Marsha Hart

Marsha Hart is a journalist who holds degrees in Communication and Psychology from East Tennessee State University. She moved to the area after working for several weekly and daily newspapers, including the Sacramento Bee. She has worked as a reporter and editor covering news, sports, real estate, and features. She enjoys a good book, a scenic hike, traveling, and spending time with her family and friends.

Gig Harbor Women’s Co-op offers a helping hand

Feb 06, 2024

Jill O’Block found it difficult to get the help her family needed when they moved to Gig Harbor from Vashon Island in 2015. No family or friends lived nearby, and she sometimes needed help with things like picking up her kids after school or occasionally borrowing a pickup truck. They didn’t have anyone to ask. 

How PenLight, Pierce County responded to last week’s storm damage

Jan 15, 2024

Winds began to blow on Jan. 8, and the howling continued into the night as neighborhoods throughout the Gig Harbor and Key peninsulas began to go dark. Trees fell across roadways and light poles were sheared on Ray Nash Drive in Gig Harbor as well as Lake Holiday on the Key Peninsula, creating a precarious

The mom behind the fast-growing What’s Good Gig Harbor group

Dec 20, 2023

You can use all of the old cliches: Build it and they will come; necessity is the mother of invention; find a need and fill it. All of them are appropriate in the case of Sarah Husby, who moved to Gig Harbor 15 years ago from Seattle. She was looking for a comprehensive activity list

Horsehead Bay Garden Club cultivates a sense of community service

Dec 19, 2023

Adorned with faux cardinals, white lights, greenery, and red and silver decorative balls, the planter in front of Windermere Real Estate office at the intersection of Harborview Drive and Pioneer Way is dressed for the holidays, thanks to the Horsehead Bay Garden Club. The club has been giving back to the Gig Harbor community since

Church service accommodates those struggling through holidays

Dec 12, 2023

Gig Harbor United Methodist Church’s Blue Christmas service is structured for people experiencing grief and difficulties that can come with the season.

Thanksgiving table settings add to the charm of this food-centered holiday

Nov 22, 2023

Despite the chatter in some social media groups that the current generation doesn’t want to register for china when they get engaged or married, or inherit any of the fine dining sets from family members, some Gig Harbor families set their table with china every Thanksgiving holiday. Each year, Kathy Fox of Gig Harbor sets

Pierce County program brings art to local intersections

Nov 21, 2023

If you’ve been stopped at a traffic light in Pierce County, you’ve likely seen some beautiful pieces of art in unlikely places. In an effort to bring art to the community and beautify the utilitarian boxes that house traffic signal wires, the Pierce County Arts Commission in 2022 began a project to wrap signal boxes

Longtime friends organize Books for Barks fundraiser for CHEW Dog Rescue

Oct 23, 2023

Two teens who met in preschool have been raising money for local nonprofit CHEW Dog Rescue for the past three years through a fundraiser called Books for Barks. They took over the event when the original creator had to step aside, and they’ve been working hard each year to procure books for the sale and

Gig Harbor author shares experience and advice in ‘Dementia Home Care’ book

Oct 16, 2023

Life was seemingly going along just fine for Tracy Cram Perkins. She was working, married, living her life in Gig Harbor. Then her mother got sick. Not long after, Perkins received a panicked phone call from her younger sister, saying their father could no longer care for their mother. Her mother had cancer, but was

Suicide prevention coalition works to remove stigma around mental health

Sep 21, 2023

Editor’s note: This story deals with mental health issues, including suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, call or text 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Suicide has been on the rise since the hands of time clicked over to a new millennium, but the risk increased during the pandemic. Between 2021 and 2022,