Caucuses on Saturday

Both the Democratic and Republican party caucuses will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 9, gatherings that are considered crucial for those who want to participate in their parties’ nomination process.

All of the delegates for the Democratic nomination will be chosen by way of party caucuses, and half of the Republican delegates will be chosen by way of the caucuses; the other half will be chosen by way of the state’s primary on Feb. 19.

The Democratic caucuses for all the Vashon precincts will take place at the McMurray Middle School gym. The Republican caucus for the Vashon precincts will be held at the Southwest Community Center in West Seattle.

For more information about the Democratic caucuses, visit www.wa-democrats.org; information on the Republican caucuses can be found at www.kcgop.org.

U.S. history on display

Those who go to the Democratic caucus (see above) can come a little early and check out more than 100 8th-grade U.S. history projects on display at McMurray Middle School.

The event, from noon to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 9, will give Islanders a chance to view a range of exhibits, from the Dust Bowl, to the Seattle Indian Wars, to Civil Rights. The projects are part of the first-semester research projects in Heidi Van Harper’s and Jan Kammert’s classrooms.

Spellbound for scholarship fund

Some of the Island’s best spellers, and perhaps a few mediocre ones, will give it their all at this year’s second annual Vashon Community Scholarship Foundation Spelling Bee. The event is at 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 10, at the Vashon Theatre.

Backbone came in eighth place

The Backbone Campaign, hoping to garner a $50,000 grand prize, did not manage to snag it but still broke records and raked in more than $16,000.

In the competition, nonprofits nationwide competed to see which could get the most individual donations online. The top four organizations won $50,000. Backbone placed eighth and received a $1,000 consolation prize.

Nonetheless, Backbone Campaign founder Bill Moyer said, the organization “considers our participation in this competition as an unqualified success.” Nearly 1,000 people donated; the organization had the most Web traffic in its four-year history and hundreds of people signed up online to learn more or to volunteer, he said.