Name a state ferry after Ivar Haglund? Bartell Drugs prescribes petition signatures

(One of WSF’s new 144-car ferries, under construction at Vigor, via WSDOT on Flickr)
The soon-to-be-headquartered-in-West-Seattle Bartell Drugs is throwing its weight behind the proposal to name a new Washington State Ferry after a well-known West Seattle native – entrepreneur Ivar Haglund. The idea emerged last month; when Seattle Times (WSB partner) columnist Ron Judd wrote about it, we noted it on the WSB Facebook page, but hadn’t heard anything since. This morning, a news release from Bartell says the company will have petitions in all of its stores through September 23rd (along with an ongoing prize drawing, including gift cards for Ivar’s). The news release quotes company leader George D. Bartell as saying, “The ‘M/V Ivar Haglund’ plying the waters of Puget Sound would be a fitting tribute to his legacy. Ivar brought the color and pioneering spirit of Puget Sound to our doorsteps through his music, restaurants, and colorful personality.” Ivar died in 1985. His namesake company supports the naming effort too – and it should be noted the new ferries are being built on West Seattle’s Harbor Island.

P.S. After receiving the Bartell news release about this, we asked for the latest timetable on the corporate HQ’s West Seattle move. Spokesperson Barry Bartlett says it’s currently on track for mid-to-late October. They’re moving – administrative operations, not a store – from Georgetown into the West Seattle Corporate Center, known as “the building with the big flag,” at Delridge and Andover, as first reported here August 7th.

redblack September 17, 2012 (8:54 am)

heck, yes! and the boat should be adorned with signs over the car deck that read “keep clam.”

Ken September 17, 2012 (9:30 am)

Are these the ferries that are supposed to go on the Fauntleroy route, to replace the late-1950s vessels they have there now?

miws September 17, 2012 (9:57 am)

As much as I like, and prefer, the more common practice of using Native American names for the vessles, I really like this idea! Ivar did a lot for Seattle and Puget Sound!

Mike

bridge to somewhere September 17, 2012 (10:04 am)

I like this idea! I think it may be in for a tough fight though, given the criteria they have set for the name, including, “Names with commercial overtones or names honoring or commemorating individuals should be avoided, but will be considered upon careful review” and “Consideration will be given to the consistency with existing WSF fleet names” and “Names should carry statewide significance.” On that last point, Ivar was most certainly very significant to those in Seattle and probably Puget Sound generally–but the rest of the state?

dsa September 17, 2012 (10:12 am)

I hope this happens and nobody protests. Ivar was also a guest entertainer on childrens shows.

Freddy freezer September 17, 2012 (10:46 am)

Just a correction, George D is ceo and chairman of the company, bartells was founded well,over 100 years ago, i don’t think he was around then.
thanks for your publication!
Now, everybody freeze!
Freddy Freeze.

WSB September 17, 2012 (10:57 am)

The perils of rewriting a news release rather than just doing the cut-and-paste shuffle … this one had too much context for me to do the latter, oh well. Fixed – thanks! No freezing going on here today, though. – TR

BlairJ September 17, 2012 (11:22 am)

Would Ivar’s Restaurants pay for the naming rights, like Key Bank, Safeco and Century Link?

Craig September 17, 2012 (11:34 am)

Just say NO. Ferry names should be Native names, to honor the first water travelers.

CDB September 17, 2012 (11:59 am)

I’m Native American and I say… heck yes to the M/V Ivar Haglund!

old timer September 17, 2012 (11:59 am)

“M/V Ivar Haglund”
sounds great – with a salmon/sock flag?
Thanks WSB!

Rick September 17, 2012 (12:09 pm)

I like “Keep clam”. If ya mash the words together it sounds kinda local. Keepclam, yeah, kinda like Moclips or Humptulips or whatever. We could do worse.

Craig September 17, 2012 (1:20 pm)

CDB, let me guess, Cherokee, Lakota maybe? All the ferries, with exception of two, are named after Northwest Native American icons.

If you are new here, I understand. Maybe just young and indifferent. It is a good way to honor the native Americans who were displaced from most of their homes.

Ron Judd September 17, 2012 (3:34 pm)

Thanks, Bartell’s! Also thanks WSB. I will have an update on the effort in my next Sunday column in The Times.

Eric September 17, 2012 (4:02 pm)

As much as I like the idea, my preference is to keep the current naming convention of Northwest Native American names.

J September 17, 2012 (4:43 pm)

If the Native American naming schema is inviolable, how about naming the Water Taxi for him, instead?

mike September 17, 2012 (5:57 pm)

I support Bartells more than ever now! Yay! As for the native names, if the state goes that route again … get someone to research thename ahead of time. We look like douchebags after its shown to the world that our officials can’t do basic checks on the meaning of the names.

Forest September 17, 2012 (6:04 pm)

Given his offbeat humor, I think Ivar might have preferred the challenge of just getting some ferry lifeboats named in his honor.

Caprial September 17, 2012 (6:42 pm)

I hate it. That is just like advertising for his restaurants. They should keep the tradition they have set forth and use the Native American names. You set this precedent, and you’ve opened a slippery slope to for example: M/V Starbuck, the M/V McFerry, M/V Paul Allen, M/V EMF, etc…you get the picture.

Tracy White September 17, 2012 (8:19 pm)

@ Craig – First water travelers…. you mean like fish and whales?

Alkidoc September 17, 2012 (10:32 pm)

M/V Vedder is my vote :)

westseattledood September 17, 2012 (10:43 pm)

As much as I appreciate the sentiment for Ivar Haglund, keep the good idea of honoring his quirkiness and relationship to sea chanty’s and such with our water taxis. This is kind of tacky to suggest the state stop dignifying and honoring first nation, native tribes. And, so what if different words from different languages are used. You probably don’t care much for poetry do you? Chosen words might be perfectly obvious in importance and meaning to those tribe members than others.

Save Ivar’s christening (and throw in Don McCune for the other) for the sleek water taxis.

Ray West September 18, 2012 (4:37 am)

I say keep it restricted to the Water Taxis (and even the docks) and stick to the traditional PNW Native American names for the ferries. I suggest the following for water taxis:

M/V Ivar Haglund

M/V JP Patches

M/V Captain Puget

M/V Brakeman Bill

M/V Stan Boreson

I agree with Caprial’s above statement that this is basically a publicity stunt for Ivar’s Restaurants and Bartell Drugs.

Mike September 18, 2012 (7:17 am)

westseattledood, you should read the article by Ron Judd. You might rethink your statement.

CDB September 18, 2012 (9:16 am)

Craig:
Old and established. Pend D’Oreille and Salish. Registered member of 2 tribes as well and, yes, one is Cherokee. Cherokee are real a real Native American tribe with real members by the way. Thanks for trying to set me straight about how I should view the history of Native American experience though. Oh, by the way, I also have a M.A. in Native American history. Sorry if I am not P.C. enough for your vision of a proper Native American.

westseattledood September 18, 2012 (9:33 pm)

I had read it, Mike.

Not that it matters to anyone but me, but I prefer Ray’s suggestion of a completely funded Mosquito Fleet , each hydrofoil zipping around Elliott Bay, Lakes Union and Lake Washington, with the name of a 50’s or 60’s local television icon. It would be ridiculously cool, no? I believe so. Ivar was only one among many.

westseattledood September 18, 2012 (10:39 pm)

if we want to do it right , better add
M/V Wanda Wanda
:D

Susan Berta September 19, 2012 (1:04 pm)

I hope you will also print the news release we have now sent twice to you with Orca Network’s proposal to name one of the ferries “Tokitae” in honor of Lolita/Tokitae, the only survivor of all the orcas captured in Puget Sound from the Southern Resident community. This name made the top 5 finalists in 2010, and we were invited to resubmit the name again this year. We have collected over 1200 signatures on our online petition http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/name-the-next-wa-ferry-tokitae/ from people in 42 states and 24 countries.

In our research, we’ve been told “Tokitae” is a Coast Salish greeting meaning “Nice day, pretty colors”, or a Chinook jargon word meaning “pretty”; and is in line with the ferry naming preferences of being cultural, historical, and a Native name, and it honors the state marine mammal and icon of Puget Sound and the NW.

Ivar’s clam chowder is already on all the ferries – we think Tokitae is a more fitting name for a ferry, and hope some of you may join us in signing OUR petition!!

WSB September 19, 2012 (1:20 pm)

Thanks. Actually, we have already shared it. From our FB page a month ago:
.
http://www.facebook.com/westseattleblog/posts/459783747377883?comment_id=5499661&offset=0&total_comments=4
.

Ron Judd September 19, 2012 (5:00 pm)

As the person who suggested the naming of a ferry after Ivar, I can assure you the idea was no publicity stunt of Ivar’s restaurants. Aside from eating there once in a while, I have never spoken to anyone there about the ferry idea. I mentioned it in a column in June (before the state even began soliciting name suggestions), and a significant grassroots effort evolved from that. It absolutely does NOT “open a door” to commercial names of ferries, as the state’s own guidelines preclude that.

As to the Native American naming “convention.” Yes, it’s a convention, and sometimes it’s good to do something unconventional. The DOT’s guidelines for naming ferries clearly allow naming boats after local historic figures who have been deceased for 20 years or more. It’s no more an insult to Native Americans to name a single boat after Ivar Haglund than it its to Norwegians to name a boat with a Native American name. America is the great melting pot, remember? BTW, the state already has departed from this “convention” on more than one occasion. Unless someone wants to argue that “Rhododendron” and “Evergreen State” are Native American terms.

westseattledood September 22, 2012 (8:03 pm)

Not to put too fine a point on your last sentence Mr. Judd, but the convention of using native words (symbolic) was not necessarily abandoned; rather, a new
“thematic series” was begun – state of
Washington symbols. So new symbols which are “emblematic” of our entire state, not merely one location like Puget Sound, oh,
say, Western Hemlock or Goldfinch or steelhead or ?, might stand a better chance of inclusion in the institutionalized criteria.

It reminds me of a Tim Eynman initiative some how, but whatever peeps want to expend time and energy on…

Sorry, comment time is over.