARE students in Lynnwood schools to be honored for his good choices.

“The most important thing to me is to teach these kids to respect themselves and others,” Correa said. “So we spend a lot of time talking about treating others the way you want to be treated.”

Thousands of trees planted in Snohomish

Nearly 40 volunteers and several Snohomish Parks Department employees turned out Saturday for a planting day in the Blackman Lake watershed.

The group planted more than 2,000 trees, shrubs and native bulbs to help improve water quality in the watershed.

Volunteers donated 148 hours of labor to complete the task.

The volunteers included Snohomish Parks Foundation members, families, businesses, teen groups, Cub Scouts, teachers, environmentalists and lakeside residents concerned about their lake, said Lya Badgley, Snohomish City Council member and coordinator of the city’s Adopt-a-Park Program.

Starbucks crews from Snohomish and Monroe showed up to feed the volunteers, she said. Before the event, the city had constructed a ditch to naturally filter runoff from streets near the lake.

The runoff had previously been draining directly into the lake untreated. New plants along the ditch, called a “bio-swale,” included vine maple, fern, dogwood, mountain ash, iris, camas, cascara, spruce, wild rose, willow, cedar, mock orange, crabapple, shore pine and myrtle.

Ornaments to decorate national Christmas tree

Skykomish School students are sending tree ornaments to decorate the Capitol Christmas Tree in Washington, D.C. This year’s tree is from Washington state. The ornaments from Skykomish are designed from pine cones.

Kiwanis Club donates fuel to Matthew House

Monroe Kiwanis Club recently gave Matthew House in Monroe a pallet of stove pellets to help heat the nonprofit organization’s building.

Linda Paz, executive director of Matthew House, said that Monroe Kiwanis has purchased and delivered pellets to Matthew House since 2003.

The nonprofit organization, which helps families of those in prison, won a pellet stove from the county fair some years ago and has heated with the pellet stove since then, Paz said.

Music students compete to play with symphony

The Snohomish County Music Teachers Association’s recent concerto competition in Lynnwood involved 13 piano, two flute and two violin students who competed for the honor of playing with the Everett Symphony Orchestra or the Port Gardner Bay Chamber Orchestra.

Pianist Matthew Palumbo, 17, of Mill Creek, was selected to play with the Everett Symphony Orchestra on March 31. Joshua Chao, of Kamiak High School, Mukilteo, is the alternate for the concert.

Joshua was also selected to play with the Port Gardner Bay Chamber Orchestra on Jan. 14, along with Andrew Romanick, piano, Snohomish High School; Anna Song, violin, Bothell; Stephanie Lam, piano, Cedar Park Christian School; and Rebecca Holtgeerts, flute, Cascade High School, Everett.

Nora Gunning, piano, Everett High School, was chosen as an alternate for the Port Gardner Bay Symphony. Students receiving honorable mention at the competition are Colleen McElroy, flute, Arlington High School; Rose Halcomb, piano, Bothell; and Byron Kim, piano, Valley View Middle School, Snohomish.

4-H leaders inducted into state hall of fame

Two Snohomish County residents were among eight inducted into the Washington State 4-H Hall of Fame at the 4-H Forum on Oct. 20 in Chelan.

They were recognized for their commitment and impact on 4-H and their communities and leadership to 4-H over many years.

Audrey Brannon of Woodinville has been an active 4-H volunteer in Snohomish County for 30 years. She co-founded the Bear Creek Bunch 4-H Club in 1976. Brannon, whose name is synonymous with 4-H poultry, served as county poultry program leader and later as Evergreen State Fair 4-H poultry superintendent.

She received the Snohomish County Clover Award in 2005.

Jo Simpson of Snohomish has been a 4-H dog program leader in Snohomish County for 15 years. Her club regularly has more than 60 members.

She was co-founder of the Canine Connections program at the Echo Glen Co-educational Juvenile Corrections Facility in 2000. There she guides youth to raise and train abandoned dogs, which are then placed for adoption.

More than 140 people have been inducted into the State 4-H Hall of Fame since its inception in 2001. The Washington State 4-H program helps young people learn leadership, citizenship and life skills. Adult leaders and volunteers are vital to the success of the program.