Community news briefs — March 15, 2023

Anglers set monthly meeting for March 15

Members of the Puget Sound Anglers-North Olympic Peninsula Chapter host an open-to-the-public general meeting on Wednesday, March 15, at the Sequim Elks Lodge, 143 Port Williams Road.

People start gathering at 6:30 p.m. and the meeting starts at 7 p.m. The speaker is John Beath, owner/operator of SquidPro Charters and a chapter member. Beath will give an overview of his charter operations, techniques he uses to get his clients their fish, and how attendees can use his ideas.

Members will also have a short business meeting, fishing reports and raffle drawings following Beath’s talk. Raffles are for members only, though attendees can join at the meeting to participate in the raffle. An annual individual membership is $25 and a family membership is $35. The membership includes The Reel News monthly newspaper.

OPAS meeting on tap

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The Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society meets at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 15, at the Dungeness River Nature Center, 1943 W. Hendrickson Road. The program is free and open to the public.

Kyle Spragens, Waterfowl Section Manager with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, will present “Why Washington Matters to Waterfowl.” He will share a variety of reasons, why ducks, geese and swans rely upon Washington’s waters and wetlands every year, are often taken for granted or unnoticed. Using insights and stories from projects across the Pacific Flyway, attendees will come away with a deeper appreciation and the urge to take a longer look at these migratory masters of the marsh, event organizers said.

Spragens serves as technical liaison to the Pacific Flyway Council. His adventures with waterfowl span from the Canadian Arctic tundra to fishponds in Hong Kong’s Pearl River Delta, including six years as a wildlife biologist for the U.S. Geologcal Survey-San Francisco Bay Estuary Field Station, and three years as Senior Waterfowl Biologist for the USFWS-Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge in Bethel, Alaska.

He builds partnerships across the Pacific and East Asian-Australasian Flyways, addressing issues of nesting waterfowl, migration chronology, sea-level rise impacts to migratory bird habitats, and spatio-temporal dynamics of habitat use.

Guild’s thrift shop is open this week

The Sequim Dungeness Hospital Guild Thrift Shop, 204 W. Bell St., will be open from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Thursday-Saturday, March 16-18. The shop will feature an extensive collection of scrapbooking and paper art along with a variety of clothing and other offerings. Shop volunteers are restocking more items everyday.

All proceeds are donated to local medical needs, including Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County, Sequim fire department emergency medical technician (EMT) needs and Peninsula College nursing students scholarships.

Donations are welcomed, and are accepted between 10 a.m.-1 p.m. each Monday and Tuesday, and days the shop is open.

The organization is also seeking guild members and thrift shop volunteers. Get more information at the shop, or online at facebook.com/profile.php?id=100050779792417.

Free legal aid clinic scheduled for March 25

The Clallam-Jefferson County Pro Bono Lawyers present a virtual legal aid clinic, a free program offering legal advice for members of the public from 10 a.m.-noon on Saturday March 25.

The clinic, to be offered via telephone or on Zoom, is geared to help those who are financially unable to otherwise access a lawyer. Attorney volunteers will be available to answer legal questions pertaining to civil matters, direct people to local services that might be able to assist them, and to explain the legal process to them.

Clients must pre-register for this event by calling 360-504-2422 or by emailing to probonomary@gmail.com no later than

Thursday, March 16. Once registered, additional directions for the event will be provided.

Attendees are also encouraged to have relevant legal documents with them during consultation(s).

For more information, contact Shauna Rogers McClain at 360-504-2422 or probonolawyers@gmail.com, or Mary Margolis at 360-504-2422 or probonoMary@gmail.com.

Sequim Wheelers to host open house Saturday

Sequim Wheelers, a nonprofit adaptive bike program, invites community members to learn more about the organization at an open house set for 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, March 18, in the parking lot at the Dungeness River Nature Center, 1943 W. Hendrickson Road.

Attendees can check out the organization’s fleet of bikes, chat with Sequim Wheelers team members and learn about how to volunteer.

Training for volunteers starts in April and, based on the weather, facility and individual rides begin in May.

As a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, Sequim Wheelers relies on the generosity of individuals, sponsors and grants to keep their program going. Donations can be sent to: PO Box 276, Carlsborg, WA 98324. Or, at sequimwheelers.com.

For more information, call 360-591-3200, email to sequimwheelers@yahoo.com or visit sequimwheelers.com/volunteers.

PC offering Zero-Cost, Low-Cost classes

Peninsula College students will be able to search for classes based on the cost of textbooks and course materials beginning spring quarter, PC officials noted in late February.

Through a grant from the Department of Education, several of PC’s instructors have expanded the number of classes using Zero-Cost and Low-Cost materials to make college more affordable for students.

Low-Cost classes require students to purchase textbooks or materials that total $50 or less. Zero-Cost classes will not require students to purchase any textbooks or materials for classes; instead, these classes use course materials like Open Educational Resources (OER), which are freely available on the web. Tuition, fees, and the quality of instruction remain the same.

To celebrate these efforts to improve access and affordability, PC will be participating in Open Education Week from March 6-10. Students can participate in a variety of activities on campus to learn more about OER and Zero-Cost materials while celebrating their savings, PC officials said.

For more information, visit pencol.edu/lowcost.

Meditation open house scheduled in April

Stillpoint Meditation Circle host an open house from 12:30-3:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, April 1 and 2, at 925 N. Sequim Ave. Men and women are welcome.

Call 360-477-3140 for more information.

Local office open to help disabled veterans

The Disabled American Veterans (DAV) office in the Worksource building, 810 W. Brackett Road, is open 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. every Wednesday to serve veterans who are needing help with claims or other information.

Services are free and veterans do not have to be members of DAV to receive assistance.

The office is by walk-in; no appointment is necessary. Masks are required upon entrance.

For more information, call 360-775-6482.

City seeks input about bicycle riding

The City of Sequim is seeking input on local bicycling as part of the renewal application for Bicycle Friendly Community status from the League of American Bicyclists.

The survey, conducted by the League of American Bicyclists, is available through April 5, and will help to provide better understanding of the bicycling experience in Sequim. To participate or view the survey, go to surveymonkey.com/r/BFC_Spring23 to complete the survey. A Spanish language version is available at surveymonkey.com/r/SequimWA_BFC23esp.

The City of Sequim was first named a Bronze level Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) by the League of American Bicyclists in 2014. The Bronze designation recognizes Sequim’s commitment to improving conditions for bicycling through investment in bicycling promotion, education programs, infrastructure and pro-bicycling policies, city representatives said.