Category: Fl!p’s Pix For Music

CONTENTS 1/9/2021
Important Upcoming Meeting Monday
Utah Solution
SwiftHaven Report
From A Volunteer
Soup Brigade
   Teamwork
   Cooking Notes
   Today’s Ingredients
   Tools
   Ingredients From Camp
   Preparation
   Delivery
   Sign Here
Donations
About KN95 Masks
Otis The Dog
Lost Rake
Abandoned Bike
The Bellingham Folk Festival
Radio Free Fl!p: Close Your Eyes

IMPORTANT UPCOMING MEETING

Monday, 1/11/21, at 3:00 p.m.

City & County elected officials are meeting together to make plans to respond to local homelessness. The public does not get to speak at this meeting, but if lots of people show up to witness, that could contribute to the best possible outcome for our most vulnerable citizens.

https://www.cob.org/ccc011121

If you wish to have an impact on their decisions at this meeting, please write as soon as possible.

City Hall’s street address is 210 Lottie Street, 98225.
mayorsoffice@cob.org
ccmail@cob.org

The Whatcom County Courthouse address is 311 Grand Avenue, 98225
ssidhu@co.whatcom.wa.us
council@co.whatcom.wa.us

UTAH SOLUTION

Utah reduced chronic homelessness by 91%. Here’s how.

https://www.npr.org/2015/12/10/459100751/utah-reduced-chronic-homelessness-by-91-percent-heres-how

SWIFTHAVEN REPORT

All the tiny homes have now arrived!!! They are working on getting settled. They have set up a contact-free donation table. They have their own facebook page if you look for it. Of course, they may be too busy to write much. Be a little careful about bringing them too much stuff. Those tiny houses are really tiny! No storage. Maybe check before you deliver?

FROM A CITY HALL VOLUNTEER

When people drop off canned goods, boxes of dry mac’n’cheese, and the like at city hall, volunteers then have to find a vehicle to take it all to the food bank since they can’t cook there. I know it comes from generous, caring hearts, however it winds up making extra work.

Cup-o-Noodles actually works. There is hot water available. And snack bars. Protein bars. Jerky and other meat snacks are treasured. Dried fruit.

For now, canned goods can be dropped off at Unity Village & SwiftHaven.

SOUP BRIGADE

Teamwork: Don’t do it alone! More and more cooks are teaming up with friends to prepare meals. Not necessarily in the same kitchen. It can even be 3 friends in their own homes, each making enough of whatever they’d like, for about 20 people each. It’s a lot less work when it’s shared. You can even talk on the phone or zoom to keep each other company.

Shopping Again? A neighbor made a huge ingredient run yesterday, and we could already use another one tomorrow! If you’d have time to go to SmartFood, please contact me for a shopping list. I have donated funds I can spend to get what we need. But I am staying home like the elder I have become.

Cooking Notes: My brain tends to freeze around arithmetic, but I double check with Zeke as I go. Think of this: a five pound bag of shredded cheese would be an ounce and a half in each of 50 servings. Fifty 16 oz servings is six and a half gallons of food. Think of a five gallon bucket. Not quite one and a half of those buckets. Lentils double or triple in volume from dry to cooked, so one cup dry makes about three cups cooked.

I’ve been sort of avoiding buying potatoes and carrots because they don’t last. But I ordered some yesterday. Please come get them to cook with. Those four pound bags of pasta will only feed 50 if you add a lot of other ingredients (cheese, hamburger, gravy, onions…)

Soup Brigade ingredients went flying out all day long. Consider casseroles and other thicker meals as well as soup. It turns out that casserole containers only cost 10 cents each, and paper soup cups with lids cost 40 cents each!

Today’s Ingredients: At this point we have 10# carrots, 10# red potatoes, 15# rice, 10# lentils, three 4# bags of pasta w/ holes (Ziti, penne), one 5# sack of shredded cheddar. We’ll get more cheese as soon as we can. Big tub of curry paste. About 20# of onions. Twelve dozen eggs. Three jars of chicken soup base. One #10 (3-quart) can of tomato sauce!

Tools: We have soup pots, baking pans & trays (cookies anyone? Brownies?). Also paper soup cups and lids, two kinds of paper dinner boxes, and 2000 more grease resistant bakery bags (a little larger than the last box. Plus 200 or so little brown paper sandwich bags. We were also gifted with 100 molded-paper clamshell 3-compartment dinner boxes if you want to surprise the campers with a full meal.

Ingredients From Camp: If you visit the camp before cooking, they often have donated fresh veggies and canned goods that they can’t cook there. They’re happy to put together boxes of food for you to take home and cook for them.

Preparation: Write the date on the top of each individual serving container. Write all the ingredients on a top flap of the nested cardboard boxes you deliver in. Two or three nested boxes will keep the food pretty hot while you take it there. Nestle the individual serving containers close together and cover the top with more cardboard or paper sacks.

Delivery: If you’ve never done this before, call me and I’ll talk you through it. 360-671-4511. Basically, you flash your headlights at the food tent till a volunteer in a mask comes to get your donation. Back your vehicle in across the street to leave pedestrians plenty of space.

Sign up here: This lets us space out our meals to avoid “feast or famine” – especially famine!

https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/nnmwke

DONATIONS

Folks have been bringing me cooking pots and pans, plus tarps, sleeping pads, batteries, tampons, socks, gloves, warm hats, jerky and other meat snacks, tent stakes,garbage bags, big heavy contractor bags (the extra large size can double as a bivy bag to sleep in), hand salve, and so many more thoughtful gifts! I’ve now got outreach volunteers coming by three times a week to pick up and distribute what you’ve brought. Outreach volunteers work to hand donations to the folks most in need, to avoid waste or hoarding. City Hall encampment still needs firewood, drinking water, and big sheets of cardboard, which should all be taken directly there. I just don’t have room. We’re working on other locations for donations of coats and other camping clothing. Hang onto them just a bit longer while we figure it out. Thank you SO much!!!

ABOUT KN95 MASKS

[From a neighbor with a new grandchild.]

KN95 is a Chinese standard for respirator masks. Similar to the N95 standard, masks must filter 95% or more of particles to meet the KN95 standard.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has provided guidance on use of alternatives such as KN95 masks when N95 masks are in short-supply. The CDC also has published testing results for over 120 KN95 masks. These results indicate which masks met or failed the 95% filtration standard when tested.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for respirators manufactured in China. This authorization includes a list of KN95 masks that the FDA has authorized for use in healthcare settings by healthcare personnel. These masks help prevent exposure to the coronavirus when used in accordance with CDC recommendations. The FDA removed masks that failed to meet the 95% filtration standard in CDC testing from the FDA EUA list. 

For additional information, see:

• FDA guidance for KN95 masks.
• CDC respirator testing results(updated regularly).
• CDC’s Factors to Consider When Planning to Purchase Respirators from Another Country.
• COVID-19 Supplies storefront.

OTIS THE DOG

Found his owners! They said they forgot to bring him in last night-poor guy, thank you!  ~ Sabina

LOST RAKE

Our handyman lost a rake in our alley (2500 block, between Cherry & West) yesterday morning. He says it’s just an ordinary garden rake, but it belonged to his mother and was dear to him. Did anyone find it? ~ Fl!p

ABANDONED BIKE

We found an abandoned bike in our yard Friday morning.  Please get in touch with a description if you are missing a bike. ~ Dan Pollard (dpollard@gmail.com) Jaeger Street

BELLINGHAM FOLK FESTIVAL

One of the most delightful local events I know, and virtual this year. Did you go look at the poster yet? Go look! Maybe the best ever! Blow it up big so you can read it. It is SO funny!!!

http://www.thebellinghamfolkfestival.com/?fbclid=IwAR0ThzJv6aVGewUx3LA2PTaIdXOGLCMXjUMui5JQOCdbJTZbLFWhSOOK1Is

RADIO FREE FL!P:  CLOSE YOUR EYES

Filmed at their home on Martha’s Vineyard in 1977, Carly Simon and James Taylor perform his song. I love the kindness. I might go to bed early tonight…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjksn8mEt8M

Love/Fl!p 360-671-4511  2518 Cherry Street flip@columbianeighborhood.org

If you’re willing to share your phone and address with me, personally, I would love that, and would not share it further without your express permission.

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.

CONTENTS 1/8/2021
Skagit Funds Winter Shelter
Attend Zoom Meeting, & Write!
COVID: 171 New Cases Thursday
Today’s Ingredients
Donations
Radio Free Fl!p: Eighth of January

SKAGIT FUNDS WINTER SHELTER

This shows one way to do it. “…county’s contribution to the shelter would be a more efficient use of the funding it has available to shelter the homeless. About 50 tiny houses and a warehouse for year round services … about $500,000 to get started, which would cover the shelters, portable bathrooms, hand-washing stations and showers. Operations are expected to cost $500,000 to $600,000 a year including social work services. The $468,000 the county budgeted for shelter in 2021 goes to renting motel rooms this winter, which is an expensive, inefficient way to house people. But because of COVID-19 that was the only option.

https://www.goskagit.com/news/local_news/skagit-county-commits-to-help-fund-burlington-shelter-project/article_ff06eae2-5ca7-50fa-bcd0-934a52ba714e.html

ATTEND ZOOM MEETING & WRITE

There will be a special joint internal work session of the Bellingham City Council and Whatcom County Council this coming Monday, 1/11/21, at 3:00 p.m., “for discussion and possible action on shelter and other issues related to homelessness in Whatcom County. “ There will not be an opportunity for public comment at the meeting. However, people can submit comments in writing before or after that scheduled event.”  I would suggest writing before, because action may be taken at the meeting. Here is a link to watch the meeting, which will be virtual. I think it would be helpful if many people could attend even though we don’t get to speak.

https://www.cob.org/ccc011121

I have heard concerns about the city hall encampment being “ended” sometime this month – which will make Monday’s meeting particularly worth listening and contributing to. Other than Swift Haven which will house around 28, and a potential low-barrier site to house another 20+, there have not yet been proposals developed for where the remaining 50 to 100 people from the camp can go to access shelter. I am deeply concerned that our most vulnerable citizens could just be driven away to be “out of sight, out of mind” without even a food tent.

Here is contact info for submitting public comments to call for immediate ample emergency shelter solutions during our hostile weather season. I’d urge writing as soon as possible so there is a chance of elected officials reading our comments before the meeting.

City Hall’s street address is 210 Lottie Street, 98225.
mayorsoffice@cob.org
ccmail@cob.org

The Whatcom County Courthouse address is 311 Grand Avenue, 98225
ssidhu@co.whatcom.wa.us
council@co.whatcom.wa.us

COVID: 171 NEW CASES THURSDAY

Our numbers leaped up stunningly 2 weeks after Christmas. This was the highest one-day total yet. Most transmission is from people who don’t show symptoms. Please protect others: wash your hands, wear your mask so it covers your nose, and keep your “Safe Six” distance. I am so sorry! (And when you come to our porch, please talk with me from the bottom of the stairs, OK?)

https://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/coronavirus/article248352290.html?ac_cid=DM360659&ac_bid=-913163496

TODAY’S INGREDIENTS

We got a whole lot more Soup Brigade ingredients today, thanks to a lovely neighbor! I would love to see a lot of casseroles and other thicker meals too. We’ve got plenty of ingredients for them: 15# rice, 10# lentils, 5: 4# bags of noodles w/ holes (Ziti, penne), 10# carrots, 10# red potatoes, four 5# sacks of shredded cheddar and a sack of grated parmesan. Big tub of curry paste. Half of a 50# sack of onions. Twenty dozen eggs or so. Jars of chicken soup base. One jar of Pesto. 1# of real Butter.

We have soup pots, restaurant pans, baking pans & trays, paper soup cups and lids, two kinds of paper dinner boxes, and 2000 more grease resistant bakery bags (a little larger than the last box full. Plus 200 or so little brown paper sandwich bags. We were also gifted with 100 molded-paper clamshell 3-compartment dinner boxes.

If you visit the camp before cooking, they often have donated fresh veggies and canned goods that they can’t cook there. They’re happy to put together boxes of food for you to take home and cook for them.

DONATIONS

Folks have been dropping off tarps, tents, sleeping pads, batteries, tampons, socks, gloves, warm hats, jerky and other meat snacks, tent stakes, tents, cooking pots and pans, garbage bags, big heavy contractor bags (the extra large size can double as a bivy bag to sleep in), hand salve, and so many more thoughtful gifts! I’ve now got outreach volunteers coming by three times a week to pick up and distribute what you’ve brought. City Hall encampment still needs firewood and big sheets of cardboard, which should go directly there. I just don’t have room. I’m working on another location for donations of coats. Hang onto them just a bit longer while we figure it out. Thank you SO much!!!

RADIO FREE FL!P: EIGHTH OF JANUARY

Of course! Because today is the Eighth of January! Old Timers will remember a hit song that got hung on this tune about a battle with the British in New Orleans in 1815. It’s a great tune! And here is traditional clogging to go with it. Hillary Klug on fiddle. Collaboration With Her Hero and Dance Mentor, Thomas Maupin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTrKUM3bmVo

Love/Fl!p 360-671-4511  2518 Cherry Street flip@columbianeighborhood.org

If you’re willing to share your phone and address with me, personally, I would love that, and would not share it further without your express permission.

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.

CONTENTS 1/8/2021
Report From City Hall Encampment
Tent Set-Up Help
Letter Writing
Egg Cartons & Soup Pots
No Storage
Today’s Ingredients
New Stanzas For Amazing Grace
Jam-A-Thon
Boy Scouts  Tree Pick-Up
Radio Free Fl!p: Do Something Even If It’s Wrong

REPORT FROM CITY HALL ENCAMPMENT

A long-time volunteer outreach worker shared this with me tonight:

🌿Last night I witnessed the generosity of a new younger camper giving away his own blanket from his tent to an older camper curled up cold on the ground under a folded piece of cardboard.

🌿Earlier local Columbia neighbors brought by pizza at night, plus two big pieces of cardboard. The cardboard was used immediately. One piece to insulate a new person resting on the cold marble stone next to city hall doors, and the other cardboard used as a paper tent cover over the blanket another had gifted him.

🌿It can be rough and fierce on the streets, but eventually the humans huddle together and rest as mammals caring for each other.

TENT SET-UP HELP

Not one but two pairs of knowledgeable wilderness campers have volunteered to help set up tents, closely following the lead of long-time volunteers who are known and trusted by campers. I am deeply touched! I’m really hoping the long-timers can figure a way to use the new help soon.  Thanks all of you who donated tents. Now we work on getting them up. That takes skill and strength, and now we’ve got that!

LETTER WRITING

I’ve been asked for talking points for writing our elected officials. I’m afraid I don’t have Answers, I just know that we need to try many things, even brand-new things, and keep trying till we figure out what works. And to get this to happen, I hope you will keep writing our elected officials about the importance of this issue. Any of us could be next in line. We need long-term, permanent solutions, but we also need immediate action to save the lives in front of us. Please remember to be kind! They have so much on their plates.

City Hall’s street address is 210 Lottie Street, 98225.
mayorsoffice@cob.org
ccmail@cob.org

The Whatcom County Courthouse address is 311 Grand Avenue, 98225
ssidhu@co.whatcom.wa.us
council@co.whatcom.wa.us

EGG CARTONS & SOUP POTS

Darn! Does anyone know where my egg cartons wound up? I really can’t find them. I scared you all off a couple days ago. And now I really do need more cartons but would love it if you would check with me first before delivering yours so I don’t get drowned again. I’m flat out, empty… I can cook 3 dozen tomorrow; I have just that many cartons. I got the last carton by emptying our personal eggs into the refrigerator door holder.

Most of our soup pots & restaurant pans are out in the community right now, helping make soup. Please bring them back as soon as you can after you’re done. (I completely understand if you need to put your feet up first, though.) I’m down to 4 pots right now. Yesterday I think there were a dozen!

NO STORAGE

Please hold items you’d like to donate for a bit longer yet. I’m trying to educate myself about the distribution channels in our area. If you are knowledgeable, I would love to talk with you.

Except the following items, which should come here to our house. My address is always at the end of every post, along with my phone humber.
* 6×8’ tarps
* aa and aaa batteries
* small green propane fuel cans.
* 50’ long heavy extension cord with multiple outlets, to toss from library for phone charging
* firewood (this should go straight to city hall. Flash headlights at food tent for help unloading. You can contact me first to see if I can set up help and directions for unloading.)

TODAY’S INGREDIENTS

Come and get it! I’ve got #2 left of lentils, 6# of rice, two 4# bags of pasta: ziti & rigatoni. Got two more 5# bags of shredded cheddar. I’ve got a big tub of curry paste that would go great with lentils or potatoes. Half a 50# sack of onions. Ten dozen  eggs or so. Jars of chicken soup base. One jar of Pesto. 1# of real Butter. Does any of that sound inspiring? We have soup pots, restaurant pans, paper soup cups and lids, two kinds of paper dinner boxes, and bakery bags. We were gifted today with 100 molded-paper clamshell 3 compartment dinner boxes! Let’s fill them up!

We’re getting a little low on a several ingredients, so I’ll find a volunteer to go pick up more, probably tomorrow. I’m trying to keep plenty of big bulk packages of shelf-stable ingredients here to hand out. Campers particularly like meaty-cheesy-starchy food to warm them up but I don’t have fridge space for the meat.

Sign up on the MealTrain and come pick up some goodies. Double up with a buddy to sign up if you each want to cook for fewer than 50. Or sign up for a 20 person snack. Write the date on each portion lid and all the ingredients on the cardboard box flap you deliver your meals in. Flash your headlights at the food tent at city hall when you arrive with your meal so someone will come collect your food. If you’re signing up for the first time I’d love to talk with you and help guide you through the process.

The MealTrain is basically full till January 11, and then there are lots of spaces. Jump on board!

https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/nnmwke

NEW STANZAS FOR AMAZING GRACE
By Allen Ginsberg

I dreamed I dwelled in a homeless place
Where I was lost alone
Folk looked right through me into space
And passed with eyes of stone

O homeless hand on many a street
Accept this change from me
A friendly smile or word is sweet
As fearless charity

Woe workingman who hears the cry
And cannot spare a dime
Nor look into a homeless eye
Afraid to give the time

So rich or poor no gold to talk
A smile on your face
The homeless ones where you may walk
Receive amazing grace

I dreamed I dwelled in a homeless place
Where I was lost alone
Folk looked right through me into space
And passed with eyes of stone

JAM-A-THON

This Friday, January 8 at 5:00 pm PST to Sunday, January 10, 2021, at 5:00 pm PST

The California Bluegrass Association invites you to join Abigail Washburn, Bela Fleck, Laurie Lewis, and Kathy Kallick in the first-ever Free Bluegrass 48-Hour Livestream Jam-a-Thon! This historic worldwide Bluegrass livestream kicks off Friday, Jan. 8 at 5:00 pm PST and doesn’t stop until 5:00 pm Sunday, January 10. Jam-a-thon.com

BOY SCOUTS  TREE PICK-UP

Saturday Jan 9. 7:30 AM – Contact in advance. www.bsatreepickup.com

RADIO FREE FL!P: DO SOMETHING EVEN IF IT’S WRONG

Gordon Bok sings. I looked and I did post this before, but it seems so timely right now. I would offer it to our elected officials struggling with homelessness on behalf of us all. Try stuff! All of us need permission to try new things even though it is inevitable that we will make some mistakes. We hope the mistakes won’t be too expensive, but I would rather waste money than lives. I hope we can offer support to try new things.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbL5KyP1jpA&list=PLDtw2SsV4Kvge1sY21_Vccz6wp-RbsBaC&index=292

Love/Fl!p 360-671-4511  2518 Cherry Street flip@columbianeighborhood.org

If you’re willing to share your phone and address with me, personally, I would love that, and would not share it further without your express permission.

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.

CONTENTS 1/5/2021
SwiftHaven Arrives!
Thank You For Kindness
After Another Windstorm
Please Write!
Whatcom Refugees
Close-Up To Real Power
Hohoho – Oh, No!
Egg Cartons
Today’s Ingredients
Correction
Christmas Tree Pick Up
Bike Found
Loom
Disappearing Ink
Family Rental Wanted
Cayley Schmid and Aaron Guest
Radio Free Fl!p: The Wonderful Soup Stone

SWIFTHAVEN ARRIVES!

Today the first 12 of 25 tiny homes were finally delivered! They have been set in place and are occupied tonight. A dozen neighbors safe and dry inside, during tonight’s storm. Here’s an unattributed quote from a new resident (I couldn’t figure out who) “Omg, this is soooo amazing,  Matthew and I are super grateful, and warm, even without electric!! We can get jobs and go to school, when they reopen!! So fabulous,  Yayyyyy”

THANK YOU FOR KINDNESS

I was very touched at the kind responses to my rather overwhelmed post yesterday. Thank you! Folks had some sweet suggestions about where there might be more help setting up tents, and with supplies distribution. I’m looking into those. You could ask if you know anyone who works at REI. Someone is checking with the Mountaineers. I would love it if you would be patient with me for a while longer, and hang onto your donations till I have learned what to ask for and figured out with whom to share the list.

Except tarps and closed cell foam ground pads! We’ll still take those. (ASR Closed Cell Reflective Camping Pad looks particularly durable. Sears?) We were given a bunch of 11×15’ tarps (yay!) which help as rain flies for tents and shelters. Now we could use a bunch of smaller tarps. I’m in touch with volunteers who can distribute 6×8’ tarps to wrap up an individual, to try to warm them up. These outreach volunteers go out once a week on Thursdays. The same folks have been going for years.

AFTER ANOTHER WINDSTORM

Another storm! Volunteer time is needed to help clean up and help set up flattened tents and tarps. Many tent poles break during windstorms. See yesterday’s post about why this work is not straightforward. I may be able to help match clean-up volunteers with leaders known in the encampment.

PLEASE WRITE!

I do not believe this heartbreak will end without massive community support for our leaders to take immediate action. Please write. Invite everyone you know to write. Invite your children to write – it will help them feel less helpless, and less worried about seeing grownups looking helpless in the face of homelessness.

Share any ideas you have about the many possibilities that will be needed to get everyone into emergency housing, and then into permanent housing. There is no single solution for all the different problems that have led to this encampment. But please ask for immediate action.

And please be kind and respectful to our elected officials. When they ran for office they never dreamed they would have all this on their plates. We will cause change not by trying to be bullies, but by huge numbers of individual, thoughtful letters of support for action.

City Hall’s street address is 210 Lottie Street, 98225.
mayorsoffice@cob.org
ccmail@cob.org
The Whatcom County Courthouse address is 311 Grand Avenue, 98225
ssidhu@co.whatcom.wa.us
council@co.whatcom.wa.us

WHATCOM REFUGEES

I received this question, and researched the answer: “Are people actually arriving by bus from out of town to join the city hall group because we have such generous people who live here?”

I spoke on the phone with a person who has worked in outreach with the Interfaith Coalition for many years. She says she has spoken other years with the police about this “outsiders” rumor. And the police say the rumor comes around every year. The police have never seen evidence of this being the case. We have horrible weather and nowhere near enough resources. The rumor is mean-spirited nonsense.

Homeless people do churn about, looking for work, so some come and go, but last year’s homeless census (late in January 2020) reported that 65% of the approximately 700 people who were counted, had last paid for housing here in Whatcom County. And only 15% had been homeless for over a year. These are our own, home-grown refugees.

CLOSE-UP TO REAL POWER

I am so moved watching the huge effort so many cooks are making – 5 or more different cooks each day, on their feet for hours. And I heard from one this evening when her power went out down on Chuckanut while she was in the middle of prepping for tomorrow. Courageous utility workers got her power back on within a couple hours and I just heard she was able to finish her preparations. Food will be hot and ready for yet another neighbor to pick up and transport to city hall for tomorrow’s lunch for 50. And this happens in kitchens all over the city and county, five times a day, and has been happening for a couple months. Thank you all!

HOHOHO – OH, NO!

I am seeing daylight in my apple bin. I don’t mind doing stewy soups and such, as well, but with the great masher and crafty system in place I kindly look for more apples to mash so this occasional, sweet/hot tummy warmer offer at the cit yhall encampment can be continued. Extra apples anyone? Thanks. (Max has been making and delivering hot applesauce regularly for a long time.) ~ Max Eberhard : pappenspiel@gmail.com

EGG CARTONS

Oops! I got dozens and dozens of egg cartons last time I asked. Way too many. No room for other supplies. I finally found someone to store a huge box of them for me. And now I can’t figure out who that was. But if everybody brings me more egg cartons again, I will go out of my mind! I need room for container storage, and soup pots and pans and lids, noodles, and sacks, and boxes, and soup base, and tarps, and pads, and, and, and… Does anyone know where my egg cartons wound up? Maybe one or two people could bring me some, but call first!

TODAY’S INGREDIENTS

Come and get it! Lots of lentils, lots of rice, got a bunch more pasta: ziti, rigatoni & penne in 4# bags. Got four more 5# bags of shredded cheddar. I’ve got a big tub of curry paste that would go great with the lentils. A brand new 50# sack of onions. Ten dozen eggs or so. Jars of chicken soup base. One jar of Pesto. 1# of real Butter. Does any of that sound inspiring? We have soup pots, restaurant pans, paper soup cups and lids, two kinds of dinner boxes, and bakery bags.

Sign up on the MealTrain and then come pick up some goodies. Double up with a buddy to sign up if you each want to cook for fewer than 50. Or sign up for a 20 person snack. Write the date on each portion lid. Flash your headlights at the food tent at city hall when you arrive with your meal so someone will come collect your food.

There are just a few meal slots coming up in the next week. After that the schedule is currently wide open starting January 11. Jump on board!

https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/nnmwke

CORRECTION

Rice is 1 cup rice to 2 cups water, with an added “a cup for the pot” for larger quantities. I got last night’s recipe wrong.

CHRISTMAS TREE PICK UP

The Boy Scouts are still doing tree pick up this year on January 9th. http://www.bsatreepickup.com

And so are these folks: Bellingham Junk Removal Service will remove and dispose of your Christmas tree.  All it will cost you a donation to the Bellingham Food Bank.  Together we can extend the giving season a bit longer!

The Bellingham Food Bank prefers cash or checks, but we will take your food donations as well.  100% of what we collect will be going to the Food Bank, and Bellingham Junk Removal Service will cover the collection and disposal costs of the Christmas trees.

We will be collecting trees on January 7th & 8th for those in and around Bellingham wishing to participate.  We will collect the Food Bank donations at the same time we pick up your tree. Please message us to set up a pickup time.  Merry Christmas (a little longer)!  (360) 599-7473

https://bellinghamjunkremovalservice.com/

BIKE FOUND

I found a mountain style bike in good condition behind my house on Lynn Street. I checked to see if a lost bike has been reported, I looked to see if a friend left a note about it but none was found, so it is now with the Bellingham police to be claimed. They will need a description of it to reclaim it. And it has a unique feature or two. ~ Carla Shafer

LOOM

My loom does not fit into my home, does not belong in the garage. For sale: J-made table loom with floor loom conversion. It is old, but is in very good condition. Includes many extras. To give away: knitting needles. ~ Cindy Spee, Lafayette St  Cindy.L.Spee@gmail.com

DISAPPEARING INK

The Canon Printer ink has been spoken for. So glad we can keep such stuff out of the land fill for as long as possible!  Thank you all who inquired. ~Beth Fuller

FAMILY RENTAL WANTED

My brother, sister in law and two young girls are looking for a 3 bedroom house to rent in the Columbia/Lettered Streets/ Sunnyland neighborhood hopefully starting in March or April. They’re moving out from Atlanta Georgia to be nearer to Brittany and I and we’re really excited! Small-dog friendly and under $2500/month if possible. Feel free to share my contact info if anyone has any leads. Thanks so much!
Will and Brittany Nichols
2318 Elm Street
360.961.7181

CAYLEY SCHMID AND AARON GUEST

Thursday at 7:00 PM January 7th, 2021

Cayley Schmid and Aaron Guest met at the Bellingham Farmers Market in 2009. Desperately jealous of each other’s busking success, they neutralized the competition and started a band together. This was the beginning of a decade-long musical partnership that descended into marriage. After the retiring of their band, Polecat, on March 7th 2020, Aaron and Cayley suddenly found themselves musically unsupervised by their bandmates for the first time. Together they play instrumental folk music on fiddle and piano. They are also the founders of the Bellingham Folk Festival. Have I told you to go to that? The BFF may have the best poster I have ever seen. *I* am going!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/298533994557015/

RADIO FREE Fl!P: THE WONDERFUL SOUP STONE

Performed by Dr Hook in 1973. Written by Shel Silverstein – who also wrote Where The Sidewalk Ends. And A Boy Named Sue for anyone old enough. And the Unicorn Song. And Uncle Shelby’s ABZ Book – the only book I kept out of reach and hidden while my children were young.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28-XS86opIo

Love/Fl!p 360-671-4511  2518 Cherry Street flip@columbianeighborhood.org

If you’re willing to share your phone  with me, personally, I would love that, and would not share it further without your express permission. Nor would I ever exploit it. You might put mine in your phone so if I were to phone you, you’d know it was me.

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.

CONTENTS 1/3/2021
Please Write
SwiftHaven
I Don’t Know What To Do
Today’s Ingredients
Converting Recipes
Perspective
Free Ink
Bellingham Folk Festival
Radio Free Fl!p: Nobody Knows You When You’re Down & Out

PLEASE WRITE!

The people camping out on the city hall lawn are not The Problem. The problem is that our fellow citizens have nowhere to go. Please keep writing our elected officials. Be kind to them, but please be clear that we as a community need to take action now.

City Hall’s street address is 210 Lottie Street, 98225.
mayorsoffice@cob.org
ccmail@cob.org
The Whatcom County Courthouse address is 311 Grand Avenue, 98225
ssidhu@co.whatcom.wa.us
council@co.whatcom.wa.us

SWIFTHAVEN

Tiny Homes were due this morning, but did not arrive.  Hopefully tomorrow.

I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO

What is most needed is tiny homes, motels, and other safe, dry, heated spaces for people who have lost their homes to go to, immediately. What is most needed at the current encampment is sensitive volunteers on the ground: strong, knowledgable wilderness experts who really know how to set up a tent. And who can follow the lead of someone with personal relationships with the struggling folks with their collapsed tents. The known, long term volunteers can sensitively help a resident sort through their soaked belongings, leaving the owner in control to salvage what is possible. The long term outreach volunteer needs to direct tent replacement. Any new volunteers need to be able to follow the lead and direction of experienced folks. Even two or three such helpers could make a world of difference.

But to do that work involves possible exposure to both Covid and people’s potential upset feelings. If I’m no longer going downtown myself (70 and immune compromised) how can I ask anyone else to go? But the tents only help when they are set up properly, and the campers have neither the skills nor energy after months in the cold wind and rain.

If you have ideas or interest, please let me know.

TODAY’S INGREDIENTS

Lots of lentils, lots of rice, still got pasta. Got two 5# bags of shredded cheddar. I’ve got a big tub of curry paste. 20# or so of onions. Two big cans of chopped tomatoes. 15 dozen eggs or so. Jars of chicken or beef soup base. One jar of Pesto. 1# of real Butter. Does any of that sound inspiring? We have soup pots, restaurant pans, paper soup cups and lids, dinner boxes, and bakery bags. Sign up on the MealTrain and come pick up some goodies. Double up with a buddy to sign up if you want to cook for fewer than 50. Or sign up for a 20 person snack. Write the date on each portion lid.

https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/nnmwke

CONVERTING RECIPES

Our to-go meal cups hold 16 oz = two cups = one pint. Our dinner boxes hold more. Today we added classic take-out boxes with fold-over tops but no metal pail handle. Also 16 oz.

For 50 one-cup servings, start with 7 cups total of uncooked rice. Bring 14 cups (3.5 quarts) total of water to a boil. Add rice, cover, cook on low for about 12 minutes, then keep checking till the rice is done. This will fill fifty 16-oz cups half full with cooked rice.

One 4# bag of Ziti pasta should yield 36 cups of cooked noodles. If the noodles are part of soup, that’s probably enough for 50. If you’re making a casserole you may need a bag and a half.

You’ll need a different pot to cook chili or stew or spaghetti sauce with cheese, or whatever you want to put over the top of the starch. You’ll need about another 3.5 gallons of whatever goes on top.

Basic bean soup: 6 pounds beans, soaked over nights; 6 gallons of stock; 3 pounds each of diced & sautéed carrots, celery & onions; 3 pounds or more of diced ham.

If you need a bigger pot or pots, borrow from me and then return them so others can use them.

We’re trying to tuck in as much protein, fat & starch as possible. Folks who live outside in winter need to eat like lumberjacks to survive. Cheesy hamburger noodle bake was one of the offerings that flew out of the food tent fastest. And homemade muffins & cookies…

PERSPECTIVE

I have a confession that I often repeat to myself: “I am utterly unprepared to handle the challenges life has placed before me. However, fortunately or unfortunately, I happen to be the best person available…” Thank you all for sticking with me.

FREE INK

Our old Canon Printer gave up the ghost. I have about 5 of the 250/251 black ink cartridges to give anyone who can use them. Just text or email Beth Fuller, 360 389-1391 or fullermitchell2@comcast.net

BELLINGHAM FOLK FESTIVAL

One of the most delightful local events I know, and virtual this year. And go look at the poster! Maybe the best ever! Blow it up big so you can read it. It is SO funny!!!

http://www.thebellinghamfolkfestival.com/?fbclid=IwAR0ThzJv6aVGewUx3LA2PTaIdXOGLCMXjUMui5JQOCdbJTZbLFWhSOOK1Is

RADIO FREE FL!P: NOBODY KNOWS YOU WHEN YOU’RE DOWN AND OUT

Scrapper Blackwell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=626pNZB8xXE

Love/Fl!p 360-671-4511  2518 Cherry Street flip@columbianeighborhood.org

If you’re willing to share your phone and address with me, personally, I would love that, and would not share it further without your express permission.

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.

CONTENTS 1/3/2021
If You’re New
   After The Windstorm
   Please Write!
   What You Did Today
   Today’s Ingredients
   Restaurant Pans
   Smart Food Run?
   Boxes For Delivering
   Delivery
2020 Magazines Available For Pickup
Who Works On Tube Radios From The 50’S?
Radio Free Fl!p: There But For Fortune

IF YOU’RE NEW

If you’re new to this list (there are quite a few of you lately) you can click on the link to look at earlier posts. This list started as two lists, one for my beloved Columbia Neighborhood in Bellingham WA. The other was focused on local folk music, though not exclusively. At the beginning of the pandemic I shifted to covering that, and combined my lists onto a single blog. And then this autumn, I got involved in supporting the encampment of local citizens without shelter on the lawn around city hall. I did outreach support for unhoused neighbors last winter, but at that time there were volunteers to keep emergency shelters open. The need was urgent, but less extreme.

ColumbiaNeighborhood.org

AFTER THE WINDSTORM

Camp after a rough Saturday windstorm needs:
* Wood deliveries before the next deep cold snap.
* Waterproof Ground insulation :
* Yoga mats ( ask for old used ones from yoga studio)
* or Camping pads – closed cell (no open cell foam as they absorb rain water. “ASR Closed Cell Reflective Camping Pad” looks particularly durable. Sears?)
* Tent stakes. Preferably 12” steel. But anything helps.
* Gloves men’s & womans
* Volunteer time to help clean up and help set up flattened tents and tarps ( many tent poles broke during windstorm. )
* plastic rain ponchos
* waterproof boots
* non addictive pain medication
* neck warmers that can double as face covers

PLEASE WRITE!

Who we are is not what we say, but what we do.

City Hall’s street address is 210 Lottie Street, 98225.
mayorsoffice@cob.org
ccmail@cob.org
The Whatcom County Courthouse address is 311 Grand Avenue, 98225
ssidhu@co.whatcom.wa.us
council@co.whatcom.wa.us

WHAT YOU DID TODAY

Folks on this list delivered a propane BBQ grill to SwiftHaven. The tiny homes have not yet arrived and the worker/residents camping there are living pretty rough. They are very grateful to have a second grill to huddle around to get warm. The same courier that took the grill over also delivered three boxes of donated ingredients and canned meals to the kitchen tent.

A list member delivered a truckload of firewood to City Hall. (They still need more, of course.) Four more tents were delivered here at our house for outreach use, which makes over a dozen total. I was just now able to order 8 neck warmer/gaiters/masks to arrive Wednesday. More warm socks were dropped off here. And a bag of tent stakes. And a lovely box of home-made gluten-free peanut-butter cookies in goodie bags.

A volunteer cooked for five hours this afternoon to deliver a hot meal to the quarantine site, but the site turns out not to accept donated food. So she took her soup to city hall, where it was very welcome and needed. I’d love to learn what the rules are at the quarantine motel. Perhaps we could deliver canned food, like chili. Some residents there are reporting not getting enough food from their meal program. Does anyone know the ropes?

Volunteers are still desperately needed for tent set up and repair after the windstorm. This involves being around unmasked campers, so volunteers are very difficult to find. This is a hard situation!

TODAY’S INGREDIENTS

Lots of lentils, lots of rice, still got pasta. Canned tuna. Some canned chicken. Got two 5# bags of shredded cheddar. I’ve got a big tub of curry paste. 30# or so of onions. Half a case of chopped tomatoes. 20 dozen eggs or so. Chicken, & Beef soup base. One jar of Pesto. 3# of real Butter. Does any of that sound inspiring? We have soup pots, restaurant pans, paper soup cups and lids, dinner boxes, and bakery bags. Sign up on the MealTrain and come pick up some goodies. Double up with a buddy to sign up if you want to cook for fewer than 50. Or sign up for a 20 person snack. Write the date on each portion lid.

https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/nnmwke

RESTAURANT PANS

I can’t remember who has the restaurant pans at the moment. Let me know. I’ve gotta start writing those down. Soup pots, we have so many that it’s just a constant flow, but we only have 3 restaurant pans. It’s good to get them back as soon as you can after you’re finished. But I don’t blame you if you need to put your feet up first! ~ Fl!p 360-671-4511

SMARTFOOD RUN?

Does anyone have time to make a run for more to-go containers? Probably a few other items too. My guess is we can won’t run out till Wednesday. I’ve got funds to pay for what’s needed. Fl!p 360-671-4511

BOXES FOR DELIVERING

Tues, Thurs & Saturday mornings are the best times to get boxes at the Community Food Coop. I called. It’s good for cooks to pack their meals in nested cardboard boxes for insulation. Write all the ingredients on one box lid flap so it’s easy to see.

DELIVERY

Flash your headlights at the food tent for meal pick-up so you don’t have to get out of your car. If it’s your first trip, feel free to call me first to discuss. Fl!p 360-671-4511

2020 MAGAZINES AVAILABLE FOR PICKUP

With the Public Library not open to visitors, we have no place to offer our finished magazines for others to read. Some feature up-to-date news, and others more lasting-interest articles. We have these titles available for neighbors:
Weekly: The Christian Science Monitor, The Week
Bi-Weekly: The Nation
Monthly: Smithsonian, Scientific American, Opera News
Please call to arrange a pickup or a delivery.
~ Mary Rausch, Utter St., 360-734-1842

WHO WORKS ON TUBE RADIOS FROM THE 50’S?

I’d like to use my grandmother’s Westinghouse tube radio from 1958. It ran 20 years ago but I’m hesitant to plug it in and turn it on now. Does anyone know a radio hobbyist who can check and replace capacitors and resistors and align tuners in old radios? Call or text (360) 927-0863 ~ Ed Simmers

RADIO FREE FL!P: THERE BUT FOR FORTUNE

Joan Baez – Somehow I am not surprised that this song has floated up in my mind this week. The song was written by Phil Ochs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwXO0sbN4pc

Love/Fl!p 360-671-4511  2518 Cherry Street flip@columbianeighborhood.org

If you’re willing to share your phone  with me, personally, I would love that, and would not share it further without your express permission. Nor would I ever exploit it. You might put mine in your phone so if I were to phone you, you’d know it was me.

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.

1/2/2021
Sleeping Pads
Donating Clothing
Oops! Boxes
Today’s Ingredients
Found Jacket
Keyboard?
Two Women (And Dog) Seeking House To Rent
Radio Free Flip: Keys To The Highway

SLEEPING PADS

Closed-cell foam sleeping pads would be a great gift! The need is urgent enough I would accept them here at the house. The best I’ve seen have a reflective layer on top, about $15. A huge contrast to sleeping directly on the ground in winter.

DONATING

Here’s the deal with clothing. Folks without homes have no storage. The clothes & equipment they need are things that will still keep them warm even when they are wet, and in the wind – like today. If you have some clothes like that, YES people could use them! But again, they have no storage. And right now the choke point in this list is a shortage of knowledgeable, experienced outreach volunteers to connect objects with the vulnerable folks who need them.

I’m working with technical volunteers to create an online form where donors can describe what they have, and trusted outreach workers can look for what’s needed. Then, with me as a go-between, they will be able to ask donors to hold just those items till the items can be  picked up for distribution, or until there is a place for donations to be dropped off and stored.

So could you go thru your stuff and hold just the “camping” kind of clothes and equipment, and hold them for long enough for me to get the form up and running? I’m not talking about the whole city, just the folks on this list. You’re wonderful, and I don’t want to waste your generosity!!!

OOPS! BOXES

Curious if SmartFood ok’d the general community coming to use their boxes for non-customer use.  Those boxes are the only thing customers have to put purchases in, not sure they want a stream of folks taking them if they’re not buying groceries there. Thanks for checking. ~ Rodd Pemble

Oops! I just checked with them. Have gotten moving boxes there for decades. They said it was fine to take no more than 10 boxes a day. I’ll encourage cooks to get their boxes elsewhere, and to go easy on SmartFood. Thanks! Love/Fl!p

TODAY’S INGREDIENTS

Lots of lentils, lots of rice, still got pasta. Canned tuna. Got lots more shredded cheddar today. I’ve got a big tub of curry paste. #50 or so of onions. A case of chopped tomatoes. 20 dozen eggs or so. Chicken, Ham & Beef soup base. Pesto. Lots of real Butter. Does any of that sound inspiring? We have soup pots, restaurant pans, paper soup cups and lids, dinner boxes, and bakery bags. Sign up on the MealTrain and come pick up some goodies. (If you really want/need to cook sooner than the MealTrain has openings, please contact me. We might have an option.)

https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/nnmwke

FOUND JACKET

Found a nice, heavy jacket close to Meridian Haggen.  I have it in the washing machine right now; will put in the dryer. Call or text Joan Gassland-Smith 360 303 4983

KEYBOARD?

Dear neighbors – does anyone have an electric keyboard/portable digital piano gathering dust that I might borrow or rent for a month as I consider purchasing one?  I played the piano for many years as a youngster but haven’t had a chance to play for years. During these long days of staying home to stay healthy I’m feeling drawn to see if I still know how to play or could resurrect my long ago passion!  Please email me at dina.gibbs@gmail.com or text me at 650-387-5891 Thank you! ~ Dina Gibbs, Park Street

TWO WOMEN (AND DOG) SEEKING HOUSE TO RENT

We are two women (age 70 and 71) who are combining households. We hope to find a 3-bedroom, 2-bath house to rent in the Columbia, Sunnyland, or Lettered Streets neighborhood. We are looking for a long-term rental with a yard where we can garden, relax, play with grandchildren, and throw balls for Toby (a sweet Mini-Aussie). Peggy, a retired Certified Nurse-Midwife, is moving from Seattle to Bellingham to live with Emily, who has lived here 30 years and works as a fundraiser for WWU. Each of us owned our own homes for many years, and we will take very good care of yours. Please contact:  Emily Weiner, 360.961.3326 or words.numbers@gmail.com 

[Emily has been a dear friend for half my lifetime. I will happily vouch for her. ~ Fl!p]

RADIO FREE FLIP: KEYS TO THE HIGHWAY

Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee. I was hunting for video of them doing Trouble In Mind, but I found this first. I heard them play live in Seattle in maybe 1969? Anyway, they were in a tavern and I wasn’t yet 21. Somehow the door guy didn’t ask… I drank ginger ale all night and drank in the music. They were amazing. And the sun is still going to shine in my back door someday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_xnOhXIpHg

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.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Soup Brigade Delivery Modification
Today’s Ingredients
Donation Form Progress
Gloves Now
Radio Free Flip: January Man

SOUP BRIGADE DELIVERY MODIFICATION

From now on, folks delivering food to the City Hall encampment have the option of having Food Tent volunteers come to their vehicle to collect their food. Here’s how to do that: Drive between City Hall and the back of the library, headed in the direction of the courthouse. After you pass the flag plaza and city hall front doors, watch for the big food tent on your right. When you see it, BACK IN to a parking spot across the street on the library side. Then FLASH YOUR HEADLIGHTS that are aimed at the food tent. A masked volunteer there will recognize your signal and come get your food. You will never need to leave your car. (If you want to go visit instead you are welcome, of course.)

It is helpful if your containers of hot food are packed tightly in 2 or 3 nested cardboard boxes that serve as insulation to keep the food warm until it can be served. Cardboard is also a valuable resource at the encampment because of the mud from all the rains. You can usually get boxes to pack in at SmartFood on Ohio behind Bellingham High School. They put their boxes in bins outside the doors.

Please write the date on the top of each individual container. Hearty hot food is what’s needed. Think of Lumberjacks – lots of meat & cheese and carbohydrates. Here’s where to sign up for the MealTrain, to help keep the flow of food steady.

https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/nnmwke

TODAY’S INGREDIENTS

We’ve got almost a dozen great big soup pots, and a large restaurant pan here for you to fill. Tonight we’ve got 4 bags with 8 lovely large sandwich rolls each. They look like they’d make great grinders or club sandwiches. Please come pick them up and use them. The sooner the better! For that matter, if you have freezer space we’d love some for bread. We still have cheese, about 2 pounds of grated mozzarella and a 1# block of cheddar. And 1 gallon whole milk. Gotta get all that used up! So even if you’ve signed up to make something else, you can change what you’re making and come get our ingredients. We still have two jars of Costco Pesto. Someone delivered a big bag of lovely huge parsnips today. We have lots of potatoes again, and spaghetti noodles, ziti noodles (like macaroni), rice, two kinds of lentils, yellow and red onions (always), #2 bacon in the freezer, soup bases (ham, chicken & beef), a case of canned, chopped tomatoes, canned tuna, canned chicken, a tub of curry paste (add to lentils & onions?), and 5# of butter.

We also have containers with lids, dinner boxes, and bakery sacks for delivery. You can sign up to take meals for 50 (round up some friends to help) or hearty snacks for 20. Again, check the MealTrain to sign up for a time slot:

https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/nnmwke

DONATION FORM PROGRESS

A donation form is under development that will let donors (you) fill in a form to tell us what you’ve got and how to reach you.  Then you keep your donation safely at your home until it can actually be accepted and used. I will have a few trusted outreach workers reviewing the offers to figure out who needs what and when and where. They will let me know, and then I’ll help you connect to actually donate. Householders have far more options for storing a few objects than folks with no homes do. I will let you know as soon as we get the form ready to go. It’s already being reviewed. Thank you!

GLOVES NOW

Gloves are needed immediately. They can come here to our house, since they are small objects.. No cotton. Wool or poly or high-tech. Both fingerless and full gloves. Mittens if you have them. 2518 Cherry Street – red with green trim. Thank you SO much!

RADIO FREE FLIP: JANUARY MAN

Played and sung by Bert Jansch, written by Dave Goulder. Jansch was a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle. I love this personification of the year cycle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCZA9H4dEZY

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.

CONTENTS 12/31/2020
Soup Brigade
   Write
   Donation Form To Spreadsheet?
   TVs Wanted
Christmas Tree Pickup
Water In Wall
Florist Shout-Out
The Bellingham Folk Festival
Radio Free Fl!p: Auld Lang Syne

SOUP BRIGADE

Today a neighbor organized her friends to deliver 50 full turkey dinners with all the fixings for dinner to the neighbors who’ve lost their homes and are camping out at City Hall. She did it in honor of her teenage son who died during these days of the year, 6 years ago. What an amazing gift on his behalf! Keeping hot food in cold bellies day after day makes a world of difference. And more tents are arriving daily. What a relief. Maybe we can keep a few more campers dry. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart!

Please sign up to take hot food, and come get ingredients from me. We’ve got almost a dozen great big soup pots here for you to fill. We’ve got big bags of grated cheese. Gotta get that used up! So if you’re signed up to make something with cheese, please come get ours. We still have two jars of Costco Pesto. That could make something nice! We have potatoes again, and spaghetti noodles, ziti noodles (like macaroni), rice, several kinds of lentils, yellow and red onions (always),  bacon, soup bases (ham, chicken & beef), two cases of canned chopped tomatoes, canned tuna, canned chicken, some canned coconut milk and some curry paste (add to lentils & onions?), and more. And we have containers with lids, dinner boxes, and bakery sacks for delivery. You can sign up to take meals for 50 (round up some friends to help) or snacks for 20. Check the MealTrain to sign up for a time slot:

https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/nnmwke

WRITE

Please keep writing our local government to support them to do all they can. If you have suggestions, please include them. It’s better if we’re all thinking together. If you feel like you have no ideas to offer, get a friend to listen to you while you think out loud for a few minutes. You might be surprised at what your mind comes up with when you’re well listened to! And then offer to listen back. Take turns. And remember to be warm and respectful of the folks you’re writing to. I can’t imagine trying to sort out the big picture and weigh options for our whole community. They need our sympathy. And also our support to make our vulnerable neighbors who have lost their homes a top priority. Thank you!

City Hall’s street address is 210 Lottie Street, 98225.
mayorsoffice@cob.org
ccmail@cob.org

The Whatcom County Courthouse address is 311 Grand Avenue, 98225
ssidhu@co.whatcom.wa.us
council@co.whatcom.wa.us

DONATION FORM TO SPREADSHEET?

From what I’ve learned today, it sounds like I need a publicly accessible Google Form (or two) for volunteers and donors to fill in, that would automagically dump into a Google Spreadsheet that just a few authorized outreach workers could access.

This would let outreach workers look to see what’s available, and then ask donors for just the things they have an immediate use for. I may be able to arrange pick-up and delivery, or might be able to get out of the way and let the workers request directly of the donors. It’s going to be a long few months ahead, and I don’t want to have myself as a choke point in the flow of help. Also, our front hall is full!

We could fairly promptly let donors know which items offered are wanted for homeless outreach, and which should go to Goodwill. Householders have far more room to store a few things for a few weeks than neighbors without homes, or outreach workers. More tiny home encampments are being negotiated and will also need our help.

Can you hold onto your donations for a bit while I dig out and get help? If you know how to make Google forms-to-sheets I think that will be the magic of the week! Mind you, I’m just making all this up as I go along, but it seems like it might do the trick.

TVs WANTED

For SwiftHaven, to use for internet hookup. Flat Screen TVs no bigger than 32″ no CRT. Must be a flat panel and working. Contact me, Fl!p to let me know you’ve got one. Do NOT come drop off! I’m out of space and the tiny homes haven’t arrived yet.. Thanks! 

CHRISTMAS TREE PICKUP

Saturday, January 9, 2021 at 7 AM PST

Scouts will be collecting Christmas trees for recycling in the community. Donations help fund the Scouting program in the community. Sign up to have your tree picked up at the website list. http://www.bsatreepickup.com

WATER IN WALL

I am in great need of an experienced handyman that can check out a leak problem in my wall.  I see the wet spot and it’s coming from (I think) a clogged downspout or one that needs to be caulked.  My wall is wet on the inside now so I’m getting pretty desperate to identify the problem and fix it temporarily until I can replace the drywall when the weather is better.  I’d like to find someone in the neighborhood who’s hourly isn’t too expensive. I’m elderly and on a fixed income. Please email me at Elizabeth@bcwriting.com if you know of someone I can trust to help me get this taken care of right away. Thank you. ~ Elizabeth Harris, 2212 Jaeger Street, 360-676-9901

FLORIST SHOUT-OUT

Hello neighbors!  I recently purchased a custom bouquet to cheer up a friend, and wanted to give a shoutout to Natalie Ransom of Pozie by Natalie for her wonderful floral work! She operates from the Columbia neighborhood and is the sweetest person. My bouquet was beautiful and full of local blooms, and it even came in its own vase. Her prices reflect the quality of materials used, and the care she so obviously puts into her designs. You can pick up at her shop, or have flowers delivered anywhere in Bellingham! My bouquet was packaged snugly in a padded box for safe transport, and included a custom note ~ she really thinks of everything! Natalie’s website is poziebynatalie.com, and she also takes orders through her Instagram, @poziebynatalie! ~ Jessie Pemble, Kulshan St

THE BELLINGHAM FOLK FESTIVAL

Virtually! January 22, 23, 24th
http://www.thebellinghamfolkfestival.com/

Let’s take this regularly scheduled weekend to celebrate some of the wonderful elements of our community, play a few tunes, learn some things and hear some new ideas, connect with friends, laugh, and embrace the online musical oddness of it all! You can attend as much or as little as you want to during the weekend. You can participate by leading tunes, asking questions, clapping, introducing us to your pet hamster, etc. Or you can turn off your camera and have the ultimate voyeuristic introvert’s folk music experience. All levels of engagements are acceptable 🙂

Cayley made this little promo video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlBLEbK2KEo

RADIO FREE FL!P: AULD LANG SYNE

Another song I was asked to record for PSGW (Guitar Camp). Vortex The Cat was interested in assisting and I was happy to have a live audience! The song itself is often truncated to be just the first verse and chorus. But in fact, it has an amazing set of verses about emigration, leaving behind home and loved ones. Remembering running about the the fields, gathering flowers with a buddy. “We’ve wandered many a weary foot” since long ago times. Remembering swimming and playing in the stream near home, but “Seas between us broad have roared!” Mostly people never went home again. And those people were our own ancestors. Their pain echoes down the generations and sometimes can interfere with us truly connecting with the land we live on, or the people around us. I love this song’s deep, healing dive into those feelings. This is one of the most sung songs in the world. I’ve heard that in Japan, people end every gathering with Auld Lang Syne.

https://youtu.be/p3LR0rBypfE

Love/Fl!p 360-671-4511  2518 Cherry Street flip@columbianeighborhood.org

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