Issue link: http://www.wacmagazine.com/i/1531607
WINTER / SPRING 2025 31 club life members in motion Members Heather MacLaughlin Garbes and Peter Garbes will represent the Philippines in the World Senior Curl- ing Championships this spring in New Brunswick, Canada. e couple first tried curling in 2002. "We both real- ly, really liked it," Heather recalls. But schedule constraints made it hard for them to commit to the ice together. Heather honed her cra playing and competing during the following years. When Peter lost his job in 2018, Heather seized an opportunity in a hard situation. "e next day we went to the curling club, and she started to teach me," Peter says. From there, it's been an intense six years of training. is spring, they'll represent the Philippines in international competi- tion. Peter holds Filipino citizenship. He connected with other Filipino-Ameri- cans interested in the sport over social media. Now, they have a team training in Seattle. "We expect to have a good showing," Peter says going into the internation- al bonspiel (aka curling tournament). Heather coaches and Peter is the vice skip. "It's a mental game as much as it's athletic," the couple says. For condition- ing, Heather and Peter use the WAC for core-strengthening and balance exercis- es, which help with the transition from a squat into a lunge, key for maintaining control in this classic winter sport. Clise Properties Senior Property Manager Sabrina Villanueva believes in brightness—and she's brought the wattage to a long-overlooked downtown block of Seattle to prove it! ird Avenue between Stewart and Virginia streets lost most of its businesses during the recent down- town downturn. Sabrina, a WAC member since 2017, and the Urban Land Institute formulated a two-year plan that culminated this past fall with the installation of more than 1,200 LED lights that crisscross the street as well as a six-story mural, all part of the ongoing Downtown Activation Plan. "We call it the Spark Block," Sabrina says. "e goal is to inspire others to push the vision down ird Ave. so we have a legible, bright, and welcoming transit cor- ridor." Sabrina convinced multiple prop- erty owners to place light anchors in their buildings, worked with the Seattle Department of Transporta- tion, and even got the city to foot the bill. "We've had tons of positive feedback," she says. "I hope I inspire others to influence the city and make change." Curling couple Lighting the way Member Sabrina Villanueva lights up downtown Championship triathletes WAC members Kalee Tyson, Kris- tin Sarkisian, Isaac Tyson, Charleen Lundberg, and Justin Marzean traveled to the North Island of New Zealand for the 2024 VinFast Ironman 70.3 World Championship. Despite the long travel and dramatic weather change—they le Seattle winter for New Zealand summer—the group of five delivered impressive results. ese were the world championships, remember, so the competition was the best in the sport. American Taylor Knibb won the women's race in 3 hours, 57 minutes, and 34 seconds. Belgian Jelle Geens won the men's race in 3 hours, 32 minutes, and 9 seconds. Results for the WAC racers were as followers: • Kalee 5:13:10 (328th, women's overall) • Charleen 5:53:51 (1,153rd, women's overall) • Kristin 5:58:07 (1,217th, women's overall) • Isaac 4:45:11 (1,000th, men's overall) • Justin 4:51:29 (1,248th, men's overall) We're proud to call these amazing ath- letes WAC members. Pictured above are Kalee and Isaac Tyson.