Cemetery District
The King County Cemetery District’s next regular board meeting will occur at 1 p.m. Wednesday, May 8, in the District’s office at 19631 Singer Rd. SW.
Senior Center
The following activities will take place at the Vashon Senior Center, at 10005 Bank Rd SW.
A watercolor class will be held from 2-4 p.m. Thursday, May 9. Bring supplies.
Bruce Haulman, of Vashon Heritage Museum, will give a talk at 1 p.m. Friday, May 10, in honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, describing the contributions of islanders with this heritage.
The Threshold Choir will also offer “song baths” to all who would like to receive this musical gift from 2-3 p.m. Friday, May 10. Ask choir members about their offering of private sessions in islanders’ homes.
Vashon Island Fire & Rescue first responders will be on hand to offer free blood pressure checks at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 15. The same day, at 12:45 p.m., Vashon’s poet laureate, Margaret Roncone, will lead a “Word Play” session — offering a writing prompt to those who participate.
Join a field trip to VIVA’s Art Studio Tour on Saturday, May 11. Meet at the Center at 9:30 a.m. and then be escorted in comfort to five studios, with a stop in town for lunch. Bring money to pay for lunch. Member cost is $10, $15 for non-members. Call 206-463-5173 to sign up.
World Migratory Bird Day
The Vashon Bird Alliance will celebrate the 31st annual World Migratory Bird Day on Saturday, May 11, with several activities and events on Vashon Island, each free and open to the public.
Bird walk: From 8 to 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 11, Brendan McGarry, development and communications coordinator for the Great Peninsula Conservancy, will lead a bird walk at the Land Trust’s Judd Creek Preserve. To register and to learn where the walk will begin, please email Sylvia Soholt at sylvia@sylvansanctuary.com.
Work party: Because birds need habitat, the Vashon Bird Alliance will also host a restoration work party from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 11, at the Land Trust’s Paradise Valley Preserve. All are welcome. Meet at the Judd Creek Loop Trail trailhead on the east side of 111th Avenue S.W. in Paradise Valley. Parking is along the road. For more information, email Jim Evans at frangula11@gmail.com.
Lecture: Dr. Ursula Valdez, a lecturer at the University of Washington Bothell and a tropical ecologist who has extensively studied birds of prey in Peru, Ecuador, and Panama, will give a talk about her work. The discussion, titled “Birds of the Amazon: Ecological research, education, and conservation in the Southeast Peruvian Amazon,” will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 11, at the Land Trust Building.
Film: At 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 14, the Bird Alliance will host the award-winning documentary, “Winged Migration,” at Vashon Theatre. The film, shot over three years on all seven continents, documents the epic migration of birds.
Day of Exile Commemoration
Several Vashon organizations will present a Day of Exile commemoration at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 19, at Ober Park.
The Day of Exile commemorates May 16, 1942, when armed soldiers forced 111 Japanese American residents of the Vashon-Maury Island onto trucks outside Ober Park. They were ultimately scattered into seven of the nine West Coast concentration camps, which shattered the Vashon Japanese American community.
Only about a third of the population of Vashon who were forcibly removed returned.
Their eviction came after President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which authorized the forced removal and incarceration of persons of Japanese Americans in the West Coast Exclusion Zone.
The commemoration on May 19, presented by Mukai Farm & Garden, Vashon-Maury Island Land Trust, Vashon Heritage Museum, Vashon Library, Vashon Park District, and Puget Sound Zen Center, will include an artist talk by Miya Sukune, and the announcement of a year-long campaign to install a permanent sculpture at Ober Park — the assembly site for the displacement and mass incarceration of the island’s Japanese American residents.
Islanders can also join Brown Briefly hosts Craig Beles, Amy Drayer, Bruce Haulman, Kevin Jones, and Truman O’Brien, at 11 a.m. Tuesday, May 14, on Voice of Vashon (VoV) 101.9 FM or streaming live at voiceofvashon.org, when the show’s guests will be islanders Rita Brogan, Joe Okimoto, and Meredith Yasui, discussing the Day of Exile commemoration.
PSE Wildfire Open house
Join Puget Sound Energy (PSE) at a wildfire open house event, held between 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 14, at Vashon Center for the Arts. Learn about wildfire prevention, how energy customers can prepare for wildfire season, and power outages in general at the event.
Community Council
Vashon-Maury Community Council’s next meeting with take place from 7-9 p.m. Thursday, May 16, at the Land Trust Building and on Zoom. To attend remotely, access the Zoom link found on v-mcc.org/event.
Topics discussed at the meeting will include Puget Sound Energy’s Tree Wire Project, Community Heritage Trails, and Vashon Fire & Rescue’s community risk reduction program.
Steve Hall celebration and field renaming
There will be a public celebration of islander Steve Hall’s life at 1 p.m. Sunday, May 19 at the Vashon High School baseball field — which will also be officially renamed on May 19, from the James Martin Field to the Martin-Hall Field, to jointly honor both beloved local coaches.
Everyone is invited to come in their best baseball attire, bring a lawn chair, and prepare to watch some great baseball. There will be alumni baseball games, T-ball games for kids, as well as great stories and remembrances of Hall — a remarkable islander and inspirational head coach. Hall died on March 1.
Know anyone who would like to play in the alumni game? Email Chesterpruett@gmail.com for information.
A scholarship, the “Coach Hall Swing for the Fences” award, has also been established through the Vashon Community Scholarship Foundation. Donations can be made at vashonscholarships.org.
Kids’ Trout Derby
The Vashon Sportsmen’s Club will host its annual Kids’ Trout Derby at 12 p.m. Sunday, May 19, at the club, located at 19720 Singer Rd SW. Sign-up starts at 11:30 a.m.
Free and open to all island children 12 and under, the Derby offers fun for the whole family and a chance to picnic and enjoy an afternoon at the club pond. In addition to the fishing contest and the opportunity to win new fishing gear, the club serves up hot dogs, chili, pop and water, all at reasonable prices.
Island singer/songwriter John van Amerongen will emcee the event and provide live music along with his usual wit, stories, and humor.
All children must be accompanied by an adult. Participants should bring their own trout gear and bait. No dogs, please.
Directions to the club: from Vashon Highway, drive west on Cemetery Rd, turn left at Singer Rd. and enter the club gate on the left. For more information, contact Jim Chun at vscinfo47@gmail.com.
Where the Water Begins
King Conservation District invites all to attend a free day of learning and beach walk, from 9-3 p.m. Friday, June 7, at Camp Sealth.
Learn more about natural forces that impact marine shoreline properties of King County. The morning class session will provide participants with an opportunity to learn about ecological, geological and vegetation management issues associated with shoreline properties. After lunch, walk the beach to see the principles discussed in action. Register and find out more at tinyurl.com/mupu46xa.
