The Kitsap Humane Society is hoping for a chance be one of 50 animal shelters that gets to compete for $100,000 made available by the ASPCA.
But it depends on them getting enough votes…
So, if you’re interested in helping out, go to the website where you can vote, just once each day, from now until midnight Eastern time on April 15. The 50 contestants with the most votes will be announced April 18.
Brynn writes:
If you haven’t seen it yet, Poulsbo has its very own webcam overlooking Liberty Bay.
Actually it doesn’t belong to the city, it’s located on Longship Marine’s building (remember Lois Hillman and her venture into the marine supply world? I wrote about her back in May 2010).
Anyway, according Three Sheets Northwest, a sailing blog I follow, sailor Bruce Blumenstein is the mastermind behind the installation of the camera. He moved himself, and his boat, from Oregon and landed in Poulsbo’s Liberty Bay. After settling in, he decided he’d like to have an eye on his boat and thought of the idea to station a webcam overlooking the Bay so he, along with anyone else, could see what was happening in snapshots of real time.
Read about how the camera came to be over at the Three Sheets’ “On Watch” post.
The Long Ship Marine webcam joins the other livecam we often see referenced on the local weather stations, and of course at kitsapsun.com — Dr. Dale Ireland’s cam that overlooks Silverdale and the Olympic Mountains.
You may remember last week I posted about Rian Anderson who is set to have surgery this Saturday in Seattle for a tumor growing in her spine.
I heard from organizers who said tickets are still available for the cruise over to Blake Island’s Tillicum Village. They’re hoping to raise money to help Rian and her mother cover the medical costs associated with the surgery.
Here’s the link to my previous post that details the event and how you can purchase tickets. The boat leaves from Bremerton’s marina at 4:30 p.m., but people can show up at 4 p.m.
A fundraiser has been planned for a Seabeck teen scheduled for surgery March 29 to reduce the pain she is experiencing from a cancerous tumor growing in her spinal cord.
Kitsap Harbor Tours and Tillicum Village have joined to offer a special fundraising cruise March 26 focused on helping Rian Anderson, 19, and her mother Melinda pay for part of the surgery and recovery.
The evening starts at 4:30 p.m. at the Bremerton Marina. The historic Carlise II will leave the marina and head to Blake Island’s Tillicum Village for the traditional salmon bake meal and Northwest Coast Native American dance show. Wine, beer, softdrinks and additional items will be served onboard. Tickets are $125 and space is limited to 100 people.
The goal is to raise at least $10,000 for Anderson, whose medical insurance will cover 80 percent of the cost. A neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore who specializes in spinal cord astrocytoma, the rare form of cancer Anderson was diagnosed with at 13 years old, agreed to operate to help reduce the pain Anderson receives from a tumor intertwined with her spinal cord.
Anderson and her mother had originally planned to fly to Maryland for the surgery in April, but have since opted to have the surgery done in Seattle by Anderson’s neurosurgeon. The Johns Hopkins surgeon will consult on the procedure.
For more information about the event, to donate money or to purchase tickets contact Rick Leenstra, Jr., 360-204-0300, or e-mail rick.leenstra@atsid.com.
Brynn writes:
Well our Facebook crowd jumped into the mix of adding Silverdale slogans to the Kitsap Sun Facebook page, but only Sharon O’Hara has commented on the blog — thanks Sharon!
I’m posting some of the suggestions for a “fake” Silverdale slogan from Facebook here, but please, keep them coming (on the blog preferably so everyone else can see).
Here they are in no particular order:
Silverdale – The town that used to be little but is now nothing more than a mid-size mall and several strip malls
Silverdale – Sure it’s ugly but you have to go shopping sometime
Silverdale – Building bigger & better communities without bigger & better roads
Silverdale- Nothing open past 8pm
Silverdale – we may not be a real city, but that won’t stop us from having real traffic
Silverdale- Home of the outrageously overpriced undersized apartment (I can attest to this one!)
Silverdale- Because Poulsbo sucks more
Brynn Grimley writes:
OK folks, it’s time to have some fun. In case you haven’t noticed, Silverdale needs an identity. Well maybe not an identity, but local leaders from the Silverdale Chamber of Commerce and the Clear Creek Trail think it’s time to coin a phrase that best embodies Silverdale.
That’s why they’re asking the residents in Kitsap County to participate in a “Silverdale Slogan Contest” competition. A winner will be selected and honorable mention given for the best slogans submitted. The winning slogan will also be embossed on a newly designed “Welcome to Silverdale” sign that was recently refurbished along Silverdale Way at the north entrance into town. (Interestingly enough, longtime Silverdale resident Hank Mann-Sykes’ son built the sign as his Eagle Scout project back in the day).
The deadline for the contest is March 31 (at 11:59 p.m. to be exact for all you procrastinators out there). Suggested slogans should be emailed to Dionne (dionne@silverdalechamber.com) at the chamber, or the Clear Creek Trail (clearcreektrail@yahoo.com) folks.
Both organization’s board of directors will select the winning slogan and will announce it at the sign’s unveiling. The contest winner, the person selected for honorable mention and their guests will be special invitees at the chamber’s President’s Luncheon, April 27 at the Silverdale Beach Hotel. At the luncheon they’ll receive recognition from chamber President Angela Sell and prizes from chamber members.
The contest is open to all residents of Kitsap County and people of all ages.
While the chamber and trail folks are looking for serious entries, I figured we could have some fun with Silverdale slogans “not fit to print”. I don’t want anything inappropriate, but I’m sure people are dying for a creative outlet to share their not-so-serious Silverdale slogans. Think of it as a way to get the creative juices flowing for your “for reals” slogan submissions.
I’ll kick us off with some of the slogans I’ve heard (I take no credit for these, I’m not witty enough, trust me).
Silverdale: The city of boxes (think big box stores and the building architecture that looks like boxes)
Silverdale: Kitsap County’s Cash Cow
Silverdale, the city that isn’t
What are your ideas, I’d love to hear ’em.
Brynn Grimley writes:
For many of you, preparations are more than likely already underway for next week’s Thanksgiving feasts and festivities. But for those who haven’t yet bought the bird, or other ingredients for the meal, you might be interested in an event planned for Sunday on Bainbridge Island.
Bainbridge Island Vineyards and Winery is opening temporarily to be the location for one-stop, Thanksgiving dinner shopping. Everything from Bainbridge Island grown chickens and turkeys to island grown produce and wines will be available for purchase. Here’s details from a press release sent out by the EduCulture Project:
This Sunday, November 20, from 11a.m. to 5 p.m., Bainbridge Island Vineyards and Winery will be open for tasting and sales. Betsey Wittick will also be selling vegetables at Laughing Crow Farm and other farmers will also be selling seasonal locally grown turkeys and chickens. This is a great chance to bring home a special taste of Bainbridge to your Thanksgiving meal.
Proceeds from wine sales during these upcoming Sunday open houses will benefit our edible education programs at the farm. If you can, please stop by Day Road Suyematsu-Bentryn Farms this Sunday to pick up your holiday bird, vegetables and wine. Support local farmers! Support local food traditions! Support local farm-school programs!
The address of the winery is: 8989 Day Road East, Bainbridge Island. Phone: (206) 842-9463.
Brynn Grimley writes:
Don’t tell my husband I’m admitting this, but I was wrong. Yup, that’s right, I was wrong when I wrote a blog post back in May about Trader Joe’s not coming to Kitsap.
In my defense, I did follow up with a post the very next week saying that, well maybe Trader Joe’s really is coming to Kitsap.
For those who haven’t seen the paper, or been one of the 60-plus people to comment on the story online, business reporter Rachel Pritchett wrote yesterday that, Yes Virginia, there will be a Trader Joe’s in Kitsap.
A little background on why it’s been so tough for us to confirm whether the California-based specialty grocery store would in fact be coming to Kitsap. We started receiving calls from Trader Joe’s customers this spring saying the store was coming to Silverdale. These people learned this from employees of the Trader Joe’s stores that are peppered throughout the Puget Sound region. But, representatives from Trader Joe’s head office wouldn’t comment on those rumors — in some cases they never returned calls.
The only way we could get confirmation was to wait for permits to be filed with the county. That would give us official documentation that proved, on the record, that the store was coming to Silverdale. Thanks to our attentive readers, I arrived in the office Monday to find a handful of emails from people saying permits were filed with the county for Trader Joe’s — they found the permits by regularly checking the county’s building permit list.
We looked into it, and sure enough, the applicant name on the permit says Trader Joe’s. We still haven’t received confirmation from the company, but it sounds like that’s par for the course for Trader Joe’s headquarters. Reporter Steven Gardner sent me this link from CNN Money that was written in August about the “Secret world of Trader Joe’s.”
Here’s an excerpt from the article, describing one reporter’s attempt to talk with company leaders:
You’d think Trader Joe’s would be eager to trumpet its success, but management is obsessively secretive. There are no signs with the company’s name or logo at headquarters in Monrovia, about 25 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. Few customers realize the chain is owned by Germany’s ultra-private Albrecht family, the people behind the Aldi Nord supermarket empire. (A different branch of the family controls Aldi Süd, parent of the U.S. Aldi grocery chain.) Famous in Germany for not talking to the press, the Albrechts have passed their tightlipped ways on to their U.S. business: Trader Joe’s and its CEO, Dan Bane, declined repeated requests to speak to Fortune, and the company has never participated in a major story about its business operations.
You can read the full story here. (Warning: It’s long, but informative).
Based on the article, I’m guessing we may never get confirmation from Trader Joe’s corporate that they’re locating here until possibly opening day — which we still don’t know when that will be. Regardless, I know there are a lot of Trader Joe’s devotees out there who are pleased as punch that they will no longer have to take a ferry or pay the Tacoma Narrows toll to get their favorite TJ food items.
And I’m happy that we can finally put the Trader Joe’s rumors to bed.
Brynn Grimley writes:
Randy Peterson, member of the Clear Creek Task Force, walks the Clear Creek Trail on a weekly basis. He makes sure things are in place, vandalism is immediately removed, and keeps tabs on what’s going on. He then gives a trail update at the task force’s monthly meeting.
A few months ago that update included this simple statement:
“There’s a giraffe on the trail.”
You can imagine the looks he got.
Hiding among the six-foot tall grass, near the tree line at the start of the paved portion of the trail sits a giraffe.
Yes, giraffe.
The towering creature blends into the background, but there’s no need to do a double take, it really is there. If you stand just right in the tall grass and let your imagination go, you can almost feel the desert heat, smell the dust and animals and hear the call of Africa’s exotic animals.
“It’s down there on the savannah,” said Tex Lewis, Clear Creek Task Force volunteer. “We think it’s kinda neat. It’s kind of one of those mysteries.”
Lewis admitted with all the work he’s done on the trail, he hasn’t actually spotted the creature that stands close to 15 feet tall.
He’s not sure when it arrived, making the trail its new home. He thinks maybe a year ago, but Peterson thinks it migrated to the trail more around summer time.
Mary Earl, another Clear Creek Task Force volunteer, guessed the animal had been in its current location since spring.
More importantly, where did it come from? Was it stolen? Who would construct and paint an authentic looking giraffe and leave it in a field?
While some claim to know the answer, they aren’t naming names. But, they promise the animal is not stolen goods.
Peterson called the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office to see if anyone had reported a missing giraffe shortly after he spotted it on the trail. He also put an ad in the newspaper.
When nothing turned up, it was determined the giraffe must stay.
And why not, the volunteers ask.
Astute trail walkers have discovered it, creating a meandering path through the grass to see it up close. The giraffe has generated a lot of interest, Peterson said.
There’s also rumor that another African friend — an elephant — will join it soon.
“I think it’s kind of whimsical,” Lewis said. “Someone had a sense of humor.”
Brynn Grimley writes:
My favorite Weather 101 professor at the University of Washington is predicting a major wind storm headed for Washington’s coastline and the straits this weekend. Luckily for those of us in the Puget Sound region we’ll be protected. The most we’ll probably see is the predicted rain that is set to hit the area starting tonight.
But, for those of you who love a good fall storm and have time this weekend, maybe a trip to the coast is in order to watch the waves? I always love watching storms move in from offshore — it’s the shepherding in of the winter season.
For more of the technical details and maps of the surface charts that show the intensity of the fronts moving in, visit Cliff Mass’ Weather Blog.
