Home on the range: Rodeo Grandmas visit to plug cookbook
The Rodeo Grandmas of Ellensburg roped and hogtied a new fan in Kirkland on Tuesday: bookstore owner and Kirkland City Councilman Jim Lauinger.
He wasn't sure what to expect during the Rodeo Grandmas' book promotion.
"I was surprised that they truly can rope steers," he said. "They brought a life-size plastic horse on rails and set it up in front of the store. When they pressed a button, a plastic calf came shooting out from under the horse. They could rope it; we couldn't."
These four grandmothers are real cowgirls. They became Northwest icons in the 1990s after starring in a series of commercials and went on to national television appearances.
When they weren't teaching city slickers how to swing a rope Tuesday, the women were autographing their cookbook, "Good Lookin' Cookin' With the Rodeo Grandmas: A Hearty Helping of Homespun Recipes."
Three of the original grandmas, Lorraine Plass, 90; Peggy Minor Hunt, 75; and Janis Anderson, 66, still tour. The fourth, Judy Galladay, died in 1998. Chloe Weidenbach, 67, has taken her place. They share credit for the cookbook.
"These are guy-on-the-range recipes with just a few ingredients," Lauinger said. "I could even cook them with my simple ketchup-based cuisine."
Relatively speaking: The marketing department at Overlake Hospital Medical Center in Bellevue gets deluged with random e-mail messages, but one may have connected long-lost cousins.
It came from Börkur Hansen, an Icelander residing in Canada. Hansen was trying to trace his family tree. One relative, Severt Thurston, moved to Seattle between 1880 and 1900. The only Internet reference Hansen found was a Thurston family memorial at Overlake Hospital honoring Severt and Ellen Thurston.
"Is it possible that you could direct me to some of the family members' names or give me directions to make a contact to some of these people?" Hansen wrote.
Sheryl Stiefel, executive director of Overlake's Foundation and Auxiliaries, forwarded the message to S.W. "Bill" Thurston, son of Severt and Ellen Thurston. The longtime supporter of Overlake replied: "I will pass this on to the rest of the family as one more reason to support Overlake. Now we have the proof, Overlake cares for families and brings them closer together."
Although Bill Thurston has exchanged e-mail with Hansen, the relationship hasn't been confirmed.
"I'm waiting for my sister to come back from Europe to track this new connection down," Thurston said.
Gifted smile: Issaquah dentist Sherwin Shinn impressed the members of the Lake Washington Dental Hygienists' Association when he was their guest speaker in April. He talked about doing dental and health-care work in Third World countries through his International Smile Power Foundation.
"We have speakers and programs regularly, but Dr. Shinn was amazing," said the Hygienists' spokeswoman, Gena Brown. "We later voted to support his foundation."
So Brown and hygienists Sue Carroll and Lori Matsumura showed up at Shinn's office on a recent Monday morning. They handed him a $1,000 check.
"This was a big deal for us," Brown said. "We make money through continuing-education courses, but we usually only give away a $100 or so at a time."
Shinn was in the news recently for helping to provide back surgery for a Bolivian boy.
Timely moment: When the Seattle-King County Association of Realtors recently held a briefing for state Legislature incumbents and candidates, folks had trouble hearing.
The meeting, at the Bellevue Regional Library, covered housing supply and affordability issues. All through the presentation, sounds of nearby construction almost overpowered the speakers.
It was housing specialist Randy Bannecker's turn at the podium. He represents the association in Bellevue and much of King County. Another round of hammering began.
"That's the sound of unmet housing need in this area," Bannecker said.
One last grin: Talk about appropriate names for your job — this Kirkland woman delights in cooking. She is a partner in two catering companies. Her name is Terry Dessert.
Sherry Grindeland's column appears Thursday and Saturday in the Eastside edition of The Seattle Times. She can be reached at 206-515-5633 or sgrindeland@seattletimes.com.