Community Bulletin Board for week beginning April 10, 2008

Volunteer Service Officer at Legion next Monday

Veterans who need help with disability claims or other benefits are being invited to meet with a Volunteer Service Officer next Monday, April 14 from 1 to 4 p.m. at American Legion Post No. 97 in Brewster. The service is free of charge and is sponsored by the Legion post. Veterans are asked to bring copies of their military service records.

The service officer will be at the post Tuesday, April 29 as well.

Legion Auxiliary fundraiser Saturday

The Brewster American Legion Auxiliary chapter will sponsor a fundraising roast pork dinner this Saturday, April 12 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Legion hall in Brewster.

The menu includes roast pork, potatoes, vegetables, bread and dessert. Tickets are $8 in advance and can be purchased at the Legion during business hours, or will be $10 at the door. After dinner there will be an auction of "mystery presents;" everything's wrapped, so bidders will take their chances.

The proceeds will go to a project of the statewide Legion Auxiliary to put on birthday parties for hospitalized children.

Kindergarten orientation meeting, registration next week

Parents who plan to enroll their children in kindergarten in the Brewster School District for the 2008-09 school year are being invited to a registration orientation meeting next Monday, April 14 beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the Brewster Elementary School multipurpose room. Children must be five years of age or older by Aug. 31, 2008 to be eligible for kindergarten.

Parents will receive their registration paperwork, a copy of the grade school handbook and information about the registration process.

Registration will be Thursday, April 17 beginning at 3 p.m. at the grade school. Part of the registration process is a screening to determine the child's vision, hearing, speech, physical coordination and academic readiness. Parents are asked to bring the child's birth certificate, immunization records and Social Security card (if the child has one) to registration.

Fundraising lasagna feed tomorrow

The Well Wishers Relay for Life team will hold a lasagna feed tomorrow, Friday, April 11 from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Okanogan Douglas Hospital cafeteria.

The menu includes meat or vegetarian lasagna, salad, bread and dessert. Takeout orders will be available. The suggested donation is $5; proceeds will be added to the team's donation to the annual Relay for Life, which is a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. The Okanogan County relay is scheduled for mid-May; participants walk around the track at Okanogan High School from Friday night to Saturday afternoon. All of the money raised is donated to cancer research.

Open house for Hornbecks Sunday

Former Community Log Church pastor Roger Hornbeck and his wife Sharon will be the guests at an open house Sunday afternoon, April 13 from 1 to 7 p.m. at the home of Richard and Linda Thomason on Mountain View Road on Brewster Flat.

Hornbeck was the pastor at the Log Church from 1980 to 1992.

Local author to hold book signing April 19

New author Kyona Jiles, a Bridgeport High School graduate and currently a teacher in Omak, will be signing copies of her book Outrunning the Hunter next Saturday, April 19 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Lindsey's Drive In on Main Street in Brewster.

Kyona spent five years working on the book; she started it as a stress reduction project while pursuing her masters. It was published earlier this year.

New fitness classes offered at Community Center

Two new fitness classes will be starting up at the Columbia Cove Community Center later this month.

The "Healthy Heart" class is aerobics instruction for people 50 years of age and older; it will be at 10 a.m. each Monday, beginning April 21. (More sessions could be added depending on demand.) The class requires an exercise ball and a workout band; both can be purchased at the community center. The class will be $25 for three months and $5 per class to help pay the teacher, Chelise Becker.

Becker will be teaching the "Punch Fit" class also; that's a combination aerobics/boxing class with the boxing gloves, boxing techniques, the punching bags, the whole thing. That will be at 6:30 p.m. each Friday at the old Rec Center building, beginning April 25. Participants will be required to pay the community center membership fee and will be charged $5 per class.

The weekly group aerobics class still meets at 6:30 p.m. every Monday at the community center; participants must purchase a membership and there's a $5 per class fee. People who want more information on any of the classes can contact Gary Reese at the community center.

Soccer camp registration forms available

Registration forms are available at the Columbia Cove Community Center for a three-day soccer camp this summer.

Soccer camp will be June 19 through 21 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily at the community center; the instructors will include Benedicto Bravo, a former professional soccer player from the Chivas soccer school. Bravo is a veteran of more than 20 years playing and teaching soccer.

Registration is $60 and each player receives a camp shirt, shoe bag and lunch at camp. Proceeds will go to the community center.

BRIDGEPORT

Change in hours at recycling center

There are new hours of operation at the Bridgeport Recycling Center.

The recycling center will be open the first Saturday of each month from 9 to 11 a.m., the first Tuesday of the month from 9 to 11 a.m. and the third Thursday of the month from 5 to 7 p.m. It's located next to the city's maintenance shop at 1013 Jefferson Avenue.

Car crushing information available

In early June Bridgeport city officials will provide residents with a way to get rid of their derelict cars without hauling them off-but cars that don't have a title need some paperwork done first.

The car crushing machine will be in town on June 6 and 7; the cars to be crushed will be collected June 5. Owners must provide a title, or have the paperwork completed in lieu of the title. The necessary forms are available from Lisa Pettingell at Bridgeport City Hall, or from any vehicle licensing agent.

Water to start flowing April 15

Directors of the Bridgeport Irrigation District have announced that the district will turn on the irrigation water Tuesday, April 15. People who want more information can contact pump coordinator Dave Greer, 686-5122 or 449-1786.

Kindergarten registration scheduled

Registration and screening of potential kindergarten students in the Bridgeport School District will be Thursday, April 17 from 1 to 6 p.m. at Bridgeport Elementary School. Children must be five years of age on or before Aug. 31, 2008 to be eligible for kindergarten.

There is an advance registration packet available; parents can obtain a packet and schedule a screening appointment at the grade school office before Wednesday, April 16.

Registration and screening will take about one hour if the registration materials have been filled out prior to the screening. Children should accompany their parents. People who want more information can contact the grade school office, 686-2201, or the district office.

Family Leadership class April 19

The second in a series of "Family Leadership" classes for Bridgeport parents will be held Saturday, April 19 from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Bridgeport Elementary School cafeteria. "Personal Identity: Past, Present, Future" is the class topic. Parents who want to register for the class or who want more information can contact Diane Hull or Lorena Lopez at the district office, 686-5656.

PATEROS

Apple Pie Jamboree meeting April 22

An organizational meeting for the annual town celebration, the Apple Pie Jamboree, will be held Tuesday, April 22 at 6 p.m. at Pateros City Hall. Agenda items include the election of officers for 2008.

People who want more information can contact Linda Marsh at city hall, 923-2571.

Pesticide class April 22

The Okanogan County Noxious Weed Control Board will sponsor a pesticide class, "Weed Identification and Control Options," Tuesday, April 22 from 2 to 4 p.m. at Pateros City Hall. Anna Lyon, manager for the noxious weed control agency, and Brian Derting of the Washington Department of Natural Resources will be the speakers. People who want more information can contact the noxious weed control office, (509) 422-7165, Room 102 in the Okanogan County Courthouse in Okanogan.

Men's club begins at Alta Lake Golf Course

The Alta Lake Men's Club has begun its weekly matches for the season; golfers play every Tuesday night, beginning at about 4:45 p.m. "We play a number of different golf games, from individual play to team events," wrote club member George Webber. Once each month there's a potluck dinner following the match.

Men's club dues are $10 annually; there's a $4 fee for each weekly match. There's also an optional $25 fee to establish an official handicap.

People who want more information can contact Webber, 923-2153, or check out the course's new website, www.altalakegolf.com.

REGIONAL

Historical exhibit at Moses Lake Museum

"The Mapmaker's Eye: David Thompson on the Columbia Plateau, 1807-1812," which features the story of an early explorer in north central Washington, will be open through June 28 at the Moses Lake Museum and Cultural Center. The exhibit comes courtesy of the Washington State Historical Society.

Thompson traveled with early expeditions sponsored by Canadian fur trading companies; excerpts from his journals and reproductions of his maps and sketches will be displayed, along with information about the fur trade, early expeditions and the Native American tribes they encountered. The exhibit also includes paintings by artist Paul Kane, Henry J. Ware and Gustavus Sohon, who accompanied early expeditions to record what they saw on canvas.

Weather spotters sought; training April 22

A training session for Okanogan County residents who want to volunteer as "weather spotters" will be held Tuesday, April 22 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the conference room at the Okanogan County Sheriff's Office, 123 5th Avenue North in Okanogan.

Weather spotters provide local-like their own backyard local-weather information for the National Weather Service; reports from Okanogan County go to the NWS office in Spokane. "Your reports, coupled with radar, satellite and other data, has enabled the National Weather Service to issue more timely and accurate warnings and statements for flooding, winter weather and severe thunderstorms," said a press release announcing the training. "Spotters are not required to have weather instrumentation, but it is helpful."

Starting this June, Washington will join the "Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network," a network of volunteer weather observers who will measure and map precipitation in their local communities. "By using low cost measurement tools, stressing training and education and utilizing an interactive website, the aim is to provide the highest quality data for natural resource, education and research applications," the press release said. "The only requirements to join are an enthusiasm for watching and reporting weather conditions and a desire to learn more about how weather can affect and impact our lives."

The course is free. People who want to register or who want more information can contact Glenda Beauregard at the Okanogan Emergency Management Department, 509-422-7206, or register online at www.okanogandem.org.

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