Rabbi Lantz presides

Rabbi Michael Latz from the West Seattle congregation of Kol Haneshamah will lead a service at 7:15 p.m. Friday, Jan. 30, at Havurat Ee Shalom, 15401 Westside Hwy. S.W.

Rabbi Michael is a wonderful, warm and energetic presence and well worth seeing. For more information, contact board president Louise Olsen at 463-1399.

— Gayle Sommers

Being stewards of faith

Reverend Barbara Stevens is the Unitarian Fellowship’s consulting minister. She drives from Portland for services the first Sunday of each month.

At 9:30 a.m. Feb. 1, she will speak on “Being Stewards of Our Faith.” What does it mean to be a “steward,” both of our faith and of our congregation? What does it mean to “do church,” to come together as a community to worship, love, laugh and mourn together? What do we get from being part of this community, and what is our responsibility to this community?

Religious Exploration will offer a special program.

Older elementary kids will create a world and eat chocolate in exploration of “creation and temptation.” They will use the ancient stories of Genesis and Adam and Eve as one framework that attempts to answer “Where did everything come from?” and “Why do bad things happen?”

The younger kids use art activities to consider their connection with nature and each other. This Sunday they will explore the Earth in winter.

Join us in Lewis Hall following worship to share coffee and conversation.

For more information, call me at 799-9433.

— Wendy Wharton

Quilters host spring show

The Vashon Island Quilt Guild met on Tuesday, Jan. 20. Janet Doseff was welcomed as a guest and became a new member that day.

Quilters were told about upcoming opportunities to display their quilts at the Vashon Community Care Center, The Hardware Store Restaurant, the Vashon Library and Sound Food. All of those events will be publicity for the Quilt Show on May 2 and 3 and wonderful examples to show quilts as art.

In other planning for the upcoming “Quilts In Bloom” show at Camp Burton, workers for the show store were solicited, and docents will be signed up next month.

Quilters learned about the imminent move to town by the Island Quilter fabric store when owner Anja Shive outlined some of her plans for the new location.

As usual, quilters had the option to take home quilts to bind for the American Heroes project.

The night group will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 5, at Vashon Community Care Center. The topic will be “your favorite block pattern.”

Great show-and-tell quilts were admired, and much fun was had viewing many unfinished objects from quilt stashes and hearing about their origins and why they are not finished. There were resolutions made to finish some of them.

The next meeting will take place at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 17, at the Presbyterian Church, with the program focusing on potholders to make.

— Jo Ann Bardeen

Enjoy lunch with seniors

Jack Bradford, the Vashon Community Care Center cook, will prepare a lunch fit for a silver palate Friday, Feb. 6, at the Vashon Senior Center on Bank Road: puree of potato and fennel soup, chicken risotto and pear tart with caramel sauce and whipped cream — all for $3.50.

Lunch is served at ll:45 a.m. sharp, and reservations are strongly recommended. Thanks to a generous donation earmarked for the lunch and Meals on Wheels programs, scholarships for the cost are available to adults 55 and older. All senior center lunches — Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday — and the guest chef lunch are open to everyone in the community. Call the center, 463-5173, for reservations and information.

Join us for friendship, fun and feeling fit.

— Deirdre Petree

Trackers meet Saturday

The Tracking Club will meet from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Jan. 31. Here is your chance to spend the morning learning about the natural world and experience the mystery and intrigue we call tracking.

Join skilled naturalists and trackers as we explore the Island in search of tracks and signs. Learn about aging techniques, track interpretation and identification. All ages are welcome to join this exciting new club.

E-mail Mark Timken at mtimken@comcast.net or call 463-1866 to reserve your spot and to learn the location of the tracking adventure. The cost is $10 for adults, $5 for kids.

— Mark Timken

Girls skate Thursdays

By popular demand, Vashon’s Indoor Skate Park is hosting Girls’ Day every Thursday afternoon from 2:30 to 6 p.m. Skateboarders and inline skaters are welcome.

Call 463-9999 or 463-9602 or go to vashonparkdistrict.org for details.

— Susan McCabe

School bond is Kiwanis topic

Kiwanis will hear how a proposed bond for new school facilities fits into Islanders’ tax bills on Tuesday, Feb. 3. Islander Bill Ameling is to outline an overview of property taxes on the Island at the club’s 6 p.m. monthly business meeting. It will be held at the the Back Bay Inn’s Quartermaster Pub.

Ameling was an accountant before becoming a contractor. A long-time student of taxation issues, he is a founding director of the Vashon Park District.

Kiwanis members have been discussing the proposed $75.5 million replacement capital improvement bond to modernize public schools here.

After a light dinner, Kiwanis meetings end on or before 8 p.m.

For more information, see www.vashonkiwanis.org.

— Jay Becker

Green Party gathers

The Vashon-Maury Island Green Party’s monthly meeting (usually the second Tuesday of each month) will be at Melvin Mackey’s home, at 24430 Old Mill Rd. S.W., on the first Tuesday of February.

All interested parties are welcome. The meeting will start at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 3. Guests should park in front of the out building at the end of the circle turn-around.

The agenda will include questions and comments, how we can be most effective in the local community and a report of Vashon-Maury Island Green Party participation in the Gaza Peace March on Jan. 17 in Seattle.

Questions? Call Steve Graham at 463-9579. Directions? Call Melvin Mackey at 463-3468.

— Melvin Mackey