Windermere looks to boost local food banks

Windermere Sequim and Port Angeles offices will be collecting non-perishable food items and new/clean gently used blankets and sleeping bags through Dec. 7.

Donations can be made 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Sequim and Port Angeles food banks are the recipients for all food donations; items specifically requested include stuffing mix, canned green beans (low sodium), and canned fruit in its own juice.

Local veterans and local shelters will be recipients of the blankets and sleeping bags.

Friends group sets Second Saturday Book Sale

The Friends of Sequim Library hosts its Second Saturday Book Sale 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on Nov. 12 at Rock Plaza, 10131 Old Olympic Highway.

Of interest, organizers say, are antiquarian books, 200 volumes of Automobile Quarterly (a set), auto repair, Beatles memorabilia (including a book and vinyl) and more. Jigsaw puzzles will be buy one, get a second free.

Local author, journalist to honor veterans

Diane Urbani de la Paz, a local author and journalist, looks to honor veterans with a reading from her novel at the Nov. 10 Studium Generale program at 12:35 p.m. in Peninsula College’s Little Theater, 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd., Port Angeles.

Her new book, “All My Love: A Story of War and Hope,” is a work of narrative nonfiction and a parallel love story. In her Studium Generale program, Urbani de la Paz will talk about what led to the writing of the book — including a first date at a café in Port Angeles.

When the author’s date — now her husband, Phil Lusk — showed her a letter his dad had written to his new wife back in 1944, she was pulled into their true love story. She’s published this book about the legacy of veterans and the power of letter writing.

Urbani de la Paz has a master’s degree in journalism from the University of California-Berkeley. She has been a reporter at media organizations in Oakland, Calif.; Salt Lake City; Tacoma, and, since 2006, on the North Olympic Peninsula, including the Peninsula Daily News.

The event is free and open to the public. It will also be live-streamed via Zoom at pencol-edu.zoom.us/j/82308557946 (meeting ID 823 0855 7946).

Learning Our Landscape series continues

Dr. Julieta Martinelli of the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences at the University of Washington presents “Environmental Threats of the Olympia Oyster” at the next Learning Our Landscape series event, set for 3 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10, on Zoom.

Hosted by the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribal Library in collaboration with the North Olympic History Center, this presentation offers information about Ostrea lurida, the only native oyster species in the Salish Sea ecosystem.

The presentation will also explain more about the role of Tribal Historic Preservation Officer in handling federal, state, and local project reviews, as well as the various laws that drive these reviews.

Join the Zoom at tinyurl.com/2p92v6uj (meeting ID 868 7462 1760, passcode 275349). Or, get a link at library.jamestowntribe.org/home/ProgramsEvents.

For more information, contact Tribal Library Assistant Brandon Taft at 360-681-4632 or email to library@jamestowntribe.org.

Haller PTO winter plant sale

Helen Haller Elemenary School’s Parent-Teacher Organization is hosting a winter plant sale. Buy poinsettias and winter greenery for an easy decor option or quick gift, with funds helping support school programs throughout the year.

Go online to helenhaller.growingsmilesfundraising.com/home to order.

Orders need to be placed by Friday, Nov. 11. Plants will be available for pick up on Wednesday, Nov. 30.

Death Café events set

Sponsored by Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County, a Death Café event, “Tea to Die For,” is set for 4-5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 14, at the KSQM 9.15 FM’s community room, 609 W. Washington St.

A second discussion is set for 4-5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 23, in the craft room upstairs at the Port Angeles Senior Center, 328 E. Seventh St.

Tea, coffee and cookies will be served. The groups are free and open to all.

No Death Cafés are planned in December but will return in January, organizers say.

Conversations are held every second Monday in Sequim and every fourth Wednesday in Port Angeles. They are meant to foster relaxed and informal discussions surrounding death and dying and open to anyone curious or apprehensive about death.

For more information, call 360-452-1511.

Swan study in focus

Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society (OPAS) hosts “Swan Use of Lower Dungeness Habitats: The OPAS Swan Study,” at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 16, at the Dungeness River Nature Center, 1943 W. Hendrickson Road.

The event is free and open to the public.

Trumpeter Swans overwinter in the Dungeness agricultural landscape every year, and while local swan numbers are not as high as counties east of the Salish Sea, the OPAS swan team’s data offer a high level of detail and consistency, program organizers say.

With 11 years of swan surveys, the team has expanded the scope of this study beyond daytime counts of foraging swans.

Laura Davis is a landscape architect with special focus on the enhancement of ecosystem services in our human landscape, will offer insights into the winter sustenance these birds find and the local habitats used by the swans, including safe night-roosting.

Call 360-681-4076 or see DungenessRiverCenter.org for more information.

Veterans can enjoy lunch on VFW

Sequim’s VFW Post 4760, 169 E. Washington St. will host a free lunch for all veterans from noon-2 p.m. on Veterans Day, Friday, Nov. 11. Hot dogs and hamburgers will be served.

Applebees to honor veterans with meal

Applebees restaurants, including Sequim’s (130 River Road) will host a free meal for all veterans on Veterans Day, Friday, Nov. 11. See applebees.com/en/veterans-day for details.

Veterans, community invited to dinner

Members of Sequim Elks Lodge No. 2642 are inviting all United States Armed Forces Veterans to enjoy a dinner on Thursday, Nov. 10, at the lodge, 143 Port Williams Road. All veterans eat free of charge.

Doors will open at 4:30 p.m. for socializing, with a short program — including a guest speaker to honor veterans — at 5:30 p.m., and then a turkey dinner is served. The dinner includes salad and dessert.

Spouses and friends are invited to attend and can get a meal with a $15 donation, organizers said.

Proceeds go to the organization’s Sequim Elks Veterans Benefit Fund to assist local veterans.

For more information, call, 360-683-2763.

JAC event canceled

The Junior American Citizens’ Step Back in Time Fair set for Saturday, Nov. 12, at the American Legion Hall Post 62; has been canceled, organizers said.

For more information about JAC clubs, contact Marianne Burton at mtc1918jac@gmail.com.

Veterans appreciation meal set

Fairview Grange is hosting a Veterans Appreciation Dinner/Potluck at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 15, at 161 Lake Farm Road, Port Angeles. Veterans or active service members are not required to bring any food.

Those attending other than veterans or active service members, a potluck item is appreciated. Event organizers are providing pot roast and ham with fixings.

The event also includes a short ceremony.

For more information, call Patti at 360-461-9008.

Free forest day for veterans

The USDA Forest Service will recognize the service of America’s veterans by waiving standard amenity fees for all visitors to national forest and grassland day-use areas on Veterans Day, Nov. 11.

The Forest Service offers fee-free access a few times each year to encourage everyone to explore educational and recreation opportunities available on national forests and grasslands.

Early bird list for Tax-Aide service

Community members who want to get on a pre-appointment list for AARP Tax-Aide service in Sequim for 2023 are encouraged to contact Russ Fish at russfishk7ina@gmail.com or 360-452-6147 (voice mail only).