Winter’s Desperate Plea in Longbranch
We are drowning in sunshine on the Key Peninsula’s eastern shore. It is currently a chilly 36 degrees, but felt colder earlier this morning when the goofy golden doodle and […]
A Nose for the Sun in Longbranch
The bald eagles on our bluff have been whistling non-stop since the goofy golden doodle and I went out early this morning. It is currently 44 degrees and a bit […]
SNAPSHOT: Awash in Sunshine Before the Rain
Lucky We Live in Longbranch
The birds are singing, the sky is turning red and mist is pouring out of Amsterdam Bay. It is a cold 35 degrees on the Key Peninsula’s eastern shore, and simply divine. […]
Drunk With Sunlight at the Longbranch Marina
Drunk with sunlight on the frosty docks of the Longbranch Marina, I soaked up the sights and sounds of a nascent Sunday. A flock of crows rumbled with a pair […]
Ready for Spring in Longbranch
Hummingbirds swarmed our feeder this morning, three on at times, rocking with the northerly breeze. The sun broke through the morning clouds for a brief second, painting Drayton’s Passage with streaks […]
2014: Oh What a Year it was
How time flies when you are having fun. I can hardly believe it is 2015. Last year went racing by us in a blur, but 2014 was a memorable one […]
Toys For Tots in Longbranch Brings Smiles and Santa
For Jackie Baltmiskis, Christmas is about putting smiles on children’s faces. She cannot remember not ever doing it — even as a Girl Scout Brownie. As far as the Gig […]
Smiles and hugs on the menu at Key Peninsula meals program
As she walked in the dining hall, Delores Ulsh – wearing a red fedora, orange wool scarf, pink T-shirt and a gold snowflake pendant – wasted little time chatting up […]
Mincemeat Pie Top Longbranch Church Auction
Begging for bids, more than a dozen beautiful pies were on display on a red checkered print table cloth at the Longbranch Community Church Sunday (Nov. 23) to help raise […]
Key Peninsula Scouts go Door to Door to Help Stock Lakebay Food Bank
It was a rewarding lesson in public service for about a dozen Boy Scouts as they sorted through hundreds of bags of food they had just collected from neighborhoods on […]
Tuesday’s Storm Pushes Wauna Man to Desperate Plea
Like a message in a bottle, Jon Goods sent out a plea to the Key Peninsula on Facebook. A large Douglas fir had just fallen on his house, a 31-foot […]
Anglers Still Waiting for Minter Creek’s Salmon Bounty
Anglers gathered on the edge of the bridge by the fish hatchery on Creviston Road at Minter Creek searching the moving water for signs of chum salmon they expect to arrive […]
Lakebay Potter Molds a Good Life for Himself
Gary Andersen knows he has made a good life out of clay. Nearly two decades after retiring as an art teacher from Peninsula High School, Andersen continues to mold and clip clay […]
Key Peninsula’s Beauty Worth Talking About
Good morning Longbranch. I love it when someone asks me where I live. It’s not a fair challenge. Like the Kansas City Royals’ sweep of the Orioles last night, it’s […]
Minutes Matter in the Business of Saving Lives Key Peninsula Firefighters Learn
Precious minutes matter in the business of saving lives. This was a lesson about 20 volunteer firefighters learned, again, as a soft sprinkling rain moistened the yet to be broken […]
Love of Dirt, Passion for Animals, Family were themes of Key Peninsula Farm Tour
Bill Ketts loved this time of year. When the sweet scent of lavender warms the crisp autumn air, the corn is ripe for the harvest, and throngs of city folk […]
Fun Times on the Key Peninsula Farm Tour, Stay tuned for more
What an absolutely wonderful day on the farm trail Saturday. My lovely bride finally got to come along and experience for herself the autumn spectacle of the KP Farm Tour. […]
Key Peninsula cooperative is spearhead of Fresh Food Revolution
Sam Boucher is a tall, lean 26-year-old who says “I eat kale and eggs for breakfast.” He claims nearly half of every meal he eats comes from his garden and […]
From the Whimsical to the macabre: Creative KP Farm Tour Sentinels are back
Sometimes silly just works. Look at the 18 artsy sentinels now standing along the Key Peninsula Highway in Key Center. This is no beauty contest. This is for bragging rights […]
Quick tour of Key Peninsula shows a lovely piece of Americana
It has been a lovely week of stay-at-home-vacation. I have done absolutely nothing. My lovely bride is amazed how I am able to simply sit and have no care in the […]
Remembering disco hit ‘September'; autumn marks Key Peninsula Farm Tour
Do you remember the 21st night of September? Love was changing the minds of pretenders While chasing the clouds away Our hearts were ringing In the key that our souls […]
Miracle in Purdy: Tides stun Seahawks 30-29 in Fish Bowl
Gig Harbor students’ joy simply spilled over. The four-foot chain link fence at Roy Anderson Field Friday night could not contain their celebration. The Tide’s miracle comeback in the 36th […]
Years of work pay off in opening of Key Peninsula’s only after-school center
Peter Hedin wondered nearly a decade ago if children would come if the community built a safe place for them to hang out. Years of building support and a generous […]
Longbranch Doodle Romp with Friends on a Bank of the Snoqualmie River
It was a family reunion of the shaggy variety. More than 50 doodles — of every kind — ran and rolled around 10 acres of freshly mowed pasture on a […]
‘Awesome’ Summer Cruise in Longbranch to Catch a Super Moon
There is nothing like capping a beautiful moonlit cruise on Filucy Bay with an unplanned dip in the drink. Landlubber’s delight. Captain’s fright. “I wish I had gotten a picture […]
Legacy of song all a Day’s work
Music is the Day family’s business. Brothers Daniel, John and David were all weaned on it. Their father Kenneth loved it, even when he could not read a note. Their […]
My Lovely Bride, Love of my Life
I am grateful for my good fortune. More so that it all came to me by happenstance. Today, my lovely bride celebrates a birthday and I celebrate with her. For […]
Fun Longbranch Cruise teach McNeil Island History
Gloria Wing’s eyes lit up when she saw the red brick building where she once taught precocious children their ABCs. “Heaven on earth,” Wing said, of life on McNeil Island. […]
Reverend of Song Brings Bluegrass to Longbranch
Music has always been a big part of John Day’s life. He grew up with it. His mother made sure he went to his piano lessons. His father’s love of […]
Key Peninsula gem a perfect place for crab pots
What sweet, buttery bounty the Puget Sound has to offer. Three women, three crab pots, four delectable crustaceans. An afternoon out on the docks at Joemma Beach State Park Saturday […]
Baling Hay in the heat of a Longbranch Summer
An orange Kubota tractor lumbers its way slowly around the front pasture of a Key Peninsula farm Saturday, the plunger of a mechanized baler thumping a steady beat. Warwick Bryant methodically […]
A Hoot of a Story in Longbranch
I was finally able to snap a picture of the Barred owl that lives in our woods. This has been an unfruitful personal quest of mine the past two years. […]
Down Home Fun on the Fourth of July
It is funny how traditions are built. Take the Fourth of July parade in Home. More than two hundred people — dressed in all shades of red, white and blue […]
Pierce County program helps address Key Peninsula blight
UPDATE (Friday, June 27 at 7:15 p.m.): The last of the vehicles on the property was gone by early this morning — only a trailer and camper shell was left. Two of […]
El Primero’s long voyage home
Editor’s note: This is the story about a group led by Richard Hildahl, of Longbranch, that is trying to bring the El Primero back to Tacoma. It appeared on the […]
Maritime relic arrives for Longbranch fundraiser
The centerpiece for this weekend’s Down Key Festival in Longbranch, Wash., slipped into a dock at the marina with a handful of volunteers from the Longbranch Improvement Club to greet […]
Longbranch cookbook: ‘History, heritage and recipes’ a winning dish
There is nothing sweeter than grandma’s sugar cookies served up with a dollop of local history. It may seem an unlikely pairing, but the effort by women of the Longbranch […]
Longbranch Chronicles marks one year of stories and pictures
One year ago today, I began this blog to share my impressions on my new home on the Key Peninsula. This is what I wrote back then: “My blog simply […]
Tale of the ‘Singing Norwegian’ shares infamy with Pearl Harbor attack
Today marks 72 years since the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, nudging the U.S. into World War II. What many do not know is that the Japanese coordinated attacks on […]
Lions of Bellarmine Roar, Roll Back Tides
The celebration was a bit premature for Gig Harbor Tides fans at Roy Anderson Field in Purdy last night. “Hey, photographer,” a Gig Harbor senior calls out conspiratorially just before […]
The Goofy, Lovable Rascal Turns Five
A squirrel ran across the deck early this morning catching Maddee’s eye. She jumps up, racing to the door. Turning her head to me, she asks to be let out. […]
SNAPSHOT: Sunshine through the trees in Longbranch
“What a gorgeous morning,” said my lovely bride, over coffee and toast in our sun-drenched family room. Yes it is. In fact, it has been a wonderful weekend in our […]
