By NEIL MODIE
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Many who resided in Skykomish in its heyday remain today, devoted to its unsuburbanized, small-town ways, its neighborliness and the fervent volunteerism they grew up with.

That spirit got the Skykomish school superintendent's house painted last month and has led to plans for a new community center, as reliant on willing hands and generous checkbooks as on tax dollars.

Skykomish isn't a place for people addicted to city amenities although it has plenty of "weekenders," urbanites who have summer and weekend homes in the area. Septic tank problems, however, have severely restricted development in town, where virtually no new construction is visible; most weekenders have bought lots in Baring and other areas to the west.

One former weekender is Frank Sarno, who bought a cabin in Baring in 1970, and, after 20 years in the Seattle school system, wound up being the Skykomish school superintendent from 1981 to 1987.

"I'm originally from Boston, and I thought the last place I'd like would be a place like this," says Sarno, 69, who with his wife retired to Skykomish and is a compulsive civic volunteer. "The people here are really sincere. They enjoy life. Life is much slower."

It might not be ideal for everyone. Surrounded by lushly forested mountains and bisected by the Skykomish River, Skykomish regularly has four to six feet of snow a year and more than 100 inches of rain -- nearly three times as much as Seattle.

The seemingly dormant community might get a little more attention soon from skiers, hikers and other tourists on their way to and from the Stevens Pass area, 16 miles east.

The 80-year-old Cascadia Inn, one of Skykomish's two historic hotels, has been refurbished. Plans are under way to restore the other one, the 94-year-old Skykomish Hotel, newly acquired by the Stevens Pass company to house its ski-area personnel. It might open the 28-room hotel to the public in the off-season.