The Olympic Peninsula Bluebill Flyer
September 2012
In This Issue
September Birthdays
September Activities
Golf Tornament
At the Fair
Sequim Gazette Article
World Vision
Bremerton Ramp
 
September Birthdays

 
Dave Ditzler, 1st
Mike Brackett, 10th
Larry Elton, 13th
Tom Brotherton, 15th
Pat Traci, 26th
 

September Bluebill Activities

 

Thursday, Sep 6                Leadership Team Meeting-Beach Club 3:00-4:00

 

Friday, Sep 7                      Essential Supply Delivery to Clallam Co. Meet at warehouse at 9:00

 

Monday Sep 10                 Deliver goods to Dove House

 

Tuesday, Sep 11               Pick up goods at World Vision 9:00 in Fife

 

Tuesday, Sep 11               Unload Food Bank Truck-Tri-Area Food Bank 8:00-9:00

 

Tuesday Sep 11                 Central Leadership Council Meeting-Settle 10:00-11:00

 

Friday, Sep 14                    United Good Neighbor Day of Caring Port Townsend-See article

 

Tuesday, Sep 25               Pick up School Supplies at World Vision

 

Saturday, Sept. 29th

Dove House Golf Tournament

 
Back Packs for Kids 
Debbie Linner, Dove House; Sharon Commander and Heather Gilden

Dove House Benefit Golf Tournament

Jack and Sally Hirshmann look over the opportunities to play golf at the Bluebill Tournament.  Donna Jones and Valeria Vogt are in the background.
  
The First Annual Golf Benefit to support victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse will take place on Saturday, September 29 with a 12:00 pm shotgun at the Port Ludlow Golf Club. 
 

The tournament is hosted by the Olympic Peninsula Boeing Bluebills and the proceeds will go to Dove House in Port Townsend. 

 

The purpose of this golf tournament is to raise awareness and money for victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse. 

 

A number of local businesses throughout Jefferson County have stepped up to sponsor this event to make it a community-wide event. The entry fee for the general public is $80. Included in this price are green fees and carts, range balls, a buffet lunch, contests, raffles, one drink ticket, and ending with an awards ceremony. 

 

There is also a $10,000 hole-in-one prize for a lucky contender. For further information, contact Michael Graham at (360) 316-1126 or Matt Prichard, PGA, at 437-0272.

UGN Day of Caring Friday, September 14

 

The Bluebills are participating in the UGN Day of Caring by working at the Jefferson County Domestic Violence shelter in Port Townsend. The event is on Friday, Sept. 14. Volunteers from all organizations will gather in the area near the Port Townsend police station at 8:30 for pictures and tee shirts. Work starts at 9:00 and we should be done by 3:00. Bluebill volunteers can meet at the site in Port Townsend at 8:30 or at the Bay Club in Port Ludlow at 8:00, where we can car pool, if desired.  

 

Builders will be repairing the siding on the garage used for storing the items we donate. Material for the job has been donated by Hadlock Building Supply. Other volunteers will get the intrusive ivy out of the back garden, pull weeds, and get the ground ready for a Master Garden Grant Application that we are working on with Dove House to improve their landscape.

 

Bluebills will be providing lunch and have coffee and drinks available.

 

If you have any questions or need further information regarding the builders , please contact Myron Vogt at 437-4055 and for the landscaping, contact Barbara Berthiaume at 437-0423.

 

We will be sending out an email request for volunteers closer to the September 14 date. We can use as many as we can get. 

 

 

CEA SILENT AUCTION - 2012

 

Benefit for the Victims of Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse (VDVSA) in Clallam, Kitsap and Jefferson Counties will be held by the Community Enrichment Alliance (CEA) on Saturday, November 3, 2012  from 4:30 pm  to 7:00 pm, at the Bay Club located at 120 Spinnaker Place, Port Ludlow, WA. CEA is proud to announce that this is the 8th Silent Auction to be held in conjunction with the Olympic Peninsula Boeing Bluebills (OPBB).

 

The first year CEA contributed $400 to the OPBB to help in making a better Christmas Holiday Season for the VDVSA victims and their families. Each year, this number has increased dramatically and in 2011 CEA contributed  $11,000 to the Bluebills for their  Christmas Giving Program for VDVSA and  supported other programs they are involved in throughout the year. We are now planning for another silent auction; and CEA is again teaming-up with the OPBB to create another night of socializing, music, refreshments, and many wonderful donated items that will tempt you to make a winning bid.

           

The goal for 2012 is $15,000 and in the past the support has been from the Port Ludlow Community in Jefferson County.  However, if we are to reach our goal this year;  we need to request additional support from the communities in Clallam and Kitsap Counties.

 

How can you support and contribute to the auction?

  • Donate auction items (collectables)
  • Solicite group/organization baskets - certificates
  • Donate empty baskets
  • Deliver posters
  • Attend the Silent Auction

All donated items and empty baskets can be given to/or picked up by any OPBB or CEA volunteer. The deadline for donations is September 15th and donors will/can be given a tax deductible receipt for their records. Please contact the following individuals concerning donations/questions in the following categories:

 

Art: Teresa Forrest   437-1191

Filled Baskets: Marg Haverstick   437-2261

Gift Certificates: Mary Ronen       437-0268

Collectables: Myron Vogt               437-4055and Betty Faulkner       437-5037

 

If you are able to distribute posters to locate businesses in your communities during the  first week of  October, please contact Eline Lybarger  at 437-7701

 

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPOT

and

HOPE TO SEE YOU AT THE AUCTION

 

 

 

 

AT THE FAIR!

Bill Hullinger entertains a couple of visitors while

Michael Graham eats one of the "Caveman's" special

sandwiches.

Bluebills had a booth this year at the Jefferson County Fair. We are participating 
in more events to increase community awareness of our services and how they can help.

 

Especially important is community participation in two new programs we started this year:  Dove House Support and the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Golf Tournament.  In addition we are being more active in helping Community Enrichment Alliance (CEA) with their fund raising drives. 

 

This year our booth was in a pavilion with some of our partners, United Good Neighbor, ECCHO and  Dove House. Also there was Hadlock Building Supply, whom we deal will for most of our Jefferson County projects.

 

Our booth  focused on the Bluebill organization and programs, Fall Prevention and the upcoming  Golf Tournament for Dove House.  Here is a summary of the activity.

Gave away:  208 bottles of water, 6 sacks of candy, Dozens of Bluebill pencils, 130 Bluebill, Fall Prevention and Lifeline brochures

 

One hundred twenty three people signed up for the raffle prize. Eight people submitted membership applications

 

We had quite a bit of traffic considering the message we were giving.Perhaps the most frequent visitor was someone who stopped by to tell us "Thank you" for helping them, a relative, a neighbor, or an organization.

 

Special thanks to Donna Jones of Catholic Community Services, who provided the raffle prize, and to Valeria Vogt, who produced all the brochures, signs and banners.

 

And all the Bluebills who staffed the booth:

Michael Graham, Tom Conley, Bill Hullinger, Truman Thompson, Larry Elton, Gary and Jane Dotson Marvin Segar, Jack Hawker, Clint and Pat Webb

Dick and Vollea Ostlund, Valeria Vogt, Donna Jones

 

You simply cannot commit to do something like this without  knowing you can count on the help of a lot of members.

 

Thanks to each of you.

Myron

Bluebills are here to help

 

by MARK ST.J. COUHIG , Sequim Gazette 

Wed, Aug 22, 2012 

 

Volunteer Jack Hawker nails down the non-skid covering on a Bluebills-built ramp. The Bluebills are known for building ramps for those who have difficulty walking, but also provide additional good works.  

 

The Bluebills have migrated into Sequim and are looking to make a difference.

 

Bluebills is a Boeing-sponsored volunteer program that engages in a number of good works. One current priority is improving the safety of those living in Sequim, especially by reducing the number of falls that older citizens take.

 

Bluebills has 22 volunteers in town who are ready to provide an education on avoiding falls. They also can provide the manpower to install new safety equipment, if it's needed.

 

Marvin Segar, the project coordinator for fall prevention, said falls are one of the biggest safety issues for those 65-plus.

 

"Seniors fall 14 million times a year in the U.S. One in three has a fall every year," Segar said. "There are a lot of things we can do to help."

 

The service begins with a home visit to determine safety needs. Those needs may include new grab bars or railings on stairs.

 

"We go through the home to make sure they have a safe environment," Segar said, adding, "Bathrooms and garages are serious sources of injuries."

 

While the service is free, the requesting homeowner may be asked to pay for the materials. No one should hesitate to call, however, because the organization also has a number of sponsors it turns to for assistance in purchasing the materials.

 

Sometimes the biggest difference isn't made by what they add, but by what they remove from the home. "All throw rugs must go," Segar said.

 

The volunteers also can install at no cost a medical alert system, activated by a medallion worn on the neck or wrist. The Bluebills work with Phillips Lifeline, which provides the installation and education free. There is a monthly charge for the service.

 

The organization is looking for more volunteers. While Bluebills was started by Boeing retirees, and Boeing still supports the organization, anyone who wants to help can join simply by signing up. 

That doesn't mean you're ready immediately for field work. Training for volunteers is required. 

 

A little history 

The Bluebills started out by building ramps. These days they have expanded their line of services, including delivering school supplies to children and office supplies to nonprofits.

 

By partnering with World Vision, a do-good organization in Seattle, the Bluebills provide some 20 Clallam nonprofits - agencies, churches and schools - with quarterly deliveries of goods, from ballpoint pens to cleaning solutions. That includes the Forks schools, Parenting Matters, the Sequim Senior Activity Center, Serenity House and more.

 

Tracy Caldwell, operations manager of Healthy Families of Clallam County, said the "Bluebills help us by providing us with stock we can put in our shelters ... things like clothes, books, kitchen items. They also usually have an offering of office supplies, which helps us stretch our budget."

 

The school supplies are given directly to Title I schools,where at least 70 percent of students come from lower-income families.

 

Organizers say the Olympic Peninsula Bluebills provides opportunities for volunteers "to use their time, experience, skills and knowledge to work together to enhance the quality of life in their communities." 

To sign up for a home safety inspection, call Marvin Segar at 360-437-9514.

 

To volunteer, or to provide other assistance, call Eleanor Roden, membership chair, at 360-437-2354 (rodenem@olypen.com). 


BLUEBILL/WORLD VISION ESSENTIAL SUPPLY PROGRAM

 

We haven't said much about the Essential Supply Program recently, however it it continues as usual.  As a reminder, for convenience we have two Bluebill branches running this program. The Quilcene/Brinnon volunteers (Hood Canal Branch) service the organizations in Quilcene and areas further south along the Hood Canal.

 

Other volunteers take care of the remainder of Jefferson Count, Clallam County and Kitsap County.  Together we provide goods to nearly eighty schools, churches,

food banks and other organizations. To pick up goods at World Vision an organization must be a member of the program.

 

Memberships cost $300 per year. Bluebills represent 12 members, including ourselves.   We represent all 12 members and get four or five pickup truck loads of goods each month.

 

To keep the program going we need $3600 each October to renew memberships. Luckily, we are supported by organizations such as Community Enrichment Alliance, East Jefferson Rotary, Catholic Community Services, Brinnon Seniors, Lions of Quilcene, Masons of Quilcene,  Quilcenel/Brinnon Garden Club and individual Bluebills.

 

Thanks to all the volunteers who drive the 200 or so miles to pickup in Fife many more miles to deliver and those who spend hours each month running the two warehouses, coordinating members selections,  developing the delivery paperwork and loading/unloading goods. Because of them the program works.

 

 

This is the load of goods delivered to Olympic Community Action in July. There are 49 boxes and 102 different types of items. All were things selected

by OlyCap.  

Myron  

 

 

 

BREMERTON RAMP

 

Seems like we can't have and issue without a ramp

story. In this case an elderly woman was taking care of her brother, who was in a wheelchair. Three times a week he had to go to the hospital for dialysis. Somehow she was getting him down the steps and into the car, however

on one occasion he fell. 

 

We showed up to build this ramp on a day he was 

due to go to the hospital for his treatment.  We were able to get him out of the house and down the

steps but that was because four of us just carried him.

We couldn't see how his sister could ever moved him.

 

We finished the ramp by noon so it was ready when

he returned.

 

 The client's sister had to get him down these steps and into a car to go to regular treatment. 

 The ramp crew: Jack Rois, Tom Conley, Myron Vogt, Jack Hawker and Russ

Rousseau.  Photo by Michael Graham.

 

BREMERTON RAMP

Seems like we can't have and issue without a ramp

story. In this case an elderly woman was taking care of her brother, who was in a wheelchair. Three times a week he had to go to the hospital for dialysis. Somehow she was getting him down the steps and into the car, however on one occasion he fell. 

 

We showed up to build this ramp on a day he was  due to go to the hospital for his treatment.  We were able to get him out of the house and down the steps but that was because four of us just carried him. We couldn't see how his sister could ever moved him.

 

We finished the ramp by noon so it was ready when he returned.

The client's sister had to get him down these steps and into a car to go to regular treatment. 

 

 The ramp crew: Jack Rois, Tom Conley, Myron Vogt, Jack Hawker and Russ Rousseau.  Photo by Michael Graham.