In your neighborhood

Orchards, Sifton and Brush Prairie

Sifton: The Oregon Trail came to Mark O’Connor’s fourth grade class at Sifton Elementary School on June 2. In conjunction with Washington state curriculum, historical interpreters Virginia Hogan and Eric Wurzer dressed in period clothing, displayed authentic items and explained the long journey. There was even a covered wagon. Students made corn husk dolls, sampled trail food and played period games.

Central Vancouver, Minnehaha and The Heights

Central Park: Vancouver Businessman Rick Takach and Clark College President Bob Knight served as co-auctioneers at the Clark County Historical Society and Museum’s Chocolate Extravaganza held at Clark College on May 22. Sugar Daddy (Takach) and his sidekick Tootsie Roll (Knight) helped raise more than $22,000 for museum operations.

Central Park: Two Clark College alumnae were honored with the Clark College Foundation Presidential Award for Excellence at an awards dinner on May 19. Elizabeth Gedney Christensen, from the class of 1936, was the first recipient. Christensen, 93, was one of Clark College’s original students. She recently established the Harold and Elizabeth Christensen Scholarship Endowment. Pat Fencl, class of 1981, and her husband, Jim Fencl, were also honored. Pat teaches in the Adult Basic Education program at Clark. The Fencls established a scholarship endowment to allow a student from the GED program to continue his or her education at Clark with a full-tuition scholarship. The awards were presented by Lisa Gibert, foundation president/CEO, and Bob Knight, college president.

Central Park: Sea Mar’s Clark County Medical Clinic, housed at the county’s public health building on Fourth Plain Boulevard, drew many women during National Women’s Health Week in mid-May. There were 22 preventive medical exams provided for free by Laboratory Corp. of America, which donated the lab fees, and Sea Mar. Each woman was also given a goody bag with healthful gifts. There were resource tables with many brochures, cookbooks, booklets and information on topics including smoking cessation, diet, mental health, sexually transmitted diseases and family planning. Sea Mar also mailed information to 44 other women older than 40 who could be covered for a free mammogram through another program.

Columbia Way: Wet and colder-than-usual weather didn’t stop hundreds of folks from showing up for Southwest Washington Medical Center’s Heart and Stroke Walk on May 22. Teams raised $51,484, topping the medical center’s goal, to help fund cardiovascular research and education in the community. The walk benefited the American Heart Association. Southwest received an honorable mention for “Strength in Numbers” for having 647 walkers registered for the event. Over the past five years, the medical center has raised more than $200,000 for the cause.

Harney Heights: Approximately 20 Columbia Credit Union staff and family members gathered to weed, edge, prune and plant at a transitional home for homeless women in the Harney Heights neighborhood on May 22. The credit union has “adopted” the home as part of a three-year commitment. The home is owned and operated by Second Step Housing, a nonprofit agency dedicated to providing safe, affordable housing for at-risk women and families. The credit union will cover essential needs and special projects — from yard work to financial training and social activities. There’s plenty of opportunity for other local businesses to get involved too, according to Second Step executive director Debbie Dover. Visit http://www.secondstephousing.org.

North Clark County and Woodland

Yacolt: Randy Christopher is a new member of the American Angus Association.

Ridgefield and Fairgrounds

Ridgefield: Morgan Rumble, Ridgefield, is volunteering as transitional coach as part of Whatcom County’s Stepping Stones Program. The program is aimed at reducing the cost of Medicare by preventing unnecessary hospital readmissions. Rumble completed 10 to 12 hours of training before becoming a coach and now spends between five and seven hours a week working for the program. Rumble is a psychology major at Western Washington University in Bellingham.

Battle Ground, Meadow Glade and Hockinson

Dollars Corner: Another piece of history is preparing to exit the stage. The Dollars Corner Tavern, on the northeast corner of Northeast 219th Street and 72nd Avenue, will be sold to the Washington State Department of Transportation for approximately $742,000. Two buildings on the 0.75-acre property will be razed to make way for the widening of 219th Street (otherwise known as State Highway 502). A years-long state transportation project has added an Interstate 5 freeway interchange and is widening the road all the way from the interchange to downtown Battle Ground. The sellers are Tidyman Living Trust, Dean Yankee and Linda Yankee. The Dollars Corner Tavern has stood in that spot since the 1920s; it closed last year.

Hazel Dell, Felida and Salmon Creek

West Hazel Dell: On May 30, Miles McLeod spotted something in his neighborhood he says most people wouldn’t expect — wildlife, in the form of a deer. “I think that locals of Hazel Dell and Cougar Creek have no idea that there is so many kinds of wildlife in their own backyard.” McLeod says he has seen bald eagles, red-tailed hawks, coyotes and deer pass through. “We are so surprised all the time at all the different things that show up,” he said in an e-mail.

East Vancouver, Cascade Park, Fisher’s Landing and Evergreen

Mountain View: Jonathan “John” Lockwood, member of Boy Scout Troop 648, received his Eagle Scout Award on May 22. He has been a member of the Order of the Arrow since 2007. For his service project, he constructed and installed signs in Behrens Woods and, with fellow scouts, cleared ivy from the trails and refurbished a vandalized natural cedar log bench. Lockwood, a sophomore at Mountain View, is a son of Charles and Cathryn Lockwood.

East Clark County: Camas and Washougal

Camas: They seem to be growing artists over at Camas High School. Two CHS students were winners in a recent statewide arts competition that involved some 4,000 pieces of art. A total of 106 high school artists placed, and just 11 were named state winners — including CHS’s Whitney Austin for an untitled black-and-white photograph and Kristi Valentine for her multimedia creation, “Journal of a Most Peculiar Voyage.” Both works were shown during the 37th Annual Superintendent’s High School Art Show on Friday, May 21, in Olympia.

West Vancouver and Downtown

Uptown Village: Vancouver Pizza held its annual fundraising “tip the principal” night on May 20 and raised $800 for the school as Hough Elementary School Principal Sean McMillan worked the counter, waited tables and collected tips. The staff donated their tips and 30 percent of the restaurant’s sales for the night also went to the school. “We had a fun night, and Sean enjoys serving the customers, working with my staff and mixing with the customers,” said owner Karen McMillen (no relation). It was the fourth year Vancouver Pizza has held the event for Hough School.

Esther Short: On May 27, to celebrate Memorial Day, residents at Smith Tower gathered to share stories about the United States and thank the veterans for the sacrifices they have made. The American Veterans Honor Guard had a special flag-raising ceremony for the many residents and staff.

Shumway: Natalie Grattan, a 2006 graduate of Vancouver School of Arts and Academics, has received a $25,000 Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholarship and will begin a year-long study program in New Zealand. A senior at Lawrence University, Grattan will spend a year at the University of Otago in Wellington, New Zealand, She is a daughter of Russell Grattan and Jeannette Ellis of Vancouver. Earlier this year, Grattan finished a two-year run as president of the student organization Students Working Against Hunger and Poverty. Last December, Grattan spent three weeks in Sierra Leone working with the elementary school students at Conforti School in the capital city of Freetown and the Forum for African Women’s Educationalists School in the rural village of Mattru Jong. Sierra Leone.

Lower River Road: Michael Jump started hunting mushrooms a few years ago, mostly because it’s a fun way to get into the woods and track something that doesn’t move. Last Thursday, he was just returning to his truck after doing a little hunting when he came across two enormous morels hiding under some shrubs. (He’d rather not say exactly where he was; he lives west of Fruit Valley but that’s not necessarily where he went hunting). They are about 6 inches tall, far larger than anything he’s ever found before, he said. He means to sell them to Japanese-food merchants at the Vancouver Farmers Market. And not cook them himself? No, Jump said — he’s never tasted one.

Lincoln: According to the latest neighborhood newsletter, landscape design for safety improvements all along 39th Street — in conjunction with the new bridge now being built over the BNSF railway in Fruit Valley — will be aesthetically pleasing and practical. “The plan proposes allowing parking on alternate sides of 39th between Lincoln and Creston, with rustic red brick pavers, scored concrete and three types of trees between the sidewalks and street: Rocky Mountain Glow Maple, Schmidt Prairifire Crabapple and Japanese Snowbell,” it says. The city’s urban forester will determine locations and species at planting time. There will also be sidewalk repairs, new street striping, wheelchair ramps, radar speed signs, and a pedestrian signal improvement for the crossing at Leverich Park. It was all supposed to happen this summer, but budget cuts have pushed the work into 2011. Lincoln will also get curb cuts along Daniels Street from 39th to 44th.