SIORF Awards Now
Available
Soroptimist of the Olympic Rain Forest is offering two Awards – The Violet Richardson Award and Live your Dream.
The Violet Richardson Award is for young women between the ages of 14 and 17 who have or are volunteering in their school of community. Soroptimists would like to honor someone for their dedication.
The Live Your Dream Award is for a woman who provides the primary financial support for their family. This award gives women the resources they need to help improve their education, childcare, tuition, and household expenses.
You can pick up the application at Leppell’s Flowers, on Spartan Avenue.
Red Road to Wellbriety In the Native American Way Welcomes a new self-help meeting COMING SOON!
Starting Monday, April 26; Mondays and Thursdays noon -1 p.m., in the community room located at at 351 Founders Way. SOCIAL DISTANCING and MASK ARE REQUIRED. A 12-Step meeting using The Red Road to Wellbriety in the Native American Way textbook. We will focus on Native American Traditions and Welcome all seeking recovery from addictions. We take our own Red Road journey to sobriety and Wellbriety in a spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical way.
PTO Elections
The Forks Elementary School PTO will hold elections at their next meeting, Thursday, May 6 at 6 p.m. in the FES play shed. Positions open for election are President and Secretary.
NOLS Closed April 29
for Staff Training
All libraries in the North Olympic Library System (NOLS) will be closed on Thursday, April 29 to allow staff to attend an in-service training day. NOLS locations will reopen on Friday, April 30 for regular curbside and in-library services. Wi-Fi is available 24/7 in all NOLS branch parking lots and the Library is always open at www.nols.org.
In-library service is available Monday through Thursday from 2 pm-6 pm and Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. in Forks, Port Angeles, and Sequim. It is available in Clallam Bay Monday through Wednesday from 2-6 p.m. and Thursdays and Fridays from 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
Curbside Service Hours are:
Forks and Port Angeles – Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Sequim – Due to space constraints, curbside services are limited during in-library hours.
Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and Friday and Saturday, 1-4 p.m.
Clallam Bay – Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and Friday and Saturday, 1-4 p.m.
For more information visit www.nols.org, call 360-417-8500, or email Discover@nols.org.
Seventh Annual Peninsula College Culture Fair Slated For April 29
The Seventh Annual Native American Culture Fair will be offered virtually this year and will take place on Thursday, April 29, starting at 10 a.m. All are invited to this cultural event spotlighting youth voices and Native American history, languages, and traditions. Youth will lead the program, which is a collaborative effort of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, Port Angeles High School’s Native American programs, Peninsula College’s First Nations Club, TESC Native Pathways Program, the PC STEM Club, and the House of Learning, Longhouse.
Past workshops have included experiential activities where students toured specialized areas of the Peninsula College campus and learned about academic and professional programs.
The Culture Fair began in 2015 in an effort to spotlight the voices of youth and provide the opportunity for students to educate the college campus and community about tribal history and language. Students worked for five weeks before the Fair on the creation of a Coast Salish button blanket, which was gifted to the College and is permanently displayed in the Longhouse.
This year’s theme is “We rise. We carry on. We heal.” Jonathan Arakawa of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe shared the following: “Without certainty of our future, we created this theme to Rise, Heal and Carry On. Indian Country continues to Rise, Heal, and Carry On as we, once again, face another time of pandemic. We bear the physical, intellectual, and spiritual strength of our ancestors. Indian Country will, as always, overcome the struggles in our path and presented in this pandemic.”
Guests are invited to join this year’s virtual event through Zoom to learn from guest speakers:
10:00 am Valerie Segrest
Valerie Segrest, an enrolled member of the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe serves as the Native American Agriculture Fund’s Director of Native Food and Knowledge Systems. She has a Bachelor of Science in Human Nutrition and Health Sciences from Bastyr University and a Master of Arts in Environment and Community. Segrest has dedicated her work in the field of Native American Nutrition towards the efforts of the food sovereignty movement rooted in education, awareness, and overcoming barriers to accessing traditional foods for tribal communities throughout North America. She has co-authored several publications including the recipe books “Feeding Seven Generations: A Salish Cookbook” and “Indigenous Home Cooking: Menus Inspired by the Ancestors.”
Segrest aims to inspire and enlighten others about the importance of a nutrient-dense diet through a culturally appropriate, common-sense approach to eating.
Zoom link for the 10 a.m. meeting: https://pencol-edu.zoom.us/j/84506470031
Meeting ID: 845 0647 0031
11 a.m. Reuben Martinez
Reuben Martinez is a recent graduate of Western Washington University, currently employed by Renewable Northwest. He is an alumnus of Peninsula College, who spent his final year at WWU focusing primarily on renewable energy. He focused on this because he had worked with a mentor in a summer program partnered with Northwest Indian College. This mentor wanted to start a microgrid with the Lummi and Nooksack Tribes, and Martinez was committed to helping her out with this project.
“Unfortunately, due to COVID, the amount of participation I could contribute ground to a halt,” Martinez said. “But that wasn’t the end of this renewable energy idea for me.” He is a member of the Makah Tribe and was recently featured on the Peninsula College website in a blog that celebrated the important work of alumni.
Martinez stated: “As Indigenous peoples and communities, we are sovereign nations, and we need to dream big. If our ideas can come true in our lifetime, we aren’t dreaming big enough. We have a lot to overcome, but dreaming is our biggest asset, and I think we can make them happen. For me, and my contribution, I want Tribes all throughout the PNW to have the chance of figuring out what renewables can do for them, and I aim to help. I am only just beginning my journey on this road, but I think I am on the right path. I hope if there are any tribal members who are interested in any of the work I am doing to please reach out.”
Zoom link for the 11 a.m. meeting: https://pencol-edu.zoom.us/j/84506470031
Meeting ID: 845 0647 0031
12:30 pm Dr. Fred Campbell
Dr. Fred Campbell, data scientist, mountain and ice climber will present a brief lecture focused on his work as a statistician and a mentor to students who have previously been under-served in colleges and other institutions.
Campbell works for Microsoft and uses existing machine learning methods to explore important problems and solutions. His work is centered on ensuring that the methods are ethical. He explains that “it is not enough to produce accurate models,” emphasizing that “they must also be private, fair, reproducible and transparent so that they do not inadvertently harm people and everyone enjoys the benefits of these models.”
“Previously, I developed new structured variable selection methods and applied them to problems in genomics, proteomics and neuroimaging,” Campbell said.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Computational Science from Stanford University, a Masters in Science in Statistics from Stanford University, a Masters in Science in Statistics from Rice University, and a Ph.D. in Statistics from Rice University.
Zoom link for the 12:30 p.m. meeting: https://pencol-edu.zoom.us/j/89616075652
Meeting ID: 896 1607 5652
All Culture Fair events are free and open to the public.
Forks Chamber of Commerce Scholarships
The Forks Chamber of Commerce is currently offering two $1,000 scholarships to Forks area graduates. The application is available on the Chamber website at forkswa.com. Deadline is May 14.
