Pro Wrestlers Mix It Up At Party In Issaquah

A lifetime of bumps and bruises in the wrestling ring has taken its toll on these heroes.

But despite their aches and pains, 130 former professional wrestlers and family members turned out for Dean and Ruth Silverstone's annual Wrestling Reunion in Issaquah last weekend.

The reunions began eight years ago when Dean, owner of Golden Oldies stores, wanted to honor friends he remembered from his days as a promoter.

The event has grown.

Wrestlers from around the country come to the Silverstones' home on Lake Sammamish to share hugs, not headlocks, one weekend each summer.

Guests this year included Tony Borne and his son, Matthew, who is better known as Doink the Clown. The Fabulous Moolah came from the East Coast. Red Bastein, who is still working the Far East circuit, attended.

The Silverstones hand out awards to a few wrestlers each year and provide dandy meals for the gathering.

"This year I had a barbecue expert dig a pit and roast pigs in the sand," says Dean Silverstone. "You've never seen such a swarm of human beings devour anything so fast.

"Did ruin one thing: I've been trying to keep a kosher beach."

Chilling facts: When Dave Sanford, a volunteer with the Bellevue Food Bank, asked Multi Service Center manager Shelley Noble what they needed, she had her cold facts down pat: a walk-in freezer.

They cut the ribbons on the freezer door last week.

Aldersgate Methodist Church congregation collected the cash; other volunteers and groups helped with installation.

Local star: Former Bellevue resident Todd Hollandsworth, last year's National League Rookie of the Year, won't be in the Kingdome when his Los Angeles Dodgers taken on the Mariners tomorrow and Sunday.

Hollandsworth, a left fielder who graduated from Newport High School in 1991, hasn't been hitting well this season and was sent down to the minor leagues yesterday.

Follow-up: Remember Kathi Allen of Redmond?

Allen, originally a Canadian, was inspired to become a U.S. citizen when she testified on food safety in Washington, D.C., after the E. coli outbreak.

She's been active in Safe Tables Our Priority (STOP), a group complaining about the U.S. Department of Agriculture's cook-hamburger-until-it's-brown campaign. Just this week the USDA issued a release advocating cooking meat to safe temperatures, not by color.

"We won!" Allen says. "What a victory for consumers and truth."

Lucky day: Folks at the Eastside-based radio station KSLY-FM are still talking about Whispi Batinovich of Tacoma.

One morning last week, Batinovich found a four-leaf clover. She brought it along to the station's Cash Bonus Party for its $100 winners.

It worked.

She won the $10,000 drawing.

One last grin: This Kirkland-based banking regulatory consultant comes appropriately named: Carol DePosit.

"My brother is in banking, too," she says. "He's a data processing manager for the CityBank in Lynnwood."

His name is Bill DePosit.

Sherry Grindeland's column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays in The Seattle Times Eastside edition. You can reach her by phone at 206-515-5633 or 425-453-2130, fax at 425-453-0449, e-mail at sgri-new@seatimes.com or mail at The Seattle Times Eastside bureau, 10777 Main St., Suite 100, Bellevue, WA 98004.