A&E . . . . . . . . B8

Classifieds . . . . B7

Community . . . B1

Obituaries . . . . B3

Opinion . . . . . . A4

Police blotter . B7

Schools . . . . . . B6

Sports . . . . . . B4-5

� �

THE ISSAQUAHPRESSTHE ISSAQUAHPRESSTHE ISSAQUAHPRESS

Storytellerkeeps

tradition alive � See Page B6

GrapeEscapereturns�See Page B8

Issaquah man celebratesrare leap year birthday�Community, Page B1

Issaquah boys basketballbows out of regionals

�Sports, Page B4

INSIDE THE PRESS�

Wednesday, February 29, 2012 • Vol. 113, No. 9Locally owned since 1900 • 75 Cents

www.issaquahpress.com

“I would have liked to have met Obama, but I started to think to myself, ‘A lot ofpeople met Obama that day, but very, very few were actually on the steps of AirForce One.’”

— Michael CisnerosA chef at Tutta Bella Neapolitan Pizzeria in Issaquah (See story above.)

QUOTABLE�Connect with The Issaquah Presson social media atwww.twitter.com/issaquahpress andwww.facebook.com/issaquahpress.Scan the QR code to go towww.issaquahpress.com.

SOCIAL MEDIA�

Issaquah chef prepares pizza forpresident to eat aboard Air Force One

By Warren KagariseIssaquah Press reporter

The unusual delivery order orig-inated far from the Tutta BellaNeapolitan Pizzeria restaurants inIssaquah and Seattle — 1600Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington,D.C.

The call from the White House torestaurant founder Joe Fugereoccurred late Feb. 15, days beforePresident Barack Obama left thecapital for a fundraising jaunt tothe West Coast. The tight deadlineleft Fugere and the Tutta Bellateam less than 72 hours to over-come culinary, logistical and secu-rity challenges to deliver 40 pizzasto Air Force One.

North Bend resident MichaelCisneros, a chef at the Issaquahrestaurant, and other Tutta Bellachefs prepared the pizzas forObama in a loaned outdoor ovenbeneath a tent on the Paine Fieldtarmac.

“‘The president won’t be able tostop at Tutta Bella, but if you canbring Tutta Bella to the president,we’ll make it happen,’” Fugererecalled from the White Housecall.

The team decided to use a4,000-pound oven at Paine Field toensure the pizzas reached thepresident as crisp as possible —rather than after a 30-minute tripfrom Seattle to Everett.

The setup to cook for the cus-tomer-in-chief posed hurdles toFugere, Cisneros and the otherchefs.

“We’ve been making pizzas foryears now, and when it comes tothe execution of the pizzas, so longas you’ve got your dough right andthe oven temperature right andyou’ve got all your ingredientsthere, we all have the skills tomake pizzas quickly,” Cisnerossaid. “Whether it be inside or out-side, it’s the same technique.”

The plans for the special deliv-ery started to coalesce Feb. 16.Fugere set up a command post atthe original Tutta Bella inColumbia City to create a menuand address the logistics.

Joyce Morinaka, director ofoperations for Tutta Bella, didsome research and learned Obamais keen on spicy foods.

Executive Chef Brian Gojdicscreated a pizza using local ingredi-ents — pickled peppers fromSeattle-based Mama Lil’s andsausage from Seattle-based

PHOTOS BY TOM SCHABARUM

Above, Michael Cisneros (left) and Dan Piecora Jr. prepare pizzas on thePaine Field tarmac. Above right, Michael Cisneros (clockwise from left), DanPiecora Jr., Brian Gojdics, Joe Fugere and Emily Resling stand on the stepsof Air Force One. At right, Il Presidente, a pizza created for President BarackObama, is slid into the oven. Below, Mini Coopers line up near Air Force Oneto deliver 40 pizzas to the president and White House staffers.

By Warren KagariseIssaquah Press reporter

Colleagues remember longtimeEastside Fire & Rescue VolunteerBattalion Chief John Waltosz as afirefighter committed to the agencyand public service, even as thelandscape and the fire departmentchanged.

Waltosz, 83, died Feb. 19 after along career in EFR and, earlier, ina rural fire district and future EFRpartner.

“He had tremendous respect forthe fire service, and he wanted tomake sure that everyone else whojoined the fire service had thatsame sort of respect for the job,service to the public, service to thecustomers,” EFR Battalion Chief

Dave McDanielsaid.

W a l t o s zimparted arespect for theagency onfledgling mem-bers as theUnited StatesArmy veteranrecruited andtrained resi-dents torespond to fires and other emer-gencies.

“When new volunteers came intothe agency, he always took themunder his wing,” McDaniel said.“He really set them in the directionof what the fire service is as a vol-unteer, this is how it’s going to run.

He was just a stickler for that.”Waltosz lived near Station 78 —

in the Coalfield area near Rentoncity limits — and responded tocalls in the Coalfield, LakeKathleen, Maple Hills and MayValley areas before retiring inNovember 1998. Waltosz startedas a Fire District 10 volunteer fire-fighter 33 years earlier in January1965. (Fire District 10 later joinedEFR as a partner organization.)

“John will be missed for hisdevotion to his family, his neigh-bors and community service,” EFRChief Lee Soptich said.

Waltosz built a strong relation-ship between volunteer and careerfirefighters in the area.

“He was very well-respected bythe fellow volunteers and by the

career firefighters,” McDaniel said.“A lot of the career firefighters inthe agency either had a direct orindirect relationship with him.”

Despite the serious role,McDaniel remembered Waltosz asa genial man dedicated to familyand firefighting. The longtime vol-unteer firefighter also made upnicknames for colleagues as afriendly gesture.

“He had a great deal of influenceon a lot of people,” McDaniel said.“He was just a great guy to bearound.”

In December 2007, EFR leadersestablished the Volunteer BattalionChief John Waltosz Inspiration

EFR honors late volunteer firefighter

John Waltosz

By Warren KagariseIssaquah Press reporter

The most innovative business-es in Issaquah manufacture fas-teners for airliners, use technolo-gy to treat autism, and rely on atiny-but-talented staff to createslick productions.

Issaquah Chamber ofCommerce announced theInnovation in Issaquah honorees— Marketing Masters, LakesideCenter for Autism and ImpactStudio Pro — at a Feb. 22 cere-mony and luncheon.

The carbon-neutral communityzHome also received a nod as themost innovative public-privatepartnership. The city spearhead-ed the 10-unit townhouse devel-opment from concept to comple-tion.

Leaders from the chamber andCity Hall recognized the entre-preneurs’ accomplishmentsthrough the Innovation inIssaquah contest, a showcase forlocal businesses offering uniqueservices. Honorees demonstrateinnovation in product develop-ment, services, systems or strate-gies.

Before the chamber and cityannounced the honorees, outgo-ing chamber Chairwoman KristiTripple said the contest present-ed a chance for Issaquah leadersto focus on accomplishmentsrather than economic doom andgloom.

The top choices in the contestrepresented a broad cross-sec-tion of businesses in Issaquah.Organizers considered more than

30 nominees for the honors. “I’m glad I didn’t serve on the

committee to have to select theseaward winners, because it musthave been tough,” CityAdministrator Bob Harrisonsaid.

The chamber announced the2012 honorees before a crowd ofmore than 100 business andgovernment leaders during aluncheon at Holiday Inn –Issaquah.

The honoree in the large busi-ness category, Marketing Masters,creates composite fasteners forBoeing and Airbus planes at afacility in the Issaquah businessdistrict.

“They provide the fundamen-tal building blocks — the fasten-ers in every single Boeing andAirbus airplane,” Harrison saidat the ceremony. “So, in short,what’s manufactured inIssaquah each day in a smalllight manufacturing facility

Registration is open forCommunity Emergency ResponseTeam training in Issaquah.

CERT training is designed toprepare residents to help familymembers and neighbors duringa catastrophic disaster. Thetraining is important becauseprofessional emergency servicespersonnel cannot help every-body immediately, so citizenscan use CERT training to protectand save lives.

CERT courses include disaster

first aid training, disaster pre-paredness, basic firefighting,light search and rescue, anddamage assessment skills.Participants can also learn howto turn off utilities and about thepsychology of disaster response.

The training program is $35.Learn more, and register for theCERT course, at the IssaquahCitizen Corps Council website,www.issaquahcitizencorps.com/cert/cert-class. CERT trainingcourses typically fill up quickly.

Community disasterresponse training is available

City, chamber ofcommerce honor

innovators

See FIREFIGHTER, Page A5

SPECIAL DELIVERY

See INNOVATORS, Page A5

COMING SOONStarting March 7, The IssaquahPress will feature the top busi-nesses in the Innovation inIssaquah contest — MarketingMasters, Lakeside Center forAutism and Impact Studio Pro —in a three-part series calledIssaquah Innovators.

See PIZZA, Page A6

Issaquah Alps peaks and trailsgarnered national attention Feb.21 after USA Today featured theEastside mountains in a travelpiece.

The feature outlines trails andpoints of interest on Cougar,Squak and Tiger mountains —including the long-defunct NikeAjax missile installation onCougar Mountain and theparaglider launch site on TigerMountain.

“Hiking through CougarMountain Regional WildlandPark, on to Squak Mountain StatePark Natural Area and into TigerMountain State Forest addsmileage but provides a scenicroute,” the guide notes.

The piece is the latest nationalrecognition for the Issaquah Alps

and the mountains’ namesakecity.

Runner’s World magazinelast year named CougarMountain Regional WildlandPark among the 25 best placesfor trail running in the UnitedStates.

Issaquah, long lauded in thePuget Sound region for trail-heads and salmon, earned a spoton Outside magazine’s BestTowns 2011 list for abundantoutdoor recreation opportuni-ties.

“Issaquah hasn’t been totallyyuppified,” Outside noted in theOctober 2011 cover article. “Thebiggest party of the year isSalmon Days, a two-day festivalin October celebrating the returnof the spawning fish.”

USA Today spotlights Issaquah Alps trails

�