Reflecting on dedication of Fire Station 92 | Letters to the Editor

Published 10:46 am Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Reflecting on dedication of Fire Station 92

Last Saturday, I had the honor to address many Mercer Island residents who gathered for the official opening of our new fire station and the unveiling of the 9/11 memorial art installation. It was a chance to reflect on an important bit of community history.

The old fire station was built in 1962 and served generations of Islanders. The phrase ‘paying it forward’ comes to mind as I consider the commitment to public safety our predecessors made.

Now it’s our turn to ‘pay it forward,’ and Mercer Island residents should be proud of the commitment they’ve made to finance and build this new facility that will serve our community for the next 50 years.

Our Firefighters stand ready to serve our community on a moment’s notice,  in whatever way they are needed — be it a house fire, a car crash, or a hazardous material spill.  They are often the only thing standing between us and tragedy, should disaster strike.

We rely on them, and they in turn rely on their equipment — including the building that houses them.

I encourage you to drop by the new station. Take a quiet moment to reflect on the significance of the 9/11 memorial. Poke your head in the fire station door and ask for a tour. Our Firefighters would be glad to show you around.

And again, thank you for supporting this long-term investment in our community.

Bruce Bassett

Mercer Island Mayor

Islanders will continue to fight for co-op grocer

While Team Lucky 7, the volunteer management group for “Bring PCC to Mercer Island” is disappointed PCC will not be going into the old Albertsons space, we recognize a new grocer will provide relief for many Islanders. Team Lucky 7 has always been co-op supporters because they are member-owned as opposed to corporate, venture-backed businesses. We want our food to be ethically sourced, supplied, and sold.

Our work to date has demonstrated two needs: 1) there remains more than adequate support for a smaller local, co-op grocer on the Island 2) there are opportunities to work with Islanders on potential projects that could provide more local, small businesses that many residents are seeking.

Because we’ve already been educating people on the value of the co-operative business model, we are confident there are future partnerships that could be built around this work. We will follow the grocery announcement with a survey to better understand what attracted over 1,300 people to our group and how to utilize the support for other projects that could be beneficial to our community. Our first goal remains bringing a smaller, organic, local co-operative grocer to broaden the Island’s grocery options.

Craig and Jane Reynolds, Lara and Jeff Sanderson, Yaffa Penski, Lisa Porad and Jeff Becker

Team Lucky 7