Chinese New Year fun
The Vashon Senior Center will celebrate the Chinese New Year on Jan. 26 with games, prizes and festivities. The center’s membership drive is going on, but you don’t have to be a member to join us. Everyone is welcome.
Come in before then — at 9:30 a.m. Friday, Jan. 23, to kick off the New Year; join Director Willow Eaton in making a pretty little plum blossom tree (plum blossoms are considered a symbol for courage and hope). The class is free, and no experience is necessary.
— Deirdre Petree
Parenting adult children
Does parenting end once children become young adults? And, if not, how does it change? And, perhaps the most important question: What do young adults need from their parents?
A couple months ago, teacher and writer Devon Atkins and therapist and facilitator Joyce Victor decided to organize a series of facilitated conversations with parents of young adult children in order to discover some of the answers to these questions. Eight parents met with Victor and Atkins and talked about the changes in parent-child relationships when children are no longer children. The result was a rich meeting of different backgrounds and ideas that resulted in profitable discussions about communication, family, work, money, choices, expectations and boundaries.
Parents of children ages 20 to 29 are invited to register for a second series of facilitated conversations from 7 to 9 p.m. Mondays, Jan. 26 and Feb. 2 and 9, at Cafe Luna after closing. The cost is $40 for the three evenings, but because the organizers want the conversations to be accessible to anyone, there is a sliding scale. Refreshments will be provided, and pre-registration is required. Please call Devon Atkins at 353-9227 for more information.
— Devon Atkins
Kiwanis weighs school bond
Vashon Kiwanis members are debating whether or not to speak out as a club in addition to speaking as individual citizens. The debate ensued when club President Jean Bosch suggested members might like to take a stand about the proposed school bond. It’s on a mail-in ballot March 10.
Opinion was divided. The idea will be taken up again and perhaps voted on.
The $75.5 million replacement capital improvement bond has been a public topic for months. At www.vashonforschools.org, the school board “proposes keeping 80 percent of the high school’s square footage and tying it together with a new classroom building.
“The plan also includes a new secondary gym and improvements to the track and field … to improve energy efficiency and potentially reduce maintenance costs. The bond also contains upgrades to technology and mechanical systems at the middle and elementary schools.”
Member JR Crawford moved to discuss taking public positions as a whole club. The motion passed without opposition.
When one member said he thought too much in the proposal — 10 percent — was going for sports, others offered comments.
The club’s bylaws encourage outspoken positions on civic issues, Bosch noted.
About taking a position on the school bond, Clancy Cole said members are always able to speak out as individuals and perhaps put their names on an advertisement of support.
Although the current recession cut her retirement economic base by 30 percent, Dorothy Johnson said she plans to vote for the bond issue because the schools need updating for better education.
John Watkins said he thought taking a public position as a club might cause club health to suffer. In recent years the club has shrunk to about 15 active members.
Keith Putnam, the club’s newest member and the architect who designed the many-sided high school building when the district planned smaller high school classes than now, noted that the club would be strong if people know it “stands for something.”
Speakers on community issues regularly address the club. The Jan. 13 meeting was addressed by Phil Volker and Heidi Gleb, commander and immediate past commander of the Island’s American Legion Post 159. They suggested Kiwanis consider sponsoring high school juniors to the separate Boys State and Girls State to learn how state government and politics are operated.
Since the post was established, it has sponsored 126 Islanders to the weeklong leadership training.
Time ran out, and Bosch tabled the discussion to the Jan. 20 meeting.
Deb Price will talk about Lighthouse Theater at the Jan. 27 program.
To learn more about Kiwans see www.vashonkiwanis.org.
— Jay Becker
Diabetic foot care on Island
Priority Footwear representative Patty Hensley will be at the Senior Center on Bank Road at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 27, to measure any Medicare or Medicaid patients for diabetic footwear and custom inserts available through those programs. Hensley will also discuss the effect of diabetes on the feet and basic footcare steps to help prevent problems from developing.
If you already have shoes through this benefit and it has been more than a year since you received your last pair, please stop by to be fitted again.
Call the center at 463-5173 for more information.
— Deirdre Petree
DOIT seeks new members
What’s going on with teens on Vashon? How are Vashon teens acting on their visions for the future? What teen activities need support?
These are questions the board of Development of Island Teens (DOIT) considers regularly.
On Feb. 5, the DOIT board invites interested members of the community to attend a one-hour meeting at 5 p.m. to learn more about DOIT and what it means to be a board member. Meetings are held at the conference room in the Voice of Vashon building at Sunrise Ridge, beyond Granny’s Attic.
Teens will report on projects they accomplished with funding from DOIT, and board members will explain what it takes and how fun it is to be a board member.
For more information, contact board president Crystal Culp at 443-6907.
— Stephen Silha
Donate green caps and gowns>
The Vashon High School (VHS) class of 2009 is coordinating an effort to recycle green graduation caps and gowns in an effort to supply Vashon High School with an inventory of such for future graduating classes. This year, the cost is nearly $55 each for purchasing caps and gowns that have, in the past, been retained by those who purchased them. We are coordinating with VHS to maintain a system for re-using these year after year. We have had donations but are seeking more. There are drop bins at Vashon Bookshop, Karen for Hair and the VHS career center.
If you have caps and gowns taking up closet space and would like to donate them, please e-mail me at joannehenn@yahoo.com to arrange a pickup.
Go green!
— JoAnne Hennessey
