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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Cindy Hval

Cindy Hval

Current Position: freelancer

Cindy Hval is a freelance columnist and correspondent. Her "Front Porch" column appears on alternate Thursdays in the Voices section. Her articles appear in the Features section and throughout the newspaper. Visit her at www.cindyhval.com

Email
dchval@juno.com

All Stories

News >  Voices

Advertising exec pursues love of painting

David Repyak's love of the outdoors is evident in his work now being shown at the Empyrean Coffee House in downtown Spokane. Mountain peaks soar with wind-whipped clouds in the background. "I want to convey the feeling I get in nature," Repyak said, "the kind of wild energy."
News >  Voices

Agencies team up for kids

Each week, a group of professionals gathers in a meeting room at the offices of Partners with Family and Children. They hear the saddest of stories, often view disturbing photos and together seek ways to act on the best interests of vulnerable children in our community. "Our mission," said Mary Ann Murphy, executive director of Partners with Family and Children: Spokane, "is to begin the healing for the children as well as seeking justice for them, and we can't do either one alone."
News >  Voices

Arranged marriage thrives 57 years

Eddy Eng saw his future bride for the first time, across a crowded marketplace in a small village 90 miles southwest of Hong Kong. The next day they were engaged.
News >  Voices

Students pause from book studies to take time for tea

Cathy Tilton's first-grade classroom at Franklin Elementary was transformed into a tea parlor on April 10 for an annual Teddy Bear Tea Party. Desks draped with pretty linens and set with china cups and saucers greeted the students, who brought their favorite stuffed animals to the party.
News >  Home

Heavy metal punks

Used horseshoes, broken rakes, old saw blades and discarded transmission gears. Where most folks see junk, 14-year-old Cody Campbell sees art – and maybe a trip to Hawaii. The teen is the owner and operator of Junk by a Punk, a business his older brother, Trevor, started three years ago, and recently handed down to him. Campbell, his cousin Kyndra Paulson, and friend Joey Wallace create "repurposed metal yard art" in a shop behind the family's South Hill home.
News >  Voices

.22-caliber enough for practical pistol fun

The first major disagreement my husband and I had was about guns. Specifically, an expensive HK91 assault rifle. As we moved into our tiny apartment, the rifle lay in its glistening black case while Derek looked for a place to put it.
News >  Voices

Devotion keeps romance alive

Stacey Chatman vividly recalls the first time her future husband, Sly, kissed her. "It was Halloween," she said. "We'd taken my younger siblings trick-or treating." She'd known Sly since junior high. He was always hanging around her house, ostensibly to play basketball with her brothers.
News >  Voices

Devotion key for the Chatmans

Stacey Chatman vividly recalls the first time her future husband Sly kissed her. "It was Halloween," she said. "We'd taken my younger siblings trick-or-treating." She'd known Sly since junior high. He was always hanging around her house, ostensibly to play basketball with her brothers.
News >  Voices

Miss Spokane, Mrs. Spokane prepare for state pageants

Spokane is sparkling with the crowning of two members of local royalty. North Side resident Becky Seely was recently selected as Mrs. Spokane, and 2005 Mead High School graduate, Elizabeth Lamb-Ferro, was chosen as Miss Spokane. Both women will compete in the upcoming Miss and Mrs. Washington pageants.
News >  Voices

Mrs. Spokane, Miss Spokane prep for state level

Spokane is sparkling with the crowning of two members of local royalty. North Side resident Becky Seely was recently selected as Mrs. Spokane, and a 2005 Mead High School graduate, Elizabeth Lamb-Ferro, was chosen as Miss Spokane. Both women will compete in the upcoming Miss and Mrs. Washington pageants.
News >  Voices

Nursery offers kids haven

Sonja Vernier was overwhelmed. She had two small boys and a third baby on the way. Far from her home in Tacoma, she felt isolated and very alone She'd come to Spokane to enter drug treatment at Isabella House. The staff, sensing her despair, told her about the Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery.
News >  Voices

Vanessa Behan site shelters children during crisis

Sonja Vernier was overwhelmed. She had two small boys and a third baby on the way. Far from her home in Tacoma, she felt isolated and very alone. She'd come to Spokane to enter drug treatment at Isabella House. The staff, sensing her despair, told her about the Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery.
News >  Home

Organize for peace of mind

Deniece Schofield, nationally known speaker and author of four books on home organization, has a confession to make. "I wasn't born organized," she said.
News >  Voices

Club for all kids

In the heart of the East Central neighborhood, on a sunny spring afternoon, a small boy energetically swept the sidewalk in front of the Boys and Girls Club. He's typical of the children who come here each day. They take pride in having a place that's just for them. Established in 2001, the club is designed to be a safe place for children ages 6 to 18, during the critical after-school hours.
News >  Voices

College theater meets middle-schoolers

Eighth-graders get no respect. They're too young to drive. They can't vote. Most are in the throes of puberty, and five days a week, they dwell in the netherworld of middle school. But two years ago, Whitworth theater professor Rick Hornor and Mead Middle School counselor Ed Mertz launched a collaborative process that gives eighth-grade students a voice.
News >  Voices

Youths use raffle proceeds for Easter baskets for CAPA

When the junior high youth group at St. Thomas More Catholic Church set out to raise funds for a service project, it hoped to collect $200. Turns out the group set its sights too low. Its recent raffle netted $900. The group, led by college students Kayley Randall and Dacia Contabile, put together a Gonzaga University-themed gift basket. The basket was filled with Zags memorabilia, water bottles and tickets to the Gonzaga-St. Mary's basketball game.
A&E >  Entertainment

Color your eggs with nature’s hues

Scientists tend to be a curious lot, and South Hill resident Eileen Starr is no exception. The retired earth scientist started experimenting with natural dyes a few years ago. "I was curious about what color dyes different plant materials would make," she said. "The cheapest way for me to experiment was to use eggs."
News >  Home

There’s always room for tea

Lurking inside almost every woman, whether dressed in sensible heels and a power suit, or tennis shoes and a tracksuit, is a little girl longing who once hosted elaborate tea parties for her stuffed animals. Fortunately, several tea rooms in the area provide the perfect outlet for grown-up girls. One example is the feminine fantasyland known as Mignon's Cottage in Post Falls. Owner Mignon Whitt said, "It's every girl's dream to come in here."
News >  Voices

Advocates for the elderly

Nita Jensen strode down the halls of Alderwood Manor in south Spokane, clipboard in hand. The perfectly coiffed senior in a striking pink jacket isn't employed by the long-term care facility, nor is she a resident. She is a volunteer with the Washington State Long Term Care Ombudsman Program. "I do this because I have a lot of compassion for people," Jensen said. The ombudsman program is mandated by the Federal Older Americans Act to "improve the quality of life for people who live in licensed long-term care facilities."
News >  Voices

Wedding, funeral bring overflow of emotions

A recent Saturday found me at two churches for two contrasting events – a wedding and a funeral. By the end of the day, I felt like I'd spent too much time in the wave pool at Boulder Beach. I'd been buoyed by waves of joy one moment, suffocated in the undercurrent of grief the next. The afternoon funeral was for a 27-year-old man. Brian was both a talented athlete and an avid reader. He was a loving son, a loyal friend, a cherished brother and an adored uncle. But he also was deeply troubled and, at times, lost. He'd been plagued by depression for years. And early one morning, his mother found him, dead in his room, in the home he had shared with his parents.
News >  Home

Putting orchids on a pedestal

Fictional detective Nero Wolfe loved orchids so much that he devoted four hours a day to them in the greenhouse atop his New York City brownstone. Spokane Orchid Society president Jim Pearce is far less fanatical, though he did say, "Orchids are an addiction. You can never own just one."
News >  Features

Mothers bathed in guilt

As a freelance writer and contributor to the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, I receive story requests each month. The sample chapter titles for the upcoming Chicken Soup for the Working Mom's Soul caught my eye. They included "Overcoming Working Mom Guilt," and "Good Moms can Choose to Work and Still Have Great Kids." The chapter titles reveal that for most moms there's more than enough guilt to go around. Even though I'm able to contribute to our family income by working from home, I still struggle with the feeling that there are not enough hours in the day, and not enough of me to go around to make everyone happy.
News >  Voices

Back to nature

David Repyak's love of the outdoors is evident in his work now being shown at the Empyrean Coffee House in downtown Spokane. Mountain peaks soar with wind-whipped clouds in the background. "I want to convey the feeling I get in nature," Repyak said, "the kind of wild energy."
News >  Home

From mother to son

Birthdays are important milestones, and an 18th birthday is especially significant. It marks the time when a teen officially transitions from childhood to adulthood. When Melissa Pittz, a social worker at Colbert Elementary School, thought about her son, Andy's, 18th birthday, she knew she wanted to give him a memorable gift. "I'd made a T-shirt quilt for my dad's birthday several years ago," she said. She remembered she had boxes full of Andy's outgrown sports jerseys and T-shirts and decided to create a similar quilt for him.