The search continues for the Seattle area mountaineer, John Aarum, missing on Storm King Mountain in the North Cascades National Park near Stehekin. Forty-nine year old Aarum, from the Seattle, has been missing since being reported overdue late Sunday by his family.

The experienced mountaineer was planning to solo climb Storm King Mountain, a rugged peak west of Stehekin, departing on Saturday, August 28

National Park Service personnel, plus mountain rescue volunteers from the Stehekin community and Chelan County Sheriff's Mountain Search & Rescue personnel have been searching for the missing climber since Monday, August 30.

Late Wednesday afternoon a backpack was found by a ground search team at the 7400-foot elevation level directly below Storm King Mountain’s 8500-foot summit. The backpack was on the route to the summit, and it is believed that the pack was purposely placed at this location. National Park Service rangers were able to confirm the gear belongs to the missing climber. An aerial search continued for the remainder of the afternoon, but no other clues were found. Air and ground searching will continue today near the summit, along the approach to the summit and along the north side of the mountain.

Family of John Aarum Issues Short Statement 9/2/10 – 12:00 PM (PST) John’s family is deeply grateful for the efforts taken by the dedicated members of the National Park Service, King County Sheriff’s Office and the volunteers from Chelan Mountain Rescue and the Stehekin Community that are working tirelessly on the search and rescue operation. Their professionalism and commitment gives us continued hope. Thank you for your thoughts, prayers and respect for our privacy at this time.

National Park Service rangers confirmed that a tent and other gear found on Monday belong to the missing climber, who had been issued a back-country permit to stay at that location on Friday, August 27. The designated camp site is along the Park Creek Trail en route to a Storm King climbing route.

Ground searches on Tuesday and Wednesday covered a 1500-acre search area.

The terrain where the searches are being conducted is steep and difficult as seen on this Google Earth image. The black vertical areas near the summit are said to be crevices in the rock mountain, deep and dark, and nearly impossible to view into, even by helicopter.

GoLakeChelan has been told that fears that if the missing slipped and fell into one of those regions, his rescue or recovery may be all but impossible.

Click Here for More in the Seattle Times

From the Web Page of Sean Clancy, a member of the 1st Place winning team. By the time teams reached the finish line, the 2010 TRIOBA 24 would go down as a classic and one of the harder-but most rewarding-events in memory... CLICK HERE and LISTEN - Race Director Glenn Rogers talks with GoLakeChelan's Steve Byquist A good way to understand the event is to read the information that organizers mailed to any team or person who might have been interested in participating. Click Here For The Introduction Document

September 2, 2010

Last Saturday morning, GoLakeChelan was made aware a number of 'lights' spotted on what 'locals' call the 'Little Butte behind Lakeside. Many readers wrote to ask what was going on. Had the 'aliens' landed ... or was a crew trying to harvest the fall crop of 'weed' were among the questions we received.

As it turned out - those lights were part of the head-gear (mostly, anyway) of participants in a fascinating 'Adventure Race' (what we tend to think of as a high quality Iron-Man competition.) And put on by an organization out of Western Washington, that is devoted to the sport.

To the left, GoLakeChelan's Steve Byquist has a most interesting interview with Race Director Glenn Rogers. While listening to Steve's interview we suggest our readers will enjoy viewing the on-line photos which have since been posted by various participating team members. (We've created this story so that readers may start the audio interview, then click on the photo links and those pages will open in NEW windows while the audio will continue to play.
After viewing one of the links below - close that window and you will return to this page where you can then click on another photo liibrary link and enjoy even more.

Notice if you will - the smiles and the gear!

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Sean Clancy - Team Dart-nuun 1st place

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Trioba's Face Book Page

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Miles Olhrich - Team Mergeo 3rd place

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Volunteer Christina Chacharon

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Tamara Armstrong Team Manny's Pale Ale

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CLICK HERE FOR A SLIDE SHOW OF 140 PHOTOS FROM THE EVENT

Tomorrow night,Friday, September 3rd, the Historic Downtown Chelan Association (HDCA) and many community minded organizations and businesses team up to put on one of the favorite First Friday events - A DOGS NIGHT OUT.

GoLakeChelan will be there to photo the dogs and owners for later on-line photo competition.

Here's a complete rundown of what's planned:

Historic Downtown Chelan participating merchants and supporters invite you to August First Friday’s 4thAnnual “Dog’s Night Out”.

Whaley’s General Store will sponsor the 4th Annual Dog Photo Contest, dog treats in all participating First Friday stores as well as a Doggie Treat Café on site. Photos taken by GoLakeChelan.com will be available on their website.

After preliminary judging, you will be able to vote for your favorites on-line and help us pick the winner in one of the following categories:

Cutest

Most Elegant

Most Unique and

Owner/Pet LookaLike.

Winners will receive gift baskets from Whaley’s General Store.

CLICK HERE and LISTEN - We talk with HDCA Director Cindy Salazar

Test your dog’s abilities with Chelan Dog’s Agility Obstacle Course on the North side of Woodin on Emerson St as well as a Doggie Doo Relay Race and they will provide a “Doggie Serenade” from 6-8. Dogwise Publishing will provide dog books for sale with proceeds going to the Humane Society.

There will be Doggie Refreshment Stations and Yuppy Puppy will have grooming touchups before picture taking.

Look for Auntie Donna’s Dog Massage Station at Spirals and a Dog Picture Coloring Station at the registration area near Chelan Realty.

Coldwell Banker will have a Doggie Pool Party- let your pet coof off in one of 3 filled kiddie pools and see if your dog has got what it takes to retrieve an underwater chewy toy in the Doggie Diving Contest.

Look for local artists who may offer pet portraits and enjoy the artwork of Chelan Valley Independent School art students in participating merchant stores.

Lake Chelan Eagle’s will bring hamburgers out onto the street for the evening.

Black Dog Frame Shop plans to do “Pawprints” and look for Hank’s Franks nearby.

The “3” Amigos will play timeless music at the Historical Museum from 5-6 pm and see photos of the makings of the “Lassie” film which took place in the Chelan/Stehekin area years ago. Radio Shack will be playing the film in their window throughout the evening.

There will be a table for the Wenatchee Valley Humane Society— adoptable pets will be available near Whaley’s General Store and meet Dr. Barb Fehr from Village Veterinarian.

Get information from the Genealogical Society and PEO (Philanthropic Education Org.) will have their bake sale near Shirt Shop.

St Andrew’s Episcopal Church will take names of departed pets for a special blessing in remembrance of these pets at their church service at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday the 29th. They will do a blessing of animals in October, so current pets’ names can be left with volunteers at the church.

Meet members of the Lake Chelan Fire Fighter local union and help with their fundraiser for the Burn Foundation. Look for one of the local fire trucks as well.

Soroptomist International of Chelan will be located near Willow and The Vogue to promote the October 16th Chelan Chase. Registration and pledge forms will be available.

Chelan Valley Independent School will share ideas on Ways to Enhance Children’s Activity and Nutrition—W.E.C.A.N. based on the National Institute of Health’s Obesity Prevention in youth and the community.

Enjoy live music and great food in the Campbell's Bistro from 6-8 pm on all Fridays.

The Vogue...a Liquid Lounge, features live music every Friday and Saturday night from 8-10 pm. all ages welcome, no cover. Experience live music, enjoy a glass of wine and a "slice of community".

Main St Gallery will feature Artists in Action with Edmonds artist, Joan Archer. Come in and visit while she paints in watercolor. She plans a watercolor workshop in the park on Saturday, Sept. 4 from 10:30-4.

Chelan Fire and Rescue and Chelan County Fire District 5 would like to remind you that it’s that time of year again, when the children head back to school.

We would like to help keep the children safe this school year.

 SLOW DOWN! When by and around schools.

 KEEP EYES OPEN for kids walking, riding bikes, on rollerblades and skateboards.

 KNOW ALL TRAFFIC RULES concerning school zones and traffic flows.

 REMEMBER who is on board a school bus.

 WHEN A SCHOOL BUS STOPS and flashes red lights, traffic approaching from either direction MUST STOP before reaching the bus.

 BE PREPARED TO SLOW DOWN & POSSIBLY STOP whenever you see a school bus, also know that school buses stop prior to entering any railroad track, so be sure not to follow too closely.

 BECOME FAMILIAR with your neighborhood or community bus routes; don’t assume the routes and times will remain the same from last year.

 MAKE SURE there is an adult home when your child gets off the bus.

 HAVE A SAFE PLACE for your child to wait for the bus, that’s away from traffic and the street.

If you have any questions please call your Local Fire or EMS Departments.

Chelan Fire and Rescue 509-682-4476
Mason Fire Dist #5 509-687-3222
Chelan EMS 509-682-6120

Because there is only one YOU!

Sep 1, 2010

It was a full house (and nearly full parking lot) at the new Chelan Senior Center at noon today.

It was September 1st - and as promised by Senior Center leaders, the "Center" would serve it's first meal to area seniors by that deadline.

We stopped by about 12:45 and took the pictures to the left, which shows just how full full it was.

One of the members told us that they thought they had served just over 80 meals.

Another told us that some of those attending came from surrounding communities to celebrate the historic moment.

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Click On Photos For Enlargements
Or Click Here To View Photo Library

It's a great day for the Chelan Senior Center.

As promised ... Lunch will be served today at the new Chelan Senior Center.

GoLakeChelan has learned that as of 9 am today there are more than 70 Seniors who have said they will be in attendance at their new facility for this momentous occasion.

It was April of 2009 that the old 'Center' was torn down, the first step in building a new facility.
And finally ... the first meal prepared in the new kitchen will be served today.

One member of the group told GoLakeChelan that if 70 people signed up for lunch in the old building, the remainder would have to go on a waiting list in the event someone cancelled.

Another of the Seniors told us with great anticipation......"Today will be a great chance to many old and new faces to be sitting down together for a common meal! It has been a long time since last April 2009 when we took the old building down. It seemed to take for ever to get the new building up and going. We finally made it."

Here's More On Those Mysterious Lights Early Saturday Morning

A big thanks to the many who emailed or called to talk about our story Monday asking about the mysterious lights on the Little Butte early Saturday morning. It turns they were participants in an a Trioba Adventure Racing event called the 'Chelan Adventure Race'

It started at midnight Friday night at Riverwalk Park where close to 100 physically fit individuals were launched on a 4 part mission that took them through downtown Chelan on foot, up over Chelan Butte, down to Chelan Falls Park (all on foot), then a paddle course down the Columbia in the middle of the night to Entiat City Park where they switched to bikes and headed up the Entiat, over the top and ended up near Plain in the Chumstick Valley near Lake Wenatchee. Total time for those who were successful ... somewhere between 24 and 33 hours later.

We were able to reach one of the organizers of the event, Glenn Rogers. We will be talking with Glenn in the near future, and hopefully one of the event participants. In the meantime, those who want to get a head start on this fascinating story - The organizers have a Web-Site with a ton of information about what they do called www.Trioba.com.

The NCW District Fair in Waterville kicked of the Fall Fair Season for the members of the Chelan FFA Chapter.



Sixteen members attended the fair exhibiting 29 market animals, competing in Career Development Events, and exhibiting still life exhibits.

In the Meat Goat Barn, Billy Poppie had the Grand Champion Meat Goat, and Derion Martin had the Reserve Champion Meat Goat. Joining them in the Championship Drive were Sammi Jo Cool and Leah Clark. Additional showmen were Lupe and Jorge Villasenor.


In the Sheep Barn, Chelsea Gocke and Michael LaHaye each exhibited two lambs and each made the final drive with both lambs. Michael ended up with the Reserve Grand Champion Lamb. Chelsea also made the finals in the fitting and showing.
In the Beef Barn, Sammi Jo Cool, Jane Horlebein, Jorge Villasenor, and Leah Clark had Market Steers. Sammi Jo and Leah made it into the Market Finals and Leah also made it in the fitting and showing finals.

Jorge Villasenor, Lupe Villasenor, Amanda Stewart, Levi Greenway, Chad Miller, Sean Hess, Mackenzie Kramer, Apolinar Blanco, and Corey McClellan all brought market hogs to the Pig Barn to show. Levi made it into the championship drive with his hog. Lupe and Apolinar made it into the finals in the fitting and showing.

In the FFA Still Life exhibits, Apolinar Blanco was the Overall Horticulture Grand Champion, and had the Grand and Reserve Grand Champion Vegetable exhibits. Jorge Villasenor had the Grand Champion Fruit exhibit, and Lupe Villasenor had the Reserve Grand Champion Fruit Exhibit. Josiah Hunter had the Grand Champion Educational.

August 30, 2010

At GoLakeChelan We Get Mail - 100's of Emails a Day
And to all those who keep our communications open - We say Thank-you!

A Recent Email From a Resident In Chelan Hills included....
"I'm aware of more than 10 private homes in Residential Zones of Chelan Hills that are being rented as Vacation Properties - Illegally"
"Why Doesn't The City Enforce It's own Regulations?"

We had no idea if the allegations were even true ...
But we did reach out to ask the question to City officials...

So we talked to City Administrator Jim Reinbold:

CLICK ON AUDIO PLAYER & LISTEN
City Administrator Jim Reinbold chats with Steve Byquist

To help clarify - It is legal to rent a home in an R1 Zone, but by the month, to accommodate the rental of a residence, to a non-owner occupant, the obvious intention is for the purpose of an owner of a home renting it out to a resident occupant; but not as a vacation occupant. The weekly rental of a home in R1 (Residential) Zoning for less than 30 days is illegal. (It is legal in TA (Tourist Accommodation Zones.)

GoLakeChelan's Steve Byquist talk with Reinbold who admits that currently, due to a lack of a 'Code Enforcement Officer' on City staff, some illegal renting is taking place. He says this has made it difficult for the City of be truly 'proactive' in enforcement but said the City does respond on a 'complaint basis.'

There's 'Fall' in the air everywhere ... and with it comes Warmups and 'Fall Sports'

GoLakeChelan's Dave Rogge has been busy catching up on Volleyball and Football as we learn in these two reports below:

Click Here for Chelan Sports Schedules for 2010-11

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The 'Hanger Fire' during the early morning hours of August 18th, was determined to be caused by electrical problems, however there were problems making that determination.

Chelan County Commissioner Doug England says that the 'County' had, for budget reasons, not renewed a contract for Fire Marshal Services with Chelan County Fire District #1.

The County had been paying $60,000 a year for a 'Fire District Employee' to review all 'Building Plans submitted to the County Planning Department for compliance with 'Fire Code. That employee also, when asked, investigated the cause of fires within Chelan County.

The County had an employee in it's own 'Building and Planning Department' that was qualified to complete plan reviews for 'Fire Code Compliance', so it did not renew it's contact with Fire District One, but failed to contract with an investigator.

So when Chelan Fire and Rescue Chief Lemon called for an investigation of the 'Hanger Fire', there was confusion because at that time, no one had been contracted by the County to preform investigations.

GoLakeChelan's Steve Byquist ask Chelan County Commissioner Doug England about the change, the confusion the morning of the 18th, and what has been done to solve it.

THOSE SPECKS ARE GOATS ON THE FACE OF A DAM!

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This is one of three photos sent to GoLakeChelan with little comment or explanation other than to say ... "Now This Is Goat Country!"

But where is it?

Pretty amazing for sure.

Click on this photo and then step through the 3 enlargements.

We'd really like to be able to tell our readers where this photo was taken. If anyone knows drop us an email at

Montana
Grizzly Bear
Warning

In light of the rising frequency of human/grizzly bear conflicts, the Montana Dept of Fish & Game has posted the following:

Advisory To Hikers, Hunters, & Fishermen Take Extra Precautions & Keep Alert Watch For Bear While In The Field.

We advise outdoorsmen to wear noisy little bells on their clothing so as not to startle bears that aren't expecting them.

We also advise outdoorsmen to carry pepper spray with them at all times, in case of an encounter with a bear.

It is also a good idea to watch out for fresh signs of bear activity.

Outdoorsmen should recognize the difference between black bear and grizzly bear poop.

Black bear poop is smaller and contains lots of berries and squirrel fur.

Grizzly bear poop is larger and has little bells in it and smells like pepper.

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A physics teacher in high school, once told the students that while one grasshopper on the railroad tracks wouldn't slow a train very much, a billion of them would.

With that thought in mind, read the following, obviously written by a good American .

Good idea One light bulb at a time.

The other day, a friend was in Lowes and was looking at the hose attachments. They were all made in China. The next day he was in an Ace Hardware and just for the heck of it, checked the hose attachments there. They were made in USA. Start looking.

In our current economic situation, every little thing we buy or do affects someone else - even their job.

Another friend likes Hershey's candy. We noticed, though, that it is marked made in Mexico now. So he doesn't buy it any more. His favorite toothpaste Colgate is made in Mexico now. So he switched to Crest.. You have to read the labels on everything.

This past weekend we were at a big box store and needed 60 W light bulbs and Bounce dryer sheets. In the light bulb aisle, we found the GE brand and an off brand labeled, "Everyday Value." We picked up both types of bulbs and compared the stats - they were the same except for the price. The GE bulbs were more money than the Everyday Value brand but the thing that surprised us the most was the fact that GE was made in MEXICO and the Everyday Value brand was made in - get ready for this - the USA at a company in Cleveland, Ohio .

So throw out the myth that you cannot find products you use every day that are made right here.

So on to another aisle - Bounce Dryer Sheets . . .yep, you guessed it, Bounce cost more money and is made in Canada.

The Everyday Value brand was less money and MADE IN THE USA! I did laundry yesterday and the dryer sheets performed just like the Bounce I have been using for years and at almost half the price! My challenge to you is to start reading the labels when you shop for everyday things and see what you can find that is made in the USA - the job you save may be your own or your neighbors!

If you accept the challenge, pass this on to others so we can all start buying American, one light bulb at a time!

Let's stop buying from overseas companies!

We should have awakened a decade ago !!!! let's get with the program . . . help our fellow Americans keep their jobs and create more jobs here in the USA.

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Attitude Is Everything By Charles Swindoll

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.

It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company ...a church ...a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.

We cannot change our past ...we cannot change the fact that people will act in certain way. We cannot change the inevitable.

The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have; and that is our attitude ...I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes" - Charles Swindoll

Tech Geeks & Cowboys

A cowboy named Bud was overseeing his herd in a remote mountainous pasture in California when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced out of a dust cloud towards him.

The driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, RayBan sunglasses and a YSL tie, leans out the window and asks the cowboy, 'If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, will you give me a calf?'

Bud looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at his peacefully grazing herd and calmly answers, 'Sure, Why not?'

The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer, connects it to his Cingular RAZR V3 cell phone, and surfs to a NASA page on the Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite to get an exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo.

The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg , Germany .

Within seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image has been processed and the data stored. He then accesses a MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Excel spreadsheet with email on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes, receives a response.

Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page report on his hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet printer and finally turns to the cowboy and says, 'You have exactly 1,586 cows and calves.' 'That's right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves,' says Bud.

He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on amused as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car.

Then Bud says to the young man,'Hey,if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my calf?'

The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, 'Okay, why not?'

'You're a Congressman for the U.S.Government', says Bud.

'Wow! That's correct,' says the yuppie, 'but how did you guess that?'

'No guessing required.' answered the cowboy. 'You showed up here even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked. You tried to show me how much smarter than me you are; and you don't know a thing about cows...this is a herd of sheep. . . Now give me back my dog!"

$50 is $50

Morris and his wife Esther went to the state fair every year, and every year Morris would say, "Esther, I'd like to ride in that biplane and Esther always replied, "I know Morris, but that biplane ride is 50 dollars and 50 dollars is 50 dollars".

One year Esther and Morris went to the fair, and Morris said, "Esther, I'm 85 years old. If I don't ride that old biplane , I might never get another chance." Esther replied, "Morris that biplane ride is 50 dollars and 50 dollars is 50 dollars".

The pilot overheard the couple and said, "Folks I'll make you a deal. I'll take the both of you for a ride. If you can stay quiet for the entire ride and not say a word I won't charge you! But if you say one word, it's 50 dollars." Morris and Esther agreed and up they went.

The pilot did all kinds of fancy maneuvers, but not a word was heard. He did his daredevil tricks over and over again, but still not a word.

When they landed, the pilot turned to Morris and said, "By golly, I did everything I could to get you to yell out, but you didn't. I'm impressed!"

Morris replied, "Well, to tell you the truth, I almost said something when Esther fell out, but you know -- 50 dollars is 50 dollars."

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Italian Inginuity at Work

An old Italian lived alone in New Jersey.

He wanted to plant his annual tomato garden, but it was very difficult work, as the ground was hard.

It seems his only son, Vincent, who used to help him, was now in prison... and the old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament:

Dear Vincent,
I am feeling pretty sad, because it looks like I won't be able to plant my tomato garden this year.
I'm just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot I know if you were here my troubles would be over... I know you would be happy to dig the plot for me, like in the old days.

Love, Papa

A few days later he received a letter from his son..

Dear Pop,
Don't dig up that garden.
That's where the bodies are buried.
Love,
Vinnie

At 4 a.m.. the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies.

They apologized to the old man and left..

That same day the old man received another letter from his son.

Dear Pop,
Go ahead and plant the tomatoes now..
That's the best I could do under the circumstances.

Love you,
Vinnie