Club speaker to talk backyard birds

At the next Sequim Prairie Garden Cub meeting on Monday, Sept. 9, hear from Christie and Marc Lasssen of Wild Birds Unlimited in Gardiner who will talk about “Helping birds out in your backyard.”

The meeting, held in the clubhouse at Pioneer Memorial Park, 387 E. Washington St., kicks off at 10 a.m., with the program at 10:30 a.m. and lunch and business meeting at 11:45 a.m.

The Lassens have owned Wild Birds Unlimited in Gardiner for the past 22 years. They will talk about the four elements of creating a backyard wildlife habitat, products to help do that, year-round hummingbirds, and prepping for winter feeding.

Guild’s thrift shop to be open

The Sequim Hospital Guild Thrift Shop at 204 W. Bell St. will be open 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Thursday- Saturday, Sept. 5-7. New items are stocked daily.

Donations are accepted from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays, when the shop is open for business.

The guild also welcomes new volunteers.

‘Project Lifesaver’ in spotlight

Join Sequim Bay Yacht Club members at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 11, for its general meeting presentation by Linda Spreine of the Sequim Police Department, in the upper floor meeting room at John Wayne Marina, 2577 W. Sequim Bay Road. The public is welcome.

Spreine’s topic is “Project Lifesaver,” a technology that was developed to help law enforcement locate people who tend to wander due to Alzheimer’s, dementia, autism and traumatic brain injury.

Spreine will demonstrate the waterproof transmitter bracelet that clients wear explain the police department’s receiver equipment to track the client’s specific frequency and location.

Community Ed choices at PC

With fall just around the corner, it’s time to get creative and learn some new skills with Community Education classes at Peninsula College. This season, program organizers are bringing back all favorite classes and introducing new ones.

Spin into pottery, stained glass and welding. Explore languages like Spanish, American Sign Language or Japanese. Strum a classical guitar, pen a own screenplay, or shimmy into belly dancing. Learn more about yoga, meditation and healing salves and balms. Craft needle-felted gifts, bead a bracelet and brew some fire cider. Develop a business plan, get investments and retirement on track, and boost office skills with Python and Excel.

Visit pencol.edu/ce to learn more and register.

ONF campground closures begin

Officials announced seasonal annual campground closures across the Olympic National Forest started Sept. 3.

The Dungeness Forks Campground closes Monday, Sept. 23.

In the Dosewallips area, the Falls View Campground closed Sept. 3 while the Seal Rock Campground will close Sept. 15.

The Collins Campground, in the Duckabush area, is currently closed due to the 2620 Road Fire response. The Klahowya Campground near Forks closes Sept. 16. Lena Creek Campground closes Sept. 10 while the Hamma Hamma Campground closes Oct. 16.

Closing dates are subject to change; visit the ONF Recreation Conditions Report at fs.usda.gov/recmain/olympic/recreation, follow on social media, or call a forest office (full listings at fs.usda.gov/contactus/olympic/about-forest/contactus) before going on a camping trip to verify availability.

Caregivers class set

“Powerful Tools for Caregivers,” a class that helps those who care for a loved one also take care of themselves, will start Tuesday, Sept. 10, at Trinity United Methodist Church, 100 S. Blake Ave.

The class will meet from 10-11:30 a.m. on six Tuesdays, ending Oct. 15. The only cost is $30 for the textbook.

Topics include how the caregiver can reduce personal stress, deal with emotions, solve problems, communicate effectively with other family members, make difficult decisions and use community services.

The class does not focus on hands-on care for the care receiver.

Pre-registration is required and may be done by contacting class leaders Judy Croonquist at 360-582-1370 or Barbara Parse at 360-683-2113.

Shred event slated for Saturday

Kitsap Bank is partnering with the Sequim Food Bank to host a shred event from9 a.m.-noon on Saturday, Sept. 7, at Kitsap Bank’s Sequim branch, 1320 W. Washington St.

Participants must make a monetary donation to get documents shredded, with a maximum of 75 pounds of shred per vehicle.

All donations raised at the event goes to support the Sequim Food Bank.

Soul Care series continues Sept. 11

Malynda Cress, an end-of-life educator and speaker, will present “Listening to the Unresponsive Dying” as VHOCC’s next Soul Care speaker in an online presentation set for noon-1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 11.

The talk is free, but registration is required.

Cress will use her experience as a certified hypnotherapist, end-of-life doula, reiki master, and her more than 10 years as a hospice volunteer to lead a discussion on who the unresponsive dying are, how to help them transition and how to be a mindful presence for unresponsive individuals.

To register, go to bit.ly/SoulCareCress, email to reception@vhocc.org or call 360-452-1511.

For more information about VHOCC, visit its website at volunteerhospice.org.

Genealogy group has featured speaker

Clallam County’s Genealogical Society will gather for a brief meeting and “Ancestry Pro Tools: Not Just for Professionals,” a program featuring speaker Claudia Breland, starting at 9:45 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 14, at the society’s Research Center, 403 E. Eighth St., Port Angeles, and on Zoom.

There is no cost to join us for the meeting and program. Participants are asked to arrive or Zoom in around 9:30 a.m. To hear the program on Zoom, get passcodes and a syllabus from the society by calling 360-417-5000 or emailing to askus@clallamcogs.org.

Earlier this year, Ancestry.com rolled out an additional fee-based service called “Pro Tools.” This service includes charts, reports and analysis of family trees to discover duplicates and errors. And most useful to all of those working with DNA, the program will include analyses of shared matches and how much DNA they share with each other.

In her presentation, Breland will discuss how to use this new and powerful tool.

Breland is a professional genealogist since 2008, and has been involved with genealogy for 50 years. She has a master’s degree in library science. She teaches classes, lectures, and has written several books and articles.

Death Café set

Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County will host a Death Café group discussion, with the purpose of demystifying death and dying, from 4-5:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 9, in the KSQM 91.5 FM community room, 609 W. Washington St.

The groups are free and open to all and do not require prior registration.

Conversations are held every second Monday in Sequim and every fourth Wednesday in Port Angeles.

For more information, call VHOCC at 360-452-1511 or visit volunteerhospice.org.

Toy show returns to Guy Cole Center Sept. 14

The Olympic Peninsula Toy and Collectibles Show returns for a second year from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14 in the Guy Cole Event Center in Carrie Blake Park, 144 N. Blake Ave.

The event includes dozens of vendor tables selling a wide variety of vintage toys and collectibles from action figures to robots to Barbie to Hot Wheels to memorabilia.

Admission is free. Vendor registration is available at peninsulatoyshow.com.