Darrington. Just the name makes my heart warm. We love Darrington, and the people we met there. The ten years we spent in Darrington are treasured memories by our family of four school age daughters. Some really wonderful folks live beside the Sauk and the Stilly rivers. They're such friendly people; they wave as you drive by, and love to chat whenever they see you.

Darrington is accessible from the west via State Route 530, and again by State Route 530 from the north; the few northern miles connecting to town to Concrete only opened after 1978. This partially explains why the community still has a unique and distinctive "Tar Heel" culture solidly grafted into the area.

From incredible scenery, to unique culture, there are many parts that contribute to Darrington's unique community. One of the best parts of Darrington are the Grandparents. They may even be the "golden" ingredient of Darrington. What a richness of belonging is given to children by their grandparents. My own grandparents were gone by the time I was 20, so I wasn't blessed with the time to spend with mine. Now, I understand a little more of what I missed. Darrington is filled with many active Grandparents; they volunteer at the churches, many come to school and pick up their grandkids, give hours to the library, help plan local events, create endless canned goods. Darrington grandparents take the time to listen, and spend time with their grandchildren. Grandparents teaching their grandchildren how to tie flies, pick beans, and piece quilts. Grandparents gathering blueberries, and making jams and jellies with their kids and grandkids. 

In Darrington, the boys are still talking about Grandpa's amazing sour cream enriched cornbread from last Sunday dinner, and when they're going steelhead fishing together next. The boys have rifles in the back of their pickups, par ked at the high school. One of the girls has a record winning cougar skin on her parent's wall. Yes; she got that co ugar! The community, teachers and the students organize fly-ins, hiking trips, hunting adventures, and share fishing lures. They all go together, too. Some of those teachers were students of Darrington just a few years ago, and they're part of extended family everywhere in the valley.

The Darrington, WA School district was surprisingly good. Some of the best teachers I've even known work in this small, close-knit community. It was where our daughters loved attending school, and where they found good friends. We still talk about those special teachers, and miss the school employees and people so much.

We also lived in Arlington, WA, before we moved to Darrington, and once again, our experience in the schools was good, and our children enjoyed attending school there. We absolutely adored Trafton. We met so many neighbors in the Trafton - Oso area, and we were glad we just moved up the valley into Darrington, where we could still keep in touch with our friends from down below.

My husband and I both grew up in north Seattle, and attended Seattle schools from the 60's through the early 70's. Seattle deserved it's reputation as a great place to live and raise a family. We wanted our children to have a positive school experience, too, but we were pragmatic about it, and knew it would be difficult to duplicate the "good old days" for our daughters. We were pleasantly surprised to find so many good things from the past, still existed in Trafton - Darrington schools.

Darrington's not all about "lifestyle" and "advanced degrees". In fact, living in Darrington makes you realize how changed our values have become as a society. What is really more important than your family? Well, down below, people will scoff at you when you're excited about your fourth child. As you head up the valley, however, right about Trafton, things begin to change. City folks want to know how big your new home is, and where did you find your newest diamond ring. Those are common topics of conversation. After Oso, you've found old family values still come first.