The
Olympic Peninsula Bluebill Flyer
December
2012 - January 2013 |
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BLUEBILLS
RECEIVE A "HOUSING HERO" AWARD
Bluebills
received a "Housing Hero" award at a
the second annual forum to
provide affordable housing and end
homelessness in Jefferson and
Clallam Counties. Marvin Segar
and Myron Vogt accepted the award
which was given for the work done in
Quilcene
by Bluebills and
other volunteers working with us.
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John
Hollister, Lynn Thompson, Jane
Laptad, Davis Steelquist,
Ann
Ricker, Wayne Sisco and Scott
Abbott
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The award
was presented to the Quilcene group
at a lunch where we also
discussed the 2013 initiative to
work with Habitat for Humanity in
their program to improve the community.
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CHRISTMAS
GIVING
For
eighth year in a row, The Bluebills
with help of the Port Ludlow Community
Enrichment Association (CEA), helped
make Christmas more enjoyable for
victims of sexual assault and domestic
violence in Clallam, Jefferson and
Kitsap Counties.
Each
year, the CEA held a silent auction to
support our Christmas gift program.
During the eight years, over $60,000
has been raised with the auction and
donations from Bluebills. These monies
have been given to Bluebills to shop
for gifts for individuals in the care
agencies caring for SA/DV victims.
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| Eline
Lybarger, Vicki Tallarico, Nancy
Leahy, and Larry Elton |
This
year, a very profitable silent auction
was held by the CEA on November 3rd
with logistic support provided by the
Bluebills. At our Christmas party held
on December 6th, "Christmas Wish
Lists" and money were distributed to
sixty three bluebills and friends to
go shopping for 135 individuals. On
December 14th the gifts were
collected, sorted and delivered to
five agencies. The agencies
participating were; Healthy Families
of Clallam County, The Dove House
(Jefferson County), YWCW-ALIVE Center
(Kitsap County), Kitsap Sexual Assault
Center, and Georgia's House (Kitsap
County).
The
Christmas gift program brought
happiness to 135 individuals who might
not have had a Merry Christmas and a
lot of satisfaction to the Bluebill
members,the agency workers, and the
CEA members and our families that
participated.
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Bluebill's
Christmas Social
(May take
a few seconds to load. A slideshow of
photos taken at the Christmas Social.)
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| Eline Lybarger,
Vicki Tallerico, Nancy Leahy,
and Larry Elton |
Other
available slide shows of photos
taken by Peggy Lee Flentie of
Bluebill Activities (click on
link below):
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New
Bluebill Initiatives for 2013
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| Barbara
Berthiaume |
Barbara
Berthiaume reports to the Bluebill
members and guest about the 2013
Projects
1.
Develop Healthy Families Support
Program Barbara Berthiaume
2.
Assist with furniture/furnishings
program
Improve
P.A. storage as needed
Hold
quarterly drives in Clallam County
Establish
process/organization to handle
donations
3.
Hold Healthy Families Benefit Golf
Tournament Michael
Graham
Will
be held at Sunland in Sequim
Scheduled
for late August
Develop
process and organization similar to
Dove House tournament
4.
Integrate Bluebill Fall Prevention
Program into Habitat Quilcene
Housing Improvement Program
Marvin Segar
Develop
process
Training
as necessary
Publicize
program
Track
metrics
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Bluebill's
Chair Report
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| Ken
Winter |
The
year 2012 was a year for more great
work accomplished by the Bluebills
of the Olympic
Peninsula.
We
have been busy as usual with the old
standbys such as ramps, grab bars and
Life-lines. Adding the Dove House has
opened up work for a lot of new Lady
Bluebills along with work for the
Builders. This program will be
expanded this new year.
Working
with Habitat for Humanities in the
Quilcene area will be a new
experience. Working with CEA on
the Book Sales, Silent Auction and
Christmas Giving are fun
programs for those Bluebills that
can't work as Builders.
This
new year will bring new
opportunities:
1.
Increase our membership in Kitsap
County,
2.
Work on bringing the hours reported up
and
3.
Add a Golf Tournament to Clallam
County.
The
leadership of our group is always
looking for new areas to help out, so
if you have any ideas please contact
one of the officers.
We
now need to find younger members to
learn what keeps us going. Your
present leaders have not gotten
any younger and most of us have been
with this group of Bluebills since we
started.
May
the New Year bring you all Happiness.
Ken
Winter Chairman
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THE IMPORTANCE OF SIMPLE
STEPS AND RAILINGS
It's not necessary to do
complex detailed work to help most
of our clients. What they often
need is simple steps and railings,
built to code, or they
now require help where none was
planned for. Here are a couple of
recent examples.
ACCESS FROM THE GARAGE
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| Photo 1 |
One of the most frequent
needs for improvement. The step or
two from the garage into the
house
seems to be the feature that is
put in for the builders and
never changed. No railing
(code doesn't
require them for these few steps),
and often random step
height. Picture 1 illustrate
this problem.
This woman comes into her
house 100% of the time from the
garage. When we were there we had to
help her up the steps and into
the house. So what's wrong?
The first step is about 6"
high, the second about 11".
(Code violation). There is no
handrail, which is usual, but
really needed in this case.
We put in new steps and
a handrail (Picture 1).
This is not really a stair. A
wooden beam was set on the ground as
the first step.
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| Photo 2 |
New steps were installed,
having equal height risers and
adequate depth. The step
surface is painted with a non-skid
paint. The handrail was added
to only one side because they could
not be convinced It would be
useful to have a handrail on both
sides (Photo 2).
INTERIOR STEPS
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| Photo
3 |
Split level homes and often
those who have converted a
garage to a family room
have to cope with the
change in levels. This is
usually only two or
three steps, which again do not
require a railing per code.
However when the client
needs all the help they can get to
get up and down these steps,
we get asked to put in a
handrail. In the case shown
in the picture, the stroke client
has only one good arm to
grasp the railing. For
that reason, it was necessary to
install the support in the center
of the stair so a handrail
could be put on each side.
This
railing was installed in the center
of the stairs so the client could use
his good hand either going up or
down (Photo 3).
Report
by Myron Vogt
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Dove
House Landscape Grant
 
The Bluebills received a $1000 Master
Gardener Landscape grant to
enhance the livability of the
Dove House grounds and work
will begin in the New
Year.
Two all day work parties
were organized to rid the property of
invasive vegetation so work could
begin. Betty Faukner and
Michael Graham each provided
lunches for the work party
volunteers.
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Bob
Reasoner Conducts Workshop for
Dove House
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| Bob
Reasoner |
Bob
Reasoner has written numerous
books, developed curriculum, and
conducted workshops and training
sessions in the US and as well as
internationally on self esteem. He
was a founder of Self Esteem
International and in retirement,
he is still
active in educating organizations,
communities, and Ministries of
Education all over the world.
Recently,
Bob conducted a workshop for Dove
House Volunteers, staff, and
affiliated agencies. Approximately
50 people attended Bob's
presentation on Personal Self
Esteem and hope to have a
follow-up presentation. Barbara
Berthiaume assisted Bob in the
workshop.
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Officers
and Program Chairs
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December
and January
Birthdays
December
Birthdays
Jane Ansley, 2nd
Pete Tallerico,
4th
Judy McKay 16th
Joan Zimmerman,
17th
Pat Webb, 22nd
Bill Harju, 31st
January
Birthdays
Michael
Peterson,1st
Kathi Traci,
13th
Ken Avicola,
14th
Larry Lang, 26th
Glenn Andrews,
30th
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January
Bluebills Calendar
- Thursday,
Jan 3 Leadership
team meeting-Bay
Club 3:00-4:00
- Tuesday, Jan
8- Leadership
Council
Meeting-Seattle
- Tuesday, Jan
8- Unload Food
bank
Truck-Tri-area
Community
Center-Chimacum
8:00-9:00
- Tuesday, Jan
8-World Vision
pick up in
Fife-9:00 (Goods
for Jefferson Co.)
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Bluebill
Projects for
2012
Christmas
Giving (purchasing
and distribution)
Builders
(ramps and grab
bars)
World
Vision
(collection and
distribution)
Dove
House (yard care and
golf tournament)
Food
Bank Services
(unloading supplies)
Building
Project
Accomplishments
during 2012
Built
new ramps 58
Installed
Grab bars 192
Installed
Railings
22
Built Steps
5
Home
Repairs 38
Installed
Chair/Sofa
risers 22
Installed
Lifelines 15
2012
Membership
Initiative
2009
2010
2011
2012
Number
of members: 138
148
144
176
Total
hours reported:
10008 7717
7072
11900
Members
reporting:
74
86
62
100
Percent
reporting:
53%
58%
43%
57%
New
Members:
14
16
10
34
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