Fresh croissants, brioches and quiche were going fast on the
first day. The opening is a milestone for Matt Tinder — a baker at
California Michelin-starred restaurants who came north looking for
new opportunity — and Kate Giuggio, his business partner, as they
continue to build a local bakery empire.
Giuggio said there’s more to come, too. An espresso machine and
additional baking equipment will come online in the coming days.
They were able to purchase baking equipment, including ovens and
mixers, from Whidbey Island’s Tree-Top Baking, whose owners
recently retired.
They moved to Seattle last October, then came to
Bremerton — and they liked what they saw. An initial plan for the
Quonset Hut near Evergreen-Rotary Park fell through, but
the Manette location offered a quicker chance to get up and
running. Meanwhile, Tinder baked at Evergreen Kitchen on Fourth
Street to keep their location up the street running.
Outside the E. 11th bakery, a picnic table full of
people was enjoying Stumptown Coffee and goods Thursday morning.
I’m going to guess that the table will become a popular community
spot from here on out, on each sunny day.
Saboteur is open Wednesday to Sunday until 1 p.m.,
and closed Mondays and Tuesdays. But beware: they do sell out
frequently.
Here’s a question I’ve been hearing a lot
lately. “I am not a member of the Bremerton YMCA, but I’ve
heard you can still swim there for free periodically.”
There have been doubts cast about whether this is
true, so I went to the source: Bremerton Parks Director Jeff
Elevado and YMCA Director Jane Erlandsen. Both confirmed that once
every quarter, local residents can use the pool for free, as part
of their operating agreement (the YMCA runs the pool but the city
owns it).
In fact, it’s not just the pool. Elevado told me.
“The Bremerton YMCA provides voucher
for one visit per quarter,” he said. “The visit provides full
access to the Y, including the pool.”
Felicienne Griffin-Matheson asked me recently on
Facebook why there are so many manhole covers on Trenton
Avenue. “If anyone has driven Trenton they know what the difference
between a drunk driver and a man hole avoider is. Why is there 50+
man hole covers between 11th and Stone on Trenton? I have been wondering why for so
many years!”
Others commented that Lower Wheaton Way has a whole bunch of
them too.
For the answer, I consulted Wayne Hamilton, the city’s utility
operations manager. He printed maps showing the city’s network of
water, sewer and stormwater pipes that snake under the road.
The short answer, Felicienne, is that the street is old and has
seen a lot in its lifetime. The more elaborate answer is that,
as time and development of the street has gone on, more underground
utilities have been needed, and added.
Anytime one of the pipes under Trenton has needed a new branch,
a manhole cover has to be added, Hamilton said. Also, anytime a
pipe turns at a 45 degree angle or higher, a manhole cover must be
added. The reason is that clogs in those pipes are most likely to
be found at the corners, so they have to be easily accessed by
crews to get them unclogged.
“If things get plugged, you want to have access to it,” he told
me.
Also, the city embarked on a utility project there about 25
years ago
that separated sewer flows from runoff — or stormwater — ones.
The reason: each time we have a big storm and lots of rain, it
overflows the city’s sewer treatment plant, causing sewage to be
spilled into Puget Sound. By creating a new system for the runoff,
you keep it from going to the sewer system, but you also get more
utility covers on the street above.
“That all adds up to a lot of man holes,” he
said.
***
Several people have asked about the
foundation on a plateau off Kitsap Way near Westbay Auto Parts (see
picture).
For the answer, I asked the city’s community
development department. The foundation is actually a part of the
construction of a private home with a large garage. Larry Taylor, a
local resident who fixes bikes as a hobby, is the applicant.
Got a question for the Bremerton Beat’s Mailbag?
Send it to josh.farley@kitsapsun.com.
Seagulls have
officially worn out their welcome on the Manette Bridge’s
lampposts.
If you travel it often like I do, you’ve probably noticed
an accumulation of gull doo-doo along the bridge’s grey
concrete and green rails. From above, the birds perch on top of the
lampposts and, well, do their business from there.
But their reign of raining poop on the bridge is coming to an
end.
In early May, Bremerton Public Works crews will attach “bird
deterrent” on the lampposts. This likely means those spike strips
you see on other possible bird perches, including at the Bremerton
ferry terminal.
“This year, it seems like there’s a whole bunch more,” Bremerton
Public Works Director Chal Martin told me last year, noting, “every
single (lamppost) had a bird on it.”
Work is expected to take a day or so, and is scheduled for May 2
& 3.
Bremerton is a city rich in
history. I wanted to create a single post that would
cover its most pivotal events. I intend this synopsis to be a
living post; that is, I offer anyone a chance to offer his or her
two cents on how it could be made better — and most importantly to
me, more accurate. Please share it with your friends and neighbors.
We’re all in this together.
Pre-World War II photo of
Bremerton, courtesy of Evergreen Upholstery.
Wyckoff, a Navy lieutenant, came to Seattle in 1877
to conduct a surveying mission. The man who would become known as
“That Puget Sounder” made his case to Congress for a shipyard in
Sinclair Inlet, and eventually, he got his way.
Congress appropriated $10,000 in 1891 and the 145-acre
Puget Sound Naval Yard was born.
Bremer, a German immigrant and Henry Paul Hensel, a
jeweler, saw opportunity in Wyckoff’s purchase. They bought up the
land, sold some of it to the Navy at $50 an acre and ultimately
developed the beginnings of Bremerton.
The shipyard sputtered at first during a nationwide
depression but got rolling after Wyckoff and others worked to get
another $1.5 million from Congress by 1901, when the city was
officially incorporated. The same year, nearby Charleston
established a post office, the beginnings of a bustling commercial
district there. The postmaster, who also owned a mill near what is
now Evergreen-Rotary Park, started burning refuse from the mill in
what became the city’s first source of electricity.
Bremerton has been known for its rowdy bars through
the years,
but its earliest era may well have been the roughest. By 1903,
the town had 16 saloons in a city of only 1,200 people. The Navy
threatened to leave Sinclair Inlet until Alvin Croxton, the town’s
first mayor, did something about it: he led the charge to close
them all.
Even before Bremerton, a community was building
around a mill on the shores just north of present-day Manette.
William Renton established a saw mill in 1854 at Enetai Point,
but it burned down 16 years later, after Renton sold it and
established a mill at Port Blakely on Bainbridge Island. Still, a
town grew there and in neighboring Tracyton. In 1916, a ferry was
established between Bremerton and Manette. Two years later, Manette
was incorporated into the city, and Charleston followed in 1927.
What was created was a city on two peninsulas, finally linked by
the Manette Bridge in 1930.
The iconic shipyard crane was
installed in 1933.
As it has throughout history, Bremerton has ebbed and
flowed like the tides with the country’s war efforts. Following the
first world war, the city started to languish until its biggest
boom of all came with the second. The population here exploded from
15,000 to 85,000, as
Westpark, Eastpark and Sheridan Park were built in an effort to
provide enough housing. An African American population grew as
well, but was confined to Sinclair Park in what is now the West
Hills until
residents like Lillian Walker fought against the de facto
segregation.
Barrage balloons surrounded the city in case of an attack by
Japanese warplanes, blackouts were held and “victory gardens”
became popular. Women working in the shipyard gave rise to the
cultural icon “Rosie
the Riveter.” Even after the war, it was allegedly a local
resident who told President Harry Truman to “Give
’em hell,” while at a speech at Fifth and Pacific.
The post-war years saw Bremerton decline from its war
boom but maintain its status as Kitsap County’s commercial
hub. Olympic College was
created by the Bremerton School District in 1946, and was
eventually taken over by the state. The Casad Dam, named for the
visionary head of Bremerton public works was completed in 1957, and
its Union River headwaters still provide
the city’s water supply today. The Warren Avenue Bridge was
completed in 1958, offering a second link to East Bremerton.
Ed Bremer, last surviving member of the founding
family, attempted to keep Bremerton as the commercial center of the
county. But his efforts would backfire: Ron Ross, developer of the
Kitsap Mall, sued successfully and won a $2 million judgement for
impeding an attempt by Ross to build a mall near Wheaton Way and
Riddell Road.
Ed Bremer and others cross
Second Street in this 1970s photo. (Evergreen
Upholstery)
Efforts in the 1990s to restore Bremerton’s downtown
were hit-and-miss. There were victories, including the restoration
of the Admiral Theater
and the construction of the new Bremerton Transportation Center.
But gang violence and high crime still plagued the city, and in
1998, the city lost the famed World War II Naval ship
USS Missouri to Hawaii as a museum.
Downtown today.
Bremerton’s beginning to the 21st century has seen
its own set of victories and setbacks. Under Mayor Cary Bozeman,
the city embarked on a
vigorous downtown revitalization effort, branding it the
“Harborside,” and developing controversial condominiums, conference
center and fountain park. Many other city parks have been
redeveloped, the old
Westpark housing area was demolished and
violent crime has plummeted.
A tunnel funneled traffic out of downtown, a new
Manette Bridge replaced the old span and a 10-screen movieplex was
built. But Harrison Medical Center, with roots here
dating back to the early 20th century, announced plans recently
to vacate most of its East Bremerton campus for Silverdale. A spate
of
downtown apartment projects aims to bring even more people into
living an urban lifestyle in downtown Bremerton.
Special thanks to so many in helping me to put
this together, including Kitsap Sun’s archives, historians Frank
Wetzel, Fredi Perry Pargeter, Russell Warren and Ruth Reese, The
Kitsap Historical Society and Museum and its staff, the book
“Manette Pioneering,” historylink.org and others.
In this Bremerton beat blast, we journey to the end of
Pacific Avenue, in search of the city’s newest pop-up
store. (Spolier alert: We find it!)
In this week’s edition, you will learn:
1. What pop-up businesses are invading Bremerton?
2. Where can you spot Santa this Friday?
3. What cuts are the Bremerton City Council planning to make?
4. Where will Bremerton’s newest arcade be located?
5. Where can I take a free Bremerton history tour Saturday?
As always, let me know what you think. Oh, and see you Friday at
Winterfest, Magic in Manette, and more!
Almost two years ago, Karesha Peters traded
her landlord’s grass for a vast city garden in Manette.
She did all the heavy lifting herself, tearing out the lawn and
replacing it with boxed beds now filled with butternut squash,
chard, tomatoes and more.
“He let me rip up his entire front yard,” she joked
of her landlord. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
The work, she says, was all worth it.
“I can’t imagine not growing my own food,” she
said.
The child development specialist, who is originally
from South Africa, got into gardening eight years ago while living
in Seattle. Since moving to Kitsap County, she has grown a garden
on a family property in Seabeck until she started her own in
Manette in early 2014.
She’s honed her craft, as evidenced by her taste for
the boldest flavors around. I’d never had New Zealand Spinach
before, but its sweet flavor makes me struggle to eat anything but
in the Spinach department. Her carrots always go fast at the
market; even if you miss them, don’t worry, because she
overproduced green beans a bit this year following robust demand at
last year’s market for them.
In the spirit of city gardening, she also planted a
healthy amount of strawberries, which she allows the neighborhood
kids to take off the vine for a quick snack.
Almost anytime of year, her garden is in production.
She still loves that first sprout, whenever it may be. “That
initial pop out of the ground gets me every time,” she said.
You can feel fall coming. The weather’s
cooling, the colors are starting to change and summer will soon
end. But before it does, I wanted to reflect on three stories that
just flat made me feel good this summer in Bremerton. They’re the
kinds of stories that give you hope for humanity.
They found Tiffany
I remember physically cringing when I saw the sight of the
crumpled Motel 6 in West Bremerton, the
victim of a massive gas explosion. We braced for the news of
loss of life. But somehow, in what can only be described as a
miracle, there was not. Larry Jennings, the Cascade Natural Gas
technician who was closest to the explosion,
continues to recover at Harborview Medical Center.
In the days after, the lone casualty appeared to be Tiffany, a
black lab and chow mix that could be seen in surveillance video
running from the Motel 6 as it exploded. But Tiffany’s owners,
who’d recently moved here, never gave up hope. Dozens of people
took on the task of posting flyers around town, creating a Facebook
page, and combing the area looking for her. Nine days after the
explosion,
she was found drinking from the Port Washington Narrows.
What touched me the most about this story was after the fact,
when complete strangers came together on a Sunday at Lions Park.
Everyone got a chance to meet Tiffany (pictured). It was a
wonderful story of community coming together, and then celebrating
that cohesion.
The mailman of Manette
I’d heard a lot about Norm the mailman before Monday, when I got
to tag along with him as he delivered on his 11-mile route. But I
was awestruck by just how beloved he is in the community he
serves.
On each block, a few homes, if not more, were in on “Norm
Day,” an impromptu celebration of his close to 30 years
delivering mail in Manette. From simple cards to bottles of wine,
he was showered in praise throughout the day. It was fascinating to
watch a neighborhood band together for someone like that.
Only here’s the thing: after walking with him much of the way, I
can say with confidence he completely deserved it. Norm is
more than a mailman. He helps people on his route each and every
day, as
I wrote about him in Tuesday’s paper.
Putting joy in Turner
Joy
Photos by Mike
Stitt.
Since becoming the executive director of the USS Turner Joy
Museum last year, Jack James
has been a man on a mission. The retired Navy Seal, who’s led
tasks like removing explosives from beaches in Iraq, is known for
thinking outside the box.
Earlier in the year, he came up with a crazy idea to swim from
the Turner Joy to the Boat Shed, crossing the Port Washington
Narrows — one of the swiftest currents in Puget Sound. It sounded
just crazy enough that I thought I’d like to join him. When else do
you get a chance to swim from west to East Bremerton?
We all know Jack’s a hard worker. But what was so inspirational
to me was his determination. Right before plunging into the water
Sept. 12, I complained about the currents and the possibility of
getting stung by a jelly fish.
“Look,” he told me. “All that other stuff, it’s just noise. See
the Boat Shed over there? That’s the goal — do not think about
anything else.
“Focus on the mission.”
And I did.
I’m excited for Bremerton to see what James comes up with
next.
Wanna check out Bremerton’s newest public
art? You’ll have to wait for some rain, or bring some
water balloons along to reveal it.
That’s exactly what a group of Manette residents did
on Saturday (not to mention it did actually briefly
rain!). The neighborhood capped a community drive that brought a
Seattle artist to Bremerton Saturday with a big reveal, on a
sidewalk underneath the Manette Bridge.
The company behind the design is called Rainworks, and they’ve done around 50 of
these pieces, according to artist and founder Peregrine Church. He
and colleague Xach Fisher utilize a non-toxic and
environmentally safe product that repels water, stenciling it
onto the concrete below.
Cher and Church, of Rainworks.
Mark Henson photo.
They came to Manette because the groundswell of
support was great. About 130 people voted through a community
contest to have Rainworks come here — more than the next four
communities combined.
Church called it a “high energy, fun reveal.” (I
regret I was not there due to other assignments.)
“It was pretty exciting,” he said. “They were pumped
for it.”
A special thanks goes out to Mark Henson, one of our
area’s great photographers, for taking photos.
The cause of the fire has been determined to be discarded
cigarette butts left in a cardboard box on one of the balconies,
according to Bremerton Fire Marshal Mike Six.
Many people have asked me how they can help. I’m compiling a
list of resources here so you can contribute on your own
terms. If I have forgotten any, please go ahead and drop me an
email at jfarley@kitsapsun.com. I’m hearing food and toiletries are
more important right now than clothing and furniture.
The Red Cross is also working to coordinate plans for donations.
They were able to help two of the 16 with shelter last night at
Peace Lutheran Church, and supported 11 families financially to get
lodging, according to Dave Rasmussen, disaster program manager.
“We’re still in response mode,” he said. “But we know people in
Kitsap County, and particularly Bremerton, want to help.”
Here’s some ways you can do that:
The Manette Neighborhood Coalition has set up a GoFundMe site where you can
contribute financially.
The Allstate
Insurance office of Betty Skinner, 4181 Wheaton Way, Suite one,
is accepting donated items to give to the fire victims. Clothing,
personal toiletries, gift cards and more will be accepted. Open
regular business hours. For more information,
call (360) 479-9850.
Rejuv Salon & Spa,1007
Scott Ave. Suite B, is also a “drop spot” for clothing, linens and
other donations. It’s open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. through Thursday; 10
a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Their phone number
is (360) 405-0293.
If you’d like to stick to donating to the Red Cross, Rasmussen
told me you can call their Bremerton office (811 Pacific Avenue)
and they’ll make a list of everyone who would like to donate.
Rasmussen emphasizes that financial donations are of critical
importance, as they help families just like the ones at Edgewood
Villa get immediate housing, clothing, food and supplies. Their
phone number is (360) 377-3761.
Newlife Church in Manette will host a free community
dinner at 5:15 p.m. Saturday at Mountain View Middle School.
All donations will be donated to the fire victims. Facebook has
the details.
