thedrifter
11-07-07, 09:06 AM
A bit of luck, a kiss on the cheek and a needed miracle
Last updated November 6, 2007 8:16 p.m. PT
By MARY SWIFT
P-I COLUMNIST
Sometimes you get lucky even when you've been unlucky.
Helen Hutchings, a resident of Peoria, Ariz., came to Marysville to see her first grandchild for the first time, but it turns out the visit was memorable for more reasons than the obvious one.
Hutchings was at Sea-Tac Airport on Sunday night catching a plane home when she bumped her hand while getting off an elevator and knocked a prong off the wedding ring that held her two-carat diamond.
Stunned, she watched the $20,000 stone bounce, then fall down a crack between the elevator door and the shaft.
"I froze," Hutchings says. "I was like, 'It's gone forever.' "
As luck -- the kind you don't want to have -- would have it, no elevator technician was available until 5 a.m. Monday. A frantic Hutchings skipped her flight and stayed over.
"I was having nightmares all night," she says.
But as it turns out, a new day brought better luck. Bright and early Monday, the elevator technician showed up, climbed down the shaft, quickly spotted the missing diamond and returned it.
"They found it in, like, 15 seconds," a relieved Hutchings says. "One of the guys said, 'You can buy me coffee.' I told him, 'I'll buy you more than that.' "
The good guys
Ginger Passarelli and two other members of the Soup Ladies of Maple Valley, a volunteer group that feeds people during disasters, returned late last week after six days of feeding emergency personnel and others affected by the California wildfires.
"We were feeding 400 to 450 people a day," she says. Toward the end, a sheriff who faced a particularly difficult day motioned for her to come over, then planted a kiss on her cheek.
"There are no words for what you guys are doing," he told her.
"I cried," Passarelli said.
When Passarelli and the two other women jokingly told some Marines they wanted a ride in their military truck, the Marines agreed. But first, the women had to put on flak jackets and helmets. The flak jacket she got smelled, Passarelli said.
The young Marine offering it was apologetic. "I'm sorry, ma'am," he told her. "That flak jacket's been in Iraq four times."
"And I told him I was honored to wear it," she says.
It turns out that Passarelli and her crew arrived back just in time for some good news.
On Saturday, the Maple Valley Rotary Club held its annual dinner auction at the Spirit of Washington Events Center in Renton.
They raised $28,000 in a fund-an-item event for a mobile kitchen for the Soup Ladies. That's half of the $56,000 the organization needs to buy the kitchen that will be used when the group serves during disaster or emergency situations.
Seeking a miracle
Gerry Coupe and some other members of Holy Spirit Parish in Kent are praying for a miracle.
Here's why: The parish's former church, now St. Anthony chapel, has stained-glass windows desperately in need of repair.
Though the parish in downtown Kent now has a larger worship center, the old chapel, constructed in 1924 and dedicated a year later, is still in use.
They're not ordinary windows, Coupe says.
"They were made by Povey Bros. of Oregon. They were considered the Tiffany of the Northwest," Coupe says. David Povey, the brother who did the design and artwork, died in 1925, and the company was sold in 1930.
The windows were damaged by time and weather, and the lead is in danger of failing. Coupe says three different companies have bid on the repairs. The cost? $100,000, a hefty figure -- particularly for Holy Spirit parish.
"We serve 1,000 registered households, and we estimate we serve 1,500 unregistered households," Coupe says. "We're really an inner-city parish.
"We have at least 18 different languages spoken by members of our congregation. We're a large congregation, but we're a poor parish."
At 7 p.m. on Nov. 30, Taproot Theatre will present "The Other Wise Man" at Holy Spirit Church, 310 Third Ave. S., in Kent.
Tickets are $5 for children, $10 for adults.
Proceeds will go to help save the windows. Call 253-859-0444 for tickets or to make a donation.
Coupe knows that even if organizers pack the house, the money raised will be far short of what they need.
"What we need," she says pointedly, "is a miracle."
P-I columnist Mary Swift can be reached at 206-909-9612 or swiftyk@netscape.com.
Ellie
Last updated November 6, 2007 8:16 p.m. PT
By MARY SWIFT
P-I COLUMNIST
Sometimes you get lucky even when you've been unlucky.
Helen Hutchings, a resident of Peoria, Ariz., came to Marysville to see her first grandchild for the first time, but it turns out the visit was memorable for more reasons than the obvious one.
Hutchings was at Sea-Tac Airport on Sunday night catching a plane home when she bumped her hand while getting off an elevator and knocked a prong off the wedding ring that held her two-carat diamond.
Stunned, she watched the $20,000 stone bounce, then fall down a crack between the elevator door and the shaft.
"I froze," Hutchings says. "I was like, 'It's gone forever.' "
As luck -- the kind you don't want to have -- would have it, no elevator technician was available until 5 a.m. Monday. A frantic Hutchings skipped her flight and stayed over.
"I was having nightmares all night," she says.
But as it turns out, a new day brought better luck. Bright and early Monday, the elevator technician showed up, climbed down the shaft, quickly spotted the missing diamond and returned it.
"They found it in, like, 15 seconds," a relieved Hutchings says. "One of the guys said, 'You can buy me coffee.' I told him, 'I'll buy you more than that.' "
The good guys
Ginger Passarelli and two other members of the Soup Ladies of Maple Valley, a volunteer group that feeds people during disasters, returned late last week after six days of feeding emergency personnel and others affected by the California wildfires.
"We were feeding 400 to 450 people a day," she says. Toward the end, a sheriff who faced a particularly difficult day motioned for her to come over, then planted a kiss on her cheek.
"There are no words for what you guys are doing," he told her.
"I cried," Passarelli said.
When Passarelli and the two other women jokingly told some Marines they wanted a ride in their military truck, the Marines agreed. But first, the women had to put on flak jackets and helmets. The flak jacket she got smelled, Passarelli said.
The young Marine offering it was apologetic. "I'm sorry, ma'am," he told her. "That flak jacket's been in Iraq four times."
"And I told him I was honored to wear it," she says.
It turns out that Passarelli and her crew arrived back just in time for some good news.
On Saturday, the Maple Valley Rotary Club held its annual dinner auction at the Spirit of Washington Events Center in Renton.
They raised $28,000 in a fund-an-item event for a mobile kitchen for the Soup Ladies. That's half of the $56,000 the organization needs to buy the kitchen that will be used when the group serves during disaster or emergency situations.
Seeking a miracle
Gerry Coupe and some other members of Holy Spirit Parish in Kent are praying for a miracle.
Here's why: The parish's former church, now St. Anthony chapel, has stained-glass windows desperately in need of repair.
Though the parish in downtown Kent now has a larger worship center, the old chapel, constructed in 1924 and dedicated a year later, is still in use.
They're not ordinary windows, Coupe says.
"They were made by Povey Bros. of Oregon. They were considered the Tiffany of the Northwest," Coupe says. David Povey, the brother who did the design and artwork, died in 1925, and the company was sold in 1930.
The windows were damaged by time and weather, and the lead is in danger of failing. Coupe says three different companies have bid on the repairs. The cost? $100,000, a hefty figure -- particularly for Holy Spirit parish.
"We serve 1,000 registered households, and we estimate we serve 1,500 unregistered households," Coupe says. "We're really an inner-city parish.
"We have at least 18 different languages spoken by members of our congregation. We're a large congregation, but we're a poor parish."
At 7 p.m. on Nov. 30, Taproot Theatre will present "The Other Wise Man" at Holy Spirit Church, 310 Third Ave. S., in Kent.
Tickets are $5 for children, $10 for adults.
Proceeds will go to help save the windows. Call 253-859-0444 for tickets or to make a donation.
Coupe knows that even if organizers pack the house, the money raised will be far short of what they need.
"What we need," she says pointedly, "is a miracle."
P-I columnist Mary Swift can be reached at 206-909-9612 or swiftyk@netscape.com.
Ellie