East Clark County: Camas & Washougal
Washougal: Peggy Horne’s second- and third-grade classes at Mount Pleasant School recently listed items they could not buy in Washougal, all part of their social studies curriculum on economics. The students created businesses that could sell the products students said were needed in Washougal: wedding dresses, cat supplies, lumber, games and toys. A factory to make doughnuts was also on the list. Washougal Mayor Sean Guard, and his wife, Annie, visited the classroom open house to view the businesses the youngsters made out of cardboard boxes.
Camas: The Camas High School Key Club organized a “Night on the Red Carpet” in March for special-needs students. The event was held at the Jack Will and Rob Center on Northeast Ione Street in Camas. “Many of the special-needs students hadn’t ever been to a school dance before, so it was a really neat to see them experience something that most high school students take for granted,” Molly Smith, a junior and event organizer, said in an e-mail. Club members made food, set up, took photos and danced with other students at the event. Smith said there was a lot of positive feedback from students and parents and hopes it will become a tradition for the Camas Key Club.
Washougal: Lacamas Community Credit Union donated $3,000 to the Camas Washougal Community Chest on April 9 at the credit union’s Washougal Branch. Every year, LCCU chooses organizations to be its community partners.
Ridgefield & Fairgrounds
Fairgrounds: The Home Depot Foundation is building bridges with Clark County Public Works. More specifically, a bridge in Whipple Creek Regional Park. The foundation awarded Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation a $2,500 grant that will be used to replace the bridge as part of a trail improvement project being worked on by Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation’s Americorps Team, Clark County Public Works Department, volunteers from the Clark County Executive Horse Council and the local community.
Battle Ground, Meadow Glade & Hockinson
Hockinson: The Hockinson High School Wind Ensemble earned a silver medal in the AA concert band division at Columbia Basin College Band Festival in Pasco on April 9. The Jazz Band took second place the following day in the AA Jazz Band Division, falling short of first place by one point.
Battle Ground: Battle Ground City Manager John Williams appointed John Przybylski and Laurie Doering to fill vacancies on the city’s Civil Service Commission. The commission oversees employment and other matters for the City of Battle Ground Police Department, including pre-employment testing and ensuring hiring decisions are conducted in an open, competitive, non-discriminatory manner.
Hazel Dell, Felida & Salmon Creek
Salmon Creek: Joel Barker, Jeff Garlington and a few other seniors at Skyview High School organized a benefit concert in March to promote spirit and raise funds for the Trey Foote Foundation. Students, parents, grandparents and friends attended to hear the sounds of local bands Search and Rescue, Faire du Surf and If All Else Fails. More than $1,100 was raised for the foundation, which was established in 2006 after Trey Foote, a Skyview senior, lost his life to bone cancer. Volunteers from the Hazel Dell Kohl’s A-team were there to lend their support by helping collect tickets and selling Foundation apparel and stickers. The Trey Foote Foundation provides an annual Scholarship of $2,500 to a Skyview Senior and supports the advancement of research, awareness and education related to the effects of childhood cancer.
West Hazel Dell: Teams from Jason Lee Middle School placed at the Science Olympiad Regional Tournament on March 13. The “Black Team” placed second and the “Red Team” took third place. Twenty-three middle school teams competed in knowledge, lab or building events. Both Jason Lee teams qualified for the state tournament in April. Coaches are Garry Lee and Michael Hornback.
Orchards, Sifton & Brush Prairie
Sunnyside: Cascades Presbyterian Church is sending comfort — in the form of 26 child-size quilts — to Guatemala in May. The quilts will travel with a team of doctors and medical staff that will be performing facial restorations for about 100 children and young adults born with cleft lips and palates. Carolynn Zenk, the leader of the Prayer Quilting Ministry at the church, said she first heard about the medical trip in December. Her brother’s Rotary Club was sponsoring the trip and asked if she would be interested in making quilts for patients. Sharon Chard, Beth Eggett, Kay Gibson, Bette Ludden, Joann Sonnen, Theresa Youngken, Marsha Vernon and Carolynn Zenk started making quilts on Jan. 1. “People born with these facial deformities are often social outcasts who suffer emotionally, physically and spiritually,” said Church Pastor Chris Montovino in an e-mail.
Central Vancouver, Minnehaha & The Heights
Bagley Downs: Antionnette Roberts, sophomore, organized a day without shoes at Fort Vancouver High School on April 8. The day is meant to bring attention to children throughout the world who live without shoes which, according to event sponsor Tom’s Shoes, can cause serious infections and in some cases disfiguring diseases. The school will have two Soles4Souls collection bins until June 11, when the shoes will be inspected and sent off to needy recipients.
Hudson’s Bay: The Community Foundation for Southwest Washington received two national awards sponsored by the Council on Foundations — one for its 25th Anniversary Campaign and one for its website. Both awards fell under the Wilmer Shields Rich Awards for Excellence in Communications and were presented to the council during an annual conference in Denver. Colo. from April 25 to 27.
Edgewood Park: The American Association of University Women spring bridge tournament raised more than $4,300 for scholarships for women. Hazel Catlett took first place, Sue Hennum was second and Nancy Bonner third. Each contestant paid an entry fee; first prize is $25, second is $15 and third is $10. Scholarships go to women attending WSU Vancouver or Clark College that are first year students or returning to school. AAUW spokeswoman Elise Chan said the organization prefers students in a science or technology field, but the final decision is left to the schools’ scholarship committees.
Central Park: A new addition is planned for a spot alongside the big playground at Marshall Community Park. It’s a 2,441-square-foot picnic shelter. It will have open sides and some of its roofing will be “green,” according to a plan recently filed by Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation. The shelter will include eight picnic tables; there will also be a new sidewalk, new steps leading down to the lawn and new landscaping all around.
East Vancouver, Cascade Park, Fisher’s Landing & Evergreen
Pacific Park: The Cub Scouts of Pack 498 decided to help their community — and work toward their Wolf badges — by cleaning up the debris that’s accumulated around the skate park at Pacific Community Park on a recent Tuesday evening. They scoured the landscape and came away with more than 20 pounds of cigarettes, pop can lids, skate parts, broken glass, candy wrappers and more. Tersea Fernandez, volunteer coordinator for city parks, provided bags and gloves. Cub Scout Pack 498 includes boys from Marrion and Ellsworth elementary schools and meets at Ellsworth on Tuesday evenings.
Fircrest: The neighborhood association is hunting for an in-house historian — someone who likes taking the long view while managing the details, too — to chronicle the activities of the group. A natural scrapbooker is what they’re after — someone interested in collecting and preserving newspaper clippings, photographs and other materials that tell the story of the Fircrest Neighborhood Association.
Fircrest: Local McKesson employees are joining a companywide effort to raise awareness of diabetes across the nation. During the week of April 19, employees in a Vancouver location prepared 200 “Stop Diabetes” packages to be distributed to elementary school students in the Vancouver and Portland area. More than 16,000 McKesson employees across the country will be building 32,000 packages. According to Matthew Hummel, spokesman for McKesson, one in five public health dollars in the United Sates is spent on care for people with diabetes.
Riverview: Jay Miller, President of the Riverview Neighborhood Association, said that he would step down from the position at a meeting on April 19. He asked for a volunteer to take over the position, but didn’t get any takers. Miller said the meeting would still be his last as president, but he would send out an e-mail to everyone in the neighborhood to look for a new leader.
