In the first column I wrote for Kingston Community News, I asked, “Have you been to Hansville lately?”
That column was printed in June 2002 and was 321 words in length. Doesn’t seem that long ago, but when I do the math, I am surprised.
This has been such a fun project.
Do you know how I got this gig? Here’s the story: I also like to embroider and I was at a Kingston event selling shirts and hats that I decorated. My table was next to that of a lady who was roasting nuts for sale. We started talking and when her husband came in, she introduced me to him. It turned out he was editor (and owner, I think) of the Kingston Community News and when he found out I was from Hansville he asked me if I ever considered writing the news from our area.
He didn’t know if I was a writer or if I could write, but he said to send him a sample of what I thought people would like to know about our area.
The article was short. I described the incredible view from the top of the hill, the layout of our town, the roads you take to Buck Lake and to Point No Point Lighthouse, the auto repair shop, the real estate office (it now houses the gift shop), the firehouse (now located farther down Twin Spits Road), the church, the store, and the restaurant on the water. This restaurant has long ago closed, but the rest of that description still holds pretty true.
I wrote columns about our neighborhoods — Driftwood Key, Shorewood, Eglon, and Cliffside — and in other columns I wrote about the incredible Hansville Community Center and the activities the all-volunteer staff puts on. The biggest event at this location is the annual rummage sale. People come from all over to buy everything you can imagine. This is the biggest fund-raiser the community center has, and it supports the buildings and grounds and all the other happenings, like the yearly wine tasting, the Picnic in the Park Car Show, the Red, White and Blue Breakfast, and more.
Most of my columns have included my thoughts about many other things, like my love of Scotch broom; and my rants about cars not having their lights on when driving on those gloomy, rainy days. I must admit, this column has been a dream assignment.
Now, this is my last Hansville Happenings column. Skip and I have moved to Poulsbo, and the North Kitsap Herald has offered me a new column, Bookends, about our local literary scene. It’s a feature of Kitsap Weekly, the feature section of the Bainbridge Island Review, Bremerton Patriot, Central Kitsap Reporter, North Kitsap Herald and Port Orchard Independent. Circulation: 65,000.
Hansville Happenings has been a truly lovely gig. Thank you to all for reading my column all these years, and I hope you’ll continue to follow me in Kitsap Weekly — in the Herald and online.
— Contact Donna Lee Anderson at welltoldtales@aol.com.
