Monthly meetings are held on the first Thursday of the month at 7:30 PM,
at the Nichols Community Center. If you live on Fox Island,
you are a member of FICRA. All Island residents are invited to attend.
Membership
Funding for maintenance of the Nichols Center building comes from the sale of
$25.00 per
family annual memberships. This membership fee includes a copy of the Fox Island
phone directory. Membership is open to every Fox Island family.
Santa Comes to Fox
Island! On a cold and windy night in December 2009, the volunteers from the Fox
Island Fire Department helped bring Santa Claus to the annual Fox Island
Tree Lighting ceremony.
Children gathered around
the bonfire sang Christmas carols while awaiting Santa's arrival. When
the chorus of Santa Claus is coming to town was sung, Santa arrived with
lights flashing and sirens blaring.
After candy canes were handed out, the crowd retreated
into the warmer confines of the Nichols Community Center, where the Wickline
Family Singers played their traditional "Down Home Country Christmas"
concert.
FICRA would like to thank the Fox Island firemen and
the many volunteers who helped make this great event possible.
Fox
Island Tree Lighters
Jeff & Nan Feagin Our FICRA Tree Lighters for 2009
are Jeff & Nan Feagin. The Feagins have been Fox Island residents
since the 1970's, and have been active FICRA members for many years.
Their house is one of the first that was built on Queets Drive.
Their children could be seen riding horses all
over the island back in the 70's. Jeff is an avid bird watcher and
fisherman, Nan is an accomplished artist, and both love to garden.
Jeff and Tom Lockett managed the FICRA Fair for
many years, and has also served as coordinator of the annual Fox Island
Plant sale for many years.
Nan organizes a weekly
artist's group at the Nichols Center.
FICRA Sponsors Fox Island Boy Scout Troop On November 29, 2007, FICRA became the proud sponsor of Fox
Island's own
Boy Scout Troop 27, headquartered at the
Nichols Community Center on Fox Island. The new troop is
getting ready for another year of 'high adventure' outings, including
camping, hiking, climbing, canoeing, archery and more.
Boys aged 11 to 17 who are interested in
having fun in the outdoors are encouraged to join; contact John
Ohlson at 253-549-2701 or visit
Troop27BSA.com for more information.
Meetings are held at 6:30 PM on the second &
fourth Tuesday of the month. Bring a friend, and get ready for
adventure!
Nichols
Center Gets New Flagpole
On Saturday, March 3rd, members of Cub Scout Pack 202, Den 7
raised the new flagpole at the Nichols Center.
The cubs built the new flagpole from a fir
tree found on Fox Island, and they spent three months making it; stripping
the bark, polishing the wood, and applying varnish & hardware. The
old flagpole was blown down in a windstorm in February, 2006.
Once the new pole was raised, the Cubs
performed a flag ceremony, with a brand new American Flag, donated by FICRA.
Above: Pack 202's Cub Scouts hoist the new flagpole into place.
Left: Members of Den 7 performed the
flag ceremony; Assistant Den Leader Brandon Stevenson, Den Leader Doug Nilsen, Blake Paffile, Walker Carlson, Blaize Stevenson, Dan Sheppard and
Jonathan Nilsen. Not pictured: Bobby Blaser.
Nichols
Center Gets New Deck
February 25, 2007 - Eagle Scout candidate Page Ollice of Boy
Scout Troop 212 recently completed his Eagle Scout service project - a new
deck for the Nichols Center. Expanding on the old design, the new deck
includes a 2' wider footprint, safer railings, and improved traffic flow
from the main door to the stairs.
Page Ollice, his brother and Father Larry
admire the completed work.
Nichols Center Gets New Doors
One
rainy Saturday recently, FICRA volunteers Tony Moore, John Arno and John
Ohlson installed three new replacement doors at the Nichols Center.
The old doors had become rotten at the bottom and needed
replacing, and one was warped so badly, the door latch would not stay
attached.
The Pierce County Fire Marshall required us to repair the
one door to maintain a safe exit, so we decided to do all three.
The new doors went in without a hitch, and will provide a
more secure entryway, and better fit to help keep the cold drafts outside.
Thanks Tony, John & John!
A New Bridge Sign For
Fox Island
FICRA
has a new bridge sign!
After years of reliable service, the old bridge sign had seen better days,
and was broken, and in need of replacement.
Enter Paul Schneeman,
Fox Island Handyman and all-around nice guy.
Paul built a new sign from donated materials and added a second side to
the sign, for mainland-bound traffic. Now you can keep up with Island
happenings both coming and going from Fox Island!FICRA would also like to thank Paul for cleaning the gutters at the
Nichols Center, and for taking down the Fox Island Christmas Tree after the
holidays.
Thank You Paul!
Cub Scouts Shea Brown, Garrett
Stephens, Alex Ohlson, and Ben Long admire the new tree.
Fox Island Cub Scouts Plant New
Christmas Tree For FICRA
In the summer of 2005, Cub
Scouts from Fox Island's Pack 202, planted a new Christmas Tree in front of
the Nichols Center.
In a few years, the tree
is expected to grow large enough to serve as the Christmas Tree for the Fox
Island community tree lighting ceremony, to be held on Saturday,
December 2nd. In the meantime, it will be
the 'little brother' tree to the traditional 20' tall one, which is
decorated by the Fox Island Volunteer Fire Fighters, and donated by Ketcham
Evergreens of Fox Island.
Each year FICRA awards a $500.00 scholarship to a high school senior
whose parent or guardian resides on Fox Island.
A reminder to high school seniors, applications for consideration must be
received by April 23, 2009, addressed to: FICRA Scholarship Committee; PO
Box 25; Fox Island, WA 98333. Any
applications received after that date will not be considered.
You may
download the scholarship form, enter you submission using a word
processor, then mail to the above address. Andrew Schneeman, 2008 FICRA Scholarship winner
2005 Tree Lighters Janet & Paul
Schneeman FICRA's
2005 Christmas Tree Lighters were Janet & Paul Schneeman, of Fox
Island.
The Schneeman family moved from Auburn to Fox Island
in October 1999 because of Paul’s passion for sailing, boating and water
activities. As a registered nurse, Janet is a diabetes educator at Mary
Bridge Children’s Hospital. Paul recently launched his own business
“Specialized Woodworking” assisting people with their home improvement
projects.
Janet is FICRA's Secretary, and a volunteer for many
FICRA events. She helps at the Annual Easter Egg Hunt, the Tree
Lighting, the FICRA Fair, and is the Bingo Coordinator.
Janet recently said "I like volunteering at the
community center because I meet new people and feel like I am 'part of
the island' - especially doing activities with people who have lived on
fox island for many years. I love being behind the scenes at these
long-standing traditional island events." Janet's husband Paul
volunteers for the Fox Island Crime Watch. Congratulations to the
Schneeman family!
Santa Comes To Fox Island On December 4th, Santa made his annual
visit to Fox Island to greet the children and hand out candy canes at the
traditional FICRA Tree Lighting ceremony.
Cub Scouts Lead Caroling Around Bonfire Cub Scouts from Fox Island's Pack 202
helped lead the singing of Christmas Carols around the bonfire, prior to the
tree lighting ceremony. Fox Islander's Paul & Janet Schneeman lit the
tree this year.
Matt Snow, recipient of the
2006 FICRA Scholarship is congratulated by FICRA President John
Ohlson
Hank Henry was the 2006 FICRA Fair
Grand Marshall
FICRA President John Ohlson presents Andy Willis with
the $500.00 scholarship check at the 2003 FICRA Fair.
FICRA
College Scholarship Awarded
The 2003 $500.00 FICRA scholarship was awarded to Gig
Harbor High School graduate Andrew Davis Willis son of Chris
'EZ' and Patricia Willis. Andy plans on
attending Seattle Pacific University.
Update on FICRA's
Nature Center Project
July, 20005
Scout Keith Buchanan admires the completed footbridge,
built with assistance from
members of
Boy Scout Troop 282.
Although it may not look like it, lots has been going on
with our Nature Center over the past year.
The
Footbridge and Park Bench
installation was built by local Boy Scout
volunteers from Troop 282 in Gig Harbor.
Eagle Scout
Keith Buchanan headed up the footbridge project,
which created a 60' bridge over the stream which runs
through the property.
Stop by and see the progress. The bridge is now
completed, and all of the benches are installed.
Eagle Scout John Uehlin
headed up the Park Bench project, which placed 10 park benches along the trail at various points of interest.
Each
bench is made from weather-resistant materials, and
features the names of donors who contributed $500 in the
fundraiser last fall.
The bridge
and park bench
projectsarenow complete, with a
grand opening and dedication during the FICRA Fair.
Fox Island's two Garden Clubs; Sand & Soil, and The
Fox Island Garden Club have teamed up to help provide
native
plantings at the trailhead area, and will help coordinate the
installation of bird houses and bat houses being constructed by
Island volunteers with donated materials.
Scout John Uehlin (left) helps guide a
bench seat into place, with assistance from members of Boy Scout
troop 212
Help Save Fox Island's Wetlands! The 'Fox Island Nature Center' is a pristine
greenbelt, containing a small stream, and many forms of
wildlife.
The property is currently owned by FICRA, thanks to generous donations from Fox
Island Residents.
October, 2005
We
Did It! By coming together as a community, we were able to
raise the necessary funds to make the down payment on our
cherished wetland nature park.
But
we're not done yet! Announcing the "Buy
a Brick" campaign!
In order to complete the
purchase, FICRA obtained a 10-year, $15,000.00 mortgage
on the Community Center.
Help
us retire this debt, and Buy a Brick
in the process.
Nichols Center
Flagpole Rebuilt
2004 -
Eagle
Scout Candidate Mark McKinney recently completed his Eagle Scout service
project at the Nichols Center.
His project included removing the
flagpole, removing old nails and rotted wood, applying a fresh coat of
paint, replacing the rope and hardware, and building a new concrete &
tile base around the pole.
Mark (on left in photo) celebrated the completion of the
project with a flag raising ceremony at the May FICRA meeting, assisted
by one of his fellow scouts from Troop 212 out of Chapel Hill Church.
Mark, son of Fox Island residents
Marshall and Gretchen McKinney, is a student at Gig Harbor High
School.
FICRA wishes to thank Mark for his
hard work and coordination of this project.
2005
Soggy Egg Hunters Have a Great Time!
Several hundred Fox Island children braved the rain
and soggy grass to hunt for Easter Eggs in the 2005 FICRA Egg Hunt.
Over 3000 eggs containing candy, toys and prize tickets were quickly
snapped up by eager hunters.
With parents hovering nearby with
umbrellas and video cameras, the children splashed through the Nichols
Center grounds in search of the brightly colored eggs. A bake sale
offered a huge assortment of cookies, cakes and muffins to help raise
funds for FICRA. Several craft vendors offered their wares to the
crowd.
FICRA would like to thank the
volunteers who helped make this year's Easter Egg hunt a success.
Lise' Ohlson was the event Chairperson, who organized the event,
helped get all 3000 eggs stuffed in time for the hunt, and procured the
prizes over the last few months. Janet Schneeman and Judy
Kanick helped staff the bake sale booth, Pam Gurr and
Megan & Meredith Gurr were the Easter Bunny's assistants,
Maggie and Harrison Flannigan, and Andrew Schneeman helped
set up the hunting areas and hide eggs. And thank you to the many other
volunteers who staffed the prize room, helped set up the hunt, hide the eggs
and clean up afterwards. Special thanks to everyone who
helped stuff eggs this year; Cub Scouts from Pack 202, Brownie
Girl Scouts from Troop 290, and the rest of the volunteers!
Thank You!
2004 Easter Egg Hunt
Was A
Blast! The
2004 FICRA Easter Egg Hunt was well attended, over 100 Fox Island
children attended.
In addition to egg hunting, there were
photos with the Easter Bunny, a bake sale, gift bazaar, latte stand and
prizes for the lucky children that got 'special' eggs.
Some of the Easter Bunny's helpers
this year were: Pam Gurr,
Megan Gurr, Meredith Gurr, Michele Vick, John Ohlson,
Judy Kanick, Janet Schneeman, and Lise' Ohlson. Thanks,
Volunteers!
The 2002 Easter Egg Hunt was sponsored by FICRA
Our thanks to Lise' Ohlson, who organized this
year's hunt!
Thanks Lise'!
A good time was had by all at
the 2002 FICRA Fair. According to many fairgoers, old timers and
new visitors alike, it was 'the best ever'!
Over 80 booths offered their wares at the fair
this year, including flowers, baskets, artwork, jewelry, games for
the kids, homemade berry cobbler, meatball subs, egg rolls, and the
famous "Fair Burgers".
FICRA thanks this year's fair organizers, Pam
Turnbull and Lise' Ohlson.
FoxIsland.net
Celebrating our 10th Year Online
On November 29, 2007, FICRA became the proud sponsor of Fox
Island's own
Boy Scout Troop 27, headquartered at the
Nichols Community Center on Fox Island. The new troop is
getting ready for another year of 'high adventure' outings, including
camping, hiking, climbing, canoeing, archery and more..JPG)
One
rainy Saturday recently, FICRA volunteers Tony Moore, John Arno and John
Ohlson installed three new replacement doors at the Nichols Center.
Each year FICRA awards a $500.00 scholarship to a high school senior
whose parent or guardian resides on Fox Island.
