Shaw General Store 100 Year Anniversary Seemed Destined for Success

CNL2 VIDEO IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE

CNL2 loaded up some remote gear Saturday morning and set sail for Shaw Island and the 100 year birthday for the Shaw General Store.

There is always a risk in planning public events in May 2024. Maybe the entire Memorial Day weekend will be cloudy and drizzly (it was with one exception).

Maybe Washington State Ferries will have trouble crewing all the boats on a holiday weekend (they did).

But at roughly 1:00 p.m. Saturday the gray clouds went away and the ferries recovered from what started out as a disastrous day, when they put together a crew for the #3 boat by mid morning and prevented a cascade of chaos throughout the day. Even the winds slowed just enough to keep a little motion in the flags.

It’s as if the spirits of great grandparents and grandparents of elderly men and women joined hands to clear the skies and deliver visitors from afar to return home to celebrate the beating heart of Shaw Island, the General Store.

(CNL2 televised live 1-1/2 hours of the ceremonies. CNL2’s volume of live television continues to rise each week. Did you know you can request live TV coverage for your event? Jeff and Jeremy always try to say yes. No matter which island you’re on.)

Musical acts as diverse as a brassy swing band, a folk singer, and an Appalachian-style act that included a handsaw played with a violin bow. Then good-humored remarks from representatives of every family who ever owned the General Store, going all the way back to 1924. Gratitude expressed by the Mason family, current store owners, via Terry Mason. A delicious barbecue pulled pork with pineapple on fluffy dollar rolls, paired with a refreshing potato salad with celery and dill. And plenty of ice cream from a stand inside the store.

Old friends from Washington State Ferries met, including Jon and Donna Tegnell.

The Sheriff handed out stickers to the children. Nuns who had been stewards of the store for a long stretch were all smiles. Everyone was all smiles.

Law man Eric Peter estimated 100 in attendance. CNL2 estimates more than 200. It had the positive energy of 500. The event was expertly planned. As birthday parties go, this was one that revived memories and made new ones.

And, as if arranged by the nuns, as the party was winding down in the four o’clock hour, the clouds returned and the breeze picked up.

This CNL2 video is approximately 4 minutes in duration.