Senior Center

Bruce Haulman, who has arrived home after a trip to Australia and New Zealand, will give a talk, “Australia, New Zealand and the United States: Three Countries Separated by a Common Language,” at 1 p.m. Friday, April 12, at the Senior Center.

After the talk, stay for a Song Bath by the Threshold Choir, from 2-3 p.m. Vashon Threshold Choir will offer their service to anyone who would like to receive a song bath. And ask them about a private session.

The band the Secret Agents will play music at 1 p.m. Monday, April 15. The Secret Agents are a three-piece American surf rock band, hailing from the world-famous and always sunny surfing beaches of Vashon. Their music fuses groovy sounds from the 1960s and danceable rhythms from another galaxy.

Word Play, with Vashon Poet Laureate Margaret Roncone, will take place at 12:45 p.m. Wednesday, April 17. Bring a notebook and pen.

All these events take place at Vashon Senior Center, at 10004 SW Bank Rd.

Audubon Work Party

Join Vashon Audubon members and others to work to restore healthy ecosystems for birds, wildlife, and people at the Vashon Land Trust’s Paradise Valley Preserve. From 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Saturday, April 13. The group will remove invasive holly, ivy, and blackberries so that native plants good for wildlife can thrive (and store carbon).

Bring your own work gloves and shovels; loppers and hand clippers will also come in handy. Sturdy shoes and long pants are recommended. Meet at the Judd Creek Loop Trail trailhead, on the east side of 111th Ave. SW in Paradise Valley, and park along the road. (This is not the Kneeshaw Trailhead parking lot, which is further north and on the west side of 111th). Latecomers can follow signs to the worksite.

For more information, contact Jody Pritchard at ttimeflatwear@centurytel.net or Jim Evans at frangula54@gmail.com/206-678-8914.

From Vashon to Uganda

Uganda’s spectacular wildlife and its Vashon Primary School will be featured in a free program at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 15, at the Vashon Land Trust building. Jim Diers and Sarah Driggs will share photos and stories from their recent three-week, 1500-mile tour. The couple visited six national parks where they had up-close encounters with gorillas, hippos and lions and viewed stunning birds including a shoebill, grey crowned cranes, and nine species of kingfishers.

Driggs and Diers spent their last day with 300 kids at the Vashon Primary School near Kampala. The school was founded by Henry Tumwebaze, a Ugandan who was trained at the University of Washington for AIDs outreach. Linda Barnes, the director of that outreach program, and her late husband, Ed Swan, invited Tumwebaze to their island home where they encouraged him to follow his dream of starting a school for children who otherwise couldn’t afford an education.

Swan, who authored “The Birds of Vashon Island,” died in 2022, and many islanders contributed to a memorial fund through Vashon Audubon that helped purchase a bus for the school.

Anyone interested is invited to stay after the program to discuss how islanders might deepen Vashon’s ties to the school. Members of Vashon Audubon are encouraged to come a half hour early, at 7 p.m., for a short special meeting where they will vote on changing the organization’s name. For more information, contact info@vashonaudubon.org.

Brown Briefly

Join The Brown Briefly’s hosts, Truman O’Brien, Bruce Haulman, Kevin Jones, Craig Beles and Amy Drayer at 11 a.m. Tuesday, April 16, on Voice of Vashon 101.9FM, when Tami Stone, Dig Deep Gardens event manager, will speak about Dig Deep’s upcoming celebraiton of Earth Day on Saturday, April 20.

Vashon Island Growers Association

Vashon Islanders Growers Association (VIGA) will hold a meeting and presentation at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 16, at Vashon Library, 17210 Vashon Hwy SW, furthering its work in supporting island farmers, growers and producers, and feeding island neighbors.

At the meeting, Abby Antonelis, VIGA’s board treasurer, and Catherine Johnson, member of the VIGA’s Production Committee, will discuss VIGA’s many programs; including how Vashon Island Fruit Club members can contribute to VIGA’s food preservation initiative which serves island families.

In addition, they will give a brief update about VIGA’s collaboration with Friends of Mukai on the Mukai barreling plant renovation and the creation of a food hub and farming innovation center for Vashon.

The meeting is free and open to everyone. Find out more here.

Community Council

The next meeting of the Vashon-Maury Community Council will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 18, at the Vashon Land Trust building and on Zoom. Refreshments will be served at 6:30 p.m., for those who want to gather early and socialize before the meeting. The meeting will include two resolutions, a discussion of island issues, and presentations from Vashon Island Growers Association and the Unincorporated King County Economic Alliance program. Find out more, including the Zoom link for those who are attending remotely, at v-mcc.org.

King County Wastemobile

Bring hazardous wastes including automobile batteris, batteries, cleaners, fluorescent lights, gasoline, motor oils, fuels and antifreeze, mercury products, oil-based paints, paint thinner and other solvents, pesticides and propane tanks to King County’s Wastemobile from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday-Sunday, April 19-21, at Tjomsland Gravel Pit, 17001 107th Ave SW. Visit haz.waste@kingcounty.gov for more details and rules.

Birdhouse building party

Join Inclusion Island for a spring party from 2-4 p.m. Sunday, April 21, at Vashon Lutheran Church, 18623 Vashon Hwy SW. At the party, for adults with development disabilities and their families and friends, a key activity will be assembling and decorating bird houses. This program is supported by Hersey Housing. Contact the organization at herseyhousing@gmail.com.

Understanding Racial Trauma

“Overcoming the Complexities of Racial Trauma In Black Communities,” a presentation by members of Community Passageways, will take place at 9:45 a.m. Sunday, April 21, at Lewis Hall, located behind Burton Community Church, at 23905 Vashon Hwy SW.

Vashon Island Unitarian Universalists will present the speakers as part of the congregation’s Sunday meeting. Speakers include Jabari Holder, speaking about generational trauma; Michelle Montgomery, speaking about managing trauma; and Ken Sinclair, speaking about healing from trauma.

The meeting will also include song: musician Kat Eggleston will lead the group in singing three spirituals,”Sometimes I feel like a motherless child,” “Wade in the water,” and “Follow the drinking gourd” — all songs with messages about overcoming oppression and enslavement. For more information call Tanya Roberts at 240-505-6110.

Host families wanted

The American Exchange Project (AEP) is seeking home-stays for six young women on Vashon from June 26-July 3. AEP is a domestic exchange program aimed at deepening relationships and minimizing divisiveness in the United States through week-long youth exchanges.

This year, four students will travel from Vashon to other parts of the United States. On Vashon, local families and students will welcome students from another part of the country, showing them what Vashon and surrounding areas are all about. Islanders interested in hosting or working with this project should email spowell@americanexchangeproject.prg.