Visitors entering Coupeville may notice a new crimson flag swirling in the wind along Main Street.
The flag, coupled with a similarly branded sign and logo nearby, are recent touches, boasting the new location of Washington State University’s Island County Extension office.
Since opening last week, the new office has caught people’s attention, bringing curiosity seekers through the front door in numbers that have both surprised and amused staff.
“We’ve had numerous people walk in, asking, ‘When did WSU move to Island County?” said Stinger Anderson, the office’s assistant office administrator.
The answer: About a century ago, said Dr. Tim Lawrence, WSU Island County Extension director, who counts himself among those humored.
“The first Extension agent in Island County came in 1917,” Lawrence said.
There are WSU Extension offices in 39 Washington counties, each extending the reach of the state’s land grant college by offering programs and information intended to enrich and empower communities.
What started out as a way to share the latest agricultural research and methods to arm local farmers with the best information has expanded beyond agriculture.
WSU’s Extension office in Island County offers programs that train people to become Master Gardeners, Waste Wise volunteers, 4-H volunteers, livestock advisors and Shore Stewards. It also offers a Small Farms program and Weather Network.
All of these programs tended to go largely undetected in the office’s previous location in the basement underneath the county’s law and justice center about a block away.
That was the home of WSU’s Island County Extension since the early 2000s or late 1990s, Lawrence said.
“Being in the basement in the Sheriff’s Department was a very safe place to be but not exactly very visible,” he said. “We’re pretty excited.”
Added Anderson: “The most common thing we heard was, ‘I just spent the last hour looking for you.”
The new office is much more expansive and naturally lit and is home base for Lawrence and many of the program coordinators.
Front and center is Anderson, who mans the front desk and fields questions in person and on the phone from those wondering what type of mushroom they’ve found or the identity of a bug they’ve uncovered in their yard.
He sits in a spacious lobby that leads to a large room that will be used as a classroom for Master Gardener sessions and other programs.
Lawrence is excited about future possibilities after the installation of new video-conferencing units and a new router that will give the office the same sort of online access to university systems as if they were in Pullman.
“There’s a real possibility in the relatively near future that we will be able to offer classes from the Everett campus here,” Lawrence said. “That’s something I’ve been working on. Hopefully, we can make that happen.
“We’re trying to do everything we can to increase higher education opportunities for students here in Island County. Once we have the capability to be able to stream things in, we can build from there. Theoretically, it’s a fairly open book down the road.”
Anza Muenchow, coordinator of the Small Farms and Master Gardener programs, said Saturday workshops for the Master Gardener 2017 session will be held at the Coupeville office starting in March.
Muenchow is the interim coordinator with the Master Gardener program until a new person is hired to take over. Starting Jan. 1, she will become coordinator of the Extension’s SNAP-Ed program, teaching the value of incorporating more fruits and vegetables into the diets of underserved populations.
People interested in being trained to become Master Gardeners in 2017 should complete their applications by Dec. 31. An application may be downloaded from the WSU Island County Extension site at www.extension.wsu.edu/island/gardening/master-gardeners/
Or, you may grab an application by visiting the new office, which is located at 406 North Main St.
Office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays.
