Sumner Magazine No. 1 (Spring 2011)

Page 2 • Sumner magazine • Wednesday, March 23, 2011 www.blscourierherald.com

www.blscourierherald.com Wednesday, March 23, 2011 • SUMNER MAGAZINE • Page 3

The city has four murals in all—three large and one small—commis-sioned over the course of the 1990s.

In 1991, the then-monikered Sumner Promotion Association commissioned two murals to be painted on the outer walls of downtown businesses. A third mural, on the wall of the “Quality Cleaners” building was commissioned by the Sumner Rotary, and a fourth small mural was commis-sioned in 1998. Each mural spanned the side of a building and depicted a different historical time in Sumner history, from pioneer settlers to Main Street parade-goers.

But with time and wear from 20

years’ rain and wind, the luster of the alfresco art deadened. Now the Sumner Downtown Association, the successor to the SPA, has taken it upon itself to restore two of the landmarks to their former glory.

“What we have now is two of the three murals in desperate need of restoration,” Executive Director Arla Holzschuh said. “And one is... let’s put it this way: If the paint wasn’t still curled up on the wall, you wouldn’t be able to tell there had been a mural.”

The two murals are an early years Main Street scene on the south side of the liquor store on Alder Avenue and Maple Street,

and a sawmill with a banner celebrating the city’s 1991 centennial on the east wall of the Main Street “Ryan” building that is now occupied by AJ’s Treasure Shack. The fourth smaller mural of a hop kiln is out of SDA’s scope of work, and is being pre-pared for minor restoration and sealing by the City Arts Commission.

The original paintings were completed by muralist Paul Cislo. Michael Wicks, of Sumner, has been tapped to complete their restoration. To fund the project, SDA has opened a charitable donation account with

the Main Street Bank of America.“We hired (Wicks) last fall to scrape

and seal the old Main Street 1905 mural,” Holzshuh said. “You can’t just paint over it because that could trap moisture inside the wall and that will cause more prob-lems.”

The challenge and expense of restor-ing a mural lays in its brick-and-mortar medium. First, the muralist is restricted to warm and dry weather for work.

Bringing luster back to Downtown murals

The Centennial Mural, commissioned in 1991, sits in a state of disrepair on Main Street. Its depicted sawmill is barely visible through peeling paint. Photo courtesy Arla Holzschuh

By Daniel Nash

Regular visitors to downtown Sumner are well-familiar with the city sector’s small shops, pedestrian-friendly navigation, the planned design distinct to a bygone era; truly a classic Main Street anachronism in the middle of a 21st century world.

But if you look a little bit closer, you can see the city’s pioneer and turn-of-the-century roots right on the walls of its buildings, in the form of murals.

See MURALS, Page 10


The Sumner Downtown Association is excited to let you know the Washington state legislature has

provided a special way for you to support the revitalization of Sumner.

In 2005, legislation was passed to cre-ate the “Main Street Tax Credit Incentive Program”. Through the program, busi-nesses are eligible to take a Business and Occupation Tax credit or a Public Utility Tax credit for contributions given to eligible downtown revitalization organiza-tions, including SDA. In effect, this refo-cuses a portion of your tax dollars towards home, supporting our local downtown organization and its activities. SDA is eligible to receive up to $100,000 in tax credit contributions annually. Time, how-ever, is of the essence as there is a cap on the amount of credits available statewide each year.

The Main Street tax credit incentive program, by the numbers

• 75 percent of our contribution to the downtown association in 2011 may be used against your 2012 B&O or PUT tax liability.

• A portion of your tax credit incentive

program contribution to the downtown association may qualify as a deduction on your company’s 2011 IRS tax return. Check with your accountant to determine eligibility.

How the program worksYou must register online and be an e-fil-

er with the Washington State Department of Revenue to take advantage of this opportunity. Tax credits are available on a first come, first serve basis, so please sign up as soon as possible.

For additional information and direc-tions on how to apply, go to www.sumnerdowntown.com

1. Approval is almost instantaneous – you will see confirmation of

both your contribution and your tax credit amount.

2. After receiving approval, you must make your contribution

directly to the SDA anytime on, or before, December 31, 2011.

3. Once you make your contribu-tion, be sure to get a receipt from

SDA and to take your tax credit in 2012.

Remember: The benefits of the pro-gram to you may vary depending on your

type of business, your tax commitment, and other factors. Interested contributor should contact their accountant to con-firm the full extent of the tax benefit for your business, under this program.

Department of Revenue Contact – Tiffany Volkman 363-902-7126 or tif-

[email protected] join us in this wonderful oppor-

tunity to keep tax dollars at home. Check with your accountant as depending on your type of business, your contribution this year may also be tax-deductible on your Federal taxes for 2011. - S

The Main Street tax incentive program Tax Incentive Program Examples

If your check to your 2012 B&o tax credIt your 2011 IrS Sda In 2011 IS for: or Put tax credIt IS: deductIon may Be uP to:

$ 500.00 $ 375.00 $ 500.00 1000.00 750.00 1000.00 5000.00 3750.00 5000.00

How to become an e-filer with WSDOR1. Go to the department of revenue web site at http://dor.wa.gov/ and enter your e-file

account. click “List of Services”. 2. click on “apply for main Street tax credit”. 3. click on “Get Started” 4. using the scroll down list, select “Sumner downtown association” as the organization you will make a contribution to. click on “next” 5. type in your contribution amount and click on “next” 6. review the summary page - it will show your contribution amount and the amount of your tax credit. If all is correct, click on “SuBmIt”. 7. approval is almost instantaneous - you will see confirmation of both your contribu-tion and your tax credit amount. 8. after receiving approval, you must make your contribution directly to the Sda any-time on, or before, december 31, 2011. 9. once you make your contribution, be sure to get a receipt from Sda and take your tax credit in 2012.


That group is the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls, Sumner Assembly No. 6. An associate group to the Masonic Order, the Rainbows are comprised of young women aged 11 to 20 whom have an interest in leadership and scholarship.

The Rainbow Girls, as they’re called individually, will partner with the Veterans of Foreign Wars to honor fallen military men of Sumner. A representa-tive of VFW will read aloud the names of entombed soldiers and, with each name, a Rainbow Girl will place an alternating red, white or blue carnation on a memorial in Sumner City Cemetery.

“While [the Order] has many traditions,

the Memorial Day tradition with the Veterans of Foreign Wars is my favorite,” said Kristi Arnold, the Grand Deputy for the Pierce County Rainbow assemblies in Sumner, Puyallup, Parkland and Tacoma. “I was honored to participate as a girl, fol-lowed by my two daughters. Last year, my granddaughter made it a three-generation tradition. Many Sumner girls have partici-pated in this event over the years.”

The Memorial Day ceremony is just one activity in which the Order participates. In the days of World War II, Rainbow Girls recycled newspapers to conserve resources

Under a rainbow of remembranceOn May 30, Americans will recognize Memorial

Day, the national holiday that is meant to be a time of somber reflection on lives lost in the name of war and country. The day is also informally known for barbecues and a day off from work, so it might be logical to assume that younger generations simply don’t pay any notice to the spirit of the day.

But at least one organization of young women will spend the morning, as it has every Memorial Day for the last 65 years, in ceremonial remembrance of the dead.By Daniel Nash

Rainbow Girls and members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars gather on an overcast day in 1968 to remember fallen soldiers.

Photo courtesy Arla Holzschuh

See rainbow, Page 10

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The occasion is the springtime down-town cleanup, in which downtown stake-holders take a day to restore Main Street and its offshoots to a pristine state. The association typically hosts two downtown cleanups per year, one in the spring and one in the fall.

This year’s spring cleanup will take place May 7.

“Each building owner will be respon-sible for cleaning up the area around their building,” SDA Executive Director Arla Holzschuh said. “The objective is not to find a weed on Main Street once we’re done.”

Building and business owners will clean all public areas of downtown, the scope

of which will include litter pickup, moss removal, weed killing and weed removal. Cleaners will not venture onto private property during cleanup unless invited.

Phoenix Masonic Lodge No. 154, locat-ed at 1009 Main St., is co-sponsoring the cleanup in keeping with the Masonic tra-dition of public service, Holzschuh said.

While the cleanup will primarily be performed by downtown association members, others are invited to participate.

“The biggest thing is, you invite the community to work with you,” Holzschuh said. “City governments no longer have the funds to do what was done 20 years


Downtown cleanup will leave no weed unpulled from cracks on Main

Spring cleaning is just around the corner, bringing rubber gloves and file boxes back into fashion. But as the weather turns, the Sumner Downtown Association is taking the tradition out of the home and into historic Main Street. By Daniel Nash

See cleanup, Page 10

Main Street MeMorieSwww.blscourierherald.com Wednesday, March 23, 2011 • SUMNER MAGAZINE • Page 9

Whatever the season, Sumner’s Downtown is ready to celebrate. Clockwise from left: Visitors from all over the region embark on the city Wine Walk for promises of wine tastings and a murder mystery ripe for the solving; Dancing Scarecrows embody life in stillness and motion, haunting passersby at the Autumn Evening; The annual Home-town Holiday celebration, above and right, features living window displays and plenty of deals for shoppers.

Photos by the Courier-Herald staff


MURALS FROM 3

Restoration likely won’t commence until May or early June, Holzschuh said.

Second, the porous material of exterior walls absorb environmental moisture during wet weather. Moisture trapped under a painted wall can seep out or cause damage as it evaporates or freezes. To paint a mural on an exterior wall requires not just that the weather be dry; the wall must be dried out.

Third, the wall must be inspected to determine whether it is still structur-ally secure and able to sup-port new layers of weight-adding paint.

To that end, Wicks has sealed the murals to pro-tect their current state, and inspection of the walls will commence when the weather takes a turn for the drier.

Donations can be made by stopping by the Bank of America branch on Main Street and Alder Avenue, and asking to donate to the Sumner Downtown Association’s Mural Fund. Or you can send a dona-tion directly to the SDA at 906 Kincaid Ave., Sumner, Wash. 98390. - S

for the war effort; some-thing they still do today. The girls clean headstones in the Sumner Cemetery, participate in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life and support the National Children’s Cancer Society.

ago, so it becomes impor-tant for people to pitch in and help keep their own community beautiful.”

The cleanup will take place from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, April 16. - S

CLeAnUp FROM 8

RAinbow FROM 5

The Memorial Day cer-emony may actually grow larger this year. A proposal will be made in March to initiate it into a National tradition, homegrown in Sumner.

“The girls are living two of their core values,” Arnold said. “Service and patriotism.”

The ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. in the cem-etery, 12324 Valley Ave. E. - S

Sumner MagazineA partnership between

Sound Publishing& SDA

•Volume 1, No. 1

• Spring 2011

•1627 Cole Street

Enumclaw, WA 98022360-825-2555

•Publisher:

Brennan [email protected]

•Editorial:

Daniel [email protected]

•

Advertising Sales:Jennifer Tribbett

[email protected]•

Production Staff:Joan Carlson,

Anne Crandall,& Kathy McCauley

[email protected]

The city’s businesses, they are a-changin’ New Faces in New Places

AJ’s Treasure Shack Studio SoulJubilee Naturals1114 Main Street 925 Kincaid Avenue909 Main Street

253-307-0221 253-677-5611253-307-0221Natural health supplies

and classesNew and used furniture

and clothingBoutique portrait

photography studio

Relocating and Expanding BusinessesBB’s Closet SugarBabiesNorthlight Interiors

1101 Main Street 926 Main Street1107 Main Street253-863-3159 253-299-6221253-826-0339

Interior furniture and accessories

Consignment clothing and jewelry shop, located in

‘Alley on Main’

Children’s wear up to size 12

Daffodils on displayS

Perhaps one of the grandest Sumner traditions is the spring Daffodil Parade, and event that fills the side-walks of Main Street with an impassible sea of spectators.

Pictured above is the float that carried the 19 princesses and the queen of the 2010 Royal Daffodil Court. Twenty-three girls are in the 2011 royal court, with Claire Fleming of Curtis High School reigning as this

year’s Daffodil Queen. The parade theme this year is “Spirit of Adventure.”The 78th annual Daffodil Festival Grand Floral Street Parade will take place Saturday, April 9. - S



Documents

Sumner Magazine No. 1 (Spring 2011)