By Lillian TuckerIssaquah Press reporter

Lizzie Parker’s clothing shop is tucked away in Issaquah’s Gilman Village sur-rounded by wooden sidewalks and flowers sprouting out of weathered barrels. Inside, Angus, an English bulldog, lies on the wood floor looking up at the racks of clothes his owner designed and made herself.

Used to make herself, that is. Demand is far too great for the designer to handle on her own now that Parker’s line of modern knitwear gained national attention since NBC’s reality show “Fashion Star” pre-miered March 13.

Thus, Parker’s waxed jersey leggings, dresses, tops and asymmetrical jackets are all being put together in Los Angeles — a long commute for this Sammamish mother of two.

To get her designs for the show, Parker draws a pattern of what she envisions, and from that she sews and perfects a first sample. The sample is sent to Los Angeles, where Parker regularly travels to consult with everyone from the person who treats the jersey item — made from Parker’s fabric of choice — to the person who sews on the tag.

“Everyone assumes it’s so glamorous,” she said. “But it’s a lot of physical work.”

Humble beginningsThe designer didn’t always have this much

help. Once upon a time it was just Parker, her garage and two industrial sewing ma-chines she bought off craigslist that were constantly being unthreaded by her cat.

Parker was taught by her grandmother to sew on a treadle sewing machine.

Using the foot pump on the old-fash-ioned machine, she logged many hours as a girl making teddy bears.

Taking a long break from sewing, Parker grew up, earned a business degree and entered the corporate world.

In 1998, she and her husband were

working for Microsoft and bought a house in Sammamish. Three years later, she left her job to stay at home with their new baby boy. Before too long, Parker began brainstorming about businesses she could start from home.

Then in 2003, she turned her family’s garage into a one-woman clothing factory, designing pieces that fit her life experi-

ences — from attending board meetings to attending bath time.

“I always started with jersey. It is some-thing I gravitate toward,” Parker said. “When I started my line, the whole ‘design-er denim’ was going on and everyone was wearing knit tops, jeans and nice shoes.”

But it wasn’t just the fashion of the time that inspired Parker. She also pulls from the music that has been blasting out gen-erations of stereos.

“I have a closet love of metal music,” she confessed. “Clearly I am not going to bring back spandex and flannel.”

However, she does draw on the look. Her “waxed Lizzie seamed legging” was inspired by the skin-tight leather pants worn in the music video for Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine.” To achieve the rock-star look the leggings are hand-coat-ed with a wax treatment that gives each pair a unique and worn-in look.

“I like it to have a little edge to it, but still be suitable for women of any age,” Parker said.

She does not market to any one specific

By Tom CorriganIssaquah Press reporter

Tour guide and instructor Lansia Gipson probably wisely wanted her young audience to get the giggles and sputters out of their systems.

After visiting their classroom, Gipson led about 20 or so Clark Elementary School fourth- and fifth-graders on a March 22 tour of the Brightwater sewage treat-ment plant in Woodinville. She wasn’t shy regarding what the plant removes from waste water gathered from northern King and southern Snohomish counties.

“We’re going to say the word ‘poop’ a lot today,” Gipson told the students prior to the tour, inviting them to look at their neighbors and say “poop.”

After some giggling, the stu-dents settled down surprisingly quickly.

Starting operations in Septem-ber 2011, Brightwater doesn’t treat water from Issaquah. But the visit fit right in with Clark sci-ence and technology teacher Tom Fields’ current lesson plan about water ecology and conservation, he said.

Brightwater has the capacity to

treat about 36 million gallons of waste water per day, according to its King County website. That’s about 12 swimming pools worth of water, according to Gipson. Many parts of the plant look like the setting for some science fiction movie, with large shiny piping and plenty of high-tech controls. Very few workers can be seen because Brightwater is heavily automated.

Water entering the plant goes through several stages of clean-ing. The first removes what Gipson called trash, larger items caught by a strainer or sieve. Brightwater ships two dump-truck loads of the stuff to Oregon every week. Most of the items shouldn’t even be in the system, according to Gipson.

Trash caught by the sieve

includes diapers, baby wipes and similar items. Gipson told students that only the “Four Ps” should be placed in toilets: pee, poop, puke and toilet paper. It was the trash collection area that one student said smelled like Los Angeles.

After trash is removed, water next goes through a primary treatment phase. Gravity pro-vides most of the cleaning power. Heavy pollutants sink to the bottom; lighter items head to the top to be skimmed away. Gravity has to be given a chance to work, so waste water sits for a time in large pools. Gipson warned stu-dents, teachers and chaperones the smell in the trash room was nothing compared to the primary treatment area. A description of the reek? The best might be an

overfilled port-a-potty on a hot day.

“I don’t know how I got out alive,” said Jackson Rubin, 11.

“It smelled pretty bad,” added Colson Wang, 9. “I had to cover my nose a few times.”

He demonstrated how he did so with his arm. Gipson had warned students and others not to touch their faces while passing through the treatment area. Notably, there was no sign of the smell outside of the treatment facility.

In traditional sewage plants, treatment basically stopped after gravity did its work. There is an added step at Brightwater, one

officials said makes the plant state-of-the-art. The technical name is membrane bio-reactor technology. There are several steps to the system, one of which acts sort of like a straw with holes, according to Gipson. Water can it make through the straw; contaminants can’t. Water is then treated with a disinfectant in the last stage of treatment before be-ing returned to local waterways.

“It’s really impressive,” Jackson said of the plant, adding he was surprised by the amount of pollut-

COMMUNITYs s

The Issaquah Press

�Section

B WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28, 2012

To help mark the ar-rival of spring, the Issaquah Grange Supply is sponsoring a free Community Appreciation Day March 31 at the Grange Supply Store.

“The thinking is, this is truly an appreciation day. You don’t have to buy ‘X’ dollars of anything,” said Dana Huth, Grange marketing specialist.

First up is an Easter Egg Hunt for those 10 and younger.

The egg hunt begins at 10:30 a.m. and continues until all of the eggs have been found. Besides pieces of wrapped chocolate, the eggs will contain coupons good for $1 off any purchase at the Grange.

Following the Easter Egg Hunt, families will be able to have their photo taken with the Easter Bun-ny. A professional photographer will snap the shots, Huth noted. Each family is eligible for one free photo with additional copies avail-able for $5 each.

Photos will be available from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. If interested, children and families can also visit with the Grange’s resident rabbit, Mr. Bunny. Huth noted Mr. Bunny is a regular resident of the Grange.

“But he gets himself dolled up for Easter,” she added.

Finally, the Grange plans a free gardening seminar at 1 p.m. hosted by Mike Aguilar, a certified horticulturalist for the Grange. Aguilar will focus on vegetable gardens, Huth said, as planners feel many customers want to grow their own food but have only limited space. Aguilar will also answer questions about flowers.

IF YOU GOThe Issaquah Grange Supply Store Community Appreciation Day4March 314145 N.E. Gilman Blvd.4Go to www.grangesupply-inc.com or call 392-6469.

Grange releases supply of

appreciation

By Dan Aznoff

Five-year-old Dylan Pearson took extra care as he crept his way across the rocks under the watchful eye of his PeePah to the edge of the creek to release the young salmon fry swimming at the bottom of his plastic cup.

Participating in the life cycle of the salmon was an important lesson that Dylan’s grandfather, Issaquah native Jerry Pearson, wanted to teach his grandson. Pearson can still remember the salmon spawning in Lewis Creek near his home when he was the same age as his grandson.

“Sharing this moment and the lessons we learn about the renewal of life are things that I will never forget,” Jerry Pearson said. “Hopefully, the salmon will

inspire Dylan to nurture new life and then set it free.”

The youngster and his grand-father joined third-graders from Apollo Elementary School on March 21 to release more than 230 small coho salmon that were raised from eggs in their classroom into Issaquah Creek behind Pickering Barn. Many students were sad; others cheered as they watched the tiny fish swim away.

“This is so exciting,” 9-year-old Camryn Creed said as she walked back to get a second fry. “We see the big salmon swim upstream ev-ery fall to lay their eggs. Now I know where those big ones came from.”

Camryn’s grandmother Shirley Stubbs made the drive up from Kent to watch the release with her granddaughter. Stubbs said

she has taken her granddaughter to streams and rivers in Renton and Issaquah to witness what she described as the “miracle of life.”

Third-grader Allyson Marus named her tiny fish George. She walked out on the small spit of rocks before kneeling down to set him free.

She called out to her fish as he was swept away by the current.

“Good-bye, George,” she said. “I’ll see you back here in three years.”

Dylan named his tiny fish Fast Joe. His grandfather responded by calling his Slow Mo.

This could be the last year for the Salmon in the Classroom project in the Issaquah School District unless the state Legisla-ture reverses its decision to cut the unit out of the state budget.

Lawmakers have estimated that eliminating the program will save $442,000 during the upcoming two-year budget cycle.

“It’s just not right,” teacher Lauren Molnar said as she passed cups to each of the eager children. “My students have learned so much about science — and about life — during this unit. The kids love watching the eggs hatch and seeing them grow. It has been an incred-ibly valuable lesson for everybody.”

The third-grade teacher said Salmon in the Classroom provides elementary school students the hands-on experience of caring for coho salmon eggs until they are released into local streams to begin

Wanted: Locals’ 1962 Seattle World’s Fair memories

April 21 marks 50 years since the Century 21 Exposition opened — and transformed the Puget Sound region.

Though the fair unfolded 17 miles east, on the Seattle Cen-ter grounds, Issaquah residents headed to the expo in hordes.

Some Issaquah residents spent a summer working at the fair. Many more residents crossed Lake Washington to experience the fair’s futuristic fun.

Issaquah also greeted travelers as the Century 21 Exposition at a tourism station along U.S. Route 10, a precursor to Interstate 90.

Now, as the fair’s 50th anniver-sary approaches, The Issaquah Press is seeking Century 21 memo-ries from local residents for up-coming coverage of the milestone.

Email your contact information to editor@isspress.com by April 18, or contact the newspaper on Twit-ter at www.twitter.com/issaquah-press, or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/issaquahpress.

BY LILLIAN TUCKER

Lizzie Parker works in her Gilman Village clothing store as her English bulldog, Angus, sits on the wood floor next to a space heater.

Grandparents get a hands-on with salmon’s circle of life

School lets a learning opportunity go to waste

Brightwater plant gleams, but smell gets attention of Clark Elementary science students

BY TOM CORRIGAN

Clark Elementary School students react to the smells in one of the large treatment rooms during a tour of the Brightwater wastewater treatment plant in Woodinville March 22.

BY TOM CORRIGAN

Lansia Gipson, a Brightwater tour guide and instructor, shows students what water looks like as it enters the King County wastewater treatment facility.

Issaquah designer Lizzie Parker is NBC ‘Fashion Star’

See DESIGNER, Page B3

ON THE WEBBrowse Lizzie Parker’s fashions at www.lizzieparkerstore.com.

See WASTE, Page B3

See SALMON, Page B3

B1

BY GREG FARRAR

Jerry Pearson and his grandson Dylan Pearson, 5, release salmon fry into Issaquah Creek March 21 under the Northwest Sammamish Road crossover with other Issaquah School District classroom students, teachers and parents.

By Matt CarstensIssaquah Press reporter

The high school girls tennis season in Western Washington starts for most youth athletes not on a court made of clay, concrete or grass, but in a gym.

“The girls always get the crappy weather,” Issaquah head coach Shannon Small said.

With most teams only getting a few outdoor practices, prepa-ration time for the players and coaches is short.

“We’ve had probably 14 or 15 practice days,” Liberty High School head coach Mike Salokas said. “And because of weather we’ve been able to be outside probably four. If we were having this inter-view a few days ago that would have been very different, because you would have asked me who my best players were and I would have told you who could run around the gym floor the most times.”

For teams like Issaquah and Skyline, it’s even tougher when they have opening matches against foes like perennial power-house Newport.

“We will meet Newport in the first week, which is not necessarily beneficial to us,” Skyline head coach Bettina Gehle said. “Usually, we play a little bit better at the end of the year, but we can’t change that.”

With brighter weather on the horizon, all three teams look to surprise. As a matter of fact, some already have.

A win for the agesIf history and precedent had

anything to say about it, Issaquah would have lost to Newport on March 22.

In fact, as long as Small has been the coach of Issaquah ten-nis, the Eagles have never beaten Newport, and neither has anyone else.

“Basically, Newport has won KingCo for the six years I’ve been at Issaquah, and all I’ve heard is that they’ve won all the years before that as well,” Small said.

In the past two years, Issaquah has finished second to Newport in conference play, each year by just one match.

With a combination of New-port’s No. 3 singles player having quit and the Issaquah girls all having great matches, the Eagles were able to take the Knights down, 5-2.

“It was pretty huge,” Small said. “The girls were excited, the fans were excited. [Newport] was, to say the least, shocked and awed. They didn’t expect it.”

Small said that the news was so big in the tennis world they were receiving calls from coaches from Las Vegas and California to congratulate them.

“What this means is that if my girls keep their heads on their shoulders, keep working, there is a possibility that we could win KingCo for the first year ever,” Small said.

It also means a season’s worth of pressure not to lose.

“The parents go, ‘How do you feel after you won that match?’” Small said. “I say I feel more pres-sure than ever because I need to win the rest of the matches.”

Despite losing two seniors, Small is bringing back five se-niors, including Seattle University commit Dayna Bennett, who is Small’s No. 1 singles player.

“We’ve got some pretty good kids on this team,” Small said. “We’ll see if their nerves get the best of them.”

The up-and-coming star at Issaquah is freshman Kristin Cheung. Slotted in the three or four spot, Small looks for big things from her this year.

“She’s got a little bit of the freshman nerves, but we’ll see where she is at the end of the season,” Small said.

Small said she tries to coach her team with firm style with an emphasis on conditioning.

“I make the girls work hard but try to do it with a sense of hu-mor,” Small said.

“They may not agree with that,” she said with a laugh. “They might not think I’m funny at all. They might think I’m some mean tyrant, I don’t know.”

Mentally toughFor a very talented, young

Skyline squad of players, believing in themselves will be what coach Gehle will emphasize this season.

We have “very, very new play-ers,” Gehle said. “Lots of talent and hopefully we will see how strong they are mentally. That is probably the toughest part — to see how mentally strong they are on the court.”

Despite their youth, Gehle said she wouldn’t be shocked if her team members surprised the league.

“It will probably be a build-ing year, but I can see how we could surprise some teams with our strength,” she said. “I have some experienced players that can help the younger players. We have a pretty good mix. We have a lot of juniors as well as a couple seniors, but mostly freshmen.”

SPORTSs s

The Issaquah Press

�Wednesday, March 28, 2012Page B4

B4

By Christina LordsIssaquah Press reporter

While he always had an interest in the game, Liberty High School coach John Martin never antici-pated he’d end up dedicating the past 20 or so years to coaching it.

“What I really want to do is try to produce and mentor these kids so they’re leaders and young men coming out of the school first,” he said. “Baseball is really second-ary. It’s a way to teach life skills, like teamwork, decision-making and ethics. I want to develop them as people first.”

Martin returns to Liberty after working for a three-year stint un-der coach Glen Walker, a former Liberty head coach himself, at Au-burn Mountainview High School.

“I’m kind of a local fixture,” Martin joked. “That’s part of the reason why I’m here. The envi-ronment I was at Mountainview was really good. Coach Walker is just a super good friend of mine, and I love working with him in baseball. Probably the only job that would have gotten me to come back to this area was this one.”

Liberty High School athletic

director Stark Porter made the announcement in September that Martin was hired to be the Patriots’ new baseball coach. He replaces Steve Darnell, who directed Liberty to a 6-8 record last season. The Patriots were knocked out in the first round of the KingCo Conference 3A tourna-ment in 2011.

Martin was an assistant var-sity coach at Liberty through the 2001 to 2008 seasons. He was on the staff when Liberty won its 3A state title — with the help of fu-ture Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum, of the San Francisco

Giants — in 2003.Martin has also coached sum-

mer select baseball teams.“I’ve enjoyed being an assis-

tant and learning as much as I can,” he said. “I’m a consummate learner from a number of people and sources. I hadn’t thought about head coaching, so when the opportunity came up to come back here and interview, I really had to think about what I really wanted to do.”

Martin, who has lived in the BY GREG FARRAR

John Martin, the new Liberty High School baseball coach, works his team in the gym while it’s snowing outside March 13 on the Patriots’ baseball field.See COACH, Page B5

By Tom CorriganIssaquah Press reporter

The Northwest Paddling Asso-ciation has tabbed Issaquah and Lake Sammamish State Park as the future location of its annual Paddling Festival.

The event will feature paddling industry vendors, product demon-strations, kayak tours and more, according to the Issaquah Cham-ber of Commerce.

The first event on Lake Sam-mamish is set for May 11-12.

“The Northwest Paddling Fes-tival found a perfect home here in the Issaquah area,” Issaquah Mayor Ava Frisinger said in a

press release. “Our community has quickly become a regional destina-tion for outdoor enthusiasts, who travel here to enjoy our majestic Issaquah Alps, beautiful water-ways and vibrant downtown.”

“We are thrilled to welcome the Northwest Paddling Festival to Lake Sammamish,” Keith Niven, the city’s economic development

director, said in the release. “These events enhance our city’s economic vitality by not only bringing new visitors to town — who eat, sleep and shop here — but also support Issaquah’s growing reputation as a top outdoor destination.”

Paddling association officials approached the city about mov-ing the event from its previous home on Seattle’s Alki Beach, Phillip Morris, co-chairman of the Issaquah Tourism Committee and general manager of the Issaquah Motel 6, said in an interview.

“We feel we are forming a long-term partnership,” he said, adding he expects the festival to return to Issaquah and become an annual

Lake Sammamish event.The association has met with

the city and the Issaquah Cham-ber to help bring in local vendors and sponsors, Morris added. The event is expected to draw more than 1,000 people to the area from south of Tacoma to north of Van-couver, he said.

The paddling association decided to move its festival to Lake Sam-mamish for a number of reasons. First, there is a larger area avail-able for launching boats, Morris said. The launch area also is pro-tected from strong winds. Morris further talked about the state park simply being a more intimate and secure setting than Alki Beach.

ON THE WEBLearn more about the Northwest Paddling Festival at www.northwestpaddlingfestival.com.

Paddling association picks Issaquah for annual event

TENNIS PREVIEW�

Tennis teams overcome challenges from weather to conference foes

BY LILLIAN TUCKER

Ali O’Daffer, of Skyline High School, chases a volley against Bellevue’s Karen Park on the way to winning the No. 2 singles match 6-1, 6-3.

PHOTOS BY GREG FARRAR

Inviting all-comers

Above, Megan Chucka, Liberty High School

junior, holds fourth place ahead of the rest of the

1,600-meter field during the Liberty Invitational Track and Field Meet

March 24. Her time was a new personal record of 5 minutes, 21.9 seconds. Chucka finished fourth as well in the 3200 meters

with a time of 12 minutes, 6.2 seconds. At right,

Lauren Bruner, Issaquah High School junior, knocks down the last fence dur-

ing her 100-meter hurdles race, finishing second

with a time of 16.3 sec-onds. Bruner came back

to win the 300-meter hurdles race in a time of

48.5 seconds.

Haley Mincin hit eight goals to lead Issaquah to a 22-3 girls high school lacrosse win over Forest Ridge on March 22 at Eastlake Community Field in Sammamish.

The win elevated the Issaquah program, which draws students from across the Issaquah School District, to the best girls record in the state at 5-0.

Issaquah got out of the gates early with a 12-1 first-half lead and continued to pull away from Forest Ridge in the second half

with 10 more goals.Mincin, a Skyline High School

junior, also had an assist and three ground balls in the win.Issaquah freshman Suzie Emer-son had four goals, and Skyline’s Jacqueline Marber and Robin Ringman each had a pair of goals.

Delly Brennan, Nicole Durham and Lindsay Stone all scored for Forest Ridge.

Issaquah (5-0-0) next faces Bel-levue (3-0-0s) at 7 p.m. March 26 at Robinswood Park in Bellevue.

Issaquah girls lacrosse dominates Forest Ridge

Coaching a communityJohn Martin happy to take the helm of Liberty’s baseball squad

See TENNIS, Page B5