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Unfortunately, I have attended five funerals already this year and have a 91-year-old mother-in-law in the hospital right now, so…
I’d like to share with you one of the more meaningful experiences of my life in our Renton community that…
Last summer, I introduced you to Maury Marler, a 90-year-old Merrill Gardens resident who is today training to earn a pilot’s license after a decades-long absence from the cockpit. Maury, as you’ll recall, is a retired Air Force navigator, who suddenly got the itch to fly again upon seeing the planes take off and land at Renton Airport from his window at Merrill Gardens in downtown Renton.
I thought I’d catch up with him to see what he has been up to lately. Well. A lot.
Maury is well on his way to getting his pilot’s license, making 40 to 50 trips in the air with his flying instructor at Galvin Flying, Len Quiat. He hasn’t soloed yet. But he has gotten some awfully great press. KING 5 News heard about him and featured him on the 5 o’clock news, which started a crescendo of publicity. Glenn Farley spent three hours interviewing him, and they sent a photographer up with him in the Cessna 172 to capture his landing. (“Try putting a 40 pound-camera in the back of a 66 Mustang,” Maury said. “That’s what THAT was like!). In addition, the news program had a helicopter following him during the whole trip; Maury was pretty impressed with the effort that was put into telling his story.
He won’t get to solo until his landings are a “grease job,” which I was told means a perfect landing with no bounces. When I asked what a landing that ISN’T a grease job is called he said, “that’s not fit to print.” I was planning to watch him fly one day and he rattled off the number for the Air Transportation Information Service and coached me on what to listen to on the weather report for appropriate flying conditions. “Visibility must be greater than three miles, the ceiling at 2,000 feet or better, wind at less than 10 knots.” My head was swimming with the information, but I thought I’d try. Wednesday morning I listened to the report, and didn’t quite understand what I was hearing. But that was OK. He had already emailed me to say that flying conditions were poor. (He must have known that I wouldn’t get it!) He’s even taken his son-in-law and great-grandson, Drew, up with him in the air.
I was curious how his family has taken to his return to flying, and he said they are extremely proud and supportive. Of course, this is the same family that took him parasailing for five days in Mazatlan on their last vacation! I hope you get your grease job before your 91st birthday on May 12, Maury! Happy flying!
MAURY’S MEDIA
Maury Marler of Renton thought his KING 5 story and Renton Reporter articles were fun, but what he didn’t know is that they would start some national and international publicity. Since appearing on KING 5’s program, Marler has been featured on an Australian morning show, called “Sunrise,” was mentioned humorously by Jay Leno and on April 16 will tape an appearance on NBC’s talk show “The Bonnie Hunt Show,” The show is scheduled to air at 2 p.m. April 17 on Channel 5.
Last Saturday, the Rotary Club of Renton held its 43rd annual CAPER auction. CAPER for those of you that don’t…
Just when I thought I’d seen all of the great things happening in Renton in regard to its charitable organizations,…
On any given day around 5:30 p.m., my house is the proverbial three-ring circus. You see, I have three dogs,…
Are you looking for someplace special to take your sweetie on Valentine’s Day? You have your choice of breakfast, lunch…
Attention readers with four-legged friends. There’s a hot new place for pets in downtown Renton! Poodie’s Pet Palace opened quietly…
It seems rather fitting somehow that I wrote my first column of 2008 in the middle of a record 14-inch…
From the old classic, “White Christmas”: “When I’m worried and I can’t sleep, I count my blessings instead of sheep. And I fall asleep counting my blessings. When my bankroll is getting small, I think of when I had none at all. And I fall asleep counting my blessings…”
I attended the eighth annual Piazza auction and fundraiser two weeks ago. A gala event, with a fun theme – a “tropical shipwreck” party. Island music was performed by Biff Moss, a regular entertainer at Bahama Breeze, and Moss, whose parents are Piazza volunteers, also served as auctioneer. There was a pretty full house at the Spirit of Washington Events Center – not bad in a so-so economic climate and businesses donated oodles of great auction items.
It honestly seems like just a few weeks ago that I put away my Christmas decorations; but here we go again, ready for another holiday season! I am like a kid in a candy store when it comes to the holidays; I love everything about them – the food, the parties and the presents! Especially buying presents! Although people are pinching their pennies these days, if you are in the market for some jewels for your best girl or guy, there is a place in Renton that you should shop – and that is Garland Jewelers.
I recently had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Terry Higashiyama, community services administrator for the City of Renton, and she told me about a program that the city runs that was new to me. I thought if I hadn’t heard about it, some of you might not have. It’s the Housing Repair Assistance Program (HRAP), which has been in existence since 1978.
With all the talk about the economy recently, the plunging stock market and soaring gas and food prices, it is hard NOT to be a little bit nervous about the future these days. We’ve even heard the words “next Great Depression” more than once in the past several weeks. My parents were children of that era and it was an awfully scary time according to them — food and gasoline were often hard to come by. My uncle in his later years refused to eat jelly from that “darn Mrs. Smuckers” (I cleaned it up a bit), because he ate so much of it during the Depression. Being the eternal optimist, I am a believer that it won’t get to that anytime soon. But, unfortunately, there are a lot of Renton citizens among us whose cupboards ARE bare right now and you can help them.
I’ve been doing a lot of shopping and dining out recently, and the good news is almost all of my dollars have been spent in Renton. This is a good thing because I always shop Renton first. The choices at The Landing are expanding almost every time I drive there. I bought a wedding gift at Target, a household item at Lowe’s, pet food at PetSmart and computer supplies at Staples – without even having to move my car! If there are parties in your future — or entertaining over the holidays – check out the new Everything Party! It has an array of items, including tropical, Halloween costumes, and any theme idea you can possibly imagine. A huge addition to Renton!
It’s hard to believe that Renton schools are already back in session. I was one of those very weird kids…
Two weeks ago, I told you about my tour of Merrill Gardens at Renton Centre. I told you that I had met some delightful folks — each one with a story, each with a life well-lived. I promised to tell you about Maury. Maurice Marler to be exact.
Gourmet food, concierge services, espresso café, e-mail accounts and rooftop terraces. Not exactly the retirement homes my grandparents feared being “sent” to in their older years. Last week, I had a three-hour tour of Merrill Gardens at Renton Centre. My guide was Linda Asaif, their community relations director. Within minutes, I knew that this was some special place.
When Mary Clymer returned to Renton from Los Angeles, one of her first stops was City Hall to search for an I (heart/love) Renton button, similar to the one that her grandfather, Earl Clymer, used to wear daily – even beyond when he was Renton’s mayor. City staff told her that they hadn’t made the buttons for almost 20 years. Mary sought to rectify that situation and now stocks her own smaller buttons in her store – happy delusions – on Third and Main.
