Coupeville Sports

Sylvia Arnold hugs husband Garrett after being gifted her grandfather’s 1949 Chevy truck, lovingly restored by local volunteers. (Photos courtesy Garrett Arnold and Jerry Helm)

Not quite road ready at this point…

Sylvia hugs Collin McGinness, who helped spearhead the project.

You would be hard-pressed to find someone in Coupeville who doesn’t like Sylvia Arnold.

She puts the friend in friendly, and has positively affected more people in our community than you can count.

Sylvia led the CHS cheer program for two decades-plus, and remains the only Wolf coach to win a team state title in any sport.

But her time on the sidelines, in the huddles, and bringing the pep 24/7/365, is most remembered for how inclusive she was.

There were years where Sylvia’s cheer squad had far more athletes than the football team did, and she welcomed girls (and boys) from all avenues of life.

There are a lot of cheerleader stereotypes, and she happily, merrily broke them all.

If you showed up and worked, you were one of her kids, and not just for that season, but for life.

Sylvia’s positivity, her love of others, and her genuine care for all she meets has colored every part of her life, from cheer to her work with her church, Living Hope on Whidbey.

Wanting to give something back, to show her a blessing for all she has done, a group of Whidbey residents, led by Collin McGinness and Darrell Jacobsen, started a seven-year project which paid off this week.

Putting together a team of workers, the duo shepherded the restoration of a 1949 Chevy truck which originally belonged to Sylvia’s Grandpa Engle.

In the words of those involved, it became “more than a renovation, it became a labor of love.

“A story that exemplifies the good in people, giving selflessly, to say “Thank you!” to someone who has given much of herself to bless others.”

“The open road is a’callin’.”

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