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Posts Tagged ‘retirement’

Longtime local librarian retiring

Posted in Not sports? Tough!, tagged , , , , on February 9, 2023| 1 Comment »

Leslie Franzen (center) enjoys time with family. (Photo courtesy Kelsi Mottet)

There’s a changing of the guard in the world of books.

Longtime Coupeville Library Manager Leslie Franzen is retiring Mar. 1, putting a cap on 43 years of work in the industry.

She’s ridden the ever-changing waves from the days of card catalogs to a world driven by computers, always remaining one of the friendliest, kindest guardians of the written word.

A celebration of her library tenure is set for Thursday, Feb. 23.

The event, which will feature light refreshments and is open to the public, is set for 1-4:00 PM in the library’s meeting room.

The Coupeville Library is located at 788 Alexander Street.

Franzen, a CHS grad, began her library life by working as a page while still in high school.

After a stint off-Island, she and husband Derek returned to Whidbey, where they raised children Kelsi and Garrett, and Leslie was tabbed as Coupeville’s managing librarian in 1988.

Over the years, Franzen (and the library) bounced from location to location in Coupeville, with the snazzy current version being built in 2010.

Two bond measures were passed in 2008 to finance the library improvement, with Franzen among those leading the charge in stumping for the new building.

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Compass Rose shuts its doors

Posted in Not sports? Tough!, tagged , , , , on December 30, 2022| Leave a Comment »

The Compass Rose Bed and Breakfast.

Coupeville’s best-dressed innkeepers are retiring.

Marshall and Jan Bronson announced this week that they are closing down the Compass Rose Bed and Breakfast, which has operated for three decades.

The ultra-chic two-room institution, located in an 1890 Queen Anne Victorian home at 508 S. Main, is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Bronsons, the most genteel customers I ever had at Videoville, are well known for tooling around town in a vintage car, rockin’ only the spiffiest of outfits.

The Compass Rose, which is decorated with antiques from around the world, was a huge step above your average Motel 6.

Guests were served breakfast on fine china, crystal, silver, linen, and lace, for one thing.

As they move into a new phase, the Bronsons released a statement on their Facebook page:

 

After more than 30 years of operating as The Compass Rose B&B, treating all of our lovely visitors into our home for friendship and love, we find ourselves at a point in our lives that we can no longer continue to act as a Bed & Breakfast.

As of December 31, 2022, The Compass Rose will cease to exist, and will become the Bronson home.

We hope to still receive visitors to experience our home and hospitality.

Much love to everyone as we see what the next chapter in our lives hold.

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The King has left the oval

Posted in Track, tagged , , , , on December 8, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Randy King celebrates as the Coupeville High School track team wins another title. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

This is the end, my friends.

For really real this time.

First he departed as a teacher, and now longtime Coupeville High School track and field guru Randy King is calling it a career as a coach.

The longest-tenured coach at the school retired as a teacher in April, 2020.

King spent 42 years in the classroom, the final 29 at CHS.

At the time, the school board agenda indicated he was also bringing his coaching career to an end, but, to the joy of many, he agreed to stick around the track oval for a bit longer.

This time his departure is official, however, as CHS Athletic Director Willie Smith confirmed King’s resignation.

King has been involved with the Wolf track program since the mid-2000’s.

His run as coach produced 11 of the 17 individual state meet titles in program history.

Wolf state champs he coached include:

2006 — Jon Chittim (200, 400); Kyle King (3200); boys 4 x 400 (Chris Hutchinson, Chittim, K. King, Steven McDonald)

2007 — K. King (1600, 3200)

2008 — K. King (3200)

2010 — Tyler King (1600, 3200)

2019 — Danny Conlisk (200, 400)

Under Randy King’s tutelage, Coupeville track regularly proved quality could beat quantity, with his teams piling up strong league, district, and state finishes despite often having far fewer athletes than many of its rivals.

The high-water mark for CHS track came in 2006 and 2008, when the Wolf boys finished 4th in the team standings at the state meet.

His girls teams were some of the strongest in school history, and 11 of 18 Wolf girls track school records came on his watch.

On the boys side, 12 of 17 current school records belong to King-coached athletes.

King also led the CHS varsity boys basketball program for 20 seasons, ruling the sidelines between 1991-2011.

He led both his 1998 and 2002 squads to Northwest League titles, coaching four of the top 10 scorers in program history.

Mike Bagby (tied for #1 with 1,137 points), Pete Petrov (#7 with 917), current Wolf boys hoops coach Brad Sherman (#8 with 874), and Arik Garthwaite (#10 with 867) all called King their coach.

King also pulled a stint as a CHS assistant football coach, and, later in his career, led middle school programs for both boys basketball and volleyball.

The spikers who he taught as young women went on to provide the core of the most-recent CHS volleyball squad to earn a trip to state.

“It’s good to be the king, baby!”

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“It has been an honor and privilege”

Posted in soccer, tagged , , , , on July 2, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Sean LeVine with wife Joline and youngest daughter Izzy. (Photo poached from Joline LeVine)

Leading by example. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

One of Whidbey Island’s most influential coaches is heading in a new direction.

Sean LeVine, who has helped shape the games and lives of hundreds of local soccer players over the past quarter-century, announced this week he was stepping away from being an active coach.

His statement:

This week I “retired” from coaching soccer on Whidbey Island — an endeavor I began in 1995 as my little brother’s team needed a coach.

For 26 years I have coached both boys and girls of all ages, including all three of my daughters.

There are no words I can put here that can adequately describe what these experiences have meant to me and my family.

Thank you to all the parents, coaches, board members, and players who have made this an overwhelmingly positive part of my life, and for offering soccer to the youth in our community year after year.

It has been an honor and privilege to have served by coaching kids in a sport I love.

LeVine, who is a paramedic with WhidbeyHealth in his non-soccer life, is a member of the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame.

He was inducted in 2015 as part of a particularly-impressive class which included Brad Sherman and Tyler King, among others.

During his time on the pitch, LeVine worked with numerous soccer squads, but his Whidbey Islanders girls teams had an especially-big impact.

Bringing together players from North, South, and Central Whidbey, including oldest daughter Micky, those teams went toe-to-toe with big-city clubs on a regular basis, winning frequently against top-level competition.

Sean LeVine was a master at bringing out the best in each player, while also devoting extensive time to making sure his proteges excelled away from the pitch.

Many of those Islanders, and countless other kids he coached, went on to attend college, some playing soccer, with a great deal of success.

LeVine was also one of the easiest coaches to work with, a guy who would shoot me detailed info and clever quotes even when he was likely tired after an early-morning wakeup, a long off-Island trek, and a series of games.

The continued growth of soccer in Coupeville is the result of a lot of people working their tails off, often without getting (or asking for) full credit.

People such as LeVine, Jim Copenhaver, Kyle Nelson, Reese and Michelle Cernick, Scott Rosenkranz, and Robert Wood — just to name a few — have been invaluable.

Whether this is really the end of his coaching career (he’s just hitting his mid-40’s, so a comeback is not out of the question) or just a cool-down period, LeVine leaves Whidbey soccer in a better place than he found it.

One of the legends, even if he blushes a bit when you call him that.

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Fox leaves the hardwood

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , on June 16, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Scott Fox is stepping down after two years as Coupeville High School girls basketball head coach. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

“It’s been a great ride!”

After two seasons at the helm of the Coupeville High School girls basketball program, head coach Scott Fox is stepping down.

He made the news official Wednesday, a day after the Wolves closed their latest campaign with a 54-18 win over Darrington.

The decision is a health-based one, as Fox is facing “a major back surgery later on this summer, with a long recovery time.”

“I found out in May that L3, 4, and 5 (vertebra) are loose and degenerating,” he said. “After 50 years of basketball and a 30-year firefighting career, I have to focus on my health at this point.”

With a young roster — this year’s team had no seniors and featured two 8th graders, one of whom was a starter — Fox sees a bright future ahead for the CHS girls program.

It will just have to develop without him on the bench.

“I was looking forward to grooming these young kids through the next couple of years,” Fox said. “But I physically can’t do the job anymore.

“I would like to thank (Coupeville Athletic Director) Willie (Smith) and the school for the opportunity.”

After jumping over from being a CHS boys hoops assistant coach to succeed David King as girls head coach, he had two eventful seasons, marked by big wins and dealing with the pandemic.

In his first season, Fox guided the Wolves to a 12-7 record, with Coupeville going 6-3 in league play during the final season of the 1A North Sound Conference.

Year #2 brought a move to 2B, a transition to the Northwest 2B/1B League, and Covid.

Basketball was bumped to the spring, and the schedule was compressed, with Coupeville finishing 5-7.

As he looks back on his two-year run with the girls program, Fox is philosophical.

“Last year we tied the record for best start, and this year we brought in 8th graders, so I’d like to think we left a mark on the program,” he said.

“This isn’t the way I wanted to script the ending of our season, but that’s sports and life.”

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