PORT ANGELES — A Revitalize PA/Downtown Business Watch meeting is planned at The Landing mall, 115 E. Railroad Ave., from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. today.
The public is welcome.
The group will focus on a new approach to crime prevention, public safety and community involvement and improvement.
The “Community-Oriented Policing (COP) and Neighborhood Empowerment” approach empowers neighborhood watch groups to harness the power of working as a team with all the county and city public safety agencies and departments, according to a news release.
Shellfish operation
SEQUIM — A forum by environmentalists on a proposed Dungeness shellfish operation will take place at the Dungeness Schoolhouse, 2781 Towne Road, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
Admission is free and open to the public.
Laura Hendricks, Coalition to Protect Puget Sound; Trina Bayard, Bird Conservation for WA Audubon; Maradel Gale, Bainbridge Alliance for Puget Sound; and Jim Brennan, marine habitat specialist, will discuss implications of the proposed Taylor Shellfish Farms geoduck operation on 30 acres of Dungeness tidelands.
For more information, contact Darlene Schanfald at 360-681-7565 or darlenes@olympus.net.
Blood supplies low
SEATTLE — Puget Sound Blood Center is asking for blood donations to expand supplies, saying it has critical shortages it hopes to fill by Jan. 24.
“With schools out and holiday activities over several weeks, we saw the number of blood donors fall by 20 percent,” said David Leitch, director of donor and volunteer resources for the blood center, which serves 14 counties in Western Washington.
The center has an acute shortage of platelets and O-negative red cells — the blood type that can be given to patients with any other blood type.
Donors of all blood types are welcome.
For information on how to donate, click on http://schedule.psbc.org or call 800-398-7888.
Bring Your Own Art
PORT ANGELES — Artists of all ages and backgrounds are invited to enter work in Bring Your Own Art, the biannual show at Studio Bob, 118½ E. Front St., this weekend.
Submissions will be accepted between noon and 7 p.m. Friday at Studio Bob.
To participate, bring in up to three works, along with the titles, artists’ names and contact information, and a bit about the art and its maker.
The entry fee is $5 per piece, and more information can be had by phoning Stokes at 415-990-0457.
The Bring Your Own Art display will open at Studio Bob with a free reception from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday.
Art Blast
PORT ANGELES — The Art Blast, a free event held once every quarter at the Port Angeles Library, will bring a display of local artists’ work plus jazz songstress Robin Bessier’s music into the library’s front “living room” Friday.
This event, also featuring refreshments and limited library services, is free to the public.
The art reception will start at 6:30 p.m., then Bessier and her band will step up to play from 7 p.m. till about 8:30 p.m.
The library is at 2210 S. Peabody St., while more information about the Art Blast is available by phoning 360-417-8500.
Poets to read
PORT ANGELES — Tim McNulty of Sequim, Alice Derry of Port Angeles and Robert Pyle of Grays River will get together for a rare three-way reading in the Raymond Carver Room at the Port Angeles Library, 2210 S. Peabody, this Friday.
Admission is free to the 7 p.m. poetry reading, which will highlight Pyle’s new book, Evolution of the Genus Iris.
Copies of it will be available for purchase.
For information, phone the event sponsor, Port Book and News, at 360-452-6367.
Grief support
PORT ANGELES — Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County is taking registration for a six-week grief-support group series planned from Jan. 19 to Feb. 23.
The group will meet from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. each Monday at Hospice House, located directly behind the main office at 540 E. Eighth St.
The program is free and open to the public. Registration is required, as group size is limited.
The hospice provides free services to terminally ill patients and their families.
For more information about grief-support groups or to register, phone the hospice office at 360-452-1511. The website is www.vhocc.org.
Screening, talk of film set Friday
PORT ANGELES — The Peninsula College Upward Bound program will screen the documentary film “Underwater Dreams” on Friday along with a panel discussion led by Upward Bound students and hands-on activities with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, the Feiro Underwater Robotics Club and more.
Admission is free and open to all.
The evening will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Little Theater with the documentary, which tells the story of two high school science teachers from a Title 1 school who entered an underwater robotics competition sponsored by NASA and the Office of Naval Research, among others.
According to a news release, “only four students signed up, sons of undocumented Mexican immigrants. Undeterred, the teachers and students forged ahead, calling oceanic engineers and military contractors for design help.
“Short on funds, the team of four purchased PVC pipe and duct tape, and made history.”
For more information, phone the Upward Bound program at Peninsula College at 360-417-5694, visit www.feiromarinelifecenter.org/ROV or phone 360-417-6254.
Reading contest
From Port Angeles and Sequim to Neah Bay, 44 Clallam County sites, including public and private schools, tribal schools, Head Start programs and Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula are participating in the annual Clallam County Literacy Council Reading Contest (CCLC).
Held each January, each site has a contact person who manages the program with site staff. Teachers or site staff encourage students to read books.
As a student completes a book, he or she completes a lime-green form indicating which book has been read and then drops the form off in a contest box.
Around Jan. 31, site staff will draw 25 winning entries from the contest box.
Each winner receives a free book. From the 25, a Grand Prize Winner will win a $20 gift card.
The CCLC distributes more than 5,000 books each year and involves community businesses in literacy outreach efforts through its Bookworm Campaign.
For those wanting to become more involved in the CCLC’s efforts, contact the CCLC through the United Way of Clallam County, P.O. Box 937, Port Angeles, WA 98362; phone 360-457-3011; or visit www.clallamreads.org.
Deaf Coffee House
SEQUIM — The Sequim Deaf Coffee House will host a farewell party for Bob and Callie Stanek on Saturday.
The celebration is from noon to 3 p.m. in the Geneva Hall of Sequim Community Church, 960 N. Fifth Ave.
The Staneks are moving to Puyallup.
Coffee and cake will be provided, though attendees are asked to bring snacks to share.
Donations are appreciated.
For more information, email sdch_2010@comcast.net or purplelav4me@gmail.com.
4-H volunteering
PORT ANGELES — A 4-H volunteer training orientation will take place in the commissioners’ meeting room at the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St., at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Community members who are interested in becoming 4-H volunteers with Washington State University Extension are encouraged to attend.
Volunteer opportunities include teaching youths in an area of interest, administrative support, event planning and teen leadership programming.
Additionally, 4-H Club leader training will be offered from noon to 2 p.m. for those interested in starting a new 4-H club.
To register, email 4-H program coordinator Jenny Schmidt at jenny.schmidt@wsu.edu or phone 360-417-2398.
For more information, visit http://ext100.wsu.edu/clallam.
‘Backyard Birding’
SEQUIM — “Birds: The Inside Story,” the third in the series of “Backyard Birding” classes, will take place from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday.
Jaye Moore, director of the Northwest Raptor & Wildlife Center, will bring live birds to help illustrate a discussion led by Shirley Anderson and Ken Wiersema about the anatomy, physiology and behaviors of birds.
The series is hosted by members of the Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society.
“Backyard Birding” classes are held at the Dungeness River Audubon Center, 2151 W. Hendrickson Road.
Classes can be taken either individually or in a series.
The cost of each session is $5 and free for those younger than 18.
After the completion of five sessions, participants will be offered free membership in the Audubon society for one year.
There are five more classes planned this year.
On Saturday, Feb. 7, “Bird Nesting” is from 10 a.m. to noon.
Society leader Ken Wiersema will give a talk on the care and maintenance of nest and nesting boxes.
The other Saturdays scheduled are:
■ March 7 for “Spring Gardening for Birds.”
■ April 18 for “Bird Migration.”
■ May 16 for “Enjoying Spring Sounds.”
■ June 6 for “Out of the Nest.”
For more information, visit www.dungenessrivercenter.org.
