Community Council

The Vashon-Maury Community Council will meet 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. Find out more about the agenda, and get the the Zoom link for those who are attending remotely, at v-mcc.org.

Senior Center

Join the Vashon Bridge Club for duplicate bridge on Tuesdays/Thursdays (beginning in May) from 6:15-9 p.m., at the Senior Center. Wednesday Party Bridge sessions take place from 1-3 p.m.

Seattle Theatre Group’s Dance for Parkinsons will take place from 1-2:30 p.m. on Friday, April 19, in the Ober Park dance and community room. Join the Senior Center in partnership with Vashon Park District and Seattle Theatre Group and Dance for Parkinsons for these free dance classes.

Join Sally Jean Fox, author of “Meeting the Muse After Midlife,” for the fourth in the series of presentations about creativity for aging people, at 12:45-1:45 p.m Wednesday, April 24 at the Senior Center. Fox will be joined by longtime artist Darsie Beck. They’ll explore how Beck has sustained his creative practices into his 80s.

Visit vashoncenter.org for more information.

King County Wastemobile

Bring hazardous wastes — including automobile batteries, 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 accepted items, details and rules.

Honoring Mike Kirk

Vashon Community Scholarship Foundation will be outside Vashon Thriftway from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, April 20, raising funds for the Making a Difference Now Scholarship honoring Mike Kirk. Donate and take home a chocolate chip cookie — Mike’s favorite treat. Islanders are invited to write a note to Mike to thank him for all he’s contributed to the Vashon community.

Camp Sealth Day

Camp Sealth will have a day of service from 9-3 p.m. Saturday, April 20. It’s free for all, with lunch included, and if people would like to rent a cabin, the cost is $50 for the night. The day is a chance to help get the beloved camp ready for summer by helping out with trail maintenance and various cleaning projects. All are welcome, including high school students seeking community service hours. Find out more here.

Fruit Club

Vashon Island Fruit Club (VIFC) will be at Dig Deep Gardens to celebrate Earth Day at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, April 20. Club members will present a drafting demo and will also have scionwood available for “pre-order” sale. At 1:30 pm, HomeGrown Organics’s John Coghlan will present a workshop on building closed orchid terrariums. The project will involve attaching rare (but beginner) orchids to a branch-like setting for an indoor tropical garden.

At the event, Coghlan will also sell a variety of indoor and outdoor plants — hardy fuchsias, unusual edible plants, and orchids hybridized on Vashon. Purchase your ticket for the workshop at and learn about other HomeGrown Organics events here.

Plant identification walk

Islanders John Brown, Anne Speyer, Kathryn True, and Terry Sullivan will name names and more as they lead a walk at Fisher Pond. Meet the trees, shrubs, ferns, and smaller plants that are common here — and maybe the ones that are not-so-common. Walkers should meet at the parking lot at the west end of Fisher Pond on Bank Rd. at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 20, for the free Earth Day walk.

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.

Cookies with the superintendent

Attend April’s Cookie for Your Thoughts forum with Vashon Island School District Superintendent Dr. Slade McSheehy and a VISD board member. These monthly meetings are an opportunity to connect with everyone in the school community as well as a chance to engage in conversations about what is happening in the school district. The next forum will take place at 5:30 p.m. Monday, April 22, in the District Office, on the third floor of Chautauqua Elementary School.

A Forest of Your Own

Islander Seth Zuckerman will offer a presentation on his and Kirk Hanson’s new book, “A Forest of Your Own,” at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 23, at Vashon Library. The book, published on April 1 by Skipstone, an imprint of Mountaineers Books, is a practical guide to all those who want to better protect the ecology of forests. (See article, page 1.)

Bingo night

Vashon Island Rotary and Vashon Eagles will present NFL Draft Bingo night, at 5 p.m. Thursday, April 25, at the Vashon Eagles.

This event is in support of Women Hold The Key, an island nonprofit that is a women-founded, women-run, and women-led nonprofit focused on building community. Their commitment includes supporting non-binary and trans folks who are comfortable in women’s spaces.

Mike England and Aaron Hendon have been holding these bingo events since 2013 supporting Vashon Rotary, the Eagles and other island non-profits ever since the Seahawks first won the Super Bowl in 2013.

The event includes bingo games played while watching the NFL draft, with players marking off players on their cards that are called during the draft. Prizes for bingo winners include items donated by island businesses. There are also regular bingo games, played at the same time — also with fabulous prizes. All are invited to donate and join in the fun.

Library book sale

The Vashon Friends of the Library will have a spring book sale from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 27. Come in and browse great books — fiction and nonfiction, children’s books and Young Adult novels, wellness and self improvement, cookbooks and gardening books, and lots of rare vintage books.

Donations of gently used books (two bag limit) in good condition can be dropped off during library business hours beginning at 10 a.m. Friday, April 26. The sale is in the conference room located at the back of the library.

Day of Service

Get your hands dirty at a morning volunteer work party from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday, April 27, at one of Vashon HouseHold’s affordable housing properties. All ages are welcome to help with work including landscaping, gardening, and making dump runs during this annual day of service. Sign up here to volunteer at tinyurl.com/253nbmfx, or by emailing VHH@vashonhousehold.org.

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.org.

Free dental care and cleanings

Dr. Marc Langland and his staff will volunteer their expertise to provide free dental care and cleanings, on Friday, May 31, to low-income people who do not have private dental insurance. For more information and to get on the list call Hilary Emmer at 206-463-7277, by Friday, May 3.