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@RedmondSpox
‘Excitement and hope’
at new Bethlehem Inn
Redmond’s first shelter
for the homeless opens
with room for 88
BY NICK ROSENBERGER
Redmond Spokesman
With a snip, smiles and a smat-
tering of applause, the Bethlehem
Inn of Redmond opened its doors
on Friday, June 24 — after 18
months of planning and renova-
tion of a former downtown motel.
The Bethlehem Inn, formerly
the Greenway Motel, is located
at 517 NW Birch. It is the first
transitional shelter in Redmond
for people facing homelessness.
Nearly 90 people can be sheltered
and fed each night on the prop-
erty.
A number of county commis-
sioners, city councilors and com-
munity members were on hand for
the grand opening.
“It wouldn’t have happened
without all of you,” said Gwenn
Wysling, executive director of the
Bethlehem Inn.
The shelter is the local result of
Project Turnkey, a state program
mechanism focused on turning old
motels and hotels into shelters for
those experiencing homelessness.
A $2.7 million state grant funded
the purchase of the motel and the
renovation.
See Shelter / A6
Nick Rosenberger/The Spokesman
Supporters gather in front of the Bethlehem Inn in Redmond on June 24 for the official
opening of the city’s first transitional homeless shelter.
PETERSEN
ROCK
GARDEN
up for sale as current owner plans to retire
BY JOE SIESS • CO Media Group
S
usan Caward spent most of her life living on her family’s property near
Redmond where her grandfather, a Danish immigrant named Rasmus
Petersen, turned a love of rocks and his own labor into a roadside attraction
known around the world.
Dean Guernsey photos/The Bulletin
A rock sculpture at the Petersen Rock Garden south of Redmond.
The Petersen Rock Garden, a 12-acre prop-
erty on SW 77 Street, is known for the numer-
ous rock structures Petersen built with his own
two hands in the 1930s and ‘40s. They have a
weathered look to them and the landscaping
today is rough around the edges, but the dis-
plays still inspire visitors. There are small rock
structures, stone paths, a bridge decorated with
rocks, a grotto, ponds and a small replica of the
Statue of Liberty.
And peacocks that roam the property unre-
stricted.
But time has caught up with the 57-year-old
Caward, who suffered a serious back injury
in her 20s and now struggles to care for her
grandfather’s creations. Caward gets around
with a walking stick and has trouble walking or
standing for long periods of time. Sometimes,
her legs go numb. It’s all a sign, she said, that it
is time for her to retire.
So Caward is working with her real estate
agent to sell the property, which is listed for
$825,000. In addition to all the art and rocks,
the price also includes the peacocks.
She doesn’t want to sell the property to just
anybody. Her hope is to find a suitable buyer
who will maintain her grandfather’s creations.
“I just want to kind of retire, come here every
once in a while and see what the new people
are doing with it,” Caward said.
Caward said she wants to be clear that she is
not retiring because she is no longer interested
in the rock garden. The rock garden and the
surrounding property is her home and very
important to her, she said, but because of her
declining health, she simply is unable to con-
tinue doing what it takes to maintain the rock
garden.
“It’s not that I don’t want to do it. It’s just
that my body can’t do it,” Caward said. “My
doctor has been cautioning me, ‘You’ve got to
retire’.”
Caward sat at a picnic table amid enchant-
ing stone structures, as peacocks shrieked, cats
pranced and her dog Hellboy sniffed around,
and told the story of how she broke her back.
Caward broke her back in three places after
a ram living on the family farm attacked her.
If it were not for her dog Sheba — an English
herder and Blue Heeler mix — Caward is con-
vinced she would be dead.
ABOVE LEFT: Visitors follow a peacock as it crosses a small bridge Monday at the Petersen Rock Garden. ABOVE RIGHT: A rock sculpture in a pond at the Petersen
Rock Garden near Redmond.
Redmond police shoot three aggressive dogs, kill one
Dogs were unleashed, at
least one ‘aggressive,’
police department says
Spokesman staff
While investigating reports of a sto-
len trailer on June 21, Redmond Police
officers shot two unleashed dogs, killing
and burying one of them.
The incident occurred on a property
east of 17th Street in Redmond around
8 p.m. Detectives were attempting to
contact occupants of a camp near the
location where the reported stolen
property was located, according to a
news release from the Redmond Police
Department.
The dogs approached the detectives.
One of the detectives was unable to
separate himself from the dogs, and
fired shots at one of the dogs. One of
the animals later died. Jesse Peterson, a
spokesperson for the Redmond Police
Department, reported that the breed
was unknown.
After the initial shots, a third un-
leashed and aggressive dog ran toward
the detective. The dog’s owner and an-
other person attempted to gain control
of the dog without success. The detec-
tive shot at the dog, which ran away.
The status of this dog was not known,
according to the police report.
The stolen trailer was recovered said
Peterson. Approximately $20,000 worth
of tools and personal property are still
missing.
Neither of the detectives was bitten
or injured during the incident, said
Peterson. Officers remained on the
scene and buried the dead dog for the
owner.
See Rock / A6
The Spokesman uses
recycled newsprint
INDEX
Calendar ........A2 Classifieds .....A6
Puzzles ...........A2
Volume 112, No. 43
USPS 778-040
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