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INSIDE
2005
in Review
Point
Roberts Parent Teacher Organization
By
Linda Hughes
Our PTO
got straight to work in the new year, planning a series of
meetings with representatives of the school district, discussing
transportation, nutrition, budget, communications and campus
strategic planning.
This PTO
learned early of potential staffing and budget concerns at
our local campus and raised this issue to an action plan priority
for our group. We have worked steadily with the community and
the school district this past year seeking resolutions.
We raised an enormous amount of support for our rally to
the Blaine school district when over 60 community members
braved the Canadian holiday border lineups in May to share
their vision of our community with the board. Many others
wrote supportive letters that we delivered. Thank you all!
We didn’t forget the kids’ fun stuff this year. We
began with our most successful Easter Egg Hunt by the Sea ever,
with 66 kids and lots of prizes and treats and puppies and
fun! We also sponsored another great field day at the school
with a picnic, fun sports events, and a splashy visit from our
local volunteer firefighters. You guys are the best!
16 kids graduated to Blaine this year and PTO sent them off
with a tea party, school mementos, and the traditional rose
planting in the graduation garden. We appreciated our teachers,
staff and volunteers with a sunny celebration on the deck at
Brewster’s.
Fall was here too soon, and this year’s Howling Halloween
party at the school was small and intimate. I most liked the
Witches Pumpkin Soup game. We will enjoy our annual winter
concert at the school this year with PTO surprise bags for the
students.
Two great corporate sponsors this year have been Dylan’s
at Point Roberts Shell, who hosted our fundraising car wash in
the rain – very wet coast - and partnered with us in
the 4th of July parade for all the kids!
Zack’s Shack and Ben’s Bunker at the dump provided
a constant flow of income to the Point Roberts PTO and also
partnered with us on the 4th of July donating all of the proceeds
of the games boardwalk to the PTO. We are most grateful to
Arthur for his incredible generosity during this year.
Our main objective for the next year is to collaborate with
the Blaine school district in developing a community survey
to assess the educational needs of everyone, to then begin
the task of developing a strategic plan involving and benefiting
this community – oh,
and, of course, a few easter eggs on the beach in the springtime.
Point Roberts Chamber of Commerce
By Emily Smith
The Point
Roberts Chamber of Commerce had an active and swashbuckling
year in 2005. We kicked off our pirate theme with a “Pirate’s
Ball” for our annual spring social at the Dockside Café with
costumes, prizes and great food. The theme reemerged for the
4th of July parade and our very own Pirate hockey team entertained
us as grand marshals.
The chamber continued with the monthly luncheons and some of
the informative and engaging speakers included local business
owners Aaron Einfeld of Point Roberts Floors and Finish and Reid
Smith of Broadview Capital Management. We also had Small Business
Tax information, Todd Packard from Moss Adams Investments and
Estate Planning, a presentation on our local whale population
by Peter Hamilton and a visit from the Whatcom County K-9 Unit.
The chamber thanks the Dockside Café, Brewster’s,
Point Roberts Golf and Country Club, the Reef and Maple Meadows
B&B for hosting these luncheons.
The PointRobertsChamber.com website continues to be a great success
generating business for chamber members and being a resource
for locals and potential visitors alike. The webcam at Lighthouse
Park is featured on Channel 7 weather every morning. The chamber
also organized and funded a webcam at the marina and one overlooking
the skate park. Parents, did you know you can check up on little
Billy when he says he’s going to the skate park?
Other business conducted this year for the community included
two scholarships. Local students Tiffany Oakley received $250
and Lisa Weirzbecki received $500 toward their education. The
chamber also continued advertising programs with the Whatcom
County Visitors and Information Center, The Georgia Straight,
Delta Tourism and Kitsap County. The Point Roberts Chamber of
Commerce works hard for the community and local business and
thanks everyone for their continued support.
Point Roberts Senior Center
By Armene Belless
2005 was a busy year for the Point Roberts seniors. Our membership
rose to 153 and we averaged about 60 lunches on Wednesdays and
45 lunches on Fridays. Our most popular classes this past year
included: beginning genealogy, digital cameras and computer classes
for beginners to advanced students for e-mail/internet & MS
Word.
Visiting professionals presented workshops on Heart Health, Safety
in the Home, AARP’s Safe Driving Class and Understanding
the new Medicare RX Choices.
By the time this issue goes to press a new senior center coordinator
will have been selected. Armene Belless, who filled the position
for the last five and a half years is retiring. Everyone is delighted
with our new chef, Ronnie Carruthers. You may have already enjoyed
Ronnie’s cooking and singing at the Dockside Café.
Be sure to check our Seniors’ Point column every month
in the APB to see a listing of activities, menus and special
events.
We have a very enthusiastic and dedicated board which promises
another interesting and fruitful year in 2006. See you at the
Senior Activity Center!
Point
Roberts Parks & Recreation District
By Linda Hughes
2005 was a big year for the Point Roberts Parks & Recreation
District. Together with the Skateboard Park Committee and generous
assistance from the Rotary Club, we completed the skatepark at
Baker Field. We have really enjoyed watching the kids and the
community benefit, and also take responsibility in caring for
the skatepark this year. Bravo, kids! For not littering (once
a garbage can arrived), for your respect of fellow boarders,
and for all your input into making it a successful skate park.
We’ve even seen kids out there blow-cleaning, sweeping
the surface and picking up trash. Keep it up kids!
Heidi Baxter, and her team of teens created fantastic mosaic
works at the skate park! We have all had great fun trying to
decipher the images and admiring your work. We must have one
of the most beautiful skateparks ever!
Also garden tour profits of $1,000 were donated to the skatepark
which will really help with some of the extras still planned
such as signs and a water fountain.
We received various donations of skate park accessories and skateboarding
equipment, including a skateboard donated by the famous Tony
Hawk. All of this equipment was utilized in another successful
Parks & Rec summer program for the kids. Neil Teutsch and
his team did a great job of running our summer program this year – the
kids really enjoyed their enthusiasm and charisma.
We also added a kayak program open to teens and adults that proved
to be very popular – look for it in summer of ’06
and plan to sign up for lessons and access to the kayaks. There’s
no more beautiful place to learn and enjoy the sport of sea kayaking.
(Imagine a moonlight kayak around the Point in the middle of
a hot summer at the Point. Magical.)
And of course, we kept good care of our community center this
year. We constructed a new shed to house yard equipment and the
kayaks, assisted the seniors in having a second activities and
lunch day at the center, and we’ve had to do a little maintenance – cleaning
carpets, installing a new hot water heater, fixing heating system
and septic pump glitches, and replacing lightbulbs all year long.
We also met with The Whatcom County library system personel to
plan for the future, and with other community members who utilized
and enjoyed the community center this year.
All this and within budget. We meet the first Thursday of every
month at the community center, and look forward to seeing you
then!
Point Roberts Emergency Preparedness Group
By Emily Smith
The Point
Roberts Emergency Preparedness group (PREP) is a new organization
in Point Roberts this year. PREP’s
mission is to produce and maintain an Emergency Operations
Plan (EOP) for Point Roberts. In doing so, PREP is looking
at the unique challenges our geographical isolation and lack
of infrastructure present. The EOP will address the medical,
food, shelter, search, rescue, communication, and the security
needs of the community. Over the last few months, members of
the group have taken on specific areas of the plan and are
researching what resources are available to us and what is
lacking. Once the plan is completed, the group will go to county,
state and federal agencies and organizations to make sure our
community is properly represented and has all the resources
necessary. PREP also strives to educate the community on how
to be prepared to be self-sufficient, and what to do to help
their neighbors.
The organization’s first official appearance on the Point
was in August when it hosted a spaghetti feed for the community.
In cooperation with the Mt. Baker Chapter of the American Red
Cross the group provided a free dinner with an educational presentation
on preparing your home and on basic shelter operations. It was
a huge success with over 50 attendees. Three other Red Cross
classes were held the following week and more are planned for
the months ahead. An ongoing relationship with the Red Cross
will ultimately help in PREP’s goal.
PREP holds monthly meetings and hopes to have the EOP written
early in the new year. For PREP to be successful, however, it
must be a community wide effort.
For more information, please contact us or come to a meeting.
You may also visit our website at www.PREPgroup.org.
Point Roberts Library
By Kris Lomedico
Many new faces served at the library this year as staff changed
and subs stepped up to the front desk. Everyone of them enjoyed
working here, found it cozy and welcoming and said they would
come again.
By year’s end we said fond goodbyes to Marge Biery, Kiera
Miller, and Rosie Snell, who all still volunteer or substitute
when possible. We warmly welcomed Mary Monahgan as public assistant
and Terry Chan as page.
Circulation of library items went up three percent over 2004. Extremely popular
were magazines, DVDs, videos, and books on tape or CD. Summer residents swell
circulation statistics, and often remark on the quality and diversity of materials,
and of how easy it is to get popular items like bestsellers.
Though one of the smallest in the county library system, like the larger branches
it benefits from a fresh weekly rotation of new and available materials. If not
found on the shelf, requests can arrive as soon as the next weekly delivery.
This year Friends of the Point Roberts library held the popular annual picnic
that features the re-enactment of the day original settlers came home with the
deeds to the land they’d “squatted” on for so long. The Brass
Belles played joyfully and events included a watermelon eating contest. (Alas,
park regulations may have made this the last friends picnic.)
Then there was the well-attended Joke Telling contest this summer, complete with
beer (root beer) and pretzels. Friends also organize the on-going book sale from
generous public donations. Many friendly hands contribute to these events, but
special thanks go to John and Davea Fisher, Sylvia Branzei-Valezquez, and Eva
Espinosa. Donated proceeds go towards magazine subscriptions for kids and teens
and a portion to Dollars for Scholars.
From late October to mid-May talented local story tellers entertain children
at pajama storytimes on Tuesday nights. This year’s volunteers: Rose Momsen,
Dorothy Guerney, Kiera Miller, Sylvia Branzei, Eva Espinosa, and Jo Harrison.
Every year features kid’s programs: valentines in February, an Easter/spring
craft in April, a puppet show in June that kicks off the summer reading program
for kids and teens, and mask making in October.
This coming year will see a new library cards and a new computer-use “smart
card” that will automatically time internet use and monitor print-out fees.
Onwards and upwards!
Point Roberts Hospital District
By Margery Biery
The Point Roberts Public Hospital District was established as
a result of a vote of the citizens in the election of February,
2005 along with the capability to set a tax levy amount.
At the same time, three commissioners were elected to serve the
community. In a very close election Victor Riley, Barbara Bradstock,
and Margery Biery were elected as commissioners. Since February
these commissioners have been meeting twice a month to research,
discuss and vote on all the information necessary for setting
up a new district. The final goal in all the preparation is to
take over the operation of the Aydon Wellness Clinic which is
currently operating under a federal grant issued by the Rural
Health Outreach Office to Whatcom County Fire District No. 5.
In order to operate the clinic, the commissioners had to research
all the laws pertaining to hospital districts in Washington,
work with county officials to establish methods of operating
the district and research costs involved with entities to operate
the clinic and the administration of the district.
This was no easy feat because even though there are other districts
in Whatcom County there are no other hospital districts. Thus,
everyone was searching new territory with unique legal requirements.
In 2005, the commissioners:
• established bylaws to enable the legal operation of the
district;
• set up the financial infrastructure of the district, including
appointing a treasurer and an auditor, and setting up accounts
and payment mechanisms;
• appointed an attorney for the district;
• determined options for working with the Medicare system;
• set the tax levy for 2006.
In October, the commissioners were able to put all the pieces
together and establish a budget for the year 2006 and set the
tax levy amount.
Plans for 2006 include hiring a part-time superintendent for
the administration of the district as required by law.
As the funding for the federal grant will conclude in April,
2006, the plan is to transfer all assets connected to the clinic
from the Point Roberts Fire District to the Point Roberts Public
Hospital District. No easy feat considering all the entities
involved.
The hospital district will continue to contract with Interfaith
Community Health Center in Bellingham for the actual operation
of the clinic. This will start in May.
The future plans of the commissioners are to continue the quality
operation of the clinic to meet the needs of the community. In
addition, they will continue to assess any other health needs
that may arise in the community and plan accordingly.
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