Anderson overpass

Project took

a community

A couple years ago, two remarkable young women decided the graffiti-ridden overpass on Anderson Hill Road was not really an appropriate welcome to Silverdale and decided to beautify it. The Navy, which owns the overpass, and the county, which owns the road, agreed with the concept, but had liability concerns. Halfway through a particularly discouraging meeting, Commissioner Josh Brown broke in and said, “What can we do to make this happen?” That got the ball rolling and things moved forward from there. The fact that Victoria Cartwright and Laura Fedorko stuck with it is a testimony to their tenacity.

Once the approvals were in place, Ken Perry of Team Innovative and James Eller of JR Home Services pressure-washed the concrete and Dan Mansfield and Mike Gritton of Preferred Painting applied the blue prime coat donated by Parker Paint. Silverdale Water made the water available.

Artist Joanne Tejeda took the theme and created a concept drawing. With that in hand, the young women embarked on a fundraising campaign. The response was impressive. West Sound Orthopaedics made a generous donation. Rodda Paint donated the materials, United Rentals discounted a lift and Wasser Coatings provided the clear coat.

Bob Jamison, a renowned muralist, agreed to paint the mural. In an overwhelming demonstration of community spirit, Silverdale Rotary made a generous donation of Duck Bucks. Ken Burdette made it his President’s Project and Silverdale Rotarians were on site every day helping out. Volunteers from the Navy provided the flaggers for traffic control. To top it off, Randy Hanson of Hanson’s Signs donated the thank you sign. A special thanks goes to Paul Harshbarger for making his place available as a staging area.

This has been a great project. The community can be proud of Victoria and Laura for their vision and determination. It is a testimony to the generosity of our business and community leaders and, particularly, gratifying to see business, government and volunteers working together.

To all who moved this project along, thanks a million.

TEX LEWIS

Silverdale