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Tag: Mason County

  • North Mason School District Levy Is on the April 28 Ballot — What Belfair Voters Need to Know

    North Mason School District Levy Is on the April 28 Ballot — What Belfair Voters Need to Know

    What’s on the ballot: North Mason School District voters are deciding on a four-year replacement levy in the April 28, 2026 Special Election. Ballots were mailed April 7. This is the district’s third attempt after levy failures in February and November 2025.

    North Mason School District Is Asking Voters to Try Again — Here’s What’s at Stake on April 28

    If you live in the North Mason School District — which includes Belfair and surrounding areas — there’s a ballot on its way to your mailbox right now. The April 28, 2026 Special Election includes a replacement levy for the North Mason School District, and it’s the third time in about a year that the community has been asked to vote on it.

    Ballots were mailed out April 7. Mason County’s ballot processing begins April 13, with results expected after 8 PM on April 28.

    What the Levy Does

    This is a replacement levy — not a new tax. It renews a levy that voters originally approved in 2022 and that expired at the end of 2025. The district is asking to collect up to $5,577,446 per year from 2026 through 2029 to fund programs and operations that state funding doesn’t cover.

    The estimated tax rate is $1.28 per $1,000 of assessed property value in 2026, declining slightly in subsequent years. For a home assessed at $400,000, that works out to roughly $512 per year.

    Levy dollars pay for things the state’s basic education formula doesn’t fund: extracurricular activities, athletics, arts and music programs, counseling, security staff, transportation support, and classroom materials beyond the minimum required by the state.

    What Happened After the Levy Failed

    The February 2025 failure triggered immediate consequences. North Mason cut roughly $4.5 million from its budget and began staff reductions. The district passed resolutions authorizing layoffs and reductions in hours. Superintendent Kristine Michael described the district as “squeezing every dollar” to maintain essential services.

    A November 2025 renewal attempt also fell short — finishing at approximately 48.5% support, just under the 50% plus one vote required for passage. Without levy funding restored, further reductions remain on the table for the 2026-2027 school year.

    Schools in the North Mason District

    The North Mason School District serves students across Belfair and the surrounding North Mason area. District schools include North Mason High School, Hawkins Middle School, Belfair Elementary, and Sand Hill Elementary — all located on or near the district campus in Belfair.

    How to Return Your Ballot

    Ballots must be received or postmarked by April 28, 2026. Drop boxes are available across Mason County. For drop box locations and ballot tracking, visit the Mason County Auditor’s website at masoncountywa.gov or call 360-427-9670.

    Frequently Asked Questions: North Mason Levy April 2026

    What is the North Mason School District levy vote date?

    April 28, 2026. It’s part of Mason County’s Special Election. Ballots were mailed April 7.

    Is this a new tax or a replacement of an existing levy?

    It’s a replacement levy — a renewal of the levy voters approved in 2022 that expired at the end of 2025. It is not a new tax.

    What happens if the levy fails again?

    The district would continue operating without levy funding, which covers roughly 10% of its budget. Further budget cuts and program reductions beyond those already made would likely follow for the 2026-2027 school year.

    How much does the levy cost property owners?

    The estimated rate is $1.28 per $1,000 of assessed property value in 2026. For a home assessed at $400,000, that’s approximately $512 per year.

    Where can I drop off my ballot?

    Drop box locations are available on the Mason County Auditor’s website at masoncountywa.gov. Ballots must be received or postmarked by April 28.

  • Tide and Timber: Union, WA — The Olympic Peninsula Place That Wins Every Argument

    Tide and Timber: Union, WA — The Olympic Peninsula Place That Wins Every Argument

    The people who know the Olympic Peninsula best will tell you it is not one thing. It is a rainforest dripping into the Hoh. It is the Strait of Juan de Fuca with its freight traffic and its harbor seals. It is the Pacific coast at Kalaloch, and the mountain meadows at Hurricane Ridge, and the river valleys that cut down from the Olympics toward the water. It is also — though some will debate this, right up until they visit — Union, Washington, at the southernmost hook of Hood Canal.

    What this video captures is Union in its essential form: the light on the water, the timber closing in from every rise, the quiet that settles over the canal on a still afternoon. The song you are hearing is called Tide and Timber, and it was written for places exactly like this.

    Why People Leave the City for the Hood Canal

    On any weekend you can find people on the road from Seattle who are not heading to the mountains and not heading to the coast — they are heading to the canal. From Portland, the drive is longer but the pull is the same. From elsewhere in the world, the pull is more mysterious, the product of some article read years ago or a friend’s description that never quite left the back of the mind.

    They find Hood Canal and follow it south, and the further south they go the quieter it gets, until they reach Union and the road curves and the water opens up and they understand why the drive was worth it. The Hood Canal here is at its most intimate — narrow enough to feel like a river, tidal enough to remind you it connects to the ocean, surrounded by hills that catch the last light of the afternoon in a way that makes even seasoned travelers stop the car.

    The Music Scene That Nobody Talks About

    Union has open mics that draw musicians from across the Pacific Northwest and beyond — people who came to visit the canal and stayed, or who drove out from Seattle looking for a different room to play. The quality is serious. The community is real. On the right night, in the right room, you will hear something that stays with you the way that the best live music does: unexpectedly, completely, in a way that makes the venue and the town and the landscape around it all part of the same experience.

    This is not an accident. Union attracts a certain kind of person who values authenticity over spectacle, who can hear the difference between a musician playing for attention and a musician playing because the song demands it. The tide and the timber have a way of sorting people out.

    Union Belongs on the List

    The debate about whether Union counts as Olympic Peninsula is a small debate in the end. Geography has its arguments, and they are not uninteresting. But anyone who has driven the Olympic Loop and skipped Union has missed something — not a footnote, but a chapter. The hook of Hood Canal is where the peninsula gathers itself before the water widens back toward Puget Sound, and Union sits at that gathering point like a town that knows exactly what it is.

    The best lists of remarkable places on the Olympic Peninsula include Union. Not reluctantly, as a runner-up, but with the full weight of what the place actually is: a waterfront community at the intersection of the tidal canal, the old-growth timber, and a music scene that could hold its own anywhere. Come for the view. Stay for the song.

    Plan Your Visit

    Union is roughly 25 miles southwest of Belfair on Highway 106, along the southern shore of Hood Canal. The drive from Seattle takes about two hours and is worth every minute of it. Combine it with a visit to Twanoh State Park just to the east, or continue west along the canal toward Hoodsport and the trailheads into the Olympics. However you approach it, leave more time than you think you need.

    📱 Watch & Share on Facebook

    Copy the link below and paste it into a new Facebook post — Facebook will pull the video in automatically so your friends can watch it directly in their feed.

    🔗 https://tygartmedia.com/tide-and-timber-union-wa-olympic-peninsula-watch-page/

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  • Tide and Timber: A Watch Page for Union, WA — Where the Music Never Really Stops

    Tide and Timber: A Watch Page for Union, WA — Where the Music Never Really Stops

    There is a place on the hook of Hood Canal where the land folds into the water like it has always meant to, where the timber stands close enough to the tide that you can smell both at once. That place is Union, Washington — and people come from everywhere to find it.

    They come from Seattle, leaving the steel and glass behind for a two-hour drive that deposits them somewhere that feels older and quieter and more honest than the city they left. They come from Portland. They come from across the country and from corners of the world that have never heard of Mason County. And when they arrive in Union, they tend to stay longer than they planned.

    The Best Live Music You Have Never Heard Of

    The open mics in Union are the kind of thing that travel writers should be writing about but somehow aren’t. On any given night you might be sitting next to someone who just drove down from Bainbridge or rode in from Bremerton, and the person up front playing guitar learned their craft in Nashville or New Orleans or Oslo — and ended up in Union because Union has a way of pulling people in and holding them there.

    There is something about the scale of the place. The Hood Canal narrowing to its southern reach, the Olympics rising to the west, the water sitting still on calm evenings while someone plays a song that was written somewhere else but sounds completely at home here. The local music community in Union is deep and serious and generous, full of working musicians who have played real stages and chose this life at the edge of the canal anyway.

    Tide and Timber — the song carrying this video — was recorded in that spirit. Listen to it as you watch the water move and the light change, and it will tell you everything you need to know about why this place matters.

    Union and the Olympic Peninsula Question

    You will hear people say Union is not part of the Olympic Peninsula. It comes up often enough to be its own small tradition — the argument that the Hood Canal is the eastern edge of the peninsula, and that Union, sitting at the canal’s southern hook, does not technically qualify.

    It is the kind of argument that dissolves the moment you visit. Drive into Union from any direction and you are surrounded by the same ancient forest, the same mountains catching clouds to the west, the same tidal rhythms that define everything to the north and west of it. The Hood Canal is not a boundary here — it is an artery. The peninsula breathes through it.

    Every argument that Union does not belong on a list of remarkable Olympic Peninsula destinations loses its footing once you have sat by that water at dusk, or stood in a room while a musician played to thirty people like it was the most important show of their life. The honest lists include Union. The good ones lead with it.

    When to Go

    Union rewards every season. Spring brings the rhododendrons and the first serious fishing traffic on the canal. Summer fills the waterfront and the open mics draw bigger crowds. Fall turns the hillsides amber and the oyster season comes into its own. Winter is quieter and colder and more honest, the kind of season that shows you what a place is actually made of.

    If you are planning a loop of Hood Canal — Hoodsport, Lake Cushman, the Skokomish Valley, and back out through Belfair — do not let Union be a waypoint. Let it be a destination. The music will still be playing when you get there.

    📱 Watch & Share on Facebook

    Copy the link below and paste it into a new Facebook post — Facebook will pull the video in automatically so your friends can watch it directly in their feed.

    🔗 https://tygartmedia.com/tide-and-timber-union-wa-watch-page-mason-county/

    The video is hosted right here on this page. No YouTube account needed — just share the link.

  • Mason County Business: Olympic Mountain Ice Cream Expands to Port of Shelton, Chamber Keeps Community Connected — Mason County Minute

    Mason County Business: Olympic Mountain Ice Cream Expands to Port of Shelton, Chamber Keeps Community Connected — Mason County Minute

    Big things are brewing on the business front in Mason County.

    Olympic Mountain Ice Cream — the beloved local ice cream maker with roots in the Skokomish Valley — is making a major move. The company is expanding into a new 11,500-square-foot facility at the Port of Shelton, backed by a $1.75 million state CERB (Community Economic Revitalization Board) loan. The new space is four times larger than their previous location, with expanded production capacity, a retail storefront open to the public, and an estimated 17 new jobs coming to the community over the next few years. For a region where quality food manufacturing jobs are rare, this is the kind of growth that matters.

    Meanwhile, the Shelton-Mason County Chamber of Commerce continues to keep the business community wired together. The Chamber recently hosted its Timber in Mason County luncheon featuring Green Diamond Resource Company — highlighting a business with 130+ years of history in Shelton and an ongoing investment in sustainable forestry practices in the region. The Chamber’s regular Business After Hours events give local entrepreneurs and professionals ongoing opportunities to connect and build the relationships that keep Mason County’s economy moving.

    Business Highlights

    • Olympic Mountain Ice Cream: Expanding to 11,500 sq ft at Port of Shelton. $1.75M state CERB loan. 4x larger facility with retail storefront. ~17 new jobs expected. Skokomish Valley roots.
    • Green Diamond Resource Company: 130+ year Shelton history. Featured at Chamber’s Timber in Mason County luncheon. Ongoing sustainable forestry investment in Mason County.
    • Shelton-Mason County Chamber of Commerce: Business After Hours events held regularly. Visit masonchamber.com for upcoming schedule.
    • Port of Shelton: Active economic anchor for Mason County industrial and commercial development. portofshelton.com.

    Whether it’s ice cream or timber, Mason County businesses keep showing up. Support local when you can.

    Sources: Mason County Journal, Shelton-Mason County Chamber of Commerce, Hood Canal Communications (CERB loan announcement), Port of Shelton, MasonEDC.org

  • Mason County Business Update: Olympic Mountain Ice Cream Expansion & Chamber News — April 8, 2026

    Mason County Business Update: Olympic Mountain Ice Cream Expansion & Chamber News — April 8, 2026

    Big things are brewing on the business front in Mason County 🏗️

    Olympic Mountain Ice Cream has been making moves — literally. The beloved local ice cream maker is expanding from its Skokomish Valley roots into a new 11,500-square-foot facility at the Port of Shelton, backed by a $1.75 million state CERB loan. The new space is four times larger than their previous location, with expanded production, a retail storefront, and an estimated 17 new jobs coming to the community over the next few years. That’s the kind of growth we love to see.

    Meanwhile, the Shelton-Mason County Chamber of Commerce continues to keep our business community connected. Tonight’s Business After Hours (Wednesday, April 8) is another chance for local entrepreneurs and professionals to network and build the relationships that keep Mason County’s economy moving. The Chamber also recently hosted its Timber in Mason County luncheon featuring Green Diamond Resource Company, highlighting the company’s 130+ year history in Shelton and its ongoing investment in sustainable forestry practices here.

    Whether it’s ice cream or timber, Mason County businesses keep showing up. Support local when you can. 💪

    Sources: Shelton-Mason County Journal | Shelton-Mason County Chamber | masonchamber.com

  • Belfair Business Beat: Sweetwater Creek Park Ribbon Cutting April 10 & Industrial Growth on SR-3 — Belfair Bugle

    Belfair Business Beat: Sweetwater Creek Park Ribbon Cutting April 10 & Industrial Growth on SR-3 — Belfair Bugle

    Something new is opening in Belfair this week — and it’s been a long time coming.

    The Sweetwater Creek Waterwheel Park will hold its official ribbon-cutting celebration on Thursday, April 10 at 1 p.m., hosted by the North Mason Chamber of Commerce. The park sits just off Highway 3, right next to Belfair Elementary School and across from the Theler Wetlands — a spot many of you drive past every day.

    This isn’t your average park. The Sweetwater Creek project, developed through a partnership between the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group (PNW Salmon Center) and the Port of Allyn, features the only freshwater ADA-accessible fishing access in Mason County, along with new bridges, trails, a nature playground built from natural materials like boulders and logs, native plant installations, and even solar panels and a small hydropower system. It’s free and open to the public.

    After years of planning, grant compliance work, and community effort, the park officially opened to the public on March 31 — and now it’s time to celebrate. Mark your calendars for April 10 and come say hi to your neighbors. North Mason does community right.

    What’s Opening & What’s Coming

    • Sweetwater Creek Waterwheel Park: Open since March 31. Ribbon cutting April 10 at 1 PM. Free, ADA accessible. Only freshwater ADA fishing access in Mason County.
    • Puget Sound West Industrial (25400 SR-3): Class A industrial development at the Mason/Kitsap county line, up to 1.4 million SF planned. Phase I underway. Sewer capacity expansion along Hwy 3 corridor is in progress to support growth.
    • Port of Allyn: Development partner on Sweetwater Creek and a longtime Mason County economic anchor (18560 E. SR-3, Allyn WA).

    Sources: Mason County Journal, PNW Salmon Center, Port of Allyn, North Mason Chamber of Commerce

  • Mason County Government Update: Belfair Bypass Funding Secured & Local Meeting Schedule — April 6, 2026

    Mason County Government Update: Belfair Bypass Funding Secured & Local Meeting Schedule — April 6, 2026

    Your Mason County commissioners are meeting this morning — Monday, April 6 — with the Clean Water District on the agenda. Briefings begin at 9 a.m. at the Courthouse in Shelton (411 N. 5th St.) and are also available via Zoom. Then tomorrow, Tuesday April 7, Shelton City Council holds its regular business meeting at 6 p.m. at the Civic Center (525 W. Cota St.). 🏛️

    Big news for North Mason: State legislators Drew MacEwen, Dan Griffey, and Travis Couture have secured $48.3 million in the 2026 supplemental transportation budget for the SR-3 Freight Corridor project — the long-awaited Belfair Bypass. The 6-mile new highway will route through-traffic around downtown Belfair, with construction currently scheduled for 2027–2029. Environmental review is complete and land acquisition is well underway.

    Also coming up: Mason Transit Authority holds its April board meeting on Tuesday, April 21 at 1 p.m. — this month at the Hoodsport Regional Library (40 N. Schoolhouse Rd., Hoodsport). The public is welcome to attend.

    Sources: MasonWebTV.com | Mason County Commissioners Agendas | WSDOT SR-3 Project Page | Mason Transit Board Meetings

  • Government & Civic: SR-3 Belfair Bypass Gets $48.3M, Commissioner Meetings & Transit Board Update — Mason County Minute

    Government & Civic: SR-3 Belfair Bypass Gets $48.3M, Commissioner Meetings & Transit Board Update — Mason County Minute

    Big news for North Mason: State legislators Drew MacEwen, Dan Griffey, and Travis Couture have secured $48.3 million in the 2026 supplemental transportation budget for the SR-3 Freight Corridor project — the long-awaited Belfair Bypass. The 6-mile new highway will route through-traffic around downtown Belfair, with construction currently scheduled for 2027–2029. Environmental review is complete and land acquisition is well underway. This is the single largest infrastructure investment in North Mason in a generation.

    On the local government calendar, the Mason County Board of Commissioners met Monday, April 6 with the Clean Water District on the agenda. Briefings are held at the Courthouse in Shelton (411 N. 5th St.) and are also available via Zoom — a good habit to check in on if you want to know what’s happening with county water quality initiatives.

    Shelton City Council holds its regular business meeting Tuesday, April 7 at 6 p.m. at the Civic Center (525 W. Cota St.). And looking ahead, Mason Transit Authority holds its April board meeting on Tuesday, April 21 at 1 p.m. — this month at the Hoodsport Regional Library (40 N. Schoolhouse Rd., Hoodsport). The public is welcome to attend all of these.

    Civic Calendar & Key Updates

    • SR-3 Freight Corridor / Belfair Bypass: $48.3M secured in 2026 WA supplemental transportation budget. 6-mile new alignment routing around downtown Belfair. Construction: 2027–2029. Environmental review complete, land acquisition underway.
    • Mason County Commissioners: Regular briefings at 411 N. 5th St., Shelton + Zoom. Clean Water District updates ongoing. Check masoncountywa.gov for agendas.
    • Shelton City Council: Regular business meetings at 525 W. Cota St., 6 PM. Check ci.shelton.wa.us for full agenda.
    • Mason Transit Authority Board: April 21 at 1 PM, Hoodsport Regional Library, 40 N. Schoolhouse Rd., Hoodsport. Public welcome.

    Sources: WSDOT SR-3 Freight Corridor project page, WA State Fiscal LEAP Transportation Document 2026-2, Mason County Journal, MasonWebTV.com, Shelton City Council agenda, MasonTransit.org

  • Community Spotlight: Shelton History & the Mason County Historical Society Museum — April 5, 2026

    Community Spotlight: Shelton History & the Mason County Historical Society Museum — April 5, 2026

    Did you know Shelton is the westernmost city on Puget Sound? 🌊 Long before it was a logging town, this land at the head of Oakland Bay was home to the Squaxin Island Tribe — the “People of the Water” — who lived and thrived along these inlets for centuries. When settlers arrived in the 1850s, Shelton grew into a hub of timber, shellfish, and small-boat commerce, eventually served by the famous Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet steamboats that connected remote communities across the water.

    You can explore that history right here in town. The Mason County Historical Society Museum on West Railroad Ave in Shelton has a free collection of photos, artifacts, and documents spanning the county’s logging, farming, and shellfish heritage — plus free walking tour maps of historic downtown. It’s a great Sunday stop for locals and visitors alike.

    Open Tue–Fri 10am–4pm and Sat 11am–4pm. Free admission. 📍 427 W Railroad Ave, Shelton.

    Sources: HistoryLink.org — Shelton History | Wikipedia — Shelton, WA | Mason County Historical Society | Squaxin Island Tribe Official Site

  • Community Spotlight: Sweetwater Creek Waterwheel Park Opens — Ribbon Cutting April 10 — Belfair Bugle

    Community Spotlight: Sweetwater Creek Waterwheel Park Opens — Ribbon Cutting April 10 — Belfair Bugle

    Something special is happening right in the heart of Belfair this week — and if you’ve driven past Belfair Elementary on Highway 3, you may have already spotted it. Sweetwater Creek Waterwheel Park is opening its gates, and the North Mason Chamber of Commerce is hosting a ribbon-cutting celebration on Thursday, April 10 at 1 p.m. to mark the moment.

    This isn’t just another park. Sweetwater Creek Waterwheel Park is a years-in-the-making community vision brought to life by the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group (also known as the PNW Salmon Center, right off NE Roessel Road in Belfair). Tucked just across Highway 3 from the Theler Wetlands, the park features the only freshwater ADA fishing access in all of Mason County — a real game-changer for families and anglers of all abilities. Plans also include native plant gardens, a nature playground, solar panels, and interpretive trails connecting people to the salmon that make Hood Canal country so special.

    The Salmon Center has been a quiet pillar of North Mason life for years — running Salmon in the Classroom, hosting story-time events for families at their Belfair campus, and stewarding Hood Canal’s watershed one stream at a time. This park is their love letter to Belfair, and the whole community is invited to the celebration Thursday.

    Park Details

    • Location: Next to Belfair Elementary School, across Highway 3 from Theler Wetlands
    • Operated by: Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group / PNW Salmon Center (600 NE Roessel Rd, Belfair)
    • Features: Only freshwater ADA fishing access in Mason County, native plant gardens, nature playground, solar panels, interpretive trails
    • Admission: Free and open to the public
    • Ribbon Cutting: April 10, 2026 at 1:00 PM — hosted by North Mason Chamber of Commerce

    If you’re proud of what North Mason is building — come out April 10, shake some hands, and see what your neighbors have been working on. This is what community looks like.

    Sources: PNW Salmon Center (pnwsalmoncenter.org), Mason County Journal, North Mason Chamber of Commerce