LAST ELIZABETH PARK CONCERT OF THE SUMMER
Thursday 6 – 8 PM At The Gazebo (with food and dessert tents!)
September 2 BANDZANDT, The County’s Happiest Rock Band
Thanks to Marla Bronstein, host, and to the Eldridge Society for History & Preservation, & to Bellingham Parks for sponsoring!
JANI ADDERLEY
From Marla Bronstein:
Peter Roberts and Jani Adderley have been the leaders of The Eldridge Society for History and Preservation that give me the go-ahead every year to coordinate this series for the community. I will be forever grateful. Sadly, we lost Jani yesterday due to illness and we will miss her terribly. She loved these concerts so much, and loved that the community enjoyed them so well. I hope to see you all for this final concert of the season this Thursday. Stay well!!
[Jani also coordinated the neighborhood-wide garage sale every June till this year. She lived her life as a gift to this world!. Love/Fl!p]
CNA QUARTERLY GENERAL MEETING MINUTES
The minutes for the CNA Quarterly General Meeting on Zoom were very long, so I am sending you the Google doc link instead of the full text. ~ Deb Valentine
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VhofIL8WA4anILgmGa1EVN9QNlwYWlBmrqqJtz66Ok4/edit?usp=sharing
DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND EVICTION
“The pandemic has destabilized housing for thousands of fellow community members, creating a situation in which renters are worried about potential eviction and homelessness, and housing providers are concerned about the threat of bankruptcy and lingering impacts from the eviction moratorium,” stated Moonwater, Executive Director of the WDRC. “With our trained and impartial staff and mediators, we are here to help tenants and landlords resolve these issues before going to court. The WDRC also recognizes that people of color and other underserved community members are disproportionately impacted by these difficult times. To that end, we are available to provide free services to all eligible community members who are affected, and regardless of their immigration status.” Whatcom Dispute Resolution Center 360-676-0122 | 360-676-0738 whatcomdrc.org
FREE LA FUMA RECLINER
This comfortable “zero gravity” patio chair needs a bolt replaced in one hinge. Text Fl!p 360-671-4511
BLACK WALNUT TRADE?
Luke Haran here on Henry street. I am looking at taking down a tree that’s bombarding our roof with walnuts. I’m sure some woodworkers out there could make some nice pieces out of it. I’m seeing if anyone is interested in trading the felling of the tree for the wood. Old English or black walnut tree lumber available. Looking to trade the lumber for the cost of felling the tree. If interested please email lpharan@gmail.com
SEEKING CONTRACTOR
Seeking references: I am seeking a skilled and trustworthy contractor to do some work on my 100 year old garage. I need them to reinforce and stabilize the entire garage structure, then frame for a garage door to be installed and fill in some siding. Appreciate your help! Thank you so much, Susan Casey Walnut Street watchmefly@mac.com
HOMELESS UPDATE
The rains have returned, and cold weather is coming. What’s most needed now is tents ( 4- 6 person size so elderly and disabled neighbors can get in and out) and tarps. Brown tarps to draw less unwelcome attention. We can still be a drop-off point at 2518 Cherry. Monetary donations are also helpful. We had an interesting couple weeks where we couldn’t get to-go containers, which we get from the ChefStore (which used to be Cash&Carry, then SmartFoods). There was a severe Covid outbreak at their regional distribution center in Centraiia which left the shelves empty and really impacted local restaurants. It also impacted us! Without to-go containers we were facing being limited to serving sandwiches & burritos and that’s about it. (And WATER! We always need water.) I found containers online, though arrival was delayed. They finally came and we’re able to distribute hot meals again. Whew! We’d used the last stack the day before. We can always use more volunteer cooks. I have pots & pans, ingredients, and mentors to help you create simple, comforting food for our unsheltered neighbors. Thank you! Love/Fl!p 360-671-4511.
HOSPITAL WORKER UPDATE
Folks arriving at work were treated to the sight of someone in a unicorn costume, with a big sign saying We Love Our Healthcare Workers! This had a lovely impact. What a great way to start the morning.
Cards and letters are having a really big effect. Please keep writing! I still have some lovely cards if you’d like to pick up some to write on. What we write is getting photographed and digitized, and added to the internal newsletter. There are also displays in places around the hospital and at some of the clinics as well.
Let’s be sure we don’t add to the workers’ burden. Social distancing, masking, vaccinating, going to your doctor, WALK IN CLINIC or URGENT CARE instead of the ER unless what you have is truly life threatening….
We have now found a way to distribute gift cards if you want to contribute. The best cards are for local cafes, coffee shops & restaurants. You can drop them through the mail slot at our house – 2518 Cherry Street.
CDs can make a great token of appreciation to place in our Caregiver Support Zen Den once it’s finished. Kevin reports the lounge is close to becoming a reality. They are modifying an employee lounge, adding couches & easy chairs, and putting up a tree to hang our cards on.
It turns out many of our hospital workers love painted & sparkly rocks, and heart shaped rocks. Some rocks are adopted and taken home or kept in pockets, so ongoing re-supply is good. Take your gifts to the hospital grounds and tuck them in around the landscape plants and in areas already covered with rocks.
Food: The logistics are complex because of the need to mask, but the hospital plans to make food available for their employees who are working long hours. It will be accessible for grab & go, especially during night shifts when cafeteria isn’t open. We’ve reminded them that their plan to care for their workers is not quite working yet. I’ll let you know when that’s up and running. Meanwhile, if you have friends who work at the hospital, you could offer to bring commercially prepared meals for them (by name) to the front entrance.
Musicians have begun playing at the employee entrance during some shift changes. All are masked and fully vaccinated. No vocals or wind instruments because of worker safety. So far we’ve had a cello duo, a violinist, and the harpist with the Whatcom Symphony Orchestra with her full-size pedal harp! This week there’s a violin duo, a folk harpist, and the cello duo is coming back. We could use more! See the next item for more details.
DETAILS FOR MUSICIANS
Written by my friend Karee Wardrop. I talked with her about the project I’m trying to put together, and she wrote it up and sent it to her friends. I LOVE how she talked about it, so I asked if I could quote her here:
My friend Fl!p Breskin is heading up a campaign to support our local hospital workers who are under tremendous strain right now. One of the many things happening is local musicians are playing outside the hospital workers’ entrance at the shift changes, 7:15 AM and 3:15PM, playing for a half hour to forty-five minutes. These times catch the workers leaving their shifts and those arriving…the music offers some comfort, some encouragement, and definitely a reminder that our community is thinking of them and supporting them as they engage in such essential, and currently dangerous, work. Because of covid-related concerns, the music performed must not include vocals, wind instruments or brass instruments.
These shifts are gifts, rather than gigs. Fl!p is a musician herself and is incredibly mindful of the fact that musicians have also been hard hit and need support, so there may be funding available for musicians. She would be delighted to talk with you about it. (Really, she would!) If you are interested in playing music for a shift, please contact Fl!p (flip@obreskin.com)
There is also a google sheet for signing up.
Please pass this along to others who may be interested. Music is such a strong and healing current in our community. Thanks for the music you bring, wherever and whenever you play!
All the best, ~ Karee
LANDSCAPER UPDATE
https://www.gofundme.com/f/kim-eagle-lost-her-le
There are two new updates on this link. Here’s an excerpt:
August 22, 2021
Thank you all for some wonderful suggestions that are helpful with medical bills. Kim’s Clients, where she was working at the time of the accident, directly called a friend attorney, Paula McCanliss, for Kim, and she has been tremendously helpful. So thankful for her and some very fine clients, Terry and Garrett , who made sure that Kim had some legal help the day of the accident.
This allows us to use all your donations toward orthopedic needs for Kim to come home to stay with her son Lee and daughter in law Bobbie, until she can help to decide the changes she will need to make to her home, for her functionality and using and electric chair where she will be able to maneuver in her house and garden and be outdoors with her animals.
until she can get her prosthesis and learns how to walk with them.
Some very dear friends of Kim’s in the construction trade, Joe Super and Joe Crowe would like to remodel Kim’s bathroom and kitchen and ramp ways in and around her home. Great to hear the offers of friends of theirs who want to help with what needs to be done to get this transition to happen for access in and around her home.
We have a future date of September 2nd, hoping Kim will be getting out of HarborView Hospital in Seattle and heading home to Bellingham, WA. She will have Nursing care and her family around her, with her until she is up and running, the way she is healing we are not surprised, She has always been a fighter. The injuries to her head are another thing we are hoping to trigger more of her memories when she gets closer to family and sees her animals and home, that she has missed so terribly. Kim has always had a stiff constitution! Much tougher than most all the way from her heart.
Kim has been getting more Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy, 3 hrs a day, proving to be helpful, the more I talk with her the better she sounds the more sense she is making,
They have her working with numbers, words. She has blocks to fit them in a large square. Getting Kim’s coordination in her hands and arms, strengthened and working again.
BRYAN BOWERS IN CONCERT HERE!
Thursday September 9, Boundary Bay Brewery, 8 PM
I think, but am not sure, that it will be $10 – $20 at the door. Don’t quote me. I’ll find out and get back to you. This will be OUTSIDE in the covered garden. If you don’t already know Bryan’s music, trust me. You want to. He’s the Real Deal. As a kid, he learned traditional music by listening to work gangs singing call-and-response work songs in his neighborhood Down South. He’s an autoharp master. And oh lord, can he put a song across! Here he sings the Bristlecone Pine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUdCUSpNtew
RADIO FREE FL!P
MISE EIRE
A bit of calm musical kindness from the recording Aniar released in 2020. Peadar MacMathuna, guitar. Jan Peters, harmonica. Richard Scholtz, autoharp. Jon Sampson, bass.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02OcTEIHwVo
Love/Fl!p