Amber Anderson from South Mason Fire & Rescue joins Jeff Slakey to preview a Mother's Day weekend full of community events on Arcadia Road in Shelton, Washington.

First up: a FREE car seat checkup event Friday, May 8, from 11 AM to 2 PM at the South Mason Fire station on Arcadia. Certified car seat installers — being trained across multiple counties — will check your car seat is installed correctly, walk you through which seats fit your vehicle, and answer the question every parent eventually asks: when does my kid graduate to a booster, and when can they age out? No appointment needed.

Then Saturday, May 9, from 9:30 AM to noon — the third-annual Mother's Day Pancake Breakfast. Pancakes, sausage and bacon courtesy of Taylor Station, served by your South Mason firefighters. Every mom gets a rose and a walk to her seat from a firefighter. Donations welcome (cash or check).

Both events at South Mason Fire & Rescue, 2970 SE Arcadia Road, Shelton, WA 98584.

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In this conversation, host Jeff Slakey sits down with Katie Arnold, treasurer of the Karen Hilburn Cancer Fund, to talk about the second annual Mother's Day Dash — a 4-mile run/walk that supports cancer screenings and treatment for uninsured and underinsured women right here in Mason County.

For more than two decades, the Karen Hilburn Cancer Fund has helped over 600 Mason County residents access the screenings and care they need through partnerships with Mason Health. The Mother's Day Dash, alongside the fund's Denim and Diamonds auction, is one of the ways the all-volunteer board keeps that work going.

Katie shares the race details — start time, route, parking, day-of registration — plus what brought her into the fund a decade ago, and why this work matters for women across our community.
https://runsignup.com/Race/WA/Shelton/TheMothersDayDash

Event details:
• Sunday morning · 8:00 AM start
• Huff & Puff Park (across from Shelton High School)

• 4-mile run or walk · medals at the finish

• Registration open now; day-of registration available at the check-in table

Conversations air on KMAS Radio and is available as a podcast and on YouTube. Follow KMAS for more conversations with the people, businesses, and organizations that make Mason County what it is.

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In a national climate where political divides feel impossible to bridge, something different is happening in Shelton. The Mason County Peacemakers — six women from the Mason County Republican Women's Club and six from the Mason County Democrat Women — have been meeting since last fall to do one thing: get community work done together.

In this conversation, Jeff Slakey sits down with four of them at The Alibi Room at Wild Irish for a wide-ranging conversation about the group's origins, the blood drive that drew 33 pints on its first run, their partnership with the local Veterans Stand Down, a current food drive for Choice and CEDAR High Schools, and a joint picnic planned for August 16.

You'll also hear the line that may stick with you longer than any of it — Jane's reminder, by way of a Native American chief, that "the right wing and the left wing are attached to the same bird, and it takes both for the eagle to soar."

This is what grassroots, across-the-aisle community looks like. Quiet. Practical. And — in 2026 — quietly radical.

Recorded at: The Alibi Room at Wild Irish, Shelton, WA

Mentioned in this episode: Mason County Republican Women • Mason County Democrat Women • Faith Lutheran Church • Veterans Stand Down • Choice High School • CEDAR High School • League of Women Voters of Mason County • T's Cafe

Upcoming events: Blood Drive — June 16 at Faith Lutheran Church • Joint Picnic — August 16

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