Notes from the east

By Peggy Sturdivant

Somewhere between the fresh snow, icicles and icy sidewalks of holidays on the East Coast I found time to check my Christmas story about the North Pole in Ballard in the on-line edition. Two children had left messages for Santa. Please reply they both wrote after making their respective pleas for a baby doll to feed and a "psp." They too had been looking for the North Pole.

A few days later there another response - a message from the former owners of the "North Pole," Martin and Colleen Lysness. Martin and Colleen live east of the Cascades now, in West Richland. The Northwest 32nd Street house was the family home, built by his grandfather and father in 1929. Martin's sister and her family lived slightly south, at the "South Pole." Martin wrote that deciding to sell the home where he was raised and had lived with his own family was one of the hardest decisions they ever had to make, but it was time for them to think about the next stage of their lives. Looking at the future, and eventual retirement, it wasn't feasible to stay in Ballard for a number of reasons that included high property taxes, growing traffic and overall change.

Martin reminisced about the 20-plus years - handing out an average of 5,000 bags of popcorn each year and what they were able to collect for the Ballard Food Bank. His mother had painted nativity scenes in the windows when he was young and after his father died, Martin and his wife took up the tradition of decorating the house. The flagpole was a mast from an old sailboat that his father erected on the site. Martin recalled that his daughter Jaime particularly loved handing out the popcorn; there was a short list among the neighbors to also have the opportunity. He shared stories, some reported in a story about their move in 2003, the Fire Department causing a batch of popcorn to catch fire, a wedding proposal at the base of the pole, a man whose mother asked him to drive her to see the house, and died later that night.

What happened to the North Pole people wanted to know. Here are some notes on their new lives to the east.

Martin's job with Pacific Coast Chemicals used to take him to Eastern Washington frequently, now he makes the trip in reverse, visiting Seattle for business. The growing presence of wineries in Eastern Washington has made the move worthwhile in his work. Colleen works at Lourdes Medical Center as a dietary cook. Their adult daughter Jaime lives in Arizona where the weather is better for her health.

Are they are still decorating, as if anyone can't guess. Is it coincidence that they live at the base of Candy Mountain on a street called Milky Way? Their very first Christmas in West Richland they attracted media notice for their decorations; the following year they won the Best Decorated House in the Tri-Cities award from KEPR TV. The last two years they have not been able to get all of their decorations up in time, still adjusting to a climate that is more extreme than that of Sunset Hill. As Martin said, "When we were a little younger, it was easier to take those chances like hanging on to the old roof in Ballard and putting on the big star."

By e-mail Martin Lysness came across as very cheerful, happy with the move east though harboring great memories of Ballard. When we spoke by phone I could hear slightly more regret in his voice. He had grown up in Ballard; his wife in Bellevue. Their home was an annual destination and because of it they were able to generate large cash and food contributions to the food bank. They had hoped to be able to do more for charity in the Tri-Cities but "it's a different city, a different area." He admits that they're not entirely used to it in eastern Washington, although the traffic is better.

Martin now regrets that he didn't move the pole itself, but there were just too many other arrangements at that time. He drives by the old house occasionally and says that although he's not against development, he wonders how Ballard roads will accommodate the increased traffic after so many more condominiums are built. He misses the community where he grew up; its tightness, rues that the neighborhood is more money oriented now.

"Most of the people able to afford to buy there are young professionals." Their former home was purchased by two attorneys.

So there is no North Pole to the east of the Cascades, yet. Installing a pole is on the list of things they'd like to do at their home on Milky Way. Having felt the responsibility in receiving even two messages intended for "Santa" I can understand how the Lysnesses miss their glory days. There was a magical convergence at the family home in Sunset Hill, and although decorations can be moved and installed elsewhere, that doesn't necessarily create the same magic that dated back to Martin's mother painting nativity scenes on the windows and his father mounting the pole.

I can understand why they didn't move the pole with them; they still believed that a certain magic would endure and didn't want to destroy that. Now they realize that the magic is theirs to build up again.

Martin wrote, "The hardest thing for us to realize is that we can never recreate our Ballard experience or the number of visitors and friends that we had. It just can't be done. When people ask us what we miss most about Seattle and Ballard, our answer is Christmas."

Still looking for the positive, Martin Lysness closed by saying, " our power bill is a lot less now."

Peggy can be reached atlargeinballard@yahoo.com. She writes additional pieces at http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/ballard.