NEWS BRIEFS: Friday reading gathers poets in Sequim . . . and other items
Published 12:01 am Tuesday, September 22, 2015
SEQUIM — Nurse practitioner Risa Denenberg and psychiatrist Al Phillips, both poets, are the featured writers for the next Fourth Friday Reading at The Lodge, 660 Evergreen Farm Way.
Admission is free to this gathering of readers and writers, and participants are encouraged to come early at 6 p.m.
Denenberg and Phillips’ readings will start at 6:30 p.m. at The Lodge, which is just off Fifth Avenue.
After these two writers finish, the microphone will open up for others to share five-minute readings of poetry and prose.
Anyone interested in reading is invited to sign in at the beginning of the evening; then names are drawn from the hat for the hour-long open mic section.
Denenberg, who cares for people at the Jamestown Family Health Clinic, also reviews poetry for the American Journal of Nursing.
A cofounder of Headmistress Press, she’s the author of several poetry collections, including Mean Distance from the Sun.
Phillips, a practicing psychiatrist in Sequim, is developing two projects: a memoir about growing up in the Great Depression and his struggles with attention deficit disorder and dyslexia, and an endeavor he calls “What My Patients Have Taught Me: The Life of a Psychiatrist.”
For more details about the Fourth Friday Readings and how to partake in the open mic, email Ruth Marcus at rmarcus@olypen.com.
Smoke testing
SEQUIM — The city of Sequim will resume sanitary smoke testing Thursday and Friday on Bell Hill between Doe Run Road and Carriage Drive.
Testing is also planned Sept. 29 and 30 on Broadmoor Street and Comfort Way and the Rolling Hills area.
Testing involves opening manholes and filling the sewer lines with simulated smoke.
Neighborhoods and individual properties affected by the testing will be notified in advance via door hangers and street signs.
Residents in affected areas should flush all toilets and run water down all sinks, tubs and laundry drains prior to the testing to prevent simulated smoke from entering their buildings.
There is no need for testing crews to enter any homes or buildings.
During the tests, residents may see smoke coming from vent stacks on buildings or from holes in the ground such as manhole covers, storm drains and building foundations.
The smoke has no odor, is non-toxic, non-staining, does not create a fire hazard and will dissipate in a few minutes, according to the city.
If residents see smoke in their buildings, they should ventilate the premises and contact a plumber as there may be a leak in their system, officials said.
Homes and businesses where individuals with respiratory problems or mobility limitations should contact the city before testing commences.
For more information, contact Pete Tjemsland at 360-683-4908 or sewersmoketest@sequimwa.gov.
If you experience smoke in your house or from vents in your home and did not have a flier on your door or street sign visible on your block, call 9-1-1.
Registration deadline for grief workshop is today
PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson Healthcare Hospice is offering two different grief workshops this fall.
First is a six-week Grieving a Death Workshop, which is open and free of charge to anyone in Jefferson County who has experienced the death of a loved one.
The workshop begins Sept. 29 and meets from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on six consecutive Tuesdays through Nov. 3.
The workshop meetings are held in the Jefferson Healthcare conference room, located on the third floor at 2500 W. Sims Way.
Each session builds on the one before with a focus on grief education, coping skills, journaling, art and ritual as tools of healing and group sharing.
It is designed for those wanting to do concentrated work on understanding and coping with their grief in a safe and confidential small group setting.
Workshop participants must pre-register and commit to attending all six sessions.
Attendance is limited to eight people.
Registration deadline is Sept. 22.
A second day-long expressive meditative and arts workshop, titled “Contemplative Approach Mindfulness and Collage Making as Healing Tools,” is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 17, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Co-Lab Conference Room, 237 Taylor St.
It will be taught by Soul Collage facilitator and grief group facilitator Carolyn Cristina Manzoni, who is also a hospice/bereavement volunteer for Hospice of Jefferson Healthcare.
Participants must pre-register by Oct. 12 and pay a $10 nonrefundable workshop supply fee.
Attendance is limited to 10 participants.
To register for these workshops, phone 360-379-9661 during regular business hours.
Detailed information can be found at www.JeffersonHealthcare.org/griefsupport.
