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Central Vancouver, Minnehaha and The Heights

By Kim Jarvis
Published: November 12, 2009, 12:00am
10 Photos
Camas: Parent volunteer Rebecca Elwell, center, with kindergartners from Helen Baller Elementary School during a visit to the Camas Roots Garden's pumpkin patch.
Camas: Parent volunteer Rebecca Elwell, center, with kindergartners from Helen Baller Elementary School during a visit to the Camas Roots Garden's pumpkin patch. Photo Gallery

Central Vancouver, Minnehaha and The Heights

West Minnehaha: The Dogtober Fest hosted by DOGPAW on Oct. 24 at the Ross off-leash area attracted some 400 visitors for a day of doggie-themed fun, including a dog fashion show, a costume contest, doggie Olympics, adoptable dogs, vendors and free nail clipping. Dog Owners Group for Park Access in Washington, or DOGPAW, raised more than $2,000 for its dog parks and collected more than 150 pounds of dry dog food, a huge tub of canned food and treats as well as $47.50 in cash for the Second Chance Companions Animeals program.

Bagley Downs: Sixteen citizen volunteers graduated from the Vancouver Police Department’s Neighbors on Watch Academy Oct. 28. That brings to 54 residents, from 23 neighborhoods, the number of people who have taken the six-week course. They learned reporting skills, police radio communications and etiquette, the phonetic alphabet (“Alpha Bravo Charlie”), CPR, crime prevention information and other policies and procedures. Last year, NOW volunteers contributed just under 2,000 hours in eight months to law and order in the city of Vancouver.

Ridgefield and Fairgrounds

Ridgefield: A quarter-mile section of Gee Creek Trail has been completed by Vancouver-based home builder Pacific Lifestyle Homes. The new section of trail is within the Osprey Pointe neighborhood, cost close to $100,000 and took several months to construct after years of planning and permitting. The Gee Creek Trail is planned to run 3.5 miles along the Gee Creek corridor, connecting Ridgefield High School with the trail system located in the Carty Unit of the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. The opening of the trail was celebrated Nov. 7 at the trail head on South 13th Circle in the Osprey Pointe neighborhood and includes a large wood-plank bridge that spans a ravine.

North Clark County and Woodland

La Center: The city has really excellent soil — compost, that is. So excellent, in fact, that it was recognized as a runner-up in the 2009 Excellence in Biosolids Management Awards, announced recently at an October conference of the Northwest Biosolids Management Association in Blaine. Boulder Park was the winner, and La Center shares runner-up status with Port Angeles.

Woodland: The Woodland Mobile Meals service celebrated its 30th anniversary Nov. 1. The nonprofit was formed in 1979 to provide meals to people who are house-bound, unable to prepare meals for themselves or need to be checked on regularly. The group receives no money from federal, state, county or city programs; it relies on community support. Volunteers give time, fuel, stamps, paper and whatever it takes to keep the program running. Cake and coffee was served Nov. 2 at the group’s office space at Woodland Real Estate.

North Clark County and Woodland

Fargher Lake: Bianca Elmer and Heidi Zimmerman from Fargher Lake Grange handed out dictionaries Oct. 29 to third-graders in Dawn Shinn’s class at Green Mountain School. The Grange’s dictionary program is called Words for Thirds. “The kids were thrilled to have their very own dictionary to keep at their desks,” Elmer wrote in an e-mail.

Battle Ground, Meadow Glade and Hockinson

Battle Ground: More than 200 volunteers accomplished a number of community service projects Oct. 24-25 during the Battle Ground Cares weekend of service. Achievements included: filling a seven-ton dumpster with litter from around the city; planting 36 trees on West Main Street; planting more than 50 plants and shrubs in planters in Old Town Battle Ground; removing invasive blackberries from Central Park and the Woodin Creek area; applying bark dust to Old Town planter areas and in Central Park; power-washing a half-mile of sidewalk in Old Town; cleaning up the Old Town Scrapbook Mural on Andersen Dairy; collecting more than 800 pounds of food for the North County Community Food Bank. In addition, 26 people, including 13 first-timers, donated blood, which will serve 70 patients in need.

Hazel Dell, Felida and Salmon Creek

Salmon Creek: A special flag-lowering and memorial ceremony was held at Washington State University Vancouver on Nov. 4 to honor and commemorate the death of Chief Warrant Officer Niall Lyons. Lyons, from Spokane, was one of seven soldiers killed Oct. 26 when the MH-47 helicopter they were aboard crashed in Darreh-ye Bum, Afghanistan. The campus held the memorial because Sean Lyons from the science department is Niall Lyons’ brother. Members of the American Legion Honor Guard participated in the flag-lowering ceremony and presented Sean with the flag. A memorial fund has been established through Night Stalker Association for children of parents who have been killed in the line of duty. Lyons leaves behind an 8-year-old son. To learn more or make a contribution visit www.nsa160.com/scholarship_donors.htm.

Orchards, Sifton and Brush Prairie

Heritage: Members of the Navy Mothers Club of America, Club 518, recently packed 25 boxes for members of the military in Afghanistan and Iraq. The boxes were full of donations from club members and Campfire USA. The group, which meets on the third Tuesday of the month at the Washington Grange, will be sending boxes again later this month and would love donations. For information contact Wilma Bloss Walker at 260-260-2971.

West Vancouver and Downtown

Esther Short: The Girlfriends Half Marathon, organized by Sherri McMillan of Northwest Personal Training, raised $35,000 for the Susan G. Komen Foundation and attracted 1,500 participants Oct. 18. The 13.1-mile course started and finished at 11th and Broadway and passed through the Vancouver Farmers Market, the waterfront, Fort Vancouver, Pearson Field and Officers Row. The event got off to a start with an energetic warm-up with Richard Simmons. “I was so impressed with how well he can move! A big thanks to Brett and his team from Beige Blonde for flying in Richard for our event,” McMillan wrote on her Web site. Donita Jordan sang the national anthem, and Mayor Royce Pollard made a welcome address. “I think the best part of the Girlfriends Half Marathon is the spirit of the event. There were so many gals cheering each other on all day! It is just so special,” McMillan wrote.

East Vancouver, Cascade Park, Fisher’s Landing and Evergreen

Landover-Sharmel: The classified employees of Evergreen Public Schools held a “Stuff the Bus” fundraiser Oct. 24 at two locations in Vancouver to benefit Share, a nonprofit that provides services to the hungry and homeless. “We have felt the pain of job and hour losses and want to help others in our community who have as well,” said Debra Long, a classified employee at Silver Star Elementary and representative of the Stuff the Bus Campaign. More than 35 classified employees volunteered their time and managed to collect 784 rolls of toilet paper, 38 rolls of paper towels, 16 boxes of tissue, 275 pounds of toiletries and household cleansers, 23 boxes or bottles of laundry detergent, 7,422 pounds of canned food and 378 pounds of boxed or dry food items. District administrators donated $400 and Public School Employees of Washington, SEIU Local 1949 awarded the group a $500 grant to help pay for fuel for the buses, signs, printing of fliers and other miscellaneous items.

Bennington: More than 500 people started at Nautilus headquarters and walked an east Vancouver route Oct. 10 to raise awareness and money for the fight against diabetes. More than $70,000 was raised to support the American Diabetes Association’s mission: to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by it. There are nearly 24 million Americans, including more than 35,000 in Clark County, who have diabetes.

East Clark County: Camas and Washougal

Camas: The Camas Roots Garden recently hosted a series of visits from the kindergarten classes at Helen Baller Elementary. The students participated in a variety of activities, including learning about seeds, a pumpkin-themed read-aloud, drawing pumpkin and squash shapes and a scavenger hunt to look for things in the garden. Each class picked four pumpkins to take to their classroom for further investigation, including weighing and measuring them and estimating how many seeds they contain.

Camas: Camas High School’s ASB president, Hannah Jones, has been certified a national student leader by the National Association of Student Councils. Jones worked for more than a year on the certification process. She is the first student from CHS to complete the program.

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