Bits 'n' Pieces: Vancouver teacher looking for a house that’s ghost-free
Monday, May 17, 2010
Bonus rooms, fenced backyards and updated kitchens top many house hunters’ wish lists, but David Cummings had a rather unusual criterion.
Cummings, a 30-year-old math and Spanish teacher and track and cross country coach at Columbia River High School, needed to find a house that wasn’t haunted. His quest will be featured on the HGTV show “My First Place” at 8 p.m. June 17 on Comcast Channel 67.
“I’m a completely logical person, but I have this irrational fear of ghosts and aliens,” Cummings, a Vancouver resident, explained.
The producers of the show played up this angle, employing various purification rituals to cleanse a house of negative energy. Filming began last spring and continued through the summer. Also featured in the episode are Meghaan Jennings, Cummings’ girlfriend, and Darby Meade, Cummings’ friend and Keller Williams real estate agent.
Meade, a 32-year-old Vancouver resident, is Cummings’ co-worker, as well. Meade teaches history and English and also coaches track at Columbia River High School.
The most interesting thing about being on the show, Meade said, was having to re-create reactions.
“They take multiple angles of each shot, so you do everything multiple times,” he said.
House hunting can be stressful, but Cummings said having the cameras there actually made things more relaxed.
“It almost made it fun and funny,” he said. “I’m a teacher, so putting on a show for an audience seems natural.”
Coffee shop marks milestone
Cora and Lonnie Chandler, both 50, are launching Java House’s 20th year. When they opened their café, espresso drinks were a novelty, and downtown Vancouver was nothing like it is today.
“We could see Lucky Brewery,” Cora said. That landmark was demolished in 1995, and new buildings have sprung up since.
The coffee shop quickly established a clientele among attorneys, county and city workers — as well as those who sold plasma across the street. That clinic has since closed, and the down-on-their luck plasma sellers have been replaced by some serious power brokers. County commissioners, city councilors and legislators can often be spotted sipping a cup of joe at Java House.
“We built up quite a few good, loyal customers,” Cora said.
Bits ’n’ Pieces appears Mondays and Fridays. If you have a story you’d like to share, call Features Editor Elisa Williams, 360-735-4561, or e-mail elisa.williams@columbian.com.<I>
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