Wahluke investing in a lasting legacy
MATTAWA — It’s easy to sit on the sidelines in this instant-access world, type a complaint into the response box, spew negativity off into cyberspace, some mindless, anonymous source of information meant to make yourself feel good, while kicking the next guy.
Well it’s time to get off the bench and make a difference and random acts of kindness can go a long way in impacting Generation Next, and that’s what the good people of Mattawa and Desert Aire are doing for Wahluke High School.
I was talking to Warriors track and field coach Joel Dugan and he was telling me about some projects that are helping make a difference.
“In the last three years our high school track team has raised over $15,000, which we have carefully and strategically used to upgrade our facility, and our equipment. We now have three shot put rings instead of one,” Dugan said. “Toates Potatoes and the Christensen family donated old potato conveyor belts so we can cover the sand in our jumping pits when they’re not in use, making our sand softer and safer for our jumpers. Our High jump pad is now collegiate size, our pole vault runway is 100 feet long and beautiful.”
They have a new motto in Mattawa: “We W.I.L.L., which stands for We are Willing to Invest in a Lasting Legacy.”
I think they’re onto something.
They turned the storage shed near the track into a clubhouse with a concrete floor, shelves, ice bath, hanging racks and a beautiful sunset mural. It’s not just the track athletes and coaches, which laid the concrete and put the sweat and effort into all these projects, but the town of Mattawa, Desert Aire and the surrounding areas.
Check this out, Joel’s wife and assistant track coach Lexxie noticed a few family names on a few hurdles in the storage area at Columbia Burbank High School a few years back and came up with an idea. They sent their track and field kids around to local businesses for $100 to get their business or family name on the blank side of our hurdles. Call it a simple twist of fate, but all of Wahluke hurdles have a white blank side instead of the school name or company’s name.
“I took the white hurdle bar home got on Amazon and ordered vinyl lettering and a few days later spelled out “YOUR NAME HERE” on the hurdle,” Joel explained. “A few days later, we approached our business community. Our first stop was at Rio’s Ag and Auto and to our great surprise Rio Hirai said yes and bought our very first hurdle, giving us our first $100. By the end of the month we would have raised almost $7,000.
“So thanks to a simple idea from some old unused hurdle at Columbia Burbank and an old broken hurdle in storage, we now have 45 our of 91 hurdles with names on them representing the business and families that are willing invest in our last legacy.”
Triton Custom Home Inc. became the first full meet sponsor and paid for all the costs associated with the WindBreaker invitational. Wahluke Enrichment Organization buys gold, silver, and bronze medals for the Elementary Olympics at the end of each year.
Joel’s father and stepmother, Joel and Janet Dugan, built the award podium, and purchased lane markers for the Windbreaker.
What they have going in Mattawa isn’t just a small town taking care of its own. It’s about getting off the bench and doing something right because it’s the right thing to do.
I’ll end this with a little diddy I saw on Facebook by world-class distance runner and former Rogers High School superstar Gerry Lindgren. Gerry, who was one of only two people to ever defeat Steve Prefontaine in an NCAA Championship, lives over in Honolulu nowadays.
“Y’all complain about snow. Well, I’ve been out all morning shoveling sunshine off my sidewalk.”
That’s my thought for the day, find something good and run with it.
Rodney Harwood is a sports writer at the Columbia Basin Herald and writes a weekly column for the Sun Tribune. He can be reached at rharwood@columbiabasinherald.com.