CONTENTS 10/14/2020
Election: Ballots & Voting
Lieutenant Governor Debate
Governor Debate
Rides To The Ballot Box
Census Ends Tomorrow
Volunteer Opportunities
Covid Risk App
Nebulizer To Give Away
Wah!
Half-Wild
Printer Paper?
Radio Free Fl!p: Moving Songs
ELECTION: BALLOTS & VOTING
Ballots are being mailed today. You can register online or by mail through October 26. After that, you can register in person at the Auditor’s office in the County Courthouse until 8 PM on Election Day, Tuesday November 3rd, but don’t wait till the last minute. In this crazy year, it’s a good idea to vote early. Mail your ballot, postage free, or take it to a drop box. Here are ballot drop box locations county-wide:
https://www.whatcomcounty.us/1863/Ballot-Drop-Box-Locations
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR DEBATE
with Denny Heck and Marko Liias
• Thursday, October 22nd, 2020
• 8 p.m. – 9 p.m. PST (following the Presidential Debate)
• Virtual – information about how to stream in registration information
• FREE
Join us for a free and virtual debate for Washington’s Lieutenant Governor Debate with Denny Heck (D) and Marko Liias (D). The lieutenant governorship in Washington is a four-year term. Hosted by the non-partisan Seattle City Club and Washington State Debate Coalition.
RSVP for the Debate: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/washington-state-debate-coalition-lieutenant-governor-debate-tickets-122769822845
GOVERNOR DEBATE
The Washington State Debate Coalition presented the Washington Gubernatorial debate on Wednesday Oct 7, thank you to all who tuned in to view! We would also like to thank the campaigns of both Loren Culp (R) and Jay Inslee (D) for participating in the debate. The debate was recorded, and is free and open to all.
RIDES TO THE BALLOT BOX
My neighbor and I want to help neighbors get their ballots turned in safely. We will drive a voter who need a ride to the voter box so they can turn in their ballot. We will wear a mask and follow proper protocol. No schedule just when needed. ~ Carole Hanaway 360-305-7771
[And it turns out it is legal to hand your ballot to someone else to drop off for you. But you certainly need to trust that person! ~Fl!p]
CENSUS ENDS TOMORROW
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Self-response and field data collection operations for the 2020 Census will conclude on October 15, 2020. The census determines how tax monies are distributed to communities, so undercounts are a real problem. Please help us count everyone. Specifically: |
YARD SALE TO BENEFIT THE BELLINGHAM FOOD BANK
Date: Thursday, October 15
Time: 10:00 A.M. until late afternoon
Location: 2231 Williams Street (yellow house, big tree)
Hello Neighbors! We are hosting a no-contact yard sale tomorrow (Thursday) to raise money for the Bellingham Food Bank. The one that we had in August was a huge success. As before, all items will be unpriced. People will pay whatever they think something is worth to them, and will put the cash or check in the locked mailbox on the fence. Checks should be made out to Bellingham Food Bank. Tables will be set up at intervals on the parking strip on Washington Street. Items are from our attic and from my former craft business. Estate sale items are also being generously donated by John Roberts.
Please wear a mask that covers your mouth and nose, and keep your distance from other shoppers so that everyone feels comfortable. This is the last non-rainy day we will have for a while, so please come and support our local food bank. Thank you! ~ Zip Jelineo
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
With Bellingham Schools & Common Threads School Gardens: With school starting remotely, the volunteer program has gotten off to a slow start this fall . As the dust settles and teachers and students find their routines I suspect there will be other volunteer needs surfacing. For now there are three great opportunities listed below. If you have the time and energy, please use the links below to sign up. One last thing, if you haven’t yet, please complete the Bellingham Schools volunteer application. We want to insure volunteers are approved and following all health and safety guidelines whether volunteering in-person or remotely.
Eliza Court Mobile Park Food Distribution
Birchwood staff member, Jami Pittman, is seeking 8-10 helping volunteer hands on Wednesdays from 3:45-5:30PM to help distribute student meal boxes. Masks required and provided if needed. Here is a link to the SignUp Genius schedule. If you have specific questions for Jami, please email her at jami.pittman@bellinghamschools.org
Remote Tutors
High School tutoring centers are seeking remote volunteer tutors in all subject areas (math and science in high demand). Tutoring schedules vary depending on school but generally between 1-2 or 2-3pm and online with a one hour commitment required each week. Volunteers should have some tutoring experience and comfortable working on a Zoom platform. Contact me at Jennifer.gaer@bellinghamschools.org if you are interested and I’ll connect you with high schools.
Common Threads: Garden Care At A School Garden
Volunteers are needed to help this fall by winterizing the garden, including harvesting fall produce, composting, mulching, and cover cropping. Sign up for an orientation, and after that, you may volunteer whenever is convenient for you. Our only ask is that you check your email for weekly updates from your Food Educator, submit your hours in our volunteer log (link provided during orientation) and follow safety guidelines.
While you are welcome to harvest some produce for you and your family, please know that any remaining harvest is being distributed to families during school meal box distributions, weekly on Wednesday. If you would like to help care for one of these school gardens, please sign up here and our team will connect you with the Food Educator at your school to set up an orientation. https://commonthreadsfarm.org/
COVID RISK APP
Excerpt from The Atlantic article by Olga Khazan
Together with her colleagues at Brown, Ranney has developed a free app called My COVID Risk that will allow users to input the type of activity they want to do, whether it’s indoors or outdoors, how many people will be there, what protective measures they’ll take, and where they live, along with other factors. The app will then generate a relative risk of catching coronavirus at that activity—from “very low” to “very high”—using community-level data from The New York Times’s coronavirus map. People can modify their risk level by reducing the number of people, for example, or adding a mask requirement. “Given the lack of clear national guidelines on what’s safe and not safe, our hope is that this will fill a void for the average American who’s really struggling to judge the safety of various activities.”
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/10/it-safe-have-dinner-together-inside/616568/
NEBULIZER TO GIVE AWAY
I have a nebulizer and unused tubing (and some accessories that have been opened but not used) that I’d like to find a home for. The machine hasn’t been used in over a decade since my son outgrew his childhood asthma. Can anyone use this equipment, or maybe know of anyone who can? I haven’t found a local organization that will take the nebulizer, and it seems wrong to throw it away. ~ Christina Nichols, Lynn Street, 360-820-9266
WAH!
Sometime Sunday evening/night or Monday morning, our little fig tree had all but one of its limbs ripped off. I discovered it midday on Monday. All the branches were on the ground around it. It doesn’t seem like deer browse or accidental damage from a bike or car; the branches were clearly ripped off. Wondered if anyone had anything similar happen recently? We’ve cultivated this little tree for about 3 years, and now we’re not sure it will come back (it will be a long time before it produces fruit if it does!) ~ Lise Grace (corner of Lynn and Jefferson)
HALF-WILD
Half Wild is seeking referrals to remarkable artists/creatives in Bellingham and beyond to feature on the Half Wild blog and at Half Wild events (the latter post-Covid). Founded in the San Francisco Bay Area, Half Wild is now based in Bellingham and will primarily feature artists in the Salish Sea basin. To recommend an artist/creative: please contact Jen Andrews (via yogawjen@gmail.com) or Andrzej Kozlowski (via andrzej@halfwild.earth).
PROFESSIONAL COUPLE LOOKING FOR A HOME TO RENT
Professional couple in late 50’s looking for a home to rent . One of us works in Home Renovation, the other is a Somatic Psychotherapist. We love being active in the outdoors, music, health, environmental and sustainability issues.
Looking for a home preferably south Bellingham to Lake Samish area. Preferably 2 bedroom, has light feel inside and has closets. 900/1000+ SQ FT, with storage for outdoor gear. Yard, even if small would be nice too. Open to other areas if right place. Also, since one of us is a carpenter open to doing any work on home if needed. We are responsible, neat, friendly and good communicators. We have no pets. Contact: Elizabeth Stanton: 360 570- 8653
PRINTER PAPER?
Zeke has been writing letters (non-partisan) encouraging people to vote. We’re running out of printer paper. Does anyone have a spare ream to either donate or sell us? Or might you be going somewhere they sell paper? Love/Fl!p 360-671-4511
RADIO FREE Fl!P: MOVING SONGS
Moving Day from my friend Del Rey, resonator guitar and uke maestra extraordinaire. And fine teacher!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XXIHyBrikU
I Knew This Place by David Mallet who also wrote The Garden Song (Inch By Inch)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPA63L1vF7Y
I wrote the bones of this post today to a beloved neighbor who is moving across town, and thought I might share it with you too. This was something that minstrel & minister Tom Hunter told me, decades ago when I was leaving my home of 20 years: When he and his family sold their Victor Street home, where they raised their kids, on the very last morning they gathered as a family in their empty house. They went together to every room. There, they each told stories of things that happened in that room. Then they left that room and closed the door behind them. And room by room, they shared memories and told their house goodbye. And finally they closed the front door from outside. Told stories on the porch, in the yard, and at the front gate, and finally closed the gate behind them.
Farewell Nancy & Mal, may your new home hold you as sweetly as your old!
Love/Fl!p 360-671-4511 2518 Cherry Street flip@columbianeighborhood.org
If you want to ask me to post something, just email me. If it’s urgent, phone. If it’s a real emergency, call 911.