Watershed Master / Beach Watchers becomes Beach Watchers
The newsletter is not all that's changing. We are also simplifying our name to Beach Watchers for several reasons. It's a simpler, more memorable name, it builds upon the reputation that the Island County Beach Watchers program has established over the last 18 years, and it allows all seven of the Beach Watcher programs in Washington to take advantage of the name recognition we (I mean YOU) are building regionally.
And, in case you're wondering, all of this is paying of for the program and for our communities. We have recently been awarded an additional large grant from the US EPA to continue Beach Watchers programs in all 7 counties! Yahoo!
It will take some time to transition the name fully, so don't be surprised to find the name Watershed Masters on some of our materials for awhile, but do feel free to let me know about it.
The Rain Garden Project
The Rain Garden is completed and it is beautiful! Nature has very kindly provided us with a rain garden warm up this week. I can't wait to get over there to see it in action. We have also completed filming and the raw materials are now in the hands of Vincent Alvarez, our technical, graphical, internet, and film-making magician, I mean support staff. I'm looking forward to watching everyone's hard work on this project take shape as a film that we can share with the public.Blue Thumb Workshop was a Big Hit
Our September Shore Stewards workshop in collaboration with the Lummi Island
Community Land Trust was very successful. Over forty folks attended and really seemed to enjoy the day. A great big Thank You goes to Wanda Cucinotta for her help pulling this together. Thank you also very much Jeanne Bogert for the wonderful postcard that brought folks in the door and Wendy Harris for checking folks in and providing excellent workshop support. Finally, thank you James Mayfield, Master Composter/Recycler volunteer and rain barrel master. We couldn't have done it without you all!Climate Change Lecture by Tim Cooper
This was an excellent and very compelling presentation. For those who missed Tim in person, you will be able to see and hear him online soon. His take home message was: the science is clear, the technology to avert disaster exists, shifting taxes away from income to carbon is feasible and effective, the only missing piece is the political will to make it happen. Thank you again, Steve Bailey and Beverly Ashworth for helping to bring Tim to Bellingham.
Upcoming Events and Opportunities
Saturday, October 25, 9am to noon, Creosote Survey,
Cherry Point shoreline
Refresher training for Beach Watchers TBD - either evening October 23 or daytime October 24
Thank you to everyone who has offered to get involved in this year's great creosote survey project. We will be working with some Blaine High School Students and will be surveying what should be a very interesting area. Cherry Point is a very pristine stretch of shoreline that continues to be recommended for aquatic reserve status. If you would like to help out with this year's effort and haven't called me yet, please do so at 676-6736.
Saturday, November 1, 10am to 5pm, Building Industry Association's Built Green Conference, Bellingham Cruise Terminal
Watershed Master / Beach Watchers are invited to have a booth at this conference again and I think it's a great opportunity to highlight rain gardens and rain barrels. The conference will include presentations on indoor air quality, solar energy options for the Northwest, on-demand hot water, grey water, weather-proofing for winter, and more. FREE TICKETS to the workshop for all volunteers! Let me know if you would like to attend and if you can spare two or three hours on November 1st to talk to folks about rain gardens and Beach Watchers. 676-6736. Because we have access to a lot of free tickets for this event, we could work out very short shifts for volunteers. That way you all will get a chance to participate in the event.
Thursday, November 6, 7:30 to 8 pm. How Sea Level Rise will affect our Beaches and Bays by John Rybczyk,
2 comments:
Cheryl,
This looks great. Very easy to read everything. Good job!
jb
I like the look, Cheryl. I think using Beach Watchers to describe all the programs is brilliant. No jargon and more intuitive to understand. I'm sure all the programs will benefit from bringing them together under one name. Kudos!
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