Garden club hosts bonsai speaker
Sequim Prairie Garden Club will hold its monthly meeting at 10 a.m. Monday, Jan. 6 in Pioneer Memorial Park, 387 E. Washington St., Sequim with with Dungeness Bonsai Society member and Past President Ron Quigley speaking at 10:30 a.m. He will demonstrate his bonsai techniques with one of his Shimpaku junipers. He’ll be joined by Bonsai Society member Evan Miller, lostmountaindesign.com and remcarart.com.
A lunch and business meeting begin at 11:45 p.m.
Author speaks at Solana club meeting
Professional kayaker, stand-up paddler, photographer, and author Rob Casey presents his updated guidebook “Paddling the Salish Sea” at the Olympic Peninsula Paddlers’ meeting at 6 p.m. Jan. 8 in the Solana Clubhouse at 135 Solana Parkway, Sequim. The public is welcome to hear about his comprehensive guide that covers everything from the quiet inlets of the South Sound to the fjords, waterfalls, and local waterways around Vancouver, B.C.
Arts Commission offers sculpture workshop
The Sequim Arts Commission will offer a free “Whimsical Mechanical Sculpture” workshop, led by illustrator and mechanical sculpture artist Cecilia Olivera-Hillway on Saturday, Jan. 11 from 1-3 p.m. at the Guy Cole Event Center located in Carrie Blake Community Park, 202 N. Blake Ave.
Mechanical Sculpture, or Automata is a clever way to animate sculptures or three-dimensional art by utilizing simple cranks, gears, and other mechanical parts to create sculptures that move. Students participating in this workshop will learn about Automata and simple engineering practices to create their own moving sculptures out of cardboard and wood.
Materials, tools, and inspiration will be provided with hands-on instruction by Olivera-Hillway. No experience is necessary, and the workshop is open to ages 12 and up.
RSVP by sending an email to the City of Sequim Arts Coordinator Sarah Hurt at shurt@sequimwa.gov or call and leave a message to reserve your spot at 360-582-2477. Space is limited, so early reservations recommended.
Garden plots available at city memorial park
Applications are now open for gardeners to apply for a plot at the June Robinson Memorial Park community gardens. Plot rental is $45 per year for either a raised bed or ground plot and is dependent on availability.
Apply online at https://form.jotform.com/242966636801161 by Jan. 15. Contact Parks and Events Specialist Carrie Kann at ckann@sequimwa.gov or 360-582-2454 with questions.
Salmon Coalition seeks volunteers
The North Olympic Salmon Coalition and the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe seek volunteers to help plant native trees and shrubs along the Dungeness River from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Jan. 11, 2025.
RSVP for details on location and parking at nosc.org/events/. The event is family-friendly, organizers said.
Orientation begins at 10 a.m. and volunteers are free to leave as their schedule requires.
Tools and gloves will be supplied, though you are welcome to bring your own. Snacks and hot drinks will be provided. Bring warm, waterproof clothes, boots, and a lunch.
Staff said they look to improve water quality and create healthy habitat for the fish and wildlife. The agencies partner on the 2022 Caldero Project that resulted in the construction of a side channel on the Dungeness River that staff said created nearly 1,000 feet of critical off-channel habitat for salmon.
The event will conclude with a tour of the restoration project. Contact the Salmon Coalition with questions at (360) 504-5611 or outreach@nosc.org.
Volunteer Hospice hosts orientation
Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County (VHOCC) hosts in-person volunteer orientations for those interested in learning more about or volunteering with the organization. The first session is scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 7, at a location in Sequim to be revealed at the time of registration. A second orientation will be held Wednesday, Jan. 8, at VHOCC offices, 829 E. 8th St., Port Angeles.
Registration for both sessions is required by calling 360-452-1511 or emailing reception@vhocc.org.
Volunteers serve in a variety of roles such as front desk receptionist, in the organization’s lending closet or delivering medical equipment to patients’ homes. They can also serve at the bedside of hospice patients or offer grief support and spiritual care or handle various tasks in the office or at fundraising events.
VHOCC is a nonprofit serving Clallam County from Joyce to Diamond Point, and all its services are free. It provides end-of-life nursing care, loans, medical equipment and supplies and offers education programs, grief support groups, one-on-one bereavement services and practical workshops on life after loss.
To learn more about the nonprofit, call the organization at 360-452-1511, or visit its website at volunteerhospice.org or its Facebook page.
Soul Speaker Series begins Jan. 8
VHOCC kicks its 2025 Soul Care Speaker Series with “Shadow Work: The Parts of Ourselves We Don’t Always Acknowledge” online from 12:30-2 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 8.
Amy Wright Glenn, author, birth/death doula, yoga teacher and hospital chaplain, will explore why shadow work is important, especially for those called to hold space for life’s sacred threshold points like birth, death, and deep transformative change or loss.
During this interactive presentation, participants will be guided to consider pathways that support acknowledging, reconciling with, and/or integrating pain, disappointment, loss, envy, fear, failures, anger, all aspects of self often relegated to the subconscious yet essential to the work of holding space.
To register, visit volunteerhospice.org or call 360-452-1511.
For more information about Glenn, visit birthbreathanddeath.com.
VHOCC’s Speaker Series and other Soul Care programs are supported by the Albert and Helen Mangan Fund.
Fraud prevention event set at Adventist Church
Sequim Seventh-day Adventist Church, 30 Sanford Lane, Sequim, hosts a free fraud prevention seminar at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 12.
Organizers say it will focus on how to outsmart phishing expeditions, scams and identity theft attempts.
Port Angeles Police Department, Clallam County Sheriff’s Office, the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, and Neighborhood Watch will be presenters.
The event is sponsored by the Women’s Ministry of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. For more information, call 360-683-7373 or email to sequimadventists@sequimsdachurch.org.
Faith News: Fellowship holds New Year’s service
Olympic Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 1033 N. Barr Road, celebrates its annual New Year’s luminescence service on Sunday, Jan. 5 at 11 a.m. with service leader Dianne Whitaker facilitating the lighting of candles to reaffirm the fellowship’s shared values and beliefs. One can attend the service either in-person or via Zoom, with more information at olympicuuf.com.
